Author: Haruki Murakami

Translator: Lin Shaohua

On a sunny April morning, I rubbed shoulders with a 100 percent girl in the backstreets of Harajuku.

Needless to say, the girl is not very pretty, there is nothing attractive about it, her clothes are not outstanding, and the hair on the back of her head persistently bears the traces of sleeping and squeezing. It's not too young anymore - it should be almost 30. Strictly speaking, I'm afraid it's hard to call it a girl. However, from 50 meters away, I could tell at a glance that she was 100 percent a girl to me. From the moment I saw her form, my chest trembled like a rumbling of the ground, and my mouth rustled like a desert.

Maybe you have your ideal girl too. For example, a girl who likes a thin foot and neck, a girl who has big eyes after all, a girl who is absolutely beautiful with ten fingers, or a girl who is obsessed with eating slowly and for some reason. I certainly have my own preferences. When I was in a restaurant, I once looked at the nose shape of a girl at the next table in a daze.

But to clearly outline the image of a girl 100 percent, no one can do it. I can't remember what kind of nose she had. I can't even remember if she had a nose or not, and all I can remember now is that she wasn't very beautiful. It's incredible.

"Yesterday I passed by a 100 percent girl on the road. I said to one person.

"Well," he replied, "are you pretty?"

"No, not that. ”

"So, is that the type to your taste?"

"I can't remember. I forgot what my eyes looked like, how big or small my breasts were. ”

"Inexplicable!"

"It's inexplicable. ”

"So," he said, "what did you do?

"Nothing was done. I said, "It's just a passing by." ”

She walked from east to west, and I went from west to east, on a refreshing morning in April.

I want to talk to her, even for 30 minutes. I want to inquire about her life experience, and I also want to tell her life experience completely. More importantly, we wanted to understand the circumstances that led us to pass by in the backstreets of Harajuku on a sunny morning in April 1981. It must be full of the warm secrets of the old machines of the era of peace.

With that in mind, we can find a place to have lunch and watch Woody. Ellen's film, and then stop by the bar in the hotel for cocktails or something. If you do it well, you might be able to sleep with her after drinking.

Possibility is striking at my heart.

The distance between me and her was fifteen or sixteen meters.

The question is, how exactly do I talk to her?

"Hello, can you talk to me, even for 30 minutes. ”

It's too stupid, it's like persuading people to join insurance.

"Excuse me, is there a 24-hour laundry in this area?"

It's just as silly. Besides, I don't even have a laundry bag! Who can believe my words?

Maybe it's better to get straight to the point. "Hello! You're a 100 percent girl to me!"

No, no, I'm afraid she won't believe my confession. Even if you believe, you may not be willing to say anything to me. She might say something like, "Even if I'm 100 percent a girl to you, you're not a 100 percent man to me, I'm sorry!" If I were in such a situation, I would be completely overwhelmed. It was a blow that might have left me devastated. I'm 32 years old, and that's what old age is all about.

I passed her in front of the flower shop, and the warm little air lumps touched my skin. The asphalt was sprinkled with water, and the smell of roses rippled all around. I couldn't even say hello to her. She wore a white sweater and held a square envelope in her right hand that had not yet been stamped. To whom did she write a letter. was so sleepy-eyed, maybe I wrote it all night. It is possible that the Quartet envelope contained all her secrets.

When she took a few steps and turned back, her figure had long since disappeared into the crowd.

※※※

Of course, today I know exactly how to talk to her. But anyway, the line was too long, and I was sure I couldn't express it well—and that's it, and what I thought of was not always practical.

In short, the sermon begins with "a long, long time ago" and ends with "Don't you think this is a sad story?"

※※※

Once upon a time, there was a place where there was a boy and a girl. Boy!"8, Girl!"6. Boys aren't handsome, and girls aren't very beautiful, they're just lonely and ordinary boys and girls everywhere. But the two have always believed that there must be girls and boys somewhere in the world who are 100% suitable for them. Yes, the two believed in miracles, and miracles did happen.

One day, the two met unexpectedly on the street.

"What a coincidence! I've been looking for you. Maybe you don't believe it, but you're 100 percent boy to me. From head to toe, it was exactly what I imagined. It's a dream. ‘

The two sat on a park bench, holding hands, and never got tired of talking. The two are no longer alone. 100% need each other, 100% have been asked by the other party. And what a wonderful thing it is to demand each other 100 percent and to be 100 percent demanded by each other! This is already a cosmic miracle!

But a small, indeed small, small doubt crossed the hearts of the two: Is it a good thing that dreams come true so easily?

When the conversation was abruptly interrupted, the young man said:

"I said, try again! If the two of us are really 100 percent lovers, we will definitely meet somewhere someday. The next time we meet, if we still think that each other is 100 percent, we will get married there right away, okay?

"Okay. The girl replied.

So the two parted and went their separate ways.

But to be honest, there's no need to try at all, it's just redundant. Why? Because the two of them are indeed 100% lovers, because it was a miraculous encounter. But the two were too young to know much. So the merciless fate began to play tricks on the two.

One winter, both contracted the vicious flu that raged that year. After a few weeks of hovering on the death line, memories of the past are lost. It's really bizarre. When the two of them woke up, their heads were like d. The coin box of Lawrence's youth was as empty.

But these young men and women are bright, open-minded and persevering, and after unremitting efforts, they have finally acquired new knowledge and new emotions again, and are competent and happy to return to social life. Ah, my God! These two are impeccable! They can change to the subway, they can send express mail at the post office. And experienced 75% and 85% love respectively.

In this way, the boy is 32 years old and the girl is 31 years old. Time passes at an alarming rate.

On a sunny April morning, a boy walked from west to east along the Harajuku backstreets for a discounted morning coffee, and a girl walked from east to west along the same street to buy a letter stamp. The glimmer of lost memory illuminates two hearts in an instant. The two of them throbbed in their chests and learned:

She was 100 percent girl to me.

He was 100 percent boy to me.

However, the candlelight of the two people's memories was too faint, and their words were not as clear as they were fourteen years ago. As a result, without even saying a word, he passed by and disappeared into the crowd, forever and ever.

Don't you think it's a sentimental story?

Yes, I should have accosted her like that.