Carpe Diem
Essey in English

A lullaby of New York                          by Teo

I lined up on the entrance duty counter of La Guardia Airport of New York while beating pit-a-pat. It was the first overseas visit for me. Because it is the New York of the world, I had read　manuals of the trip to some extent and I had seen the maps and the photographs since a child. However, even if I can use English in reading,, this was the first time to use the English for real life.

Mr.T who came together with me as a business partner, says his visiting U.S.A. was the second time. So, He was more better than me, I relies on him. According to the guidebook, I am to be asked " Have you anything to declare? " by the duty. In other words, I am to be asked about whether I have an article becoming some tax taxation object.  Because I carried only a camera with me, "no" was good replying. However, the duty official of the tall man who wore a short-sleeved shirt with the epaulet spoke something rapidly while watching my brand-new passport.. "How long do you stay in U.S.A.?" It was different from a guidebook, I never found such words in the guidebook! (It should be still March 16 in New York for difference in time today, because yesterday we left Narita airport of the heavy guard in the evening of March 16. And our schedule is ten days?） When I answered with "ten days", the man asks me "What's your purpose?" again. “ Is it business?” I said "yes, business". He asks " What's kind of business? ".  I replied " electronics". The tall man of the hat wrote down "Until 16 in April" on the passport while nodding "Hah Hahn" . No! Was my pronunciation bad? We could not be so long time in U.S.A. Therefore I said "Until　26．March". He replied "I know it. It's my justice." while pointing to an exit, He said "Nice stay!", I followed him with my question. 

　It was what I knew later, the reason seemed that he protects to the difficult situation which came out later if it passed the time limit by accidents from unexpected circumstances. There will be enough room on the stay days if it passed. He exercised tact!

At the airport, Mr.I who belonged to the trading firm came to pick us up. It was our first meeting, with him, but He was a pale-complexioned openhearted young man. We went to the parking together and enter the highway with a huge Lincoln. 　The cars obeyed "one by one rule” at the junction. Every one of them joined in turn. It was different from Tokyo where cars entered the junction scramble for the order. As was expected, it was a car developed nation! Good!

After we entered an underground road and left a tunnel, a bridge and high-rise buildings of Manhattan were veiled over there. It was already dusk. The lights had begun to light.  While we enjoyed the scenery of the car windows, we were going in the downtown of the rush hour crossing the longed-for Hudson. We spun around on the ways of the one way and arrived at the Kitano hotel where PanAm Building was seen in front of eyes. Japanese management?

　We finished check-in and entered in the big classic room. When I opened a window and looked down at the bottom of the streets, car-lights and the horn sounds of the car wriggled in the valley of the high-rise buildings. Pi-Poe, Pi-Poe, the sound of the siren of the police car rose up from the bottom. What a noisy town New York! New York is alive. And I am now in New York!  I telephoned Mr.T's next room and induced him to supper. Changing our suits into a jacket and a jeans of the everyday wear, we went out to the city. If we wore suits and were looked like bumpkins, we might be attacked by someone. and we were unbearable to it.

To see a map, we weny towards straight Times square across the 43rd street. Rag cars were parked on both sides of the way where were full of wastepaper. There were awfully many Japanese cars. There were shops such as restaurants on the outskirts of the town here and there, and lights leak. The pickles which soaked red and yellow vegetables and fruits in wide mouthed bottles on glass windows were arranged. 　We appeared suddenly in the dazzling main street of the neon-lit when we went ahead through the dark way between the buildings of the timeworn brick color. This was Times Square. It was the mysterious town for me which I felt that already I had been here many times. The town of the acoustic floods, persons of various races, various cars, and various performances. The people who crossed the main street at the red light signals unconcernedly. Police cars and policemen. There were a lot of guys who ask us a course. We already assimilated them. 　I looked to Radio city, Carnegie hall for the first time, but they had never been the first time. We entered a shop of the 8 millimeters cinema and bought some lower price used film after the negotiations. But, "how do you carry them home (Japan!) with me against the rules?"

　I went to a bookstore and looked for the best seller. Because there were many people, I could not search it enough. Because there was no help for it, I looked for record corners. I found the recording of the old radio theater when I looked in the record section. 　"Treasure Island" by Orson Wells. It was the recording of the air program from the NBC radio London of the time when I was born in 1937. I was glad and buy it.
Coming up to the main street again and talking with Mr.T that we had vacant stomachs, we met with black man who put a cassette radio on the roadside in the street and sounded music "Hey hey on Sunday・・・・・・" now on the boom, and he jumped up and down and dances on the step of the border of a road and the sidewalk. A guy who went mincingly. A guy to hang around. The town was the place where only eyes shone in the dark.

We decided to look even a show and watch a poster at an entrance to the basement. A little old man who put on a hat and dressed in the suit that did not fit him, told us in the baby talk English that was similar to us. 　"Is this show safety? Is not cheating? Do you enter? “ (We couldn't talk to you about such a thing, if you asked us). Is he a Mexican? or Argentina?) He was wary about that the show would take out expensive money, and he was shown a dull movie and over. He was excellent! "Cinema and live-show. May be OK. Let 's go with us!" When we went down the stairs while saying and standing in front of the ticket counter, the old man still fidgeted. Locking at us buying tickets, "You'll be cheating" he went out with a parting shot. It might be so!  Oh, I said that still, he was a pretty old man. I could not hate it!

The movie and the show were not bogus after all. But because several people of the visitor of the front row laughed at the show at the one of the live show being on the way, a black man on the stage stopped an act and stood up in a naked sword and saying that "we show you a holy thing and will not show it to such a laughing visitor! ", and went out to back stage with anger taking the hand of the white partner woman and broke up. As was expected, it was New York! I liked it. But still, that was huge! !

　We came back through the way where we came to and ate Italian food at a restaurant with pickles show windows of on the way. I could not understand the name of the cooking, but ordering it after hearing the kind of materials and the source, it was not a far-off thing from our fitting. The cook and wine were delicious. We returned to the hotel, but it was too early to sleep. We must leave for the place called Burlington of the State of Vermont by an airplane of the tomorrow evening, but there will be enough time. It is Saturday today. When we asked whether there was any safe bar in the near here the hotel, hotel man taught us that bars on the one more over road side might be safe. There seemed to be several houses. This was an adventure too. We went out.
I remembered that when I left the company, our office women made fun of us "Mr.T and Mr.K would be a couple of American yaji-kita(famous odd combi) journeys". I took it all true. They watched us so precisely!

We hung around about gloomy passages for just what which was a bar. There was not neon and did not show average over glass. It was totally different from a state of Yokohama, Kawasaki only by light of gloomy tungsten lamp lighting up the small signboard of the bar. There was a shop that seemed to be a bar with the door of a solid arched tree which wrote as "David Copperfield" in embossing characters of the brass. The door was one step below the sidewalk. There was a quiet atmosphere.　"We will do it here." It was the name of the chief character of the Dickens novel. I miss you. I seemed to have come across the person whom I knew. The inside was full of a lot of people when I opened a door with the sound "Guy". Men sitting on a bar of the left watched us all at once. It would be a feeling to meet an improper Oriental. An old man played the piano with the sound “boron, boron” in the right depths. Around the piano, big and small tables were arranged  and many people regardless of age or sex did it noisily. 　Looking us who stood at the entrance, two young men of the bow tie of the shop guided us on a double table. We engaged Scotch Whiskey and water and toasted them by the candle of the table. 　The terribly beautiful woman who was not so tall came to our table while saying "May I?", and taking the chair of the side and sat down on our table and talks in English. "Are you Japanese?" "I am Ann. Do you know the Ginza-Siseido?" she asked. 　"I have been there before". Do not you know the Sachiko- san? She is a friend." "From where? Hum, Tokyo. Is it business? Hum Electronics is a good business. My husband works in Tzenis company. Do you know Tzenis company? Fine. You are Toshiba. I know Toshiba. A good company. They have nice TV sets. But does not Japan do dumping? The TV set was high price in Tokyo." This woman tolk so much! 　It was dull to do the argument about a trade friction with such an attractive brunette beautiful woman, but it was some kind of fate. Even though I said that we never do dumping, and it was cheaper in Tokyo, she believed in U.S.A. and does not doubt it.

An another woman who wore an evening dress came out in front of the piano soon and had begun to sing arias. All the songs of the piano accompaniment might be classical music of Europe origin. It seemed to be the thing which the student of the music school sang as a semiprofessional of the part-time job. After singing while, the woman said that it was a break for 30 minutes and withdrawed. In addition, conversations returned in many places. Good-natured drunkenness turned around me. The pianist played it calmly as ever.

I stood up and went towards the piano with playfulness and timidly asked the old man pianist. "May I sing something?" The pianist said openheartedly "sure, and what ? " I said " Because anything is aimless, may you show me a considered score for me? ". But there was not the thing for me which seemed to be able to sing.  I became ashamed. I thought that only the song which matched with a tendency of the surround atmosphere might be passable. At once I said to him whether Irish lullaby was good or not. The pianist fliped the phrase of the beginning of the piano accompaniment, and asked me "Is this?", I nodded. Then, I sang it with a thoughtfully manner in the original language. "lullar lullar lullar, lullar lullaby, lullar luller lullar, hash don't be cry ・・・・・lullar lullar lullar that's Irish lullaby". When it finished singing, all stood up, and there ware Bravos, applauses and toasted. It made a fuss! "Where do you learn?" "are you a singer? " "Come and join our table." 　While saying "I am the manager of him.", Mr.T was too  mobbed. The beautiful woman while ago came to call me and Mr.T. There were her Tzenis husband, their parents, and their children around the table. She introduced all by one and toasted it. They said to have come to enjoy the weekend with a family from Philadelphia. In addition, I toasted it. To the next table. In addition, I toasted it. We were entertained with many families and in many tables and felt dizzy. But why?
When we went to calculate it, it was only for one cup of Water-and-Scotch Whiskey.  We were sent by everybody's applause, and left the shop, but I was still in the feeling as cheated by a fox.

　On the next morning, we took the breakfast of New York early and left the hotel. I wanted to buy an exercise device of the contract-bridges in a toy shop and the tennis racket in a depart shop. Mr.T wished a golf club of Wilson’s. 　A large number of crowds gathered when we went towards famous Fifth Avenue. The street vender appeared, too. They sold green badges and Budweiser. They fit green badges or green scarf on them and enjoyed the festive mood in old days. A parade cames over with a big brass band when I was surprised the crowds. The Boy Scout, the Girl Scouts, the group of men and women whom self-disguised, all with green symbol other than the flag of New York of the red cross mark on the white cloth background. Soon, The group that carried such a demonstrators which raised "Scotch return soon!" came over. Applause happened. On again another drop curtain "Congratulation! St.Patrick Day!", I got it! The circumstances was finally readable! By March 17, it was the St. Patrick day today. He was a saint from Ireland. Therefore it was a festival of the people who emigrated from Ireland on that day! Alias "an Irish-day!" 　The big St. Patrick church in the middle of New York city was opened to public too on that day. I was overwhelmed by the row of people and enter in the church. A pitch-black large dome. The worship seats which seemed to be several thousand. Light of candles. Voice of the mass. The line was sent up by the exit of the other side. Emotion!

They said that Irish-people lived in The United States gathered here New York city on that day. At last I understood it! It was the bar where Irish people gathered in last night! What a miraculous chance! It was just Irish lullaby specially! Was the Dickens an Irishman? The name of that bar "David Copperfield by the Dickens’s came from Ireland?  If I sang a Scottish folk songs accidentally, we might spilled out the bar with stones; It was good!

　The lullaby of the mother country sang by a Japanese who came from the far-off country attached a flower to Eve of the Irish day!   “Irish banzai!” And "Give Saint Patrick our blessing!"

（October 26, 1991）(English version :March 26, 2008)