* * * * * * * Marginal by Hagio Moto Chapter 2: Asijin's Cavern Translation by Emily Horner --Come on, stand up! --This side's still heavier! --Put on another of those crystals! --There, they're balanced. He's light! --At this weight, he's not worth a quarter of a cow! --There's one thing that bothers me about him, as a prostitute. --Are you trying to bring bad luck to my prey? --Go on and say it! --You see, it's his skin. After a kid's lost his color, his skin should be pure white, so transparent you could see his veins. <> --This one's too dark. --You're one to talk! --I'm an adult, so it's normal that I'm darker. When I was his age, my skin was as white as the snow on the mountains. With that skin and my black hair, the adults used to fight over me! --That was a long time ago! --He used to be rich. --I don't like the color of his lips, either. They're too pale. --They'll turn red if you kiss him! --That's a good thing, right? --It's-- <> --Why you little-- --He doesn't want you! --Look! He's got fangs! --What? --Show me where he bit you. --He drew blood from my index finger! <> --Make him open his mouth. --He'll bite me! --Open it! Hold down his head. --Wow...he's like a cheetah. --Or a cat... --A cat? --Didn't you hear the stories about monsters starting to roam the desert, after Mother's death? --A monster? He's nothing but a prostitute we found tied to a pillar. --Humans don't have fangs, just front teeth and molars! Why does this one have fangs? Is it some kind of demon curse? --What are you so scared of? --Pull out his teeth! --Right! There's nothing we, the Black Cloaks, can't handle! --But what if we get cursed too, by pulling out his teeth? --Shaddup! If you're scared, get out! --What is that? Oil? --Aaah! --Fire! Fire! --Get water! That's wine, you idiot! --It's a curse! A curse! Asijin : You thieving bastards! --We're under attack! --Don't run away, there are only two of them! Asijin : Go ahead and try me! Asijin : I am Asijin the Deathless, of the moon cavern! --Asijin...the Deathless. --Don't get involved with this, brother! He's the cursed one! <> Boy : Marm! Grinja : This way! Boy : Where is everyone? Save them! Kira...where's Kira? --Asijin the Deathless? Don't make me laugh! And you live in a different cave every time! Asijin : I'll give you something good. <> Asijin : You'll be dead in three days. You shouldn't steal someone else's prostitute! --Don't touch him! --Don't go near him, you'll be cursed! <> Grinja : Are you all right? Asijin : Yes. Let's go! Boy : Kira's in there! Grinja : Calm down, there's no one there. Boy : Help them! Asijin : What's wrong? Grinja : He's excited about something, I'm not sure what. Will that man be dead in three days? Asijin : No. It was only a threat. Asijin : To get that taste out of my mouth-- Grinja : Watch out! He has fangs. Asijin : Fangs? Something's wrong with his mouth. Grinja : It looks like the incide of his mouth is cut. Don't spit out your blood. Swallow it. <> Asijin : What's his name? He said something before about a 'Kira'... Boy : Kira! Grinja : I picked him up in the desert two days ago. Asijin : Picked him up? Grinja : In the desert, he was hit by a fever and forgot everything, including his name. He doesn't talk much. Asijin : Oh. A lost child with fangs...Kira! Kira : Kira? <> Asijin : My land is ahead of those mountains. I won't invite you to come any further. Thank you. Now let me have him. Come, Kira! Grinja : Go on! Kira : No! Grinja! Kira : Grinja! Asijin : The sand-cow is yours, and he's mine. I made a good trade today. <> Asijin : This is my cavern. There's a spring here. It's a nice place to live. <> Asijin : Have you been good and guarded my cavern while I was away? <> Asijin : Now that they know your scent, they won't harm you as long as you're quiet. However, if you try to leave by yourself, you'll be their dinner before you take three steps. All right? This is the bedroom. Go in and go to sleep; I'll make some tea. <> Kira : Water. Asijin : You can drink all you like. Don't churn up the water, Kira. {The inside of his mouth was cut. I should get some medicine...} <> Kira : Ah! Asijin : What is it? Kira? Asijin : Don't move! Look at that wall! Right where the black earth swells up, there's a nest of black spiders. Come on! Spiders hate this sound. Can't you stand up? Did it bite you? Asijin : Hold still. <> Asijin : {I don't have any Konea seeds, the antidote! Is there still some on the mountain?} Asijin : {No, it's gone.} Asijin : What are you doing here? Grinja : Shouldn't I be here? Is this your land? Asijin : Do you have any Konea seeds, the antidote to poison? Grinja : I have some Lyg; that's what's used in my village. Asijin : Does it work? Grinja : It works. Asijin : I invite you to my cavern. Grinja : Why do you need an antidote? Asijin : The prostitute I bought was bitten by a poisonous spider. Grinja : The lost child? Asijin : Kira. There's a nest of black spiders inside. Grinja : They often live in dangerous places like that. Asijin : That's right. So outsiders don't come near it. <> Asijin : Stay down, he's our guest. This way. Grinja : Do you have hot water? Asjin : It's heating now. Grinja : Heat it more, and get some light! Asijin : Is it too late? Grinja : I don't know. Even an adult would die, in half a day. Asijin : Where's the medicine? Did he drink it? Grinja : Because of the poison, he doesn't have the strength to drink. This kind of antidote is absorbed through the mucous membrane. Grind this up and boil it in half a cup of water for two hours. Grinja : What about the wound? Asijin : I cut it with a knife and sucked out the poison. Grinja : Put the knife in the fire. I'll burn the wound and apply oil and mucous to it. Asijin : Won't that be very hot? Grinja : No. The lower half of his body is paralyzed from the poison. Asijin : And this? Grinja : You drink half. You sucked the poisoned blood, so if you don't drink the antidote it will affect your eyes within two or three days. Asijin : My eyes? Grinja : It tastes awful, so wrap it in some cheese. Asijin : What's that? Grinja : His heart stopped. Asijin : And now? Grinja : It's beating again. Asijin : Will he live? Grinja : If he makes it through the night. Asijin : Are you a doctor? Grinja : An herbalist. I come from a village of doctors. Asijin : His sweat smells strange. Grinja : Help me wipe him off with a cloth and warm water. <> Asijin : The cloth's all black. Grinja : Throw it away and get a new one. He'll break out in sweats two or three times before morning. Don't poisonous spiders come over here? Asijin : They live deeper in the cavern. I've put a scent that spiders hate on a slab of rock that acts as a boundary. Grinja : Have you lived here long? Asijin : The village is nearby. Asijin : My uncle lived here before me. He had no children or people he cared about; he just read books. Grinja : There's something strange about you. Asijin : I barely escaped death once. When I was seven or eight, I fell from a cliff and was badly hurt. My forehead split in two. Asijin : My brain was badly shaken up. Grinja : You're lucky to be alive. Asijin : Right at that time, a small Machina came down and descended into the village. Grinja : A Machina came down? Asijin : People from the Center came out and put me in a silver box. <> Grinja : That doesn't seem as if it could be true. Asijin : Everyone in the village thought that I had died, and the Center was carrying away my corpse. But the doctors at the Center performed surgery on me, and I came back to life. I stayed in a room in the Center for half a year. Grinja : The medical center... Asijin : Right. After six months, my father was called to the City and gratefully took me back to my village. I saw my own grave...but I was still a child, and grew up well cared for. Asijin : When my skin started to lighten, my crescent-moon scar stood out conspicuously on my forehead, and people were afraid of me. They said that they'd fall sick or get hurt if they touched me. My father entrusted me to his younger brother, who lived in this cavern. I asked him to become my (Nenja?), but he refused. My uncle was strange. He loved me as his own son, but he had a dream that was odd indeed. <> Asijin : He was looking for a "woman." Grinja : A "woman"? Asijin : A human who can give birth to children. Grinja : You mean Mother? Asijin : She isn't a woman. He meant...giving birth as a result of a sexual union. Grinja : You mean, a female? But that's just for animals! Humans and beasts are different! <> Asijin : That's right. He was a strange person. He died two years ago. Should we wipe away his sweat? Grinja : Yes. Kira : No... Grinja : He's talking in his sleep. Kira : The next checkpoint. Yes. Lady...recite the four great civilizations. Tigris. The Yellow River. Indus. Chapter 8. Then nothing more. A new religion. Mother. Be fruitful and multiply. Adam and Eve, and Eden is here... Asijin : He's talking a lot. Grinja : It's because of his fever. Kira : Columbus and the egg. Magellan did it...Houston, launch...2999 A.D. Repeat...input...you can sleep now. Grinja : You can sleep now. Kira : All right... Asijin : What was he talking about? 2999? Colum gave an egg to Magellan? Grinja : I don't know. He was only talking in his sleep.