dandelions, yasunari kawabata

"Why do you suppose people who have lost their minds would want to carve their names, Mr. Kuno, on a tree in the asylum that houses them?"

"Hard to say. Maybe because they're in an asylum. And because the tree's there.""

"I wish our sounds carried far enough to reach Ineko, at the clinic.

I'd like to stay up through this quiet night, until morning, talking that way with Ineko. A distant talk."

"Oh?" Ineko's mother murmured. "Perhaps I should be quiet, then."

"No, not at all. Whatever you may be saying, I can still have my distant talk with Ineko."

"It would be nice if you could."