Ginko: I could've sworn I heard something... A strange sound that's going through the icy air of these hills. Was it just my imagination?
(distant sound)
Ginko: No, there it is again... It's coming from over there. Is that... a woman? (gasp) Rust...? What's going on here?
(screaming stops)
Ginko: It stopped...
MUSHI-SHI 23.
The Sound of Rust 錆の鳴く聲(さびのなくこえ)
Ginko: So, when did the illness first appear in this town?
Boss: I'd say it was about fourteen years ago. Since then, those afflicted complain about their skin. It appears healthy but is unnaturally hard in places. There's also a loss of mobility in the arms and legs. Many suffer from it. By far the worst case is an old friend of mine... He's so far gone that he can't get up anymore...
Ginko: Where is this friend of yours?
Boss: He and his wife live on the western edge of town. Their daughter lives there as well. The townspeople believe that she is the cause of the illness. Her name is Shige. Ever since she was born, everyone around her has come down with the illness one after another... I know that may sound strange, but it's the truth... For the past fourteen years, we've desperately tried to find the cause of all this, but we're no closer now than we were then. Years ago, the girl stopped talking. Since then, everyone has grown suspicious of her.
Maid: Here, that's for this month. I really don't understand the Master... I know he's good friends with your parents, but I just... I don't see why he takes pity on you. I wish he'd use that money to give us a raise instead. ... My, that's a pretty big hole, isn't it? Sorry, that's the only bag I have.
Tetsu: Shige! Here you go, use this. The townspeople never get tired of it, do they? You should give them a piece of your mind sometime. Those rumours are all lies, right? And even if they were true, it's not like you wanted your family and friends to get sick. About two years ago, a storm destroyed my village... Most of my family and friends were taken by it. That's why I decided to come here, to earn the money we used to rely on my father for. I did what I had to do to survive, like you. You have my respect for that.
Ginko: Hey.
Tetsu: Hm?
Ginko: I'd like to ask you a few things about that girl.
Tetsu: You're not one of those doctors called in by the Master? I don't know anything. She won't talk to me, either.
Man: Tetsu! What's keeping you?
Tetsu: Sorry! I'm coming!
Ginko: Hmm...
Shige's Father: Uhh... Shige. Welcome home...
Shige's Mother: Thank you... for helping...
Shige: (gasps)
Ginko: You're Shige... right? You can see this rust, can't you? My name's Ginko. I was summoned here to help find a cure. And know I don't blame you for it. This illness can be cured, but I need your help. Please, tell me about it. That's all I ask.
Ginko: That should be enough... This smoke should protect me, allow you to speak freely. I don't want to rust either, you know.
Shige: (coughs)
Ginko: See? Nothing happened.
Shige: Wait... The rust... you mean... you can see it?
Ginko: Yes, I can.
Ginko: That sound...
Shige: My voice is cursed... That's why earlier... I was screaming. I was trying to ruin it.
Ginko: It's so thick and raspy... unfitting for such a tiny body...
Shige: I kept screaming and screaming until my voice ended up the way it is now.
Ginko: ...yet it reverberated with such sweet, and arrogant overtones...
Shige: But still... no matter how much it changes, whenever I use my voice, it causes rust to appear.
Ginko: ...mysterious and strange, yet marvelous at the same time...
Shige's Father: Shige!
Shige: Daddy! Welcome home! (chuckles)
Shige's Father: Thank you. That doll... what is it?
Shige: (chuckles) It's my baby sister.
Shige's Father: Oh, I see...
Shige: Whenever I spoke, rust would form on the people and things around me... It's all I had ever known, so I thought that it was just the way things were, that it was the same for everyone.
Man: Hey Shige, why don't you sing for me?
Shige: People always asked me to sing, so I would. It seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do. Eventually, I noticed that no one else could see the rust. I was four when I realized that it was something bad. Everyone around me started having trouble moving their bodies. I decided to tell my mother and father about it.
Shige's Father: Shige, promise me. You'll never tell anyone else about this. If you do, we won't be able to stay here. Your mother and I can't work anymore... We're only able to get by because of the generosity shown to us by the Master of the big house. For now, we'll keep this a secret and remain here and accept their charity. The day will come when we can repay them... Until then, you must never use your voice... I'm sorry, Shige.
Shige: Since that day, I haven't spoken a word to anyone. That was ten years ago. Everyone here should despise me for what I've done... and for what I continue to do by remaining here with my family instead of leaving.
Ginko: Interesting... The sounds I hear when you speak... they're intriguing. I'm not even sure how you make them. Human vocal cords normal can't produce those types of overtones. Of course I suspect I hear your voice a bit differently the most. As it happens, I know another sound with similar qualities. This isn't rust. It's a mushi called a Yasabi, and it's alive.
Shige: A mushi?
Ginko: Some can see them, other people cannot. They are a different form of life. The Yasabi are normally harmless mushi that attach themselves to the bodies of dead animals and help with their decomposition. During this process, they create a specific sound. Your voice contains the same sound only amplified several hundredfold. Upon hearing it, the Yasabi come down from the mountains and gather here, believing there to be food. But because they find none, they attach themselves onto anything, including living beings. The solution... is to scatter.
Shige: (gasp) Is that possible?
Ginko: Yes. And beyond that, there should be a way to return your voice to normal, as well.
Ginko: They're on everything... Not too picky, are they...
Ginko: This entire town is covered with the rust color... Hm? Hey. It's cold out here. Why are you sitting in snow?
Tetsu: Oh, no reason...
Ginko: I see... You're not afraid of Shige, are you?
Tetsu: No. I've only lived in this town for two years, so I guess I never really believe that Shige is the cause of the illness. See ya...
Ginko: Yeah.
Ginko: That must be why he doesn't have a single Yasabi on him. You can see the ocean from here... Wait, could it be...?
Ginko: I thought so...
Shige: If everyone's illness can be cured, then I can finally speak again. I can thank Tetsu. I can thank him for everything with my own voice.
Shige: What?
Ginko: That's right. We're going to use your voice to get rid of the mushi. But then, after that, for everyone's safety, you're going to have to leave this town.
Shige: I understand. I'll do anything I can to help cure this illness. But...
Ginko: Hm?
Shige: Can I ask a favor of you? I'd like you to teach me how to write.
Boss: What?! You found what's causing this? Is it... Shige?
Ginko: No, that was nothing more than a rumor.
Tetsu: Wait... No, this way...?
Maid: Here... I'll read it for you.
Tetsu: No, give that back!
Maid: "If I talk, you will get sick, just like the others... I'm sorry. Thank you for everything."?! Tetsu! Who wrote this?! Tell me! Was it Shige?!
Tetsu: I told you! Give it back!
Maid: No. You've always been sympathetic towards her. This had to be Shige. I'm going to show this to the Master.
Tetsu: No, you can't!
Maid: Aagh!
Woman: Tetsu, what're you doing?!
Tetsu: I'm sorry about all this...
Man: Tetsu!
Maid: No need to go chasing him. Hurry, get that out of the fire!
Man: Right.
Maid: Damn that girl... I won't let her play innocent any longer!
Tetsu: (panting) Shige!
Shige's Mother: You've got to run away, Shige. Now! They'll all be coming for you soon... There's no way of knowing what they might do to you...
Shige: I can't... not yet! Ginko hasn't shown me how to chase away the mushi. I won't go...!
Ginko: Shige! You've got to get out of here. Wait for me over there, at that ridge. After I get these people under control, I'll meet you there and tell you how to get rid of the mushi!
Tetsu: I'll go, too. I can't stay in this town any longer... That ridge is in the same direction of my old village. It's dangerous to--
Ginko: Now you say that. You can do it, go.
Boss: Ginko, why?! Why are you protecting Shige?
Villager: Bring her to us!
Villager: She has to pay for what she's done!
Ginko: Getting rid of Shige is not going to cure the illness. It's not her fault. All she did was talk, laugh and sing... just like any other child would do. It's her voice... it contains a unique sound element. That's what attracted the illness here.
Villager: We don't give a damn about what the reason is! She is the one who caused this! How is she going to repay us?!
Ginko: She's been repaying you, silently, for the past ten years. If she had broken her silence and made up some sort of excuse, I'm sure she would've been able to deceive you. Instead, she carried the weight of her sin.
Villager: That doesn't mean we should forgive her! My child... she's the same age as Shige and she can't even walk!
Villager: My child's the same way!
Ginko: Look, I'm helping her to make amends. If it's her voice that brought the illness, it's her voice that can take it away. Wouldn't that make things even? Everyone who's been afflicted with this illness has shared the same pain...
Tetsu: Shige, 'bout that latter... The way it was written led me to believe you're going to leave town... Do you still plan on doing that even if the sickness is cured?
Shige: (nods)
Tetsu: Do you know where you'll go?
Shige: (shakes her head)
Tetsu: Well, would you like to come with me and live in my village? Now, most of the houses and boats were swept away... but everything is slowly being rebuilt. You should come. So what do you say?
Shige: (nods, crying)
Tetsu: Shige!
Ginko: They're not here... Did something happen?
Shige: I need to call for help... But my voice... Maybe from this distance...
Ginko: This illness can be cured.
Ginko: Shige! Tetsu!
(screaming)
Ginko: That unmistakable voice echoed through the mountains.
(screaming continues)
Villager: ...! My legs... feel lighter...
Villager: ...! So do mine...
Ginko: Hey! Shige! Are you two all right?
Shige: Tetsu, I'm sorry... so sorry... What have I done...? Now you're sick, too... (cries)
Ginko: No, he's just unconscious. Don't worry. I promise he won't get the illness.
Shige's Father: ...! Shige! You're all right! Look... our legs...!
Ginko: As it turned out, you did something that was very similar to what I had in mind from the beginning. The plan I devised was to have your voice echo through the mountains, which will cause the Yasabi gathered in this town to disperse. But the location you called out from had to be that ridge where I told you to meet me, with the view of the ocean behind it. Yasabi dislike salt and salt water. Hmph, the rust at the edge of town, closest where the ocean breezes blow in wasn't the Yasabi. It was plain rust. The reason Tetsu never got sick was because he was from a fishing village. Even after he came here, he continued to be exposed to the sea breeze while going back and forth to his old village. If you live near the sea, you can have a normal life, as well. But you've only scattered a small fraction of the mushi in this town. You'll have to repeat this, again and again, for decades in order to get rid of all of them. You might even wear your voice out before it's done.
Shige: Everything considered, I don't think I mind that. Although they're vague, I, too, have memories of this place before there was any rust here. Back in those days, I really loved this simple little town. I'll do anything I can to bring it back the way it was...
Ginko: After the girl left town, it's said that the sickness slowly went away.
Tetsu: Shige! You headed out to the ridge?
Shige: Mm-hmm.
Tetsu: I'll join you.
Ginko: Even now, the people of that town say they can still hear a voice, calling out somewhere in the distance. A strange, hoarse, yet familiar and lovely voice echoing through the mountains.
(distant sound)
Ginko: No, there it is again... It's coming from over there. Is that... a woman? (gasp) Rust...? What's going on here?
(screaming stops)
Ginko: It stopped...
MUSHI-SHI 23.
The Sound of Rust 錆の鳴く聲(さびのなくこえ)
Ginko: So, when did the illness first appear in this town?
Boss: I'd say it was about fourteen years ago. Since then, those afflicted complain about their skin. It appears healthy but is unnaturally hard in places. There's also a loss of mobility in the arms and legs. Many suffer from it. By far the worst case is an old friend of mine... He's so far gone that he can't get up anymore...
Ginko: Where is this friend of yours?
Boss: He and his wife live on the western edge of town. Their daughter lives there as well. The townspeople believe that she is the cause of the illness. Her name is Shige. Ever since she was born, everyone around her has come down with the illness one after another... I know that may sound strange, but it's the truth... For the past fourteen years, we've desperately tried to find the cause of all this, but we're no closer now than we were then. Years ago, the girl stopped talking. Since then, everyone has grown suspicious of her.
Maid: Here, that's for this month. I really don't understand the Master... I know he's good friends with your parents, but I just... I don't see why he takes pity on you. I wish he'd use that money to give us a raise instead. ... My, that's a pretty big hole, isn't it? Sorry, that's the only bag I have.
Tetsu: Shige! Here you go, use this. The townspeople never get tired of it, do they? You should give them a piece of your mind sometime. Those rumours are all lies, right? And even if they were true, it's not like you wanted your family and friends to get sick. About two years ago, a storm destroyed my village... Most of my family and friends were taken by it. That's why I decided to come here, to earn the money we used to rely on my father for. I did what I had to do to survive, like you. You have my respect for that.
Ginko: Hey.
Tetsu: Hm?
Ginko: I'd like to ask you a few things about that girl.
Tetsu: You're not one of those doctors called in by the Master? I don't know anything. She won't talk to me, either.
Man: Tetsu! What's keeping you?
Tetsu: Sorry! I'm coming!
Ginko: Hmm...
Shige's Father: Uhh... Shige. Welcome home...
Shige's Mother: Thank you... for helping...
Shige: (gasps)
Ginko: You're Shige... right? You can see this rust, can't you? My name's Ginko. I was summoned here to help find a cure. And know I don't blame you for it. This illness can be cured, but I need your help. Please, tell me about it. That's all I ask.
Ginko: That should be enough... This smoke should protect me, allow you to speak freely. I don't want to rust either, you know.
Shige: (coughs)
Ginko: See? Nothing happened.
Shige: Wait... The rust... you mean... you can see it?
Ginko: Yes, I can.
Ginko: That sound...
Shige: My voice is cursed... That's why earlier... I was screaming. I was trying to ruin it.
Ginko: It's so thick and raspy... unfitting for such a tiny body...
Shige: I kept screaming and screaming until my voice ended up the way it is now.
Ginko: ...yet it reverberated with such sweet, and arrogant overtones...
Shige: But still... no matter how much it changes, whenever I use my voice, it causes rust to appear.
Ginko: ...mysterious and strange, yet marvelous at the same time...
Shige's Father: Shige!
Shige: Daddy! Welcome home! (chuckles)
Shige's Father: Thank you. That doll... what is it?
Shige: (chuckles) It's my baby sister.
Shige's Father: Oh, I see...
Shige: Whenever I spoke, rust would form on the people and things around me... It's all I had ever known, so I thought that it was just the way things were, that it was the same for everyone.
Man: Hey Shige, why don't you sing for me?
Shige: People always asked me to sing, so I would. It seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do. Eventually, I noticed that no one else could see the rust. I was four when I realized that it was something bad. Everyone around me started having trouble moving their bodies. I decided to tell my mother and father about it.
Shige's Father: Shige, promise me. You'll never tell anyone else about this. If you do, we won't be able to stay here. Your mother and I can't work anymore... We're only able to get by because of the generosity shown to us by the Master of the big house. For now, we'll keep this a secret and remain here and accept their charity. The day will come when we can repay them... Until then, you must never use your voice... I'm sorry, Shige.
Shige: Since that day, I haven't spoken a word to anyone. That was ten years ago. Everyone here should despise me for what I've done... and for what I continue to do by remaining here with my family instead of leaving.
Ginko: Interesting... The sounds I hear when you speak... they're intriguing. I'm not even sure how you make them. Human vocal cords normal can't produce those types of overtones. Of course I suspect I hear your voice a bit differently the most. As it happens, I know another sound with similar qualities. This isn't rust. It's a mushi called a Yasabi, and it's alive.
Shige: A mushi?
Ginko: Some can see them, other people cannot. They are a different form of life. The Yasabi are normally harmless mushi that attach themselves to the bodies of dead animals and help with their decomposition. During this process, they create a specific sound. Your voice contains the same sound only amplified several hundredfold. Upon hearing it, the Yasabi come down from the mountains and gather here, believing there to be food. But because they find none, they attach themselves onto anything, including living beings. The solution... is to scatter.
Shige: (gasp) Is that possible?
Ginko: Yes. And beyond that, there should be a way to return your voice to normal, as well.
Ginko: They're on everything... Not too picky, are they...
Ginko: This entire town is covered with the rust color... Hm? Hey. It's cold out here. Why are you sitting in snow?
Tetsu: Oh, no reason...
Ginko: I see... You're not afraid of Shige, are you?
Tetsu: No. I've only lived in this town for two years, so I guess I never really believe that Shige is the cause of the illness. See ya...
Ginko: Yeah.
Ginko: That must be why he doesn't have a single Yasabi on him. You can see the ocean from here... Wait, could it be...?
Ginko: I thought so...
Shige: If everyone's illness can be cured, then I can finally speak again. I can thank Tetsu. I can thank him for everything with my own voice.
Shige: What?
Ginko: That's right. We're going to use your voice to get rid of the mushi. But then, after that, for everyone's safety, you're going to have to leave this town.
Shige: I understand. I'll do anything I can to help cure this illness. But...
Ginko: Hm?
Shige: Can I ask a favor of you? I'd like you to teach me how to write.
Tetsu: Hm? Hey there. Oh yeah, my handkerchief... Thank you. Hey!
Boss: What?! You found what's causing this? Is it... Shige?
Ginko: No, that was nothing more than a rumor.
Tetsu: Wait... No, this way...?
Maid: Here... I'll read it for you.
Tetsu: No, give that back!
Maid: "If I talk, you will get sick, just like the others... I'm sorry. Thank you for everything."?! Tetsu! Who wrote this?! Tell me! Was it Shige?!
Tetsu: I told you! Give it back!
Maid: No. You've always been sympathetic towards her. This had to be Shige. I'm going to show this to the Master.
Tetsu: No, you can't!
Maid: Aagh!
Woman: Tetsu, what're you doing?!
Tetsu: I'm sorry about all this...
Man: Tetsu!
Maid: No need to go chasing him. Hurry, get that out of the fire!
Man: Right.
Maid: Damn that girl... I won't let her play innocent any longer!
Tetsu: (panting) Shige!
Shige's Mother: You've got to run away, Shige. Now! They'll all be coming for you soon... There's no way of knowing what they might do to you...
Shige: I can't... not yet! Ginko hasn't shown me how to chase away the mushi. I won't go...!
Ginko: Shige! You've got to get out of here. Wait for me over there, at that ridge. After I get these people under control, I'll meet you there and tell you how to get rid of the mushi!
Tetsu: I'll go, too. I can't stay in this town any longer... That ridge is in the same direction of my old village. It's dangerous to--
Ginko: Now you say that. You can do it, go.
Boss: Ginko, why?! Why are you protecting Shige?
Villager: Bring her to us!
Villager: She has to pay for what she's done!
Ginko: Getting rid of Shige is not going to cure the illness. It's not her fault. All she did was talk, laugh and sing... just like any other child would do. It's her voice... it contains a unique sound element. That's what attracted the illness here.
Villager: We don't give a damn about what the reason is! She is the one who caused this! How is she going to repay us?!
Ginko: She's been repaying you, silently, for the past ten years. If she had broken her silence and made up some sort of excuse, I'm sure she would've been able to deceive you. Instead, she carried the weight of her sin.
Villager: That doesn't mean we should forgive her! My child... she's the same age as Shige and she can't even walk!
Villager: My child's the same way!
Ginko: Look, I'm helping her to make amends. If it's her voice that brought the illness, it's her voice that can take it away. Wouldn't that make things even? Everyone who's been afflicted with this illness has shared the same pain...
Tetsu: Shige, 'bout that latter... The way it was written led me to believe you're going to leave town... Do you still plan on doing that even if the sickness is cured?
Shige: (nods)
Tetsu: Do you know where you'll go?
Shige: (shakes her head)
Tetsu: Well, would you like to come with me and live in my village? Now, most of the houses and boats were swept away... but everything is slowly being rebuilt. You should come. So what do you say?
Shige: (nods, crying)
Tetsu: Shige!
Ginko: They're not here... Did something happen?
Shige: I need to call for help... But my voice... Maybe from this distance...
Ginko: This illness can be cured.
Ginko: Shige! Tetsu!
(screaming)
Ginko: That unmistakable voice echoed through the mountains.
(screaming continues)
Villager: ...! My legs... feel lighter...
Villager: ...! So do mine...
Ginko: Hey! Shige! Are you two all right?
Shige: Tetsu, I'm sorry... so sorry... What have I done...? Now you're sick, too... (cries)
Ginko: No, he's just unconscious. Don't worry. I promise he won't get the illness.
Shige's Father: ...! Shige! You're all right! Look... our legs...!
Ginko: As it turned out, you did something that was very similar to what I had in mind from the beginning. The plan I devised was to have your voice echo through the mountains, which will cause the Yasabi gathered in this town to disperse. But the location you called out from had to be that ridge where I told you to meet me, with the view of the ocean behind it. Yasabi dislike salt and salt water. Hmph, the rust at the edge of town, closest where the ocean breezes blow in wasn't the Yasabi. It was plain rust. The reason Tetsu never got sick was because he was from a fishing village. Even after he came here, he continued to be exposed to the sea breeze while going back and forth to his old village. If you live near the sea, you can have a normal life, as well. But you've only scattered a small fraction of the mushi in this town. You'll have to repeat this, again and again, for decades in order to get rid of all of them. You might even wear your voice out before it's done.
Shige: Everything considered, I don't think I mind that. Although they're vague, I, too, have memories of this place before there was any rust here. Back in those days, I really loved this simple little town. I'll do anything I can to bring it back the way it was...
Ginko: After the girl left town, it's said that the sickness slowly went away.
Tetsu: Shige! You headed out to the ridge?
Shige: Mm-hmm.
Tetsu: I'll join you.
Ginko: Even now, the people of that town say they can still hear a voice, calling out somewhere in the distance. A strange, hoarse, yet familiar and lovely voice echoing through the mountains.