Chapter 2
The events and feelings of the first day a person becomes closely involved in our life inevitably leave an indelible impression in our memory.
That navy-blue outfit with the white floral pattern, and the white hat and shoes, was the first time that the clothes a woman was wearing had made such an impression upon me.
I thought the outfit was proud and dignified.
Mom Ratchawong Kirati was slightly plump without being large.
She had a healthy, radiant look about her, with a soft complexion.
Having seen her from close quarters on several occasions, I was even more convinced of her beauty.
Her large black eyes sparkled beneath long eyebrows, and her cheeks glowed with health.
Her tiny chin curved upwards, slightly, and had a lovely dimple on it.
Her lips were long and slender, forming two red triangles at the top, with a third beneath, unparalleled in their beauty.
I have to confess I had never seen such a beautiful pair of lips above such a small chin.
I knew perfectly well that Chao Khun was a fine man, and I had the utmost respect for him.
But despite this, I could not help but wonder what on earth had encouraged such beauty to marry an old man of more than fifty.
I felt curious, like any young man who wants to know and understand what is going on around him.
But only in a casual way, and it had nothing to do with any personal feelings for anyone.
I noticed that Mom Ratchawong Kirati appeared happy and contented in her newly married state, and this aroused my curiosity further.
I was certain she was not a widow, because of her fresh and radiant appearance.
Mom Ratchawong Kirati was a quiet person, as Chao Khun had previously informed me.
On the journey from Tokyo Station to the house, which took about twenty minutes, she had spoken to me a couple of times.
When we arrived, I realized that she was even more delighted with the house I had arranged for them than was Chao Khun.
There was no doubt that she was thrilled, but she kept her feelings in check as she wandered gracefully from room to room, admiring the furnishings in a leisurely manner.
She spoke little and infrequently, yet I could see the happiness in her eyes.
I was aware, then, that she was unlike most other women I had ever met.
During dinner Mom Ratchawong Kirati inquired a little about my studies and my life in Japan.
I was surprised that, unlike most visitors, she did not ask about the entertainments and exciting things Tokyo had to offer, but instead listened with a smile as Chao Khun and I chatted.
She seemed to be older than I was, so I felt respect for her.
Yet her youth and good looks still left me intrigued.
Chao Khun’s trip to Tokyo with his wife happened to coincide with the hot season.
The university term had recently ended, so I was completely free.
It was an excellent opportunity for me to put myself at his disposal, as and when he required me.
Chao Khun was less than delighted to find Tokyo as hot as Bangkok in April.
However, it had been his decision, and not my advice.
But once he learned that by visiting Tokyo in the hot season, he was gaining the benefit of his trip coinciding with my university vacation, which could prove very useful for him, he was content.
I spent almost the whole of the first week with the couple.
There were only two or three occasions when I did not have lunch or dinner with them.
At the beginning of his stay, Chao Khun had to call on various Japanese and Thai friends, including the Ambassador.
In addition, he wanted to see what was going on in the country and to visit various places, as is only natural for someone visiting a country for the first time.
I had to act as his regular guide, because, without a guide who could speak Japanese, getting about would have been difficult.
During that first week he attended several parties arranged in his honour by Thai and Japanese friends.
There were a considerable number of people at each party, and I had the opportunity to be present on each occasion.
Thus it was that, within the space of a single week, almost all the Thais living in Japan had had the chance to meet the couple.
I knew that many were pleased to make the acquaintance of Chao Khun Atthikanbodi.
But I was also aware that everyone was even more taken with Mom Ratchawong Kirati, even though she had hardly known anyone beforehand.
She told me afterwards that it would take her very little time to count up all the people she knew in Bangkok.
This does not mean that Chao Khun did not match up to his wife.
As I have already said, he was a fine person.
But Mom Ratchawong Kirati was a woman of exceptional charm, and so people reacted to them with different degrees of appreciation.
The men were delighted to see such a good-looking Thai woman as Mom Ratchawong Kirati come out from Thailand to visit Tokyo.
It made them feel proud to see the Japanese gazing in admiration at the beauty of one of our women, a beauty which perhaps goes deeper than we realize.
The Thai women present were no less curious and interested in her, but naturally they did not make a great deal of fuss.
They, and some of the men, too, came up and asked me about Mom Ratchawong Kirati’s background, prior to her marriage to Chao Khun Atthikanbodi.
At the time I was still unable to give any answer.
The one thing which puzzled all of them was what it was that had persuaded her to marry her husband.
People guessed that she could be no more than twenty-eight.
They could not get over the fact that a beautiful and charming young woman had married a gentleman in his fifties, even if he was a fine man with the dignity and bearing of his years.
I myself, however, felt especially proud at the honour of being almost her bodyguard.
It seemed to me that she must have been aware of how much everyone liked her.
It was true that she was often quiet, but everyone could see the happiness that filled her pale pink face.
As a result of spending almost all day with the couple, nearly every day, a sort of intimacy between myself and Mom Ratchawong Kirati developed rather quickly.
I become fond of people quickly, and everyone would consider Mom Ratchawong Kirati someone one could easily become fond of.
Whenever I had the chance to be near her, she would often show touches of kindness towards me, serving me, for example, when we were eating, as if I were a child.
On one occasion she noticed the stitching was coming loose on my tie, so she told me to take it off and then mended it herself.
Another time she noticed some mud on the cuff of my jacket and then took it away and brushed it for me.
Normally I took scant interest in such matters, nor in such little kindnesses.
However, as I had been abroad for three years, with no family to pamper me, preoccupied with my studies and leading a frugal and barren existence, it had been so long since I had encountered such thoughtfulness.
Meeting it at a time when I was lonely, I found, made an even greater impression upon me.
This, I felt, was strange. I could not explain why, when Mom Ratchawong Kirati was stitching my tie and I sat waiting quietly, answering her occasional questions, I had felt so happy.