Epilogue
The snow-topped mountain sparkled in the golden light of the setting sun. Flying around it was easier, sure, but you would miss this spectacular sight. She always made sure to make this part of the journey in the evening, just to see the mountain at its most beautiful.
It was even better up close. The shadows from the setting sun threw into sharp relief the glistening peaks and ridges that flew past underwing. As she crested the summit, the forest came into view, its vibrance heightened ever so slightly by the soft evening light.
The mountain took a while to fly over, and the light didn’t last forever. Gradually, as the last of the sun’s light dipped below the western horizon behind her, the full moon rose with a proud grace over a hill in the distance. As much as the waning sunlight had been beautiful, the gentle moonlight that washed over the forest in calming waves felt far more majestic.
With the full moon now fully fixed in the firmament, the song thrush glided past the foothills and over the forest itself. High over the treetops she soared, gazing down and marvelling at the stillness that nighttime brought.
She rose up higher into the cloudless sky until the sounds of nocturnal insects faded and she was awash in serene, selenian beauty. The west wind aided her onward, filling her wings and pushing her towards her distant home.
From up here, the song thrush could see for miles around, but it was a most peculiar sight indeed that caught her attention. In a meadow just east of the forest were six or seven concentric rings of shapes. It was hard to count, since the outer rings blurred into each other. As she got closer, she realised the shapes were animals of all different species, about an entire forest’s worth, she thought. Some in the middle rings were standing halfway up the gentle slope of the hill, while the outer rings broke to make room for it. All of them, even the hill itself, it seemed, were gazing into the centre as if witnessing something miraculous.
When she finally flew close enough to see what they were staring at, the song thrush saw something inexplicable. A white goat and a brown wolf were standing, facing each other, their heads barely inches apart. They looked at each other as if they were the dearest friends in the world, but, of course, they couldn’t be.
The forest held its breath.
Slowly, as if afraid to break the spell, the goat and the wolf moved their heads closer together. Their eyes were closed. From high overhead, the song thrush saw the goat’s lips move and the wolf speak a soft reply, just a handful of words between them. And then, at long last, they kissed. Lovingly. Adoringly. There was no mistaking it. The tension in the forest melted away.
In a moment, she had flown past them. A joyous cheer rose up from behind her, loud enough to shake the earth. As the cheers subsided, she looked back and saw the inner ring come forward to congratulate them. Four other goats, three other wolves, a rabbit, a fox, a deer and three sparrows embraced the goat and the wolf. They vanished from sight as the wind carried her forward.
As she glided over the moonlit fields beneath her, the song thrush was left with nothing but her own recollections of what had just happened. She gave up trying to make sense of it. Instead, she called to mind an old song, one that often brought her comfort on long migrations with nothing else to do, and she started to sing.
野原の草が ラララ 波のように 揺れるのは
その上で 僕が ラララ 踊っているからさ(The grass in the field is swaying)
(Because I’m dancing upon it)ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 見えないけど
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル いつも そばにいる(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, hyululu, you cannot see me but)
(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, I am always beside you)木の葉が くるくる ルルル 舞い落ちて 行くのはね
その下で 僕が ルルル 歌っているからさ(The leaves on the trees are spinning and falling)
(Because beneath them I am singing)ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 見えないけど
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル 君の そばにいる(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, hyululu, you cannot see me but)
(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, I am right beside you)お池の水が キララ さざ波を 立てるのは
すぐそばで 僕が キララ 笑っているからさ(The water in the pond is rippling)
(Because right beside it I am laughing)ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 見えないけど
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル 頬を 撫でてゆく(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, hyululu, you cannot see me but)
(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, I will always stroke your cheek)ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 見えないけど
ヒュウルル ヒュルル 僕は風
ヒュウルル 頬を 撫でてゆく(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, hyululu, you cannot see me but)
(Hyululu, hyululu, I am the wind)
(Hyululu, I will always stroke your cheek)頬を 撫でてゆく
(I will always stroke your cheek)