Since when has it been? A beautiful doe began to appear in my dreams. The doe would stand beyond the forest, showing her rich coat, looking this way with her round eyes. In the dream, I seem to be a hunter, nocking an arrow to my bow, intending to shoot her. However, the doe is so beautiful, her high-held neck so elegant, and her gaze so pure that I hesitate to shoot and always lower my bow. When I wake within the dream, the beautiful doe is always looking this way from beyond the forest, and strangely, I feel as if I am sharing the same dream with her, sharing the same thoughts, filled with a sense of calm and peace.
Then came such a day. The doe was watching from beyond the forest as usual, her furry ears pricked, sensing the surroundings. But then, deftly turning one ear toward me, for some reason, she suddenly stepped out toward me. She approached with very cautious steps. The distance between the archer and the prey closed; the hunter and the hunted shared the scenery of the snowy forest within the same dream. The doe walked right up to my side, rested her neck upon my lap, and narrowed her eyes with great comfort. For some reason, I felt a deep surge of affection; I lifted the doe onto my lap and stroked her rich-furred back. Then, she spoke to me without using words.
—Father. Since you passed away, I firmly believed that the day would surely come when we could meet again like this in a dream. My romance with that person, which caused so much trouble and friction until just before your death, ended in misfortune. As you feared, my life could not be called very well-behaved. However, it was a life blessed with children, family, and people who supported me. Although I have many memories of the person I loved, as death approaches, I find myself remembering you, who stayed by me during my childhood, very clearly. Long ago, you said difficult things about dreams, but in the dream I am having now, your existence is overlaid and woven in like a watermark. You exist there, and we share the same thoughts within the dream. As you said, the dreamer shares the same desires as the dream. Your existence is tethered to my memories, gently released within the dream, quietly filling my dreaming heart. For one standing before death, it brings an irreplaceable feeling of calm and peace.
Father, I too am about to come to you soon. I have become quite an old woman, far removed from the girlish figure you likely remember. Although I never showed them to you, I have children, and they in turn have children; your descendants will surely offer many beautiful bouquets to your daughter. When that time comes, Father, let us share that mourning together, just as we share this dream and existence now. And Father, if we should meet again, please lift me onto your lap and gently stroke my back, just as you did so kindly when I was a child. I am sure I will be as happy as if I had returned to being an innocent child. (Full text of "The Doe" from Callas Cenquei's "Wadatsumi")
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