Mushishi 31

This translation is for JAC's use only. Rawr! >:3
Been pretty sick so it's rougher than my usual translations...

Mushishi Vol 7, Chapter 31.

Page 4:

Mushishi
虫虫師 むしし

漆原友紀
Urushibara Yuki


Page 5:

Contents
目次

Lost In Flowers
花惑い

Mirror in the Mire
鏡が淵

Base of the Lightning.
雷の袂

The Ragged Road (Part 1)
棘のみち（前）

The Ragged Road (Part 2)
棘のみち（後）

(tn note: These titles all have double means. For example, the first chapter means "lost because of flowers", but there are several different interpretations of how they could be lost. The second title uses "fuchi", which can mean a stagnant pool but also a sticky situation one finds themselves in. The third title uses a word which usually means kimono sleeve, but in this instance means the base or foot of a mountain.


Page 6:

Text, top to bottom: Silently withstanding blizzards...

Silently overflowing with beauty...

Silently,
Stealing life away for it's own gain...


Page 7:

Lost in Flowers
花惑い はなまどい

Page 8:
As far back as I can remember,

She has always been living at the edge of my garden.

And even now,

she's still there...

And her beauty is unchanged.


Page 9:

Oh―...

...So the famous Sakura tree

must still a bit further on...

Maybe I should take a day off to worship it?
He means pay his respects as the Shinto religion see's rocks/old trees/other aspects of nature, ect as gods deserving respect.


Page 10:

Yo.

I heard there's a famous Sakura tree around here. Do you know it?

Yeah.

Just go a little bit further and you'll surely find it.

You're a local?

No,
I'm travelling from the other side of this moutain...

I'm trying to find some medicine for my mother.

Really? How commendable of you.

So they have good medicine over here?


Page 11:

Yes.

Near the great Sakura tree, there's a place that makes medicine that can cure nearly any illness.

Hmm―...

Ah!

Look!

You can see it!

Page 12:

...What?

It has no blossoms.

I wonder what's wrong?

How disappointing.

...Well,
this is as far as I go.

Alright. Take care.


Page 13:

Anyone home?

Yes?

U-Um....

I heard you make some good medicine here...

My mother's sick―

I'm sorry to hear that.

...
Do you hurt anywhere?

No.
I'm perfectly healthy. You could say it's my best feature.


Page 14:

That's good to know.

Please, come inside.

I'll be making some new medicine soon, so feel free to sleep here while you wait.

Thank you so much!

It really is an old tree.

I'd say it's been here around 600 - 700 years?


Page 15:

Judging for the lack of blossoms on the ground, it hasn't bloomed yet this year.

Maybe it's too old,

and just doesn't bloom anymore.....?

...That's...

Hm?

Someone's there?


Page 16:

...Like perfume

She drew me to her

I thought she was a beautiful woman.

But

Where did she come from?

text: Where on earth...

...Hello?


Page 17:

Isn't this

Sakura tree going to bloom anymore?

...Her eyes

and ears are bad...?

...Could it be...

I don't recall seeing your face before.
Did you want something from Saho?


Page 18:

...No.

I'm just worried about something.

Are you her husband?

No.
Just an old friend.

Please excuse me for asking,
but does she have trouble hearing and seeing...?

...Yes, for the most part.

Could it be,
that she drank the froth that came from this tree?

I'm Ginko, a Mushishi.

Inside this tree――
Is a Mushi known as "Kodama", which has taken the form of froth from this tree.


Page 19:

When "Kodama" live in trees, it prolongs the tree's life longer than it'd normally live.

It also blooms with beautiful flowers.

But if Kodama gets into a mammal,
it eventually paralyzes the mammal's five senses.

...That's...if you could ask her, you might know if she did or not..

But there's no way to do that.

Well, Saho, come with me.

The sun's going down. You'll catch a cold if you stay out.


Page 20:

Don't you practise medicine?

How do I put it...isn't there something you can do to investigate?

...I can't. I'm simply a Landscaper.

A Landscaper...?

Yes.

The only thing we can do is make gardens look good.

the sakura trees in our garden are a type that are very resistant to illness, but has small blossoms.

But if i graft branches from trees that have big, beautiful blossoms, you get a tree that is both resistant and beautiful.

While in the process of researching flora...
we boil some greenery down every now and then,


Page 21:

Do you make medicine from that Sakura tree?

Certainly not. That tree has protected my family throughout the centuries.

We don't use it for things

like that.


Page 22:

That froth...

Do you give it to people as a 'pain reliever'?


Page 23:

I told you,
That froth is dulling people's senses.

As long as they take the right amount, they eventually return to normal.

―It can't be

You tested it out on that girl?

You're wrong!

I'd never do something that cruel!

―My family's been researching plants and trees for generations

Some of that research has been on the froth that comes from Sakura trees.


Page 24:
I had three different ancestors who spent their lives researching this froth.

They discovered ways to use it safely!

But...

That froth isn't normal tree sap!
It's a living thing!

If something was to go wrong,
could you treat it?

......

I'm asking you to leave that behind.


Page 25:

...But
There's someone who needs this.

I can't let people in pain suffer without it.

Would you be able to hear their cries for help and still do nothing?

Do you have the right to steal away their chance for relief?

...If that's the case
Show me your research.

You'll have to convince me the process can be trusted.

Alright.
I will.


Page 26:

...One more thing,
about that girl.

It might be possible to restore her eyes and ears,

if "Kodama" is the cause for her sense deprivition.

You really
don't know what caused it...?

....

There's a story handed down by my Great Grandfather.

...Great Grandfather?


Page 27:

When he was a young man

About 80 years ago―


Page 28:

...What on earth?
Someone's abandoned a baby...?

...Huh?

What this?

Some pale red foam...


Page 29:

...Tree sap...?

You poor thing!
You were so hungry you drank tree sap, huh...

Box: Mansaku, my great grandfather, brought the child home with him.

However, it wouldn't suckle at his wife's breast.

It wouldn't even drink Omoyu (thin rice gruel).

But when offered, it drank sap from the tree.

Mansaku and his family,
showed the baby love and affection as if she too was a family member.

But she aged more slowly.


Page 30:

Ten years later, she was still a baby.

And she would only drink sap from the Sakura tree.

Thirty years passed.
Mansaku and his wife both passed away.

Saho still remained a toddler.

...Come here, Saho.

What about Mansaku?

...My father Mansaku isn't with us anymore.

From today on, you'll be living with Onii-chan.

Apparently it was around that time,
that Saho began to lose all her senses.


Page 31:

Seasonally, her illness would get better or worse.

During the years that Saho was very ill,
the Sakura tree remained barren.

Eventually, a new generation took over.

As expected, they too care for Saho.

...Masaki

What is it,
father?

You must...take good care of Saho.

You must...Saho...


Page 32:

...Yes

I understand...

Box: We all loved Saho,
as the personification of the Sakura tree―

Ginko: ...80 years...

So Kodama must give its host
long life and beauty, huh...


Page 33:

Well?

Can you cure Saho?

There is a way to rid people of Kodama.

However...
If we rid her of the Kodama,

I can't guarentee her...her long life anymore

...I see...

That's...

disappointing...

...Are these books everything you've been able to discover about the froth?

Yes.


Page 34:

...Saho, are you okay?

....!!

....We don't
have much time left...

...
It can't be helped―


Page 35:

...Can I talk to you
for a moment?

I've made the medicine, however
I'd like you to drink a little bit of it.

Huh?
You want me to?

There is a small chance that the medicine might not react well with people of a certain bloodline.

But if you react well to the medicine, then it shouldn't be a problem for your mother.

I understand.

Hm...

This one is incredibly old!

How many generations old can it be...?

Page 36:


(on book) Written by Mansaku

"Mansaku"? Wasn't he...his great-grandfather?

But this is too old for that..

There are four names on these journals...
Four generations, and each generation was able to see Mushi...?

A rare thing indeed...


Page 37:

I'm sorry about this.

What you just drank was merely a sleeping draught.

I couldn't add any painkillers since there could be bad side effects, but...

It'll be over quickly―


Page 38:

...Are you alright?

You can live

...You will still
bloom with such beautiful blossoms―


Page 39:

STOP!!


Page 40:

It can't be...

You're planning on cutting off Saho's head and grafting it onto that girls body!?

Is that how she's been kept alive through these years!?

...It hasn't been eighty years, has it?
It's been god only knows how many!!

.....

That's right.
Mansaku was eight generations before.

If I don't do this, Saho's body will rot away.

She is still

so beautiful―


Page 41:

...Man...saku...

...Saho?

...I don't want to...


Page 42:

....NO...!

Saho...!

You can't die!

Soon,

I'll have another body ready for you―

...Are you insane!?

How many people have you sacrificed through the years!?


Page 43:

...
That's right.

It might seem strange to you,

For three hundred years,

My family has cultivated a woman.

―――


Page 44:

...Shit...!


Page 45:

...What have you done!

The fire's spreading―

To the Sakura tree...!!

...
What
are those?

Flowers...?


Page 47:

Saho...

Look! Flowers!!

The great Sakura can still blo―


Page 48:

...Saho!!

No!

Don't go...

Please don't go...!

Saho...!!


Page 49:

Bubble: It is said that souls reside in ancient trees which have withstood the ages.

And it is those souls which capture the hearts of men.


But when the tree

blossoms with beautiful flowers

the lure is much stronger―


Page 50:

The locals tell me that the great Sakura tree wasn't totally destroyed in the fire.

However,

no-one saw the landscaper or his strange woman ever again―


Page 51:

Oooh!

How beautiful!

It's like medicine to a tired traveller.

Let's rest here for a bit.

Good idea.

Let's have a cup of Sake!

We're not in that much of a hurry.


Page 52:

What a superb view!

Isn't it?


Lost in Flowers The End
花惑い　おわり