Strange Ability

Tokyo Metro

(Translated by Saya)

This is a cryptic story! :D

I often use Tokyo Metro.
Every morning, I saw a homeless guy hanging around inside the metro station who kept mumbling something to himself.

I one day sidled up to the wall beside him, and listened in on his mumbling.
An old woman walked past in front of him, and the guy mumbled,
"Pig."
Was he just bad-mouthing people, comparing them to animals?
The next person who walked past was a businessman. The guy mumbled,
"Man."
Ah, yes, he does seem to represent an ordinary man.
On another day, I sidled up to him and listened in on him again to while away the time.
A tired-looking scrawny man walked past before our eyes, and the guy mumbled,
"Cow."
Cow? He looks more like a skinny bird to me.
Next, a typical fat man walked past, and the guy mumbled,
"Vegetable."
Vegetable? He must be mistaking him for a pig.

I went back home and spend some time in contemplation.
Perhaps the homeless guy could tell what sort of things people would get reincarnated into in the next life?
Keeping the theory in mind, I observed the guy for a few more times. The more I observed him, the more I became convinced that my theory was correct.

One day I mustered the courage to ask him about his ability, and begged him to tell me how he came to possess the ability.
The homeless guy, after looking at me with dull, lifeless eyes,  held his hand over my head without words.
That was the last time I saw the homeless guy. When I went to the station the next day, he was gone.
Was he a wizard?** Or perhaps even a god?

Now I had the ability too.
But it was different from what I had expected.
It just revealed to me what the last things people had eaten before I saw them.
It was such a ludicrous ability that I burst out laughing.

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**A wizard - Sennin in the original text. The word denotes a man who has become enlightened and immortal through special discipline (Wikipedia).