Fingers

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(Translated and arranged by Saya)

An izakaya in Tokyo

This is a story about Mr. H's wife. 

There was a man called H who was a regular customer at a tavern ** I frequented.

I had a drink with Mr. H on a few occasions in the past, and knew him to be a gentle, quiet and very approachable man.

But he had one flaw, which was that he was always chasing women, even though he had a young woman as his wife. 

Mr. H's wife seemed to be a jealous type of woman. 

"She can be a real pain in the neck," he would often say, complaining about her.

An izakaya with a zashiki (tatami floor space)

A few years ago, Mr. H became involved with a woman yet again, and this time it was with a girl who worked at the tavern. 

It didn't take long before the rumours of Mr. H's shameless behaviour reached his wife's ears; from then onwards, not a day went by without the tavern receiving an angry phone call from her. 

In spite of it all, it seemed that Mr. H's relationship with the girl dragged out for quite a while. 

One day, the tavern received a small parcel from Mr. H's wife; it was addressed to the girl. 

I was there when the parcel arrived, and since the girl was a little frightened by it, I opened it for her. 

Inside the parcel, there was something wrapped neatly in gauze. I unwrapped it and found a little finger of a woman that seemingly belonged to Mr. H's wife. 

It gave the girl enough shock for her to end the relationship with Mr. H there and then, and leave the tavern too. Mr. H also stopped coming to the tavern shortly afterwards. 

A couple of days ago, just when I had almost forgotten about him, I bumped into Mr. H in the town again. 

Mr. H had a woman with him.  

"I am H's wife. Nice to meet you." 

She greeted me by bowing deeply, and that was when I saw it: 

She had only two fingers -- a thumb and an index finger on her right hand. 

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Note: 

**Tavern -- the original text just says "drinking place" but I think he means an izakaya (居酒屋).

Links:

6 things you need to know about Izakaya

5 best izakaya alleys in Tokyo

What's on the drink menu at a typical Izakaya in Japan? 

Top 10 Izakaya foods you need to know

The 22 Best Izakaya in Tokyo -- from the cheap to the weird

14 Izakaya in Kyoto that are recommended by locals

A private room in an izakaya

Another izakaya in Tokyo