"The ‘I’ with which I shall occupy myself will not be the ‘I’ that relates back strictly to myself, but something else, some residue, that remains after all the other words I have uttered have flowed back into me, something that neither relates back nor flows back.
As I pondered the nature of that ‘I’, I was driven to the conclusion that the ‘I’ in question corresponded precisely with the physical space that I occupied. What I was seeking, in short, was a language of the body.
If my self was my dwelling, then my body resembled an orchard that surrounded it. I could either cultivate that orchard to its capacity or leave it for the weeds to run riot in. I was free to chose, but the freedom was not as obvious as it might seem. Many people, indeed, go so far as to refer to the orchards of their dwellings as ‘destiny.’
One day, it occured to me to set about cultivating my orchard for all I was worth. For my purpose, I used sun and steel. Unceasing sunlight and implements fashioned of steel became the chief elements in my husbandry. Little by little, the orchard began to bear fruit, and thoughts of the body came to occupy a large part of my consciousness."
Ur Sun and Steel av Yukio Mishima (översättning John Bester)
