Pagoda, Skull & Samurai Read online

  In contrast to the scene at the pagoda site, Genta's household was cheerless. The strong-willed master kept his inner thoughts to himself, but Okichi was, after all, a woman, small-minded no matter how sensible. Every time a visitor or a workman brought bits of news such as, "The groundbreaking for the pagoda began today," or "The pillar-raising rite was held yesterday," flames of jealousy and resentment flared up in her heart: "jūbei, you in-grate! Taking advantage of my husband's generosity, you've cunningly made your way up in the world. If you have become a success, you still owe us a thanksgiving visit. So arrogant and triumphant, you've ignored us all these days. My husband may be too accommodating, but that Nossori is detestable beyond measure." Every now and then she flew into a fit of rage and snapped at everything and everyone. She scratched fretfully at stray tresses of her sidelocks and chased away mercilessly some beggars who happened to come asking for copper coins.

  One day while Genta was out, a talkative medicine man called Dōeki paid one of his frequent visits. After much gossiping on various topics, he said half out of flattery, "The other day I went to Hōrai Restaurant with someone and heard everything from a woman called Den. How remarkable the Master is! I really think every man ought to emulate him." Okichi probed for more details. Angry as she had been at jūbei when she did not really know the circumstances, her outrage doubled and tripled when she learned what had actually transpired.

  <24>

  "Seikichi, you are an unreliable, insensitive, spineless young man! Why didn't you tell me about the outcome of the other night? Were you trying to spare me the unpleasantness? How inconsiderate of you! Were you afraid I would make a scene if I learned the truth? My husband considers me a mere woman and keeps me ignorant of what is going on. Well, that's his attitude, but isn't it unkind of you boys to have no compunctions about keeping me deaf and blind? Knowing how the Master was feeling, moreover, you had the gall to get drunk and accompany him to brothels. Is that all a man is good for? Aren't you a bit soft-headed to drop by here today so nonchalant? I always offer you something to drink even when the Master is away, but today I refuse to fuss over you. I'm not even going to parch a piece of seaweed for you or keep you company in silly chitchat. If you want to drink, go to the kitchen and turn the tap of a sake barrel yourself. If you want to chat, you'd better find a cat or something for company."

  Unfortunate enough to chance by immediately after Dōeki had left, an innocent Seikichi was subjected to the full force of Okichi's fury, for which he was utterly unprepared. Faltering and stammering, he inquired and soon learned the whole story, of which he himself had been ignorant until that moment. Now he, too, was seized by a searing hatred of Nossori.

  Seikichi thought to himself, "Completely forgetting his moral indebtedness, jūbei has behaved much too insolently toward the Boss, who means everything to me. How outrageous of him to step all over the Boss, an accommodating and benevolent man—almost to an excess! What should I do? There's such a difference in status between the Boss and jūbei that for the Boss to fight him would be like throwing a diamond against a pebble. I can see why the Boss has been discreet enough to hold his temper all this while. How heartless! Why didn't he confide in me at least, if not in the others? He has a lot more to lose than jūbei, but I've got absolutely nothing to lose. Damn it all, Nossori, do you think I'm going to let you get away with this?"

  "Please forgive me, Ma'am, I didn't know," Seikichi said. "Now that I've found out, I won't sit here like a fool and be scolded. Please wait and see whether or not Seikichi is good only for following the Boss to a brothel. So long."

  With a determined farewell, he banged open the front door and dashed out faster than the wind, neither putting on his sandals nor looking back. Suddenly anxious, Okichi called after him two and three times, but by the fourth time he was already out of sight.

  <25>

  The crack of the axe chopping wood; the swish of the plane shaving boards; clangs and taps as holes were chiseled and nails driven in—all resounded busily and cheerily. Woodchips flew like tree leaves in a gust, and sawdust danced like a snow flurry at the construction site in the Kannō Temple grounds on this fine, lively day. Smartly engaged in their work were men sporting dashing outfits— navy blue waistcoats fastened tightly at the neck, stylish trousers, and straw sandals. Here a shabbily-dressed old man with a soiled towel flung across his shoulders squatted in the sun, unhurriedly sharpening chisels; there a little boy was floundering about in search of some tools, while a day-laborer diligently sawed wood. Perspiring and panting, everyone was occupied in his labor.

  The chief duly in command, Nossori made his rounds among them, issuing the orders and instructions that would turn the model in his mind into a tangible structure. "Cut this way. Chisel that way. Make this section just so and give that section so much incline." He showed them, by ink-strings and in words, how many inches a bulge should be or how many tenths of an inch a recess. He explained complex details by drawing lines on a board. He himself worked with the frantic alertness of a falcon and cormorant combined.

  Jūbei was totally absorbed in illustrating a relief design for a young workman when Seikichi burst upon him, kicking up dust faster than a wild boar. His face flame-red and his eyes contorted in rage, the young man cried, "Damn you, Nossori! Go to hell!" At the moment jūbei turned on his heel in astonishment, Seikichi brought down a razor-sharp adze set in a handle, with enough force to split a rock. An adze is as good as a sword in a carpenter's hand, and jūbei saw it too late to dodge. His left ear was sliced off, and his shoulder was hacked. Realizing that he had failed to kill jūbei with his first blow, Seikichi lunged again. Jūbei threw a nail box, hammer, inkwell, and metal measuring stick at Seikichi, but the unarmed man was unable to defend himself. Whirling around to flee, he stepped into a toolbox and drove a five-inch nail right through his foot and fell to the ground. Not missing this chance, Seikichi raised his adze. No sooner had its blade reflected the setting sun to flash an artificial streak of lightning than there arose a tiger's roar from behind.

  "You fool!" bellowed a man as he tripped up Seikichi's unstable legs with an easy sweep of a twelve-foot board.

  All the more agitated, Seikichi tried to get up.

  "It's me! Control yourself, you fool!" the man thundered again, seizing Seikichi by the neck and wresting the adze away. Then down he thrust his face as fierce as the deity Fudō's with its huge glaring eyes, tight straight mouth, angular nose, and swirling frizzled hair.

  "Oh, it's you, Master Fireball. I've got a just cause. Please stand aside." Seikichi struggled and squirmed, trying to shake himself loose with all his might, but the man continued to subdue him with his conch-shell fist.

  "Wiggle too much and I'll beat you to death. Fool!"

  "You're not being fair. Let go!"

  "Fool! Take that!"

  "You don't understand. I can't let him live."

  "You stupid boy. Are you going to cry now? Calm down, or I'll slug you again."

  "Master, don't be so cruel."

  "Shut up. Take that! I'll beat you to death yet."

  "You're not being-Master!

  "Fool! Here, take this!"

  "Master!"

  "Fool!"

  "Let me go!"

  "Fool!"

  "Mast-"

  "Fool!"

  "Let me-"

  "Fool!"

  "Mas-"

  "Fool! Fool! Fool! Didn't I tell you? Good, you've calmed down. Now come along to my house.... What's this? Hey, this fellow has fainted. What a weakling! Boys, come over here. At the crucial moment you all run away. What good is it now to surround jūbei like ants? You fools! Here I am about to have a corpse on my hands. Quick, fetch some water and pour it over him.... What are you picking up the ear for? What fools! You brought some water? Okay, pour the whole pailful over his face. It doesn't take much to revive this sort of fellow. Good! Seikichi, pull yourself together. What a baby. I'll have to carry you home on my back. Jūbei's shoulder wound isn't serious, is i
t? Let me see. It doesn't look too bad. So long!"

  <26>

  "Is Genta home?" asked Eiji, entering the house.

  "Oh, Master, please come right in," Okichi greeted him, quickly rising.

  Eiji settled down in front of the brazier and drank the cherry tea offered to him. Presently, he looked Okichi in the face and said, "You look rather pale. What happened? Isn't Genta home? I suppose you've already heard, but Seikichi has done a stupid thing. I've come to have a talk with Genta about it.... What? Oh, is that so? He's already gone to Jūbei's place? Well, well. That's Genta all right; he moves faster than I can think. Okichi, there's no need for you to worry. Genta is merely expected to bow his head a few times to jūbei and the Abbot, apologizing that one of his men has done wrong and that he begs their forgiveness for his lack of supervision. If the other party should keep grumbling, then Genta can take up the fight himself and carry it to a finish. Judging from rumors, jūbei might have deserved having an ear or two cut off, and Seikichi's antics may have been fitting.

  "The poor boy; he's smarting from the taste of my fist all right, but his tears flow more from remorse than from physical pain. I suppose he came to his senses when I asked him what would have happened if he had succeeded in killing jūbei. He's been crying, 'Oh, how wrong I was! I've made a reckless mistake. I've caused the Boss to bow his head. I'm sorry, so sorry.' Poor fellow. Isn't he lovable? Genta will no doubt reprimand him harshly and even tell him to apologize to jūbei. That's socially demanded of him and there is no way out of it; but here's something you can do for Seikichi. Why don't you... ah... for him... you know. All right? Things like this must be quite clear to Madame Okichi, married to a man like Genta. Isn't that so? Well, with Genta away, there's no need for me to linger. I'll take a rain check on your dinner invitation. If you need me, come over any time."

  The more Okichi thought the more repentant she felt. "Just like a silly woman, I spoke spitefully to Seikichi. The poor rash youth has now made his world tighter by getting into such trouble, and I've put my beloved husband in the humiliating position of having to apologize to that insufferable Nossori. The accident was caused by a slip of my own tongue as much as anything. What should I do now?" She pondered on and on, so lost in thought that her elbow slipped off the edge of the brazier. She arrived at a decision abruptly. "That's it," she murmured, rising to open a large bureau drawer, from which she took out a sash scented with musk.

  "This is my most treasured sash. I wore it when I first came to this house as a bride, so happy, shy, and frightened. And I'll part with this Hakata sash and this satin sash, for which I begged my husband so earnestly. Ah, how innocent are the memories of the past that cling to this three-piece set, but its striped shantung takes too much care. I shall also let this kite-yellow silk kimono fly out of my hand. Although my mind is as confused as the pattern of this favorite paisley kimono, my love for my husband knows only one straight course. I have cherished this figured-satin sash as a keepsake of my aunt who once served a lord, but I am no longer reluctant to part with it."

  She emptied the drawers and had a maidservant wrap up all her possessions. Anxious to leave before her husband came home, she gathered even combs and hair ornaments into a small box. What a pity! She took them to a pawnshop and then proceeded to Eiji's house, unmindful of the dark night.

  <27>

  Genta's frame of mind had taken a complete turn after the incident at the restaurant. Jūbei, whom he had at first patronized, now only grated on his nerves. How vexing it was for him to be forced to apologize to jūbei with his head bowed and his hands on the floor! Nevertheless, should he fail to do so, he might be suspected of having incited Seikichi to commit violence. Genta fumed, "How mortifying to be unjustly accused of a crime! It's the devil's own luck that I have to suffer this humiliation on account of Seikichi's absurd action." But he knew that the matter could never be settled without his performing the role expected of him. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he paid a reluctant visit to jūbei, expressed his sympathy for his injury, and apologized for his insufficient supervision of Seikichi.

  Jūbei was wordless, as usual. But Onami, out of feminine meekness, said, "Fortunately, the shoulder wound is not too serious, so you need not worry yourself about it. We are overwhelmed by your kindness in coming personally to inquire after our condition." Although she was sociable enough to speak, sharp edges lurked beneath her unduly formal words.

  It was obvious to Genta that she suspected him of having secretly ordered Seikichi to carry out his revenge. "How maddening," he thought. "jūbei probably feels the same way. May the time come soon when I can show him what revenge is! Cutting off an ear may be good enough for a petty fellow like Seikichi, but I would never let my wrath burn up as readily as a woodchip. Today's mishap is today's mishap, and my temper is my temper, absolutely separate and apart. I'll show my way when I am good and ready, not before."

  Without betraying his chagrin, he performed his social duties and proceeded to the temple, where he apologized to the Abbot for the misconduct of his man. After he got home he decided to call on Eiji to get a first-hand account of the incident and to thank him for restraining Seikichi. At the same time he intended to reprimand Seikichi severely and warn him never to set foot in his house again. As he was about to start out, he noticed Okichi's absence. "Well, she said she would be out for a few minutes," said the maid, feigning ignorance. Unaware that Okichi had instructed the maid to so answer, Genta said, "Very well. When you see the mistress, tell her that I'll be at Eiji's house."

  Genta had just slipped on his sandals and crossed his threshold when he spotted a woman coming toward his house. With a paper lantern full of burn marks in one hand and a bamboo cane in the other, she was hobbling toward him, bent nearly at a right angle with age.

  "You must be Seikichi's mother."

  "Ah, it's you, Master."

  <28>

  "It's fortunate that I've caught you in time. Are you on your way out?" the old woman asked anxiously.

  "That's all right," said Genta, nodding slightly. "Feel free to come right in. You must have some urgent business to be calling at this hour. I'll make time for you."

  "Thank you ever so much. I'm sorry to hold you up, but begging your pardon then...." She followed Genta through the latticed door.

  "It's brave of you to come out in this cold. Unfortunately, my wife is not at home, and I can't offer you anything. But no need to huddle in the corner. Come over to the brazier and warm yourself."

  "I'm overwhelmed by your kindness, but the portable warmer I'm carrying is quite enough for me." Her body seemed to tighten and shrink even more at Genta's considerate invitation. Wiping her nose on the sleeve of her old half coat, she backed up all the way to the doorway and squatted down, appearing anxious to speak.

  The sensitive Genta felt sorry for her. Here he had been about to go to Eiji's in order to give Seikichi a tongue-lashing, but now he saw before him an old, feeble woman who had not a single close soul except Amida Buddha and her own son. He thought, "If I should forsake Seikichi now, she would feel as helpless as a bow with a torn string. With no hope or purpose left in her weary life, she would grieve and lament for the rest of her cheerless days, soaking in the tears of regret." The more Genta thought, the sorrier he felt. He was fumbling with some tobacco when the old woman edged up a bit closer.

  "I'm very sorry for calling on you at this hour, but I have something to ask you.... That's right. You must know by now, but I hear my Seikichi has done a terrible thing. I heard most of the story from Master Tetsu. Seikichi has always been so quick-tempered. He gives me constant worry, always making remarks like 'I'll beat him,' or 'I'll slash him.' Owing to your kindness, he's now a full-fledged carpenter, but he's still naive and headstrong. He would never commit an evil or a dishonest act, but he loses his head when he's excited.... That's right, he's a boy without an evil bone in him.... Oh, you already know that? Well, I thank you kindly, Master. I have no idea what caused this fight, but it s
eems that he went swinging an adze or something just as dangerous. When I heard that, I felt as if I myself had been slashed. They say that the chief of the M crew held him down. Thank heaven for that. If the injured person should die, that would make Seikichi a murderer! Heaven forbid I should lose him. I have nothing else to live for.

  "The gods only know how distressed I was by his extreme peevishness as a small child, until he was cured by the grace of the goddess Kishimojin of Nakayama. I had vowed that if he was cured, I would take him to the temple grounds before he turned seven years old. But for some reason or other, I failed to have him pay that thanksgiving visit. Perhaps it is a divine retribution for my broken vow that he is so reckless, though quite healthy now. I was so upset when Master Tetsu told me what happened today. It almost broke my heart to hear that he'd even had a weapon ready. It was reassuring to know that Chief Eiji took him under his care, but when I asked if Seikichi wasn't wounded, Master Tetsu only said that he's all right and not to worry. His evasiveness made me worry all the more. He also said that he didn't think it would be a good idea for me to go to Chief Eiji's now, but that I should see you instead. After he left, my heart ached so much that I could neither sit nor stand any longer, so I asked the umbrella maker who lives next door to me to keep an eye on my house while I came over here.

  "Could you tell me how to get to Chief Eiji's house—I intend to go there immediately. I wonder what state he's in; he may be seriously injured himself. If possible, I'd like to know about the circumstances behind the fight, too. I'm quite certain my son would never commit an evil act, but young as he is, he might have taken a misdirected revenge. If so, I would apologize to Master jūbei with my life. I am an old woman whose life is no longer dear, and I must make sure that no one will bear a grudge against Seikichi, who has a long life ahead of him."