The Flower Mat Read online

  The personalities of these three brothers were clearly revealed in this trifling matter. Shinzo was uncommunicative, quiet in most respects, the kind of man who could take care of the smallest details in any situation. Tatsuya, the second brother, was round and plump of body and face, phlegmatic, and eternally smiling. He was fat and found it troublesome to move about, and his manner of talking was also slow. Moreover, what he said was often funny, and his family often burst out laughing at his remarks. Some time previously he had gone to see Sasamaki, his colleague in a group that practiced spear throwing. He was under the impression that his friend was only sick in bed, but actually Sasamaki had died. Upon returning home, Tatsuya told his family about his friend, saying, "They identified his sickness well enough, but when they treated him for it he became rather dead." This had made Shinzo and Iso laugh.

  Kyunosuke was never silent on such occasions. Even then he had made fun of his brother's speech, saying that Tatsuya's talk was more amusing than the Zen dialogues.

  "He died because they took good care of him. In short, he might have been saved if they hadn't taken care of him. To say that he became 'rather' dead is especially solemn," Kyunosuke had said.

  Tatsuya had narrowed his eyes and smiled wordlessly. The next day Kyunosuke had looked at Tatsuya as he was leaving the house and said, "Aren't they holding the rather funeral at Sasamaki's today?" Since then the word "rather" had become a frequently used word in the family.

  This trick of tripping up people, together with a hasty temper and a stubborn nature, revealed Kyunosuke's personality. He was quite talkative, but his movements were also quick, and he was said to be the most resourceful of the three brothers. Unlike Tatsuya, who was twenty-four and just living at home, Kyunosuke, twenty-two, was working in the finance department, thanks to a patron in the person of one Chudayu Yoshihara, who was in charge of revenue. Kyunosuke had obtained his position two years ago, and even after Yoshihara had left for Edo as secretary to the lord of the House of Edo, Kyunosuke continued to be quite popular in the office.

  It was to Kyunosuke that Ichi had first grown close after joining this family. He was four years older than she, but showed no sign of it. In any event he took good care of her, calling her "elder sister, elder sister."* Since he had importuned her for pocket money no more than ten days after her arrival, it was perhaps quite natural that she was beginning to feel at home with him. After that he asked her for pocket money about once every ten days, and she always smilingly handed it over, since she had received quite a large sum from her mother.

  "What are you going to use it for?" she would ask. "If you need more, I can give it to you in a lump sum".

  "Well, this is enough for now. Pocket money has a certain fascination when I get it bit by bit."

  This was the type of conversation they carried on. Actually, Kyunosuke was earning money at the office. Tatsuya, who was idly living at home, might have done well also. But Tatsuya was quite phlegmatic and did not have the wit or the inclination to find out what his younger brother was doing.

  Ichi's eyes, which she had thought would heal easily, were not doing well at all. Since they began to water frequently after becoming red, she stopped doing fine work and resumed going to her eye doctor, Sekitai, for treatment. The treatment consisted merely of washing and checking her eyes, so after going to the doctor four or five times, she sent a servant for the medicine and administered the treatment herself, as she used to do while she was still living with her parents.

  The dullness of her days, however, bothered her more than her eyes. When she was still single, she had paid little attention to her health and had read many books, often stealing away to her room. But now, as a bride, she could not shut herself up in her room all the time. Yet she was uncomfortable as she absent-mindedly watched her mother-in-law, who was doing sewing or similar work. In the morning she could finish her cleaning in about two hours. Since the family had servants, there was nothing for her to do before and after meals. Once in a while she would go to her mother-in-law's room and talk with her while making tea, but mostly she sat at the window of her room and spent the day looking out at the garden.

  On one occasion, while she was having a difficult time enduring these boring hours, a messenger arrived from her family, the Okumuras, and informed her that they wished her to visit them, since her mother was ill in bed. Since Ichi had visited her only at New Year's and because she had plenty of free time, she decided to go, after asking Iso's permission. But while she was choosing a gift for her mother and wondering which kimono to wear, the hands of the clock crept around almost to noon.

  "You'd better have lunch before you go, since you're already late," Iso told her. "If you go there now, I'm afraid you'll cause them trouble."

  "I don't think so, but perhaps I will have lunch before I go."

  Kyunosuke unexpectedly returned from the office while she was talking with Iso. As he passed along the corridor greeting them, he saw that his sister-in-law was wearing a formal kimono. He stopped and asked, "Oh, are you going out?"

  Hearing that she was going to visit her mother, he bowed his head, as if there were something he could not quite understand. Then, as if thinking better of it and gazing into her eyes, he asked, "You are coming back today, aren't you?"

  Naturally it was her intention to return that day, but since he sounded as if he wanted to make sure of this, Ichi felt that she was being accused ; she answered that she would return by evening.

  "What's the matter?" Iso asked, looking at her third son. "It seems very early. Aren't you feeling well?"

  "Well, we're having a meeting of my colleagues this afternoon. Since I'm in a hurry, won't you have the servants prepare lunch for me?"

  With this Kyunosuke was about to leave, but he turned to Ichi once again and said, this time in a normal tone of voice, "Please give them my best regards. In particular, please tell Bennosuke that I'm longing to be able to see the Seishukufu."

  "Se-i-shu-ku-fu... is that it?"

  "Yes, that's right. It's a table of twenty-eight constellations which gives them names like the Eastern Seventh constellation with thirty-two stars or the Northern Seventh constellation with fifty-one stars. If you just tell him that, he'll understand."

  Bennosuke was Ichi's brother, but she had never heard that he was studying such a thing. However, she merely thought that he was studying something new and strange. She left the house at the southeast gate.

  The sunshine was dazzling, and the temperature was high. Even with her parasol, Ichi started perspiring after walking just a short distance. She noticed that the street was quite dusty because of the long drought. To get to the Okumura house she had to detour through the main gate of the castle and go almost halfway around it. It was not a long distance, but the light reflecting from the dry street hurt her eyes. After walking for a time, she would stop and wipe her eyes with a red silk cloth or close them and rest for a while. Thus the walk took longer than expected, and when she reached her parents' home she was so covered with perspiration that she had to change her undergarments.

  Footnote

  * "Elder sister" (onesan) is what one would call the wife of an elder sibling, even if one is older than the woman* "Elder sister" (onesan) is what one would call the wife of an elder sibling, even if one is older than the woman.

  2

  AS SOON as she reached the house she ordered Tami, a maid, to prepare hot water for her bath.

  Tami was a farm girl of seventeen with a sunken face. She was not noted for her quick wit, but her extreme talkativeness appealed to Ichi. While Ichi listened, Tami would chatter aimlessly about nothing in particular, appearing perfectly happy as long as she could talk.

  Ichi listened to her tales of customs and events in her native village, stories she had heard many times before. Some of these stories caused Ichi to blush, but Tami herself seemed to feel that they were quite natural, despite their occasional indecency.

  "Oh, you've gained weight," Tami began as soon as Ic
hi went into the bathroom. "Your breasts look different now, don't they! When I washed you the last time, they weren't even as large as fists. And your back and hips ... oh my, my!"

  "You shouldn't talk so much about my body, Tami, you embarrass me. Put this hot water into the pail."

  "You shouldn't be embarrassed about becoming so beautiful. If you are, . . . now the younger lady, * I think she should . . ." And Tami launched into news about the wife of Ichi's eldest brother and about Ichi's brothers, adding that the retainer had had a child, that their dog Tachi had grown old, that a guest who was famous for his fondness for saké and drunkenness had fallen from the veranda and gotten a bump on his head, that she herself had received a marriage proposal, that she had no intention of marrying the man since she knew he was a good-for-nothing, that as many as three of the rose mallows in the garden had died this year. She continued with one thing and another, and by the time Ichi had washed and changed into her kimono she knew everything that had happened in the house since New Year's. Her ears were ringing. There was strict discipline in this house, and no one but Ichi would listen to Tami's chatter. She thought that Tami must have saved up these stories for her, and she could not scold the girl.

  Ichi went to see her mother, who was sitting beside the bedding. Her mother's complexion had not changed, and she did not look like a sick person. Ichi's sister-in-law Kayo was preparing tea and cakes.

  "Oh, my, your eyes have started again," her mother said, paying no attention to Ichi's inquiries. "I'm afraid this eye disease is going to be a lifelong habit with you. Are you visiting your doctor, Sekitai? Hmm ... I guess the Kugata family lives differently, but you're not taking care of yourself, are you? You look worse than you usually do."

  Though Ichi insisted that she had not done any fine work for a long time and that she was even troubled because she had nothing to do, her mother's suspicious expression remained.

  Ichi's father and oldest brother were at work, but two of her brothers, Heizaburo and Bennosuke, soon appeared. They looked as meticulous as ever, sitting so straight that even the pleats of their hakama * did not crumple. Their conversation covered conventional subjects, and they ran out of topics after only one cup of tea.

  The brothers soon left. But Ichi had detected a subtle change in the atmosphere of this house. Her mother and brothers had not asked her about the Kugata family and very plainly indicated that they wished to avoid the subject when Ichi was about to tell them about her in-laws. Her mother's remark that Ichi must not have been able to take care of herself had a critical tone somehow.

  "Please stay with us for a while," her mother said casually. "While I'm not seriously ill, somehow I feel weak. I've been having sleepless nights, and I feel depressed."

  "But I can't stay, mother. I don't have permission from my husband, and moreover I came here with the intention of going back by evening."

  "You can send a message by the maid you brought with you, and I'll also send them a message. Moreover, with those infected eyes, you've got to have a good rest."

  "Yes, mother," Ichi answered vaguely, and stood up. "I heard the rose mallows died. Were they infested with vermin?"

  "Father replanted them because he wanted to enlarge the chrysanthemum garden. It might have been all right if it had rained. ... I guess this long drought has damaged them. But only three of them have died."

  Ichi went down to the garden.

  It was said that the Okumura family belonged to the rich families among the roshoku or chief vassals. Since the Okumuras were samurai, their everyday life was humble, and their wealth could not have been detected from their way of life. But their stone garden, believed to have been copied from the garden of the Ryoan temple in Kyoto, and the construction of the house, which gave the impression of being palatial, seemed to be indicative of wealth. Ichi's father claimed he had selected such construction because this land suffered from flooding about once every five years (this figure was something of an exaggeration). But the same good taste was visible in their paintings and vases for incense, tea, and flowers, and in their furniture. Every object was carefully chosen, dignified, and expensive, and there was not a single one which did not have an interesting history.

  Ichi had been about five years old when her parents said, "This house is a bit too harsh for a girl." They had made her a flower garden at the side of the house. Since then she had not visited the back garden and had no interest in seeing it.

  The house has an atmosphere of quiet dignity everywhere and in every object, Ichi thought as she walked toward the flower garden. How different from the Kugatas—both the house and the people.

  In the Kugata house there were many stains on the walls from old floods, and gashes in the pillars. The dishes, while beautiful, were not expensive. A black-and-white brush painting of a pine tree hung permanently in an alcove, and there was nothing which could be classified as an antique. Everything in the house, however, was always neat and clean. Not a few of the things which Ichi had brought with her in her trousseau—an oil vase from the Philippines,· coral, jade, or tortoise-shell hair pieces, a dressing box made of sandalwood, and other small items and dresses— clashed with the Kugata family's decor or scheme of things. Ichi had wisely put most of these things away in a storage chest. Now the difference between these two families was impressed upon her more clearly.

  But what was the real reason for the big change in her family's attitude toward the Kugatas? What was behind her mother's suggestion that Ichi remain with her for a while? Kyunosuke had asked whether she was returning that day; his attitude too had seemed different. Something must have happened. These were not simple coincidences.

  When Ichi reached the flower garden, she saw Bennosuke coming toward her, and she was seized by an uneasy feeling.

  Bennosuke had the most delicate build of all the brothers, and his complexion was not good. He had deeply knit eyebrows and a gloomy expression. Normally he was gentle, but if he got angry he had a hot temper which nobody could control. Being the nearest to her age, this was the brother to whom she was closest.

  Bennosuke came close to her, avoiding her eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Did mother tell you anything?"

  "She asked me to stay with her for a while," Ichi said. "She was very insistent, as if she had some strong reason for it. Has something happened between our family and the Kugatas? Do you know something, Bennosuke?"

  "Return to the Kugatas immediately." He was avoiding her eyes. "You'd better not come here for a while."

  "You say I'd better not come here . . . then something has happened."

  "I guess it will blow over peacefully. It's nothing you should worry about. Go home without saying anything to mother." He looked at his sister."I think you've gained weight. I hope there's nothing wrong with your health."

  "I have a message from Kyunosuke. He says that he's longing to see the Seishukufu."

  Bennosuke's eyes widened and looked astonished or frightened. "You'd better leave right away," he said. He left in the direction from which he had come.

  Ichi was unable to understand the situation. But her uneasiness was growing, and she decided to follow her brother's advice without delay. His suggestion that she leave without saying anything to their mother hastened her decision.

  She quietly called her maid, who had been waiting for her in the servants' room, and told her to get ready. She went out by the side gate, still wearing the kimono into which she had changed. She did not like to leave her wet things there, but she was sure that if she went in to get them she would be noticed by her sister-in-law, so she gave up the idea.

  She left the house without being seen, but she was frightened, and hurried along the street as if she were being chased by someone. Her heart beat rapidly, and her eyes began to water, since the sun was still bright. Ichi wiped away the tears with the red cloth, but she was unable to wipe away her dark foreboding.

  What has happened? What will happen now? she wondered. Should I have said good-bye to my mother? Why
did Bennosuke look so surprised when he heard the word Seishukufu? I don't understand. But something unusual and possibly dreadful is going on.

  "You're not walking fast enough." Ichi hurried her maid along with frequent urgings.

  Footnote

  * "The lady" is the wife of the master of the house, e.g., Ichi's mother. "The younger lady" here is the wife of a son of the family, i.e., one of Ichi's sisters-in-law. A married son and his family always lived in his parents' home.

  * Hakama:a pleated skirt for men's formal wear.

  3

  ICHI'S uneasy feeling persisted fordays, and she could not talk about it to anyone. She constantly studied the , demeanors of her husband and Kyunosuke, searching for a hint or a sign of what was going on, but to no avail. Her nerves were strained ; she would leap to her feet at the slightest sound, and had terrible dreams in the night, when she would be mercifully awakened by her husband. But since nothing happened and the Kugata family seemed little changed, her worries gradually eased.

  She thought about her own family, which she had left without a word. She had immediately sent them a message that she had become ill. Her mother had sent her the bundle of clothes left behind, with a note urging Ichi to take care of herself. The messenger had returned the following day and inquired about her health.

  When she told Kyunosuke that she had given his message to her brother, he too seemed unconcerned, saying, "Oh, thanks." When she put these things together in her mind, it all seemed very natural, and the only definite cause for her anxiety appeared to be Bennosuke's words. Now she was not even certain that the atmosphere of the Okumura house had changed.

  Since the season of young leaves, Ichi had acquired the habit of waking up at midnight and being unable to go back to sleep for some time. She would lie wide awake and, should she try to force herself to sleep, would perspire in a strange way. Then she would feel a strong urge to see her husband's face, and her heart would become heavy.