Chapter 8 chapter eight

I don't think Mom really believed that I stole the belt pin, but she was quite satisfied with using my money to buy a new pin to please Hatsumomo.But she also undoubtedly knew that I had left the museum without authorization, because Yoko had confirmed it to her.When I learned that my mother had ordered the front gate to be locked to prevent me from going out again, it almost seemed to me that my life was automatically slipping away from me.How can I escape from the Art Museum now?Only my aunt has the key to the door, but she always hangs the key around her neck, even when she sleeps. Every night I lay on the futon and thought about it, but until Monday—the day before Satsu and I agreed to escape, I hadn't thought of any way to leave the art hall.On Monday afternoon, a maid called me to scrub the wooden floor, and when I squeezed water onto the floor from a soggy rag, I thought the water would go down the hallway, but instead it went back into the corner of the room.I was so surprised that I squeezed more water on the floor and I watched the water go to that corner again.And then... well, I can't describe exactly how this happened, but I pictured myself flowing like water down the stairs to the landing on the second floor, from there up the ladder, through the skylight, and out to Side of the tank on the roof.

roof!I was stunned by my own thoughts. The next night I deliberately yawned before going to bed, and threw myself onto the futon like a sack of rice.Anyone who saw me would have thought I fell asleep right away, but in reality I couldn't have been more awake. After a while, grandma settled down in her room.At this time, the maids were already snoring loudly.I sat up as quietly as I could, thinking that if anyone noticed me, I'd just go to the bathroom and come back.But no one paid attention to me. After gently closing the skylight behind me, I made my way up and finally reached the ridge of the roof.The roof of the building next door is shorter than ours.I climbed on it, and looked for my way down to the street; but all I could see was darkness except for the moonlight.The roof was too high and steep for me to risk sliding down, but I had to walk along the ridges until I came to the end of the block, looking down on one side to an open courtyard.If I could get to the gutter, I could follow it up to a shower shed, and then I could easily climb off the roof of the shower shed and drop into the yard.

I stepped over the ridge, and my body hung on the slope of the roof in an instant, barely touching the ridge.I realized with some horror that the roof was much steeper than I had estimated.Before I could make up my mind to let go, I started sliding down.As I descended, I heard my body sizzling against the tiles, and then suddenly the roof was no longer there.I turned around in the air and landed on one side of my body.I consciously covered my head with one arm; but I still fell so hard that my whole half of my body was in pain when I hit the ground.Slowly, I came to my senses and saw two women kneeling beside me.

"I tell you she fell off the roof, mother." "Little girl, what a dangerous thing you have done! How lucky you are not to be smashed to pieces!" But I can't say anything.I just thought that Satsu would be waiting for me across from the Minamiizu Theater, but I couldn't make it. The maid was sent down the street knocking on the door of every art house until she found out where I was coming from, and I lay curled up in a ball, in shock.I hugged my painful arm and howled dryly, when suddenly I felt someone pull me up and slap me. "Stupid girl, stupid girl!" a voice cursed.Auntie stood in front of me, and then she pulled me back to her art gallery.

"Do you know what you did?" she said to me. "What are you thinking! Well, you ruined everything about yourself...to do such a stupid thing! So stupid, stupid girl!" I never thought that my aunt would be so angry.She dragged me into the yard and threw me face down on the ground.At this point, I began to cry emotionally because I knew what was going to happen.Unlike the half-truths when she hit me last time, this time Auntie poured a bucket of water on my robe to make it hurt more when I was clubbed, and then she hit me hard enough that I could hardly breathe . "Now you will never be a geisha!" she yelled. "I warned you not to make such a mistake! Now neither I nor anyone else can help you!"

As a result of the escape incident, I broke my arm when I fell into that yard.The next morning, a doctor came to Yiguan and took me to a nearby clinic.It was almost evening when I returned to the art gallery with my arm in a plaster cast.I was still in pain, but my mother told me to go to her room right away.She patted "How long" with one hand, held the pipe in her mouth with the other hand, and sat there staring at me for a long, long time. "Do you know how much I paid for you?" she said to me at last. "I don't know, Mom," I answered, "but you'll tell me right away that I'm not worth what you're paying for."

I know it's impolite to answer like that.In fact, I figured Mom would probably slap me again for that, but I took it.In my opinion, I have nothing to do in this world.Mom gritted her teeth and coughed a few times. Her cough was no different from a strange laugh. She gasped for a while, then said, "I bought you for seventy-five dollars. Then you ruined a kimono and stole a pin, and now you broke your arm, so I'm going to take the Medical expenses are added to your debt. In addition, you have to pay for your meals and classes. Just this morning, I heard from the mistress of "Chenyi" in Miyagawa that your sister ran away. The mistress there Still haven't paid what she owes me. Now she's telling me she won't pay! I'm going to add that to your debt, but what's the point? You've owed you your entire life All debts paid off."

So Satsu had escaped.I really want to be happy for her, but I can't. "I figured you'd be able to pay off your debts after ten or fifteen years as a geisha," she continued, "if you happen to be a successful geisha. But a girl who wants to run away all day, who would How about spending an extra penny on her?" Having said this, she ordered me to get out of the room, and then put the pipe back in her mouth. My lips were trembling as I left. In the months after my failed escape, no one in the Art Museum spoke to me except to give me orders.Mom always treats me like a puff of smoke, because she always has more important things in her mind.But now all the maids and cooks and aunts treat me in the same way.

Throughout the bitterly cold winter, I kept thinking about how Satsu and my parents were doing.Most nights when I lay on my futon, I would feel anxious and empty inside, as if the whole world was just one giant living room with no one in it.To comfort myself, I would close my eyes and imagine myself walking along the path beside the seaside cliff in Yorocho.I was so familiar with that place that I could vividly describe the scene where I was there, as if I had really fled back to my hometown with Satsu.In my mind, I'm taking Zatsu's hand and rushing toward our drunken house—even though I've never held her hand before—and in a little while we'll be reunited with our parents.In those fantasies, however, I never actually got home; perhaps I was too afraid to see what it really was like at home.In any case, the thought of walking the back roads of my hometown seems to give me solace.Sometimes, I'll hear the coughing of the maid sleeping next to me, or the embarrassing fart of my grandma, and the imaginary smell of the sea will disappear in an instant, and the rough dirt road under my feet will return to Sheets on my futon, I'm still the same as before I started fantasizing, nothing but solitude.

When spring came, the cherry trees in Maruyama Park were in bloom, and Hatsumomo was busier than usual during the day in order to cope with all the cherry blossom viewing events.Every afternoon I watched her get ready to go out, and I envied the fullness of her life.I had begun to give up hope, and when I was no longer fantasizing, I went downstairs one morning and found a package on the floor of the front hall. I walked up and looked at the name and address written on the box: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture Tominaga Gion Kayoko Nitta Chiyo Sakamoto I was so surprised and stood there with my hand over my mouth for a long time, because the return address written under the stamp showed that the package was from Mr. Tanaka.

Before I could figure out what to do next, my aunt came down from upstairs. She asked someone to bring a knife, cut the rope, and unwrapped the rough wrapping paper.Among the tiers of linen lay the little talismans that had stood before the altar in our drunken house.Two of the newer spirit cards I have never seen before, and they have strange dharma names written on them, and I don't know those characters.I was so scared that I didn't even dare to think about why Mr. Tanaka sent me the spirit card. At this time, the aunt put the wooden box containing the spirit card on the floor, and took out the letter from the envelope to read.Finally, my aunt sighed heavily and took me into the reception room. "Chiyo, I want you to read a letter written to you by a man named Ichiro Tanaka." Her tone was unusually heavy and slow.I couldn't breathe as she spread the letter on the table. Dear Chiyo: It has been half a year since you left Yorocho, and soon the new season of flowers will be in full bloom on the trees.The process of flowering and fading reminds us that death will come to each of us one day. Having been an orphan myself, I regret to have to tell you terrible news that you must bear.Six weeks after you left your hometown to start a new life in Kyoto, your respected mother died of illness, and only a few weeks later, your respected father also passed away from this world.I am deeply sorry for the loss of your parents. I hope you can express your condolences. By the way, please rest assured that the remains of your parents have been buried in the village cemetery.The funeral was held at Zijiao Temple in Qianhe Township, and women in Yorocho also recited Buddhist scriptures.I believe your esteemed parents have rested in peace in Elysium. The training process of an apprentice geisha is full of hardships.However, I have great admiration for those who have been honed and transformed into great artists.When I visited Gion a few years ago, I had the pleasure of watching the spring dance and later attended a tea house banquet, and I was very impressed by the experience.In a way I feel satisfied because I have found a safe place for you in this world, Chiyo, and Geikan can save you from the pain of being adrift.I have lived to an age where I have seen two generations of children grow up, and I know that swans are rarely born from common birds.A swan dies if it stays in its parent's tree; so those who are naturally beautiful and gifted must make a way for themselves in the world. Your older sister, Satsu, came to Yorocho in late autumn last year, but she ran away with the boys from the Sugii family soon after.Mr. Sugii is anxious to see his beloved son again in his lifetime, so he begs you to inform him as soon as you have news of your sister. your most sincere friend Ichiro Tanaka Long before my aunt had finished reading the letter, my tears kept pouring out, like water coming out of a boiling kettle. When I was finally able to speak, I asked my aunt if she could put up the spirit cards in a place where I couldn't see them, and worship them for me—because I couldn't bear the pain of praying myself.But she refused, saying I should be ashamed of what I thought, and that I couldn't ignore my own ancestors anyway.She helped me set up the talismans on a shelf near the landing so I could worship them every morning. "Don't forget them, Chiyo." She said, "They are all your childhood memories."