Chapter 10 chapter Ten

One morning after several months, we were packing our robes when I suddenly smelled a terrible smell coming from the gate.The smell came from grandma's room.Aunt found grandma dead on the floor.She was electrocuted. In the week or two after grandma's death, almost all the people in Gion visited our art hall. My mother and aunt were busy receiving the hostesses of various tea houses and art halls, as well as many maids who were familiar with grandma; Shopkeepers, wig makers and hair stylists; and, of course, groups of geisha. During these busy days, it is my job to usher visitors into the drawing room.On the afternoon of the second or third day of mourning, when the gates were opened, I was immediately struck by the kimono worn by the visitor, which was more beautiful than any other visitor had worn.It was dark because of the occasion—a simple black robe with ornamentation—but the gold and green grass pattern at its hem looked bright and gorgeous.This visitor is also accompanied by a maid.As she looked at the shrine by our door, I took the opportunity to sneak a glimpse of her face.She wasn't a striking woman like Hatsumomo, but her features were so perfect that I immediately felt humbler than usual.Then, suddenly, I recognized who she was.

Geisha Mameha, the kimono that Hatsumomo forced me to destroy was hers. I led her and her maid into the drawing room, keeping my head down and trying to hide my face all the way.I don't think she'd recognize me because I'm pretty sure she didn't see my face when I went to return the kimono.And the maid accompanying her now is not the young woman who took the kimono from me with tears in her eyes. Twenty minutes later, Mameha and her maid were leaving, and when her maid opened the door, I felt my ordeal was over.But Mameha didn't go out, but stared at me. "What's your name, little girl?"

My heart pounded and I told her my name was Chiyo. Mameha gave a long sigh, "What unusual eyes!" she said, "I thought I imagined them. What color do you think they are, Tatsumi?" Her maid came back from the door and gave me a look. "Blue-gray, ma'am," she replied. "That's exactly what I was trying to say. So, how many girls in Gion do you think have eyes like that?" I didn't know if Mameha was talking to me or Tatsumi, but neither of us answered.She looked at me with a strange look on her face.Then she apologized and left, much to my relief.

Nearly a month later, the maid said that someone was looking for me outside.I rushed downstairs and recognized the man as the maid who had accompanied Mameha to our art house a few weeks ago. She asked me to wait for her at the small bridge over the Baichuan River at three o'clock the next afternoon, but she didn't say anything about it. Although I was reluctant, I asked Pumpkin to find something to send me out the next day. I came to the meeting place and waited until Mameha's maid.She led me across the bridge and along the creek to the gate where Hatsumomo and Korin forced me to go upstairs to return the kimono.

"Chiyo is here, ma'am," she called. Then I heard Mameha say loudly in the back room, "Got it, thank you, Tatsumi!" The maid led me to a table under an open window, and I knelt on a cushion, trying not to look too nervous. Mameha's apartment was not very big, but it was very elegant, and the beautiful tatami mats in the house were obviously new, because they shone with a lovely yellow-green luster and gave off a strong aroma of straw.If you look closely enough at a tatami mat, you'll notice that it's usually nothing more than a dark cotton or linen piping, but these have a silk piping with Green and gold pattern.In the room, there was a beautiful calligraphy scroll hanging in the wall urn not far away. I later found out that it was a gift from the famous calligrapher Matsudaira Koichi to Mameha.On a wooden urn base below the scroll is a bouquet of dogwoods in bloom in an irregularly shaped deep black glazed dish with obvious cracks in the glaze.I thought this platter looked weird, but in fact it was given to Mameha by none other than Sakuji Yoshida, a master potter who was regarded as a living national treasure after World War II.

Finally, Mameha emerged from the back room, wearing a gorgeous cream-colored kimono with a water pattern on the hem.I turned and bowed deeply to her on the cushion as she sauntered towards the table.She came to the table, knelt down opposite me, took a sip of the tea the maid had served her, and said: "Here... Chiyo, right? Why didn't you tell me how you escaped from the art hall this afternoon? I'm sure Mrs. Nitta doesn't like her maid going out to do private business in broad daylight." I certainly didn't expect her to ask such a question.Mameha sipped tea and looked at me with a friendly face on her perfect oval face.Finally, she said:

"You thought I was going to scold you. But I just cared if you got yourself in trouble for coming here." Hearing her say that, I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm fine, ma'am," I said. "I've been sent out to buy kabuki magazines and shamisen strings." "Oh, that's easy, I have plenty of both," she said, and sent her maid to fetch some magazines and strings and put them on the table in front of me. "Bring them with you when you go back to the art hall, so that no one will wonder where you went. Well, tell me one thing. When I went to your art hall to express my condolences, I met another girl who was your age."

"That must be a pumpkin. Is it round-faced?" Mameha asked me why I called her Pumpkin, and she laughed when I explained. "This pumpkin," she said, "how is her relationship with Hatsumomo?" "Well, ma'am," I said, "I don't think a pumpkin holds more importance in Hatsumomo's heart than a leaf falling in the garden." "It's so poetic... a leaf falling in the garden. Did Hatsumomo treat you like this?" I opened my mouth to speak, but in fact I didn't know what to say.I don't know much about Mameha, and it's not appropriate to speak ill of Hatsumomo in front of outsiders.Mameha seemed to sense what I was thinking, for she said to me, "I was six when Hatsumomo and I met, and she was nine. When you watch an animal do its best over such a long period of time, Bad thing, then it's pretty self-explanatory what it's going to do next."

"She can't tolerate the existence of an opponent." Mameha continued, "That's why she treats you like that." "Hatsumomo will definitely not see me as her opponent, ma'am." I said, "I compare her with her like a small puddle is compared with the sea." "Perhaps you were no match for her in the tea house in Gion. But it's different in your art museum... Mrs. Nitta never adopted Hatsumomo as her daughter, don't you think it's strange? Nitta Art Museum It must be the richest art hall in Gion, but it has no heir. By adopting Hatsumomo, Mrs. Nitta can not only solve the problem of heirs, but also all the income of Hatsumomo will belong to the art hall, and no penny will flow to the art hall. Besides, Hatsumomo is a very successful geisha! Think about it, Mrs. Nitta loves money like everyone else, so she should have adopted Hatsumomo a long time ago. She didn't do that, there must be a very sufficient reason, don't you think?"

I've certainly never thought about this question before, but after listening to Mameha's words, I firmly believe that I know the exact reason why Geikan didn't adopt Hatsumomo. "Adopting Hatsumomo," I said, "is like releasing a tiger from its cage." "It's absolutely true. I'm sure that Mrs. Nitta knows very well what kind of daughter Hatsumomo will become after being adopted-she will try her best to get her mother out. After a year or two, she will probably sell the collection of the art museum kimono, and then retire. Xiao Chiyo, this is why Hatsumomo hates you so much. As for the girl named Pumpkin, I think it is impossible for Mrs. Nitta to adopt her, so Hatsumomo will not worry about her threatening her status."

"Miss Mameha," I said, "I'm sure you still remember the ruined kimono..." "You're going to tell me you're the girl who spilled ink on it." "Um... yes, ma'am. Although I'm sure you're well aware that Hatsumomo is behind it, I hope I can apologize to you myself one day." Mameha stared at me for a while, I didn't know what she was thinking until she said: "If that's what you wish, then you can apologize." I stepped away from the table and bowed so deeply that my head almost touched the floor mat; but before I could speak, Mameha cut me off. "Okay, let's just forget about it for now. I wonder why you are no longer training as a geisha? The teacher at your school told me that you were doing very well before the suspension. You should be in Gion in the future Great success. Why did Mrs. Nitta terminate your training?" I told her about my debts, including the kimono and the brooch that Hatsumomo had accused me of stealing.After I finished speaking, she still looked at me coldly.Finally, she said: "There are still things you haven't told me. Considering your debts, I think Mrs. Nitta will only look forward to you becoming a successful geisha. You will never be able to pay off your debts as a maid." After hearing this, I bowed my head involuntarily in shame.Mameha seemed to be able to read my mind in an instant. "You tried to escape, didn't you?" "Oh, ma'am... I'll do everything in my power to make amends," I said. "It's been more than two years since my mistake. I've been waiting patiently for my chance." "Waiting is not for you. I can see that you hit a lot of water. Water never waits. It changes shape and direction with the situation, and always finds a secret path that no one else thinks of - like a roof or a box The small hole at the bottom. There is no doubt that water is the most changeable of the five elements. Water can wash away soil, extinguish fire, corrode and wash away gold. Wood and water are naturally complementary, but even wood cannot survive without water. However, you haven't harnessed those powers in your life, have you?" "Well, actually, ma'am, it was the current that gave me the idea of ​​running off the roof." "I'm sure you're a smart girl, Chiyo, but I don't think that was your brightest moment. We can't choose where we're going. All we can do is resign ourselves to fate and go with the flow." "I think I'm like a river blocked by a dam, and that dam is Hatsumomo." "Yes, that's probably true," she said, looking at me calmly, "but the river sometimes washes away the dam." From the moment I arrived at her apartment, I wondered why Mameha had invited me.It wasn't until this moment that I finally realized it.Mameha must be determined to use me to get revenge on Hatsumomo.Obviously, they are competitors, otherwise why would Hatsumomo destroy Mameha's kimono two years ago?There is no doubt that Mameha has been waiting for the right moment, and now, it seems that she has waited.If I'm not mistaken, she wants to eradicate Hatsumomo completely.