Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/418

414 in all the years since the God of Gion descended from the heavens. But if Destiny now grants us the privilege of hearing your lady on the flute, clearly we were born at an auspicious hour.”

Elated by these words, he exclaimed, “Come, Madam! You must outdo yourself for this audience.” And he settled comfortably against the pillar of the alcove, his nose tilted as triumphantly as if he were the Emperor Hsüan Tsung.

His wife, who was of course a virtuoso, chose the song that Chang Liang played on Chou-li Mountain during the battle between Han and Ch’u, the song beginning, “When the autumn wind drives the leaves, and the traveler thinks of his far-off home …” And she poured out all her skill.

In the next room, strange to say, an uproarious party lapsed into melancholy. Hitherto lively guests reflected on the evil of squandering money that had been earned by the sweat of their parents; they felt inclined to go home without waiting for the supper already ordered. The charming boys called in to add to the gaiety remembered their native villages, and how their true fathers had toiled under cruel burdens, barely able to get along from one day to the next. Samisen in hand, they sat with tears shining in their eyes. No one asked the company of the house courtesans, who for that matter (though it was time to settle monthly accounts) were reviving nostalgic memories, and feeling they had landed in a somewhat thorny bed of roses. “The other girls have the knack of it,” remarked their mistress obliquely, “but our kites are too tail-heavy to get off the ground.” Even this seemed to pass unheard, and their sorrowful expression did not alter. Squirming with reluctance, they withdrew to a dark room (“Oil lamps are expensive …”); they wanted tea, but shrank from troubling anyone; and as they talked of their holidays, now regretted, they wept freely.

But the girls who were on their own had begun to choke and sniff a bit, too. Oblivious of the guests, they told each other their grievances. “No matter if we work so hard we have to strip down like