YASUNARI KAWABATA
THOUSAND-WINGED CRANE
Thousand-winged crane
Even as he entered the territory of the Kamakura temple, Kikuji still hesitated whether or not he should go to this tea ceremony. By the beginning, he was already late anyway.
While arranging tea ceremonies in the pavilion of the Enkakuji Temple Park, Chikako Kurimoto regularly sent him invitations. However, after the death of his father, Kikuji has never been there. He did not attach importance to these invitations, considering them a common manifestation of respect for the memory of the deceased.
But this time, in addition to the usual text, there was a small postscript in the invitation - Chikako was going to show him one girl, her student.
After reading the postscript, Kikuji suddenly remembered the birthmark on Chikako's body. His father once took him with him to this woman. He was then eight or nine years old. When they entered the dining room, Chikako was sitting in her open kimono and with tiny scissors sheared her hair on a birthmark. A palm-sized dark purple patch covered the entire lower half of her left breast and almost reached the underside. Hair grew on him. Ichto also cut Tikako's hair.
- My God, you and the boy!
She seems embarrassed. I wanted to jump up, but then, obviously, thought that such haste would only increase the awkwardness and, turning slightly to the side, slowly closed her chest, wrapped her kimono and tucked it under the obi.
Apparently, the boy, not the man, made her embarrassed - she knew about the arrival of her father, Kikuji Chikako, the servant who met the guests at the door reported to her.
The father did not enter the dining room. He sat down in the next room, the living room, where Chikako usually taught her lessons.
Absentmindedly looking at the kakemono in the wall niche, the father said:
- Let me have a cup of tea.
"Now," Chikako said.
But she was in no hurry to get up. And Kikuji saw a newspaper spread on her lap, and on the newspaper there were short black hairs, just like those that grow on the chin of men.
It was a bright day, and upstairs, in the attic, rats rustled shamelessly. A peach tree was blooming near the gallery.
Chikako sat down by the hearth and began making tea. Her movements were somehow not very confident.
And ten days after that, Kikuji overheard his father's conversation with his mother. Mother, as if revealing a terrible secret, told her father about Tikako: it turns out that the poor thing has a huge birthmark on her chest, so she does not get married. Mother thought that father knew nothing about it. Her face was sad - she must have felt sorry for Chikako.
At first, my father only mumbled, showing surprise with all his appearance, then he said:
- Well ... of course ... But she can warn the groom ... If he knows about the stain in advance, maybe even looks at it, I think this will not affect his decision ...
- So I say the same thing! But does a woman dare to admit to a man that she has a huge birthmark, and even on her chest ...
- Nonsense, she is no longer a girl ...
- Yes, but still ashamed ... If a man had a birthmark, it would not play any role. He could show it to his wife even after the wedding - she would only laugh.
- And what, she showed you this birthmark?
- What are you, do not say nonsense!
- So you just told?
- Yes. Today, when she came to give us a lesson, we started talking. Well, she opened her heart ... But what do you say - how can a man react to this if she gets married all the same?
- I don’t know ... Maybe he will be unpleasant ... And by the way, sometimes this has its own charm. In addition, this shortcoming can awaken special care in the husband, reveal the good sides of his character. And it's not such a terrible drawback.
- You think so? So I told her that this is not a drawback. And she keeps repeating - a stain, they say, on the very chest!
- Mmm ...
- And you know, the most bitter thing for her is the child. Husband, okay. But if there is a child, she says, and even scared to think! ..
- Because of the birthmark of milk, or what, will not be?
- Why not? This is not the point. She is bitter that the child will see the stain. She must be thinking about it all the time ... It never entered my head ... And she says: imagine a child takes a mother's breast, and the first thing he sees will be this ugly birthmark. Terrible! The first impression of the world around us, of the mother - and such an ugliness! This could affect his whole life ... Black birthmark ...
- Mmm ... In my opinion, all these are vain fears, the playing of the imagination ...
- Of course! After all, there is artificial food for babies, and you can take a wet nurse.
- A birthmark is nonsense, the main thing is that a woman has milk.
“I don’t know… Still, you are not quite right… I even cried when I listened to her. And I thought, what a blessing that I don't have any birthmarks and that our Kikuji has never seen anything like it ...
- Yeah ...
Kikuji was gripped by just indignation - isn't his father ashamed to pretend he doesn't know anything! Nor does his father pay any attention to him, Kikuji. And he also saw this birthmark on Chikako's chest!
Now, almost twenty years later, Kikuji was presented in a different light. He laughed at the thought of it. Father was embarrassed at that time, he was probably worried!
But as a child, Kikuji was long impressed by that conversation. He was ten years old, and he was still tormented by anxiety that he would not have a brother or sister who would be breastfed with a birthmark.
And the worst thing was not that the child would appear in someone else's house, but that in general a child would live in the world, breastfed with a huge, hair-covered birthmark. There will be something devilish in this creature that will always inspire terror.
Fortunately, Chikako did not give birth to anyone. Probably, the father did not allow this. Who knows, maybe the sad story about the baby and the birthmark, which made the mother cry, was invented and inspired by Chikako's father. Needless to say, he did not yearn to have a child with Chikako, and she did not give birth. Not from him, not from anyone else after his death.
Chikako apparently decided to anticipate events by telling Kikuji's mother about her birthmark. She was afraid that the boy would blab out, so she hurried.
She never got married. Did the birthmark really have such an impact on her life? ..
However, Kikuji could not forget this spot. Obviously, it had to play some role in his destiny.
And when Chikako, under the pretext of a tea ceremony, announced that she wanted to show him a girl, this spot immediately surfaced in front of Kikuji's eyes and he thought: if Chikako recommends a girl, she probably has flawlessly clear skin.
I wonder how your father felt about this birthmark? Maybe he stroked it with his hand, and maybe even nibbled ... Kikuji sometimes fantasized about this for some reason.
And now, as he walked through the grove that surrounded the mountain temple, the same thoughts, drowning out the chirping of birds, were born in his head ...
There were certain changes with Chikako. Already two or three years after he saw her birthmark, she suddenly became masculine, and lately she has completely turned into a creature of indeterminate sex.
Probably, even today, at the tea ceremony, she will not be self-confident, with some feigned dignity. Who knows, maybe her breasts, which had been wearing a dark birthmark for so long, have already begun to fade ... Kikuji for some reason became funny, he almost laughed out loud, but at that moment two girls caught up with him. He stopped, making way for them.
- Tell me please, will I take this path to the pavilion where Kurimotosan is hosting the tea ceremony? Kikuji asked.
- Yes! - the girls answered at once.
He knew exactly how to get through. And the girls in smart kimonos, hurrying along this path, were obviously heading for the tea ceremony. But Kikuji asked the question on purpose - so that it would be uncomfortable for him to turn back.
The girl who held the pink crepe de Chine furoshiki with the white thousand-winged crane in her hands was beautiful.
Kikuji approached the tea pavilion at the very moment when the girls ahead of him had already put on tabi and were about to enter.
He peered through their backs into the room. The room was quite spacious, about eight tatami mats, but there were a lot of people. They sat close, almost touching their knees to each other. Kikuji did not see the faces - the brightness and diversity of the outfits blinded him somewhat.
Chikako hastily got up and went to meet him. There was both surprise and joy on her face.
- Oo, rare guest, please, come in! How nice of you that you dropped by! You can go right here. She pointed to the shoji closest to the niche.
Kikuji blushed as he felt the gaze of all the women in the room.
- It seems there are only ladies here? - he asked.
- Yes. There were also men, but they have already dispersed, so you will be the only adornment of our society.
- What are you, what a decoration I am!
“No, no, Kikujisan, you have so many beautiful qualities! You will truly be a real decoration.
Kikuji gestured to her that he would go through the main entrance.
A beautiful girl, wrapping tabi in furoshiki with a thousand-winged crane, politely stepped aside, letting him forward.
Kikuji walked into the next room. There were scattered boxes from under the cookies, from under the cups and other utensils brought for the tea ceremony. There were guests' belongings. Behind the wall in the mizuya, a maid was washing dishes.
Chikako entered and sat down in front of Kikuji, and so hastily, as if she had fallen on her knees in front of him.
- Well, a beautiful girl, isn't she?
- Which one? The one with the thousand-winged crane furoshiki?
- Furoshiki with a crane? I do not understand! I'm talking about the girl who just stood there. About daughter Inamursan.
Kikuji nodded vaguely.
“Oh, you have to be on your guard, Kikujisan! Look what little things you notice. And I was already amazed at your dexterity, I thought you came together.
- It will be for you!
- Well, if we met on the way, it means, indeed, fate. And your father knew Inamurasan too.
- Really?
- Yes. Inamurasan from a respectable merchant house. They used to trade raw silk in Yokohama. But the girl is unaware of our plans, so you can calmly consider her.
Chikako spoke in a very loud voice, and Kikuji was terribly afraid that the guests, separated from them by only a thin partition, would not hear her. But then Chikako bent down and whispered in his ear:
“All is well, except for one small nuisance. You know, Lady Oota came, and along with her daughter ... - She paused and looked at Kikuji, how he would react to this. - Do not just think that I specially invited her. You know, any passer-by can come to the tea ceremony. This is the custom. Two groups of American tourists have just been here. You're not mad at me, okay? Ootasan heard that there would be a tea ceremony, so she came. But about you - why you came today - she, of course, does not know.
“And I’m not today…” Kikuji wanted to say, “And I’m not going to arrange a bride,” but his tongue seemed to stick to his throat.
- However, it should be inconvenient not for you, but for Lady Oota. And you hold on as if nothing had happened.
These words hurt Kikuji. Chikako's relationship with his father was obviously short-lived and not very serious. Until the death of her father, this woman continued to visit their house. She was invited not only to arrange tea ceremonies, but also to simply help with the housework when guests came. She became a cross between a companion and a servant. Chikako often worked in the kitchen with her mother. It would be simply ridiculous to be jealous of her father - she has become so masculine in recent years. The mother, probably, was not jealous, although she guessed that at one time her husband, apparently, rather carefully familiarized himself with the notorious birthmark. But everything was already behind, in the past, and Chikako was absolutely at ease when she and her mother were busy in the kitchen.
Kikuji gradually got used to the fact that this woman was always at the service of their family, was always ready to fulfill his every whim, and little by little the painful childish disgust for her passed, giving way to slight neglect.
Perhaps a bailiff for the Kikuji family, Chikako simply found a comfortable way of being. Obviously, this way of life, as well as masculinity, was inherent in her nature.
In any case, thanks to their family, Chikako gained a kind of popularity as a teacher of the tea ceremony.
When his father died, Kikuji completely reconciled with Chikako and even occasionally pitied her: who knows, maybe she, after the only one in her life and such a fleeting, almost illusory connection, suppressed a woman in herself.
Mother treated her evenly, without emphasized hostility. This is understandable - lately it was not Chikako that worried her, but Mrs. Oota.
Mr. Oota, a friend of his father in the tea ceremony, died early, his father took over the sale of the remaining tea utensils and got in touch with his widow.
Chikako immediately got wind of this, first informed her mother, and suddenly turned almost into a friend of the wife of her former lover. Defending the interests of Kikuji's mother, she developed a violent, even too violent activity: she tracked down her father, from time to time advised and intimidated the widow of Oota, without any hesitation coming to her home. It seemed that a long-dormant jealousy awoke in Chikako's chest.
Kikuji's mother, a shy and timid woman, was completely confused by such energetic intervention and lived in constant fear of what seemed to be an inevitable scandal.
Chikako, even in the presence of Kikuji, did not hesitate to revile Lady Oota. And when one day her mother tried to reason with her, she said:
“Let him know too, it’s good for him.”
Lesson type: the formation of skills.
III group. Analyze the image of Chikako.
During the classes
III. Formation of skills and abilities of students.
The story "A Thousand Cranes" has a deep humanistic meaning. The title of the work is expressive: a thousand cranes are a symbol of purity and happiness, which every person is looking for, sometimes without realizing that they are nearby.
Was he really saved by the fall of pure Fumiko? - the hero reflects in private, remembering how Fumiko did not resist - “only her purity resisted”. Kikuji was afraid that this time the curses would affect his soul, but the opposite happened: his soul seemed to be purified. The pure cloud of Fumiko, which covered Yukiko's star and purified the soul of Kikuji himself, melted away without a trace. Kikuji is nowhere to find the girl who suddenly disappeared. Remembering her words: "Death is following me," he feels his legs stiffen from the terrible thought: "I can't believe she died!" “How could Fumiko die when she brought me back to life?” - with this and many other questions leaves her hero Kawabata in the finale of the story. And all of nature, which is also sad with a person, seems to respond to the feeling of Kikuji in a mournful tone.
I. Motivation of educational activities of students
2. Finding other examples of the unity of man and nature in the story.
Nature always has a special place in Kawabata's works. The life of nature and man, according to the writer, are united by invisible chains. Awareness of this initial inherent connection is extremely important for an artist. It is also associated with the feeling of the rhythm of the integral world, which allows one to penetrate the laws of nature, to live one life with it, without deviating from natural nature, without creating disharmony, dissonance, discord with it, and therefore with oneself. The lines about nature create a kind of background against which the life of the heroes unfolds, nevertheless, nature often becomes one of the images of the work. Kawabata encourages people to learn from nature, to penetrate into its secrets, he sees in communication with nature the way to moral and aesthetic improvement of man.
1. Teacher's lecture
IV group. Describe the artistic techniques of the writer, his style.
Yasunari Kawabata
Thousand-winged crane
Thousand-winged crane
Even as he entered the territory of the Kamakura temple, Kikuji still hesitated whether or not he should go to this tea ceremony. By the beginning, he was already late anyway.
While arranging tea ceremonies in the pavilion of the Enkakuji Temple Park, Chikako Kurimoto regularly sent him invitations. However, after the death of his father, Kikuji has never been there. He did not attach importance to these invitations, considering them a common manifestation of respect for the memory of the deceased.
But this time, in addition to the usual text, there was a small postscript in the invitation - Chikako was going to show him one girl, her student.
After reading the postscript, Kikuji suddenly remembered the birthmark on Chikako's body. His father once took him with him to this woman. He was then eight or nine years old. When they entered the dining room, Chikako was sitting in her open kimono and with tiny scissors sheared her hair on a birthmark. A deep purple patch, the size of a palm, covered the entire lower half of her left breast and almost reached the underside. Hair grew on him. It was Chikako who cut them.
My God, you and the boy!
She seems embarrassed. I wanted to jump up, but then, obviously, thought that such haste would only increase the awkwardness and, turning slightly to the side, slowly closed her chest, wrapped her kimono and tucked it under the obi.
Apparently, the boy, not the man, made her embarrassed - she knew about the arrival of her father, Kikuji Chikako, the servant who met the guests at the door reported to her.
The father did not enter the dining room. He sat down in the next room, the living room, where Chikako usually taught her lessons.
Absentmindedly looking at the kakemono in the wall niche, the father said:
Let me have a cup of tea.
Now, ”Chikako said.
But she was in no hurry to get up. And Kikuji saw a newspaper spread on her lap, and on the newspaper there were short black hairs, just like those that grow on the chin of men.
It was a bright day, and upstairs, in the attic, rats rustled shamelessly. A peach tree was blooming near the gallery.
Chikako sat down by the hearth and began making tea. Her movements were somehow not very confident.
And ten days after that, Kikuji overheard his father's conversation with his mother. Mother, as if revealing a terrible secret, told her father about Tikako: it turns out that the poor thing has a huge birthmark on her chest, so she does not get married. Mother thought that father knew nothing about it. Her face was sad - she must have felt sorry for Chikako.
At first, my father only mumbled, showing surprise with all his appearance, then he said:
Y-yes ... of course ... But she can warn the groom ... If he knows about the stain in advance, maybe even looks at him, I think this will not affect his decision ...
So I say the same thing! But does a woman dare to admit to a man that she has a huge birthmark, and even on her chest ...
Nonsense, she is no longer a girl ...
Yes, but still ashamed ... If a man had a birthmark, it would not play any role. He could show it to his wife even after the wedding - she would only laugh.
So, did she show you this birthmark?
What are you, don't be silly!
So she was just telling?
Yes. Today, when she came to give us a lesson, we started talking. Well, she opened her heart ... But what do you say - how can a man react to this if she does get married?
D-I don’t know ... Maybe it will be unpleasant for him ... And by the way, sometimes it has its own charm. In addition, this shortcoming can awaken special care in the husband, reveal the good sides of his character. And it's not such a terrible drawback.
You think so? So I told her that this is not a drawback. And she keeps repeating - a stain, they say, on the very chest!
And you know, the most bitter thing for her is the child. Husband, okay. But if there is a child, she says, and even scared to think! ..
Because of the birthmark of milk, or what, will not be?
Why not? This is not the point. She is bitter that the child will see the stain. She must be thinking about it all the time ... It never entered my head ... And she says: imagine a child takes a mother's breast, and the first thing he sees will be this ugly birthmark. Terrible! The first impression of the world around us, of the mother - and such an ugliness! This could affect his whole life ... Black birthmark ...
Hmmm ... In my opinion, all these are vain fears, playing out imagination ...
Of course! After all, there is artificial food for babies, and you can take a wet nurse.
A birthmark is nonsense, the main thing is that a woman has milk.
I don’t know ... Still, you are not quite right ... I even cried when I listened to her. And I thought, what a blessing that I don't have any birthmarks and that our Kikuji has never seen anything like it ...
Kikuji was seized with just indignation - isn't his father ashamed to pretend he doesn't know anything! Nor does his father pay any attention to him, Kikuji. And he also saw this birthmark on Chikako's chest!
Now, almost twenty years later, Kikuji was presented in a different light. He laughed at the thought of it. Father was embarrassed at that time, he was probably worried!
But as a child, Kikuji was long impressed by that conversation. He was ten years old, and he was still tormented by anxiety that he would not have a brother or sister who would be breastfed with a birthmark.
And the worst thing was not that the child would appear in someone else's house, but that in general a child would live in the world, breastfed with a huge, hair-covered birthmark. There will be something devilish about this creature that will always inspire terror.
Fortunately, Chikako did not give birth to anyone. Probably, the father did not allow this. Who knows, maybe the sad story about the baby and the birthmark, which made the mother cry, was invented and inspired by Chikako's father. Needless to say, he did not yearn to have a child with Chikako, and she did not give birth. Not from him, not from anyone else after his death.
Chikako apparently decided to anticipate the events by telling Kikuji's mother about her birthmark. She was afraid that the boy would blab out, so she hurried.
She never got married. Did the birthmark really have such an impact on her life? ..
However, Kikuji could not forget this spot. Obviously, it had to play some role in his destiny.
And when Chikako, under the pretext of a tea ceremony, announced that she wanted to show him a girl, this spot immediately surfaced in front of Kikuji's eyes and he thought: if Chikako recommends a girl, she probably has flawlessly clear skin.
I wonder how your father felt about this birthmark? Maybe he stroked it with his hand, and maybe even nibbled ... Kikuji sometimes fantasized about this for some reason.
And now, as he walked through the grove that surrounded the mountain temple, the same thoughts, drowning out the chirping of birds, were born in his head ...
There were certain changes with Chikako. Already two or three years after he saw her birthmark, she suddenly became masculine, and lately she has completely turned into a creature of indeterminate sex.
Probably, even today, at the tea ceremony, she will not behave like a woman, self-confident, with some kind of feigned dignity. Who knows, maybe her breasts, which had been wearing a dark birthmark for so long, had already begun to fade ... Kikuji for some reason became ridiculous, he almost laughed out loud, but at that moment two girls caught up with him. He stopped, making way for them.
Please tell me, will I take this path to the pavilion where Kurimoto-san is hosting a tea ceremony? Kikuji asked.
Yes! - the girls answered at once.
He knew exactly how to get through. And the girls in smart kimonos, hurrying along this path, were obviously heading for the tea ceremony. But Kikuji asked the question on purpose - so that it would be uncomfortable for him to turn back.
Even as he entered the territory of the Kamakura temple, Kikuji still hesitated whether or not he should go to this tea ceremony. By the beginning, he was already late anyway.
While arranging tea ceremonies in the pavilion of the Enkakuji Temple Park, Chikako Kurimoto regularly sent him invitations. However, after the death of his father, Kikuji has never been there. He did not attach importance to these invitations, considering them a common manifestation of respect for the memory of the deceased.
But this time, in addition to the usual text, there was a small postscript in the invitation - Chikako was going to show him one girl, her student.
After reading the postscript, Kikuji suddenly remembered the birthmark on Chikako's body. His father once took him with him to this woman. He was then eight or nine years old. When they entered the dining room, Chikako was sitting in her open kimono and with tiny scissors sheared her hair on a birthmark. A deep purple patch, the size of a palm, covered the entire lower half of her left breast and almost reached the underside. Hair grew on him. It was Chikako who cut them.
- My God, you and the boy!
She seems embarrassed. I wanted to jump up, but then, obviously, thought that such haste would only increase the awkwardness and, turning slightly to the side, slowly closed her chest, wrapped her kimono and tucked it under the obi.
Apparently, the boy, not the man, made her embarrassed - she knew about the arrival of her father, Kikuji Chikako, the servant who met the guests at the door reported to her.
The father did not enter the dining room. He sat down in the next room, the living room, where Chikako usually taught her lessons.
Absentmindedly looking at the kakemono in the wall niche, the father said:
- Let me have a cup of tea.
"Now," Chikako said.
But she was in no hurry to get up. And Kikuji saw a newspaper spread on her lap, and on the newspaper there were short black hairs, just like those that grow on the chin of men.
It was a bright day, and upstairs, in the attic, rats rustled shamelessly. A peach tree was blooming near the gallery.
Chikako sat down by the hearth and began making tea. Her movements were somehow not very confident.
And ten days after that, Kikuji overheard his father's conversation with his mother. Mother, as if revealing a terrible secret, told her father about Chikako: it turns out that the poor thing has a huge birthmark on her chest, so she does not get married. Mother thought that father knew nothing about it. Her face was sad - she must have felt sorry for Chikako.
At first, my father only mumbled, showing surprise with all his appearance, then he said:
- Well ... of course ... But she can warn the groom ... If he knows about the stain in advance, maybe even looks at it, I think this will not affect his decision ...
- So I say the same thing! But does a woman dare to admit to a man that she has a huge birthmark, and even on her chest ...
- Nonsense, she is no longer a girl ...
- Yes, but still ashamed ... If a man had a birthmark, it would not play any role. He could show it to his wife even after the wedding - she would only laugh.
- And what, she showed you this birthmark?
- What are you, do not say nonsense!
- So you just told?
- Yes. Today, when she came to give us a lesson, we started talking. Well, she opened her heart ... But what do you say - how can a man react to this if she does get married?
“I-I don’t know… Maybe he will be unpleasant… And by the way, sometimes it has its own charm. In addition, this shortcoming can awaken special care in the husband, reveal the good sides of his character. And it's not such a terrible drawback.
- You think so? So I told her that this is not a drawback. And she keeps repeating - a stain, they say, on the very chest!
- And you know, the most bitter thing for her is the child. Husband, okay. But if there is a child, she says, and even scared to think! ..
- Because of the birthmark of milk, or what, will not be?
- Why not? This is not the point. She is bitter that the child will see the stain. She must be thinking about it all the time ... It never entered my head ... And she says: imagine a child takes a mother's breast, and the first thing he sees will be this ugly birthmark. Terrible! The first impression of the world around us, of the mother - and such an ugliness! This could affect his whole life ... Black birthmark ...
- Hmmm ... In my opinion, all these are vain fears, playing out the imagination ...
- Of course! In the end, there is artificial nutrition for babies, and you can take a wet nurse.
- A birthmark is nonsense, the main thing is that a woman has milk.
“I don’t know… Still, you are not quite right… I even cried when I listened to her. And I thought, what a blessing that I don't have any birthmarks and that our Kikuji has never seen anything like it ...
Kikuji was gripped by just indignation - isn't his father ashamed to pretend he doesn't know anything! Nor does his father pay any attention to him, Kikuji. And he also saw this birthmark on Chikako's chest!
Now, almost twenty years later, Kikuji was presented in a different light. He laughed at the thought of it. Father was embarrassed at that time, he was probably worried!
But as a child, Kikuji was long impressed by that conversation. He was ten years old, and he was still tormented by anxiety that he would not have a brother or sister who would be breastfed with a birthmark.
And the worst thing was not that the child would appear in someone else's house, but that in general a child would live in the world, breastfed with a huge, hair-covered birthmark. There will be something devilish about this creature that will always inspire terror.
Fortunately, Chikako did not give birth to anyone. Probably, the father did not allow this. Who knows, maybe the sad story about the baby and the birthmark, which made the mother cry, was invented and inspired by Chikako's father. Needless to say, he did not yearn to have a child with Chikako, and she did not give birth. Not from him, not from anyone else after his death.
Chikako apparently decided to anticipate the events by telling Kikuji's mother about her birthmark. She was afraid that the boy would blab out, so she hurried.
She never got married. Did the birthmark really have such an impact on her life? ..
However, Kikuji could not forget this spot. Obviously, it had to play some role in his destiny.
And when Chikako, under the pretext of a tea ceremony, announced that she wanted to show him a girl, this spot immediately surfaced in front of Kikuji's eyes and he thought: if Chikako recommends a girl, she probably has flawlessly clear skin.
I wonder how your father felt about this birthmark? Maybe he stroked it with his hand, and maybe even nibbled ... Kikuji sometimes fantasized about this for some reason.
And now, as he walked through the grove that surrounded the mountain temple, the same thoughts, drowning out the chirping of birds, were born in his head ...
There were certain changes with Chikako. Already two or three years after he saw her birthmark, she suddenly became masculine, and lately she has completely turned into a creature of indeterminate sex.
Probably, even today, at the tea ceremony, she will not behave like a woman, self-confident, with some kind of feigned dignity. Who knows, maybe her breasts, which had been wearing a dark birthmark for so long, had already begun to fade ... Kikuji for some reason became ridiculous, he almost laughed out loud, but at that moment two girls caught up with him. He stopped, making way for them.
"Tell me please, will I take this path to the pavilion where Kurimoto-san is hosting the tea ceremony?" Kikuji asked.
- Yes! - the girls answered at once.
He knew exactly how to get through. And the girls in smart kimonos, hurrying along this path, were clearly heading for the tea ceremony. But Kikuji asked the question on purpose - so that it would be uncomfortable for him to turn back.
The girl who held the pink crepe de Chine furoshiki with the white thousand-winged crane in her hands was beautiful.
Kikuji approached the tea pavilion at the very moment when the girls ahead of him had already put on tabi and were about to enter.
He peered through their backs into the room. The room was quite spacious, about eight tatami mats, but there were a lot of people. They sat close, almost touching their knees to each other. Kikuji did not see the faces - the brightness and diversity of the outfits blinded him somewhat.
Chikako hastily got up and went to meet him. There was both surprise and joy on her face.
- Oh, a rare guest, please, come in! How nice of you that you dropped by! You can go right here. She pointed to the shoji closest to the niche.
Kikuji blushed as he felt the gaze of all the women in the room.
- It seems there are only ladies here? - he asked.
- Yes. There were also men, but they have already dispersed, so you will be the only adornment of our society.
- What are you, what a decoration I am!
“No, no, Kikuji-san, you have so many beautiful qualities! You will truly be a real decoration.
Kikuji gestured to her that he would go through the main entrance.
A beautiful girl, wrapping tabi in furoshiki with a thousand-winged crane, politely stepped aside, letting him forward.
Kikuji walked into the next room. There were boxes of cookies, cups and other utensils brought for the tea ceremony. There were guests' belongings. Behind the wall in the mizuya, a maid was washing dishes.
Chikako entered and sat down in front of Kikuji, and so hastily, as if she had fallen on her knees in front of him.
- Well, a beautiful girl, isn't she?
- Which one? The one with the thousand-winged crane furoshiki?
- Furoshiki with a crane? I do not understand! I'm talking about the girl who just stood there. About Inamura-san's daughter.
Kikuji nodded vaguely.
“Oh, you have to be on your guard, Kikuji-san! Look what little things you notice. And I was already amazed at your dexterity, I thought you came together.
- It will be for you!
- Well, if we met on the way, it means, indeed, fate. And your father knew Inamura-san too.
- Yes. Inamura-san is from a respectable merchant house. They used to trade raw silk in Yokohama. But the girl is unaware of our plans, so you can calmly consider her.
“All is well, except for one small nuisance. You know, Lady Oota came, and along with her daughter ... - She paused and looked at Kikuji, how he would react to this. - Do not just think that I specially invited her. You know, any passer-by can come to the tea ceremony. This is the custom. Two groups of American tourists have just been here. You're not mad at me, okay? Oota-san heard that the tea ceremony would take place, so she came. But of course, she doesn't know about you - why you came today.
“And today I don’t ...” Kikuji wanted to say, “And I’m not going to arrange a bride,” but his tongue seemed to stick to his larynx.
- However, it should be inconvenient not for you, but for Lady Oota. And you hold on as if nothing had happened.
These words hurt Kikuji. Chikako's relationship with his father was obviously short-lived and not very serious. Until the death of her father, this woman continued to visit their house. She was invited not only to arrange tea ceremonies, but also to simply help with the housework when guests came. She became a cross between a companion and a servant. Chikako often worked in the kitchen with her mother. It would be ridiculous to be jealous of her father - she has become so masculine in recent years. The mother must have not been jealous, although she guessed that at one time her husband, apparently, quite carefully familiarized himself with the notorious birthmark. But everything was already behind, in the past, and Chikako was absolutely at ease when she and her mother were busy in the kitchen.
Kikuji gradually got used to the fact that this woman was always at the service of their family, always ready to fulfill his every whim, and little by little the painful childish disgust for her passed, giving way to slight neglect.
Perhaps a bailiff for the Kikuji family, Chikako simply found a comfortable way of being. Obviously, this way of life, as well as masculinity, was inherent in her nature.
In any case, thanks to their family, Chikako gained a kind of popularity as a teacher of the tea ceremony.
When his father died, Kikuji completely reconciled with Chikako and even occasionally pitied her: who knows, maybe she, after the only one in her life and such a fleeting, almost illusory connection, suppressed a woman in herself.
Mother treated her evenly, without emphasized hostility. This is understandable - lately it was not Chikako that worried her, but Mrs. Oota.
Mr. Oota, a friend of his father's tea ceremony, died early, his father took over the sale of the remaining tea utensils after him and got in touch with his widow.
Chikako immediately got wind of this, was the first to inform her mother and suddenly turned almost into a friend of the wife of her former lover. Defending the interests of Kikuji's mother, she developed a violent, even too violent activity: she tracked down her father, from time to time advised and intimidated the widow of Oota, without any hesitation coming to her home. It seemed like a long-dormant jealousy awoke in Chikako's chest.
Kikuji's mother, a shy and timid woman, was completely confused by such energetic intervention and lived in constant fear of what seemed to be an inevitable scandal.
Chikako, even in the presence of Kikuji, did not hesitate to revile Lady Oota. And when one day her mother tried to reason with her, she said:
“Let him know too, it’s good for him.”
“Imagine,” she said to her mother, “when I was with her for the last time, her girl, it turns out, was sitting in the next room and listening. I say, I am indignant, of course, and suddenly I hear someone crying behind the wall ...
- Girl? .. - A shadow passed over the mother's face.
- Well, yes, her daughter. She seems to be already twelve years old. Oh, and they put on a show! This Lady Oota, in my opinion, does not have all the houses. What would a normal person do in her place? I would scold the child for eavesdropping and take him somewhere far away. And she went into the next room, returned with her daughter, hugged her and sat her on her lap. And imagine, both actresses, both the elderly and the young, began to shed tears for show.
- How so? .. Sorry for the girl ...
- Who is sorry, and who is not. The girl is a very suitable means to influence Lady Oota ... - Chikako turned her gaze to Kikuji. - Yes, and sometimes it is good for children. So Kikuji-san could say a few words to his father ...
At this point, the mother could not resist:
- Please, hold your tongue! It's too poisonous with you!
- Poisonous? And very good! And you, Oku-san, keep all your poison with you, instead of throwing it out at once, and taking your soul away. You look emaciated, but that is not doing anything, everything is smooth. I suppose she still imagines herself an unhappy victim, thinks that if she has a grief, then you can sigh and cry for show, and do nasty things on the sly. No, just imagine: in the living room where she receives your husband, a photograph of the deceased owner of the house flaunts in the most prominent place! I just wonder how your spouse puts up with all this!
And now, after the death of her father, this lady, whom Chikako abused so much, came here to the tea ceremony, and not alone, but with her daughter.
Kikuji shuddered inwardly, as if doused with cold water.
Even today, according to Chikako, Lady Oota came without an invitation, but if she could come here at all, then after the death of her father, both women maintain some kind of relationship with each other. Maybe Lady Oota even sends her daughter to Chikako to study the tea ceremony ... All this was a complete surprise for Kikuji.
“If it’s unpleasant for you, can you ask Oota-san to leave?” Chikako asked, looking into Kikuji's eyes.
- I am completely indifferent. And if she guesses herself, let her go.
- Do not hope, she is not so quick-witted. Otherwise, neither your father nor your mother would have to suffer.
- You said she came with her daughter?
Kikuji had never seen Lady Oota's daughter before. And now he thought - everything turns out awkwardly ... Lady Oota, her daughter and a girl with a thousand-winged crane ... I would not like to meet this girl in the presence of Oota's daughter, whom he will see today for the first time.
“Anyway, Oota-san already knows I'm here. I can't run or hide.
He parted the shoji closest to the tokonoma, entered the room and knelt down in a place of honor.
- Mitani-san. Son of the late Mitani-san.
Kikuji bowed once more and, lifting his head, was finally able to see all the girls.
He must have been a little horny. At first, he saw only festive outfits, merged into an oversized bright spot. Faces faded behind variegated colors. Now, somewhat relieved, he made out them and saw that he was sitting directly opposite Lady Oota.
- God! Lady Oota exclaimed. There was both surprise and frank joy in her voice, which of course was immediately felt by everyone present. - How long have we not seen each other! Please do not be offended that I have not given any news about myself for so long.
She lightly tugged at the sleeve of her daughter who was sitting next to her, as if to say - what are you? Say hello soon! The girl, flushed and obviously completely embarrassed, bowed.
Kikuji was shocked. There was no shadow of hostility or ill will in Lady Oota's behavior. She seemed really happy. It seemed that this completely unexpected meeting gave her great pleasure. It seemed that Mrs. Oota did not think at all in what an ambiguous position she was putting herself in the eyes of those present.
Her daughter sat in silence, looking down, not raising her head. Lady Oota noticed this, and her cheeks turned a little pink, but she was not at all embarrassed and continued to look affectionately at Kikuji. It seemed that she was about to rise, walk up and say something intimate, sincere to Kikuji.
- Are you also fond of the tea ceremony? She asked.
- No ... Apparently, I did not inherit these inclinations from dad ...
- Strange ... I thought such things were in the blood ...
Memories must have washed over Lady Oota. Her eyes became wet and shiny.
Kikuji saw her for the last time when his father died, at the ceremony of farewell to the deceased.
During these four years, she has not changed at all. And the white long neck, not very in harmony with the full, rounded shoulders, and her whole slender figure, not for age, was exactly the same as then. Previously, Kikuji felt that her nose and mouth were too small compared to her eyes. But now he got a good look at her face: the nose was regular, well-defined, very cute, and the lower lip in certain angles, when Mrs. Oota spoke, protruded slightly forward.
The daughter inherited from her mother a long neck and rounded shoulders. But her mouth and eyes were larger. For some reason, Kikuji found it ridiculous that the girl's mouth was larger than her mother's. Now her lips were tightly compressed, her large eyes looked sad.
Glancing at the fire smoldering in the hearth, Chikako said:
"Inamura-san, maybe you can offer Mitani-san a cup of tea?" Today we have not yet had the pleasure of admiring your style.
- You are welcome.
The girl who had a furoshiki with a thousand-winged crane got up.
Kikuji immediately noticed to himself that she was sitting next to Lady Oota the whole time. But when he saw Lady Oota, he avoided looking at this girl.
After inviting Inamura's daughter to serve tea, Chikako obviously wanted Kikuji to get a good look at her.
The girl sat down in front of the bowler hat and, slightly turning her head, asked:
- And in which cup?
- In fact, in what? Chikako said. - Perhaps the best thing about this one. The late Mr. Mitani gave it to me. This is his favorite cup.
Kikuji perfectly remembered this cup, which Inamura's daughter had now placed in front of her. Father really always drank tea from her. But ... she got her father from the widow of Oot.
Poor Lady Oota! Probably, she is now very bitter: she gave up her deceased husband's favorite cup to Mr. Mitani, and he took it and gave it to her, and to whom ... Tikako!
Chikako's insensitivity and tactlessness amazed Kikuji.
However, Mrs. Oota was in no way inferior to her in this respect.
Light steam rose from the hearth. He swirled as if weaving the past of these two no longer very young women. And against this background, the young daughter of Inamura performed the ritual of making tea with impeccable cleanliness. Kikuji suddenly became acutely aware of the girl's beauty.
And Inamura's daughter probably had no idea about Chikako's intention to show her to Kikuji.
Yasunari Kawabata.
Thousand-winged crane
Thousand-winged crane
Even as he entered the territory of the Kamakura temple, Kikuji still hesitated whether or not he should go to this tea ceremony. By the beginning, he was already late anyway.
While arranging tea ceremonies in the pavilion of the Enkakuji Temple Park, Chikako Kurimoto regularly sent him invitations. However, after the death of his father, Kikuji has never been there. He did not attach importance to these invitations, considering them a common manifestation of respect for the memory of the deceased.
But this time, in addition to the usual text, there was a small postscript in the invitation - Chikako was going to show him one girl, her student.
After reading the postscript, Kikuji suddenly remembered the birthmark on Chikako's body. His father once took him with him to this woman. He was then eight or nine years old. When they entered the dining room, Chikako was sitting in her open kimono and with tiny scissors sheared her hair on a birthmark. A deep purple patch, the size of a palm, covered the entire lower half of her left breast and almost reached the underside. Hair grew on him. It was Chikako who cut them.
- My God, you and the boy!
She seems embarrassed. I wanted to jump up, but then, obviously, thought that such haste would only increase the awkwardness and, turning slightly to the side, slowly closed her chest, wrapped her kimono and tucked it under the obi.
Apparently, the boy, not the man, made her embarrassed - she knew about the arrival of her father, Kikuji Chikako, the servant who met the guests at the door reported to her.
The father did not enter the dining room. He sat down in the next room, the living room, where Chikako usually taught her lessons.
Absentmindedly looking at the kakemono in the wall niche, the father said:
- Let me have a cup of tea.
"Now," Chikako said.
But she was in no hurry to get up. And Kikuji saw a newspaper spread on her lap, and on the newspaper there were short black hairs, just like those that grow on the chin of men.
It was a bright day, and upstairs, in the attic, rats rustled shamelessly. A peach tree was blooming near the gallery.
Chikako sat down by the hearth and began making tea. Her movements were somehow not very confident.
And ten days after that, Kikuji overheard his father's conversation with his mother. Mother, as if revealing a terrible secret, told her father about Chikako: it turns out that the poor thing has a huge birthmark on her chest, so she does not get married. Mother thought that father knew nothing about it. Her face was sad - she must have felt sorry for Chikako.
At first, my father only mumbled, showing surprise with all his appearance, then he said:
- Well ... of course ... But she can warn the groom ... If he knows about the stain in advance, maybe even looks at it, I think this will not affect his decision ...
- So I say the same thing! But does a woman dare to admit to a man that she has a huge birthmark, and even on her chest ...
- Nonsense, she is no longer a girl ...
- Yes, but still ashamed ... If a man had a birthmark, it would not play any role. He could show it to his wife even after the wedding - she would only laugh.
- And what, she showed you this birthmark?
- What are you, do not say nonsense!
- So you just told?
- Yes. Today, when she came to give us a lesson, we started talking. Well, she opened her heart ... But what do you say - how can a man react to this if she does get married?
“I-I don’t know… Maybe he will be unpleasant… And by the way, sometimes it has its own charm. In addition, this shortcoming can awaken special care in the husband, reveal the good sides of his character. And it's not such a terrible drawback.
- You think so? So I told her that this is not a drawback. And she keeps repeating - a stain, they say, on the very chest!
- And you know, the most bitter thing for her is the child. Husband, okay. But if there is a child, she says, and even scared to think! ..
- Because of the birthmark of milk, or what, will not be?
- Why not? This is not the point. She is bitter that the child will see the stain. She must be thinking about it all the time ... It never entered my head ... And she says: imagine a child takes a mother's breast, and the first thing he sees will be this ugly birthmark. Terrible! The first impression of the world around us, of the mother - and such an ugliness! This could affect his whole life ... Black birthmark ...
- Hmmm ... In my opinion, all these are vain fears, playing out the imagination ...
- Of course! In the end, there is artificial nutrition for babies, and you can take a wet nurse.
- A birthmark is nonsense, the main thing is that a woman has milk.
“I don’t know… Still, you are not quite right… I even cried when I listened to her. And I thought, what a blessing that I don't have any birthmarks and that our Kikuji has never seen anything like it ...
Kikuji was gripped by just indignation - isn't his father ashamed to pretend he doesn't know anything! Nor does his father pay any attention to him, Kikuji. And he also saw this birthmark on Chikako's chest!
Now, almost twenty years later, Kikuji was presented in a different light. He laughed at the thought of it. Father was embarrassed at that time, he was probably worried!
But as a child, Kikuji was long impressed by that conversation. He was ten years old, and he was still tormented by anxiety that he would not have a brother or sister who would be breastfed with a birthmark.
And the worst thing was not that the child would appear in someone else's house, but that in general a child would live in the world, breastfed with a huge, hair-covered birthmark. There will be something devilish about this creature that will always inspire terror.
Fortunately, Chikako did not give birth to anyone. Probably, the father did not allow this. Who knows, maybe the sad story about the baby and the birthmark, which made the mother cry, was invented and inspired by Chikako's father. Needless to say, he did not yearn to have a child with Chikako, and she did not give birth. Not from him, not from anyone else after his death.
Chikako apparently decided to anticipate the events by telling Kikuji's mother about her birthmark. She was afraid that the boy would blab out, so she hurried.
She never got married. Did the birthmark really have such an impact on her life? ..
However, Kikuji could not forget this spot. Obviously, it had to play some role in his destiny.
And when Chikako, under the pretext of a tea ceremony, announced that she wanted to show him a girl, this spot immediately surfaced in front of Kikuji's eyes and he thought: if Chikako recommends a girl, she probably has flawlessly clear skin.
I wonder how your father felt about this birthmark? Maybe he stroked it with his hand, and maybe even nibbled ... Kikuji sometimes fantasized about this for some reason.
And now, as he walked through the grove that surrounded the mountain temple, the same thoughts, drowning out the chirping of birds, were born in his head ...
There were certain changes with Chikako. Already two or three years after he saw her birthmark, she suddenly became masculine, and lately she has completely turned into a creature of indeterminate sex.
Probably, even today, at the tea ceremony, she will not behave like a woman, self-confident, with some kind of feigned dignity. Who knows, maybe her breasts, which had been wearing a dark birthmark for so long, had already begun to fade ... Kikuji for some reason became ridiculous, he almost laughed out loud, but at that moment two girls caught up with him. He stopped, making way for them.
"Tell me please, will I take this path to the pavilion where Kurimoto-san is hosting the tea ceremony?" Kikuji asked.
- Yes! - the girls answered at once.
He knew exactly how to get through. And the girls in smart kimonos, hurrying along this path, were clearly heading for the tea ceremony. But Kikuji asked the question on purpose - so that it would be uncomfortable for him to turn back.
The girl who held the pink crepe de Chine furoshiki with the white thousand-winged crane in her hands was beautiful.
Kikuji approached the tea pavilion at the very moment when the girls ahead of him had already put on tabi and were about to enter.
He peered through their backs into the room. The room was quite spacious, about eight tatami mats, but there were a lot of people. They sat close, almost touching their knees to each other. Kikuji did not see the faces - the brightness and diversity of the outfits blinded him somewhat.
Chikako hastily got up and went to meet him. There was both surprise and joy on her face.
- Oh, a rare guest, please, come in! How nice of you that you dropped by! You can go right here. She pointed to the shoji closest to the niche.
Kikuji blushed as he felt the gaze of all the women in the room.