THE SISTER OF THE SUN.
It was the warmest hour of the day. All the halls of the palace at
Kioto were plunged in cool darkness, thanks to the lowered shades and
open screens before the windows.
Kioto is the capital, the sacred city, the residence of a god exiled
to earth, the direct descendant of the celestial founders of Japan,
the absolute sovereign, the high priest of all the forms of religion
practised throughout the kingdom of the rising sun, in fact, the
Mikado. The Shogun is only the first among the subjects of the Mikado;
but the latter, crushed beneath the weight of his own majesty, blinded
by his superhuman splendor, leaves the care of terrestrial affairs to
the Shogun, who rules in his stead, while he sits alone, absorbed in
the thought of his own sublimity.
In the centre of the palace parks, in one of the pavilions built for
the nobles of the court, a woman lay stretched upon the floor which was
covered with fine mats. Suddenly she rose upon her elbow and plunged
her dainty fingers in the dark masses of her hair. Not far from her, an
attendant, crouched on the ground, was playing with a pretty dog of a
rare species, which looked like a ball of black and white silk. A koto,
or musical instrument with thirteen strings, a writing-case, a roll of
paper, a fan, and a box of sweetmeats were scattered over the floor,
which no furniture concealed. The walls were made of cedar wood, carved
in open work or covered with brilliant paintings enhanced by gold and
silver; half-closed panels formed openings through which other halls
were visible, and beyond these still other apartments.
"Mistress, you are sad," said the attendant. "Shall I strike the
koto-strings, and sing a song to cheer you?"
The mistress shook her head.
"What?" cried the maid, "Fatkoura no longer loves music? Has she
then forgotten that she owes the light of day to it? For when the
Sun-goddess, enraged with the gods, withdrew into a cavern, it was by
letting her hear divine music for the first time that she was led back
to heaven!"
Fatkoura uttered a sigh, and made no answer.
"Shall I grind some ink for you? Your paper has long remained as
stainless as the snow on Mount Fusi. If you have a grief, cast it into
the mould of verse, and you will be rid of it."
"No, Tika; love is not to be got rid of; it is a burning pain, which
devours one by day and by night, and never sleeps."
"Unhappy love, perhaps; but you are beloved, mistress!" said Tika,
drawing nearer.
"I know not what serpent hidden in the depths of my heart tells me that
I am not."
"What!" said Tika in amaze, "has he not revealed his deep passion by a
thousand acts of folly? Did he not come but lately, at the risk of his
life,--for the wrath of the Kisaki might well prove fatal,--merely to
behold you for one instant?"
"Yes; and he vanished without exchanging a single word with me, Tika!"
added Fatkoura, seizing the young girl's wrists in a nervous grasp. "He
did not even look at me."
"Impossible!" said Tika; "has he not told you that he loved you?"
"He has; and I believed him, because I was so eager to believe. But now
I believe him no longer."
"Why?"
"Because if he loved me he would have married me long since, and taken
me to his estates."
"But the affection which he bears his master keeps him at the Court of
Osaka!"
"So he says; but is that the language of love I What would I nob
sacrifice for him!... Alas! I thirst for his presence! His face, so
haughty, and yet so gentle, floats before my eyes! I long to fix it,
but it escapes me! Ah! if I might but spend a few happy months with
him, I would gladly kill myself afterwards, lulling myself to sleep
with my love; and my past happiness would be a soft winding-sheet for
me."
Fatkoura burst into sobs and hid her face in her hands. Tika strove
to console her. She threw her arms around her, and said a thousand
affectionate things, but could not succeed in calming her.
Suddenly a noise was heard at the other end of the room, and the little
dog began to yelp.
Tika rose quickly and ran out, to prevent any servant from entering and
seeing the emotion of her mistress; she soon returned beaming.
"It is he! it is he!" she exclaimed. "He is here; he wishes to see you."
"Do not jest with me, Tika!" said Fatkoura, rising to her feet.
"Here is his card," said the young girl; and she offered a paper to
Fatkoura, who read at a glance:--
"Iwakura Teroumoto Mori, Prince of Nagato, entreats the
honor of admission to your presence."
"My mirror!" she cried frantically. "I am horrible thus,--my eyes
swollen, my hair disordered, dressed in a robe without embroidery!
Alas! instead of weeping, I should have foreseen his coming, and busied
myself with my toilette from early dawn!"
Tika brought the mirror of burnished metal, round as the full moon, and
the box of perfumes and cosmetics.
Fatkoura took a pencil and lengthened her eyes. But her hand trembled,
she made too heavy a line; then, wishing to repair the mistake, only
succeeded in smearing her whole cheek with black. She clenched her
fists with rage, and ground her teeth. Tika came to her aid, and
removed the traces of her awkwardness. She placed upon the lower lip
a little green paint, which became pink on contact with the skin. To
replace the eyebrows, which had been carefully plucked out, she made
two large black spots very high upon her forehead; to make the oval of
her face longer, she sprinkled a little pink powder on her cheek-bones;
then rapidly removed all the apparatus of the toilette, and threw over
her mistress's shoulders a superb kirimon. Then she left the hall at
full speed.
Fatkoura, trembling violently, stood beside the gotto as it lay on the
floor, one hand holding up her mantle heavy with ornament, and eagerly
fixed her gaze on the entrance.
At last Nagato appeared. He advanced, placing one hand on the golden
hilt of one of his two swords, and, bowing with graceful dignity, said:
"Pardon me, fair Fatkoura, if I come like a storm which sweeps across
the sky unannounced by any foreboding clouds."
"You are to me like the sun when it rises from the sea," said Fatkoura,
"and you are always expected. Stay! but a moment since I wept for your
sake. See! my eyes are still red."
"Your eyes are like the evening and the morning stars," said the
Prince. "But why did they drown their rays in tears? Can I have given
you any cause to grieve?"
"You are here, and I have forgotten the cause of my sorrow," said
Fatkoura, smiling; "perhaps I wept because you were far away."
"Why can I not be always here?" cried Nagato, with such an accent of
truth that the young woman felt all her fears vanish, and a flash
of joy illumined her countenance. Perhaps, however, she mistook the
meaning of the Prince's words.
"Come closer," she said, "and rest upon these mats. Tika will serve us
with tea and a few delicacies."
"Could I not first send the Kisaki a secret petition of the utmost
importance?" asked Nagato. "I seized upon the pretext of this precious
missive in order to get away from Osaka," he added, seeing a shadow on
Fatkoura's brow.
"The sovereign has been vexed with me since your last appearance; I
dare not approach her, or send any of my servants to her."
"And yet this note must be in her hands with the briefest possible
delay," said Nagato, with a slight frown.
"What shall we do?" said Fatkoura, whom this trifling mark of distress
had not escaped. "Will you come with me to one of my illustrious
friends, the noble Iza-Farou No-Kami? She is in favor just now; perhaps
she will help us."
"Let us go to her at once," said the Prince.
"Let us go," said Fatkoura with a sigh.
The young woman called Tika, who had remained in the next room, and
signed to her to draw a sliding-panel, which opened upon a gallery
encircling the pavilion.
"Are you going out, mistress?" said Tika. "Shall I summon your suite?"
"We are going incognito, Tika, to take a walk in the orchard. Really,"
she added, with her finger on her lips, "we are going to visit the
noble Iza-Farou."
The maid bent her head in token of understanding. Fatkoura 'bravely set
foot on the balcony, but sprang back hastily with an exclamation.
"It's a furnace," she cried.
Nagato picked up the fail lying upon the floor.
"Courage!" he said; "I will cool the air nearest your face."
Tika took a parasol, which she opened over her mistress's head, and
Nagato waved the huge fan. They set out, sheltered at first by the
projecting roof. Fatkoura led the way. Now and then she touched her
finger-tips to the open-work cedar balustrade, and uttered a baby
shriek at its burning contact. The pretty silken-haired dog, who had
felt obliged to join the party, followed at a distance, growling,
doubtless, remarks upon the madness of a walk at such an hour of the
day.
They turned the corner of the house, and found themselves in front of
it, at the top of a broad staircase leading to the garden, between two
balusters ornamented with copper balls; a third baluster, in the centre
of the staircase, divided it into two parts.
In spite of the intolerable heat and the vivid light, whose reflection
from the sandy soil fairly blinded them, Fatkoura and the Prince of
Nagato pretended to be walking with no other object than to pick a few
flowers and admire the charming prospect which lay before them at every
step. Although the gardens were deserted, they knew that the eye of the
spy was never closed. They made haste to reach a shady alley, and soon
arrived at a group of sumptuous pavilions scattered among the trees and
connected by covered galleries.
"It is here," said Fatkoura, who, far from looking in the direction of
the buildings of which she spoke, was leaning over a little pond filled
with water so clear as to be almost invisible.
"Just see that pretty fish!" she said, purposely raising her voice;
"I should think he was carved from a block of amber. And that one who
looks like a ruby sprinkled with gold! he seems hanging in mid air, the
water is so transparent. See, his fins are like black gauze, and his
eyes like balls of fire! Decidedly, of all the dwellers in the palace,
Iza-Farou has the finest fish."
"What, Fatkoura!" cried a feminine voice from the interior of a
pavilion, "are you out at such an hour? Is it because you are a widow
that you take so little care of your skin, and let it be destroyed by
the sun?"
A blind was half raised, and Iza-Farou thrust out her pretty head,
bristling with light tortoise-shell pins.
"Ah!" she said, "the lord of Nagato! You will not pass by my house
without honoring me by entering," she added.
"We will come in with pleasure, thanking the fate which led us in this
direction," said Fatkoura.
They went up the steps leading to the pavilion, and moved on through
the flowers filling the balcony.
Iza-Farou came towards them.
"What had you to tell me?" she said to her friend in a low voice, as
she gracefully saluted the Prince.
"I need your help," said Fatkoura; "you know I am in disgrace."
"I know it; shall I sue for your pardon? But can I assure the Queen
that you will never again commit the fault which angered her so
deeply?" said Iza-Farou, casting a mischievous glance at Nagato.
"I am the only criminal," said the Prince, smiling. "Fatkoura is not
responsible for the actions of a madman like me."
"Prince, I think she is proud to be the cause of what you call mad
acts; and many are the women who envy her."
"Do not jest with me," said Nagato; "I am sufficiently punished by
having drawn down the wrath of her sovereign upon the noble Fatkoura."
"But that is not the question in point," cried Fatkoura. "The Lord of
Nagato is bearer of an important message which he wishes to transmit to
the Kisaki secretly. He first came to me; but as I cannot approach the
Queen just now, I thought of your kind friendship."
"Trust the message to me," said Iza-Farou, turning to the Prince; "in a
very few moments it shall be in the hands of our illustrious mistress."
"I am overcome with gratitude," said Nagato, taking from his bosom a
white satin wrapper containing the letter.
"Wait here for me; I will return soon."
Iza-Farou took the letter, and ushered her guests into a cool and shady
hall, where she left them alone.
"These pavilions communicate with the Kisaki's palace," said Fatkoura;
"my noble friend can visit the sovereign without being seen by other
eyes. May the gods grant that the messenger bring back a favorable
answer, and I may see the cloud which darkens your brow vanish!"
The Prince seemed, in fact, absorbed and anxious; he nibbled the tip
of his fan as he paced the room. Fatkoura followed him with her eyes,
and her heart involuntarily stood still; she felt a return of the
dreadful agony which had so recently wrung tears from her, and which
the presence of her beloved had suddenly calmed.
"He does not love me," she murmured in despair; "when his eyes turn
towards me, they alarm me by their cold and almost contemptuous
expression."
Nagato seemed to have forgotten the presence of the young woman; he
leaned against a half-open panel, and seemed lost in a dream, at once
sweet and poignant.
The rustle of a dress upon the mats that covered the floor drew him
from his revery. Iza-Farou returned; she seemed in haste, and soon
appeared at the corner of the gallery. Two young boys, magnificently
attired, followed her.
"These are the words of the divine Kisaki," said she, as soon as she
was within speaking distance of Nagato: "'Let the suppliant make his
request in person.'"
At these words Nagato turned so pale, that Iza-Farou, frightened,
thinking that he would faint, rushed towards him, to prevent him from
falling.
"Prince," she cried, "be calm! Such a favor is, I know, enough to cause
your emotion: but are you not used to all honors?"
"Impossible!" muttered Nagato, in a voice which was scarcely audible;
"I cannot appear before her."
"What!" said Iza-Farou, "would you disobey her command?"
"I am not in court-dress," said the Prince.
"She will dispense with ceremony for this time only, the reception
being secret. Do not keep her waiting longer."
"So be it; lead the way!" suddenly exclaimed Nagato, who had now
apparently conquered his emotion.
"These two pages will conduct you," said Iza-Farou.
Nagato left the room rapidly, preceded by the Kisaki's two servitors;
but not so rapidly that he did not hear a stifled cry which broke from
the lips of Fatkoura.
After walking for some time, and passing through the various galleries
and halls of the palace without paying the slightest heed to them,
Nagato came to a great curtain of white satin, embroidered in gold,
whose broad folds, silvery in the light, leaden-hued in the shade, lay
in ample heaps upon the ground.
The pages drew aside this drapery; the Prince advanced, and the
quivering waves of satin fell together again behind him.
The walls of the hall which he entered glittered faintly in the dim
light; they gave out flashes of gold, the whiteness of pearls and
purple reflections, while an exquisite perfume floated in the air. At
the end of the room, beneath curtains fastened back by golden cords,
sat the radiant sovereign in the midst of the silken billows of her
scarlet robes; the triple plate of gold, insignia of omnipotence, rose
above her brow. The Prince grasped the vision with one involuntary
look; then, dropping his eyes as if he had gazed upon the sun at noon,
he advanced to the centre of the room and fell upon his knees; then
slowly his face sank to the ground.
"Iwakura," said the Kisaki, after a long pause, "what you ask of me
is serious. I desire certain explanations from your own lips before I
prefer your request to the sublime master of the world, the son of the
gods, my spouse."
The Prince half rose, and strove to speak, but could not; he felt as
if his bosom would burst with the frantic throbbing of his heart. The
words died on his lips, and he remained with downcast eyes, pale as
death.
"Is it because you think me angry with you that you are so much
alarmed?" said the Queen, looking at the Prince for an instant with
surprise. "I can forgive you, for your crime is but slight. You love
one of my maidens, that is all."
"Nay, I do not love her!" cried Nagato, who, as if he had lost his
senses, raised his eyes to his sovereign.
"What matters it to me?" said the Kisaki abruptly. For one second their
gaze met; but Nagato closed his guilty eyes, and trembling at his own
audacity, awaited its punishment.
But after a pause the Kisaki went on in a quiet voice: "Your letter
reveals to me a terrible secret; and if what you imagine is true, the
peace of the kingdom may be deeply affected."
"That is why, Divine Sister of the Sun, I had the boldness to beg for
your all-powerful intercession," said the Prince, unable completely to
master the quiver in his voice. "If you grant my prayer, if I obtain
what I ask, great misfortunes may be prevented."
"You know, Iwakura, that the Celestial Mikado is favorable to Hieyas;
would he believe in the crime of which you accuse his favorite I and
would you be willing to maintain in public the accusation hitherto kept
secret?"
"I would maintain it to Hieyas' very face," said Nagato firmly; "he
is the instigator of the odious plot which came near costing my young
master his life."
"That affirmation would endanger your own life. Have you thought of
that?"
"My life is a slight thing," said the Prince. "Besides, the mere fact
of my devotion to Fide-Yori is enough to attract the Regent's hatred.
I barely escaped assassination by his men a few days ago, on leaving
Kioto."
"What, Prince! is that indeed possible?" said the Kisaki.
"I only mention the unimportant fact," continued Nagato, "to show you
that this man is familiar with crime, and that he is anxious to rid
himself of those who stand in the way of his ambition."
"But how did you escape from the murderers?" asked the Kisaki, who
seemed to take a lively interest in the adventure.
"The sharp blade of my sword and the strength of my arm saved my life.
But why should you waste your sublime thoughts upon so trifling an
incident?"
"Were the assassins numerous?" inquired the Queen, curiously.
"Ten or twelve, perhaps. I killed several of them; then I gave my horse
the spurs, and he soon put a sufficient distance between them and me."
"What!" said the Kisaki meditatively, "is the man who has the
confidence of my divine spouse so fierce and treacherous? I share your
fears, Iwakura, and sad forebodings overwhelm me; but can I persuade
the Mikado that our presentiments are not vain? At least I will try to
do so, for the good of my people and the salvation of the kingdom. Go,
Prince; be at the reception this evening. I shall then have seen the
Lord of the World."
The Prince, having prostrated himself, rose, and with his head still
bent towards the earth, withdrew backwards from the room. As he reached
the satin curtain, he once more almost involuntarily raised his eyes to
the sovereign, who followed him with her gaze. But the drapery fell and
the adorable vision disappeared.
The pages led Iwakura to one of the palaces reserved for sovereign
princes passing through Kioto. Happy to find himself alone, he
stretched himself upon a pile of cushions, and, still deeply moved,
gave himself up to a delicious revery.
"Ah!" he murmured, "what strange joy fills my soul! I am intoxicated;
perhaps it comes from breathing the air that surrounds her! Ah!
terrible madness, hopeless longing which causes me such sweet
suffering, how much you must be increased by this unexpected interview!
Already I had often fled from Osaka; exhausted, like a diver perishing
for want of air, I came hither, to gaze upon the palaces which hide
her from my sight, or to catch an occasional glimpse of her in the
distance as she leaned over a balcony, or paced the garden paths
surrounded by her women; and I bore hence a store of happiness. But now
I have breathed the perfume which exhales from her person, her voice
has caressed my ear, I have heard my name tremble on her lips! Can I
now be content with what has hitherto filled up my life? I am lost; my
existence is ruined by this impossible love; and yet I am happy. Soon
I shall see her again, no longer under the constraint of a political
audience, but able to dazzle myself at my ease with her beauty. Shall I
have strength to conceal my agitation and my criminal love? Yes, divine
sovereign, before thee only my haughty spirit falls prostrate, and my
every thought turns towards thee as the mists to the sun. Goddess, I
adore thee with awe and respect; but alas! I love thee as well, with a
mad tenderness, as if thou wert but a mere woman!"