making tea, but mostly she sat at the window of her room and spent the day looking out at the garden.
On one occasion, while she was having a difficult time enduring these boring hours, a messenger arrived from her family, the Okumuras, and informed her that they wished her to visit them, since her mother was ill in bed. Since Ichi had visited her only at New Year's and because she had plenty of free time, she decided to go, after asking Iso's permission. But while she was choosing a gift for her mother and wondering which kimono to wear, the hands of the clock crept around almost to noon.
"You'd better have lunch before you go, since you're already late," Iso told her. "If you go there now, I'm afraid you'll cause them trouble."
"I don't think so, but perhaps I will have lunch before I go."
Kyunosuke unexpectedly returned from the office while she was talking with Iso. As he passed along the corridor greeting them, he saw that his sister-in-law was wearing a formal kimono. He stopped and asked, "Oh, are you going out?"
Hearing that she was going to visit her mother, he bowed his head, as if there were something he could not quite understand. Then, as if thinking better of it and gazing into her eyes, he asked, "You are coming back today, aren't you?"
Naturally it was her intention to return that day, but since he sounded as if he wanted to make sure of this, Ichi felt that she was being accused ; she answered that she would return by evening.
"What's the matter?" Iso asked, looking at her third son. "It seems very early. Aren't you feeling well?"
"Well, we're having a meeting of my colleagues this afternoon. Since I'm in a hurry, won't you have the servants prepare lunch for me?"
With this Kyunosuke was about to leave, but he turned to Ichi once again and said, this time in a normal tone of voice, "Please give them my best regards. In particular, please tell Bennosuke that I'm longing to be able to see the Seishukufu."
"Se-i-shu-ku-fu... is that it?"
"Yes, that's right. It's a table of twenty-eight constellations which gives them names like the Eastern Seventh constellation with thirty-two stars or the Northern Seventh constellation with fifty-one stars. If you just tell him that, he'll understand."
Bennosuke was Ichi's brother, but she had never heard that he was studying such a thing. However, she merely thought that he was studying something new and strange. She left the house at the southeast gate.
The sunshine was dazzling, and the temperature was high. Even with her parasol, Ichi started perspiring after walking just a short distance. She noticed that the street was quite dusty because of the long drought. To get to the Okumura house she had to detour through the main gate of the castle and go almost halfway around it. It was not a long distance, but the light reflecting from the dry street hurt her eyes. After walking for a time, she would stop and wipe her eyes with a red silk cloth or close them and rest for a while. Thus the walk took longer than expected, and when she reached her parents' home she was so covered with perspiration that she had to change her undergarments.
Footnote
* "Elder sister" (onesan) is what one would call the wife of an elder sibling, even if one is older than the woman* "Elder sister" (onesan) is what one would call the wife of an elder sibling, even if one is older than the woman.
2
Tami was a farm girl of seventeen with a sunken face. She was not noted for her quick wit, but her extreme talkativeness appealed to Ichi. While Ichi listened, Tami would chatter aimlessly about nothing in particular, appearing perfectly happy as long as she could talk.
Ichi listened to her tales of customs and events in her native village, stories she had heard many times before. Some of these stories caused Ichi to blush, but Tami herself seemed to feel that they were quite natural, despite their occasional indecency.
"Oh, you've gained weight," Tami began as soon as Ichi went into the bathroom. "Your breasts look different now, don't they! When I washed you the last time, they weren't even as large as fists. And your back and hips ... oh my, my!"
"You shouldn't talk so much about my body, Tami, you embarrass me. Put this hot water into the pail."
"You shouldn't be embarrassed about becoming so beautiful. If you are, . . . now the younger lady, * I think she should . . ." And Tami launched into news about the wife of Ichi's eldest brother and about Ichi's brothers, adding that the retainer had had a child, that their dog Tachi had grown old, that a guest who was famous for his fondness for saké and drunkenness had fallen from the veranda and gotten a bump on his head, that she herself had received a marriage proposal, that she had no intention of marrying the man since she knew he was a good-for-nothing, that as many as three of the rose mallows in the garden had died this year. She continued with one thing and another, and by the time Ichi had washed and changed into her kimono she knew everything that had happened in the house since New Year's. Her ears were ringing. There was strict discipline in this house, and no one but Ichi would listen to Tami's chatter. She thought that Tami must have saved up these stories for her, and she could not scold the girl.
Ichi went to see her mother, who was sitting beside the bedding. Her mother's complexion had not changed, and she did not look like a sick person. Ichi's sister-in-law Kayo was preparing tea and cakes.
"Oh, my, your eyes have started again," her mother said, paying no attention to Ichi's inquiries. "I'm afraid this eye disease is going to be a lifelong habit with you. Are you visiting your doctor, Sekitai? Hmm ... I guess the Kugata family lives differently, but you're not taking care of yourself, are you? You look worse than you usually do."
Though Ichi insisted that she had not done any fine work for a long time and that she was even troubled because she had nothing to do, her mother's suspicious expression remained.
Ichi's father and oldest brother were at work, but two of her brothers, Heizaburo and Bennosuke, soon appeared. They looked as meticulous as ever, sitting so straight that even the pleats of their hakama * did not crumple. Their conversation covered conventional subjects, and they ran out of topics after only one cup of tea.
The brothers soon left. But Ichi had detected a subtle change in the atmosphere of this house. Her mother and brothers had not asked her about the Kugata family and very plainly indicated that they wished to avoid the subject when Ichi was about to tell them about her in-laws. Her mother's remark that Ichi must not have been able to take care of herself had a critical tone somehow.
"Please stay with us for a while," her mother said casually. "While I'm not seriously ill, somehow I feel weak. I've been having sleepless nights, and I feel depressed."
"But I can't stay, mother. I don't have permission from my husband, and moreover I came here with the intention of going back by evening."
"You can send a message by the maid you brought with you, and I'll also send them a message. Moreover, with those infected eyes, you've got to have a good rest."
"Yes, mother," Ichi answered vaguely, and stood up. "I heard the rose mallows died. Were they infested with vermin?"
"Father replanted them because he wanted to enlarge the chrysanthemum garden. It might have been all right if it had rained.
