Memoirs Of A Geisha

the hitoe underrobes instead-the ones with no lining, used in September-I came upon a smell in the entry-way so horrible that I dropped the armload of ro

during the summer. Now that the month of September had begun and we were putting away the summer-weight underrobes, Granny had begun to use her heater again. That doesn't mean the weather was necessarily cool; we change the weight of our

d the whole thing became electrified. The police said that when Granny touched it that morning she must have been immobilized at once, maybe even killed instantly. When she slid down onto the floor, she ended up with her face pressed

cook became ill and a doctor was summoned; it turned out her only problem was that she'd slept no more than two hours the night before, hadn't sat down all day, and had eaten only a single bowl of clear soup. I was surprised too to see Mother spending money almost unrestrainedly, making plans for sutras to be chanted "on Granny's behalf at the Chion-in Temple, purchasing lotus-bud arrangements fro

ya, as well as a number of maids who were acquainted with Granny; also shopkeepers, wig makers, and hairdressers, most of whom were men; and of course, dozens and dozens of geisha. The older geisha knew

, I had to keep track of which faces belonged to which shoes, for it was my job to take the shoes to the maids' room to keep the entryway from being too cluttered, and then bring them back again at the proper moment. I had trouble

ves and daughters of the fishermen back in Yoroido would be to see such a thing. The visitor had a maid with her as well, which made me think perhaps she was the mistress of a teahouse or okiya-because very few geisha could afford such an expense. While she looked at the tiny Shinto shrine in our entryway, I took the opportunity to steal a peek at her face. It

whose kimono Hatsum

the reception room. I didn't think she would recognize me, since I felt certain she hadn't seen my face when I'd returned the kimono; and even if she had, two years had passed since then. The maid who accompan

down and feeling every bit as nervous as I had earlier. When her maid rolled open the door, I felt that my ordeal was over. But instead of walking out, Mameh

s horrified to see that Ma

girl?" she said, in what I

that my nam

Chiyo. I'd like to

ossible to make my face shrivel up and disappear, just l

!" she said. "Here you are acting like

s, and then Mameha let out a long s

ought I might have imagined it. What

tryway and took a look at me.

id. Now, how many girls in Gion d

red. She was looking at me with a peculiar expression-concentrating on somethi

d been Granny's, while Pumpkin-who was to begin her apprenticeship as a geisha before long-took the second-floor room where Auntie had lived. In addition, two new maids arrived the following week, both of them

as a geisha. Usually girls weren't given so much opportunity for practice, but poor Pumpkin was a slow learner and needed the extra time if anyone ever did. I

come and that would certainly be the only chance I'd ever get. Now I had to watch as the door of opportunity was held wide open for someone else. Some nights when I went to bed, I took the handkerchief the Chairman had given me and lay on my futon smelling its rich talc scent. I cleare

had only recently been Auntie's; Pumpkin was in the habit of sneaking rice crackers upstairs, so the tatami needed to be cleaned frequently. I mopped myself with a wet towel as quickly as I could and rushed down, to find a young woman in the entryway, dressed in a kimono like a maid's. I got to my knees and bowed to her. Onl

nds from time to time

that I was no longer confined to the okiya. I had no

tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, and meet me at t

I said, "but m

answered, with a little crinkle of her nose

'd done. But just the same, the following day I talked Pumpkin into sending me on an errand that didn't really need to be run. She was wor

had been instructed to read Kabuki magazines for the sake of her education. Then I heard her say in an e

the water. While I waited near the bridge, I watched a group of foreign tourists who had come to see the famous Gion district. They weren't the only foreigners I'd ever seen in Kyoto, but they certainly looked peculiar to me, the big-nosed women with their long dresses and their brightly colo

kimono and sent me up the stairs. It seemed terribly unfair to me that this same incident was about to cause still more trouble for me-and after so much time had passed.

ere, ma'am!

from the back room, "All

cup of tea for me-because as it turned out, Mameha had not one maid, but two. I certainly wasn't expecting to be served tea; and in fact, nothing like this had h

n to the sound of water passing over the knee

n or linen; but these were edged in a strip of silk with a pattern of green and gold. Not far away in an alcove hung a scroll written in a beautiful hand, which turned out to be a gift to Mameha from the famous calligrapher Matsudaira Koichi. Beneath it, on the wooden base of the alcove, an arrangement of blossoming dogwood branch

e hem. I turned and bowed very low on the mats while she drifted over to the table; and when she was there,

et out of your okiya this afternoon? I'm sure Mrs. Nitta doesn't like

t all to say, even though I knew it would be rude not to respond. Mameha just sipped at he

'm only interested to know if you've gott

a'am," I said. "I'm supposed to be on an errand

them on the table before me. "When you go back to your okiya, take them with you, and no one will wonder where

en Pumpkin. With a

her Pumpkin, and when I ex

meha said, "how do she

pays her no more attention than she would a

fluttered into the courtyard. Is that

y little about Mameha, and it would be improper to speak ill of Hatsumomo to someon

how Hatsumomo treats you: about like a se

, ma'am, who

as a girl of six and she was nine. When you've watched a creature misbehaving it

I did to make her h

sun with no other cats around. But if it should think someone else is poking around its meal

her no

e geisha, she couldn't bear having her as a rival. So she began to spread a rumor around Gion that Hatsuoki had been caught in a public alleyway one night doing something very improper with a young policeman. Of course there was no truth in it. If Hatsumomo had simply gone around telling the story, no one in Gion would have believed her.

n easy matter for Hatsumomo to put a few more

g that someone besides me had bee

Mameha went on. "That's the rea

l, ma'am," I said. "I'm no more a rival to

t an heir. By adopting Hatsumomo, not only would Mrs. Nitta solve that problem, but all of Hatsumomo's earnings would then be kept by the okiya, without a single sen of it paid out to Hatsumomo herself. A

efore, but after listening to Mameha, I felt

id, "would be like releasi

ase, Hatsumomo has no more patience than a child. I don't think she could keep even a cricket alive in a wicker cage. After a year or two, she'd probably sell the okiya's collection

ure you recall the kimono of

l me you're the girl

know Hatsumomo was behind it, I do hope that someday

ile. I had no notion what sh

ologize, if

to the mats; but before I had a chance to

raighten out your arms and put your fingertips onto the mats in front of you. Just the tips of your fingers; not your whole hand. And you mustn't spread your fingers at all; I can still see space between them. Very well, put them on the mats . . . hands togethe

again how deeply sorry I was for having pl

r training to be a geisha. Your teachers at the school tell me you were doing well right up until the moment you stopp

och Hatsumomo had accused me of stealing. Even after I was

, I'd expect Mrs. Nitta to feel only more determined to see you succe

in shame without realizing it; for in an inst

o run away,

ged to find each other. We were supposed to meet on a certain night to

ng. Did you go up there to

of me," I said afterward. "Now Mother won't invest another

s away makes the mistress of her okiya look b

That sort of thing. But what will you do with yourself now, Chiyo? Y

id. "It's been more than two years now. I've waited so pati

as thought about-the tiny hole through the roof or the bottom of a box. There's no doubt it's the most versatile of the five elements. It can wash away earth; it can put out fire; it can wear a piece

flowing was what gave me the i

est moment. Those of us with water in our personalities don't pick where we'l

hat has come up against a dam

said, looking at me calmly. "But

along. Mameha must have made up her mind to use me in seeking her revenge on Hatsumomo. It was obvious to me they were rivals; why else would Hatsumomo have destroyed Mameha's kimono two years earlier? No doubt Mameha had been waiting for just the

othing will change until Mrs. Nit

hope," I said, "of

rsuading her. Worry about find

atience-not even enough to understand what Mameha meant about finding the proper time. I told h

the time and place for things. A mouse who wishes to fool the cat doesn't simply scamper o

charts and obscure characters. Geisha are a very superstitious lot, as I've said. Auntie and Mother, and even the cook and the maids,

," Mameha told me. "Do you mean to say that you tried t

ld remember the date, which I managed to do after looking at a calendar with her; it had been

the year of the monkey-she spent some time checking and cross-checking various charts,

r that it goes on to say that you must avoid the following things . . . let's see . . . 'bathing during the hour of the rooster,' 'acquiring new clothing,' 'embark

small changes.' Perhaps not the best day for something as ambitious as running away, but certainly better than the other days that week or the next." And then came the surprising thing. "It goes on to say, 'A good day for travel in the direction of the Sheep,'" Mameha read. And when she brought out a map and found Yoroido, it lay to

k along, we may crush a beetle or simply cause a change in the air so that a fly ends up where it might never have gone otherwise. And if we think of the same example but with ourselves in the role of the insect, and the larger universe in the role we've just played, it's perfectly clear that we're affected ever

lowing weeks that would be auspicious for significant change. I asked whether I s

aid. "She'll turn you down in an instant. If I were her, so would I! As f

say this. "In that case, Ma

Chiyo," she said, "and mention to

, which I did. I was so flustered I left without the Kabuki magazines and shamisen