“EVEN a calamity1, left alone, may turn into a fortune,” quoted Lady Saito Ichigo, devoutly2, as with her hand trembling with excitement she filled her pipe.
Ohano listlessly extended the taper3 to her mother-in-law, and the latter took several puffs4 and inhaled5 with intense satisfaction.
There was something peculiarly still and strange about the attitude of Ohano. Her eyes seemed almost closed, her lips were a single colorless line, and there was not a vestige6 of color in her face. Almost she seemed like some automaton7 that was unable to move save when touched. One of Ohano’s arms was shorter than the other, and this had always been a sensitive matter to her, so that generally she had carried it hidden in her sleeve. Now she nursed it mechanically, almost as if it pained, and twice she extended the lame8 arm for the taper. Whatever there was about the girl’s expression or attitude, it aroused the irritation9 of the older woman, and she said sharply:
“You perceive the wisdom of the proverb, my girl, do you not?”
Ohano said slowly, as though the words came from her with an effort:
“It is not apropos10 to our case at all. I do not at all see either the calamity or the fortune, for that matter.”
Her mother-in-law took her pipe from her mouth and stared at her amazedly a moment. Then she enumerated11 events upon her fingers.
“Calamity,” she said, “when my son met the Spider woman. Almost it seemed as if the gods had forsaken12 their favorites. What a fate for the illustrious ancestors—the last of the race married to a geisha!”
Ohano shrugged13 her shoulders, then averted14 her face. She had bitten her lips so that now they seemed to be blistered15, and pushed out, thick and swollen16.
“Well,” resumed her mother, triumphantly17, “you perceive the workings of the gods undoubtedly18 in what followed. The war came like a veritable miracle. Think; had it come but a few—one or two—months later even, the Spider would still have been in our house, and, what is more, Ohano, elevated! Oh, there would have been no enduring the dancer. It is said”—and she lowered her voice confidently—“that the arrogance19 and pride of women of her class is an intolerable thing when once aroused. An excellent actress was this Spider. Let us admit it. She was prepared to—wait! She entreated20 patience for only a few months longer. But, as I have said, the gods intervened. The war arose! It was found imperative21 to return her at once! Hoom! That is right. You may well smile, my girl, since your turn had come!”
Ohano’s mask-like countenance22 had broken into a rigid23 smile of reminiscence. She recalled the days of her supreme24 triumph—the casting out of the one she hated, her own elevation25 as the wife of the Lord Saito Gonji. A faint color stole into her cheeks.
“I’ll confess,” continued the mother-in-law, humorously, “that you proved a less docile26 and filial daughter.” She chuckled27 reminiscently. “It is impossible to forget the humility28 of the Spider!” She looked at Ohano fondly. “I will tell you, my girl, I always desired you for my daughter. Your mother and I were cousins, and do you know—I will tell you, now that my lord is honorably absent—that it was originally planned that your father and I should marry.” She scowled29 and blinked her eyes, sighing heavily. “Well, schemes fall through!”
For a time she was silent, drowsily30 pulling at her pipe, which Ohano mechanically filled and refilled.
Presently Lady Saito laid her pipe down on the hibachi and resumed as if she had not stopped.
“So much for the calamity—the intervention31 of the gods that followed. Now look you, my girl. All the expensive offerings heaped at the shrines32 have been in vain. It is my opinion that if you supplicated33 the gods till doomsday and drank of the last drop of the Kiyomidzu waters, you would not now become a mother! Superstitions35 are for the ignorant. These are enlightened days, when we fight and beat—and beat, Ohano!—the Western nations! So, now, we supplicate34 the gods for a solution of the tragic36 problem facing us—the extinction37 of the illustrious race of Saito. It is impossible for such a race to die!”
Ohano moved uneasily. She had picked up her embroidery38 frame, and was attempting to work, but her lips were moving and her hands trembled. Partly to hide her expression from her mother-in-law, she bent39 her head far over the frame. Lady Saito began to laugh quite loudly.
“Never—no, not within the entire span of a lifetime—have I even heard of such favor of the gods! Just think, Ohano, without the pains and labors40 of a mother, they put into your honorable arms a most noble descendant of the august ancestors. Why, you should extend your arms in perpetual thanks to all the gods. Was ever such mercy?”
Said Ohano, with her face still hidden by the frame:
“It is said, as you know, that it is easier to beget41 children than to care for them!”
Silence a moment. Then she added with sudden passionate42 vehemence43:
“I loathe44 the task you set me, mother-in-law. It is not possible for me to carry out your wishes.”
The expression on the older woman’s face should have warned her. The thin lips drew back in a line as cruel as when previously45 she had looked at the hapless Moonlight. Her voice was, if possible, harsher.
“It is better to nourish a dog than an unfaithful child!” she cried, got to her feet, and, drawing her skirts about her, moved away in stately dudgeon.
Ohano leaped up also, anxious to repair the injury she had done.
“Mother!” she cried out, chokingly, “put yourself in my place. Would it be possible for you to cherish in your bosom46 the child of one you abhorred47?”
Slowly the outraged48 and angry look faded from Lady Saito’s face. It seemed pinched and haggard. Her voice was curiously49 gentle:
“That is possible, Ohano. I have given you an instance in my own honorable house, for as deeply as I hated your mother, so I have loved you!”
Ohano’s breath came in gasps50. She was losing control of the icy nerve that had hitherto upheld her. She longed to fling herself upon the breast of her mother-in-law, who, despite her austere51 bearing to all, had always been kind to Ohano. Even as the two looked into each other’s face the cry of the one they were expecting to arrive was heard outside the screens. Matsuda had kept his word!
Ohano turned white with despair. She clutched at her throat as though she were choking and clung for a moment to the screens, her anguished52 face turned back toward her mother-in-law.
“It is a crime!” she gasped53. “The Spider will come for her child!”
“Let her come,” darkly rejoined Lady Saito. “Who will take the word of a public geisha against that of the honorable ladies of the house of Saito?”
“The man—he himself—will betray—it is not possible to close the tongue of one of the choum class.”
“He is well paid. Moreover, in committing the act he places himself under the ban of the law. Will he betray himself?”
Lady Saito moved with a curious sense of hunger toward the doors, outside which, she knew, was the son of her son. For the moment at least she had forgotten Ohano; but when she found the girl barred her passage she thrust her ruthlessly aside. Ohano fell upon her knees by the shoji, and, with her face hidden upon the floor, she began to pray to the gods.
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收听单词发音
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1
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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7
automaton
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| n.自动机器，机器人 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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9
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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apropos
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| adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于 | |
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enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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13
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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31
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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32
shrines
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| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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supplicated
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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supplicate
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| v.恳求；adv.祈求地，哀求地，恳求地 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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39
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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40
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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41
beget
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| v.引起；产生 | |
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42
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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43
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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44
loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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45
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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46
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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47
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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48
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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50
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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51
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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52
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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53
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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