"Then what do you want to say?"

"I want her to forget about me ... and find a good man to marry.... That's what I want you to tell her."

It saw a tear glisten in Seikichi's eyes. When he saw the tear, It felt both an overwhelming compa.s.sion for and an urge to treat Seikichi brutally.

"I see. A good man to marry? Is that how you really feel?"

Seikichi said nothing. In all honesty, the agonizing torture he was experiencing right now was worse than any physical abuse he had suffered.

"Such a waste!" It feigned a deep sigh as he launched a taunt at Seikichi. "She's a charming girl, you know. A nice face. A nice body. Spending the rest of your life here, never able to hold such a girl in your arms ... why were you even born into this world?"

Seikichi had no response.

"Fine. I understand. You know, every time I go to Maruyama, I see Kiku ... and it's only the thought that she's your woman that's kept me from laying a hand on her.... But now I guess I don't have to hesitate to do whatever I want with her. Besides, the madam at the Yamazaki Teahouse has been asking me to initiate one of her girls into the ways of the flesh."

"Kiku ..." Seikichi glared at It in predictable anger. "Kiku isn't that kind of girl!"

"Oh, and how do you know that? Listen to me. No matter how deeply a woman falls for a man, in time her love will grow cold if the man can't return her affection. No matter how faithfully she's maintained her chast.i.ty for you, once she realizes it's all been to no avail, Kiku's resolve will crumble. Once she starts to slide, it'll turn into an avalanche. And when that happens, I know just how to use my fingers to make her melt...."

It smiled as he relished the way his words hurt and made a mock of Seikichi, who had never known a woman and who understood nothing of a woman's heart.

He left Seikichi in that state and stopped by the women's cell.

Some of the women had gathered to offer prayers, while others looked after their children or talked quietly together. When they saw It, they quickly sat up with proper formality and stopped talking.

In a gentle voice, It said, "How are you-is everyone well today? It's going to be terribly cold today. It looks as though it will snow in the mountains to the north." As he spoke, his droopy eyes searched the group for the woman who resembled Kiku.

"You there!" He called after locating the woman. "What's your name?"

"It's ... Shima."

"Shima? Come outside with me for a bit."

Before long, he was once again inflicting on her the same humiliation as before. He always had the women remove their clothing on the bamboo veranda or on top of the rocks in the garden, and then he made them sit down. It was customary for him to inflict spiritual torture in addition to physical abuse. More than a few women had tearfully apostatized as a result.

The men who apostatized were moved to the Hshin-an nunnery, but the apostate women were shifted to a separate room.

Ample quant.i.ties of food were provided to the apostates, and they were allowed to do handwork and labor outside the compound.

Occasionally an apostate man or woman would secretly share some of their food with those in other cells. According to the historical records, that gesture provided great encouragement to those who continued to sustain their Kiris.h.i.tan faith.

Sometimes It was strangely gentle with the Kiris.h.i.tan prisoners, but at other times he behaved with such cruelty that he seemed a completely different person. The prisoners and even his underlings Takahashi and Deguchi considered him capricious, but the feelings of these two low-ranking officers toward him were in their own way complicated.

Late on those days when he had tortured prisoners-especially female prisoners-It invariably went out drinking with Takahashi and Deguchi. They always went to the same bar, and after he got so drunk that Takahashi and Deguchi found him revolting, he would begin to weep and throw up.

"There's people who have good fortune and those with bad. The unlucky ones, no matter how hard they struggle, can never crawl out of the muck. The fortunate ones always have things go their way, whatever the odds."

That was It's trademark p.r.o.nouncement once he got drunk.

"This fellow named Hond that I worked with-he's not all that bright, but since he has good luck, he wound up as an official at Foreign Affairs. And I've heard rumors that some high-and-mighty took note of him and soon he'll be heading to America as an interpreter. And then there's me...." It's eyes would pool with tears at such thoughts. Occasionally he would stare at his drinking partners as though a thought had just occurred to him and ask, "What do you guys think about those Kiris.h.i.tans?"

"What do I think ...? I think they're a bunch of idiots," Takahashi replied.

But It shook his head. "Idiots ...? How could idiots put up with all the horrible tortures we're inflicting on them and still cling to their beliefs? They're no idiots. They're a strong bunch ... strong ... ! If I were forced into their position, I could never be as strong as they are." Then, in a solemn voice he muttered, "Do you think there's any chance ... any chance that this G.o.d they believe in is real?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Takahashi chuckled. "We'll have real problems if even you start thinking like that!"

"But when I see how fervent they are, I start wondering what this being they believe in could be. It's like the intensity of a woman's love when she's completely fallen for a man. When a woman gives her heart to a man, she'll give up absolutely everything and put her whole body and soul into it."

"Are there really women like that?" Deguchi spoke mockingly, but It snapped back at him.

"There are! There are women who are like that. Women who will surrender everything they have for the man they love, even if it means ruining themselves in the process."

He closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought about something. But Takahashi and Deguchi had no idea what It might be thinking about.

It was at the beginning of the twelfth month of that year, when the first snows had fallen on this castle town nestled between the mountains, that It was summoned by an official of the Tsuwano domain.

The official, named Chiba, stared at the palms of his hands as he held them over the hibachi and muttered, "We have problems."

The j.a.panese government had retained its policy of suppressing the Kiris.h.i.tans and had banished the Urakami followers to several locations, where they were abused on a daily basis. Protests over this treatment of the Kiris.h.i.tans came primarily from the British charge d'affaires, Mr. Adams, and had reached the point that the government could no longer turn a deaf ear to his complaints.

"There are rumors that our leaders have no choice but to launch an inquiry into the situations of the Kiris.h.i.tans in each province...."

"What will they be looking at?"

"How the prisoners are being handled."

"And so ...?"

"So when you return to Nagasaki next month, would you be good enough to determine whether this rumor about inquiries is true and also to find out exactly what the foreigners are up to? Especially find out how much the foreigners know of what's going on here in Tsuwano. After all, Nagasaki is one of those places like Yokohama where a lot of foreigners are living. I'll see that you're suitably rewarded."

"I don't need a reward. Instead of a reward ..." It gazed unblinking at the officer's profile. "I have a request. Could you ... could you use the influence of the domain to see if I could get a job in Tokyo sometime?"

"Tokyo?"

"I've heard that there are some men from Tsuwano who have some influence in the Ministry of Divinities,2 so couldn't they pull some strings to get me a position in Tokyo or Yokohama?"

It was thinking of the impressive standing of Hond Shuntar. His heart was transfixed by the hope that if he ended up in Tokyo or Yokohama, his luck might change for the better, just as it had for Hond.

"We'll consider it." Chiba nodded as he continued to warm his hands. "But given the current situation, Mr. It, I think it would be best if you didn't discipline the prisoners quite so viciously for the time being."

Once It left the station, the officials in the room exchanged meaningful glances.

"He's a pathetic soul. Doesn't know a thing that's going on," said one with a faint smile.

Chiba picked up a pair of fire tongs, and as he scribbled something in the ashes of the hibachi, he said as though to himself, "He is pathetic, but it can't be helped. In this world of ours, we need some men like that."

1. The word otome means "maiden, virgin."

2. The Shingish was created in 1871 as part of the Meiji government's attempts to shift the people's focus from Buddhism to Shinto. A national hierarchy of Shinto shrines was created, with the Ise Shrine-closely linked to the Imperial family because their mythological ancestor, Amaterasu, was enshrined there-occupying the foremost position. The Ministry of Divinities survived for only one year, being replaced by the Ministry of Religion, but it played a role in the formation of the "State Shinto" philosophy, which was used by the government to unify the country under a supposedly "divine" emperor.

THE THIRD WINTER.

THE OFFICIAL FROM the Tsuwano domain had been right- Diplomats from several foreign nations had picked up sketchy details about the abuse of the Urakami Kiris.h.i.tans in the regions to which they had been exiled. The British charge d'affaires, Francis Adams,1 began to take special interest in this matter, and immediately after the New Year holidays, he urged Sawa n.o.buyoshi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to put an end to these atrocities.

"How did Lord Sawa respond?" It, who returned to Nagasaki at the beginning of the year, inquired of one of his superiors at the Nishi Bureau.

Foreign Minister Sawa had been directly involved in the exile of the Urakami Kiris.h.i.tans from the outset. When he served as military proconsul of Kyushu, he summoned 180 Kiris.h.i.tan peasants from Urakami Village to the Nishi Bureau, where he tried to persuade them to convert from Christianity; during his stint as governor, after conferring with Kido Takayoshi, he made the decision to banish 114 of them. Consequently, It's superiors at the Nishi Bureau knew the particulars of the negotiations between Sawa and Adams.

"Lord Sawa adamantly denied that any such things had occurred."

"Of course." It nodded in relief. He had worried that if this problem mushroomed, even he might be implicated.

After the New Year holidays, he decided to make a predusk visit to Maruyama, something he had not done in a long while. In earlier years, the coming of a new year had been the time to gather together all the quarter's prost.i.tutes and require them to trample on the sacred Kiris.h.i.tan images, but by now the custom had been abolished.

"It's me. It's It!" he called out as he entered the Yamazaki Teahouse.

"Well!" The madam had just stepped into the entry hall. "I'd heard you were coming back last month, but I began to worry when we didn't see anything of you."

"I've been busy. I don't have that much time today, either." It laughed, then held up the little finger of his left hand, a gesture signifying a woman, and asked, "How is she?"

"Actually ..." The madam lowered her voice. "She's been sick in bed since yesterday."

"Sick?"

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. She'll be back on her feet soon. Here, why don't you come upstairs?"

"Hmm." It snorted as he climbed the creaky stairs and went into a room on the second floor.

The room was unchanged except for the sound of an iron kettle noisily boiling water on the hibachi. This was the room where he had first pressed Kiku to the floor and clambered on top of her. Pale tears had trickled from her eyes that day....

The moment he stepped into the room, the memory of her profile as the tears streamed down her cheeks surfaced in his mind, and he felt a pain like that of a needle jabbing into his chest.

Even so, he knew that ultimately he was very likely to repeat the same activities again today.

That's the kind of man I am.... He said to himself as he plopped down on the tatami.

He was made to wait a long while before he heard the stairs creaking again.

Kiku's face appeared at the doorway. It was startled at how colorless her face had become. Only her cheeks radiated redly, as though she had a fever.

"I heard you've been ill. What happened?" It sat up and took a hard look at Kiku.

"Yes, I have a slight fever."

"When did it start?"

"Four or five days ago ..." Kiku lied. She had been laid up with a fever for far longer than four or five days. Her body had begun to feel languid during the twelfth month. She was so weary it felt as though her body were weighted down with lead. Her fever rose every afternoon.

"I'll bet you're exhausted. The madam here makes you work too hard."

It was not merely exhaustion. It had started at the first of the twelfth month. On her way back from a rendezvous with the Chinese man she had been set up with, she got caught in the rain and was soaked by the time she made it back to the Yamazaki Teahouse. She had caught a cold but had pushed through it and continued working.

When she finished her customary ch.o.r.es of setting out sake bottles and dishes on the table, Kiku coughed two or three times. It was an unpleasantly dry cough.

"Seikichi is doing well. Yes, that money was very helpful for him, and he's being treated much more compa.s.sionately now. You've got nothing to worry about." It was It's turn to lie as he drained one cup after another. An unantic.i.p.ated wave of pity washed over him and he decided to be kind to her, even if in word only.

"Nothing ... to worry about." Kiku nodded dejectedly. A place beyond her reach-that's where Seikichi was.

"Yeah."

When she opened a second bottle, she asked, "Would you like more?"

"No. No more to drink."

Without a word, Kiku lay back on the tatami. She knew without asking what It had come to get from her.

It was twilight, and it looked as though a gentle rain was falling outside. It rolled on top of Kiku, and as he watched her gape like a stone statue at the ceiling, waiting motionless for a man's l.u.s.t to dissipate, he felt an ineffable futility. Guilt, bitterness, and loneliness-the emotions swelled one after another through his breast.

"Enough. That's enough."

Kiku silently stood up and straightened her disheveled robes. Then she coughed. It caught a glimpse of reddish blood on the tissue she used to wipe her mouth.

"Have you ... have you got consumption?!" He slid away from her, crying out in an excess of fear. At the time, consumption was a dreaded, incurable disease.

"Please ... please don't say anything to the madam. If she finds out, I'll have to leave here." Kiku pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Even It's heart was gripped with pain at the sadly pathetic woman's plea.

But aside from his pity for her, the egotism that dominated the other half of his heart made him want to have no further a.s.sociation with a woman suffering from consumption. Unsure which of these two conflicting emotions to give sway to, It could only stare in incredulity at Kiku.

"You've got to take care of yourself. If you're this sick, you should have stayed in bed and not come to be with me." That was as much as It could bring himself to say right now.

"I'm sorry, but ... when will you be going back to Tsuwano?"

"When? I just came here for the holidays, and I've got to go back at the end of the month."

"How much money do I need to come up with for Seikichi this time?" Kiku coughed another couple of times, but she was determined to find out how much money she needed to send to Seikichi. She genuinely believed that the money she gave helped in some small way to release Seikichi from some of the pains of life in captivity. And she never even dreamed that all the money she had provided to this point had been pocketed by It.

"Money?" With discomfort written in his eyes, It retreated even further from her. "We don't need any more money. What I gave to the officials last time was more than enough.... I don't need your money." He no longer had the nerve to extort even more money from this afflicted woman.