CHAPTER V.
THE KNIGHTS OF HEAVEN.
Night had come; to the heat of the day had succeeded a deliciouscoolness, and the air was full of perfume from the garden flowers, wetwith dew.
The balconies running outside the palace halls in which the eveningdiversions were to take place, were illuminated, and crowded withguests, who breathed the evening air with delight. The Prince of Nagatoascended the staircase of honor, bordered on either hand by a livingbalustrade of pretty pages, each holding in his hand a gilded stick,at the end of which hung a round lantern. The Prince passed throughthe galleries slowly, on account of the crowd; he bowed low when heencountered any high dignitary of the Court, saluted the princes, hisequals, in friendly phrase, and approached the throne room.
This hall shone resplendent from the myriad rays of lanterns and oflamps. A joyous uproar filled it as well as the neighboring apartmentsseen through the widely opened panels.
The maids-of-honor chattered together, and their voices were-blendedwith the slight rustle of their robes, as they arranged the amplefolds. Seated on the right and left of the royal dais, these princessesformed groups, and each group had its hierarchic rank and its especialcolors. In one the women were arrayed in pale-blue robes flowered withsilver; in another in green, lilac, or pale-yellow gowns.
Upon the dais covered with soft carpets, the Kisaki shone resplendentin the midst of the waves of satin, gauze, and silver brocade formed byher full scarlet and white robes, scintillating with precious stones.The three vertical plates surmounting her diadem looked like threegolden sunbeams hovering above her brow.
Certain princesses had mounted the steps to the throne, and, kneelingupon the topmost one, talked merrily with their sovereign; the lattersometimes littered a low laugh, which scandalized some silent oldprince, the faithful guardian of the severe rules of etiquette. Butthe sovereign was so young, not yet twenty years old, that she mightreadily be pardoned if she sometimes ceased to feel the weight of thecrown upon her head; and at her laughter, joy spread on every side, asthe songs of the birds break forth with the first rays of the sun.
"The supreme gods be praised!" said one princess in an undertone to hercompanions, "the sorrow that oppressed our sovereign has passed away atlast; she is gayer than ever this evening."
"And in what a clement mood!" said another. "There is Fatkoura restoredto favor. She mounts the stops to the throne. The Kisaki has summonedher."
In fact Fatkoura stood upon the last step of the royal dais; but themelancholy expression of her features, her fixed and bewildered gaze,contrasted strangely with the serene and happy look imprinted uponevery face. She thanked the Kisaki for granting her pardon; but she didit in a voice so sad and so singularly troubled that the young Queentrembled, and raised her eyes to her former favorite.
"Are you ill?" she asked, surprised at the change in the young woman'sfeatures.
"With joy at winning forgiveness, perhaps," stammered Fatkoura.
"You need not remain for the feast if you are not well."
"I thank you," said Fatkoura, bending low, as she moved away and waslost in the crowd.
The notes of a hidden orchestra were soon heard, and the entertainmentbegan.
A curtain was drawn aside in the wall opposite the throne, and revealeda charming landscape.
Mount Fusiyama appeared in the background, rearing its snow-sprinkledpeak above a necklace of clouds; the sea, of a deep blue, dotted with afew white sails, lay at the foot of the mountains: a road wound alongamong trees and thickets of flowering shrubs.
Then a young man entered; he hung his head; he seemed tired and sad.The orchestra was silent. The young man lifted up his voice. He toldhow misfortune had pursued him. His mother died of grief becausethe fields cultivated by her husband grew more and more sterile. Hefollowed his mother's coffin with tears, then almost killed himselfwith work to support his aged father; but the father died in his turn,leaving his son so destitute, that he had not money enough to bury him.He then sold himself as a slave, and with the price of his liberty paidthe last marks of respect to his father. Now he was on his way to hismaster to comply with the terms of the contract. He was going off, whena most beautiful woman appeared in his path. The young man gazed at herin mute admiration.
"I have a favor to beg of you," said the woman. "I am alone andforsaken; accept me for your wife: I will be devoted and faithful toyou."
"Alas!" said the young man, "I have not a single possession, and evenmy body is not my own. I have sold myself to a master, to whom I amnow on my way."
"I am skilled in the art of weaving silk," said the unknown; "take meto your master; I will manage to make myself useful."
"I consent with all my heart," said the youth; "but how comes it that awoman so beautiful as you is willing to take a poor man like me for herhusband?"
"Beauty is nothing in comparison with the qualities of the heart," saidthe woman.
"In the second part, the husband and wife are seen working in theirmaster's gardens,--the man cultivating flowers, the wife embroideringa marvellous tissue which she had woven. The master walked about,overlooking his slaves; he approached the young woman and examined herwork.
"Oh, what splendid stuff!" he exclaimed; "it is of inestimable value."
"I would gladly exchange it for our liberty."
The master agreed to the bargain, and set them free. Then the husbandfell at his wife's feet; he thanked her enthusiastically for havingthus delivered him from bondage. But the woman was transformed; shebecame so brilliant, that the young man, dazzled, could look at her nolonger.
"I am the celestial weaver," said she; "your courage and industry andyour filial piety touched me, and, seeing your misery, I descended fromheaven to help you. All that you may henceforth undertake shall succeedif you never depart from the path of virtue."
So saying, the divine weaver rose to heaven and resumed her place inthe house of the silkworms.[1]
The orchestra then played a dance. The curtain fell, and soon roseagain. It revealed the garden of a pagoda, with its thickets ofbamboos, its light edifices, with their huge roofs supported by avast number of beams of every hue. Then scene followed upon scenein pantomime, one having no connection with the other. Religiousor military legends were represented, fabulous heroes and symboliccharacters appeared in antique costume, some wearing the egg-shapedmitre and the tunic with long open sleeves, others having on their headthe old-fashioned crestless helmet, with its gold ornaments, whichprotected the nape of the neck, or wearing a fantastic headdress, broadand high, in the form of a pyramid of gold, decorated with fringes andtiny bells.
Then the stage was cleared; and after a prelude from the orchestra,young and lovely dancing-girls appeared, clad in gorgeous dresses, withthe wings of birds or butterflies on their shoulders, and long antennason their foreheads which quivered gently above their golden crowns,wrought in open-work. They performed a slow graceful dance, full ofundulating rocking movements; their figure ended, they formed groups oneither side of the stage, while comic dancers, disguised in false nosesand extravagant costumes, entered and concluded the spectacle by a wilddance full of blows and tumbles.
From the beginning of the representation the Prince of Nagato hadleaned against a wall near the stage, and, half hidden in the folds ofa curtain, while every eye was fixed upon the mimic scene, he gazedecstatically upon the smiling and radiant sovereign.
It seemed as if the Queen felt oppressed by this ardent and tenaciousgaze, for she turned her head, and her eyes rested on the Prince.
The latter did not lower his eyes--an all-powerful charm preventedhim from doing so; that look, descending towards him like a sunbeam,scorched him. For a moment he felt as if he had lost his senses; itseemed as if the Kisaki smiled upon him very faintly. She instantlycast down her eyes and examined the bracelet encircling her arm; then,lifting her head, she appeared to follow the course of the performanceattentively.
When the curtain fell for the last time, in the midst of
the hubbub ofconversation renewed after a prolonged silence, a woman paused beforeNagato.
"I know your secret, Prince!" she said, in a low, but threatening tone.
"What do you mean?" cried Nagato; "I do not understand you, Fatkoura."
"You understand me very well," replied Fatkoura, looking steadily athim; "and you may well turn pale, for your life is in my hands."
"My life!" murmured the Prince; "I would bless any one who would rid meof it."
The young woman had moved away; but a great stir now occurred aroundthe Queen. All the maids-of-honor had risen, and silence again fellupon the assembly.
The Kisaki stepped down from her throne; she advanced slowly throughthe hall, dragging a weight of satin after her. The princesses ingroups, according to their rank, followed at a distance, stoppingwhenever she stopped. All the guests bowed low as she passed. She spokea few words to an illustrious Daimio or a lady of high rank, then wenton; in this way she reached the Prince of Nagato.
"Iwakura," said she, drawing from her bosom a sealed letter wrapped ina piece of green satin, "give this paper to the Shogun's mother fromme." And she added in a lower tone: "It is what you asked for. TheMikado's orders are that you shall only make use of this document whenyou are sure that Hieyas is about to perjure himself."
"Your orders shall be faithfully executed," said Nagato, tremblinglytaking the letter. "This very night I will return to Osaka."
"May your journey be prosperous!" said the Kisaki in a strangely gentlevoice. Then she passed on; the Prince still heard the rustle of herdress on the mats for a brief moment.
An hour later Nagato left the Dairi,[2] and was on his way.
In traversing the city he was obliged to keep his horse to a walk, lesthe should run over some of the merry throng that blocked the streets.
Huge lanterns of glass, paper, gauze, or silk shone on every hand;their many-colored lights cast odd reflections upon the faces of thepassers, who, as they changed position, looked pink, blue, lilac, orgreen. The horse was somewhat frightened by the deafening uproar thatpervaded Kioto. There were shouts of laughter from women standingbefore a puppet-show; a tambourine ringing an incessant accompanimentto the marvellous feats of a band of conjurors; angry cries from aquarrel degenerating into a brawl; a silver bell struck by the fingerof fate in response to some sorcerer who foretold the future to anattentive circle; the shrill songs of the priests of Odji-gongemperforming a sacred dance in the garden of a pagoda; then the clamorof a whole army of beggars, some mounted on stilts, others accoutredin historic costume, or wearing in lieu of hat a vase containing aflourishing shrub in full bloom.
Here were mendicant friars, clad in red, with shaven head, puffing uptheir cheeks and drawing from silver whistles sounds, whose acutenesspierced the tumult and rent the ear; priestesses of the national formof worship passed along, singing and waving a holy-water sprinkler ofwhite paper,--the symbol of purity; a dozen young bonzes playing on allsorts of instruments, listened eagerly, to catch the measure of themelody which they were executing in spite of the general commotion,while farther on a tortoise-charmer beat a tam-tam with rapid strokes,and blind men, sitting at a temple door, thumped with all their mighton bells bristling with bronze pimples.
From time to time nobles of the Mikado's Court forced their way throughthe crowd; they were going incognito to the theatre or to one of thetea-houses which were kept open all night, and in which, set free fromthe rigors of etiquette, they could drink and enjoy themselves at theirease.
Nagato, too, travelled incognito and alone; he had not even anout-runner to disperse the crowd before him. He managed, however, toleave the city without injuring any one. Then he gave the reins tohis impatient steed, who galloped quickly along a magnificent avenueof sycamores, bordered by pagodas, temples, and chapels, which glidedswiftly by to right and left, and from which a fragment of prayeror sacred song reached his ear. Once he turned and cast a long lookbehind. He saw through the branches the tomb of Taiko-Sama, Fide-Yori'sfather; he thought that the ashes of that great man must quiver withjoy as he who bore safety to his son passed by. He left the suburbsbehind him and climbed a low hill.
He then cast a last look on that city so dear to his heart. It waswrapped in a luminous fog, red in the midst of the blue light castby the moon upon the surrounding mountains. On the slopes, among thetrees, scattered roofs of pagodas shone like mirrors. The goldenchrysanthemum which surmounts the door of the Dairi caught a ray, andlooked like a star suspended over the city. But all disappeared behindthe brow of the hill; the last sound from Kioto faded and died.
The Prince heaved a sigh; then, urging his horse, he flew like an arrowthrough the land. He passed through several villages huddled by theroadside, and at the end of an hour reached Yodo. He traversed the townwithout slackening pace, and rode by a castle, whose lofty towers werebrilliantly lighted, while the water in the moats glittered back areflection.
This castle belonged to Yodogimi, the Shogun's mother; it was theninhabited by General Harounaga, a favorite of that princess.
"I have little confidence in the valor of the handsome warrior whosleeps behind those ramparts," muttered the Prince, glancing at thesilent castle. A moment later he was galloping through a rice-field.The moon was mirrored on every side in the pools of water from whichthe slender blades grew. The rice-plantation looked like a vast pond;delicate white vapors floated here and there in sheets close to theground, and a few great black buffaloes lying half in the water sleptquietly.
Nagato checked his panting horse; soon he dropped the bridle on itsneck, and bowing his head, plunged anew into his despotic revery. Theanimal fell into a walk, and the pre-occupied Prince left him to hisown gait.
Nagato saw once more the brilliant palace halls, and the sovereignadvancing towards him; he fancied he heard again the rustle of herrobes. "Ah!" he exclaimed suddenly, "this letter which has lain in herbosom now rests on my heart and burns me."
He drew the letter hastily from his breast.
"Alas! I must part with this priceless relic," he murmured.
All at once he pressed it to his lips. The touch of the soft stuff, thefamiliar perfume exhaled from it, sent an ardent thrill through thePrince's veins. He shut his eyes, overcome by a delicious ecstasy.
An uneasy neigh from his horse roused him from his dream.
He restored the royal missive to his bosom and looked around him. Fiftypaces in front of him, a group of trees cast its shadow across theroad. Nagato thought he saw something stir in that shadow. He seizedthe pike fastened to his saddle, and urged on his horse, which plungedand reared, reluctant to advance.
The Prince's doubts were soon solved: armed men awaited his coming.
"What, again!" he cried. "The Regent must be very anxious to get rid ofme."
"This time he will not fail!" replied one of the assassins, riding fullupon him.
"You have not got me yet!" said Nagato, turning his horse aside.
His opponent, borne onwards by the impetus of his sally, passed closeby him without reaching him.
"Rash fool that I am," muttered the Prince, "thus to expose thisprecious paper to the chances of my fate!"
Naked swords gleamed around him. His assailants were so numerous thatthey could not all approach the object of their attack at once.
Nagato was the most skilful fencer in the entire kingdom; he wasboth cool and daring. Whirling his pike about him, he broke severalsword-blades, the splinters falling in a shower of blood; then, forcinghis horse to execute a series of rapid leaps, he escaped for a momentthe blows which were aimed at him.
"I can certainly defend myself for a few instants more," he thought,"but I am plainly lost."
A buffalo, aroused, uttered a long and melancholy bellow; then nothingmore was heard but the clink of steel and the stamping of horses.
But suddenly a voice rang through the darkness. "Courage, Prince!" itcried; "we come to your aid!"
Nagato was covered with blood, but he struggled bravely still. The
voice lent him new strength, while it paralyzed the assassins, whoexchanged anxious glances.
The rapid beat of horses' hoofs was heard, and before any recognitionwas possible, a body of horsemen fell upon the assailants of the Prince.
Nagato, exhausted, withdrew slightly to one side, and with surprise andconfusion watched the defenders who had arrived so opportunely.
These men were beautiful to behold in the moonlight, which illuminedthe rich embroideries of their dress, and drew azure sparkles fromtheir light helmets, decorated in open-work. The Prince recognized thecostume of the Knights of Heaven, the Mikado's guard of honor.
Soon nothing was left of the assassins despatched by the Regent, butcorpses. The conquerors wiped their weapons, and the leader of thetroop approached Nagato. "Are you seriously wounded, Prince?" he asked.
"I do not know," replied Nagato; "in the heat of battle I felt nothing."
"But your face is bathed in blood."
"True," said the Prince, putting his hand to his cheek.
"Will you dismount?"
"No; I am afraid I should not be able to remount. But talk of me nomore; let me thank you for your miraculous intervention, which saved mylife, and ask you by what chain of circumstances you were on this roadat this hour."
"I will tell you all soon," said the knight; "but not before you havedressed the wound which has bled so profusely."
Water was brought from a neighboring pool, and the Prince's face waswashed with it; a tolerably deep Cut was found on his forehead, nearthe temple. Nothing could be done for the time being but to bandage hishead tightly.
"You have other wounds, have you not?"
"I think so; but I feel strong enough to reach Osaka."
"Very well, let us be off!" said the knight; "we will talk as we ride."
The little troop took up the line of march.
"You intend to escort me then?" said Nagato.
"We are ordered not to leave you, Prince; but the accomplishment ofthat duty is a pleasure to us."
"Will you do me the honor to acquaint me with your glorious name?" saidNagato, bowing.
"You know me, Nagato; I am Farou-So-Chan, Lord of Tsusima."
"The husband of the lovely Iza-Farou, whom I had the honor of seeingthis very day!" exclaimed Nagato. "Forgive me! I should have recognizedyou by the terrible blows that you dealt my opponents; but I wasblinded by blood."
"I am proud and happy to have been chosen to help you, and to preventthe unfortunate results which your reckless daring might have caused."
"I acted with unpardonable levity indeed," said Nagato; "I had a rightto risk my life, but not to expose the precious message which I bear."
"Let me tell you, dear Prince, that the envelope which you carrycontains nothing but a blank paper."
"Is it possible?" cried Nagato; "have I been tricked? In that case Icannot survive the affront."
"Calm yourself, friend," said the Prince of Tsusima, "and hear me.After the feast this evening, no sooner had she re-entered herapartments, than the divine Kisaki summoned me: 'Farou,' she said,'Prince Nagato leaves Kioto to-night. I know that his life is indanger, and that he may fall into an ambuscade. Therefore, instead ofthe message which he supposes he is bearing, I have only given himan empty envelope. The true letter is here,' she added, showing me alittle casket. 'Take fifty men with you, and follow the Prince at adistance. If he is attacked, go to his rescue; if not, rejoin him atthe gate of Osaka, and give him this casket without letting him knowthat you have borne him escort.' I have it here, Prince; only you havea matchless horse, and we almost came too late to help you."
Nagato was deeply moved by this revelation; he remembered how sweetlythe sovereign had wished him a prosperous journey, and could not helpseeing a sign of interest in his safety in what had taken place. Andthen he thought that he might now retain that treasure, that letterwhich she had worn upon her heart for a whole evening.
The rest of the journey was silent. Fever had seized Nagato; the chillof coming dawn made him shiver, and he began to feel weakened by theloss of blood. When they reached the gates of Osaka, the sun had risen.Tsusima took from his saddle-bow a tiny crystal box, closed by acunningly knotted silk cord.
"Here, Prince," said he, "the precious letter is contained in this box.Farewell! May your wounds be speedily healed!"
"Farewell!" replied Nagato; "thanks once more for risking your preciouslife for mine, which is of small worth."
Having saluted each of the little band of horsemen, Nagato made his waythrough one of the city gates, and pricking his horse, soon reached thepalace.
When Loo saw his master enter, pale as a ghost, and covered with blood,he fell on his knees, where he remained mute with amazement.
"Come," said the Prince, "shut your gaping mouth, and get up; I am notdead yet. Call my servants, and run for the doctor."
[1] Constellation of the Scorpion.
[2] Royal residence.