Down to a Soundless Sea (31 page)

To symbolize his singular affection, Sing Fat purchased an ancient, filigreed ivory fan set with numerous gold dragons and hinged with a silver monkey carrying a staff. It cost one hundred dollars, and Sing Fat would happily have paid twice the price without blinking an eye had it not been for the elder Fat’s firm and considerate intervention.

Sing Fat had the fan wrapped in white rabbit fur and purple silk and then placed in a sandalwood box carved all about with cranes in flight. The box, together with a beautifully ornamented tortoiseshell comb, was wrapped inside an expensive embroidered shawl. Then it amused the prospective groom to package the lot in a wrapping of Japan paper and string, as though the parcel’s contents were of no particular value. Last, he packaged six small tins of cooked goose livers for Sue May Yee’s white cat. Sing Fat thought this a humorous detail and hoped the cat would enjoy the gift and not presume it an out-and-out bribe, which it was.

Dawn of the following Saturday found master and pupil smartly dressed and sitting upon a freshly painted cart. Even the mule’s tack and brass furnishings had been polished to a high luster.

Sing Fat had accomplished it all personally in what time he could spare from work. He hadn’t slept soundly all week, for obvious reasons, and had decided not to waste the hours in fretful anticipation, so he repainted the cart at his own expense by the light of kerosene lamps.

The elder Fat thought the prospective groom quite moonstruck and prescribed cold baths in the river. Sing Fat merely smiled at the suggestion and went about his business doing just as he pleased. The apothecary shrugged, shook his head, and focused upon his own affairs. He knew from experience that
only the simplest tasks could be expected from his pupil until the whole marriage-contract business was settled one way or another. Under the circumstances, the elder Fat saw no reason to postpone the inevitable union. The sooner accomplished, within the constraints of propriety and custom, the sooner everyone could go back to more important matters.

The cart had been stripped of the usual trappings. Instead, numerous wrapped parcels and packages lay in light crates bedded with chopped straw to protect them from breakage. A case of fine rice wine, each bottle mantled in a coat of woven straw, rested on a bed of its own. The traveler’s kits and extra clothes were neatly packed within their sleeping quilts. The apothecary’s small medicine chest, the one he assembled for emergencies on the road, was tucked under the driver’s bench. The elder Fat assessed their absence at three days and left a sign on the shop door indicating the time of their return.

The autumn of the year, though clear and sunny, carried occasional chills from the coast that caught one in midbreath like the stab of needles. These cold currents became more persistent as the travelers neared Monterey Bay. The sun was but a few degrees from the horizon when the rickety village of Point Alones came into sight. It looked even more fragile with the sun setting behind the spindle-legged shanties.

By now the Pacific winds had mastered a northern bite that had both men wearing their black quilted topcoats. With youthful compassion, Sing Fat had even stopped the cart long enough to blanket the mule against the ocean chills as well. The apothecary just rolled his eyes and contemplated the full moon rising in the east. It seemed genuinely propitious, to his way of thinking. He felt confident the marriage-contract negotiations might well be concluded the following afternoon.
Given one extra day of modest celebration, they could be back at work by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.

Sue May Yee and her aging father-in-law were quite surprised to find the venerable apothecary standing at their door with his arms full of gifts. Sing Fat, as instructed, moved the cart out of the wind behind the shanty and stayed with the precious cargo. He was prepared to camp out under the shelter of its canvas cover for the duration of their visit.

He felt so unsure of himself that at first he didn’t even bother to unhitch the mule in case his suit was spurned out of hand. He couldn’t think why such a thing should happen, but he was prepared for that eventuality, painful as it would be.

The elder Fat, as tradition dictated, had promised to make all preliminary introductions to the subject of marriage. If there should be an instant refusal to the proposition, at least the prospective groom would not lose face publicly. Once the subject had been entertained seriously, and if the future bride acquiesced to the arrangement, then the blushing groom could be introduced into the company and generally made great sport of for his callow understanding of what lay in wait for his future.

Eventually the prospective groom and his sponsor would distribute gifts and pour wine to seal the verbal contract. The more formal acknowledgments would be made the following day in the presence of what few relatives Sue May Yee could claim. Then the rest of the gifts would be given, and wine would be generously poured out to all.

Hopefully, the intended couple might share a few words, but they would have to steal the time since such things were
not customary. In such confined quarters it was to be expected that they would exchange little more than furtive, shy glances.

Sing Fat had made himself comfortable upon a quilt laid out on the straw in the bed of the cart. The laced-up canvas covers kept him from the wind and the curious gaze of neighbors. The one thing he did not possess at that moment was peace of mind. He would have given anything to know what was happening inside the house. On second thought, perhaps not.

Sue May Yee or her father-in-law might have assembled embarrassing objections to the match. What if her relatives refused to let her leave Point Alones? Could he move here and take up the life of a fisherman or squid broker? The idea made him ill. He gestured a magic sign against the demons of self-doubt and tucked himself down for a nap.

Sing Fat awoke with a start at the sound of someone knocking on the side of the cart. He cautiously lifted the canvas and looked over the lip of the cart to see Sue May Yee’s father-in-law smiling up at him by the light of a lantern.

His toothless mouth formed a few words that were lost on the wind, and then he waved for Sing Fat to follow. Once dismounted, Sing Fat cupped his hand to his ear. Old Jong Yee said that he had called cousin Choo to look after the mule. Cousin Choo’s son would unload the cart at once. Sing Fat was to enter the house and attend to his master’s counsel. Jong Yee nodded and, talking to himself mostly, praised the wisdom and skill of Master Chow Yong Fat as though Sing Fat had never met the man before. Cousin Choo and son appeared out of nowhere and began unharnessing the mule and leveling the cart with a yoke brace.

When Sing Fat had straightened his clothing and brushed
the few wisps of straw from his coat, he entered the house and was surprised to find only the elder Fat occupying the front room. He sat on a cushion at a low table illuminated by little brass oil lamps. When Sing Fat entered, his teacher indicated a cushion to his right and then placed a finger against his lips to caution silence. Confused at first, Sing Fat sought out his mentor’s eyes and received a confident nod and a smile. The scales of dark foreboding fell away, and Sing Fat could perceive the very marrow in his bones throb with delighted expectation. But where was everyone? Had he done something inappropriate already? The elder Fat would not let his eyes be drawn away again.

The front door sailed open with the force of the wind, and there stood Sue May Yee’s father-in-law. He entered with a swift bow followed by the Choos, father and son. Each was burdened with brimming baskets of neatly wrapped packages that they deposited and arranged at the far end of the room where they would remain secure, but on display for all to see.

It required two trips to unload all the groom’s gifts. The Yee clan was duly impressed by the generous abundance just as the elder Fat had said they would be. So far, all was progressing according to the oldest traditional protocols, regardless of the strained and humble setting.

Meanwhile, Sing Fat was prompted by his mentor to sit quietly, eyes cast to a small bowl of wildflowers on the table as if meditating on the beneficence of nature’s symmetry. He was advised, at all costs, to remain detached from the present for the sake of modesty. Sing Fat felt confident he could hold that mental posture and was coasting along rather nicely until Sue May Yee entered from the next room looking like the Princess of the Jade Moon, despite her simple garments.

Sing Fat couldn’t take his eyes from her, and his resolve to remain aloof from the situation dissolved like sugar in hot tea.

From under Sue May Yee’s long coat emerged the serene figure of the white cat. When her mistress knelt on a cushion set near the stack of gifts, the white cat took on a formal pose at her knees like a guardian temple lion. Through half-closed eyes the animal stared directly at Sing Fat with a feline expression that bordered on implied criticism. Sue May Yee straightened her posture, clasped her hands on her lap, but never raised her eyes to the room.

The position she occupied was purposely set to indicate symmetry. The prospective bride on one side, the groom’s gifts on the other. In the eyes of the world, the value of the gifts brought honor to the family, but at the very bottom stood the ancient abstraction of barter. The estimated benefit of one counterbalanced the worth of the other, and thus one resolved upon a fair medium of exchange.

The insensitive formality of negotiation made Sing Fat uncomfortable. All he desired was to look into Sue May Yee’s gentle eyes and know that the proposed marriage was something in which she could find favor. But she would not meet his gaze. It was a matter of respect and tradition, he knew, but it made him uncomfortable not to be able to speak with her. He desperately wanted to know her heart’s voice on the matter. His self-confidence sorely needed a leg up, but it seemed he was to be left hanging for some time to come. Only the elder Fat knew how the cards were spread, and he wasn’t talking just yet.

Eventually Jong Yee returned to the table, bowed to both his guests with a broad nervous smile, and shakily poured out Sing Fat’s gift of golden rice wine. Conversation was kept to
topics superficial or humorous, and no mention of the fate of the nuptials was even broached. In a short while they were joined by cousin Choo and Sue May Yee’s youngest brother-in-law, Jong Po Yee. More wine was poured and more light conversation exchanged. All the while, Sue May Yee knelt on her cushion and communed silently with her elegant cat. Everyone ignored her presence just as they politely ignored the stack of wrapped parcels arranged opposite the kneeling girl.

Two weathered fishermen arrived. They were both cousins of Sue May Yee’s father-in-law and, though well advanced in years, proved to be rather sprightly gentlemen with very active imaginations. They held sway over the company with wonderful tales of sea dragons and shipwrecks.

More wine flowed, and with every cup of wine, Sing Fat settled more comfortably into the pace of the evening. There was really very little for him to say, as most questions of consequence were addressed to his sponsor, Master Chow Yong Fat.

The esteemed protégé and petitioning suitor might have been a wooden mannequin for all anybody cared. Upon reflection, he allowed that he and his capital resources were undoubtedly as much on display as was Sue May Yee. The only difference lay in the fact that he had been obliged to pay for the privilege of feeling this uncomfortable and unnecessary.

Sing Fat looked over to gaze at his intended bride and was surprised to find Sue May Yee and the white cat gone. Only the indentation of her legs upon the cushion remained as evidence that she had ever been there at all.

Sing Fat could hardly wait for this interminable evening of meandering small talk to come to an end so that he might speak freely with his teacher. He still didn’t possess the slightest
clue of where he really stood in the matter at hand, and it was driving him crazy.

As fixed by tradition, when all the relatives had consumed six cups of wine as well as the proffered sweetmeats and steamed buns, they began to leave in the order they had arrived. The farewell was kind and marginally formal, broad smiles and deep bows being exchanged all around with nothing really said beyond common pleasantries. Not a hint of an opinion from anyone. The whole business was enough to make one’s head swim with the meaningless minutiae of it all.

No sooner had the last inquisitive guest withdrawn than Sing Fat caught the piquant scent of hot food wafting from the back of the house. He suddenly realized he hadn’t had a decent meal all day. In the tracks of these thoughts came Sue May Yee with a first course of smoked eel and grilled salmon with green onions, black mushrooms, and hot ginger. The rice was steaming and done to perfection.

After five minutes Sue May Yee returned with wine-steamed prawns and grilled rock pigeons with a red-pepper-and-honey glaze. Last served was a young sea bass beautifully crosshatched and deep-fried in ginger-scented oil and brought to the table leaping from a pond of broth and steamed vegetables arranged to emphasize composition. Even Sue May Yee’s old father-in-law, normally reticent in such matters, said with pride that his daughter-in-law had outdone herself. The more exotic items on the menu had been provided by the expectant suitor, but it had been beautifully prepared for all that, and with golden rice wine served throughout, who would offend the kitchen gods with even so much as a breath of reproach?

Sing Fat had rarely been exposed to anything like abundance since childhood, and the surfeit of wine and rich food
sent his head spinning. Knowing the hour to be late, Sing Fat begged to be excused to his bed. Sue May Yee’s father-in-law laughed, nodded, and said that the cart had been especially prepared for his comfort. Master Chow Yong Fat would sleep in the house near the hearth. Jong Yee rose, took up a lantern, and offered to light the young man’s way. Sing Fat humbly accepted, bowed to his teacher, and followed the old man out into the night. Sue May Yee was nowhere to be seen.

The cart had been turned so that the canvas-enclosed tail faced away from the cold, onshore breezes. The yoke had been lashed to a long sawhorse to make the vehicle rest level. When his host held up the lantern, Sing Fat saw that the cart had been completely cleaned and a small carpet had been laid. Upon the carpet a quilted mattress and cover had been spread, and at the foot of the cart a small iron brazier containing hot coals had been set on bricks to help ward off the damp air. Sing Fat thanked his host, bid him good night, and after taking the proffered lantern, climbed into the cart.