Lord of the Darkwood

 

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Might it be through grief

at sight of the bush clover,

colored by autumn,

that the stag's cries continue

until the foothills resound?

—
from
Kokin Wakashū: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry
, translated by Helen Craig McCullough

 

THE TALE OF SHIKANOKO
LIST OF CHARACTERS

MAIN CHARACTERS

Kumayama no Kazumaru, later known as Shikanoko or
Shika

Nishimi no Akihime, the Autumn Princess,
Aki

Kuromori no
Kiyoyori
, the Kuromori lord

Lady
Tama
, his wife, the Matsutani lady

Masachika
, Kiyoyori's younger brother

Hina
, sometimes known as Yayoi, his daughter

Tsumaru
, his son

Bara
or Ibara, Hina's servant

Yoshimori, also Yoshimaru, the Hidden Emperor,
Yoshi

Takeyoshi, also Takemaru, son of Shikanoko and Akihime,
Take

Lady
Tora

Shisoku
, the mountain sorcerer

Sesshin
, an old wise man

The
Prince Abbot

Akuzenji
, King of the Mountain, a bandit

Hisoku
, Lady Tama's retainer

THE MIBOSHI CLAN

Lord
Aritomo
, head of the clan, also known as the Minatogura lord

Yukikuni no
Takaakira

The
Yukikuni lady
, his wife

Takauji
, their son

Arinori
, lord of the Aomizu area, a sea captain

Yamada Keisaku
, Masachika's adoptive father

Gensaku
, one of Takaakira's retinue

Yasuie
, one of Masachika's men

Yasunobu
, his brother

THE KAKIZUKI CLAN

Lord
Keita
, head of the clan

Hosokawa no
Masafusa
, a kinsman of Kiyoyori

Tsuneto
, one of Kiyoyori's warriors

Sadaike
, one of Kiyoyori's warriors

Tachiyama no
Enryo
, one of Kiyoyori's warriors

Hatsu
, his wife

Kongyo
, Kiyoyori's senior retainer

Haru
, his wife

Chikamaru, later Motochika,
Chika
, his son

Kaze
, his daughter

Hironaga
, a retainer at Kuromori

Tsunesada
, a retainer at Kuromori

Taro
, a servant in Kiyoyori's household in Miyako

THE IMPERIAL COURT

The
Emperor

Prince Momozono
, the Crown Prince

Lady Shinmei'in
, his wife, Yoshimori's mother

Daigen
, his younger brother, later Emperor

Lady Natsue
, Daigen's mother, sister of the Prince Abbot

Yoriie
, an attendant

Nishimi no
Hidetake
, Aki's father, foster father to Yoshimori

Kai
, his adopted daughter

AT THE TEMPLE OF RYUSONJI

Gessho
, a warrior monk

Eisei
, a young monk, later one of the
Burnt Twins

AT KUMAYAMA

Shigetomo
, Shikanoko's father

Sademasa
, his brother, Shikanoko's uncle, now lord of the estate

Nobuto
, one of his warriors

Tsunemasa
, one of his warriors

Naganori
, one of his warriors

Nagatomo
, Naganori's son, Shika's childhood friend, later one of the
Burnt Twins

AT NISHIMI

Lady Sadako
and
Lady Masako
, Hina's teachers

Saburo
, a groom

THE RIVERBANK PEOPLE

Lady Fuji
, the mistress of the pleasure boats

Asagao
, a musician and entertainer

Yuri
,
Sen
,
Sada
, and
Teru
, young girls at the convent

Sarumaru,
Saru
, an acrobat and monkey trainer

Kinmaru
and
Monmaru
, acrobats and monkey trainers

THE SPIDER TRIBE

Kiku
, later Master Kikuta, Lady Tora's oldest son

Mu
, her second son

Kuro
, her third son

Ima
, her fourth son

Ku
, her fifth son

Tsunetomo
, a warrior, Kiku's retainer

Shida
, Mu's wife, a fox woman

Kinpoge
, their daughter

Unagi
, a merchant in Kitakami

SUPERNATURAL BEINGS

Tadashii
, a tengu

Hidari
and
Migi
, guardian spirits of Matsutani

The dragon child

Ban
, a flying horse

Gen
, a fake wolf

Kon
and
Zen
, werehawks

HORSES

Nyorin
, Akuzenji's white stallion, later Shikanoko's

Risu
, a bad-tempered brown mare

Tan
, their foal

WEAPONS

Jato
, Snake Sword

Jinan
, Second Son

Ameyumi
, Rain Bow

Kodama
, Echo

 

1

HINA (YAYOI)

The girl could see nothing. Her lungs were bursting. At any moment, she would open her mouth and breathe in the fatal waters of the lake. Snatches of her brief life came to her: her mother's face, her father's last words, her brother's cry for help before he disappeared. She had been one of the few survivors after the massacre in Miyako. Now her life was over, and she and Takemaru, the baby she clutched desperately, would join the dead. Tears formed in her eyes, only to be lost in the ebb and flow of Lake Kasumi.

Then suddenly there were dark shapes next to her, strong arms seized her. She was pulled upward toward the light, miraculously still holding the baby. She retched and coughed, gasping for air, taking great gulps of it into her lungs. Hands reached down from the side of the boat and took Take from her. He was limp and pale, but, as she herself was pulled on board, she heard him scream in ragged, outraged gasps. He was alive.

The boat bucked like a living animal in the strong westerly wind. She saw the ocher-colored sail lowered quickly, dropped on the deck, while the helmsman struggled with the oar at the stern. The men who had plunged into the water to save her were lifted up; they tore their wet clothes off and went naked, laughing. Monkeys screamed and chattered at them, dancing at the end of their cords. The sun in the east was dazzling. A crowd surrounded her. The men who were not naked were all dressed in red. They looked like beings from another world and she was afraid that she had drowned. But women stripped the heavy robes from her with hands that felt real, exclaiming at their fine quality in human voices. She and the baby were wrapped in furs, wolf and bear skins, and a bowl of some warm, strange-smelling liquid was pushed into her hands.

Men hoisted the sail again, the hemp flapping, fighting them, ropes snapping, snaking through the air. The monkeys screamed more loudly. In the confusion, one of the boys approached her, holding the lute. Beneath the howl of the wind, the slap of the waves, it was still playing, but more softly, its mother-of-pearl and gold-inlaid rosewood gleaming in the sun.

“Who are you?” he said quietly. “What are you doing with Genzo?”

Fragments of memories came to her.
It is Genzo, the Emperor's lute
, Take's mother, Akihime, the Autumn Princess, had said, and she had promised to tell her where the child Emperor was, but she had not. Could this be him standing before her? It must be, the lute revealed him. But she must hide the fact she knew who he was.

She shook her head at him, as though she did not understand, and held out her hands. His eyes narrowed as he thrust the lute at her. She saw his unease, longed to speak to reassure him, but did not dare say anything. How would she address him, for a start? Words of honor and deference rose on her tongue, but then the sailors shouted roughly at him to come and help them. Beside him the other boy was holding a text, made up of pages stitched together.

“Yoshi caught the lute and I caught this,” he said, holding it out to her. “It's heavy! How did a girl like you manage to throw it so far?”

She grabbed it from him. She could not explain it, maybe it had sprouted wings and flown. She already knew the Kudzu Vine Treasure Store was enchanted. She tucked it under one arm while she turned her attention to the lute. It gave a sigh, as if it would start playing; she gripped it with her other hand.