Silver Hands by Elizabeth Hopkinson

Author:Elizabeth Hopkinson [Hopkinson, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78099-871-8
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2013-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

12

The Floating World

I had fallen into Paradise. Or so I decided the next morning, when I woke to the sound of the heron’s cry and the scent of green tea. The paper doors slid back on a world where water mirrored leaf in startling clarity and the silence of stones had a language all its own. I had come to a place of dreams, where each new day brought fresh wonders.

Even the growing humidity and frequent downpours took nothing away from the glory of it. The climate meant a constant fight with invading insects, but I could cope with that for the glory of the view. It made me think of the blissful bower of Paradise Lost, watered daily by a mist that went up from the earth, and tended by the innocent pair. Of course, the gardeners that I saw tending this particular bower were not quite naked and were often seen running from the rain with straw mats pulled over their heads, but it was close enough for me. I couldn’t get enough of the landscape. The panels remained open all day, even late into the evening, when the room was lit by paper lanterns and by tiny insects that looked like green sparks. We would sit and listen to the pattering of rain on water, and when it ceased, the music of frogs.

“Does it always rain like this?” I asked Miyuki on the second day.

“My lady has come during the season of rain,” was the reply. “After this comes summer. It will be hot for my lady then. She will need to rest.”

Miyuki was the giggly one with the round face. Of the two, she was more accommodating of my clearly strange desire to serve myself with my feet or forearms where I could. Watching me pick up the eating-sticks between my toes for the first time brought a look of awe, horror and hilarity in equal measures. But the second time I tried, she made no move to stop me. I soon learned that her real talent lay in fashion. It was she who picked out the gowns and sashes I wore (kimono and obi, as I soon learned). The cloth they were cut from was exquisite. Miyuki chose ever lighter weaves as the weather grew warmer, always in colors and patterns that subtly complemented one another. My hair too, when I glimpsed it in the dressing mirror, showed me I was in the hands of a true artist. It had been so long since it had been dressed at all that I marveled at what she could do with pins and flowers. That was one area in which I was happy to leave everything to her.

Sakura was the serious one. It was she who strapped on my silver hands each morning with a reverence verging on worship, and insisted that I be referred to as “my lady” at all times, despite my explaining that I was a commoner. I think she polished the sixpences too;

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.