[Without「seeing」him it could be said that Kiritsubo might not know Truth… but though she possessed those eyes, she also possessed keen ears and centuries of experience. Even if she cannot know the cause, she can sense the faint hints… and they make her laugh, husky and soft.]
Now, now, do not be so disappointed, my friend…
[That would be too much all at once. Not nearly as good of a twist.]
When the Hell Courtesan reopened the doors properly and swept back in to the room… all was as it should be. Had it been a trick of the light? Had she gone mad? She tormented herself through the rest of the banquet trying to discover the truth of what she had seen until it became so late in the night she dismissed the dancing girls and was prepared to dismiss Ikkyu as well…
Until he suddenly, drunkenly, threw up a living fish into her garden water basin. The exact species of fish his soup had been made of.
Realizing that the monk truly was possessed of some sort of divine power or knowledge, she begged him to teach her what she must do to free her soul from her unfortunate fate. In turn, he taught her of the 136 hells, of their causes and costs, and of the fickle, ephemeral nature of human existence.
After all… even the most gorgeous of women is nothing, in the end, but a skeleton wrapped in a bag of flesh. And once you truly「see」that… you can no longer be deceived.
[She pauses there, as if it was supposed to, and yet could not, answer the question of what Jigoku had seen through the screens. Had Ikkyu magicked the girls to appear that way to shock her? Had she truly had a revelation about a truth of the world?
Who knew… ?]
Moved by his preaching, the Hell Courtesan announced that she would abandon her womanhood and take the tonsure, that she would become a nun and devote herself to striving for Enlightenment… but Ikkyu bid her not to. “There is far more worth”, he said, “in the job that you do in this brothel than in the hypocritical halls of the self-righteous and religious. There is another path to Enlightenment for you, if you only seek it.”
And that is what the Hell Courtesan did. Every day she meditated between time spent with her clients beneath the sheets, until Ikkyu acknowledged her perfected wisdom. From that point on, without shame and without regret, all too aware the lot of us were but bones and flesh seeking comforting warmth before inevitable death, the Hell Courtesan worked her years contentedly in the pleasure district. She counseled other young women, she satisfied her customers, she gave generous alms from her earnings…
And… she embroidered dancing skeletons upon the heavy hell robe she wore every night to welcome her lovers.
no subject
Now, now, do not be so disappointed, my friend…
[That would be too much all at once. Not nearly as good of a twist.]
When the Hell Courtesan reopened the doors properly and swept back in to the room… all was as it should be. Had it been a trick of the light? Had she gone mad? She tormented herself through the rest of the banquet trying to discover the truth of what she had seen until it became so late in the night she dismissed the dancing girls and was prepared to dismiss Ikkyu as well…
Until he suddenly, drunkenly, threw up a living fish into her garden water basin. The exact species of fish his soup had been made of.
Realizing that the monk truly was possessed of some sort of divine power or knowledge, she begged him to teach her what she must do to free her soul from her unfortunate fate. In turn, he taught her of the 136 hells, of their causes and costs, and of the fickle, ephemeral nature of human existence.
After all… even the most gorgeous of women is nothing, in the end, but a skeleton wrapped in a bag of flesh. And once you truly「see」that… you can no longer be deceived.
[She pauses there, as if it was supposed to, and yet could not, answer the question of what Jigoku had seen through the screens. Had Ikkyu magicked the girls to appear that way to shock her? Had she truly had a revelation about a truth of the world?
Who knew… ?]
Moved by his preaching, the Hell Courtesan announced that she would abandon her womanhood and take the tonsure, that she would become a nun and devote herself to striving for Enlightenment… but Ikkyu bid her not to. “There is far more worth”, he said, “in the job that you do in this brothel than in the hypocritical halls of the self-righteous and religious. There is another path to Enlightenment for you, if you only seek it.”
And that is what the Hell Courtesan did. Every day she meditated between time spent with her clients beneath the sheets, until Ikkyu acknowledged her perfected wisdom. From that point on, without shame and without regret, all too aware the lot of us were but bones and flesh seeking comforting warmth before inevitable death, the Hell Courtesan worked her years contentedly in the pleasure district. She counseled other young women, she satisfied her customers, she gave generous alms from her earnings…
And… she embroidered dancing skeletons upon the heavy hell robe she wore every night to welcome her lovers.