Summary The story of the love of a lonely woman
Ikhara Saikaku
The story of the love affairs of a lonely woman
Sages in antiquity said that a beauty is a sword that cuts off life. Flowers of the heart are showered, and by evening only dry branches remain. It is foolish to die by an early death in the abyss of love, but, surely, such madmen will never be transferred!
Once two young men argued at the river about what they most want in life, one said that most of all he wants the moisture of his love never to dry out, but flow like a full-flowing river. Another objected that he would like to retire to a place where there were no women at all, but in silence and peace he watched the troubles of life. They decided to ask some old lady who was right, and found a solitary living hermit high in the mountains in a clean hut with a roof of reed stalks. The old woman was surprised by their request and decided to tell them for edification all her life.
I was not of a low kind, the old woman began to tell me, my ancestors
One of the princes from the Eastern provinces did not have any heirs, he was very sad about it, and everywhere he was looking for young concubines, but he could not find anything to his liking: he was looking at the countryside, then there was no pleasant treatment, as is customary in the capital, can add verses and guess the correct flavor. The prince had an old man, he was deaf and blind, his teeth had almost lost everything, and he only wore mens clothes because of habit – the way of love was closed to him. But he enjoyed the vassal’s power of attorney, and sent him to the capital for a beautiful concubine. He was looking for the girl without the slightest defect, similar to the old portrait that the old man always carried with him. The old man looked at over one hundred and seventy girls, but none of them pleased him. But when finally they brought him to me from a remote village, it turned out that I was exactly like a portrait, and some said, that I eclipsed the beauty in the portrait. Settled me in the magnificent palace of the prince, day and night they slept and cherished, entertained and spoiled. I admired the blossoming cherries of extraordinary beauty, for the sake of me whole performances were played out. But I lived as a recluse, and the prince all sat in the state council. To my grief, it turned out that he lacked man’s strength, he drinks love pills, and still never penetrated the fence. His vassals decided that the whole trouble in me, in my irrepressible lasciviousness, persuaded the prince to send me back to his native village. There is nothing sadder in the world than a beloved, devoid of male power. and the prince all sat in the state council. To my grief, it turned out that he lacked man’s strength, he drinks love pills, and still never penetrated the fence. His vassals decided that the whole trouble in me, in my irrepressible lasciviousness, persuaded the prince to send me back to his native village. There is nothing sadder in the world than a beloved, devoid of male power. and the prince all sat in the state council. To my grief, it turned out that he lacked man’s strength, he drinks love pills, and still never penetrated the fence. His vassals decided that the whole trouble in me, in my irrepressible lasciviousness, persuaded the prince to send me back to his native village. There is nothing sadder in the world than a beloved, devoid of male power.
And then misfortune befell me, my father owes and went bankrupt, I had to become a hetaera only at the age of sixteen. And immediately I became a trendsetter, eclipsed by my inventions about fashion all the local dandies. It seemed to me that everyone was burning with passion for me, I kept building eyes, and if there was no one nearby, flirted at the worst, even with a simple jester. I knew different ways how to make men of submissive slaves, yes such, to which the hetaera are more stupid than ever. And unreasonable men always thought that I was in their ears crashed and untying their wallets. I used to hear that there is a rich man somewhere, that I’m good myself, and I’m cheerful and do not regret money, then I’ll go to him with all my might, and I’ll curl up and not let him go, but it’s rarely happens. But the selling hetaera can not love only whom he wants, and dandies in yellow dresses in stripes and in straw sandals on bare feet in the capital is always enough. But I, forced to give myself to men for money, still did not give them themselves to the end, because I was known as a hard-hearted, obstinate, and the guests eventually all left me. Turning away from annoying men is good when you’re in fashion, but when everyone leaves you, you’ll be glad to anyone – both servant and freak. The life of a hetaera is sad!
They lowered me in rank, the servants stopped calling me by the lady and bending my back before me. Sometimes, they sent me to rich houses in twenty days, I managed to drive three or four houses in a fast carriage every day. And now, accompanied only by a small servant, she quietly made her way through the crowd. What was it to me, spoiled, and even high-born lady, when they treated me like a scavenger’s daughter. What kind of people I did not meet in gay homes, I passed out and laughed that the last one was let down, and they were left without a penny, and even got into debt. Many of my guests went bankrupt on whistles and actresses, and after all, the elderly, solid people were! I began to ache, my hair thinned out, and besides, pryshchiki jumped up from my ears with a millet, the guests did not want to look at me. The hostess did not speak to me, the servants began to poke me around, and at the table I sat at the very edge. And no one will think about turning up, no one’s doing anything! The men were disgusted, good guests did not invite me, sadness took over my soul. They sold me to the cheapest cheerful house, where I became the latest slut. How low I descended and what else I did not see! After thirteen years I sat in a boat and, since I had no other shelter, went to my native village. I changed into a man’s dress, cut my hair, made a man’s hair, hung a dagger from the side, learned to speak in a man’s voice. At that time village boons often took boys to their service, and with one such I agreed that I would love him for three years for three silver canals. The Bonza is completely mired in debauchery, and his friends were no better, they broke all the covenants of the Buddha, In the daytime they wore clothes of priests, at night they wore a fashionable fashion dress. They kept their mistresses in cells, and in the daytime they were secretly locked in dungeons. I was bored with imprisonment, I emaciated completely, and I’m tired of the boss, because I went to this business not for love, but for the money – it was hard for me. And then the old woman came to me and called herself the old beloved of the abbot, told me about her unhappy fate and about the cruelty of the bonze, threatened to take revenge on her new mistress. I began to think-wondering how to escape from the bonza, and decided to deceive him, put a thick layer of cotton under her clothes and declared herself pregnant. The boss was frightened and sent me home, allocating a small fraction of the money. because I went to this business not for love, but for the sake of money – it was hard for me. And then the old woman came to me and called herself the old beloved of the abbot, told me about her unhappy fate and about the cruelty of the bonze, threatened to take revenge on her new mistress. I began to think-wondering how to escape from the bonza, and decided to deceive him, put a thick layer of cotton under her clothes and declared herself pregnant. The boss was frightened and sent me home, allocating a small fraction of the money. because I went to this business not for love, but for the sake of money – it was hard for me. And then the old woman came to me and called herself the old beloved of the abbot, told me about her unhappy fate and about the cruelty of the bonze, threatened to take revenge on her new mistress. I began to think-wondering how to escape from the bonza, and decided to deceive him, put a thick layer of cotton under her clothes and declared herself pregnant. The boss was frightened and sent me home, allocating a small fraction of the money.
In the capital, women who were once rulers in noble houses and who learned subtle ways, who knew how to write courteous and elegant letters on different topics, were very appreciated. Parents gave them in training their daughters. And so I decided to open a letter school too, to teach young girls to express their thoughts elegantly. I became comfortable in my own house, everything was cleanly cleaned in the living rooms, beautiful signatures with samples of letters on the walls. Soon learned clever young men handsome men and passionate hetaera – went about me fame, as an unsurpassed writer of love letters, because in the merry houses I plunged into the depths of love and could portray the most passionate passion. I was there, in the “village of love,” one gentleman, only I loved him truly, when he was poor, he could not come to me anymore, only sent letters, and such that I sobbed all night over them, pressing them to my bare chest. Until now, the words from his letters have been burned in my memory like fire. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. that all the nights I sobbed over them, pressing them to my bare chest. Until now, the words from his letters have been burned in my memory like fire. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. that all the nights I sobbed over them, pressing them to my bare chest. Until now, the words from his letters have been burned in my memory like fire. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. pressing to the naked breast. Until now, the words from his letters have been burned in my memory like fire. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. pressing to the naked breast. Until now, the words from his letters have been burned in my memory like fire. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. One day a customer came to me and asked me to write a heartless beauty about my love, and I tried, but, deducing the words of passion on paper, I suddenly felt imbued with them and realized that this man was dear to me. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies. And he looked at me more closely and saw that my hair was twisting, his mouth was small, and his big toes curved outward. He forgot his heartless beauty and stuck to my soul. But only it turned out that he was a terrible squire! He treated me to the cheapest soup of fish, and skimped on matter for a new dress. Moreover, he was decrepit for a year, he lost his hearing, so he had to put his hand to his ear, he was wrapped in cotton dresses, well, and forgot about lovely ladies.
In olden days, very young servants were appreciated, but now they like that the servant look more imposing, about twenty-five years old, and could accompany the stretcher with the lady. And although it was very unpleasant for me, but dressed up in a modest dress of a servant, I tied my hair with a simple lace and began to ask the housekeeper naive questions: “What will be born out of the snow?” etc. They found me very simple and naive, in life, nothing seen. From everything I blushed and shuddered, and the servants for my inexperience nicknamed me “stupid monkey,” in short, I was a perfect ninnie. The host with the mistress at night indulged in love rages, and how my heart was pounding with passion and desire. One day early in the morning, on holiday, I was cleaning up the altar of the Buddha, when the master suddenly came there to create the first prayer, and at the sight of a strong young man I tore off my belt. The owner was amazed, but then in a frenzied fit rushed to me and knocked down the statue of Buddha, dropped the candlestick. Slowly, I cleaned the owner of my hand and I thought of doing something unkind – to get rid of the mistress, but in order to do that, I resorted to illicit methods: charms and demonic spells. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. The owner was amazed, but then in a frenzied fit rushed to me and knocked down the statue of Buddha, dropped the candlestick. Slowly, I cleaned the owner of my hand and I thought of doing something unkind – to get rid of the mistress, but in order to do that, I resorted to illicit methods: charms and demonic spells. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. The owner was amazed, but then in a frenzied fit rushed to me and knocked down the statue of Buddha, dropped the candlestick. Slowly, I cleaned the owner of my hand and I thought of doing something unkind – to get rid of the mistress, but in order to do that, I resorted to illicit methods: charms and demonic spells. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. dropped the candlestick. Slowly, I cleaned the owner of my hand and I thought of doing something unkind – to get rid of the mistress, but in order to do that, I resorted to illicit methods: charms and demonic spells. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. dropped the candlestick. Slowly, I cleaned the owner of my hand and I thought of doing something unkind – to get rid of the mistress, but in order to do that, I resorted to illicit methods: charms and demonic spells. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. But I could not hurt the mistress, everything went out quickly, the bad news about me and the host went, and soon they threw me out of the house. I began to wander like mad, under the scorching sun through the streets and bridges, blasting the air with insane shouts: “I want a man’s love!” and danced like an epileptic. People in the streets condemned me. A cold breeze blew, and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my old mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my former mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself. and in the grove of crypteria I suddenly woke up and realized that I was naked, my former mind returned to me. I called on trouble for another, but I suffered myself.
I got a job as a servant in parcels in the country house of a noble lady, which severely suffered from jealousy – her husband, a handsome man, shamelessly betrayed her. And that lady decided to have a party and invite all her court ladies and maidservants and that all without concealment told what was in their souls, and that they should infuriate women from envy, and men from jealousy. Someone seemed strange this fun. They brought a marvelous beauty to a doll dressed in a sumptuous outfit and all the women took turns to pour out their souls in front of her and tell stories about unfaithful husbands and lovers. One I guessed what was wrong. The mistress’s husband found a beautiful woman in the provinces and gave her heart to her, and the landlady ordered her to make a doll-an exact copy of that beauty, beat her, torment her, as if the rival herself fell into her hands. Yes, only one day she opened the doll’s eyes and, stretching out her arms, went to the hostess and grabbed her by the hem. Hardly had she escaped, and since then she fell ill, began to languish. They decided that it was all in the doll, and they decided to burn it. Burned and ashes buried, but only every night from the garden, from the grave dolls came moaning and crying. The people knew about it, and the prince himself. They called the maids for interrogation, I had to tell everything. Yes, and a concubine girl was called to the prince, then I saw her – she was very beautiful, and how graceful. With a doll – do not compare. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. began to wither. They decided that it was all in the doll, and they decided to burn it. Burned and ashes buried, but only every night from the garden, from the grave dolls came moaning and crying. The people knew about it, and the prince himself. They called the maids for interrogation, I had to tell everything. Yes, and a concubine girl was called to the prince, then I saw her – she was very beautiful, and how graceful. With a doll – do not compare. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. began to wither. They decided that it was all in the doll, and they decided to burn it. Burned and ashes buried, but only every night from the garden, from the grave dolls came moaning and crying. The people knew about it, and the prince himself. They called the maids for interrogation, I had to tell everything. Yes, and a concubine girl was called to the prince, then I saw her – she was very beautiful, and how graceful. With a doll – do not compare. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. moaning and moaning came from the grave of the doll. The people knew about it, and the prince himself. They called the maids for interrogation, I had to tell everything. Yes, and a concubine girl was called to the prince, then I saw her – she was very beautiful, and how graceful. With a doll – do not compare. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. moaning and moaning came from the grave of the doll. The people knew about it, and the prince himself. They called the maids for interrogation, I had to tell everything. Yes, and a concubine girl was called to the prince, then I saw her – she was very beautiful, and how graceful. With a doll – do not compare. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun. The prince was frightened for the life of a fragile girl and with the words: “How disgusting women are!” sent the girl to her home away from the jealous wife. But he himself stopped visiting the rooms of the mistress, and during her lifetime the fate of the widow fell out. I was so disgusted that I asked to go to Kanagata with the intention of becoming a nun.
In the New Harbor there are ships from distant countries and from the western provinces of Japan, and sailors and merchants from those ships are sold by nuns from the surrounding villages. Sailing back and forth rowing boats, on oars, well done, behind the wheel of some gray-haired old man, and in the middle of the dressed nuns, singer. The nuns click the castanets, the young nuns with begging bowls beg for small things, and then without any embarrassment before the eyes of the people go to the ships, and there are waiting for them visiting guests. Receive the nuns of a coin for a hundred mon, or an armful of brushwood, or a bunch of mackerel. Of course, the water in the gutter is everywhere dirty, but the nun-sluts are a particularly low craft. I agreed with an old nun that was at the head of this case. I still had traces of former beauty, and I was readily invited to the ships, paid, however, little – only three momme per night, but still my three fans went broke and went on the roads. I, not caring about what became of them, continued to sing their songs. And you, windy revelers, have realized how dangerous it is to get involved with the women, and even with the nuns?
I did not last long such a life and started a different trade: I began to comb the fashionable women and invent dresses for the dandies. You need to have a subtle taste and understand the transience of fashion to do such things. At the new service in the cloakrooms of famous beauties, I received eighty momma silver a year and a bunch of elegant dresses. I entered into a service to a rich lady, she was very beautiful, even I, a woman, was subdued. But it was in her heart that she felt an unheard-of grief, when she was a child she lost her hair and went to the lining. The owner did not suspect it, although it was difficult to keep everything a secret. I did not step back from the mistress for a single step and with all sorts of tricks I managed to hide her lack of a husband, or the pad would fall from my head – and forgive love forever! All would be well, but my lady envied my hair – thick, black, like a raven’s wing, and told them to cut them first, and when they grew back, punch them to make their forehead stitch. I resented such a cruelty of the lady, but she is angrier than ever, she does not let her out of the house. And I set out to take revenge: I taught the cat to jump on my hair, and one day, when the gentleman in our society enjoyed the game on the zither, I put the cat on the mistress. The cat jumped on her head, the hairpins soaked and the lining went off – and the love of the gentleman that five years had burned in his heart, faded in a moment! The gentleman was very cold towards her, the landlady plunged into sorrow and left for her home, I tidied up the owner. This was not difficult to do at all. I taught the cat to jump on my hair, and one day, when the gentleman in our society enjoyed playing the zither, I put the cat on the lady. The cat jumped on her head, the hairpins soaked and the lining went off – and the love of the gentleman that five years had burned in his heart, faded in a moment! The gentleman was very cold towards her, the landlady plunged into sorrow and left for her home, I tidied up the owner. This was not difficult to do at all. I taught the cat to jump on my hair, and one day, when the gentleman in our society enjoyed playing the zither, I put the cat on the lady. The cat jumped on her head, the hairpins soaked and the lining went off – and the love of the gentleman that five years had burned in his heart, faded in a moment! The gentleman was very cold towards her, the landlady plunged into sorrow and left for her home, I tidied up the owner. This was not difficult to do at all.
But even this service soon got bored, and I began to help at weddings in the city of Osaka, there people live frivolous, weddings are arranged too lush, not worrying about whether the ends will make ends meet. They want to surprise the whole world with a wedding, and then they start building the house immediately, the young housewife sews her outfits without a number. And the receptions of guests after the wedding, and gifts to relatives, so that money litter without restraint. And there, you see, the cry of the first granddaughter was heard: y-a, u-ah! So drag the newborn dagger and new dresses. To relatives, acquaintances, connoisseurs – gifts, look! – and the wallet is empty. I served many weddings, and I really looked at the human swagger. Only one wedding was modest, but this house is now rich and nice, and where others are! ruined and did not hear about them anymore.
I do not know where, I learned to sew nice dresses for all the old regulations known since the time of the Empress Cohen. I was glad to change my way of life, to part with the craft of love. I spent a whole day in a circle of women, admiring the irises over the pond, enjoying the sunlight at the window, drinking fragrant reddish tea. Nothing disturbed my heart. But one day a young man’s dress came into my hands, the satin lining of his was skillfully painted with love scenes, so passionate that the spirit captured. And my old desires awoke in me. I laid aside the needle and thimble, threw away the matter and spent the whole day in my dreams, at night my bed seemed to me very lonely. The hardened heart was sorrowful. The past seemed horrible to me, I thought of virtuous women that they knew only one husband, and after his death they take monastic vows. But the former lust had already awakened in me, and even here the chelyadin came out into the yard, that he was serving the samurai, and began to urinate, a strong jet washed the hole in the ground. And in that hole all my thoughts about virtue drowned and drowned. I left the rich house, having told the patient, took off a small house and wrote “Seamstress” on the door. I climbed into debt, and when the clerk of the silk merchant came to collect me, I undressed and gave him my dress – as if nothing else I have. But the clerk was distraught with my beauty and, hanging an umbrella on the windows, he took me into his arms, and he did without the help of matchmakers. He gave up thinking about profit, he started all the hard, so that the business of his business went very badly. And the master of sewing walks and walks everywhere with her box with needles and threads, Long walks and collects coins, but not one thing will sew. But there is no nodule on that string, it will not last long.
And my old age was already close, and I sank lower and lower. For a whole year I worked as a dishwasher, wore rough dresses, ate only black brown rice. Only two times a year they let me go out into the city, and one day the old servant followed me, and on the way he confessed to me in his love, which he cherished for a long time in the depths of his heart. We went with him to the house of visits, but, alas, the former sword became a simple kitchen knife, visited the mountain of treasures, but returned ignominiously. I had to run to the house of fun in Simabara and urgently seek out any young man, and the younger, the better.
I went to many cities and towns and wandered somehow to the town of Sakai, where I needed a maid to lay and clean the bed in a noble, rich house. I thought that the owner of the house was a strong old man and, perhaps, I could manage to get him to my hands, look! – and this is a strong and sharp old woman, and her work was boiling in the house. And even at night I had to indulge the old woman: then loosen the loin, then drive away the mosquitoes, and then start playing with me like a man with a woman. Here it is! What kind of gentlemen in my life was not, in which only alterations I did not fall.
The craft of the slut resisted me, but there was nothing to do, I learned the tricks of the peepers from the tea houses and again went to trade with myself. Guests came to me very different: bonzes, clerks, actors, merchants. And a good guest and a bad one buy a pint for a little fun, until the ferry approaches the shore, and then – forgive-farewell. With a kind guest of the green, I had long conversations, I had hopes for a lasting alliance, and with a nasty guest I thought boards on the ceiling, I thought indifferently about extraneous things. Sometimes a high-ranking dignitary, with a sleek white body, complained to me, then I learned that he was a minister. Yes, and tea houses are different: where only jellyfish and shellfish are fed, and where they serve sumptuous dishes and the corresponding treatment. In small houses poshiba have to deal with a rough-looking peasant that wets a comb with water from a flower vase, a shell of nuts throws on a tobacco tray, and with women they flirt with a rough, with salty jokes. You mutter a song, swallowing words, and there you just wait for a few silver coins. What a miserable occupation of plaguing yourself! Besides, I lost my wits, the last remnants of my beauty disappeared, I whitened, reddened, and still the skin became, like a plucked bird. I lost the last hope that some worthy person will be captivated by me and take me to myself forever. But I was lucky: I liked a rich man from Kyoto and he took me to his house as a concubine. It is evident that he did not understand the beauty of women very much and was flattered by me, just as he bought dishware and paintings, fakes for old. You mutter a song, swallowing words, and there you just wait for a few silver coins. What a miserable occupation of plaguing yourself! Besides, I lost my wits, the last remnants of my beauty disappeared, I whitened, reddened, and still the skin became, like a plucked bird. I lost the last hope that some worthy person will be captivated by me and take me to myself forever. But I was lucky: I liked a rich man from Kyoto and he took me to his house as a concubine. It is evident that he did not understand the beauty of women very much and was flattered by me, just as he bought dishware and paintings, fakes for old. You mutter a song, swallowing words, and there you just wait for a few silver coins. What a miserable occupation of plaguing yourself! Besides, I lost my wits, the last remnants of my beauty disappeared, I whitened, reddened, and still the skin became, like a plucked bird. I lost the last hope that some worthy person will be captivated by me and take me to myself forever. But I was lucky: I liked a rich man from Kyoto and he took me to his house as a concubine. It is evident that he did not understand the beauty of women very much and was flattered by me, just as he bought dishware and paintings, fakes for old. but all the same the skin has become, as at the plucked bird. I lost the last hope that some worthy person will be captivated by me and take me to myself forever. But I was lucky: I liked a rich man from Kyoto and he took me to his house as a concubine. It is evident that he did not understand the beauty of women very much and was flattered by me, just as he bought dishware and paintings, fakes for old. but all the same the skin has become, as at the plucked bird. I lost the last hope that some worthy person will be captivated by me and take me to myself forever. But I was lucky: I liked a rich man from Kyoto and he took me to his house as a concubine. It is evident that he did not understand the beauty of women very much and was flattered by me, just as he bought dishware and paintings, fakes for old.
Banshchitsy – the lowest category of sluts, they are strong women, strong, their hands are rich, in the evening they impose white, rouge, antimony and call passers-by. Oh, passers-by and glad, although they are far from the famous heather, they are for a good guest anyway that for a dog – the finest flavor. And the simple-looking bath attendants are pleased to please, massage the waist, fan cheap fans with coarsely painted pictures. The jibes are sitting apart, just to be comfortable. But when guests are kept delicately, they bring it to the side, they do not throw themselves at the snack, so they will go off on occasion if they are beauties, if there are no others near by. They sleep on lean mattresses, under three under one blanket, and talk about building a canal, about a native village, and all sorts of talk about different actors. I also fell so low that I became a bath-attendant. Alas! One Chinese poet said,
I got sick with a bad disease, drank an infusion of a sankiri plant and suffered terribly during the summer when the rains are raining. The poison rose higher and the eyes became festering. At the thought of the misfortune that has befallen me, worse than which I can imagine nothing, tears welled up in my eyes, I was walking along the street, a bare-headed, on my neck – a rough collar, unbleached. And on one street, one big eccentric kept a bench of fans. All his life he spent in cheerful debauchery, he did not have a wife and children. Seeing me by chance, he inflamed with an unexpected passion and wanted to take me to his place, but I did not have anything, not a basket with a dress, not even a box for the combs. I had an unheard of happiness! I was sitting in the shop among the servants folding the paper for the fans, and they called me Mistress. I lived in the hall, dressed up and again began to attract the gaze of men. Our shop came into fashion, people came to look at me and bought our fans. I came up with a new fan design: on the skylight, they could see the beautiful bodies of naked women. Things went fine, but my husband became jealous of me to the buyers, quarrels began, and, finally, I was again kicked out of the house. I had to languish about nothing, then I settled in a cheap hotel for servants, and then I came to a servant to a miser. He walked slowly, with small steps, wrapped his neck and head in a warm cotton woolen scarf. I can stand it somehow, I thought. But it turned out that a man so feeble in appearance was a hero in the affairs of love. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. I came up with a new fan design: on the skylight, they could see the beautiful bodies of naked women. Things went fine, but my husband became jealous of me to the buyers, quarrels began, and, finally, I was again kicked out of the house. I had to languish about nothing, then I settled in a cheap hotel for servants, and then I came to a servant to a miser. He walked slowly, with small steps, wrapped his neck and head in a warm cotton woolen scarf. I can stand it somehow, I thought. But it turned out that a man so feeble in appearance was a hero in the affairs of love. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. I came up with a new fan design: on the skylight, they could see the beautiful bodies of naked women. Things went fine, but my husband became jealous of me to the buyers, quarrels began, and, finally, I was again kicked out of the house. I had to languish about nothing, then I settled in a cheap hotel for servants, and then I came to a servant to a miser. He walked slowly, with small steps, wrapped his neck and head in a warm cotton woolen scarf. I can stand it somehow, I thought. But it turned out that a man so feeble in appearance was a hero in the affairs of love. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. I was again kicked out of the house. I had to languish about nothing, then I settled in a cheap hotel for servants, and then I came to a servant to a miser. He walked slowly, with small steps, wrapped his neck and head in a warm cotton woolen scarf. I can stand it somehow, I thought. But it turned out that a man so feeble in appearance was a hero in the affairs of love. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. I was again kicked out of the house. I had to languish about nothing, then I settled in a cheap hotel for servants, and then I came to a servant to a miser. He walked slowly, with small steps, wrapped his neck and head in a warm cotton woolen scarf. I can stand it somehow, I thought. But it turned out that a man so feeble in appearance was a hero in the affairs of love. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive. He played with me for twenty days without a break. I became skinny, blue-pale and finally asked for a calculation. And quickly take off your legs while you are alive.
In Osaka, there are many wholesale shops, because this city is the country’s first commercial port. To entertain guests, they keep young girls in their shops with the lowly appearance of cooks. They are dressed up, combed, but even by gait can see who they are, because they walk, wagging backwards, and because they are so swaying, they called them “lotus leaves.” In low-level dating houses, these girls accept a myriad of guests, they are all greedy, and even a simple apprentice strive to take something away. “Lotus leaves” amuse themselves with men just for the sake of gain and, only the guest for the doorstep, attack on cheap delicacies, and then they hire a stretcher and go to the theater to watch a fashionable play. There, they forget about everything, fall in love with actors who, taking someone else’s appearance, are behaving like a dream. These are the “lotus leaves”! And everywhere in the city, and in the east, and in the west, do not find “lotus leaves” in gay homes, in shops, on the streets – it’s even difficult to count how many of them. When these women grow old and sick, where they disappear, no one can say. They do not know where. When they drove me out of the store of fans, I also unwillingly entered this path. I did bad work in the shop with the owner, and then noticed one rich country guest, and one day, when he got drunk drunk, took the paper from the box, rubbed the ink and persuaded him to write an oath promise that he would not leave me all his life. When the guest slept, I was so confused and intimidated by the poor countryman that he could neither squeak nor snort. I told him that I would soon give him a son, that he should take me to his homeland, the guest, in fear, poured out to me two canals of silver, and only that he paid off.
During the autumnal equinox, people go up to the mountains to admire sea waves, the bell is buzzing, prayers are heard everywhere, and at that time unpretentious women creep out of beggarly shacks, they also want to stare at people. What an icky creature! True, “women of darkness” at noon seem like ghosts. Although they whiten their faces, they make eyebrows in ink, and their hair is smeared with fragrant oil, but all the more miserable they seem. Though I trembled at the mere mention of these women, “women of darkness,” but when I lost my shelter again, I had to turn into such a shame. It’s amazing how they are in Osaka, where there are lots of beauties, men, that they happily go to the “women of darkness” to secret meeting houses, miserable to the last extreme. But the owners of such houses live quite well, they feed a family of six or seven people, and good wine cups are prepared for the guests. When a guest is present, the owner with the child in his arms leaves to play with his neighbors in small clothes, the landlady in the outhouse sits down to cut the dress, and the servant girl is sent to the shop. Finally, there is a “woman of darkness”: the crap screens, pasted with an old calendar, arranged, on the floor – a striped mattress and two wooden headboards. On a woman embroidered belt with a pattern in the form of peonies, first she ties it in front, as is the custom of the heather, and then, having heard from the hostess that today she is a modest daughter of the samurai, she immediately ties the belt back. She had sleeves with slits, as if she were young, and, most certainly, about twenty-five years old. Yes, and education does not shine, begins to tell the guest how very bright today from the heat. Laughter and only! They have a conversation without any subtleties: “All has resisted me, the stomach has let down!”
But even below, an abandoned woman who lost all beauty could drop down, all the gods and buddhas left me, and I fell so low that I became a servant in a village inn. They began to call me a mere girl, I only wore rags, it became increasingly difficult to live, although my manners and the way around were still surprising the provincials. But my wrinkles already appeared on my cheeks, and people most of all in the world love youth. Even in the most abandoned village people understand about love affairs, so I had to leave this inn as well, because the guests did not want to invite me. I began to bark at a poor hotel in Matsusaka, with the onset of the evening, I appeared, like the goddess Amaterasu from the grotto, on the threshold of the hotel and invited passers-by to spend the night. The hosts keep these women to lure guests, and those are happy, wrapped in a light, get supplies, wine, and the servant only needs it, because the owner does not pay her money, she lives here for food, but what the guest will give. In such inns, even the maid-servants do not want to lag behind others and offer themselves to the servants of the travelers, for which they were nicknamed “futase” – “a double stream in one channel”. But even here I did not get along, even the evening twilight could no longer hide my wrinkles, withered shoulders and chest, but what could I say – my old ugliness. I went to the port, where the ships came, and began to trade there with rouge and needles. But did not aspire to women, because my goal was different – I did not open my bags and nodules, and only sold seeds, from which the grass of love grew thickly. In such inns, even the maid-servants do not want to lag behind others and offer themselves to the servants of the travelers, for which they were nicknamed “futase” – “a double stream in one channel”. But even here I did not get along, even the evening twilight could no longer hide my wrinkles, withered shoulders and chest, but what could I say – my old ugliness. I went to the port, where the ships came, and began to trade there with rouge and needles. But did not aspire to women, because my goal was different – I did not open my bags and nodules, and only sold seeds, from which the grass of love grew thickly. In such inns, even the maid-servants do not want to lag behind others and offer themselves to the servants of the travelers, for which they were nicknamed “futase” – “a double stream in one channel”. But even here I did not get along, even the evening twilight could no longer hide my wrinkles, withered shoulders and chest, but what could I say – my old ugliness. I went to the port, where the ships came, and began to trade there with rouge and needles. But did not aspire to women, because my goal was different – I did not open my bags and nodules, and only sold seeds, from which the grass of love grew thickly. Even the evening twilight could no longer hide my wrinkles, withered shoulders and chest, but what can I say – my senile ugliness. I went to the port, where the ships came, and began to trade there with rouge and needles. But did not aspire to women, because my goal was different – I did not open my bags and nodules, and only sold seeds, from which the grass of love grew thickly. Even the evening twilight could no longer hide my wrinkles, withered shoulders and chest, but what can I say – my senile ugliness. I went to the port, where the ships came, and began to trade there with rouge and needles. But did not aspire to women, because my goal was different – I did not open my bags and nodules, and only sold seeds, from which the grass of love grew thickly.
Finally, my face was thickly covered with furrows of wrinkles, I had nowhere to go and I returned to the familiar city of Osaka, there appealed to the compassion of old acquaintances and received the post of governess in the house of love. I put on a special outfit with a light red apron and a wide belt, a towel wrapped around my head, a stern expression on my face. It is my duty to watch the guests, polish young girls, dress up, please, but also about secret pisses with friends to visit. Yes, only I overplayed the stick, was too harsh and picky, and I had to say goodbye to the place of the manager. I have no clothes left, no savings, my years have passed for sixty-five, although people assured me that I look like forty. When it rained and thunder rumbled, I begged the god of thunder to break me. To satisfy hunger, I had to chew fried beans. Moreover, visions were tortured, at night all my unborn children of ubume appeared to me, shouted and cried that I was a criminal mother. Oh, how these night ghosts tormented me! After all, I could become a respected mother of a large family clan! I wanted to end my life, but in the morning the ghosts of Uboum melted, and I could not say goodbye to this world. I began to wander at night and joined the crowds of those women who, in order not to die of hunger, grab men by their sleeves in the dark streets and pray that there would be more dark nights. Among them were the old women of about seventy. They taught me how to better pick up liquid hair and make yourself a respectable widow, they say, there are always hunters on this. On snowy nights I wandered along the bridges and streets, though I kept telling myself that it was necessary to somehow feed, but still it was hard for me. And the blind did not see anything. Everyone tried to lead me to the lantern at the shop. The dawn was beginning to dawn, bullsmen, blacksmiths, wandering traders came to work, but I was too old and ugly, no one looked at me, and I decided to part with this field forever.
I went to the capital and went to pray in the temple of Daiuji, which seemed to me a gateway to paradise. My soul was filled with piety. I walked to the artfully carved wooden statues of five hundred arhartas – disciples of the Buddha and began to call on the name of God. Suddenly she noticed that the faces of the Arhats reminded me of the faces of my former lovers, and I began to think of everyone in turn, those whom I loved most and whose names I wrote with a tassel on my wrists. Many of my former lovers have already turned into smoke on a funeral pyre. I froze in place, recognizing my former lovers, one by one, memories of my past sins arose. It seemed as if a fiery chariot of hell rattles in my chest, tears gushed from my eyes, I collapsed to the ground. Oh, shameful past! I wanted to commit suicide, but one of my old acquaintances stopped me. He said, that I lived quietly and righteously and waited for death, she herself will come to me. I have heeded the good advice and am now waiting for death in this hut. Let this story become a confession about past sins, and now in my soul the precious lotus flower has blossomed.
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