The Story of the Ten Plates
The Story of the Ten Plates
Hysterical screaming resounded through the Japanese mansion as a young servant girl writhed in agony on the floor. Her throat burned from her wailing and the poison in her tea. One hand clutched at her face. Large, sensitive boils and blisters began to form and press against her palm. The other, flailing hand toppled the tea cups and tea pot that sat near her. Above her, an older woman dressed in fine kimono watched happily. Frightened, other servant girls huddled together in a corner of the room.
“Oiwa-dono!” the writhing girl pleaded to the older woman above her. “I did not do it! I swear! I did not break the plate, Oiwa-dono!”
“You dare to question your Mistress, Okiku!” cried the older woman.
Oiwa snatched the servant girl by her hair and yanked her to her feet. Dragging Okiku to a small lacquered box with a mirror on top of it, she threw the young girl hard down on the tatami mat floor. With a gleeful smile on her face, Oiwa pulled the cover off the mirror and showed Okiku her now deformed face. The young girl let out another wail, seeing all the beauty that she possessed robbed from her with a simple cup of tea.
“This!” Oiwa sneered, pointing to all of the boils and blisters on Okiku's face. “is for trying to seduce my husband!”
“Oiwa-dono! Your husband and I have done nothing! What are you saying!” she wailed.
Tears began to stream down her face. Curling into a ball on the floor, she continued to cry. As she lay crying, Oiwa threw open the shouji doors. She snatched the girl again and pulled her out to the well in the yard.
“Oiwa-dono, no!” She begged.
“You know the rules, Okiku! The punishment for breaking the family's prized heirloom plates... DEATH!” exclaimed Oiwa as she pushed the young servant girl down into the cold depths of the well.
The other servant girls shivered with fear as her scream faded with her fall down the deep, dark well.
~*~
Soap bubbles tickled her skin as she scrubbed the plates that were sitting under the water. From under the clouds of soap bubbles, her hands cleaned the dirt off cherry blossoms that were floating amidst a night lit by a crescent moon. Gently, she cleaned all ten of the plates sitting in the wooden basin, before drying them with her apron. The early afternoon sun glistened off her finished work. Smiling, she brought the plates back to the mansion and returned them to their proper place.
With another girl, she walked out into the dining room. The master of the house smiled up at her from where he knelt.
“Good afternoon, Oiwa-dono, Iemon-dono,” she and the other girl greeted politely with a bow.
Along with the other girl, she cleared her masters' leftover plates off the the table.
“Good afternoon, Okiku, Oume!” Iemon jovially greeted.
“Afternoon,” was Oiwa's curt greeting.
As her husband and Okiku made casual conversation, Okiku watched the pair suspiciously. Well, those two certainly get along rather well... A small, jealous inkling told her.
~*~
Oiwa looked at herself in her mirror. Day by day, her once translucent and flawless skin slowly grew dull. Wrinkles started to crease the skin near her eyes and the corners of her lips. Worriedly, she examined her face and hands. She turned her head and examined her shiny, black hair for more streaks of gray. Iemon walked in and chuckled at his wife's self examination.
“What are you doing, Oiwa?” he asked.
Sighing, she turned to him. Picking up a cushion and setting it down beside her, he knelt and looked at her face.
“Do you think I'm still beautiful, husband?” she questioned.
“Only if you still find me handsome, despite my wrinkles and graying hair,” he grinned.
“You know I do,” she smiled. “But we have so many young and pretty servant girls... like Okiku...”
“We may have pretty servant girls, but the woman I fell in love with a long time ago was you, you know.”
Her brown eyes ran over his handsome but slightly wrinkled face and over the slowly graying and balding topknot. A smile grew on his lips. Comforted, she smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.
~*~
In another room adorned with fine tatami mats and gold leaf walls painted with scenes of aged, Japanese pine trees, Iemon and a close friend knelt and chatted at a table.
“If you'll pardon my intrusion,” Okiku called out humbly, as she slid open one of the gold adorned doors. “I've brought tea for the Master and his honorable guest...”
“Ah! Come in, Okiku! Come in!” Iemon called out.
On her knees, she pressed the tips of her fingers together in front of her and bowed, lowering her head close to the floor. Grinning, the two men adjusted their black haori and smoothed out their kimono. As she poured two cups of tea, Iemon and the other man in his company could not help but admire her slender, pale hands.
Grateful, Iemon thanked her. The other man's eyes wandered up her arms and admired the pale skin on the back of her neck. His eyes went to roam about her face, admiring the pink lips that were turned slightly upwards with a small smile. With another humble bow, she walked out of the room, leaving only the teapot on the table between them. She slid the door shut, not noticing the sliver that she had left by chance.
“You know... that servant, Okiku, is quite the pretty girl... Had I not known better, I'd think she was a girl from a good family.”
“I may be old, but I'm a man. You don't think I haven't noticed?” Iemon retorted, laughing as he set down his teacup.
Surprised, the other man looked at him. The warm of the tea seeped through the cup and into his hands. He sipped.
“And you have not taken her as a concubine why?” the other man smirked. “If I were you, I would've done it a long time ago.”
Just outside of the doors, Oiwa stopped, hearing Okiku's name. Anxious, she stood close to the sliver in the doorway and peered into the room.
“You don't think I've considered it?” Iemon retorted again. “Even now, I could probably take her on as one if I wanted to.”
Oiwa's heart sank. He lied to me... He doesn't find me beautiful anymore... She thought, jealously. Contempt and spite began to flow through her veins. Quickly and quietly, she shuffled off. Tears dripped and dropped down her cheeks as she walked.
“And you haven't because...?”
“Well, Oiwa has provided me with two strong, male heirs who married into good families, and though it's taken time from our parents' first arrangement, I do really care her. So what would be the point?” he asked his friend, leaning back in his chair. “Okiku is a nice girl, but I'm sure she'll find a nice husband, if not another rich man to be a concubine for.”
The other man laughed.
“Well, if you ever tire of her, you can send her my way!”
Laughter rang from the room.
~*~
Tears spilled from her quickly swelling eyes in torrents, threatening to stain the fine deep purple silk of her kimono. Her shattered heart wailed. Wave after wave of tears continued to flow. Slowly, sadness and heartbreak turned to jealousy. Malice began to flow through her. Outside, two servant girls padded by her door.
“You know,” one whispered. “Okiku gets along rather well with the Master. It's hard not to believe there's nothing going on...”
“You're not the only one who thinks that,” the other servant quietly replied. “I'm willing to bet she has gifts from the Master hidden away in her room. I've even heard that she has some of Mistress's throwaways. New or used, I certainly wouldn't mind some of Mistress's hairpins and old kimono...”
The servants' footsteps slowly faded away. Peering out the door, Oiwa looked down the hall they had gone. Quietly, she slipped from her room, and shuffled down to the servants' hall. Confused, the servants scrambled to bow to her as she walked by. They all exchanged worried glances as to why she was present.
Oiwa stormed into Okiku's room. Hurriedly, she began rummaging through the small lacquered, multi-drawer box that each of the servants owned. As expected of a servant, several compartments contained few items. When Oiwa opened the final compartment, she let out a loud, furious roar. Her old, unused hairpins sat amongst her old, fine silk handkerchiefs. Worried servants peered into the room. Angered, she pushed past them, ignoring their worried inquires.
~*~
Despite the late hour, Oiwa turned uneasily in her futon. Soundly, her husband slept, his back turned away from her. Outside, a symphony of crickets played through the night. She stood and made her way for the door on the side of her room and stepped out onto a veranda. She looked up into the stars that dotted the sky. As she sat on the edge of the walkway, a light breeze made her hair take flight. Anxious thoughts ran through her head. Now... what did I assign Okiku to do? She wondered, as her mind ran over all of her servants' chores and duties.
A memory of the afternoon suddenly flashed in her mind. Plates?... She washes and clears our plates? She thought. Then, in the warmth of the summer night, a serenely menacing smile grew on her face.
~*~
As though she was floating through the halls, Oiwa quietly made her way to the kitchen. She lit a small lamp sitting in the corner. The dim light made her face take on a ghostly countenance. Padding over to the cabinet, she looked at the dishes that neatly lined the shelves. Oiwa's dark eyes spied the fine porcelain ware in a corner. These plates have been in my husband's family for several generations... He cares for these so much as to put those who ruin them to death... She grinned. She wrapped a single plate in Okiku's apron. Under the weight of a heavy pot, the plate let out a muffled crunch as it shattered to pieces. Oiwa giggled, as she put Okiku's apron, with the smashed plate still wrapped within it, and the pot back in their proper places. She blew out the lamp and slipped out of the kitchen.
Outside of their mansion gates, a traveling medicine seller walked.
“Salves, elixirs, poisons, herbs, and pills for sale!” He called out into the night.
He rolled his eyes at his own actions. No one's going to need anything this late... He thought, as he set down the large chest he carried on his back. He plopped himself on top of his chest and tossed of his sandals. Then, the nearby front gate slowly creaked open as he massaged his feet.
“You!” Oiwa quietly got his attention as she walked up in her yukata. “Did you say you have poisons for sale?”
The medicine seller grinned.
“You have a few rats you need to get rid of?” He retorted.
“... You could say that... though she's rather pretty for a little rat...”
The seller cast a morbidly amused sideways glance in her direction. Well... no one ever said selling medicine was a clean business... He thought as he slipped his feet back into his sandals and knelt before his chest.
Pulling out a small red packet, he looked up to her and said, “Well... if it's her beauty that's getting under your skin... This might be something you'd like to consider...”
“What is it?”
“It's a bitter poison, so it's easily disguised as medicine. It's quick to disfigure anyone's looks with a few sips of contaminated tea. Yet, it won't be passed on should you touch the infected.”
He tossed the small red packet on the top of the chest, as he continued digging through his compartments, doing a quick organization.
“You don't mind boils and blisters do you?” he grinned.
Oiwa's grin grew.
“No. That sounds just perfect...”
She tossed a few coins to the seller and turned back to the mansion. As he counted his sale, he could not help but smile to himself.
~*~
“Okiku!” Oiwa cried angrily that morning. “How could you break the Master's heirloom plate?!”
Shocked, Okiku looked at the older woman and at the broken pieces of porcelain piled on the table. Vehemently, she shook her head.
“Oiwa-dono! I didn't do it!”
“It was in your apron, Okiku! If you didn't do it, then who did?!”
With worried eyes, Okiku regarded the skeptical look on her Mistress's face. The other servant girls looked on bewildered. Okiku would never do such a thing... Oume thought, as she watched the scene. But who else could've...
“Go to your room, Okiku!” Oiwa roared, banishing the girl from the kitchen.
As Okiku left, the other servants tried to continue about their work, afraid to look Oiwa in the eyes. Had it not been for the scowl on her face, Oiwa would've been beaming.
~*~
“Really?” Iemon asked, confused, as he scratched his head. “Okiku really broke the plate? But I thought all of the servants knew to take care of them... They're all I have left of mother and father other than their ashes...”
He let out a solemn sigh. Gently, she reached out for his hand and wrapped her hand around his.
“I know, husband...” she began. “Whether it was an accident or not... should we impose the rules you have in place for such a situation as this? You know you said you didn't want any exceptions to it...”
Regret dawned on his face. Sternly, he nodded to his wife's question.
“Then... leave it to me, husband...” she smiled, squeezing his hand.
~*~
Okiku sat in her room, looking gloomily at her folded hands. Quietly, the door slid open. Oume and a few other girls peered inside.
“Okiku? Are you all right?” she questioned, slowly stepping in with the other girls.
“I'm all right... but... I didn't break the plate, Oume. I really didn't... And the rules...”
Oume reached out her hand and clasped the other girl's in hers.
As the servant girl turned away briefly to retrieve a set of tea cups, Oiwa quickly undid the small parcel and let the poison slip into the pot with a quiet hiss.
“Okiku,” Oiwa called out suddenly from the other side of the shouji door.
Okiku and the other girls looked up worriedly at the sound of her stern voice.
“Come in,” Okiku obediently replied.
In, Oiwa and a servant holding tea walked. The servant girls around Okiku moved away and allowed the Mistress a spot to kneel before her. Between them, the servant girl set down the tea and prepared two cups. Okiku kowtowed before the older woman.
“Now, I know you're very nervous as to what might happen Okiku, but there are rules that must be obeyed... Unfortunately, no one else has come to clear your name...”
“But Mistress, I - ...”
“Silence!” She snapped, making all the other girls quiver.
Oiwa motioned to the tea between them.
“Have a cup... I've put in a medicine that will help calm your nerves a bit, Okiku,” she said, looking expectantly at her servant.
Nodding, she picked up a cup and placed it unsteadily on her lips. The expression on Oume's face grew worried. There's something wrong... Her instincts warned, sending off several alarm bells. … But it's only tea... what harm could come of it?
Part 2: http://asianprincess61.livejournal.com/165955.html#cutid1
PART TWO STARTS AT EXACTLY THE SAME SCENE AS THE BEGINNING OF THIS. PLEASE READ PAST IT FOR THE ENDING.