Once upon a time, a samurai lived in the king's court in Yokohama. He served as the king's most trusted aide. The samurai had lost an eye in battle, and ever since that time he had been unable to join his fellow warriors. His spirit longed for the great adventures he had once known, and for the wild world outside the palace walls. He sometimes dreamed so vividly of the world beyond that he wondered what was more real -- his dreams or his life in the palace.
The samurai's greatest pleasures were his walks through the forest, the sound of flowing streams, the scent of lotus blossoms and wisteria, and the sight of creatures moving freely just as once he had.
One day the king called the samurai to his chambers to show off his latest treasure. When the samurai saw the bamboo cage, he felt his heart sink. There, locked in the cage, stood a handsome mandarin drake with his magnificent plumage, his crested head and scarlet beak. "Beautiful, isn't he?" exclaimed the king. "My hunters captured him for me."
The samurai looked into the drake's dark eyes. "Sire," said the samurai to the king, "you must not keep him. He is meant to live free."
The king frowned. "Who cares?" he said. "I wish to own him, and whatever the king wishes, the king shall have."
The samurai looked outside, beyond the palace gates. There, at the edge of the stream, he spied a mandarin duck less colorful than the drake. The samurai realized that this creature with feathers the color of soft wood was the drake's partner. She was mourning her beloved.
"The drake's mate needs him," the samurai argued, "and he needs his freedom."
The king flew into a rage. "You dare to question your king?" he cried. "Go away from my sight until you understand the drake is mine."
All that day the samurai mourned for the mandarin drake, and when he slept he dreamed of the creature flying away. If anyone understood how the poor caged creature felt, it was the samurai, trapped as surely as the drake.
That night, when everyone else was asleep, one of the maids crept into the room where the king had left the cage. Spying the captive bird, she too felt her heart break, for she also longed for freedom.
She opened the door to the cage, and the drake looked into her eyes.
"Go now," she whispered, and she moved to a window and opened it. When she looked outside, she saw the drake's mate framed in the waning moonlight.
A moment later both mandarins flew away.
The next morning, the king discovered his newest treasure was gone, and he sent his guards to seize the samurai.
"You," said the king to the startled warrior standing before him, "you stole my drake."
The samurai bowed. "It seems my dream has come true," he said. "I stand before you, guilty of freeing the drake."
"I sentence you to death by drowning," the king commanded.
Hearing this, the maid could not keep quiet. "Sire," she said, stepping forward, "it is I who freed the drake. I am guilty, not the samurai."
Now the king's fury exploded. "You too shall die, then. You both are guilty!" he roared, and the guards led the samurai and the maid to the dungeon. Tying their arms behind their backs, the guards departed. "Tomorrow at dawn you will die," they told the prisoners.
But hours later an odd thing happened. As the king sat down to feast, two richly dressed messengers appeared at the palace gates. "We come from the Emperor of Kyoto," they told the guards. "We have been sent to tell the king that all prisoners sentenced to death must be sent to the emperor's court."
The king knew he must obey the emperor's wishes, but in his fury he wanted to find some way to punish the samurai and the maid. "You will go to the court," he told them, "and face your death at the emperor's hand. But you must walk there, unguarded, in the night."
With that he sent the poor maid and the samurai, their hands and arms bound, into the dark forest. He refused to send protection from the forest beasts. "And you shall have no food or water," he said.
The two began to walk into the inky darkness, the maid trembling, the samurai despairing that he could not protect them. "We shall surely die here if not in the emperor's palace," the maid said tearfully, but they walked on, and as they did, they told each other of their dreams of freedom, of the wonders of the world the samurai had so long missed and the maid had so longed to see.
Suddenly they heard flapping wings high above them, and they smelled a sweetness in the air and felt a soft breeze caress their skin. "Who is there?" the samurai called, but the only answer he received was another flapping of wings. In the next moment, the ropes fell from his arms. He turned to the maid and untied the ropes that bound her. Now, to their amazement, they saw that they had safely reached the edge of the forest, and the sun was beginning to rise.
"We are free," the astonished maid said, and so they were. And there, on the edge of the forest, the maid and the samurai built themselves a house, where they lived to a ripe old age, surrounded by their many children. But they never forgot to be thankful for the gift of the mandarin drake, the same gift they had given to him: a loving partner and blessed freedom.
The samurai's greatest pleasures were his walks through the forest, the sound of flowing streams, the scent of lotus blossoms and wisteria, and the sight of creatures moving freely just as once he had.
One day the king called the samurai to his chambers to show off his latest treasure. When the samurai saw the bamboo cage, he felt his heart sink. There, locked in the cage, stood a handsome mandarin drake with his magnificent plumage, his crested head and scarlet beak. "Beautiful, isn't he?" exclaimed the king. "My hunters captured him for me."
The samurai looked into the drake's dark eyes. "Sire," said the samurai to the king, "you must not keep him. He is meant to live free."
The king frowned. "Who cares?" he said. "I wish to own him, and whatever the king wishes, the king shall have."
The samurai looked outside, beyond the palace gates. There, at the edge of the stream, he spied a mandarin duck less colorful than the drake. The samurai realized that this creature with feathers the color of soft wood was the drake's partner. She was mourning her beloved.
"The drake's mate needs him," the samurai argued, "and he needs his freedom."
The king flew into a rage. "You dare to question your king?" he cried. "Go away from my sight until you understand the drake is mine."
All that day the samurai mourned for the mandarin drake, and when he slept he dreamed of the creature flying away. If anyone understood how the poor caged creature felt, it was the samurai, trapped as surely as the drake.
That night, when everyone else was asleep, one of the maids crept into the room where the king had left the cage. Spying the captive bird, she too felt her heart break, for she also longed for freedom.
She opened the door to the cage, and the drake looked into her eyes.
"Go now," she whispered, and she moved to a window and opened it. When she looked outside, she saw the drake's mate framed in the waning moonlight.
A moment later both mandarins flew away.
The next morning, the king discovered his newest treasure was gone, and he sent his guards to seize the samurai.
"You," said the king to the startled warrior standing before him, "you stole my drake."
The samurai bowed. "It seems my dream has come true," he said. "I stand before you, guilty of freeing the drake."
"I sentence you to death by drowning," the king commanded.
Hearing this, the maid could not keep quiet. "Sire," she said, stepping forward, "it is I who freed the drake. I am guilty, not the samurai."
Now the king's fury exploded. "You too shall die, then. You both are guilty!" he roared, and the guards led the samurai and the maid to the dungeon. Tying their arms behind their backs, the guards departed. "Tomorrow at dawn you will die," they told the prisoners.
But hours later an odd thing happened. As the king sat down to feast, two richly dressed messengers appeared at the palace gates. "We come from the Emperor of Kyoto," they told the guards. "We have been sent to tell the king that all prisoners sentenced to death must be sent to the emperor's court."
The king knew he must obey the emperor's wishes, but in his fury he wanted to find some way to punish the samurai and the maid. "You will go to the court," he told them, "and face your death at the emperor's hand. But you must walk there, unguarded, in the night."
With that he sent the poor maid and the samurai, their hands and arms bound, into the dark forest. He refused to send protection from the forest beasts. "And you shall have no food or water," he said.
The two began to walk into the inky darkness, the maid trembling, the samurai despairing that he could not protect them. "We shall surely die here if not in the emperor's palace," the maid said tearfully, but they walked on, and as they did, they told each other of their dreams of freedom, of the wonders of the world the samurai had so long missed and the maid had so longed to see.
Suddenly they heard flapping wings high above them, and they smelled a sweetness in the air and felt a soft breeze caress their skin. "Who is there?" the samurai called, but the only answer he received was another flapping of wings. In the next moment, the ropes fell from his arms. He turned to the maid and untied the ropes that bound her. Now, to their amazement, they saw that they had safely reached the edge of the forest, and the sun was beginning to rise.
"We are free," the astonished maid said, and so they were. And there, on the edge of the forest, the maid and the samurai built themselves a house, where they lived to a ripe old age, surrounded by their many children. But they never forgot to be thankful for the gift of the mandarin drake, the same gift they had given to him: a loving partner and blessed freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment