Boris Akunin: All the World's a Stage

FUTOYA ( sighing ) All this is true, in our souls you and I are twins. I have not simply thrown away a thousand golden coins. I count on earning my costs back many times over. But still, it is a bitter thought that we shall part. God willing, you will become the prince’s concubine. You will transform him into a tame monkey. (Oh, you know very well how to do that, you have no equals there.) But I shall never lie in your embrace again…

O-BARA You are intelligent, strong and mature. Exactly as I am. You and I both know how much an embrace is worth.

FUTOYA Tell me then, O-Bara, how much is it worth?

O-BARA Enough of this, we know the true value of embraces. They are bought and sold easily. He who does not know this is more stupid than Izumi.

FUTOYA Then tell me this. I have condemned Izumi to death for the sake of profit, I feel no enmity for her. But it seems that as soon as Izumi’s name is mentioned, you turn black in the face from hatred.

O-BARA ( furiously ) I hate that haughty air she has! That rotten yugen of hers is like a bone stuck in my throat! Tell me, who needs a beauty that cannot be touched and seen? But there are fools walking this earth who prefer languid Izumi to me! No, I do not understand! I cannot understand this! And what I cannot understand…

FUTOYA ( joining in )… You must destroy. Ah, poor Izumi. And the prince is no more than an excuse for all of this. If not for him, you would have found some other reason.

O-BARA Are you going back on your word? Do you pity her now?

FUTOYA Whether I pity her or not is idle talk. Under the Ninja laws the commission cannot now be rescinded. Consider her already dead.

O-BARA ( with a pensive smile ) Then I shall wait a while before I break the branch. It will be my great pleasure now to watch the fool. Breathing in the gorgeous aroma of Izumi’s hair, I shall smell the stench of carrion.

FUTOYA Since you have mentioned carrion, there is one little hitch that bothers me. To warrant the completion of our deal, their Jyonin gave me a secret token, which I have to keep safe. And if it should be lost, consider me a dead man. Here it is, a dragon made of jade, it has been burning a hole in my bosom… ( he takes out the little figure ). Let me tell you what I am afraid of. The accursed Sinobi are guileful and cunning. What if they should decide to steal this token from me?

O-BARA What for? I do not understand.

FUTOYA I have sworn to answer for the safety of the token. They will come and ask me: ‘Where is the jade dragon? Pay us either with your life or with all your fortune.’ Where can I run from them? They will beggar me completely. A cunning trick like that is well within the customs of the Ninja. But you are not known to them. Our liaison is a secret. So take the dragon now and hide it well.

Futoya hands the jade dragon to the geisha. O-Bara takes the token that the deal will be completed. They both freeze in this pose.

Scene two

The garden in front of Izumi’s pavilion. The lanterns on the engawa are not lit. The Inaudible One is standing on the apron of the stage in a strange pose: his hands are held out in front of him, clutching several wooden knives. Soga is standing equally motionless on the edge of the engawa . Sen-chan is sitting beside him.

STORYTELLER

He strikes his drum.

The Inaudible One starts moving – juggling the wooden knives. Sen-chan claps her hands. Soga steps down off the veranda and walks resolutely towards the juggler, who shows him that the knives are made of wood. But it is not the knives that interest the Ronin.

SOGA Listen, my friend, I do not like you. You may fool the women, but you don’t fool me. Take off your mask. I want to see what kind of face you have, perhaps this is some trick.

The juggler makes clownish gestures to explain: This is impossible, my face is disfigured!

Nonsense! I have seen many terrifying faces. With no nose and no eyes, hacked by a sword…

He tries to take the Inaudible One by the shoulder, but the juggler deftly dodges away. This is repeated several times. Soga begins to lose his temper.

Hey, brother, I’m not going to play jokes with you. How would you like to feel some solid punches?

Izumi comes out of the pavilion onto the engawa and watches. At this moment, taking advantage of the fact that no one is watching her, Sen-chan goes over to a lantern and starts pouring oil on her sleeves.

IZUMI I beg you, Soga-san, do not torment him. To live in this world with no face is a hard fate.

A brave man who has not been broken by the worst of all misfortunes is deserving of respect.

She touches her own face and shudders.

Sen-chan repeats the ‘magical gesture’ that the Inaudible One performed before his trick with fire.

SOGA I do not teach you how you should dance and sing, my lady. Do not teach me how to keep guard…

SEN-CHAN ( she strikes a spark with a flint, sets tinder alight and shouts ) Look, everybody, look! Having performed the magical gesture, I too shall demonstrate the phoenix bird to you!

She sets fire to her kimono and it flares up. Izumi screams in despair. Soga freezes in uncertainty. Only the Inaudible One does not lose his head. He dashes to the little girl, tears the kimono off her with his bare hands and flings it to the ground. The little girl cries in fright, but she is unhurt. The Inaudible One has fallen to his knees, doubled up in pain, and pressed his burned hands to his chest, but has not uttered a single moan.

Soga and Izumi dash to Sen-chan.

IZUMI Ah, what have you done! You silly thing, are you all right?

SOGA ( examining the little girl ) A miraculous rescue! There are no burns at all. But if the Inaudible One had reached you a moment later, you foolish child, you would have burned up like dry grass.

Izumi hugs her pupil close and the Ronin walks over to the Inaudible One and looks at his hands.

But this one is in a bad way… Terrible burns. With these injuries he cannot perform. Okasan will be upset now. And I feel sorry for the lad. He acted so bravely. What a fine thing to do!

Everybody freezes: Izumi and Sen-chan hugging each other; Soga with his hand on the Inaudible One’s shoulder; the Inaudible One with his head lowered.

Scene three

A room in the tea house that has been set aside for the juggler. Paper partitions. A floor covered with straw mats. No decorations and no furniture, apart from a low table on which the items required for his tricks are laid out. Standing on a bench in the corner is a tub with water for washing.

The Inaudible One is sitting on the floor, hanging his head, with his hands, bound up in rags, crossed on his forehead. He is motionless.

STORYTELLER