Julian Stockwin - THE SILK TREE

It would be prudent to show an interest, perhaps an obligation to their master.

‘I have to say, there’s a lot to learn about this Chayna,’ he said with effusive respect. ‘Such an impressive country, so many wonderful things. But glory be, you couldn’t wish for a better place to take it in!’

Yi gave an odd look. ‘You think so? You’re new to these parts. There’s a lot you don’t know.’ He looked over his shoulder then leant forward. ‘Top of which is… our beloved emperor is a right murdering bastard the like o’ which puts your Nero in the shade. Let me tell you a bit about him…’

Slurping his rice wine he concluded, ‘All I can advise you is to keep out of it as much as you can, don’t trust anyone, let alone an official. Stay away from the whole court thing. There’s plenty of work here to keep you busy, animals need hucking out, feeding…’

Nicander nodded. ‘Now, about our repeat appearance. How about this for an idea…?’

The room was packed and lively with calls. Marius played up to it, advancing and threatening the hecklers with flaring eyes and foul oaths, while Nicander scurried right up to each, making much of not understanding a word they were saying.

It was his idea to close with the audience to make their presence personal and at every opportunity the two worked the gallery. It was a stunning success; each victim reacting in their own way to their confrontation experience, afterwards loudly telling their neighbour how brave they’d been.

At the same time it gave Nicander a chance to take in the Chinese themselves. He recognised the tall and acid-faced Hao but there were many he didn’t, such as the jolly-looking man in golden silk who was laughing so much tears were running down his cheeks while his lady clutched his sleeve, overcome with mirth as well.

Next to the Emperor, concealed behind his yellow muslin, stood a dignified figure in dark silk and a tall hat with sequin pendants. He was politely joining in the amusement but Nicander stopped short when he saw that where the man’s eyes had been, there were empty sockets.

Further into the recesses a chubby man in the finest robes in the room was lost in hiccups, his two friends almost helpless with mirth.

And standing at the back was the most beautiful woman Nicander had ever seen. In a sheer emerald silk gown edged in blue, her hair in an ornate style and her hands clasped within her sleeves, she held herself tall and patrician.

Her face was heavily made up and perfectly rigid; her gaze went through him without acknowledgement.

Nicander tried a comic turn but it failed – she showed no signs of emotion and a lady-in-waiting thrust in front of her, indicating in no uncertain terms for him to be off.

Rebuffed, Nicander returned to Marius for the final part of their act.

From somewhere behind the yellow gauze a bellow and chortle erupted to mix with the general heckling.

The happy noise fell away in awe and Nicander guessed that a critical point had been reached.

He fell to all fours and scuttled for his life to hide under a table. Marius picked up on it and showed every sign of terror as he too found a hiding place. They trembled, rattling drinking cups and utensils.

Yi fell in with the performance. He ran to the centre and in mixed Chinese and Aramaic implored them to come out. They refused, cowering in fright. Yi stumped over and pulled Marius out by his ear, followed by Nicander, which provoked helpless laughter. The two foreign devils then made grovelling obeisance, Byzantine fashion, contriving to fall over each other – and the evening was made!

Afterwards Yi came up to them with a nod of approval. ‘Humph. Emperor sends you this,’ he said, handing over a red silk packet, the traditional Chinese way of presenting a gift. Inside were four tiny boat-shaped ingots of silver. ‘No use to you, o’ course…’

‘We’ll treasure them as a keepsake from the Emperor,’ Nicander said quickly.

‘If you must,’ Yi sniffed. ‘Oh, and Grand Chamberlain Kuo desires a word. He’s a big nob, so watch your manners.’

He led them to him. It was the man Nicander had noticed before with the empty eye sockets.

When he spoke his tone was gentle but commanding and Yi translated with respect. ‘Asks from where you came.’

Nicander recounted their tale of two holy men untimely captured by pirates when on a mission of a search for knowledge. He hoped it would survive Yi’s translation.

Kuo civilly inclined his head at its conclusion and quietly replied.

Yi nodded. ‘He hopes you are not dismayed at your first exposing to the Chinese civilisation. Says that it’s not all like that. Can’t think what he means. Oh, and he says to keep from saying you come from over the mountains. Like I told you, they’re tender here about letting in spies.’

Kuo bowed and left, his hand on the shoulder of a silent companion who led him tenderly away.

There were others who came to see and touch, and Yi was kept busy until Nicander called a halt, pleading fatigue. He made his way back leaving Marius in the centre of an admiring crowd, making fierce gestures and growling street Latin at them.

He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, letting the rush of events settle.

It seemed there would be no more selling on, being slave chattels, human animals. They had made their mark and were here to stay and it should not be beyond the wit of any good entrepreneur to make something of it.

But he didn’t know a word of the language. He set his mind to finding a way…

‘Where’s Marius?’ he asked Yi as he arrived with rice wine and cups.

‘He’s being entertained by the Lady Yiu. Hope he can stay the course! Fancy a supper?’

Yi summoned a slave with a selection of dishes and began tucking in.

Nicander held back; he had a larger goal.

‘Beastmaster Yi. I’m concerned we can’t keep going with this same act. It’s only good for a few more shows, don’t you agree?’

Yi frowned. ‘What do you mean? It’s a bloody good act, keeps ’em in a roar all night.’

‘Yes, but they’ll tire of it. We should get something new on the way, ready to throw in when it happens.’

‘What are you thinking of?’

‘Well, something that we can take further, change a bit each night.’

‘What’s that?’

‘How about, “A foreign devil learns about Chayna”?’

He let it sink in then added, ‘We can have him learn chopsticks, dress in the wrong toggery, take what the ladies say amiss.’

Then he added casually, ‘And most hilarious, have to learn Chinese words, getting ’em all askew and wrong meanings, that kind of thing.’

‘Ha!’ Yi said. ‘I think you’ve got something there. Chinese, why, it’s like no other lingo you ever heard. Listen to this: ma, ma, ma, ma . Get it?’

‘No, what does it mean?’

‘The same word! You sings it four different ways, it’s got four different meanings. What I just said was “horse, mother, curse, well?”. See?’

‘Not really.’

‘You’re a foreigner, that’s not surprising. Listen again – I’m going to say a word. Twice. But in different tones. Ready? Mai … Mai . Hear the difference? Mai, Mai .’

He could – the first tone started low and rose up higher, the second descended down. ‘Yes. What does the word mean?’

‘Well, there you have it. You now have two words! The first means to buy, the other to sell. Get it?’

Nicander’s brow creased. How odd – singing a language to get meaning. If ever he was going to get into business in this country he’d better be careful with his tones.

‘It must be very tough to learn.’

‘It is,’ Yi agreed. ‘But it’s got a good side. You Greeks have got words big enough to choke a horse. Chinese only has one beat, one word. You just string ’em along in a line to make your sentence.’