"Hearn,.Lian.-.Otori.03.-.Brilliance.Of.The.Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hearn Lian)

(d.) = character died before the start of Book I

Others too, in far-flung villages,
Will no doubt be gazing at this moon
That never asks which watcher claims the nightЕ
Loud on the unseen mountain wind,
A stagТs cry quivers in the heart, And somewhere a twig lets one leaf fall.
ZEAMI, THE FULLING BLOCK (KINUTA)





The feather lay in my palm. I held it carefully, aware of its age and its
fragility. Yet its whiteness was still translucent, the vermilion tips of the
pinions still brilliant.
УIt came from a sacred bird, the hououФ Matsuda Shingen, the abbot of the temple
at Terayama, told me. УIt appeared to your adopted father, Shigeru, when he was
only fifteen, younger than you are now. Did he ever tell you this, Takeo?Ф
I shook my head. Matsuda and I were standing in his room at one end of the
cloister around the main courtyard of the temple. From outside, drowning out the
usual sounds of the temple, the chanting, and the bells, came the urgent noise
of preparations, of many people coming and going. I could hear Kaede, my wife,
beyond the gates, talking to Amano Tenzo about the problems of keeping our army
fed on the march. We were preparing to travel to Maruyama, the great domain in
the West to which Kaede was the rightful heir, to claim it in her nameЧto fight
for it if necessary. Since the end of winter, war-
riors had been making their way to Terayama to join me, and I now had close to a
thousand men, billeted in the temple and in the surrounding villages, not
counting the local farmers who also strongly supported my cause.
Amano was from Shirakawa, my wifeТs ancestral home, and the most trusted of her
retainers, a great horseman and good with all animals. In the days that followed
our marriage, Kaede and her woman, Manami, had shown considerable skill in
handling and distributing food and equipment. They discussed everything with
Amano and had him deliver their decisions to the men. That morning he was
enumerating the oxcarts and packhorses we had at our disposal. I tried to stop
listening, to concentrate on what Matsuda was telling me, but I was restless,
eager to get moving.
УBe patient,Ф Matsuda said mildly. УThis will only take a minute. What do you
know about the houou}Ф
I reluctantly pulled my attention back to the feather in my palm and tried to
recall what my former teacher, Ichiro, had taught me when I had been living in
Lord ShigeruТs house in Hagi. УIt is the sacred bird of legend that appears in
times of justice and peace. And it is written with the same character as the
name of my clan, Otori.Ф
УCorrect,Ф Matsuda said, smiling. УIt does not often appear, justice and peace
being something of a rarity in these times. But Shigeru saw it and I believe the
vision inspired him in his pursuit of these virtues. I told him then that the
feathers were tinged with blood, and indeed his blood, his death, still drive
both you and me.Ф