(D10, EE) A Scorpion walks into a Crane House

[Soshi Eiji]

The thought had been tickling Eiji's heart and mind all day. He couldn't find Yogo-san to share it with, and he probably wouldn't appreciate it anyways. So he sought out the court's premier actor to share an amusing thought with.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Past the entrance vestibule, the dividers in the Crane house are arranged to create a reception area decorated with works of art in various media. One area is set off for two temporary shrines dedicated to Benten and (perhaps more curiously) Emma-o. Now that it's getting dark outside, a few lamp stands burning pleasantly scented oil cast a warm light over the small tables and seating in the room.

"Good evening, Soshi-san." Shinnosuke rises to greet the guest, smiling. (A ball of tousled white silk tassel that might actually be a small dog does not get up, but stirs a little bit on the cushion next to Shinnosuke's.) "What brings you to this side of the courtyard?"

[Soshi Eiji]

Past the entrance vestibule, the dividers in the Crane house are arranged to create a reception area decorated with works of art in various media. One area is set off for two temporary shrines dedicated to Benten and (perhaps more curiously) Emma-o. Now that it's getting dark outside, a few lamp stands burning pleasantly scented oil cast a warm light over the small tables and seating in the room.

"Good evening, Soshi-san." Shinnosuke rises to greet the guest, smiling. (A ball of tousled white silk tassel that might actually be a small dog does not get up, but stirs a little bit on the cushion next to Shinnosuke's.) "What brings you to this side of the courtyard?"

Eiji bows to the Crane, and smiles a bit at the dog.

"Ah you might say Sadahako does, Doji-san. I was enjoying my morning tea and conversing with a certain bald headed man who was barely armed when inspiration struck me. I've been busy with my duties up until this point, but I wished to share it with someone. Then I thought of your Noh performance, specifically the Kyogen, and thought that perhaps it might amuse you to some extent." he offered.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"In that case, a friend of Sadahako is a friend of mine at any time," Shinnosuke says with a grin, bowing. "Won't you sit down with me? Are you thirsty? I'm sure we can produce some tea or sake or... well, some other third thing that neither awakens the senses nor dulls them."

A well-dressed servant boy of about fourteen or fifteen peeks into the reception area as if on cue, looking at Shinnosuke inquiringly.

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji smiles.

"Tonight IS the winding water banquet, Doji-san. While I am confident in my ability to handle my sake, perhaps drinking heavily with the Crane beforehand may be pushing my limits. Perhaps a white tea with a bit of mint? Something to balance the elements within, but leaving one smiling I think would be best." he said, taking the proferred seat.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke's brows arch up. "That's true, isn't it? When one is planning a work in heavy ink, one had better prepare the paper carefully first," he says in a voice tinged with laughter. "Toichi-kun, see if you can find a nice white, or a southern Phoenix sencha. Bring some snacks, too, please." He resumes his seat as well. The voices and movement seem to have interrupted the little white dog's nap; it lifts up its head and looks from one human to the other with protuberant dark eyes, and Shin reaches over to scratch a silky ear.

"So what's this about an amusing inspiration? I can think of at least one senior monk of the Four Temples who seems to have taken an interest in slapstick performance, though I can't say I thought it was particularly good kyogen."

[Soshi Eiji]

Snip!

Eiji nods.

"Exactly so, Doji-san. I was not speaking to that man, but to his junior aide, over tea, which likely further fuelled my inspration. I was telling stories, as is my wont, and the aide...disapproved of the reliance of force in my stories. Now, raised and trained by the Lions as I am, I have certainly told my fair share of war stories, but I thought such a rebuke was unjustifed. So I invited him to share a story that did not rely on force and so he related this parable:"

Eiji retold the monk's story.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke listens thoughtfully. At some point in the story, Toichi will appear with some snacks, and a pot of tea, which Shin pours out for his storytelling guest.

"That's a charming fairy story, I can't deny. Very monk-like. I'm sure I've read a play with an animal spirit that was released and came back to help..." He swirls his teacup gently, arching his brows. "Although it's not exactly a story without force or threats, is it? First a ghastly attempted drowning, and then what were those pirates afraid of at the end if not some unpleasantly violent punishment? And that's without even mentioning the perils facing those poor turtles if the monk hadn't come along. Tension has to come from somewhere in the tale, after all."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Ah, I'm sure if monk-san were here he'd say that clearly the pirates were so deeply moved by the mercy of the monk he inspired them to renounce their violent ways." he said with a smirk.

"But those are truly excellent points. Myself, I found the antagonists of the story to be...questionable. Why did they consider paint to be worth murdering a passenger over? Why did they go to a temple to sell their ill-gotten goods rather than a market, other than for the reason it gave the monk a dramatic place to confront them?"

He takes the tea, savoring the aroma of it.

"And that is when inspirtion struck me, Doji-san. It feels to me that with very few changes this tale could be transformed. Changed from a monk's fairy tale to a grand comedy. 'An unobservant monk with the help of his sea turtle friends converts stupid thieves into stupid monks.' Not a good title, but it expresses the idea, you see?"

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke laughs openly--though he reflexively lifts his sleeve to partly cover his mouth, it's not a real effort to hide the reaction. "Hah! I shouldn't have expected a storyteller-by-trade would be so uncharitably literal about a fable, Soshi-san. But you're right, it has potential. There are already plenty of pompous monks, transformed animals, and foolish thieves in kyogen. The only thing against it is that it's a little complicated... hm." He drums his fingertips on the table. "No, I think it's quite possible. You should try writing it up," he concludes with a grin. "If the turtles reappear at the end to help seize the thieves, that would just about cap it off like a kyogen."

"As for the paints, though, perhaps the Scorpion are so rich in dyes and pigments that you haven't seen how costly some of those things can get," he adds as an afterthought. "Or you haven't spent much time around screen painters who work in colors, or sculptors who do colored temple statues. Some of those paints are practically powdered gemstones, the way they measure them out. And that's without even mentioning the gold and silver leaf."

[Soshi Eiji]

This got a small apologetic shrug from the Scorpion.

"It was petty of me, I will admit. I am certainly no master of Sadane. But when you cap a story by insulting the audience, saying that surely they cannot appreciate the story for what it is....is it so surprising that they do not applaud? I certainly can't imagine Doji-san ending a Noh performance by telling the audience that they are too uncultured to truly appreciate it." he admitted.

He sipped his tea.

"Even if it might be true for some."

He replaced the tea cup.

"As for the dye....well, I will freely admit I am no merchant. The amount of rice that the Crane have traded us, I could understand the value of that. It's nearly half of what our clan harvested this year and with that and the surplus we started with, we will be able to expand our harvesting of wood. But Kasuga-sama's deal where she took on half of what we brought to court in dyes?"

He shrugged.

"I assume she intends to make a profit on it, I have no idea how."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"I don't know trade, but I know artists. And costumers." Shinnosuke chuckles. "That those colors the monk was peddling were valuable is the one part of the story I wouldn't dare doubt. Well, that and maybe the magic turtles. After all, you've just mentioned a clever talking Tortoise yourself. Virtuous monks, though... ah, that mystery I should probably leave to the scholars and priests."

He crunches contemplatively on a salty roasted broad bean from the snack dish. "Your point about insulting the audience is just right, though. I can't stand that sort of fake modesty in a performer. If you can't make a piece touch your audience, that's a question of your skill and judgment. You certainly won't get it through by trying to bully them after it's over." He sighs. "If I know the monk you mean, he seems like an all-right sort, but it must be hard to come up truly right when one is in old Chou-sin's shadow all the time."

[Soshi Eiji]

The Scorpion helped himself to a snack bean as well. He certainly wasn't going to insult his host by not partaking and it certainly went well with the tea.

"I believe you have the right of it, Doji-san. On the surface, he fits in well. You coud speak to him about nothing of relevance all day, were that how cared to pass your time. It's when you speak to him of things of relevance, that is where you start to see the wood rot beneath the painted veneer." he mused.

He took a moment to refresh his tea.

"For example, I brought up that there might be those who did not believe that his master's fall in court was entirely accidental. That there might be those who suspected it was a ploy to demonstrate an Otomo's ruthlessness or a Seppun's nobility. Now, I am no magistrate, I did not believe he was going to confess that it was a ploy, of course. But it was the nature of his defense that caught my attention. Not by expressing regret for his master's actions, not concern for his master's health, not gratitude to the Crane for not at least petitioning to have the pair of them expelled from court. No, instead he quoted the Tao to me on the nature of truth." he related.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke frowns just slightly. Not enough to make lines, just enough to draw his brows together over his teacup. "Oh, that's a pity. What sort of spiritual guidance is that supposed to offer? When one reads about the great wise monks of former ages, there are some who clarify, and some who mystify, but nobody writes wisdom tales about monks who equivocate."

Refilling the teacups with graceful movements, he adds a trifle morosely "Of course, as a Crane, I ought to be more circumspect, I suppose. Everybody will say I only have sharp words about the Four Temples because old Chou-sin has it in for my Clan. The truth is, if it seemed like he had any sort of sincere convictions about it--if he really believed the Fortunes wanted him to scorn us, or what have you--I think I could respect that, honestly I do. But everyone knows it's just secular politics, that's what makes me awfully sad about the whole thing. I suppose the other monks under him can't help being affected, too. 'To be a teacher for one day is to be as a father for a lifetime,' as the Tao says."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji leaned back a bit with a small smile.

"Are you quite certain he's not simply consumed with jealously for your hair, Doji-san?"

He glanced over at the sleeping dog.

"Even your pet has better hair then he does, after all." he joked.

He took another one of the snack beans.

"There is a wide gap between believing oneself virtous and being virtous. A bald man can believe he has the best head of hair. And when you confront him with a mirror he may declare that the mirror is distorted because he KNOWS he has the best head of hair. Strength of belief does not make one right, it simply makes one sure they are."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"I'm quite sure the old Abbot's been like that since I was still a little lad, long before he ever saw me. And he's never even met Haku. His loss, poor old fellow." Shinnosuke pulls a long face as he reaches over to scrunch Haku's ears.

"You know," he continues, in a more contemplative tone, "--or maybe you don't know, actually, if you've never been backstage at a Noh production, but in any case. There's a room, right before the passage onto the stage, that we call the the mirror room, kagami-no-ma. You've got to have one, of some kind, even if you're just performing under a tent in a field. And it's really only a room with a mirror, where the musicians can rest between acts and the shite puts on his mask." Haku vocalizes a sleepy whuff and shakes his head, blinking at the two humans; Shin offers him a fried bean. "The mirror isn't just for making sure the mask is on straight. Most of us want a minute or two to sit in front of it before going on. You look in the mirror, and you begin to see the character instead of yourself. There is a moment where one is, I suppose, seeing both of them from the outside. Nearly always, I'm the lesser of the two."

He shrugs elegantly. "Until recently, I should have said that is the closest to the spirit world I've ever come. I've met a few monks who seemed to be carrying that sort of vision around with them all the time, that very clear self-sight, and they're the ones I felt I really respected. Alas, I haven't known as many of them as I'd like."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji offered a smile at the sight of the sleepy dog. Who wouldn't smile at a dog? Probably an abbot, but other than that...

"I suppose that is one way art does not mirror life, Doji-san. In a play there would be a point to every meeting, ne? If you meet a scurrilous monk at the start of the court, by the end of the court, there must be a resolution of some sort. Instead, your meeting him may be more like being stung by a bee." he mused.

He took a sip of his tea.

"Although, you have left me curious, Doji-san. What sort of recent more up close and personal experience did you have with the spiritual recently?" he asked.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"The doctrine of reincarnation teaches us that even a bee or a beetle can be something nobler in time, doesn't it?" Shinnosuke says, in a tone that seems half joking and half not. "If the bee wants to become greater, and learns Heaven's lessons in compassion and selflessness, it can transcend its poisonous nature. How much more so a man? I suppose I'm a terrible optimist, but I should like to think that even if I don't see the end of the story, it does have an end."

Eiji's question puts Shinnosuke on the back foot for a moment, as he considers how easy it is to let a little thing like that slip even when it's connected to something you are not supposed to talk about. He recovers smoothly with only a small ripple of uncertainty, though. "I had the strangest experience on the day before the Former Empress's passing," he explains. "Like a great cold wind when there really was no wind, and a sort of waking dream. I've since been told it happened to many people around the court at that time, and there was probably some connection to the great event." There, Kitsu Shintaro hadn't seemed to think that was connected to the Other Thing, and Lady Seppin hadn't mentioned it at all, so he was probably allowed to talk about it.

[Soshi Eiji]

"Ah the forth day you say," Eiji said slowly, considering.

He paused a moment looking at his Crane host before nodding slowly.

"Hai, between the earthquake and Her passing. I did run into a Kuni during that day who reported feeling something similar, though I myself did not."

He took a sip of his tea, considering the Crane's words a moment.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke nods. "I told the priest in our delegation, and it transpired that she experienced the same thing too--or something close enough. Kitsu Shintaro-sama explained that it must have been," his voice shifts to an echo of the Kitsu daimyo's tones--not a full-on imitation, but an evocative hint--"a 'great and sudden change in the spiritual qualities of the place.' So that even some people not very spiritually sensitive might be affected."