The Way of the Warrior - Chris Bradford [29]
‘Compared with other languages, Japanese is relatively simple to speak. On the surface, it is less complex than English. There are no articles preceding nouns, no “a”, “an” or “the”. The word hon may mean book, the book, a book, books or the books.’
Jack was already beginning to think that a Jesuit sermon would have been less painful than learning Japanese!
‘There are no conjugations or infinitives of verbs…’ Father Lucius stopped abruptly. ‘Why aren’t you writing any of this down? I thought you were educated.’
Jack grudgingly picked up the quill as instructed, dipped it in the inkpot and began to write.
By the time Taka-san returned to collect him, Jack’s head had become a jumble of verbs and Japanese idiosyncrasies. But he refused to appear fazed by Father Lucius’s teaching and made a show of greeting Taka-san in halting Japanese.
Taka-san gave a brief puzzled look, blinked, then smiled as he recognized Jack’s heavily accented Japanese greeting.
They returned to Hiroko’s house, and immediately after lunch Jack was ushered into Masamoto’s room.
Masamoto sat on the raised platform, dominating the room like a temple god on a sacred shrine, the inevitable armed samurai on ceremonial guard. The black-haired boy was there too, silent and brooding by his side.
To Jack’s dismay, Father Lucius entered through the other shoji and knelt opposite Jack, but he had only been summoned to interpret again.
‘How was your lesson with Father Lucius?’ asked Masamoto, through the priest.
‘Ii desu yo, arigatō gozaimasu,’ replied Jack, hoping he had pronounced the words correctly to say ‘Very good, thank you very much’.
Masamoto nodded appreciatively.
‘Jack, you are a quick learner. That is good,’ continued Masamoto through a malcontented Father Lucius. ‘I have to return to Kyoto. I have my school to attend to. You will remain here in Toba until your arm has healed. My sister, Hiroko, will look after you well. Father Lucius is to continue his teaching and I hope that when I return you will be fluent in Japanese.’
‘Hai, Masamoto-sama,’ replied Jack, once Father Lucius had finished translating.
‘It is my intention to be back in Toba before the winter sets in. Now I introduce to you my second son, Yamato. He’s to stay here with you. Every boy needs a friend – and he will be your friend. For in truth, you are now brothers.’
Yamato bowed curtly, his eyes trained on Jack’s. Hard and challenging, they delivered a clear message: Jack would never be worthy enough to replace his brother Tenno and he had no intention of being Jack’s friend… ever.
16
THE BOKKEN
The cherry blossom tree in the centre of the garden marked Jack’s time in Japan. When he had arrived, it had been lush and green. A cool haven where he had sheltered from the hot summer sun. Now, three months later, his arm completely healed, the cherry blossom tree’s leaves had turned a golden brown and were starting to fall to the ground.
The tree was Jack’s place of sanctuary. He had sat there for hours studying his father’s rutter, examining the meticulously drawn constellations, tracing the outlines of coastal maps, and on every page trying to unlock the secret ciphers that protected the mysteries of the seas from enemy eyes. One day, his father had promised, he would be given the solutions to all these codes. But now his father was dead, Jack had only his wits to work the rest of them out and, with each one he managed to solve, the closer he felt he was to his father.
Yet the tree was also a symbolic bridge, a link through which he had slowly come to understand the Japanese culture. For it was here that he met with Akiko most afternoons to practise speaking her language.
Three days after Masamoto had left for Kyoto, she had heard Jack struggling to pronounce a Japanese phrase that Father Lucius had given him to memorize and had offered to help him.
‘Arigatō, Akiko,’ he had replied and then repeated the corrected phrase several times to etch it into his memory.
So their afternoons had begun and, combined with Father Lucius’s lessons, his Japanese improved