Old Kenji lead his
cart of animals along the winding dirt track beside the
wall, back towards his home. It was
Spring, and the mud was just starting to dry up. The
cherry blossoms choked the air all around the little cart, a fluffy pink reminder of Nature's beauty. Kenji tried to enjoy them as he held the
silk hanky to his nose. His poor old eyes were lined with red. Of all the things to be allergic to, he though. "Beauty makes me sneeze" was his claim to any of the shop girls that asked after him in the market. They all called him "
Grandfather", but he didn't feel old. His age disagreed with him.
When he was a younger man, he tended the horses for
Samurai, an honored post. He broke the wildest stallions and healed the most vicious battle wounds. It was a grand station in life. But then, as things do,
it changed. He fell in love with a girl, the daughter of a
scribe. They wed and moved away and tended a great farm.
Prosperity and
wealth were good friends. Then, again, everything changed. Kenji found his home in ruins, dashed uncaringly under the feet of warring clans fighting to be
Shogun.
Nyoko died of the
wasting disease that followed the armies. Kenji was alone, in an empty hovel, surrounded by
hungry ghosts of the past. The
Oni spoke to him in his dreams, driving him away. Kenji turned to
peddling, selling the animals from his farm in the city. Slowly, his wares grew more
exotic.
Civet cats from
China, well bred
cats and
pug-faced
dogs,
crickets in bamboo cages and a big stoneware pot full of
Koi, songbirds in boxes and mice in a
basket, squat little pigs from
Siam and white-faced
monkeys, fat young
ducks and small yellow
chicks, he peddled his pets to those he judged had good hearts. He kept only his old one-eyed Pug
Fu, and his sturdy
steppe pony Koma. Fu would have no other master, loyal and ugly and happy all in one, and tireless Koma pulled the cart and asked only to eat the grass when they stopped.
It was on his trek through the blooming trees that Kenji happened to meet his
favorite customer. As usual, he began to
whistle, a touch too loudly to just be entertaining himself. Some of the caged birds joined the
chorus. When he met the edge of the great tree, he stopped and stooped to adjust his
sandals, even though they needed no fixing. A tiny pebble knocked his on the top of his
straw hat. Kenji jumped up and made a puzzled face. "Are the very trees attacking me?" he called out. A giggle answered. "Oh! it is a
forest devil! She means to steal my
face and eat you
Fu! Let us run away!". Kenji motioned to the
little dog, coaxing him to bark his gruff bark. "I believe you are right Fu. It must be Kuri, hitting poor old men with
chestnuts."
"Fu always knows!" called out the
little girl, from high in the tree.
"Hello Little Empress. What will we sell to you today?", asked Kenji. Kuri scampered down the branches to stand beside his
cart. She should be on the other side of the stone wall that the tree overhangs, thought Kenji. "Has your father found out where you get your pets yet", he asked.
"No, he assumes I am a great
huntress, and that our estate is a wonderland of nature. I have a special request today, Master Kenji. I need a special
animal." Kuri stood with her little hands on her hips, serious and
imperial. Kenji stood to attention. "Yes my Empress!" he playfully offered. Kuri was no royalty, but her father was a wealthy
bureaucrat that was careless with his coins. "What shall we sell you today? I cannot sell you Fu, as he is too
ugly, and I cannot sell you Koma, as he is too
pretty. Any other, but please not these!"
"Oh, you always say that." said Kuri, her eyes rolling with impatience." I need your help to fix something. Something
terrible has happened!". Kuri's eyes filled with serious tears. "I knew I shouldn't have left her alone." she sobbed.
Kuri told her
tale. When last they met, Kenji has sold her a noisy little
duckling, largely to get it off his cart. Kuri fell in
love, as she did every time, and carried it up the tree and into her private world of
wealth. She followed the squawking little bird round and round the huge
koi pond, feeding it
rice and laughing as the
fish nibbled at it. Soon, night fell and she desperately tried to
herd the animal into the house. The duckling would have nothing to do with that. As her father herded her into the house, she cried and struggled, the willful duck paddled around it's new
home.
When the house was quiet and asleep, Kuri snuck out into the
dark. She carried her father's cane as weapon against the terrors of the
night. Kuri could not, would not sleep while her
pet was alone in the dark. When she called out and heard no quacking, she felt a dread feeling. The rustling in the reeds had a tone to it that spelled
tragedy. Kuri moved into the
weeds, and she found her pet. A
water snake, one of her earlier purchases, had caught her new pet, and was in the act of eating it, its jaw unhinged. Kuri beat the weeds with the stick, screaming, and the snake left it's
prey. The broken little duck lay in the cool grass.
Kuri buried her
lost love under the great tree. Her
broken heart filled with a righteous child's thirst for vengeance. The snake, black hearted murderer, must
die. She grilled her
tutors on what natural enemies she could use to balance out the
karma of her garden. She was treated to stories of mongooses and eagles, dragons and spirits. Of all the names, Kuri found one most interesting. A
badger. All her tutors agreed that it was a most angry, foul animal, with sharp claws and strong jaws, a spitting snarling
avatar of revenge. Kuri dreamed of her
black and white demon destroying the monstrous snake, traitor to her heart.
Kenji listened intently. When she finished, opened his hands and
shrugged, delivering the bad news. While Kuri cried against his arm, Kenji
deftly opened a cage and extracted an orange
kitten. Soon, the evils of the world were washed away by waves of
purring.
When the new friends left, Kenji continued on his
way.