Читать книгу Amorous Woman - Donna George Storey - Страница 23

Unfortunately, the place Dr. Shinohara had in mind was not a love hotel or restaurant with private booths for postprandial amour, it was a coffee shop with a traditional Japanese theme, the tables looking out over a small rock garden atrium. It was a rather classy way to say ‘no, thank you.’

He ordered us coffee, then leaned toward me and said in English, ‘Lydia, you are a very lovely and intelligent young woman, and I am flattered by your offer. Perhaps this will be hard to understand, even for a person with a wise heart like you. You see, in my youth I was a hungry man. Many times I gorged myself on delicious food until my stomach ached. Only now do I understand that there is just as much pleasure in standing outside the restaurant and breathing in the delicious fragrance.’

I frowned. His fancy words didn’t really ease the sting. Now that he’d rejected me, I didn’t need to play games any more.

‘But I’m still young, Dr. Shinohara. I want to eat the delicious food. I want to know Japan, but sometimes I think Japan doesn’t want me.’

‘That is not true. All Japanese feel akogare—desire, I think you say—for the West. If you stay here for very long, I think you will have the chance to taste many new flavors, many loves. Perhaps you will even grow tired of it?’

I shook my head. I’d never stop wanting more.

Dr. Shinohara studied me, a sage’s smile playing over his lips. ‘May I share with you a poem, Lydia, a favorite of mine? The poet’s name is Teika, a famous poet who lived more than seven hundred years ago.’

I wanted his cock, but I got a fucking poem instead. I almost laughed, but thought better of it. ‘Sure, I like poetry.’

He smiled and gave me a slight bow before he began. The brief stream of words was mostly incomprehensible to me—I caught ‘spring’ and ‘dreams’ and ‘sky’—although there was a definite rhythm to the flow.

‘Do you understand?’

‘No, I’m sorry.’

‘The poet speaks of a “floating bridge of dreams.” In The Tale of Genji these words mean human life and desire, and sadness for how quickly both pass. But Teika makes the dream into a cloud floating in the mountains like a bridge from earth to sky, something so beautiful you will remember seeing it for your whole life. But then the cloud breaks, cut by the mountain peak, a thing that is very sharp and real.’

In spite of myself, I could almost see the pearly white bank of clouds and the jagged mountain peak floating before my eyes.

‘It is sad that the beautiful bridge of cloud and dreams is broken, but the yokogumo, the new shape of the clouds, now slender and more delicate, is also very beautiful.’

Wisps of cloud, a dinner of fragrance alone, could I ever be satisfied with such meager nourishment? Perhaps some day I would be so wise, but now my whole body ached with disappointment. Just when I thought I’d gotten deeper into the heart of this country, there was another sliding paper door, another chamber of secrets before me.

‘Perhaps we should be going now, Lydia? I’ll see you to a taxi.’

I nodded.

But Dr. Shinohara had another surprise for me. He took my hand, bowing as if he were about to kiss it in the old-fashioned European manner.

His skin was warm and slightly rough, and I held my breath, expecting the touch of his lips. At least I’d have that to remember.

Instead Dr. Shinohara inhaled, slowly, his eyes closed, like the Heian aristocrats who trained their noses to identify hundreds of subtle scents and tested their skill in elegant contests.

Oddly, I felt lighter, almost buoyant. And when he let go of my hand, it seemed to float between us for a moment, as if it were separate from me, weightless as air.