| IN the late afternoon of the seventh day of the seventh moon a fitful storm approached the pleasure city of the Duke of Ch'in. Thin black clouds raced across the sky, and a light scattered rain began to fall. Seagulls made harsh lonely cries as they soared like snowflakes against the dark sky. The setting sun sent shafts of amber light between the clouds, and the Yellow Sea glittered like a huge bubbling vat of molten gold. |
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I stood on the shore across the bay from the Castle of the Labyrinth, and I sensed that Buddha was with me as I watched a small object drifting toward me over the glittering water. |
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"It is a tiny fishing boat, light as a leaf; |
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no voices are heard from the reed cabin. |
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There is no one on board - |
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no bamboo hat, |
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no raincoat, |
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no fishing rod. |
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The wind blows the boat, and the boat moves." |
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I climbed aboard and turned it back to sea, and the sharp wind caught the red sails and sent me skimming toward the great gray mass of the duke's castle. The sun set, and a pale moon flickered between the scudding clouds. There was no point in mooring the little boat since it would surely be smashed to pieces when the tide roared in, so I slipped over the side with my climbing gear and shoved the boat back into the waves and returned it to Buddha. I paddled to the base of the cliff, hurled my grappling hook as high as I could, and began to climb. |
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An hour later I heaved myself over a ledge, and crawled into the little cave where I had found the crystal ball. The tiger mask glittered upon the wall; the treasure lay there as brilliant as fire and as cold as death. Again I fixed my ropes and grappling hook, and I let myself down the narrow stone chimney into the labyrinth of the Duke of Ch'in. I took out my locket and followed the dragon backward to the pool of water beneath the trap door in the floor of the duke's throne room. |
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By standing order the throne room was locked at sunset, and no one but the duke was allowed to enter. I was not afraid of the duke's soldiers, but I had something else to fear and I gazed nervously at that little trap door far above me. |
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"Li Kao," I said to myself, "if that bolt doesn't work from this side you are going to look very messy splattered all over the ceiling." |
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I tied one rope to a jutting rock an one side of the pool, and another rope to a rock on the opposite side. I tied both ends around my waist with slipknots that could be released with a jerk. Then I waited for the tide. The water roared in and I was buffeted from all sides, but the ropes held and I rose steadily upward. I whispered a prayer and reached up as high as I could. Praise be to Buddha the bolt did work from my side, and the trap door fell open. I jerked the knots and released the ropes from my waist, and pulled myself up into the throne room of the Duke of Ch'in. |
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The duke was seated upon the throne. His mask glittered at me in the moonlight as I walked toward him. He did not move a muscle. |
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"Empty shell," I muttered. |
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The moonlight shone through the eyeholes to the back of the throne behind. Just a golden mask and a long cloak of feathers, propped upon a framework. I ran my fingers over the cloak, trying to remember where I had stabbed the duke the first time. My sword had bounced away as though it had struck steel, and now my fingers paused at three tiny white feathers, concealed in a cloak of feathers. |
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"Feathers that stop swords?" I muttered. |
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I tried to pull them out, but they could not be pulled. I tried to cut them out, but they could not be cut. I opened my smuggler's belt and took out three small trinkets. I placed the crystal ball upon the arm of the throne. |
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"Snowgoose returns the ball in exchange for the feather," I whispered, and I pulled out the first feather of the Kings or Birds as easily as pulling a straw from butter. |
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I placed the bronze bell upon the arm of the throne. |
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"Little Ping returns the bell in exchange for the feather," I whispered, and the second feather of the Kings of Birds slid easily into my hand. |
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I placed the silver flute upon the arm of the throne. |
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Autumn Moon returns the flute in exchange for the feather," I whispered, and the third feather of the King of Birds practically jumped into my fingers. |
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I opened the dragon locket. The three feathers fit perfectly into the grooves, just as Miser Shen had said they would. Then I walked back to the trap door and waited for the tide to begin flowing out. I listened to the heavy stamp of marching feet outside the throne room, and the clash of weapons and harsh commands. The soldiers were only guarding the duke's costume, although they did not know it. The duke preferred to guard his body with mystery and magic, and if I was to kill him I was going to have to have help. Fortunately I knew just where to find it. |
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The tide went out, and I jumped down into the water. I followed the dragon back to the stone chimney and climbed up to the cave, and then let myself down to the sea. An hour later I climbed dripping and shivering from the water and made my way through the din and dissipation of the city toward a modest little house. There were guard dogs in the garden but they knew me well, and after a pat or two they made no complaint when I climbed through a window. |
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Sometimes you can find help in the strangest places. |
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"BOOPSIE!" Lotus Cloud yelled happily, and the Key Rabbit fainted. |
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It took quite some time to revive the Key Rabbit, but after I persuaded him that I was not a ghost he was delighted to see me, and we made quite a cozy little family group as the three of us sat around a table sipping wine. "I am going to need you help, both of you," I said. "but first I have to tell you a rather long tale. Lotus Cloud will enjoy the first part of it anyway, because it involves the handsomest god in Heaven and the most beautiful girl in the world." |
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"And her wicked stepmother!" said Lotus Cloud with shining eyes. |
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"This may be the only story you have ever heard that does not have a wicked stepmother," I sighed. |
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"Thank goodness!" said the Key Rabbit. "Wicked stepmothers scare me to death. Come to think of it, most things do," he added sadly. |
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Then I told them the story of the Princess of Birds and the Star Shepherd, just as Henpecked Ho had told it to me. Lotus Cloud made a perfect audience for a tale like that. She hopped up and down with excitement when the August Personage of Jade placed the crown upon the head of Jade Pearl, and she applauded when the Bridge of Birds soared up toward Heaven. Even the Key Rabbit seemed to enjoy the story, and he was moved to open another jar of wine and fill cups all around. |
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"And now we come to the villain." I said. "Who he was and where he came from I do not know, but a thousand years ago he went to see the Old Man of the Mountain, the wisest man in the world, and he asked for the secret of immortality. The Old Man of the Mountain told him that if he stole something belonging to a god he would never age so long as he possessed it, and that if he removed his heart he would be invulnerable so long as his heart was safe. This slimy fellow d1d not object to having his heart removed. But first he needed to steal something belonging to a god, or a goddess, and the easiest target was the Princess of Birds." |
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"Oh no!" cried Lotus Cloud. I cou1d see in her eyes that she had been dreaming that she was the most beautiful girl in the world, and that she could climb a Bridge of Birds to Heaven. "Oh yes," I sighed. "And he went about it in a very cruel way. |
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"The Princess of Birds had three handmaidens: Snowgoose, Little Ping, and Autumn Moon. They were simple peasant girls from Jade Pearl's own village, so the villain bought three trinkets from the Old Man of the Mountain. No peasant girl in the world could have resisted those trinkets. He disguised himself as an old peddler, and he showed the marvelous things to the handmaidens. They could have them, he said, if only they would do him a small favor. Then he took out three small feathers. They were exact duplicates of the three feathers that the |
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Princess of Birds wore in her crown. If the handmaidens would simply switch the feathers and bring the real ones back to him, he said, the wonderful trinkets would be theirs." |
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"They would never do such a thing!" Lotus Cloud said indignantly. |
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"Did the girls know what the real feathers were?" the Key Rabbit wondered. |
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"The Key Rabbit has put his finger on it!" I said. "They did not know that the real feathers were the feathers of the King of Birds. Remember that this was a thousand years ago when feathers were used to decorate all sorts of headgear - even crowns - and the maidens simply assumed that those feathers were decoration. Besides, the old peddler probably told them some tale. That he worshipped the princess from afar, for example, and would give anything to have something that had belonged to her, no matter how humble. At any rate he addled the wits of the three innocent girls and they agreed to do as he asked, but they made the peddler swear a binding oath that if for any reason the princess wanted the original feathers back he must return them in exchange for the trinkets. He took no chance of that happening. One by one they returned with the feathers. One by one he handed them the trinkets. And one by one he stabbed them to the heart." |
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"Poor girls," Lotus Cloud sniffled. "Poor faithless handmaidens." |
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"And poor Princess of Birds," I said. "I would imagine that the villain committed his crimes on the seventh day of the seventh moon, so that the princess would have no time to appeal to Heaven." I sipped wine moodily, and sighed: "My heart breaks when I think of Jade Pearl running around crying, 'Snowgoose! Little Ping! Autumn Moon! Where are you?' And midnight was approaching, and she had to return to Heaven. So she called to the birds of China. But she no longer wore the feathers of the Kings of Birds. No longer would the birds hear and obey her. Poor little princess - turning around helplessly, calling birds that could not come, gazing desperately up at the Great River of Stars. And the watchman rapped the third watch, and the seventh day of the seventh moon had come and gone, and the Princess of Birds had not returned to the Star Shepherd. She passed from the protection of Heaven, just as she had been warned by the August Personage of Jade, and then it was very easy for an old peddler to steal her golden crown. So long as he possessed it he would never age. He returned to the Old Man of the Mountain, and the Old Man of the Mountain removed his heart. Now he was invulnerable. He bought many secrets from the Old Man of the Mountain and his power grew, and eventually he became the Duke of Ch'in, and he has been sitting on that throne for a thousand years, concealed behind a tiger mask. Lotus Cloud, I think that you had better catch your husband before he injures himself." |
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The Key Rabbit had turned a sickly shade of green, and Lotus Cloud caught him just before he crashed to the floor. When the little fellow recovered he whispered" "Everything about the Duke of Ch'in terrifies me, and now I am more frightened than ever. 0 Buddha, to think that behind that mask is a face that reflects a thousand years of evil! I will help in any small way I can, Li Kao, but I beg you not to make me look at the horrible face of the Duke of Ch'in!" |
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"Yes, I would imagine that a very strange face indeed is concealed behind that mask," I said. "A strange face for a strange man, and the closer you look at the duke the stranger he becomes." |
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I played host and poured more wine all around. |
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"Let us take a good look at the Duke of Ch'in," I said. "He conquered the empire and burned the books of China. He said that he was trying to destroy Confucianism and impose Legalism, but why did he have to destroy priests and temples and worshippers and even professional storytellers? Clearly it was not Confucianism that worried him. The Duke of Ch'in was trying to cover up his crimes by destroying all memory of the Princess of Birds and the Star Shepherd, and he very nearly succeeded. But the question is: why bother? He massacred millions, but the Princess of Birds had already lost the protection of Heaven. Tyranny is not so persuasive a motive as terror, and it would appear that the Duke of Ch'in was acting in blind panic. Then he built the Castle of the Labyrinth and equipped it with thirty-six imperial bedrooms so that assassins could not know where he slept. Why? He was invulnerable! Assassins could not harm him! The closer you look the stranger the duke becomes - here is a man who lives only for money and who amasses great hoards of treasure. Does he guard his treasure with stone walls and iron vaults and armies? He does not. He guards it with monsters. Terrible monsters to be sure, dangerous monsters, but not very effective monsters. Great Buddha, any half-witted staff sergeant could plan better defenses!" |
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"Do you think that the duke is crazy?" Lotus Cloud whispered. |
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"I think that he is cowardly," I said. "If you consider the duke to be a great and terrible tyrant he makes no sense at all, but if you consider him to be a little man who is afraid to die be begins to make a great deal of sense. He makes even more sense if you think of him as he once was: a frightened little boy lying sleeplessly in bed at night, starting with terror at every noise, and seeing monsters in every shadow. A boy who would grow up to be so afraid of death that he would willingly have his heart removed, or even sentence innocent people to eternal damnation, if it would prevent him from having to return to the Great Wheel." |
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I reached into my pocket and pulled out the three breathtaking gems I had collected along with the casket: the enormous diamond, the flawless emerald, and the rare pearl. I shoved them across the table. |
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"Look at this stuff," I said. "Key Rabbit, why does the duke employ you? This is what he lives for: treasure. But he employs you to collect the stuff, and store it and count it. He gives you the keys to all his strongboxes. He sends you to his treasure chambers to make sure that his clerks don't steal a penny, and more often than not you have to stay there all night counting and recounting the loot. You and you alone are empowered to assess fines. He takes you on his tax trips to determine how much is owed by each village. This strange ruler lives only for money, yet you are forced to spend more time with the duke's money than he does! It is incredible! But there is one way in which it would make sense - everything: the money, the monsters, the apparent panic in his actions, all of it." |
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I did not trust the Key Rabbit's fainting spells but I trusted those jewels: his fingers caressed them; his eyes were riveted to them; he did not see me edging closer. |
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"Everything would make sense if concealed behind the mask of a tiger," I whispered, "was the face of a frightened rabbit." |
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I jumped upon the Key Rabbit's back and jerked a chain up over his neck. It was a chain with which I had once been entangled, and at the end of it was a pressure key shaped like a flower. I jerked from my pocket a golden casket that was secured by a pressure lock shaped like a flower. I tossed the casket and the key across the table to Lotus Cloud and yelled: |
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"For the love of Buddha, open that casket!" |
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Lotus Cloud screamed. She stood petrified with terror, screaming her head off, because all of a sudden I was not riding upon the back of the Key Rabbit at all. I was riding upon the back of a roaring, clawing tiger. I had expected it and I was in the best position I could manage: my arms wrapped around the neck of the beast and my legs wrapped around its belly and my teeth buried in the back of its neck. I spat out a mouthful of fur and roared: |
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"OPEN THAT GODDAMNED CASKET!" |
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Lotus Cloud was pure peasant and pure gold, right down to the core. She had received a shock that should have felled an elephant, yet that marvelous girl took a deep breath, stood perfectly still in the center of chaos, and went to work on that lock. It was not easy. The sixteen tiny points had to make contact with precisely the right amount of pressure before the lock would open, and Lotus Cloud labored with a frown on her forehead and her tongue sticking out - looking for all the world like a little girl trying to thread a needle for the first time. |
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The Old Man of the Mountain must have counted the Duke of Ch'in among his most stupid pupils, because the duke lost his head entirely. When he discovered that he was not going much damage as a tiger he transformed himself into a huge serpent, and then a wild boar, and then a giant ape, and all the while I was praying: "0 Buddha, see to it that this moron does not transform himself into a scorpion!" I could almost feel the lethal tail whipping over and impaling me like a bug on a pin. "Cleanse his mind of thoughts of giant porcupines!" I prayed. "Not to mention pools of quicksand, and hideous carnivorous plants!" The Duke of Ch'in did not think of any of those terrible things, but what he did think of was almost as bad. He transformed himself into a boulder. |
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A tooth broke off as I tried to bite the hard rock. Then the boulder crashed to the floor and rolled over on top of me and began to crush me to death. Deep down in my soul a voice growled: "Never let go!" I held on. A pair of pink-rimmed Key Rabbit eyes appeared in the rock. A pair of pale Key Rabbit lips opened. |
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"Of course," whispered the Duke of Ch'in. "That is what I saw deep in your soul! I remember you well, little dog, but it did you no good to fight me then and it will do you no good now. I ran grow heavier. Heavier and heavier and heavier." |
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The room swam before my eyes. I could not breathe. "What sort of fighting dog are you?" growled the voice in my soul. "Are you going to disgrace your ancestors? Never let go!" I held on for dear life. I squeezed that rock as though I was trying to twist it in half. |
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Lotus Cloud screamed! The casket fell to the floor, and she screamed with horror as a wet throbbing heart slid out! |
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In an instant the boulder had become the Key Rabbit. He lunged for his heart, but I held on. I was too weak to keep him on the floor, but I locked my hands around his ankle and he had to drag me with him, and that gave Lotus Cloud time to recover. |
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What a woman! She looked at her husband, dragging me over the floor. She looked at the loathsome heart. She reached down and scooped up the slimy thing. Then she wound up like a peasant girl who once had been the terror of crows and hurled the heart out the window to the dogs, who were making a terrible racket outside, and the dogs descended upon it, and the Key Rabbit stopped in his tracks. |
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The man who had given his name to China turned toward Lotus Cloud, and his lips moved silently, and one hand reached out - almost tenderly. I do not know if the Duke of Ch'in was trying to touch her, or what he was trying to say. I only know that the flesh withered on his face, and then there was no flesh and an ancient skull was perched on top of an ancient skeleton. Then even the white bones dissolved into the dust of centuries and an empty robe slowly crumpled to the floor. |
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The Yama Kings had been waiting a long time. I would imagine that the Duke of Ch'in received a very warm welcome in Hell. |
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Lotus Cloud looked at me with eyes like saucers. The wonder of what she had seen had driven away the horror. "Did you know all along that my miserable husband was the real Duke of Ch'in?" she whispered. |
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I managed to stagger to my feet. I lurched to the table and grabbed the jar of wine. I was going to need it. |
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"No," I said after the tenth swig. "I suppose I should have guessed, but to tell you the truth I did not realize that the Duke of Ch'in was the Key Rabbit until I realized that you were the Princess of Birds."
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