Part 9 (2/2)

'I'm burning up ... But I feel cold all over. I just can't stay on my feet,' she said through parched lips.

Isaku thought it was just as well he had come back early, not only to look after his sick family but to get the housework done. He went out of the back door and filled a bucket with water from the brook, scooping some snow into it to make sure it was cold. When he got back indoors, he put pieces of cloth in the water, wrung them out, and carefully placed one first on his mother's forehead, then one each on Isokichi's and Kane's. He boiled up some herbal tea, put a good measure of rice into a pot, and made some gruel. He'd heard that rice was good for curing illnesses, so this was no time to be stingy with their supply.

Both Isokichi and Kane complained of headaches, and the little girl was crying in a rasping voice. The pieces of cloth soon become warm, so Isaku dropped them back into the iced water every few minutes.

During the night he woke up often to tend to his family. His mother was breathing heavily. The next day their fevers got worse, and they started to complain of back pain as well. Their mother seemed to be in particular distress, pressing her hand against her back and clenching her teeth. Isaku stayed at home rather than go out on the water in his boat.

Just after midday, without warning, the elder appeared at the door with two other men. He frowned at the sight of Isaku's mother lying p.r.o.ne on the straw matting.

Isaku stepped down onto the dirt floor and knelt in front of the elder.

'So your family's come down with it, too? When did the fever start?' he asked, watching Isaku's mother.

'Early yesterday morning for my brother and sister, and yesterday afternoon for my mother.'

'You're all right, I see.'

Isaku replied that he was well.

'It's a wicked flu, this one. The chief is down with a fever, too. An exorcism of the demons that caused this affliction is being performed in the chief's house, so make sure you set up a light offering in front of your family's ancestral tablet.'

The message was well rehea.r.s.ed, as though the elder was going around making the same announcement to all the households. After casting his eyes back once more towards Isaku's ailing family, he left the house, followed by the other two men.

Isaku stepped back onto the straw-matted area and set up a light offering in front of their ancestral tablet. Judging by what the elder had said, most of the villagers must be suffering from the same ailment. Even so, Isaku would never have imagined that the village chief would come down with it.

The sound of the water flowing in the brook had increased over the last few days. Signs of spring were everywhere, and surely, Isaku thought, with it would come an end to the affliction plaguing the village.

But the next day his mother's fever worsened and she began to groan in pain. The pain in her back had intensified, and she pleaded with Isaku to do something to relieve it. For someone as strong-willed as his mother to be saying this could only be proof she was in agony. Isaku busied himself keeping up a steady supply of cold, wet cloths and herb tea.

Whether it was the tea taking effect or that they had simply pa.s.sed the worst of it he didn't know, but the next morning Isokichi, Kane and their mother all seemed to be running less of a fever. Their headaches and back pain had subsided, and all three had stopped groaning. They looked completely exhausted, but relieved.

Though Isaku was pleased with the apparent improvement in their condition, he noticed that their puffy faces were covered with something like a heat rash. The little spots gradually reddened, and by evening they had spread to their arms, legs, back, and chest.

When Isaku woke up the next morning, he was shocked at the sight of their faces. Realising that the change in Isokichi and Kane was also occurring in herself, their mother tilted her head to one side and ran her fingers across her own face.

'Maybe the fever's caused this rash,' she said sceptically as she gazed at Isokichi and Kane.

It was the first day in some time that they'd awakened to the sound of a strong wind, and the thunder of the waves breaking against the sh.o.r.e weighed on them heavily.

Isaku had no idea why they had broken out in a rash like this. He knew that there were all sorts of symptoms of influenza, so he simply thought that perhaps this one included a rash. Since the spots had appeared after the fever went down, Isaku presumed that this must be a sign of recovery. With the fever abating, they managed to sit up to eat the midday meal Isaku had made. But it was clear that the high temperature for several days running had taken its toll. Even the act of sitting up looked painful, and almost the moment they put their bowls down they lay back again and closed their eyes. Isaku stared at his mother's face as she started to take the long, audible breaths of someone drifting into sleep. The spots had swollen and were considerably larger than they had been that morning, and each one looked full of a clear fluid. The same change was apparent in Isokichi and Kane.

The straw matting at the front entrance of the house moved slightly. Isaku stepped onto the dirt floor and across to the entrance to see the village chief's manservant standing outside.

'I've heard that some of your family are sick. Do they have boils on their faces?' he asked.

'They're not what you'd call boils, more like a sort of heat rash.'

'So they do have them. Anyway, come straight down to the beach. Our revered elder has something important to say,' said the manservant hurriedly, and he scuttled off to the next house.

As Isaku put out the fire, he thought that, from what the chief's manservant had said, his family was not the only one to have broken out in a rash. If most of the people in the village had come down with the fever at the same time, and if they were all now afflicted with the rash, it had obviously spread very quickly and must be extremely contagious. Isaku thought that the reason for getting the remaining healthy people together on the beach must be to advise them of the best way to treat their ailing family members.

Isaku put on his shoes and went outside. The wind was strong, but he didn't feel cold. The ground was starting to appear in places through the snow on the path. A group of men and women were sitting around the little hut near the salt cauldrons on the beach, with the elder standing in the middle. Isaku got down on his knees and bowed deeply to the old man.

Isaku noticed a very old man sitting next to the elder. The man's name was Jinbei; Isaku remembered seeing him several years earlier, shuffling along with a walking-stick. The old man's health had further deteriorated, and evidently he had been bedridden since the last time Isaku had seen him. For many years he had worked as the village chief's right-hand man, but advancing age had made him relinquish the position to the present senior elder. Now he was frail, his white hair thinned to no more than a few strands, his toothless mouth gaping. Isaku could not for the life of him understand why old Jinbei should be down there on the beach with them.

Realising that there was something out of the ordinary in Jinbei's presence, the villagers sat waiting tensely. 'It looks as if everyone's here. This is important, so listen carefully. Jinbei says the illness that has stricken the village may not be influenza after all. It may be a plague far worse than that. Jinbei was so concerned that despite his difficulties he has gone out of his way to talk to us,' said the elder in a grave tone, bowing his head to Jinbei.

At this, Jinbei attempted to get to his feet, and two young men stepped forward to lift him to a standing position. His sunken eyes opened wide as he stood there trembling.

'When I went to the next village long ago, when I was young, I stayed in a place where I met a man from far off. I asked him how he got the terrible pockmarks on his face, and he told me that they were from smallpox. He said that smallpox is very contagious and that, after suffering from high fevers, spots appear all over your body. It drives some people mad, he said. And even if you live through the disease, you may be covered by hideous pockmarks. It sounded like such an awful disease that I can remember his words to this day.'

Just saying that much made Jinbei gasp for breath.

Isaku shuddered with fear but thought surely this couldn't be the same thing. His family did have spots all over them, but the fever had gone down and they seemed to be over the worst of the illness. With them showing what appeared to be the first signs of recovery, it was unthinkable that any of them might go mad or die.

'I asked the man if there is any medicine that can cure the disease, and he said no. He said that the only thing is to pray and to wear something red. When I heard that the bodies on O-fune-sama were wearing red, I didn't think of smallpox, but when someone said that there was a red monkey mask on the s.h.i.+p, I thought again. Smallpox is a disease that is pa.s.sed from human to human, so maybe the monkey mask was used to ward off the illness. I think the fact that the bodies on board were wearing red clothes proves that they had smallpox. The thought haunts me,' said Jinbei in a piercing voice as he slumped back down to the ground.

The villagers were unmoved and remained sitting impa.s.sively on the sand. Isaku remembered the monkey mask. It was only natural that a monkey's face should be red, but it was indeed strange that the eyes and the rest of the head should be red, too. Perhaps it was to ward off disease, as Jinbei suggested.

The senior elder stood silent for a time before saying, in a grave voice, 'If Jinbei is right, that s.h.i.+p wasn't O-fune-sama. Maybe there had been an outbreak of this plague called smallpox in some town or village, and they decided to put all those who had come down with it on a s.h.i.+p and send them away to stop the disease from spreading. The people on board died while the s.h.i.+p was drifting at sea, and eventually it ran onto the rocks in front of us. It's possible that we took clothes that carried the poison and that our people were infected. Our chief asked whether we'd be safe taking clothes soiled by the boils on the bodies, but it was I who said there was no need to worry. If this is smallpox rather than flu, I'm to blame for everything,' agonised the elder.

A painful silence spread through the gathering on the beach.

'What should we do?' asked one of the men in a subdued voice.

Neither Jinbei nor the senior elder said anything; both avoided the man's eyes.

Isaku quietly watched for any change in the symptoms of his sick family. That day and the next their fever continued to ease, but the spots increased in number, spreading to cover their arms, legs, neck, chest, and back. Isaku's mother and the two sick children were listless and had no appet.i.te. Whether or not his mother was relying on Isaku's help to get her through the day he didn't know, but even on days when the sea was calm she didn't urge him to go out on the water. Isaku busied himself making tea for them and wiping the sweat from their bodies.

As the sun started to set in the west, the straw matting covering the entrance to their house opened slightly to reveal the village chief's manservant peering in. The man beckoned to Isaku, who stepped straight down onto the dirt floor and walked outside. The senior elder was standing there with two men at his side.

The old man asked anxiously about Isaku's family. Isaku told him that the fever had gone down, that he thought they were getting better.

'What about the spots?' asked the elder, intently studying Isaku's expression.

'There are more of them. They're worst on their faces. They're on their mouths and noses, and even inside their ears.'

The elder nodded. The sombre look on his face was an indication that the other villagers were suffering from the same symptoms.

'I'd just like to ask, if this sickness is contagious, will I get it, too, by taking care of them? Their fevers are going down, so I don't see how it can be the horrible disease you talked about.'

Isaku thought the elder's grave expression looked exaggerated.

'Jinbei said that with all hideous diseases one of every three people dies, one survives, and one doesn't catch it at all. That mankind is never wiped out by disease, he says, is due to the benevolence of the G.o.ds. If that's the case, there's nothing strange about you or me not coming down with it,' said the elder in a voice that was little more than a whisper. As the other men began to move away, he stepped back towards the path through the village.

Isaku went back inside the house and sat down by the fire. Kane was restless, but their mother was sleeping soundly. Isaku had no idea what condition the other villagers were in, but at least his family seemed at last to be on the road to recovery.

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