Today we have the second part of Qin Qin's personal note into the annals about the restless night she had, the day before the drone arrived. After telling her mother that she intends to forsake her duties as a princess to venture forth into the world by herself, she asks why she has violet eyes. Her mother commends her to the Sea Witch for an answer to that question, and Qin Qin sets out immediately into the night.
As mentioned last week, this is the completion of my "Bechdel Qualifying Passage" (see 10/4/2014 entry for explanation). I can now feel politically smug.
Next week we will get a look at how the penal system in a tiny principality originally founded by pirates works upon a guy like Dr. Wong. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Pops
[Reporter's personal note continued.]
I realized it was the first time I
ventured out into the bush at night all on my own. Mother knew I had bad
eyesight and had felt the only time I would be safe venturing on my own was in
the brightest daylight, so she had kept me inside at night, so that I would not
stumble. I could see the movement of every animal and insect. I found that if I paid attention, I found that I could even sense the presence of things hiding behind tree trunks, bushes, leaves, and other overgrowth. It was amazing. The slightest
reflection of the dim moon made my path clear. I arrived at The Shrine and I
pulled the bell to summon the Sea Witch. I saw her as she descended the path
from her high place on the hill. I hoped I remembered the ceremonial greeting
correctly.
“I bear you the respectful greetings from the Domain of Fire, O Sea
Witch sama.”
“Blessings of sky and sea be upon you and yours.”
“I humbly apologize for summoning you at this late hour.”
“Be at rest and of good cheer. It is not late in the Empire of the Night.
What do you seek child?”
“I have questions I need to pose.”
“Who poses these questions?”
“I do.”
“And who are you?”
“I am Qin Qin, of course.”
“I cannot answer your questions.”
“Why not?”
“It is not our place. Yours nor mine.”
“Wah! But they are really important to me.”
“Write them to the altar. Perhaps Qin Qin will receive an answer there.
“This is so disappointing. I’m so restless! Mother said it was time to
talk to you.”
“Again I ask, who are you?”
“Qin Qin,” I said another time.
“And again the answer is no.”
Why was she being so
uncooperative?, I asked myself. Especially when she had gone to the trouble of
answering the bell. Then I remembered in my qualifying training there were
several protocols on how to converse with the Sea Witches. I had hit a social
impasse. What a waste! I was going to have to go back home and ask Auntie Mu
about how to proceed. But then I guess the Sea Witch felt sorry for me and gave
me some help.
“Sigh. Perhaps I should ask who else are you? You are at least four.”
“Four? Oh. OH! I am the Guardian Princess of Prophecy and one who now
knows what it means to see in the dark.”
“Ah. Then, Princess of Prophecy with eyes for the night, let us enter
The Shrine. The Sea Witch will hear you.”
We entered the preparation chambers
of The Shrine. The Sea Witch already had a pot of tea ready to serve me. She
poured.
“You had two cups ready.”
“I
did.”
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Who am I and why did you come to me?”
“Because you’re the … oh I guess that’s the reason, isn’t it?”
“Or maybe I always like to have tea ready when I am working. Your mother
and aunties do have business with me now and then. Do you have dreams, Guardian
of Prophecy?”
“I do.”
“So do I. I dreamt about you recently. What have you been dreaming
lately?”
“Water. Lots of water. Darkness. Mouths.”
“Mouths you say?”
“Open mouths. Open jaws. Teeth. Pulling things in.”
“Interesting. Anything else?”
“Movement.”
“Anything in particular moving?”
“No. Just a sense that something is passing by. Do these dreams mean
anything?”
“Yes. But it’s too early to tell anything. They sound vague. They may
become more distinct. Pay attention to them. So tell me why you have come.”
“I came here to ask you why I have purple eyes.”
She was quiet for a long time. She
was thinking about how to answer me.
“The first Sea Witch, the founder of The Center, what you citizens of
The Empire call The Outside, was said to have had purple eyes. Some of her
descendants were also said to have them, but it’s a rare trait. It makes it
hard for them to see during the day. Even though you are a member of the Royal
Family of The New Qing, I say you also belong to the Empire of the
Night—because you have been given The Founder’s eyes. Do you find that
shocking?”
“YES. Very much so. Is THAT why I was made the Guardian of Prophecy?’
“You are that because of my daughter’s vision. But it was the Nine
Principal Guardians that confirmed you. For their own good reasons, I’m sure. You
have not held that office long. But something is coming to you it seems. You
should just meditate on what that means for a while. Do not try to answer the
question. Listen to let the answer come to you.”
“That’s the same kind of thing my mother told me. She said NOT to be in
a hurry.”
“The Guardian of Fire is correct. Answers to important questions never
come quickly.”
“I am trying to write a history. Do we know anything about the first Sea
Witch? Other than her eyes? There’s nothing in our stories about her. Did she
leave any writings?”
“Ah. It appears that your ancestors in the New Qing thought to purge her
memory. But she will not be forgotten. She invaded The Empire in you it
appears.
“What do you know? About her.”
“We witches of today are not in her line of descent though we are her
successors. We know some stories. I will try to recall them for you, but not
tonight. I have other things to do yet.”
“We have nothing left from her then?”
“We have her guqin. It was examined recently by the Phoenix Guardian,
who is the primary custodian as Court Musician. It has followed the lineage of
those who hold the office of Court Musician. I am permitted to handle it. Let
me get it out.”
I had only seen this instrument
twice before in my life. It was unstrung. She had me sit down on the floor so
that it could not be dropped. She handed it to me to hold in my lap.
“How does it feel in your hands? Be very careful with it. It is truly an
‘ancient instrument.’”
“It’s very light.”
“Is that all?”
“I think so.”
“Do you see anything on it?
“There are words on the back.”
“The Lore of The Center has it that this was a gift from her lover
before he went off to war and prior to her being she was exiled and that it was
her most treasured possession. We believe that is her lover’s inscription to
her. There seems to be nothing else significant about it other than its unique
shape. If you look at it from short end, so it is said, it resembles a
crouching toad. But we Sea Witches have never seen that and wondered that it
were so. Do you see it?”
“Not really.”
“She was supposedly extremely clever and cunning. Since you have her
eyes, do you see anything else about it? I never have. Nor has any Sea Witch
since.”
“I can’t say that I do.”
“Pity.”
“I’m thinking, maybe if I took it out into the dark.”
“The dark? There is hardly any moon this evening.”
“It’s just an intuition.”
I carried it outside onto the porch
and turned it over, bottom side up. My eyes now knew how to see in the dark. I
held it to reflect the scant moonlight and starlight. Nothing.
I ran my finger over the surface
and felt scratches. I angled the surface and saw words that had been engraved
by a needle, and then perhaps infused with some kind of silver ink? The light
made the characters glow to my eyes. These words aligned with the 13 stops used
for each sounding each of the strings. The words together had no meaning. They seemed
very random. They did not form sentences nor poetry nor slogans. It was a
puzzle.
“What did you find?” asked the Sea Witch. I think my face showed that I
had seen something.
“More questions.”
“Ah.”
“There are … um … 91 words inscribed, one at each of the finger stops. Do you
know what they are?”
“Are there? I can’t see them. That IS a mystery.”
“This is terrible! I am never going to get to sleep tonight.”
"Do you ever sleep at night?"
"Not really, no."
“Then night is probably when you should work, no? I think you should
capture those words now don’t you?”
“Aren’t we never supposed to be in a hurry?”
“Sometimes doors open for a short time. I wonder if this is such a one. And
why you have come tonight of all nights. I will send Natsuki down to assist
you; you can dictate. We have wondered for a long time about such things.”
“I will be very careful with it.”
“I know you will. You handle it like you would a frail child. I must
attend to my duties now. Pay close attention to your dreams. Especially the bad
ones.”
“The First Sea Witch. Where is her grave? Here on The Island?”
“You think to make an offering then? She is not buried here.”
“She left? Was her exile lifted? Why would she leave this behind?”
“We don’t know the exact answer to either of those. But the Qing Dynasty
was not known for forgiving enemies of the state, so I doubt the latter
question would be answered yes. One tale says that on her 60th
birthday, she walked into the sea on the night of a full moon, wearing
absolutely nothing as was her preference, determined to swim until she would find
her lover. And that she became a white orca because her skin was as white as
the moon.”
“One more question. Do you think I may be her current avatar?
“Highly doubtful. She thought self-announced enlightened beings were tricksters and
dealt harshly with them. It was her only intolerance. She was an extreme rationalist and a skeptic. She
would have thought that story about her was utterly ridiculous. Impiety was the
crime for which she was exiled. We know that much about her.”
“A rationalist? That doesn’t make sense. Why was she called a ‘witch?’”
“I feel pretty sure she did not call herself that. ‘Witch’ is the word
frequently given to clever women who are misunderstood or feared. But you know
that. Even the New Qing history should be quite filled with them since this
Island has been a haven for so many troubled and troublesome women. Oh, another
story is that the Founder loved to swim in the sea at night and was able to
catch her own fish for food, so she was dependent on no one for her subsistence.”
“Then does it bother you that I call you Sea Witch Sama?”
“It is not a problem. Today it is simply a traditional title for my
office. We understand that no one means harm or condescension by it any longer.
I really must dismiss myself now. Good night, Guardian of Prophecy. Oh, I since
you are here, I do have something that Natsuki gathered for you. Some very old
scrolls.”
“Scrolls?”
“Nobody from The Center has ever been able to read them, and they are
starting to fall apart. I understand Professor Wong has equipment where you can
preserve them? I would like to have that done before they become unreadable.
She will go over them with you when I send her down.”
“I can scan them and then we’ll have a picture of them forever in the
cloud. What language are they in?”
“We don’t know. They appear to be in some numerical code though. Would
you be willing to do The Center a service and preserve them that way for us? I
am sorry to give you so much work.”
“I will do it.”
© Copyright 2012 by Vincent Way, all rights reserved.
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Be truthful and frank, but be polite. If you use excessive profanity, I'll assume you have some kind of character flaw like Dr. Wong. Tks!