The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy

Chapter 2

Azuki grew into a bright and happy girl much faster than a human child would, because birds grow quickly, so they can fly long before they become adults. She never grew hair. Instead she had feathers on her head, and she shed feathers constantly, providing a steady supply for her parents to use in their work, which was much sought after. The family prospered and Azuki was proud of her contribution to the family coffers. Local people accepted her, despite her feather hair and rather alarming tendency to turn into a bird. Because people often fear what they don't know, she kept her feather-hair covered when there were strangers about. However, a secret known to more than one person isn't a secret any more, so rumors of the Toki-girl spread beyond the village.

There were more and more strangers about, too. They came from the West, from Britain and France. The ones Azuki saw came on black ships from a place called America, which was a part of the West. They'd landed right in Edo bay, though almost all people from the West had been f*******n to land or trade for a very, very long time, before even the oldest people could remember. Dutch ships were allowed to land at Dejima, an island in Nagasaki harbor. No other foreigners were allowed anywhere else, though it was an open secret that the French and British traded through Satsuma to the south. Now, though, odd-looking strangers went everywhere, and brought many new and different things to the region.

At that time, there was a person who might be called a Sheriff in every district. This person was a warrior, head of a domain military outpost, but also a tax collector. He made and enforced laws, settled disputes, kept records and assigned land allotments, which meant he and it was always a man then, and a Samurai could do pretty much whatever he wanted.

Hasegawa Genmai, whose late father had been the local Sheriff, came from the small mountain village where Chizuyo, Hachibei and Azuki lived, but he had been gone for a long time. Suddenly, Genmai returned and took up the post. Everyone soon heard that he had actually been to the West, to the place called America, and loved every single thing about it. He dressed in Western clothes and made his troops do so, and they all cut their hair like the Western people did. The children giggled at this, for it was strange to them, but they were careful never to do this where the Sheriff might hear them, for he still wore his big Samurai swords.

He built what he called a "House of the West," with a big swath of grass around it that was mostly used for playing games. He moved farmers' allotments around to get the land, and, when the farmers pointed out that their new land wouldn't grow rice, he gave them seeds for wheat, which he hailed as the grain of the future. Soon, everyone would grow nothing but wheat all over Japan!

When the new house was finished, the Sheriff invited local people to come see the wonders of the house and the wonders of The West. He wanted to convince them to join him in adopting Western ways and making the entire district just like America. This was the future, and Japan must join in! The Sheriff planned to host a big party for General Apple, which wasn't really his name, but nobody could pronounce his real one. He had come with the ships and intended to visit Genmai, whom he had helped when the Sheriff was stranded overseas.

Japanese people who found themselves abroad by either accident or design were then f*******n by Japanese law from returning to Japan. The purpose of the law was to keep Japanese culture pure and unsullied by foreign influences that might try to take over. Yet, now it seemed much of Japan was welcoming those same influences with open arms.

The coaster on which Genmai was a passenger had been storm-tossed to nearby Korea. Genmai was stranded, unable to return home. He had a hard time in Korea, so he was very grateful when the General had found him a seaman's post on a ship returning to America. He helped him once Genmai got there, until the coming of the Black Ships made it possible for Genmai to return home and take up his father's post. That meant the Sheriff wanted everything just so, for he felt very indebted to the General.

The General was interested in minerals, too. Genmai would help him find them, but he also wanted to show the General how eager the people in his district were to imitate Western styles, to welcome the strangers and their ways. To, he thought, beat them at their own game.

One of the people Genmai invited to his house was his childhood friend, Hachibei. Though of different social classes, all boys in their area attended primary school together. Girls learned from their parents or their brothers, and often more practical things than the Confucian philosophy boys studied.

Hachibei liked many things about the House of the West and what was in it. The Sheriff had a different kind of clock that worked by winding it. Hachibei tried something tasty called coffee and something else tasty called chocolate. He turned models of trains and even ships that ran on steam over in his work-worn hands, marveling at the details. Steam ships sailed faster and more efficiently than anything Hachibei had ever heard of. Trains went faster than horses could run, and never had to stop to rest. Genmai had a g*n called a rifle, which was a great improvement over the musket. He served Hachibei cheese, which was rather like tofu but made from the milk of a cow, sheep or goat and came in interesting flavors, and a drink called wine from a place called France. Wine was not only tasty, Hachibei discovered, but a lot like saké or beer. If one drank too much one became silly and Hachibei suspected if one did not stop drinking it right at that moment, one would later come to regret it.

The Sheriff showed all his treasures to Hachibei as he tried to convince Hachibei to abandon his traditional Japanese ways and become as Western as Genmai himself had become.

"Ah, no, Sheriff," Hachibei replied. "All my good fortune comes from these traditional ways." If he'd had rather less wine, he might have stopped there, but Hachibei proceeded to tell his old friend not only about the gifts from the Jizo, just like the old stories, but also about Azuki, the Toki-girl who was his beloved daughter.

When Genmai heard Hachibei speak of Azuki, something evil and greedy woke within him. He had heard rumors of this Toki-girl and now he knew the secret to Chizuyo and Hachibei's prosperity. He became determined to get a Toki-child of his own. Distracted by these thoughts, he bade Hachibei farewell and set about devising a plan.

That fine spring night, Genmai had his men go into the tool sheds of the peasants who worked the land and steal some straw sun hats. They marched into the mountains until they found the place where the Jizo stood. The men lined up behind the five large Jizo. At Genmai's command, they placed the hats upon the Jizo's heads. Flakes of snow fluttered around them as if by magic. Genmai brushed them out of his face. Must be wood ashes, he thought, unable to believe the evidence of his cold, damp hand. Then one of the men pointed out the littlest Jizo, saying they didn't have a hat for that one.

"Can't be helped," Genmai said. "This will be good enough. It's almost summer, after all. Move out!" They all marched home and went to bed.

Genmai woke early, eager to see what the Jizo had brought him. But he found no riches, no sugar, no tea, no rice and definitely no toki. The Jizo had left him nothing but a basket full of old-fashioned toys with a baby sparrow nestled in the center.

Furious, the Sheriff ordered a servant to build a fire in the garden. He tossed the toys into the flames, smashing them. Terrified, the young sparrow, already fledged, shot into the air. Enraged, Genmai threw a rock at it, but, though hit, the sparrow escaped, only to tumble to earth in the brush on the other side of the river, almost at the feet of Chizuyo and Azuki, as they returned from the morning market.

"Look!" Azuki cried, pointing as Chizuyo knelt and picked up the little bird.

"Poor baby," Chizuyo crooned, stroking its tiny head. "Someone's hurt you, but you are safe now. We'll take you home and get you better."

"Mother, will you look!" Azuki cried. "This is no ordinary sparrow. He's a bird-child, like me. He can turn into a human boy who will be clever and graceful, and he will be able to sing!" Azuki sounded just a little envious, because she herself could not sing a note.

"Azuki-chan," Chizuyo said with awe as she cradled the little bird in her hands and stood. "Will you take my basket, please? You're right. Oh, do look!" she said with pleasure as the little bird transformed into a baby boy. "Oh, my child, we must go see your father! You have a brother, and our family is complete! Let us call him Shota."