Memoirs of a Geisha Page #3

You must forget

you ever had a sister.

We are your only family now.

"Dear Satsu and little Chiyo:

As one who was once

an orphan child myself...

...this humble person

is sorry to inform you...

...that six weeks after you left

for your new life in Miyako...

...the suffering of your

honored mother came to its end.

And only a few weeks afterward...

...your honored father

departed this world as well.

This humble person feels confident

both your honored parents...

...have found their places

in paradise. But happily... "

At the temple...

...there is a poem called "Loss"

carved into the stone.

It has three words.

But the poet

has scratched them out.

You cannot read "Loss. "

Only feel it.

My father and mother

had left this life.

My sister, I never heard of again.

I had dishonored the okiya,

so Mother had other plans for me.

I would pay back my debt...

...year after year after year.

Not as a geisha.

As her slave.

It is too pretty a day

to be so unhappy.

Did you fall down?

Why so shy?

Nothing to be ashamed of.

We all stumble from time to time.

You see that enchanting lady

in green?

Once, when she was just a maiko,

she fell clean off her wooden shoes.

It's true, I did.

And now look at her. So elegant.

Mr. Chairman, shouldn't we hurry?

We will miss the beginning.

We see the Spring Dances every year.

We can spare a moment.

What's your name?

Don't be afraid to look at me.

Do you like sweet plum or cherry?

You mean, to eat?

I like sweet plum myself.

Come.

None of us find as much kindness

in this life as we should.

Hi. Both kinds, please.

My children wait for these

every spring.

Now I'm a geisha too.

And so you are.

How did you come by

such surprising eyes?

My mother gave them to me.

Generous of her, wasn't it?

As you have been to me.

Smile for me, won't you?

There, now. That is your gift to me.

This will buy your supper.

Now, promise me one thing:

Next time you take a tumble,

no frowns.

That's better.

In that moment...

...I changed from a girl

facing nothing but emptiness...

...to someone with purpose.

I saw that to be a geisha...

...could be a stepping stone

to something else:

A place in his world.

The money the Chairman

had given me...

...could have bought fish and rice

for a month.

But I gave it back in prayer...

...keeping only his handkerchief.

I asked one day

to become a geisha.

And then, somehow,

to meet him again.

The Imperial War Ministry

announces news:

A great victory for our friend

Adolf Hitler.

Today, Hitler demanded

self-determination...

...for Germans living in Austria.

Hitler's quest for lebensraum,

"living space"...

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