/0/9596/coverbig.jpg?v=9030c0a85e50c8b24e941f42fb3122f2)
No mortal had ever seen the Martians, but they had heard their whisperings—without knowing the terrible secret they kept hidden.
No mortal had ever seen the Martians, but they had heard their whisperings—without knowing the terrible secret they kept hidden.
Now, the first of these five great occasions was that day Shijiro was accepted in the haughty Imperial Guards, most of whom had genealogies which would best impress us by the yards of illuminated mulberry paper they covered. Arisuga had many of such yards himself. That was not a question. But his inches raised many questions. The Guards were tall. Shijiro Arisuga was small. Though he was a samurai of the samurai, his ancestors kugé, it seemed impossible to admit him until Colonel Zanzi spoke.
"He is a samurai," said Zanzi, gruffly. "Of course all Japanese fight. But the rest, the commoners, are new to it. It is possible in a pinch for them to run away. It happened once to my knowledge. But a samurai goes only in the one direction when he is before an enemy. You all know what direction that is. The commoner may be as good as the samurai in a century. But the samurai is always dependable now. I wish the whole of the Guards were shizoku. His uncles, the Shijiro of Aidzu, though they were shiro men at Kyoto, and so against the emperor, in that old time, were, nevertheless, kugé by rank. I do not see how we can keep him out of the Guards. I don't want to, whether he is tall or small."
Now Zanzi was an autocrat who constantly pretended that he was not. He had an iron temper which he nearly always concealed under courteous persistence, until his men understood what must be without his ever having precisely said that it must be. So, in this matter, he pretended to have left it to them. But he had decided upon Shijiro's final admission to the regiment, even though it was a time of peace, when one's qualifications were more strictly scanned than in time of war, simply because he was of the samurai, whom he adored.
"Nevertheless," warned Nijin, the recruiting major, "he is considerably below the physical standard."
"He is not the stuff for the Guards," alleged Yasuki.
And Matsumoto said:-
"I have heard him called 'Onna-Jin.'"
"Girl-Boy!" laughed Jokichi. "So have I."
"He used to carry a samisen about with him when he was a child-he and little Yoné, Baron Mutsu's daughter."
This came from Kitsushima, who added:-
"I have seen them at Mukojima, wandering under the cherry-boughs, hand in hand, and singing childish songs!"
"I have seen him doing that later, where the lanterns shine in Geisha street, and the little girl was not Yoné."
They all laughed. This was not seriously against him.
"Having settled it that he practises the art of music, I will surprise you with the information that he also pretends to the sister art of poesy," laughed Asami. "He is the author of 'The Great Death'!"
"What!"
From half a dozen of them.
And they broke into the song: hoarse, iron, clanging, mongolian! Within the six notes of the old Japanese scale!
(Do not be surprised at this. The Japanese army is full of poets. Indeed, the Japanese land is full of them. They will spin you a complete comedy or tragedy between seventeen or thirty-seven syllables. And, to practise poetry is not there as here, heinous to one's friends. I know of a gunner who sat cross-legged under his gun behind Poutuloff and wrote a poem concerning The-Moon-in-a-Moat. It was finished as the Russians got his range and dropped a covey of shrapnel upon him. After the smoke cleared they found him dead. And he is forgotten. But his poem was also found and lived on.)
This was "The Great Death" of Shijiro Arisuga.
"Yell of metal,
Strake of flame!
Death-wound spurting
In my face!
Hail Red Death!"
"Banzai!" cried Jokichi.
"Teikoku Banzai!" yelled Asami.
And, after the tumult, Yasuki, the reserved, himself said:-
"By Shaka, it is the very Yamato Damashii itself! The spirit of young Japan."
"Nippon Denji!" laughed jolly Kitsushima.
"Yes! The Boys in Blue-as they called them in America in 1864."
Matsumoto had been to Princeton. But the thought of war-giving his soul for his emperor-made him as mad as they who had never left their native soil.
"I take all back," cried Nijin, into the tumult.
"And I," yelled Yasuki, who had agreed with him.
"Let him in!" shrilled Matsumoto and Jokichi together. "If he can write songs-"
"And let him sing! Let him sing war-songs!" adjured Kitsushima!
Still, the happy Nijin, out of propriety of his office, as recruiting-major, pretended to wish to stem the current started by the song.
"One moment!" he cried.
But they laughed him down and again started the war-song.
"I will have a moment!"
"Take two!" shouted Jokichi.
"Singing and fighting are two very different occupations."
"No, they are precisely the same," laughed Kitsushima.
"I deny it!"
It was a fierce yell from Nijin, who was happiest, to pretend tremendous anger.
"I affirm it!" laughed Jokichi, into his face.
"Pretender!" cried Asami, shaking a happy fist at his superior.
Asami and Nijin stood with Zanzi for his admission.
Still, Nijin said in thunder:-
"Remember! poets never practise their preaching."
Nevertheless, if he had entered then, Arisuga would have been chosen, by acclaim, because of his song.
But enthusiasm cools rapidly, and these stoical orientals could be moved to enthusiasm by but this one thing-war.
So that after a month-two-it required another word from grizzled Zanzi, who had been in the war of the Restoration, to let Shijiro in.
"Jokoji!" That was the word. "His father is at Jokoji!"
And they demanded, and he told, the story of Jokoji-which, pardon me, I do not mean to tell. Save this little, so that you may understand, that it was that last terrible stand of Saigo behind the hills of Kagoshima, where the Shogunate perished and the empire was born again in 1868. And the shoguns you may care to know were that mighty line of feodal chieftains who had usurped the throne from the time of Yoritomo, to that of Keiki. For all these years the imperial power had rioted at Yedo, in the hands of two generals, while the emperor, a prisoner in his palace-hermitage in Kyoto, had been but the high priest of his people.
They are there yet, at Jokoji, to the last man, Saigo and his gallant rebels, in a great trench, without their heads, a warning to future rebels.
After that other word-Jokoji-Arisuga was chosen.
Observe that they finally took him because of his father-though he died a rebel. Indeed, those old insurgents, of 1868, are gradually being canonized with crimson death-names, because they neither knew dishonor, no, nor suffered it.
THE FLYING OF THE AUGUST CARP
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
Sold off for billions, Emilee was forced to wed Eric, a comatose tycoon, becoming the city's punch-line. While bolting from the sham, she caught her sleazy boyfriend tangled with her adoptive sister. Fury blazing, she slipped into the silk gown anyway, vowing to marry money and avenge herself. Following the wedding, gossip soared: the "useless bride" strode onstage to claim the global medical prize her impostor sister had stolen, then got back at her parents for all the wrongs they had done to her. When Eric awoke, he didn't discard her-he adored her, unveiling the dazzling secrets she'd kept hidden.
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
The night Claire Richards caught her husband cheating, she planned her revenge. She transferred billions in hidden assets, gathered undeniable proof of his affair, and destroyed the mistress's reputation. When Claire handed Lucas Bennett the divorce papers, he tore them to pieces. "Divorce? Not a chance!" Lucas snapped. But Claire only smiled. "The waiting period is over, Mr. Bennett. You're out." Sharp, stunning, and done playing nice, Claire steps into a world dominated by two powerful men: her furious ex-husband and the cold, mysterious CEO feared by all. But this time, she's calling the shots. Watch as a clear-headed woman takes control, turns heartbreak into strength, and brings the man who once cast her aside to his knees.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"
© 2018-now CHANGDU (HK) TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
6/F MANULIFE PLACE 348 KWUN TONG ROAD KL
TOP