32 THE WHALE 33 TORI 34 THE DAGUERREOTYPE 35 THE GOLD FIELDS PART FIVE HOME 36 BETWEEN TWO WORLDS 37 SPIES 38 THE DAIMYO 39 NAGASAKI 40 THE ROAD HOME 41 THE SAMURAI EPILOGUE HISTORICAL NOTE GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUGGESTED READING ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HEART of a SAMURAI
PART ONE THE UNKNOWN I have no parents I make the heaven and earth my mother and father I have no home I make awareness my dwelling I have no life and death I make the tides of breathing my life and death from the Samurai Creed Bird Island as drawn by John Mung
1 THE STORM January 1841 12th Year of Tempō Year of the Ox off the coast of Shikoku Japan Manjiro squinted across the expanse of glittering sea at the line of dark clouds forming on the horizon What lies there he wondered aloud across the sea Nothing you want to know about Denzo said hurrying to hoist the sail Barbarians live there Demons with hairy faces big noses and blue eyes As Jusuke steered the boat toward home the fishermen fell silent In three days they had not caught a single fish Their families would go hungry Manjiro swallowed hard when he thought of the empty rice bin at home He took one last glance behind them and noticed something strange Dark streaks ran like ribbons through the water Excuse me please he said What is that in the water Goemon a boy not much older than Manjiro said Fish Mackerel the others cried Denzo quickly steered the boat into waters black with fish as the others baited their hooks The fishermen hurried to cast their lines into the water then pulled them in each time hauling in a fat mackerel It was Manjiro’s job to pluck the fish off the hooks His hands bled but he smiled to see the bottom of the boat swimming with plump flopping mackerel Wasn’t it lucky he had looked back one more time Now they would all be dreaming of dinners of steaming fish and maybe even a little rice None of them noticed that dark clouds had swallowed the sky They didn’t notice the waves lapping at the boat They
