The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet: A Novel (19 page)

'What,' Jacob has to ask, 'was an elephant doing on Dejima?'

'Batavia sent for gift for Shogun. But Magistrate sent message to Edo to say he eat much food so Edo discuss and say,
no
, Company must take elephant back. Elephant die of mystery ill very soon . . .'

Running footsteps thump up the stairs of the Watchtower: it is a messenger.

Jacob can tell from Hanzaburo's response that the news is bad.

'We must go,' Ogawa informs him. 'Thieves in house of Chief Vorstenbosch.'

* * *

'The strongbox being too heavy to steal,' Unico Vorstenbosch shows the audience crowded into his Private Quarters, 'the robbers heaved it around and staved in the back with a hammer and chisel - look.' He pulls a strip of teak from the iron frame. 'When the hole was big enough, they extracted their prize and made good their escape. This was not petty theft. They had the right tools. They knew exactly what they were after. They had spies, spotters and the skills to smash a strongbox in total silence. They also had a blind eye at the Land-Gate. In short,' the Chief Resident glares at Interpreter Kobayashi, 'they had help.'

Constable Kosugi asks a question: 'The Headman asks,' translates Iwase, 'when last time you saw teapot?'

'This morning: Cupido checked it was unscathed by the earthquake.'

The Constable heaves a weary sigh and issues a flat observation.

'Constable say,' Iwase translates, 'slave is last who see teapot on Dejima.'

'The
thieves
, sir,' Vorstenbosch exclaims, 'were the last ones to see it!'

Interpreter Kobayashi tilts his shrewd head. 'What was value of teapot?'

'Exquisite craftsmanship, silver leafing on jade, a thousand
koban
s could not buy another. You have seen it yourself. It belonged to the last Ming ruler of China - the "Chongzhen" Emperor, as I gather he is known. It is an irreplaceable antique - as
someone
surely told the thieves, damn their eyes.'

'Chongzhen Emperor,' observes Kobayashi, 'hang himself from Pagoda tree.'

'I did not summon you here for a history lesson, Interpreter!'

'I hope earnestly,' Kobayashi explains, 'that teapot is not curse.'

'Oh, it's cursed for the damned dogs who
stole
it! The Company is the owner of the teapot, not Unico Vorstenbosch, and so the Company is the victim of this crime.
You
, Interpreter, shall go with Constable Kosugi to the Magistracy
now
.'

'Magistracy is close tonight,' Kobayashi wrings his palms, 'for
O-bon
Festival.'

'The Magistracy,' the Chief hits the desk with his cane, 'will have to
open
!'

Jacob knows the look on the Japanese faces:
Impossible foreigners
, it says.

'May I suggest, sir,' says Peter Fischer, 'that you demand searches of the Japanese warehouses on Dejima? Perhaps the sly bastards are waiting until the fuss has died down before smuggling your treasure away.'

'Well spoke, Fischer.' The Chief looks at Kobayashi. 'Tell the constable so.'

The interpreter's tilted head denotes reluctance. 'But precedent is--'

'
Hang
precedent!
I
am the precedent now and
you
, sir,
you
' - he pokes a chest that, Jacob would wager a sheaf of banknotes, has never been poked before - 'are paid
usuriously
to
protect
our interests! Do your job! Some coolie, or merchant, or inspector or, yes, even an
interpreter
stole the Company's property. This act insults the Company's honour. And by damn, I shall have the Interpreters' Guild searched, as well! The perpetrators shall be hunted down like pigs and I shall make them
squeal
. De Zoet - go and tell Arie Grote to make a large jug of coffee. None of us shall be sleeping for some time yet . . .'

VIII

The State Room in the Chief's House on Dejima

Ten o'clock in the morning on the 3rd September, 1799

'The Shogun's reply to my ultimatum is a message for
me
,' complains Vorstenbosch. 'Why must a piece of paper rolled up in a tube spend the night at the Magistracy, like a pampered guest? If it arrived yesterday evening, why wasn't it brought to me straight away?'
Because
, Jacob thinks,
a Shogunal communique is the equivalent of a Papal edict and to deny it due ceremony would be capital treason
. He keeps his mouth shut, however: in recent days, he has noticed a growing coolness in his patron's attitude towards him. The process is discreet: a word of praise to Peter Fischer here, a curt remark to Jacob there, but the one-time 'Indispensable de Zoet' fears that his halo is dimming. Nor does van Cleef attempt to answer the Chief Resident's question: long ago, he acquired the courtier's knack of distinguishing the rhetorical question from the actual. Captain Lacy leans back on his groaning chair with his head behind his hands and whistles between his teeth very softly. Waiting on the Japanese side of the State Table are Interpreters Kobayashi and Iwase and just two senior scribes. 'Magistrate's chamberlain,' Iwase offers, 'shall bring Shogun's message soon.'

Unico Vorstenbosch scowls at the gold signet on his ring finger.

'What did William the Silent,' wonders Lacy, 'say about his moniker?'

The grandfather clock is grave and loud. The men are hot and silent.

'Sky this afternoon is . . .' remarks Interpreter Kobayashi '. . . unstable.'

'The barometer in my cabin,' agrees Lacy, 'promises a blow.'

Interpreter Kobayashi's expression is courteous but blank.

' "A blow" is a nautical storm,' explains van Cleef, 'or gale, or a typhoon.'

'Ah, ah,' Interpreter Iwase understands, ' "typhoon" . . .
tai-fu
, we say.'

Kobayashi dabs his shaved forehead. 'Funeral for summer.'

'Unless the Shogun has agreed to raise the copper quota,' Vorstenbosch folds his arms, 'it is Dejima that shall need a funeral: Dejima, and the well-feathered careers of its interpreters. Speaking of which, Mr Kobayashi, do I take it from your studied silence regarding the Company's stolen item of China-ware that not one inch of progress has been made towards its recovery?'

'Investigation is continuing,' replies the senior interpreter.

'At the speed of a slug,' mutters the malcontent Chief Resident. 'Even if we
do
remain on Dejima, I shall report to the Governor-General van Overstraten how indifferently you defend the Company's property.'

Jacob's sharp ears hear marching feet; van Cleef has heard them too.

The Deputy goes to a window and looks down on to Long Street. 'Ah, at last.'

Two guards stand on either side of the doorway. A banner-man enters first: his pennant displays the three-leafed hollyhock of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Chamberlain Tomine enters, holding the revered scroll-tube on a perfect lacquered tray. All the men in the room bow towards the scroll, except Vorstenbosch who says, 'Come in, then, Chamberlain, sit down, and let us learn whether His Highness in Edo has decided to put this damned island out of its misery.'

Jacob notices the half-repressed winces on the Japanese faces.

Iwase translates the 'sit down' part, and indicates a chair.

Tomine looks with distaste at the foreign furniture but has no choice.

He places the lacquered tray before Interpreter Kobayashi and bows.

Kobayashi bows to him, to the scroll-tube, and slides its tray to the Chief.

Vorstenbosch takes up the cylinder, emblazoned on one end with the same hollyhock insignia, and tries to pull it apart. Failing, he tries to unscrew it. Failing, he tries to find a toggle or catch.

'Your pardon, sir,' murmurs Jacob: 'but it may need a
clockwise
twist.'

'Oh,
back to front
and
topsy-turvy
, like this whole blasted country . . .'

Out slides a parchment wound tight around two dowels of cherry wood.

Vorstenbosch unrolls it on the table, vertically, like a European scroll.

Jacob has a good view. The ornate columns of brush-stroked
kanji
characters offer, to the clerk's eyes, moments of recognition: the Dutch lessons he gives Ogawa Uzaemon involve a reciprocal aspect, and his notebook now contains some five hundred of the symbols. Here the clandestine student recognises
Give
; there,
Edo
; in the next column,
ten
. . .

'Naturally,' Vorstenbosch sighs, 'nobody at the Shogun's Court writes Dutch. Would either of you prodigies,' he looks at the interpreters, 'care to oblige?'

The grandfather clock counts off one minute; two; three . . .

Kobayashi's eyes travel down, up and across the columns of the scroll.

It is not so arduous or long
, thinks Jacob.
He is dragging the exercise out
.

The interpreter's ponderous reading is punctuated by thoughtful nods.

Elsewhere in the Chief's Residence, servants go about their business.

Vorstenbosch refuses to satisfy Kobayashi by voicing his impatience.

Kobayashi growls in his throat enigmatically, and opens his mouth . . .

'I read once more, to ensure no mistake.'

If looks really could kill
, thinks Jacob, watching Vorstenbosch,
Kobayashi would be screaming the agonies of the damned
.

A minute passes. Vorstenbosch tells his slave Philander, 'Bring me water.'

From his side of the table, Jacob continues to study the Shogun's scroll.

Two minutes pass. Philander returns with the pitcher.

'How,' Kobayashi turns to Iwase, 'may one say "
roju
" in Dutch?'

The colleague's considered reply contains the words 'First Minister'.