The Barbarian and the Geisha Page #4

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continued to unroll.

Today archers rode

as they had for 1,000 years.

Do you have archers in America?

Yes, of sorts. In the Far West.

Our countries must have many things

in common.

Yes. I have decided to support you,

Mr. Harris.

I am delighted to hear that

from the great Lord Hotta.

A reed must bow with the wind.

I hope others of the Shogunate

are of the same mind.

Unfortunately, we are divided.

But if Lord Shijo,

who has much influence...

joins with me, the vote will be favorable.

Have you reason to believe that he might?

Oh, yes. He is a man of great wisdom.

Lord Shijo has been assassinated.

Poor man.

He was the one who asked,

"What is progress?"

I could have said, "Not being murdered

because you disagreed with people. "

Mr. Harris.

Your Excellency.

Mr. Harris,

as the person who brought you here...

I have come to beg you

to leave Edo at once...

and return to Shimoda.

Why?

For our sake and your own.

Your treaty will never be signed.

Violence, and only violence can come of it.

Lord Shijo is dead.

He was a good old man.

It was a bad deed to kill him.

Family is being set against family...

and friend against friend.

Do you want to tear us to pieces?

I told you long ago

that there are men here...

who will fight for our old ways

to the death.

Do they still include Your Excellency?

Mr. Harris, you do not understand.

In Japan we do not belong to ourselves

but to our families.

We owe them unquestioning obedience.

Go, Mr. Harris. Go before

that obedience is turned against you.

Now the time had come.

They had to decide.

Those who wanted to vote

for the treaty opened their fans.

The vote moved around the table...

and Lord Hotta counted more open fans

than closed ones.

The death of Lord Shijo had decided

against the opposition...

not for it.

Harris-san had won.

You are welcome?

Right. You are doing fine, Okichi.

Sir, to you.

My most hearty congratulations.

Thank you, Henry. And to you...

without whom success

would have been impossible.

Mine was a very small part.

That made the difference

between being deaf and dumb...

and hearing and speaking.

And now to Okichi...

whose gentle glow has been the lantern

that I've followed.

Thank you, Harris-san.

May it always guide me.

To Okichi.

While we were celebrating...

the clan of Baron Tamura

was planning a tragic deed.

Though his heart was divided...

Tamura accepted the ceremonial sword...

and bowed to his fate.

Before he told me his wish...

Baron Tamura made me swear...

I would obey him in all things.

Then he told me his wish.

Death for Harris-san.

I was his to command.

I had no choice.

Beautiful, Okichi. Beautiful.

Very late, Harris-san.

Best you go sleep now.

Okichi.

After the treaty is signed, I must go back

to America, and you know that.

Yes, Harris-san.

But only for a short time.

I'm coming back to you, Okichi.

And that's the last time

we'll ever be separated.

Yes, Harris-san.

There's so much of Japan

that I haven't seen.

Cities and temples.

You must show them to me.

And they say the mountains

are magnificent in the winter.

Snow very deep.

And they say there are hot springs,

and you bathe in the snow.

Yes, Harris-san.

Then when I come back,

we must go to the mountains.

Yes, the mountains.

We'll find a lake

and build a house over the lake.

And no neighbors.

I'm tired of neighbors.

Tired of people and politics.

A house with a slanting roof, alone.

Would you be happy, Okichi,

in a house like that?

Would you?

It is written:

"Fortunate is the woman

who rises in morning...

"to cook her husband's rice. "

Fortunate is the man.

Best you go sleep now. I puts light out.

All right. You "puts light out. "

- Good night, Okichi.

- Good night, Harris-san.

Take back your life.

Take back my life. What does he mean?

What does he mean, Okichi?

He came to kill you.

What stopped him? You?

But once drawn,

that sword must taste of blood.

He has gone to kill himself.

Tamura had failed.

When he came face to face

with Harris-san...

he had not the will to kill him.

Dishonor to himself, to his ancestors.

To a samurai, this meant but one thing.;

Death.

Life with you...

would have been

all happiness, Harris-san...

but happiness bought by my broken vow...

and the death of my Lord Tamura.

I have failed my people. I have to go.

It is the way of my ancestors...

their beliefs.

And if I am to live at all...

I must live by those beliefs.

Okichi?

Okichi?

Where is Okichi?

Where is she?

She's gone, sir.

Gone? Where?

She left these for you.

A comb is the symbol of parting.

A mirror, her soul.

She has left it with you, sir.

- We've got to find her.

- No, Mr. Harris.

You will never find her.

She had her reasons.

But these symbols mean

that she has gone forever.

As he went to sign the treaty...

the streets were filled

with those who wished to honor him.

So he passed into our history...

and from my sight...

but never from my heart.

English

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