The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka Page #2

---

I wonder if I should tell you ...

They also call them Korean morning glory and Dr Hanaoka calls them Manzara.

They're very poisonous and if you eat them you become insane and die laughing.

But the leaves smoked with tobacco are good for asthma and an infusion of leaves is a pain killer on wounds.

The first time I came to this house they were blooming and so beautiful.

When was that?

I was 8

So long ago. Why did you come?

I heard rumours about your beauty and wanted to see you.

Your not my child by birth but call me mother and I love you perhaps more than a daughter.

This bond is too deep to be measured.

Three years passed. And then, in the spring ...

Such rain. It's late spring and yet this is like winter.

The whole house smells of mould and even my breath is mould-colour.

Elder brother is home.

Welcome home.

Welcome home.

We didn't expect you so soon.

You need to wash your feet. Put hot water in the bucket.

Unpei. This is your wife, Kae.

She's been waiting for you too.

Unpei. I'm so pleased you're back. We've been waiting.

Welcome home.

You've grown a lot, Ryohei.

It's already done. But thank you.

If you want to be a surgeon you have to know about non-surgical medicine too.

As well as learning Dutch surgery I have been studying Chinese herbal medicine.

In order to know the body and cure no matter what difficult disease.

Just like Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo? The great surgeon who lived 2000 years ago in China?

You're brave to aspire to him.

Hua Tuo opened the skull and removed tumours.

He cut people's chests open and then sewed them up again ...

He also made his patients sleep and it's said he could operate on them without their crying out in pain.

But those stories may not be true.

Those texts are full of exaggerations.

But if it's even half true and the patients could be operated on while asleep ...

... they wouldn't thrash around and even difficult operations would be possible.

I will discover that sleeping medicine and become the Hua Tuo of Japan. I will cure the incurable.

Well said. Unpei, you're amazing.

I can die happy.

Unpei has always done what he's said he will do.

He will probably succeed in this too.

This is a set of Dutch surgical instruments I had made.

Things have clearly moved on from when I studied western medicine.

This is a cotton wrapping for wounds. It has more stretch than bleached cloth.

We could weave these.

Make me as many rolls as you can. We are going to need a lot.

Okatsu and Koriku have become really good at weaving.

Three years they've been working hard so we could send you money.

Thank you. It's really you who bought these instruments for me then.

Kae.

Yes?

Tonight you sleep separately.

You must be tired after the trip from Kyoto. You need a proper sleep.

Sleep well ... but sleep alone!

Unpei, I beg you ...

Let the glory of the Hanaoka family bloom.

This evening go to Unpei.

He's waiting for you.

Take your pillow.

Come in.

Quickly now.

Does it hurt when I squeeze your breasts?

Ouch!

Good morning.

Oh, I see you can sew cloth bags.

Until now making the bags has been my job.

I will make my own.

Do you know what these flowers are called?

I may be wrong but I think they are Datura.

You know a lot!

Shouldn't I pick them?

No, it's the right time.

Let's try the flowers before the seeds.

Where can we dry them without them getting mouldy?

How about hanging them from the kitchen ceiling. They will dry well there.

That's a good idea.

Please wipe them dry with a dry rag.

I will.

Throw away the rags after you've used them

OK:

There's poison in the flowers isn't there?

Yes, it's not as strong as wolfsbane but it's best to be careful.

OK:

You ... those are ...

Datura, Unpei told me to dry them

What a waste! Why are you doing that?

He told me to wipe them carefully.

They're poisonous so wash your hands carefully.

It's very dangerous if they ended up in the pots and pans.

Can you help me hang these Datura leaves above the stove and dry them?

Welcome back.

Unpei has been waiting for you.

Yonejiro is here.

They're really cute.

You've brought me a lot of cats!

With these rains there's no rice and people have problems finding food. They're more than happy to give me the cats.

I need cats and dogs in order to help people live. Get me as many as you can.

Here you go. Feed it and look after it carefully.

I will.

They're dead!

The amount of Datura was too great.

Sis, it's Kae ...

Kae, what's the matter?

She's pregnant.

Really? That's brilliant.

It just keeps on raining.

Two years of these prolonged rains has made the price of rice double.

Across the whole country hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death.

It's terrible.

These rains have rotted the rice and made the rivers out of control ...

All this has brought all kinds of strange illnesses.

Herbal medicine sellers are doing well though. I'm selling loads of Ginseng.

But no matter how much money you get you can't buy human life.

What kinds of illnesses are spreading?

People's bones are rotting and sticking out under the skin all over the body.

If you press it hurts as if it is rotten inside.

Are these some kind of blister?

No, this is a kind of bone growth like exostosis.

The bones are rotten and fluid builds up.

It's probably because people's diet has been so restricted by these long rains.

Can it be cured?

I can cure it.

You put ointment to kill the pain and cut out the rotten bone.

Thank you.

People have heard rumours about Unpei and are coming from Kawachi and Yamato ...

... and even from as far away as Osaka.

Because of the dreadful times hardly anyone can pay us.

But when people are starving to death we are lucky to be able to eat even millet porridge.

Let's eat!

Mother, please give me the same as everyone else.

You and Unpei are different.

Unpei is the most important person for all of us.

And the next most important person is you.

I understand as the wife that you feel awkward ...

The child you're carrying is a Hanaoka and your job is to bear it safely.

The rice and the fish on your tray are to feed the child ...

... and all of our prayers are with it.

So eat and don't hold back.

This stage of pregnancy is a time when you'll be hungry and want to eat a lot.

It's Datura. The leaves you picked for me.

I dissolved the juice in sake and gave it to them and at first they mostly died.

But now look! They're sleeping.

If I can operate on them while they're asleep I will be able to cut anything.

Look at this!

It's no good.

It's still not enough.

Kae, the baby is due soon.

I wanted to talk to you about it.

Here it's the custom to give birth at home - your own family home.

Unpei said it would be OK - so you can go home.

But you gave birth here and got Unpei's father to deliver the baby.

Back then ...

.. there were no women apart from me.

I'd like Unpei too deliver the baby.

You want him to act like a midwife.

If you really don't want to go home that's fine.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes