"A TOHO-KUROSAWA PRODUCTION" "RED BEARD" "Executive Producers TOMOYUKI TANAKA, RYUZO KI KUSHI MA" "Original Story by SHUGORO YAMAMOTO" "Photography by ASAICHI NAKAI and TAKAO SAITO" "Starring:" "TOSHI RO MI FUNE" "YUZO KAYAMA TSUTOMU YAMAZAKI" "rel KO DAN, MIYUKI KUWANO, KYOKO KAGAWA" "Directed by AKI RA KUROSAWA" "KOSHI KAWA CLI NIC" "I'm Noboru Yasumoto." "Yasumoto?" "I know." "I'll take him." "I'm Genzo Tsugawa." "I've been waiting for you." "With you here, I can leave." "You're taking my place." "I was just told to call." "You were in Nagasaki?" "For how long?" "Just over three years." "It's terrible here." "You'll have to stay and see for yourself." "The patients are slum people, full of fleas and lice." "They even smell bad." "We don't get much money." "And Red Beard is after us night and day." "Red Beard?" "The head doctor." "His beard is sort of reddish." "It's really terrible here." "Being here makes you wonder why you wanted to be a doctor." "It smells like rotten fruit." "It's the smell of the poor." "The waiting room for outpatients." "They're treated for free in the afternoons." "I don't know." "All of them would be better off dead." "This way." "The pharmacy." "The clinic." "The men's wards." "Over there, the women's wards." "Is there no tatami?" "No." "Our rooms are all the same." "Same as a prison." "Yes, even our clothes are like this." "It's all right for us men." "But even poor women are women." "They should wear something brighter." "I'd hate to die in this." "These clothes..." "They show dirt." "They're easy to wash." "So, you see, we can always stay clean." "You smelled when you came here, but it's not so bad now." "You owe it all to your clothes." "See?" "You shouldn't talk." "Red Beard said so, didn't he?" "If you don't mind him, you'll spit up blood again." "We're better off dead." "Too poor to even buy medicine!" "But when I die, I'd like to die on tatami!" "Even the poorest have tatami." "It's bad for us." "You see, tatami catches all the dirt and moisture." "That's why..." "Sahachi, if you don't keep quiet, you'll really die." "Are these things the rule here?" "Red Beard's rules." "He's the dictator here." "A good doctor, dedicated to his work." "Many daimyo and rich people trust him." "But he's stubborn, inconsiderate, radical, and proud." "Beyond here are our quarters." "The south side gets the sun." "That's for the patients." "The damp north side is for us." "The patients' service room." "The kitchen." "We eat here." "It's called the dining room." "We must not eat or drink in our rooms." "They're all Red Beard's rules." "We are to have no heat except in the wards." "Red Beard says the cold here is good for us." "And there's not enough money to buy coal except for the wards." "Red Beard's room." "I brought Dr. Yasumoto!" "Come in." "I'm Noboru Yasumoto." "Red Beard." "My real name's hard to pronounce..." "Kyojo Niide." "You'll start as an intern today." "But I..." "Wait." "Father only said to call on you." "You'll stay here." "Bring me all the notes and drawings you made at Nagasaki." "They are at home." "I'll go back and..." "No, your things will be here soon." "That's all." "Show him his room." "I'm Handayu Mori." "It's pretty difficult here." "But if you want, you can learn a lot." "Useful in the future." "Let's work together." "I won't be cooped up here!" "I studied to serve the shogunate!" "I was to be the shogun's doctor!" "And it's..." "Please listen!" "My father's a doctor." "Dr. Amano's his friend." "He's the shogun's personal doctor?" "Yes, he helped me to go study in Nagasaki." "He said he'd recommend me." "Then why did this happen?" "I don't know." "I just don't understand." "It's..." "A mix-up somewhere." "Even with Dr. Amano's backing, this still happened, so you'd better make the best of it." "We knew you were coming two weeks ago." "It seems he likes you." "He's unfriendly to people he likes." "Not me." "He never finds fault with me." "He ignores me completely." "I won't do as he says." "It's some sort of trick." "I'm leaving, no matter what Red Beard says." "We are under the jurisdiction of the magistrate's office here." "And it has appointed you officially." "You can't hide or run away." "Thanks to you, I can go." "I'll take you to your room." "I mean, we share it until I leave." "Excuse me." "He's quite a genius, but we don't get along well." "This is our room." "Your things are here already." "Where are you going?" "Running away will make trouble!" "Running away will make trouble!" "She's worse again and I'm out of medicine!" "Please make me some." "Only Red Beard does that." "He's in his room." "Dr. Yasumoto!" "KOSHI KAWA CLI NIC HERB GARDEN" "No one's allowed in here." "Only Red Beard." "Osugi's different." "She's a nurse." "Is that a ward too?" "The girl's father built it himself." "She's a special patient." "The whole house is a prison." "Osugi has the key and no one gets in." "The girl isn't let out either." "She's called "the mantis."" "It's a good nickname." "The female eats the male after they mate." "She'd do the same thing." "No one knows who she is, but it seems she's the daughter of a merchant." "She killed three clerks there." "She'd seduce them first." "When they'd get excited over her, she'd stab them with a hairpin." "Had they ever done anything to her?" "Red Beard says she was just born that way." "An hysterical condition rather than insanity." "It's really a pity." "She's very beautiful." "Why don't you eat, Yasumoto?" "I don't want to!" "Does it mean you're not hungry or that the food doesn't suit you?" "It means this place doesn't suit me." "Even bad food tastes good if you chew it well." "Same with our work here, if you try hard." "I hear your things are here." "Why don't you bring me your notes?" "I refuse." "Refuse?" "Why?" "I studied Dutch medicine, developing my own diagnoses and cures." "They are mine and not for others!" "Medical knowledge belongs to everyone." "Doctors get rich just by curing cataracts." "We don't gossip here." "Bring me your notes and change into your uniform." "Go and get me some sake!" "We don't drink sake here." "That's why I'll drink!" "I'll break every rule!" "No uniform." "I'll be such a nuisance, he'll ask me to leave." "Get me some sake!" "You're a nuisance." "Don't you understand?" "It's you who won't understand." "No one's allowed here, so I came." "Hoping to get Dr. Niide mad so he'll dismiss you?" "But..." "You can't fool him by acting like a child." "And is that the only reason you came here?" "What's that?" "Interested in my mistress?" "I won't deny it." "As a doctor, I'd like to treat an unusual patient." "Unlike Mori, I specialized in medicine." "I know more about curing than Red Beard." "Why not help the other patients then?" "Any doctor can help them." "You're just talking." "I don't believe it." "Don't believe what?" "Not Dr. Niide, but the others are interested in her." "Dr. Tsugawa..." "Tsugawa?" "What'd he do?" "He came to see her while I was out, and almost..." "Luckily, there were bars between them." "I'm not like him." "I wonder." "It's hard to believe men." "I don't believe women." "I've suffered enough for believing one." "Where were you?" "A visitor." "Masae, she said." "Chigusa's sister, she said to tell you." "Chigusa?" "I won't see her." "Tell her I'm out." "Sahachi, go to bed!" "Yes, right away." "We've told him too." "He works, then buys eggs and fish for the patients." "Gives away his own medicine..." "gruel too." "And he's very sick himself." "He's a bother." "I'm sorry." "I'll be through very soon." "They're all too much!" "What are you doing?" "Going to keep it up?" "No one's going to waste any sympathy on your sulking." "Least of all Dr. Niide." "He won't change." "Think carefully." "You yourself stand to lose the most." "Tsugawa's gone." "Dr. Niide's very busy and short of help." "It's very late, yet he's still out seeing patients." "But you..." "He's been saying for a long time he wants good doctors." "Especially here at the clinic." "Good, dedicated doctors." "Tsugawa was no good." "That's why he expected a lot of you." "That's not what he expected of me." "I know." "What is it then?" "He called me here to get my notes and drawings." "You see?" "He's ignored me after getting them." "I do nothing." "He doesn't say anything." "Doctor!" "What is it?" "It's my mistress!" "My mistress!" "What about her?" "She's run away!" "I left the key in the lock." "I was in the kitchen." "Please help me." "I'm not insane at all." "Please listen to me." "You're the new doctor, aren't you?" "Osugi told me." "Doctors in uniforms are no good." "They won't listen to me." "But you will, won't you?" "I admit to killing the clerks." "But there was a reason for it." "I..." "When I was a child," "a man did something very bad to me." "But... a woman can't talk about it." "I'm a doctor." "Don't be shy." "When I was nine years old," "an old clerk did something naughty." "If I told anybody about it, he said he'd kill me." "He was dismissed soon after that for spending store money." "But he made me do things many times before that." "Each time he threatened to kill me if I told anyone." "Then..." "No, I can't go on!" "Tell me." "Tell me everything." "When I was 11, it happened again." "In a warehouse." "With a shop assistant." "He also said he'd kill me if I told anyone." "He told me to come the next day." "I did as he said." "I thought he'd kill me if I didn't." "I'll be killed." "I'll be killed!" "Calm yourself." "I'm afraid!" "Be calm!" "I'll be killed!" "I'm afraid!" "Be quiet!" "Please help me." "Please!" "Calm yourself and tell me everything." "When I was 17, a clerk came into my bedroom." "I knew I'd be killed." "He'd kill me this time for sure." "I forgot myself." "With this..." "The clerk lay down beside me." "He held me this way." "He talked like this to me." "Then I did this." "I'd kill him instead." "I stabbed him with this." "Right here." "Don't get up." "Lie quietly." "She missed the artery, just grazed your neck." "You'll be well in a day." "But if I'd come in any later, you'd be dead." "Look, she lit into me too." "She bit me five times here." "She was born that way." "You heard about her childhood too?" "But many other girls have had experiences like that." "It's nothing." "Lie still." "You were drunk." "And men have a weakness for pretty girls." "That's all." "Don't be ashamed, but let it be a lesson to you." "Please go to North Ward No. 1." "An order?" "Dr. Niide wants you." "You won't?" "Why not wear your uniform?" "You'll get dirty." "You examine him." "He's unconscious." "He's dying." "His case history." "Give me a diagnosis." " Stomach cancer." " No." "There's a case like his in your notes." "It's a kind of cancer." "It's in the liver." "The cancer doesn't spread fast." "Pain only comes when it's grown large enough." "So it's too late then." "It's rather rare." "Remember it." "There's no cure for it?" "No, and this disease isn't the only one." "There are no cures, really." "Medical science doesn't know everything." "We know the symptoms and how things go." "If the patient has a chance, we try to help." "But that's about all." "We can only fight poverty and ignorance." "And cover up what we don't know." "Poverty's a political problem, they say." "But what has politics ever done for the poor?" "Has a law been passed to get rid of poverty and ignorance?" "But this place!" "Government funds..." "Better this than nothing." "The problem is deeper than that." "If it weren't for poverty, half of these people wouldn't be sick." "I know." "There is always some story of great misfortune behind illness." "This Rokusuke was a gold-lacquer craftsman of some note, it seems." "Yet he was brought in from a cheap inn, has no visitors, won't talk." "He won't answer questions." "Hasn't said a single word." "He hasn't even said it hurts." "His heart probably hurts him even more." "A girl's been hurt, Doctor!" "At a building site." "She's too much for me." "Nothing's so solemn as a man's last moments." "Watch him closely." "Room No. 3." "I'll look after him." "You're needed while they sew her up." "Hold her legs down." "She's been drugged but may struggle." "Don't get knocked over." "Needle!" "Don't look away!" "Watch while I suture." "Don't let her move." "Spread her legs out more!" "Her intestines are coming out!" "Shove them in!" "I fainted at my first operation too." "You'll get used to it." "You won't mind it then." "No, I can't even watch a man dying." "Calling it solemn." "To me, it's horrible." "How's Rokusuke?" "He died." "Without saying a word." "Did you think his death solemn?" "The pain and loneliness of death frighten me." "But Dr. Niide looks at it differently." "He looks into their hearts as well as their bodies." "For example, he saw some great misfortune behind his silence." "That's probably why he said solemn." "I want to be like him someday." "There's just too much to do today." "First an operation, and then Sahachi." "He worked again after all my warnings and got worse." "He's in North Room No. 3, but he may not recover this time." "I'll go." "Sahachi, don't die." "Sahachi, don't die." "Don't give up, Sahachi." "You're saying that so that he'll work more for you again?" "No, I'm not." "Sahachi's like a saint, that's why." "Yes, when the world's full of no-good people," "I can't stand having him leave us." "I see." "But you should be in bed too." "Off with you." "I'll look after him." "You go too." "Being quiet is best for him." "Dr. Mori, I'm sorry I didn't do as you said." "Dr. Mori's busy with the outpatients." "Oh, you're the new doctor, aren't you?" "Why don't you wear your uniform, Doctor?" "It helps people." "Why?" "Seeing it, we know it's a clinic doctor." "Poor people who can't see a physician can get help from him." "Doctor, it seems to be the end for me." "If it is, there's one favor I'd like to ask." " Where is Red Beard?" " In his room." "Rokusuke's daughter's here." "Would you believe it?" "When he's just died?" "She's here with her three children." "She was hoping she could rely on him." "Eat it." "Go ahead." "You needn't worry." "Hard to eat with me here?" "I'll go." "Sahachi said to ask you." "He wants to go home before he dies." "It was" "a very cold day." "I still remember how my chilblains hurt." "I was playing by the doorway when a man came to where I was." "He said he was my father." "He wanted me to go home with him." "He was pale, but he tried to smile" "and put a hand on my shoulder." "He said, "Okuni, let's go home." "You're my precious only daughter." "But I was only a child then." "I was frightened and I pushed him away and ran." "I was living with Mother and a young man she called a relative." "I didn't know anything." "He was father's assistant." "They'd been bad together then ran away." "I found that out after he'd married me." "Your mother's lover?" "She was over 40." "It was probably the only way she could hold him." "But I saw them with my own eyes!" "Never mind the rest." "What happened to your mother?" "She died." "She left when she was found out." "She became a maid at a teahouse." "It seems they still saw each other." "She gave him money, so he didn't work." "Just before she died, she sent for my husband but didn't want to see me." "She made me marry him." "And she hated me." "I don't even know where her grave is." "I didn't build a family altar either." "I'm just as bad!" "I knew what he was, yet I had three children by him!" "Did you see your father after that?" "After she died, he came to see me in secret again." "He seemed older." "I hardly recognized him." "His hair was all white." "He trembled when he spoke:" ""Come with me and bring the three children."" "But I was purposely rude and sent him away." "I told him to leave us alone." "How could I go with him?" "And bring the children of the man who had taken both his wife and his daughter?" "Was he in pain when he died?" "No, he died peacefully." "He had to." "He had to!" "If he hadn't," "life would have been too cruel!" "But that man!" "When she died and the money stopped coming, he started in on the neighbors!" "He'd get drunk and become abusive!" "Said to get money from Father because" "I was his only child." ""What kind of a man is this not to feed his own grandchildren?"" "I put up with everything for the children's sake." "But there's a limit to my patience." "Telling me to get money from the man he'd hurt." "It's one thing he shouldn't have said." "That's why I..." "I understand." "So you tried to stab him?" "I meant to take the children to Father and then give myself up." "I went to the inn where Father said to come if I needed him." "I was told he was sick and came here long ago." "I came here, but..." "What will I do?" "Don't worry." "Cutting someone up a little is not too serious." "No, an accident!" "He was drunk..." "he had this knife." "You stabbed him while trying to get it." "That's what happened!" "It often happens." "Luckily, I know Magistrate Shimada." "I know some things about him." "I'll go with you." "Go and confess." "My children..." "what will become of them?" "The children." "That's right." "We'll ask Goheiji." "He's in charge of houses near here." "Has a fine wife too." "Take the children and Sahachi there." "After the magistrate's office, I'll come too." "Sahachi!" "Onaka..." "Onaka, why have you come?" "You needn't have come." "I'll be with you soon." "I won't make you wait long." "The children have run away!" "What?" "We were asked to keep them!" "Be more careful!" "I'm all wet because of you!" "There's a vacant house near here?" "Will you rent it to them?" "I'll be responsible." "How's Sahachi?" "He has a high fever... delirious." "He keeps talking to a girl." "He never knew any women." "Move over." "No, you go home." "What's that?" "Me and Sahachi are the longest tenants here." "And Sahachi's dying." "You got no right keeping me from seeing him." "But you're drunk." "You don't know what you're doing when you're drunk." "I began to drink when I was nine, and I've been drinking ever since." "I can't say when I'm sober, but I know what I'm doing when I'm drunk." "Where's that Red Beard?" "He'll be here." "You're a doctor at the clinic too?" "My name's Heikichi." "I've known Red Beard a long time." "He told me once" "I drank too much and threw up." "He looked fierce, awful fierce." "Said to support my family if I had the money to drink till I was drunk." "It's no laughing matter." "Thinking about the wife and kids would make me drink all the more." "Rich men and educated ones don't know this fact." "So there you have it." " Stop it!" " What?" "What's that, talking so big?" "That's enough!" "Bad for him!" "What's that?" "What of it?" "Fool landlord!" "Stuck-up Red Beard!" "Sahachi, still hanging around!" "He's worried about Sahachi." "That's why he's carrying on." "You all go home." "Standing there shuts out the air." "Please look after him, Doctor." "Help him to live if you can." "He never thought of himself, just about others." "He worked till he got sick, then worked while he was sick." "Go now." "He's just gone to sleep." "Let him be quiet." "Why don't you examine him, Doctor?" "Is it hopeless?" "Two fine men dying one after the other." "Old Rokusuke died today." "He's the father of the woman I just brought." "He left this ten ryo." "Use it for what they need." "I'll do that." "But, Doctor, a man dying at a public clinic wouldn't have so much money." "You scraped it together as usual?" "We're friends." "You needn't have done it." "I scraped it together, all right, but I made Magistrate Shimada pay up." "Not only the money." "I used what I knew to get him to release the woman too." "Shimada was adopted into his wife's family." "But he's keeping a woman at his villa." "Many men do." "She's grown melancholic about this... has grown extremely jealous." "I hinted to Shimada about the woman he's keeping." "I'm abominable." "True, the girl deserved to go free." "And the money's for my treating his wife." "But I did hint, so I did a cowardly thing." "Yasumoto." "From now on, if I'm arrogant at any time, remind me of today." "I'm going back." "You tend to Sahachi." "Pouring a while ago, but it's stopped." "What is it?" "I'll go see." "I'm sorry, but can I have some water?" "A landslide!" "It was a narrow escape." "Almost crushed Sahachi's place." "A skeleton!" "That..." "I buried it." "She was my wife." "She's come for me." "Will you call everyone, please?" "I want to tell everything and die without any secrets." "Wait!" "Please take this umbrella." "Thanks, but I'm wet already." "But it's bad for you." "I want to tell you about her." "Her name was Onaka." "After returning the umbrella, I couldn't forget her." "We met many times in the field at Iriya." "I'm so happy." "You'll marry me then?" "I'm happy, but I can't." "Why?" "Why?" "Because I'm not free to do as I like." "I have seven brothers and sisters, and Father's sick." "I've been bonded for ten years." "How many more years?" "One year, but I can't leave." "I must send money home." "Return the money." "But I have obligations." "I'll send money to your family." " It's not that." " What other obligations?" "Another man?" "Do I look like that?" "I'm sorry." "I just thought..." "Let's not talk about it." "It's no good." "But I wanted to marry her so much that I succeeded in persuading her." "She finally consented." "But, for some reason, she wouldn't introduce me to her parents." "No!" "I don't want to!" "Why?" "Your parents will be mine." "It's funny not to meet them." "But not now!" "I couldn't make her do it, but we got married." "It seemed like a dream." "We were so happy." "Then the great earthquake came." "Following it, fires broke out everywhere." "When I returned from the shop, all the places near our home were in ruins." "When I couldn't find her body," "I felt a great relief." "But she'd vanished from that day." "I went to see her family." "They didn't know anything." "Said they thought she'd died long ago." "I moved here in the autumn of that year, when I'd convinced myself that she'd died." "After that, I continued living here, as you all know." "Two peaceful years went by." "Onaka was alive!" "And with a baby on her back." "The baby's yours?" "Yes." "His name's Takichi." "About a year old?" "Eight months." "I felt a stab of pain, like a knife entering my heart." "My own wife nursing another man's child before my eyes." "I cannot explain it but it seemed so sad, so unbelievably sad." "Are you happy?" "We won't meet again, will we?" "For several days after that," "I drank, then slept." "She'd looked back and bowed when we parted." "When her image rose before my eyes, I was so sad, I could hardly breathe." "Who told you I lived here?" "Your employer." "He told me many things." "You were sick a long time?" "I'm sorry!" "Please forgive me!" "You won't forgive me?" "I don't know." "I don't know how I feel myself." "I don't know if I'm sad or happy that you're alive." "Will you let me explain?" "If it's not too painful for you." "Don't light it!" "I was promised to a man already." "We lived on the same street." "Ever since he was younger, he said he was going to be one of our family." "So he helped support us." "When he was 20, he asked for my hand, and my parents consented." "I didn't like or dislike him." "But thinking of all he had done for us, I did not mind." "And then I met you." "I did not know what to do." "I was sorry for him." "But I could not leave you." "lfinally made up my mind." "I owed a debt of kindness, but I thought it could be returned." "I became strong, almost frighteningly so." "My parents punished me, pleaded with me, but I did not give in." "Then why did you..." "We were too happy together." "We were so happy, I became afraid." "A girl like me did not deserve it." "I felt I'd be punished if it lasted." "So I was always uneasy." "Then the earthquake came." "I was right." "This is my punishment." "I've had my whole life's share of happiness." "The earthquake is a portent, saying to put an end to it." "My husband will think I have died." "That will end it all." "The time to end it has come." "I walked, brooding over it, and found myself before his house." "I understand." "I know how you must have felt." "I seemed lost after that, and before I knew it, I was his." "I suddenly felt awake when we met in Asakusa, as if I'd been carried off but was suddenly before my own house again." "He, my child, and I seem like different people who've gone far away." "I am here and this is the real me." "Hold me." "Please." "Hold me closer." "Don't let me go." "Please hold me." "She said not to let her go." "I didn't want to." "I buried her on the cliff behind the house and built a small workshop over it." "I was always with Onaka." "You understand now?" "Everything I did for my neighbors was in Onaka's memory." "I don't know about her husband and child." "Yet I made them sad too." "The only thing I could do to make amends was to be useful to others." "But it has ended at last." "Onaka's come for me many times since yesterday." "Now we can be together again." "Onaka, you're beautiful." "You're very beautiful." "Come to me!" "How nice." "Finally wearing your uniform?" "It's really nice." "It's pretty difficult here, but if you want, you can learn a lot." "Useful in the future." "Exactly what Dr. Nori said." "Wish I could blush like that." "You'd make your man pale." "Next, Sadakichi." "Rest awhile." "Up all night?" "I'm all right." "I'll help." "Doctor's taking you to see the outpatients." "I don't mind." "Yasuke!" "Doctor's angry today." "Be careful." "What happened?" "He can't treat the outpatients anymore." "The budget's been cut." "He got angry." "He'd consider the budget cut, but not neglecting the patients." "He asked the government to reconsider and then left, furious." "The government's irresponsible." "Don't worry." "He won't forget you." "Don't worry." "Excuse me." "I'm Masae." "There's something I must tell you." "I'm going out with the doctor." "Don't mind me." "Lord Matsudaira's mansion's first." "Come later." "I don't know what to say first." "It may be impudent of me to say anything, but I..." "Everyone suffers as it is." "I wondered if you could forgive my sister..." "There's nothing left to say about that." "And I'm busy today." "Pardon me." "Doctor!" "A clinic doctor?" " Yes." "Please look at her!" "Our doctor won't come!" "My husband still owes him for medicine!" "Such a high fever too!" "Measles." "Go to the clinic." "It's not far." "Helping people?" "As I've said, you are not ill, my lord." "But you're in much worse condition." "It is due to a life of luxury and ease." "You indulge in rich food, hold nothing heavier than chopsticks." "Fat gathers, intake and discharge lose their balance." "Chamberlain, his menu?" "The menu for the last three days." "I told you that white rice is detrimental to his health." "Well, I..." "One bowl of seven parts wheat and three parts rice at each meal." "No fowl, meat or eggs." "And not too much fish or salt." "Keep to this for 100 days." "I would like to be paid now." "Yes." "How much?" "Fifty ryo." "Was it 30 ryo?" "Yes." "Pardon my abrupt question, but is it true that doctors play no part in life and death?" "It seems so." "Then people meant to live recover, those meant to die pass away?" "Doctors have nothing to do with it?" "It may mean that." "Bad and good doctors are the same, then?" "Expensive medicines and those sold in pharmacies are the same?" "Of course, an eminent doctor like yourself is different, I am sure." "Don't make me an exception." "Don't hold back." "Say what's on your mind." "I'm afraid I have displeased you." "Of course not." "All doctors have to butter up rich men." "Yasumoto, ever been to these places?" "Yes, when I was in Nagasaki, about three times." "As a doctor or a guest?" "A friend suggested going, but I didn't do anything." "I had a fiancée in Edo." "But during my absence, she..." "I mean, she broke our engagement." "But I believed in her then, so these girls held no interest for me." "I said the wrong thing?" "No." "I said to send that woman home." "She's the only one we have." "She doesn't entertain very often." "She has syphilis." "She mustn't entertain at all." "Will you pay me instead?" "If we did like you said, we'd starve." "The food's no good in prison." "I'll stay!" "I'd rather stay here!" "Even if I did go home..." "Do something about the girl instead!" "She's 12." "She won't entertain, so..." "Be still!" "Keep your mouth shut." "Now, talk." "Say something!" "Otoyo, apologize." "Hurry!" "What a girl!" "Spiteful!" "Looking at me like that." "I'll show you." " Stop it." " What's that?" "Why, Doctor." "Just leave this to me." "Just look at this!" "Just look!" "This brat!" "See?" "She tore up the kimono I put on her." "What's the idea, dressing up this child?" "I've done a lot for this Otoyo." "Her mother died out in front here." "She was no kin, but I gave the funeral and then took her in." "So I'm her foster mother!" "No one can complain about what I do with her." "Again!" "Just to spite me!" "Anything happens she doesn't like, back she goes to scrubbing again." "She has a fever." "See?" "Always contrary, returning spite for kindness." "A high fever." "We'll take her." "Are you joking?" "Trying to get her for free?" "You!" "Somebody!" "Somebody come!" "What's up?" "Anything wrong?" "A thief!" "He's trying to take her away." "Says she's sick." "Oh, no, you don't!" "Who do you think you are?" "Sticking your nose in where you're not wanted." "Now get out!" "Come again, and we'll show you." "I'm a doctor." "I come to see sick people." "What's that?" "You better watch out!" "You'll get hurt." "You be careful too." "You know, a bad doctor can kill you." "I won't kill you, but I might break a couple of arms or legs." "You!" "Outside!" "Never mind." "Don't interfere." "Shut the gate!" "Get something to carry them away on." "Yasumoto, tend to them." "Bandage them up." "I'm afraid I went a bit too far." "I should've been more careful." "This is terrible." "Such violence is bad." "A doctor mustn't do such things." "Otoyo!" "We're taking her." "Report it if you don't like it." "I don't understand." "No, I don't." "It's too cruel." "Why does such a child have to suffer so?" "Her mind's far worse off than her body." "As though it had been scalded." "Yasumoto, you look after her." "She's your first patient." "Cure her." "I NTERMISSION" "February 9..." "I bring Otoyo to my room." "Don't worry." "Go to sleep." "No one will hurt you here." "Like some water?" "That night, Otoyo, half awake, half dreaming, looked at me so strangely." "February 10..." "Otoyo's mind has become clear." "But she won't let me examine her." "Just your tongue, then." "When she stares at me, I don't know what to do." "Her eyes are suspicious, insolent and very lonely." "February 11... when I woke up this morning..." "What're you doing?" "You're sick." "You needn't work here." "You needn't worry about food, clothes or medicine." "Stay in bed." "But she kept wiping, wiping, wiping until she had convulsions again." "Now drink your medicine." "Drink it and your fever will go down." "How is she?" "I give up." "She won't let me examine her, won't take her medicine." "I'll see what I can do." "Good girl." "That night, she spoke for the first time." "Now, eat this." "Your fever's down." "We must make you strong." "Why wasn't I slapped?" "Why didn't he slap me?" "You mean when you wouldn't take your medicine?" "There are kind people in the world." "You've never met any before." "You can't fool me." "Mother told me." "She said to watch out for people, not to trust anyone." "And she was right." "No, no, he's not like that." "You know he isn't." "Isn't that why you took the medicine?" "Dr. Niide wants to cure you, your body and your mind that's been so hurt by cruelty." " You too?" " Of course me too." "Even now?" "You poor girl!" "You're really a nice girl." "February 12..." "Otoyo was gone again this morning." "She wasn't in the clinic." "I went to look for her." "Otoyo!" "You begged to buy that dish for the one you broke last night?" "Why did you have to beg for it?" "Did I scold you about it?" "I apologize if you thought so." "Forgive me." "I apologize." "How's the girl doing?" "She ate her gruel and is fast asleep." "You rest too." "You've hardly slept since Sahachi died." "Those notes I borrowed." "I've copied what I needed." "For the patients, not me." "You may not like it, but try to understand." "I'm sorry for thinking only of myself." "I hated being here." "The father of the girl who betrayed me..." "I told you..." "Dr. Amano?" "Yes." "He won my father over and put me in here, trying to hush things up." "I couldn't forgive him, so..." "Dr. Amano didn't do that." "I heard the story and suggested that." "I'm no good at all!" "I'm selfish." "And self-satisfied." "How am I unfortunate?" "Rokusuke and Sahachi were, but they died without complaint." "Look at Otoyo." "I'm so fortunate it's almost embarrassing." "I'm no good!" "I blamed Chigusa and yet almost let that mad girl kill me." "I was vain, proud of being a doctor just back from Nagasaki." "I was too good for this clinic." "I even held you in contempt, despised you." "I'm a despicable man." "I'm conceited and insincere." "Yasumoto, you're tired." "Handayu!" "Water." "I'm a good boy." "I'll take my medicine." "Sleep." "Sleep some more." "I'm sorry. I..." "You needn't apologize." "Thanks." "You nursed me, didn't you?" "I remember, half in a dream." "But it's just because Doctor said to." "He said nursing you was the best thing for me too." "That's why." "Did it make you well?" "I don't know." "But it felt nice nursing you." "Then I've gotten well too soon." "That's not so." "Your getting well is much nicer." "You're really well, then." "He's a great doctor." "No, a great man." "There are good people in this world too." "You're lucky to have met him." "But you are too." "Would you like..." "You must eat." "I'll get some gruel." "How are you?" "Thank you." "Better, I think." "Masae is here." "Please come in." "It smells in here." "I was surprised to hear you were ill." "If there's anything I can do..." "It's not serious." "He saw too much of the world at once." "Growing pains, you might say." "Your mother is not very well either." "Her palsy again?" "Yes, and she's worried." "You haven't been home since you came here." "I'll be home when I'm up." "Please tell her so." "You don't seem to have been ill." "A bit leaner?" "You look different." "Like a man who's just had a bath." "Father's away." "I wish he could see you now." "He entrusted you to Dr. Niide." "But really he was very worried." "Masae's been so good to me." "Like a true daughter ever since I took to bed." "She was just a child when I went away." "Beautiful now, isn't she?" "I was wondering about her for you." "Father thinks everything would be fine if you'd agree to it." "I don't hold anything against Chigusa now." "But things aren't that easy." "You refuse?" "The truth is, after it happened," "Dr. Amano, out of deference to you..." "He forbade Chigusa to enter his home." "But she's just had a child." "His first grandchild." "He wants to acknowledge it." "That's why Masae came over?" "Yes." "If you let bygones be bygones, he can openly acknowledge the child." "It's touching the way Masae is so thoughtful of others." "She even seems apologetic to me." "It's forward of me, but..." "What is it?" "It's for..." "I heard she never left you while you were ill." "For Otoyo?" "Yes, if it will do." "Hers is worn out." "I washed this and made it over." "Thank you." "Say you're sorry." "Hurry up." "What's gotten into you?" "How can you throw what she gave you in the mud?" "What a girl!" "She makes me so mad!" "Never mind." "What's happened?" "Masae gave it to her, but when I handed it to her, she..." "See here!" "With that kimono you threw his kindness in the mud too." "How can you, when he got so sick nursing you?" "Ungrateful girl." "Just look!" "I won't look after her." "Dr. Niide said to take her in with us, and we were being as kind as we could." "She won't even talk to us!" "Sullen all day long, just out of spite." "Don't say that." "The doctor says she's put up with more than we do in a lifetime." "She's sick." "Be kind and patient with her." "She was attached to Yasumoto once." "Why does she act like this now?" "And doing this?" "I know." "Otoyo's grown fond of Dr. Yasumoto." "She wants him all to herself." "But the young lady came to see him." "Isn't that when she became difficult again?" "I'm sure she threw the kimono in the ditch because it had been hers." "Then she loves Dr. Yasumoto?" "No, I rather think she just likes him." "I understand how she feels." "I see." "But isn't it lucky she didn't come to see Dr. Mori?" " You're impossible." " Why?" "Don't make me mad at you!" "Osugi loves you." "Do something or she'll end up like that girl." "Say, you little rat!" "Thief!" "He got in it again." " Little rat?" " A boy!" "A sneak thief!" "He's awfully fast!" "You little rat!" "He got away again?" "There's no helping this girl!" "Pretending not to see it!" "What's she thinking anyway?" "It's about Otoyo." "Handayu told me." "She seems to be better." "Still difficult, but different from before." "She hated everyone before." "But now she doesn't know what to do with this sudden love for you." "Her feelings will include others one day." "We must wait for that." "It seems that they're all complaining she let the thief go, but the new kindness in her may have made her pretend not to see." " What is it?" " The little rat's around here." "He's so fast." "I'm no match for him." "Please catch him, Doctor." "Where is he?" "What is that?" "They're for you." "Why?" "I won't forget about the other day." "Here, take them." "I don't want them." "Take them." "I had a hard time stealing them." "I hate thieves!" "Why did you let me steal the gruel, then?" "Gruel and candy are different." "You stole the gruel because you were awfully hungry?" "I'm always hungry." "I'd become a beggar before I stole anything." "Not me." "Bowing to people." "No real man does such things." "How old are you?" "Seven." "I'm Chobo." "You're alone, Chobo?" "I've got a father and mother." "Two brothers too." "Do they know that you steal?" "They pretend they don't." "They're terrible people." "Don't say that." "They can't help it." "They're so poor that they've gotten stupid." "And my brothers are only children." "Aren't they older than you?" "Nine and ten, and so hungry that they're always sucking their thumbs." "I wish I was a horse." "A horse?" "Why is that?" "Horses eat grass." "We have plenty of that." "Give them here." "You'll take them, then?" "I've accepted them." "What?" "Now I give them to you." "Eat them with your brothers." "Go home now." "Come here every night." "I'll bring you our leftover rice." "Try not to steal if you can." "Eat some more." "One bowl's not enough for a growing girl." "That's enough!" "You all eat too much!" "Osugi?" "I'm sorry, Master!" "Forgive me!" "Is that an excuse?" "You were taking care of her." "I'm to blame!" "I can't apologize enough!" "What were you doing while she tried to hang herself?" "I'm very sorry." "Answer me!" "What were you doing?" "Don't blame her." "It's my fault." "I shouldn't have called her out." "A doctor and nurse making love, neglecting the patient." "After this, I see I put her in a terrible place." "My poor girl." "Yes, poor girl..." "for having such a father." "What's that?" "A real father would ask about her first." "But I knew she'd recover, so..." "Why don't you see her, then?" "You're not looking after her." "You leave her entirely to others." "No, you're wrong." "You don't know how a parent feels." "The pain of having a sick girl." "I know how you feel, but I feel most sorry for Osugi." "You'd selfishly let her spend her youth shut in with your daughter." "She may be a maid, but you've no right to do it." "Your daughter's more and more sane now." "That's why she wanted to die." "Perhaps it was kinder to let her, but I'm a doctor." "What is it?" "I don't know how to thank you." "I'm glad I left her with you." "Everything's fine now." "Listen, thank the doctor and let's go home." "What is it?" "After you'd gone, I thought it all over." "I've no one except you." "You needn't do anything." "Just stay with me." "Say what you will, we won't return her." "What?" "How dare you say such a thing!" "She was sick, but she's well now." "I'm taking her!" "She'll get sick again." "Listen to you." "These clothes." "Same old tattered kimono." "Don't act big!" "Wait!" "I'm taking her!" "Don't touch her." "Your hand will rot." "Rot?" "What do you mean?" "You're rotten to the core!" "Smell yourself!" "Sickening!" "What's this?" "I'm not!" "Your nose must have rotted too!" "I have a nice kimono!" "I like it here!" "I'm staying here!" "What?" "What's that kimono?" "I'll tie you up and carry you." "No, you won't." "She's our girl!" "Get out!" "An old woman, all painted up." "Join the freak show." "Go away, you hussy." "Try and make me." "I won't budge till I get her." "All right, beat her up." "You hit me on the head!" "You!" "It won't break." "Do it again." "I'll break it open!" "I made rice balls for you today." " You needn't have." " Why?" "We're going somewhere nice." " Where?" " It's far away." "But we don't have to worry about food and it's fun there." "You've a rich relative far away?" "That's about it." "It's not too cold or too hot there." "Flowers bloom all the time." "And lots of pretty birds I've never seen." "My father and mother said so." "Is there a place like that?" "Yes, there is... to the west." "You're awfully pretty today." "I bet the birds where we go will be pretty too." "Good-bye." "Don't move!" "I won't be seeing you again." "Don't move." "Let me see you good." "You're pretty." "Awfully pretty." "Yasumoto..." "I saw Dr. Amano yesterday after a long time." "He asked me to stop by to talk about you." "About me?" "Dr. Amano's worked hard for you." "You'll be the shogun's doctor in March." "But... please wait!" "He also asked if you'd marry the younger daughter." "That's all." "What is it?" "Why look at me like that?" "You've changed." "Not so long ago, you raved you were leaving." "What of it?" "I'm staying, no matter what." "That's all!" "What's funny?" "You even talk like Dr. Niide now." "By the way, what about Masae?" "Nothing." "Like her?" "Or don't you like her?" "I don't dislike her." "Then you like her." "Say what you mean." " You say what you mean." " What?" "About Osugi." "What'll you do?" "My mind's made up." "I'll propose in due time." "You make up your mind too." "Doctor, hurry!" "A whole family's been brought in." "They drank poison." "It's that little boy's family." "Poor souls!" "It's not Chobo." "Doctor, will Chobo live?" "Where's Chobo?" "Doctor, at least save that boy." "He threw up the poison." "He'll live if he lasts till morning." "He wants to see you." "Come." "It's too much..." "that little rat taking rat poison." "Otoyo's here." "But don't talk too long." "I'm sorry." "I stole again and I got caught." "I should've become a beggar like you said." "I'm sorry." "Never mind." "Don't talk now." "No, I've got to." "I've got to say it now." "It was all my fault." "They said it was the end to have a thief in our home." "So we all decided to die together." "I'm sorry I lied about going to a nice place." "Water." "Give me water." "Sip it." "Slowly." "Yes, slowly." "That's enough for now." "You'll be able to drink all you want soon." "Please let the boy die." "It's best for him." "Doctor, why did you have to save us?" "We thought it over and decided it was best." "We talked it over with the boys." "They said it was best too, so we all drank the medicine." "So why didn't everyone leave us alone?" "He thinks he's dead already." "Since we married," "I've never seen him sleeping so peacefully." "Doctor, don't people breathe like that when they're dying?" "I know!" "Mother did too!" "Please do something!" "What's that?" "The cooks are calling Chobo back." "There's a belief that if you call into the well, you can call a dying person back." "Wells lead to the bottom of the earth." "What're you doing?" "It's almost dawn." "Yes, he won't die if he lasts till dawn." "All the poison's out of Chobo now." "Tell everyone that he'll pull through." "It's too sudden." "There's no need for a private ceremony." "We'll marry in March." "Then why can't we have it today?" " But..." " Please." "Dr. Amano expects it too." "It's a load off your father's shoulders too, so..." "Always making plans without asking." "I have my own ideas." "Yasumoto, how long are you keeping Masae waiting in the corridor?" "No, that's Masae's place." "You sit over here." "Look this way." "All ready?" "I'll have them bring the nuptial cups." "Please, I'd like to say something, Doctor." "The groom's not supposed to talk now." "I'd like to tell her something first." "Thanks to your father, I'm to become the shogun's doctor in March." "I once hoped to be promoted to head doctor." "But not now." "I'll remain at the clinic." "It means no honor and no money." "We will be poor." "You do not mind?" "Please think." "That's enough." "The cups." "Aren't you Chigusa?" "You've had a baby?" "Is he well?" "Thank you." "You must think me foolish, but I can hold my own grandchild now." "Thank you very much." "Fine." "Now, the cups." "Do you want me to shout at you?" "Please do." "I'll stay no matter what." " Who says so?" " You did." "You taught me the road to take." "So I will take it." "You overestimate me." "Something's the matter with you." "Have you forgotten about the magistrate, about Matsudaira and Izumiya?" "I do things like that." "I like you for that." "You're a fool!" "I owe it to you." "You're young, so you talk like that." "You'll regret it." "So you give me your permission?" "I repeat:" "You'll regret it!" "I'll have to find that out myself." "Thank you." "THE END"