The Heavenward Path Read Online Free PDF

after I went on pilgrimage and Mama died, so I did not know where we were going.
        At last, the carriage jolted with a great bump as we passed over a gate threshold beam, and we stopped. I peered out through the window curtain in the back door. Behind us was a huge, elegant wooden gate with the Fujiwara crest on it, set into a high wall of white stone.
        "We're home!" said Suzume.
        But I had never lived in this house, so it was not home to me.
        Our escorts unhitched the oxen and led them away, while others opened the door at the front of the carriage and helped us climb out. Suzume went first, which was proper. I had to remind myself to cover my face with my sleeves as befits a modest noble lady. Truly I had lived too long at the temple to be comfortable with courtly manners.
        I was guided into a large, beautiful room. Its floors of polished cypress gleamed. It was furnished with cushions covered with gold silk, and Chinese screens depicting dragons in the clouds. All was very elegant. Here and there I recognized a go table or a carved chest that had been in my childhood home. But despite their presence, I felt like a visitor in a stranger's house. As I looked around, I realized how much I missed Mama-chan. She would not have decorated her northern pavilion like this-it would have felt more welcoming, less imposing.
        The blinds were rolled up, allowing me to view one of the mansion's gardens. Close by was a cherry tree that had already lost half its leaves. No doubt it had been a splendid tree when blossoming in spring, but now it seemed rather dowdy.
        I thought:
        
         Sad is the cherry in
         autumn. Sad is the
         pilgrim in silk robes.
        
        Servants hurried in to give me a feast-or what seemed like a feast after the spare food I had been used to at the temple- rice with shredded daikon root, and baked fish with carrots and garlic, and some cakes made from melon and walnuts. But I could eat very little. I was trying to plan how I would ask my father for help repairing the shrine. Surely once he knew what bad fortune would befall us if I did not, he would provide all the assistance he could.
        Just then, a young boy of six or seven entered the room, brandishing a wooden sword. He looked familiar, and then I realized who he must be. "Yusho?"
        He stopped and stared at me. "Who are you?"
        "I am your sister Mitsuko. Don't you remember me?"
        "Oh, now I remember! They told me you'd be coming."
        My little brother was much changed since I had last seen him, two years before. "You've… grown."
        "So have you." He plopped down beside me. "Why haven't you come to visit us in so long?"
        "I have been very far away. At Sukaku Temple."
        "Papa told me. Did you like it at the temple? Did they teach you fighting like the monks on Hiei-zan?"
        "No." I laughed. "We learned that is not the way to the Heavenward Path."
        "Heh. A temple for cowards. I'm going to join the Palace Guards when I grow up. My friend Reigi says his papa can get me a good position when I'm old enough. Then I can fight off bandits and drive away demons on New Year's!"
        "I am sure you will do very well," I murmured. I imagined Yusho in a battle with Goranu, and I suspected the tengu would win. It almost made me smile.
        "Your ambition is beneath you, Yusho," said our father, sweeping in, wearing his grand black robes and tall hat. "You will do better than the Palace Guards. You should plan to become a fine general one day, and lead armies."
        Yusho stood up and proudly stuck out his chin. "I will if you say so, Papa-san."
        "Good. Now get to your studies. I have important things to discuss with your sister."
        "Yes, Papa-san." Yusho bowed and ran out of the room.
        I bowed to Father, too, and said, "It is good to see you again." Suzume once told me how surprised