Free Binu and the Great Wall of China by Su Tong Page A

need to do is learn to sing and play an instrument, and you might pass. Give me another one of those coins, and I’ll introduce you to a pleasure house. You can be one of the women then.’
    Before Binu could say a word, the frog began to fidget. It had hidden shyly in Qiliang’s sandal all the way to Hundred Springs Terrace, but now it boldly jumped out of the sandal and landed on the back of Binu’s hand, stopping just long enough to leave a blistering mark, before hopping off. Shocked by the sudden movement, Binu watched the frog hop around in the moonlight, all the way up and onto the donkey cart. From the way the retainer shifted his body, she could tell that the frog had hopped into his lap.
    ‘Don’t go there, that is not your son!’ Binu shouted fearfully, suddenly realizing what the frog was thinking. ‘Come back here! He doesn’t know you; he is not your son!’

    Binu’s shout was unfortunately too late. The man grabbed the frog, and Binu saw his hand flick in the air, sending a tiny black object arcing into the water.
    A furious beating of gongs came from beyond the drawbridge. It was a sentry signalling to the donkey cart to hurry up and cross over. The carter raised his feet and snapped his whip in the air as Binu ran to catch up. In a panic, she grabbed hold of the retainer’s sash; without thinking what she was saying, she screamed out to the man, ‘That was not a frog, it was your mother’s ghost. You will be punished for flinging your mother into the water!’
    The man stood up; something glinted under his coat, and in one fearful instant, his sword had severed his sash where Binu’s hand was clutched. The carter’s enraged voice came from behind, ‘What do you mean, his mother? A ghost?’ He roared at Binu, ‘Be careful he doesn’t bury that sword in your heart! He’s a master swordsman, Lord Hengming’s newest retainer. His weapon recognizes no one; not family and certainly not ghosts!’
    Binu sat down hard, still clutching a piece of the sash. On it was the panther insignia and splashes of something dark; this time she was certain it was dried blood.
    The cart crossed the drawbridge, and the bridge roseinto the air and disappeared from view, leaving Binu stranded on the opposite bank. The human figures that had been visible in the lantern light were also gone; all that remained were the red flames flickering beneath a cauldron. Every so often an attendant emerged from behind the wall to add kindling to the fire. Binu stood beside the moat, the retainer’s sash still in her hand, and gazed at Hundred Springs Terrace, bathed in moonlight, still looking like an enormous beast and filling the sky with a mysterious scent that could have been its breath.
    Binu walked along the bank, searching for her frog. A clump of duckweed floated on the surface of the water, which rippled in the moonlight. Riding on top, heading towards Hundred Springs Terrace, was a tiny dark object that left little ripples in its wake. It had to be the frog, the pitiful ghost following the trail of its son. An uproar of men’s voices emerged from a tent across the water; maybe they were all the sons of the woman in black, but who among them would recognize or acknowledge a mother who had been reborn as a frog? Binu waited by the moat for a while, certain that the frog would not look back. Binu had lost her travelling companion and would have to walk the rest of the way alone.
    Now that the frog was gone, Binu’s bundle was silent and Qiliang’s sandal was empty. She washed it in themoat, then gazed at her reflection in the water. The moonlit surface was smooth as a mirror, but still she could not see her face; it was absorbed into the glittery water. Unable to see her reflection, she suddenly forgot what she looked like, and when she tried to recall her appearance, the images that came to her mind were of a wizened old mountain woman on a wooden raft, and a tear-streaked face with inauspicious colouring. She knelt