Free Masks by Fumiko Enchi

mother-in-law to a garden of nocturnal perfumes; perhaps Mieko’s reticence about her accomplishments was further evidence of her secretiveness. Perhaps she had even used the Rokujō lady as a pretext to write about her own psychic powers.
    Evidently Mieko had sought to encourage a romance between him and Yasuko. This puzzled Ibuki, who was unable to discern any sign of partisanship in Mieko’s attitude toward him and was uncertain what it all might mean.
    “Aren’t you coming to bed yet?” Sadako pushed open the study door and called in peevishly, and automatically he slid the article under a book. He knew very well the reason for her ill humor: since the trip to Kyoto he had felt no desire for his wife, even though he and Yasuko had met only that one time. The relations between husband and wife were awkward and strained.
    “I’ll be along in a minute.”
    “That’s the third time you’ve said that. The first time was an hour ago.”
    “Sorry. I’ve been reading about spirit possession. It’s fascinating—I couldn’t put it down.”
    “Something from Dr. Mikamé?”
    “He’s letting me borrow it. Step in here for a minute, will you? I have a question for you. You know the saying ‘Hell hath no fury…’ Is it true that women are such creatures of revenge? What about you, Sadako? Suppose you were consumed with resentment toward someone. Do you think it’s possible you might turn into a possessive spirit?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.” A derisive smile passed briefly over her dry, thin cheek. “I’m hardly the type. Besides, I know too well that wishing something would happen is no guarantee that it will.” During the war Sadako had prayed faithfully, but in vain, for her brother’s safe return. “Never mind that. Today we got another notice about the property tax. Keep on ignoring them the way you do, and next thing you know the bailiff will be banging on our door. I’d be worrying more about that than about some hypothetical ghost if I were you.”
    His wife’s classical features appeared suddenly comical to Ibuki—a reflex response to the amusing fact that he feared the coming of the bailiff even more than she did.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “Nothing.”
    “I’m serious, you know. Getting arrested for tax evasion would be a lot worse than seeing a ghost.”
    “You’re right. And I’ll bet I know what would scare you most of all—a husband out of work. Am I correct?” Ibuki stood up and put an arm around his wife’s shoulders with apparent naturalness. The cords of her neck were hard and rigid. Noting with slight distaste how they stretched tightly from her stiff jawbone down toward her carotid artery, he remembered with a shock that she was a year or two younger than Yasuko. A swift chill passed through him like a stream of cold water.
    ----
    *1 The youngest of the female Nō masks.
    *2 Literally, “woman of Zō.” The mask’s name is derived from that of its creator, the playwright Zōami.
    *3 Literally, “spirit woman.” Said to represent the vengeful spirit of an older woman tormented beyond the grave by unrequited love.
    *4 A mask depicting a woman enraged by jealousy.
    *5 A puppet play by Kagashi Yamada, first staged in 1832, that opens with a scene of boating on the river Uji amid the flickering of fireflies.
    *6 Characters in the “Fireflies” chapter, which takes its name from an incident in which Prince Hotaru, in love with Tamakazura, is afforded a clear glimpse of her face by the light of a bag of fireflies hung near her head.
    *7 1467–77.
    *8 Sister of Empress Kokiden, Genji’s stepmother and enemy.

M ASUGAMI
    This mask forms a unique type,
    that of a young woman in a state of frenzy.
    —Toyoichirō Nogami,
Nō Mask Commentary
    Yasuko was startled awake by the sound of her own voice. Her back and chest were wet with perspiration, and one arm had fallen asleep across her chest. After forcing movement into her fingers, she switched on the bedside