Eric Van Lustbader - [Sunset Warrior 03] - Dai-san (old scan) (txt), ebook, CALIBRE SFF 1970s, Temp 1
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DAI-SANBYERIC V. LUSTBADERBy Eric V. LustbaderPublished by FawcettBooks:The Sunset Warrior Cycle:THE SUNSETWARRIORSHALLOWS OF NIGHTDAI-SANBENEATH AN OPALMOONTHE NIN1ASIRENSBLACK HEARTTHE MIKOJIANSHANZEROFRENCH KISSWHITE NINJAANGEL EYESDAI-SANBook Three ofMe SunsetWarrior CycleERIC V.LUS~ERFAWCETT CREST NEW YORKSale of this book without a front cover may beunauthorised. If this book is coverless, it mayhave been reported to the publisher as "unsold ordestroyed" and neither the author nor thepublisher may have received payment for it.All of the characters in this book are fictitious,and any resemblance to actual persons, living ordead, is purely coincidental.The poem on page 204 is adapted from Basho'sDeath Poem in AN tNTRODUCI1ON TOHAIKU by Harold G. Henderson, copyright ~1958 by Harold G. Henderson. Reprinted bypermission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.A Fawcen Crest BookPublished by Ballantine BooksCopyright A) 1978 by Enc Van LustbaderAll rights reserved under International andPan-American Copyright Conventions. Publishedin the United States by Ballantine Books, adivision of Random House, Inc., New York, andsimultaneously in Canada by Random House ofCanada Limited. Toronto.This book may not be reproduced in whole orpart, by mimeograph or any other means, withoutpermission. For information address: Doubleday& Company, inc., 245 Park Avenue, New York,New York 10017.ISBN 0-449-21648-9This edition published by arrangement withDoubleday, a division of Bantam, Doubleday, DellPublishing Group, Inc.Manufactured in the United States of AmericaFirst Ballantine Books Edition: January 1990Fifth Printing: October 1991For the little boy who liveddown the lane Welcome home.ContentsONE DROWNED ISails 3Heart of Stone 29Godgame 57Aviator 77TWO BEYOND THE MYTHSOF MORNING 77Down the Kisokaido 79Sakura 94Bujun 128Deathshed 138THREE KAI-FENG 147Horse Latitudes 149Nemesis 172Frozen Tears 193The Dai-San 228As in the play, the manwears a mask. Beneaththe mask is the myth.Behind the myth is theimage of God.Bujun sayingOneDROWNEDsass|`ONIN.It floated in his mind like a scented jewel. Anisland, an oasis in a turbulent, flashing stream.Life in a shifting void where there should be noother presence.Ronin.Soft and sensual; dusky, alive with a meaningmore than inflection. Crimson letters, a brand offire written across the heavens of his mind.Ronin sat up, peered into the darkness. Thecreakings of the ship cradled him; the gentlesighing of the endless sea. The squat brass lampswung on its chain. Dimly, from above, he heardthe watch bell chime.Imperceptibly, the gloom softened."Moeru?"Yes.He got up. His eyes roamed the small cabin.Then, startled: "But you cannot speak. This is adream."I called youirom sleep.He turned slowly in a circle. The berths in thesloping bulkhead, the narrow shelves, the basin ofwater, a glint of the ocean's phosphorescencereflected through the porthole burnishing thebrass compass. Splash of the creaming water."Where are you?"Here.He moved to the closed door. The tiny glowfrom the spangled night played along the musclesof his naked back.In your mind.He pulled open the door."Who are you?"I do not know.34 brie V. I'ustbaderAnd he went swiftly down the companionway,silently as a cat, to her cabin, to meet her.By the time he came on deck, it was alreadymidway through the dragonfly watch. He went upthe aft companionway to the high poop, crossedto the stern rail. His dark green sea cloakwhipped about his legs in the pre-dawn breeze.High aloft, the thick white canvas of the sails,faintly luminescent with incipient light, cracked;the yards creaked as the ship ran eastward.Behind them, the night shrank back as if in terrorfrom the pearl light of the nascent sun. Theirwake was black.There was already some movement around thefo'c'sle hatch, but he ignored it, staring fixedly outto sea, contemplating the vastness upon whichthey rode."He spends precious time up there." The voicecame from behind him."Hmmm?""Morning, Captain."A tall, thickly muscled figure approached him.Deep hazel eyes flashed.Ronin turned from the rolling sea."Are all navigators like you, Moichi? Sleeplessand ever vigilant?"The wide, thick-lipped mouth split in a grin, thewhite teeth made more startling by contrast withthe rich cinnamon skin."Hah! There are none so fine as myself, Captain.""You mean none so foolhardy as to venture outinto uncharted waters."The smile did not fade as the tall manbrandished a sheet of rice paper."This Bonneduce, he gave me the chart whenhe hired me, Captain.""Your ratter is thick with the details of all thelands to which you have sailed. Yet there is nomention of Ama-nomori."Moichi put his hands into the wide cloth sashbanding his waist, looked down at his high shiningsea boots."This Bonneduce, Captain, he is your friend,am I right?" His bearded head nodded. "Well,should he lie? This chart says there is an islandcalled Ama-no-mori toward which" here hemade a swift sign across his chest "the Oruboruswilling we sail." He glanced up. "I have sailed tomanyDAI-SAN 5ports, Captain; seen things so strange that I tellthem now as tall tales, sitting around a warmhearth in the public room of a tavern in somefly-blown port of call, half-drunk, while everyonelaughs and compliments me on my imagination.Have faith, Captain "There came a soft cry from aloft as the lookoutschanged with the watch. The rigging swung to themen's weight."Hey, you see that sight, Captain?" He pointedfor'ard to the first pink crescent of the sunclimbing over the flat horizon. The color floated tothem, tiny scimitars on the sea's surface. "Long asI see that come cormorant, I know that all's right."He made a sound not unlike an animal's barkbut which Ronin had come to know as thenavigator's laugh."Let me tell you a thing about Moichi Annai-Ninbecause I like you." He paused for a moment,scratching his long nose. "I knew you were nocaptain when first you set foot on board this ship.You love the sea, yes, very much, but your timeupon it is short, am I right?" His dark headbobbed. "Yes, well there is no shame in it, you see.You are a man; I could see that too as soon as Isaw you, and now, sixty-six days later, I know I wasright."The sun spilled its strange flat light over theexpanse of the ocean, lending it a dazzling andillusory solidity. The topsails began to burn bright.He squinted into the pink rising sun."Now most navigators want one thing more thanall else: silver. It makes no difference to themwhere they sail, nor who their masters are, butonly if the cargo is valuable. For the dearer that is,the fatter their percentage when they make port."He slapped his broad chest. "I am different. Oh, Iwill not lie to you and say that I do not enjoy mysilver for most certainly I do." The bright grincame again, ivory cast in dusky granite. "But I liveto fill the ratter with facts and without new landsto sail to, it does not grow. I tell you truthfully,Captain, that when the Bonneduce showed me thechart, I cared not one whit for the Kiaku's cargo.'Let the captain, whoever he may be, care for thecargo,' I said to myself. To sail a fast schooner toan unknown isle; to turn myth into reality; thechance of a lifetime!"Moichi's wide-sleeved blouse rippled in thestrengthening breeze, rolling wavelike across hisbroad chest. He put a hand on the silver pommelof his thick broadsword, which hung within a womtattooed leather scabbard from his right hip. A6 Uric lE Lustbaderpair of copper-handled dirks were thrust into hissash. He turned his head into the rising sun, andthe light fired the tiny diamond set in the flesh ofhis right nostril."This gimpy knows what he is talking about,Captain. The chart is no fake, that I can tell you,for many a forgery has been sold to me in myyouth. It is my great good fortune to take thisbeauty to a land long forgotten by man.""Then it is your opinion that Ama-no-mori stillexists.""Yes, Captain, in my opinion it does." Thedeep-set eyes raked Ronin's face. "But do you notfeel this already" he slapped his chest "here?"Ronin's colorless eyes at last left the roiling seabefore them, swung to study the angular face withits long hooked nose and hooded eyes. A depth ofstrength was alive within that visage as solid as aharsh rock promontory in a fierce gale, barteredbut victorious.Ronin nodded and said slowly: "You are right,my friend, of course. But you must alsounderstand that for me the search for this isle hasbeen long, has forged my life into a shape totallyunknown to me. Now it is almost too much tothink that at last it will be over."Moichi's cinnamon face softened and hegripped Ronin's sho... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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DAI-SANBYERIC V. LUSTBADERBy Eric V. LustbaderPublished by FawcettBooks:The Sunset Warrior Cycle:THE SUNSETWARRIORSHALLOWS OF NIGHTDAI-SANBENEATH AN OPALMOONTHE NIN1ASIRENSBLACK HEARTTHE MIKOJIANSHANZEROFRENCH KISSWHITE NINJAANGEL EYESDAI-SANBook Three ofMe SunsetWarrior CycleERIC V.LUS~ERFAWCETT CREST NEW YORKSale of this book without a front cover may beunauthorised. If this book is coverless, it mayhave been reported to the publisher as "unsold ordestroyed" and neither the author nor thepublisher may have received payment for it.All of the characters in this book are fictitious,and any resemblance to actual persons, living ordead, is purely coincidental.The poem on page 204 is adapted from Basho'sDeath Poem in AN tNTRODUCI1ON TOHAIKU by Harold G. Henderson, copyright ~1958 by Harold G. Henderson. Reprinted bypermission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.A Fawcen Crest BookPublished by Ballantine BooksCopyright A) 1978 by Enc Van LustbaderAll rights reserved under International andPan-American Copyright Conventions. Publishedin the United States by Ballantine Books, adivision of Random House, Inc., New York, andsimultaneously in Canada by Random House ofCanada Limited. Toronto.This book may not be reproduced in whole orpart, by mimeograph or any other means, withoutpermission. For information address: Doubleday& Company, inc., 245 Park Avenue, New York,New York 10017.ISBN 0-449-21648-9This edition published by arrangement withDoubleday, a division of Bantam, Doubleday, DellPublishing Group, Inc.Manufactured in the United States of AmericaFirst Ballantine Books Edition: January 1990Fifth Printing: October 1991For the little boy who liveddown the lane Welcome home.ContentsONE DROWNED ISails 3Heart of Stone 29Godgame 57Aviator 77TWO BEYOND THE MYTHSOF MORNING 77Down the Kisokaido 79Sakura 94Bujun 128Deathshed 138THREE KAI-FENG 147Horse Latitudes 149Nemesis 172Frozen Tears 193The Dai-San 228As in the play, the manwears a mask. Beneaththe mask is the myth.Behind the myth is theimage of God.Bujun sayingOneDROWNEDsass|`ONIN.It floated in his mind like a scented jewel. Anisland, an oasis in a turbulent, flashing stream.Life in a shifting void where there should be noother presence.Ronin.Soft and sensual; dusky, alive with a meaningmore than inflection. Crimson letters, a brand offire written across the heavens of his mind.Ronin sat up, peered into the darkness. Thecreakings of the ship cradled him; the gentlesighing of the endless sea. The squat brass lampswung on its chain. Dimly, from above, he heardthe watch bell chime.Imperceptibly, the gloom softened."Moeru?"Yes.He got up. His eyes roamed the small cabin.Then, startled: "But you cannot speak. This is adream."I called youirom sleep.He turned slowly in a circle. The berths in thesloping bulkhead, the narrow shelves, the basin ofwater, a glint of the ocean's phosphorescencereflected through the porthole burnishing thebrass compass. Splash of the creaming water."Where are you?"Here.He moved to the closed door. The tiny glowfrom the spangled night played along the musclesof his naked back.In your mind.He pulled open the door."Who are you?"I do not know.34 brie V. I'ustbaderAnd he went swiftly down the companionway,silently as a cat, to her cabin, to meet her.By the time he came on deck, it was alreadymidway through the dragonfly watch. He went upthe aft companionway to the high poop, crossedto the stern rail. His dark green sea cloakwhipped about his legs in the pre-dawn breeze.High aloft, the thick white canvas of the sails,faintly luminescent with incipient light, cracked;the yards creaked as the ship ran eastward.Behind them, the night shrank back as if in terrorfrom the pearl light of the nascent sun. Theirwake was black.There was already some movement around thefo'c'sle hatch, but he ignored it, staring fixedly outto sea, contemplating the vastness upon whichthey rode."He spends precious time up there." The voicecame from behind him."Hmmm?""Morning, Captain."A tall, thickly muscled figure approached him.Deep hazel eyes flashed.Ronin turned from the rolling sea."Are all navigators like you, Moichi? Sleeplessand ever vigilant?"The wide, thick-lipped mouth split in a grin, thewhite teeth made more startling by contrast withthe rich cinnamon skin."Hah! There are none so fine as myself, Captain.""You mean none so foolhardy as to venture outinto uncharted waters."The smile did not fade as the tall manbrandished a sheet of rice paper."This Bonneduce, he gave me the chart whenhe hired me, Captain.""Your ratter is thick with the details of all thelands to which you have sailed. Yet there is nomention of Ama-nomori."Moichi put his hands into the wide cloth sashbanding his waist, looked down at his high shiningsea boots."This Bonneduce, Captain, he is your friend,am I right?" His bearded head nodded. "Well,should he lie? This chart says there is an islandcalled Ama-no-mori toward which" here hemade a swift sign across his chest "the Oruboruswilling we sail." He glanced up. "I have sailed tomanyDAI-SAN 5ports, Captain; seen things so strange that I tellthem now as tall tales, sitting around a warmhearth in the public room of a tavern in somefly-blown port of call, half-drunk, while everyonelaughs and compliments me on my imagination.Have faith, Captain "There came a soft cry from aloft as the lookoutschanged with the watch. The rigging swung to themen's weight."Hey, you see that sight, Captain?" He pointedfor'ard to the first pink crescent of the sunclimbing over the flat horizon. The color floated tothem, tiny scimitars on the sea's surface. "Long asI see that come cormorant, I know that all's right."He made a sound not unlike an animal's barkbut which Ronin had come to know as thenavigator's laugh."Let me tell you a thing about Moichi Annai-Ninbecause I like you." He paused for a moment,scratching his long nose. "I knew you were nocaptain when first you set foot on board this ship.You love the sea, yes, very much, but your timeupon it is short, am I right?" His dark headbobbed. "Yes, well there is no shame in it, you see.You are a man; I could see that too as soon as Isaw you, and now, sixty-six days later, I know I wasright."The sun spilled its strange flat light over theexpanse of the ocean, lending it a dazzling andillusory solidity. The topsails began to burn bright.He squinted into the pink rising sun."Now most navigators want one thing more thanall else: silver. It makes no difference to themwhere they sail, nor who their masters are, butonly if the cargo is valuable. For the dearer that is,the fatter their percentage when they make port."He slapped his broad chest. "I am different. Oh, Iwill not lie to you and say that I do not enjoy mysilver for most certainly I do." The bright grincame again, ivory cast in dusky granite. "But I liveto fill the ratter with facts and without new landsto sail to, it does not grow. I tell you truthfully,Captain, that when the Bonneduce showed me thechart, I cared not one whit for the Kiaku's cargo.'Let the captain, whoever he may be, care for thecargo,' I said to myself. To sail a fast schooner toan unknown isle; to turn myth into reality; thechance of a lifetime!"Moichi's wide-sleeved blouse rippled in thestrengthening breeze, rolling wavelike across hisbroad chest. He put a hand on the silver pommelof his thick broadsword, which hung within a womtattooed leather scabbard from his right hip. A6 Uric lE Lustbaderpair of copper-handled dirks were thrust into hissash. He turned his head into the rising sun, andthe light fired the tiny diamond set in the flesh ofhis right nostril."This gimpy knows what he is talking about,Captain. The chart is no fake, that I can tell you,for many a forgery has been sold to me in myyouth. It is my great good fortune to take thisbeauty to a land long forgotten by man.""Then it is your opinion that Ama-no-mori stillexists.""Yes, Captain, in my opinion it does." Thedeep-set eyes raked Ronin's face. "But do you notfeel this already" he slapped his chest "here?"Ronin's colorless eyes at last left the roiling seabefore them, swung to study the angular face withits long hooked nose and hooded eyes. A depth ofstrength was alive within that visage as solid as aharsh rock promontory in a fierce gale, barteredbut victorious.Ronin nodded and said slowly: "You are right,my friend, of course. But you must alsounderstand that for me the search for this isle hasbeen long, has forged my life into a shape totallyunknown to me. Now it is almost too much tothink that at last it will be over."Moichi's cinnamon face softened and hegripped Ronin's sho... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]