Page 94 of Tiger's Voyage
“At the celebration of every New Year, young girls were chosen to learn this skill. They gather around a bowl of water and dip their fingers in at the edges. A needle is then placed on the surface of the water and spun. When it stops, the girl who the needle points to is taken away for special training in embroidery.
“Baby girls born with slender, long fingers were watched carefully in the hope that they might bring the family fame and fortune through the art. I was such a child. I was praised as being the most talented worker of the needle in the entire empire, and the designs I created were highly sought after by the wealthiest of men. My father received fifty offers of marriage for me before I turned sixteen, but he rejected them all. He was a proud man and thought I might get even better offers as I grew into my skill.”
“Then how did you meet the one you came to love?”
She clucked her tongue. “Patience, young one. To create something beautiful takes practice and much patience.”
“I’m sorry. Please continue.”
She leaned over to peruse my work. “You have some skill with the thread, but you need to take out the last two and do them again. They are spaced just a bit too far apart.”
I peered closely at the fabric. They looked exactly even to me, but it was her project, so I obediently took them out and started again.
“A few years later, at age twenty, I met someone, a handsome young man who worked with silk. His family formed the worms, spun, and dyed the threads, and they were very good, the best in the country. Once I felt the fine thread and had seen the perfection in the coloring, I made a point of only ordering from them.
“I’d been commissioned to make a wardrobe for the future bride of the emperor. He’d planned a fantastic ceremony though he still hadn’t selected the lucky woman. My father was paid handsomely to bring me to the palace. I was to live there for a year and sew marvelous clothing and a bridal veil for the emperor’s new wife. The prospect was exciting to such a young girl. I was given generous living arrangements near the emperor himself, and I wanted for nothing. When my family was allowed to visit from time to time, I could see the joy my being there brought to them.
“There were only two problems. The first was that the emperor was very selective and his tastes changed every day. He visited me every week to check on my progress. I would only just begin a design, and then he would change his mind. He’d want birds one week, flowers the next, gold one week, then silver and blue, red, the lightest lavender, the richest purple, and so on. The man changed his mind more often than he changed his bathwater. Perhaps that was why he took so long to select a bride.”
I laughed quietly.
She frowned. “The second problem was that he soon began to make romantic overtures on his visits. When I would mention his fiancée, he would laugh and say, ‘I’m sure she won’t mind. I haven’t even decided which woman to choose, but I should marry by the end of the year. An emperor needs heirs, don’t you think? We have plenty of time to get to know one another in the meanwhile, eh, my sweet?’ I’d nod and tell him I was busy and usually he left me alone.
“Because of the emperor’s eclectic and varied tastes, I became very familiar with the young man who delivered the silk fabrics. He was kept very busy bringing new thread and material. Sometimes he’d sit and talk with me as I sewed. Soon I began to look forward to his visits, and it wasn’t much later that I started to invent new reasons to have him come. I often found myself daydreaming of him, and my work began to suffer.
“Though I loved sewing, I lost enthusiasm for the emperor’s projects and attentions. I stared out the window one day when I saw my young man walk across the courtyard. Inspiration struck, and I became excited about starting a new project, one thatIwanted to do. I’d never made anything uncommissioned before. I’d been working for others since I was a young girl and never had any extra time. I envisioned in my head exactly what I wanted to create—a gift for my young silkmaker. I couldn’t sleep, so enthralled was I by my task.
“Day and night I worked, knowing my young man would visit me again at the end of the next week. At last, he knocked on the door. I hid my creation behind my back as I asked him to enter. He greeted me with a warm smile and set down his package. ‘I have something for you,’ I said.
“‘What is it?’
“‘A gift. Something I made for you.’
“His eyes lit up with surprise and happiness as I handed him the present I’d wrapped in brown paper. He carefully opened it and picked up the scarf. Mulberry trees ran down the length of the golden fabric, and silkworm cocoons hung from the branches. White silkworm moths sat on some of the leaves, and silken threads of every hue were wound around a shuttle on either end of the scarf. He held it gently in his hands and touched an embroidered leaf. ‘It’s lovely,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been given anything so fine.’
“‘It was nothing,’ I stammered.
“‘No. I know how long this must have taken you. You have given me something very valuable.’
“I lowered my eyes and hesitantly said, ‘I would give you more … if you asked.’ That was when he touched me. He simply took a step forward and brushed the back of his fingers across my cheek. ‘I cannot … be with you,’ he said.
“‘Oh,’ I said, disappointed, and stepped away.
“He pressed on, ‘Ah, you misunderstand. If there was anything I could do to make you mine, I would not hesitate. But I am not a rich man. Surely not rich enough for one such as you. But Iwouldchoose you if I could.’ He cupped my cheek with his palm. ‘Please believe this,’ he said.
“I nodded, and as he left, I tried to accept that we could not be together. Still, I watched for him week after week and as the year passed, we fell deeply in love. Though it would bring shame and disappointment to my family, I told him that my love for him was too strong to deny. We made plans to secretly elope and marry as soon as I was finished with the emperor’s commission. We would give all the riches to my family and leave. He would take some silkworms, and I would bring my skill, and together we could start anew in a province far away.
“Finally, the year was up, and the emperor let me finish the veil. It was fine work. Not my finest, for that belonged to the one I loved, but it was pretty. The veil was light pink with dark pink roses embroidered around the edges. When I presented it to the emperor, he lifted it over my head and pronounced that he was now ready to marry his bride. Then he suggested that I should prepare myself.
“‘Prepare myself for what?’ I asked.
“‘For the wedding, of course.’
“‘Am I to assist your fiancée with the veil?’
“‘No, my dear. Youaremy fiancée.’
“Women came into the room to help prepare me. I panicked and begged the emperor for another day. I told him I needed to speak with my father. He responded that my father had happily agreed to the marriage and was waiting to escort me. Thinking frantically, I stammered that I wanted to make him a rose kerchief to match my veil. He patted my cheek and said that he was feeling generous and would indulge me. He would give me one more day.
