Master Li said reasonably.
He strolled over to the table and sat down, and placed the little crown and the Great Root of Power beside the wine jar. Then he opened his smuggler's belt, and the three feathers of the Kings of Birds jumped eagerly into place when he touched them to the rim of the crown.
“It is truly said that men die like trees, from the top down.” Master Li sighed. “If my poor brains had not been riddled by wood rot and little green worms I might have considered the fact that Miser Shen was not jealous of Number Ten Ox, and Number Ten Ox was not jealous of Miser Shen. None of Lotus Cloud's lovers was ever jealous. Now that simply isn't human if we're talking about love, but it is very human indeed if we're talking about worship. One is not jealous of a fellow-worshipper, and the pure in heart will always recognize a goddess. I have had occasion to mention the purity of Ox's heart, and beneath his repulsive exterior Miser Shen was solid gold. I have no doubt that her other lovers were equally admirable, which is why I was unable to recognize the young lady myself.”
He stood up and bowed to Lotus Cloud again.
“There is,” said Master Li, “a slight flaw in my character.”
He sat down and filled two cups from the wine jar and slid them across the table toward Lotus Cloud and me. Then he picked up one of the jewels that he had shown to the Key Rabbit.
“My stupidity was such that I remained unaware of the obvious until I found this,” he said sadly. “It is a very rare pearl, jet-black, with one small white flaw in the shape of a star. Lotus Cloud, I once gave this pearl to Ox, who rolled it toward your feet. The next time I saw it was in a drowned city, where it was lying beside the casket that contained the duke's heart. Dear girl, I knew very well that you forgot about a gift of pearls and jade ten minutes after you received it, but it never occurred to me to wonder what happened to the stuff.”
He turned and thoughtfully examined the crumpled robe upon the floor.
“The Duke of Ch'in was abysmally stupid, but on one occasion he showed real intelligence,” Master Li said. “After removing the memory of the Princess of Birds, the Old Man of the Mountain almost certainly offered to transform her into a raindrop or a rose petal, for a stiff price, but the duke knew better. He lived only for money, and if he left Jade Pearl precisely as she was he would have something that was worth a thousand gold mines. You see, it is in the nature of men to worship a goddess and to bring her valuable offerings, and it is in the nature of a goddess to accept their worship and their offerings. The men are not being lecherous. The goddess is neither greedy nor promiscuous. They are merely acting out roles that were ordained at the beginning of time, and to my own certain knowledge Lotus Cloud has collected more pearls and jade than the entire army of the Duke of Ch'in. Every bit of it has wound up in treasure troves guarded by monsters.”
Cold fingers were crawling over my spine, and I lifted my cup and drained it at a gulp. Lotus Cloud stood frozen, with her cup halfway to her lips.
“I don't believe it,” she whispered.
“I'll bet that the duke also struggled with disbelief,” Master Li said. Then he began to laugh—a real belly laugh, with a happy whoop at the end. “There is something indescribably comic about the greediest man in the whole world who gets his hands on the least acquisitive goddess in history,” he panted, wiping tears from his eyes. “Ox, the duke must have suffered terribly from ulcers until he discovered Lotus Cloud's one weak spot. Think about it. Think very carefully about pearls and jade, because it may help you to do something unpleasant.”
He refilled my cup while I tried to think about pearls and jade. My mind refused to function at all, but something from deep down was trying to work its way up, so I stopped trying to think and let whatever it was take over. I closed my eyes tightly, and then I was inside a strange world of glowing milky whiteness, and a thirteen- year-old girl was looking at me gravely.
“Ever since we held hands and recited the Orphan's Song, I knew that you would fall in love with Lotus Cloud,” Mouse said softly. “Ox, you must use all of your strength to touch the queen before the count reaches forty-nine. Forty-nine can mean for ever and ever and ever.” Mouse was fading into the whiteness. “Is not a thousand years enough?” she said faintly. “The birds must fly…. The birds must fly…. The birds must fly….”
The image was gone, and I remembered that the world had been white because in my dream I had been inside a pearl, and with a sudden shock I understood the meaning of the pearl.
I opened my eyes to find Li Kao looking at me with a stern expression, but kindly eyes.
“Number Ten Ox, in a little while the watchman will rap three times, and the seventh day of the seventh moon will have come and gone,” he said quietly. “For the thousandth time the Star Shepherd will gaze down from the Great River at an empty sky, and for the thousandth time he will weep bitter tears. Thus he will weep throughout eternity, considering that the Emperor of Heaven quoted the odds against bringing the princess back to the stars at one in ten thousand billion trillion. Of course there is a slight chance that somebody might want to give the Celestial Bookmaker a heart attack.”
Master Li slid the crown toward me. I blinked through my tears and picked it up. This was the only life that Lotus Cloud could remember, and she backed away fearfully.
“No,” she whispered. “I love you, and you love me, and we can find a desert island and live happily ever after!”
“That's the point,” I sniffled. “Ever after is such a very long time.”
“I am afraid,” Lotus Cloud said desperately. “I don't want to be changed into something strange.”
“Oh yes, you do,” I said sadly. “Lotus Cloud, you yawned in the presence of diamonds. Emeralds bored you to tears. I gave you a casket of gold, which you handed to the first person who asked for it. You have never asked for a new dress, and you wouldn't know what to do with a servant, but everything changed when I brought you pearls and jade. You could never quite remember, but you could never quite forget, and your eyes grew wide with hope and wonder, and your face was transfigured by longing, and a soul-shaking desire wracked your whole body, and with trembling hands you reached not toward pearls and jade, but toward yourself.”
My heart was breaking as I maneuvered her into a corner. “Pearls and jade, and the name of the Princess of Birds,” I said gently, “was Jade Pearl.”
Then I reached out and placed the little golden crown upon the head of the woman I loved.
30. China!
I suppose that there is only a slight chance that a person will be called upon to rescue a goddess, but the odds will increase dramatically if the person is as illustrious as are my readers, so I will offer two pieces of advice.
Beware of her divine light, and take cover.
No sooner had the crown touched Lotus Cloud's head than I was nearly blinded, and I sank to my knees and gazed at dancing black spots and bright orange pinwheels. Even then I could see in my heart that she had moved away from me, and when my eyes adjusted to the unearthly glow I saw that my beloved Lotus Cloud had picked up the Great Root of Power from the table and had walked outside to the garden. She was surrounded by a shimmering nimbus, and the crown upon her head flickered like fire. The Princess of Birds paid no attention to me, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Dear boy, she has a great many things to think about,” Master Li said kindly. “Sit down with me at the table and have a drink. Have six or seven.”
In the garden the dogs were crouched over the tiny pile of dust that had been the heart of their master. They were as still as statues. Lotus Cloud lifted her face to the night sky and uttered a low cry that was neither a song nor a whistle, but something in between, and the dogs jerked their heads up and appeared to be listening to a distant echo. Then Lotus Cloud dropped to her knees and bowed her head and clasped her hands together. She prayed for many minutes, and then she humbly banged her head against the ground. Lotus Cloud got to her feet and bowed her head over the Great Root, and for another minute she silently communed with her godmother. Then the Princess of Birds turned and lifted the Queen of Ginseng toward the huge looming shape of the Castle of the Labyrinth.
Master Li grabbed the wine jar. He told me to follow his example, and then he crawled beneath the sturdy table and arranged some heavy pillows for further protection. “Ever since I was a wee lad, I have been addicted to spectacular endings,” he said nostalgically. “Pass your cup.”
