Book report on “Memoirs of a Geisha” / CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2
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【Nitta Okiya】
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★Granny 
     She was old and shriveled. She looked as if she spent her years stewing herself 
into a state of concentrated meanness. 
She wasn’t frowning exactly, but her mouth made the shape of a frown in its natural state anyway.

★Mother
     She was very fond of money. She was a bit on the plump side, 
with stubby fingers and a fat neck. 
She wore a very elegant kimono. But she was ugly. 

★Auntie
     She was an older woman, tall and knobby, kike a bamboo pale. 
She was very kind to Chiyo. She cared of the okiya’s hold.

★Hatsumomo <age 24>
     She was an exquisitely beautiful woman, and one of the most renowned geisha in Gion. 
She was like empress in the okiya since she earned the income by which they all lived. 
And she was devilish cruelty, nasty, clever woman. 
She was bent on destroying Chiyo’s life from the moment she met Chiyo.

★Pumpkin <age 9>
     She was the same age as Chiyo. She’d arrived in the okiya nearly six months before Chiyo. 
Her face was truly so plump and so soft, with the tongue curling out like a pumpkin stem. 
Chiyo did given her the nickname of “Pumpkin.” 
She was an awkward girl, but she was sweet and kind.

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■Schooling
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     About a month after Chiyo did arrived in the okiya, 
Mother told her the time had come to begin her schooling. 
The following morning Chiyo was to accompany Pumpkin. 
Chiyo expected that she’d find Satsu there. But she couldn’t. 
At the Gion Registry Office, she was told that Satsu isn’t in Gion at all.

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■Hatsumomo’s Dark SchemeＩ
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     One night Hatsumomo got a beautiful kimono. It was a work of art. 
This kimono belonging to the geisha who named Mameha. 
Hatsumomo hates anyone more successful than her. 
So she hated Mameha worse than anyone else on earth. . .
She fetched an inkstone and a stick of ink, as well as a brush for calligraphy. 
Then she put a brush into Chiyo’s hand, and held Chiyo’s hand over the lovely kimono, 
and said to Chiyo: “Practice your calligraphy, little Chiyo, 
if you want to know where your older sister is, don’t make me say anything twice tonight.”
     Chiyo didn’t believe her, but Hatsumomo had the power to make Chiyo’s life miserable 
in any way she wanted. Chiyo had no choice but to obey. 
     Of course Mother, Granny and Auntie found out about the kimono.
“As for the kimono, someone has to pay for it. There’s no dispute about who was holding the brush. 
The maid saw Chiyo doing it. Chiyo will pay,” said Mother. 
“The girl should be beaten and made to repay the cost of the kimono,” said Granny. 
Auntie beats Chiyo with a bamboo pole.

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■The Debts
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     When Chiyo alone with Auntie, she explained to Chiyo about her debts. 
That was great shock for Chiyo.
     “You must never trust Hatsumomo, not even if she tries to help you. 
Already she’s burdened you with so much debt you may never imagined in your life.” 
“When you begin working as a geisha, you’ll pay the okiya back for it, 
along with everything else you’ll owe ─your meals and lessons; 
if you get sick, your doctor’s fees. You pay all of that yourself. 
You owe the okiya even for the money it cost to acquire you.” 
She’d wondered with horror whether Mr. Tanaka had made money by 
helping to sell they, and how much they had cost. 
But she’d never imagined that she herself would has to repay it.”

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■Find Out Satsu
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     “Your sister is in a jorou-ya (shorehouse) called Tatsuyo.”
Hatsumomo told Chiyo. Chiyo managed to meet Satsu and they promised to get away together.

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■Hatsumomo’s Dark SchemeII
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     When Chiyo ran back from “Tatsuyo”, Hatsumomo had dragged 
her boyfriend into the okiya. 
Her boyfriend angered because he thought Chiyo spied on them. 
He was gone. Hatsumomo was furious.
     “You want to run away with your sister, don’t you? I think that’s a fine idea. 
The sooner you’re out of the okiya, the better for me.” said Hatsumomo. 
She tucked the money beneath the sash of Chiyo’s robe. “Just take it. 
You’ll repay me by getting yourself out of Kyoto so I’ll never have to see you again.”
     And then she did the strangest thing. She turned Chiyo around to face her again, 
and began to stroke the side of Chiyo’s head with her hand, 
wearing an almost motherly gaze. Chiyo felt as if a poisonous snake 
had come up and begun to rub against her like a cat.
     Then before Chiyo knew what Hatsumomo was doing, she worked her fingers down to Chiyo’s scalp; 
and all at once she clenched her teeth in fury and took a great handful of Chiyo’s hair, 
and yanked it to one side so hard Chiyo fell to her knees and cried out. 
Hatsumomo began leading Chiyo up the stairs yanking her hair this way and that. 
Hatsumomo was shouting at Chiyo in anger, while Chiyo screamed so loudly.
     Hatsumomo said to Mother, “This stupid girl stole my jewelry!
I saw Chiyo handing something over to a man at the end of the alleyway. 
Chiyo may have sold my emerald brooch to raise money. 
She’s planning to run away form the okiya!” Mother said, 
“Particularly since it will cost you a good deal more to replace it.”
     Chiyo knew she was trapped in a web Hatsumomo had spun for her…

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■Try to Run Away from the Okiya
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     The very night that Satsu and Chiyo had arranged to run away, Chiyo tried. 
But she couldn’t. Because she fell down from the roof, she’d broken her arm and caught. 
Chiyo was struck so hard she couldn’t even draw a breath.
     As it turned out she’ll neither run away again nor be a geisha.
Auntie cried, “You’ll never be a geisha now. 
I warned you not to make a mistake like this! 
And now there’s nothing I or anyone else can do to help you.” 
So Chiyo will be like as a maid all her life.
     Then as one misfortune followed another, she received the news
that her parents had died and Satsu ran off with her boyfriend.