airs to a crowded little hallway on the second floor. In a space about the size of two 
tatami mats were gathered not only Mameha and me, as well as the maid who'd shown us 
up, but also three other young women and a tall, thin cook in a crisp apron. They all looked at 
me warily, except for the cook, who draped a towel over her shoulder and began to whet a 
knife of the sort used to chop the heads off fish. I felt like a slab of tuna the grocer had just 
delivered, because I could see now that I was the one who was going to do the bleeding. 


"Mameha-san ..." I said. 

"Now, Sayuri, I know what you're going to say," she told me- which was interesting, because 
I had no idea myself what I was going to say. "Before I became your older sister, didn't you 
promise to do exactly as I told you?" 

"If I'd known it would include having my liver cut out-" 

"No one's going to cut out your liver," said the cook, in a tone that was supposed to make me 
feel much better, but didn't. 

"Sayuri, we're going to put a little cut in your skin," Mameha said. "Just a little one, so you 
can go to the hospital and meet a certain doctor. You know the man I mentioned to you? 
He's a doctor." 

"Can't I just pretend to have a stomachache?" 

I was perfectly serious when I said this, but everyone seemed to think I'd made a clever joke, 
for they all laughed, even Mameha. 

"Sayuri, we all have your best interests at heart," Mameha said. "We only need to make you 
bleed a little, just enough so the Doctor will be willing to look at you." 

In a moment the cook finished sharpening the knife and came to stand before me as calmly 
as if she were going to help me with my makeup-except that she was holding a knife, for 
heaven's sake. Kazuko, the elderly maid who had shown us in, pulled my collar aside with 
both hands. I felt myself beginning to panic; but fortunately Mameha spoke up. 

"We're going to put the cut on her leg," she said. 

"Not the leg," said Kazuko. "The neck is so much more erotic." 

"Sayuri, please turn around and show Kazuko the hole in the back of your kimono," Mameha 
said to me. When I'd done as she asked, she went on, "Now, Kazuko-san, how will we 
explain this tear in the back of her kimono if the cut is on her neck and not her leg?" 

"How are the two things related?" Kazuko said. "She's wearing a torn kimono, and she has a 
cut on her neck." 

"I don't know what Kazuko keeps gabbing on about," the cook said. "Just tell me where you 
want me to cut her, Mameha-san, and I'll cut her." 

I'm sure I should have been pleased to hear this, but somehow I wasn't. 

Mameha sent one of the young maids to fetch a red pigment stick of the sort used for 
shading the lips, and then put it through the hole in my kimono and swiftly rubbed a mark 
high up on the back of my thigh. 

"You must place the cut exactly there," Mameha said to the cook. 

I opened my mouth, but before I could even speak, Mameha told me, "Just lie down and be 
quiet, Sayuri. If you slow us down any further, I'm going to be very angry." 


I'd be lying if I said I wanted to obey her; but of course, I had no choice. So I lay down on a 
sheet spread out on the wooden floor and closed my eyes while Mameha pulled my robe up 
until I was exposed almost to the hip. 

"Remember that if the cut needs to be deeper, you can always do it again," Mameha said. 
"Start with the shallowest cut you can make." 

I bit my lip the moment I felt the tip of the knife. I'm afraid I may have let out a little squeal as 
well, though I can't be sure. In any case, I felt some pressure, and then Mameha said: 

"Not that shallow. You've scarcely cut through the first layer of skin." 

"It looks like lips," Kazuko said to the cook. "You've put a line right in the middle of a red 
smudge, and it looks like a pair of lips. The Doctor's going to laugh." 

Mameha agreed and wiped off the makeup after the cook assured her she could find the 
spot. In a moment I felt the pressure of the knife again. 

I've never been good at the sight of blood. You may recall how I fainted after cutting my lip 
the day I met Mr. Tanaka. So you can probably imagine how I felt when I twisted around and 
saw a rivulet of blood snaking down my leg onto a towel Mameha held against the inside of 
my thigh. I lapsed into such a state when I saw it that I have no memory at all of what 
happened next-of being helped into the rickshaw, or of anything at all about the ride, until we 
neared the hospital and Mameha rocked my head from side to side to get my attention. 

"Now listen to me! I'm sure you've heard over and over that your job as an apprentice is to 
impress other geisha, since they're the ones who will help you in your career, and not to 
worry about what the men think. Well, forget about all that! It isn't going to work that way in 
your case. Your future depends on two men, as I've told you, and you're about to meet one 
of them. You must make the right impression. Are you listening to me?" 

"Yes, ma'am, every word," I muttered. 

"When you're asked how you cut your leg, the answer is, you were trying to go to the 
bathroom in kimono, and you fell onto something sharp. You don't even know what it was, 
because you fainted. Make up all the details you want; just be sure to sound very childish. 
And act helpless when we go inside. Let me see you do it." 

Well, I laid my head back and let my eyes roll up into my head. I suppose that's how I was 
really feeling, but Mameha wasn't at all pleased. 

"I didn't say act dead. I said act helpless. Like this . . ." 

Mameha put on a dazed look, as if she couldn't make up her mind even where she should 
point her eyes, and kept her hand to her cheek as though she were feeling faint. She made 
me imitate that look until she was satisfied. I began my performance as the driver helped me 
to the entrance of the hospital. Mameha walked beside me, tugging my robe this way and 
that to be sure I still looked attractive. 

We entered through the swinging wooden doors and asked for the hospital director; Mameha 
said he was expecting us. Finally a nurse showed us down a long hallway to a dusty room 
with a wooden table and a plain folding screen blocking the windows. While we waited, 
Mameha took off the towel she'd wrapped around my leg and threw it into a wastebasket. 


"Remember, Sayuri," she nearly hissed, "we want the Doctor to see you looking as innocent 
and as helpless as possible. Lie back and try to look weak." 

I had no difficulty at all with this. A moment later the door opened and in came Dr. Crab. Of 
course, his name wasn't really Dr. Crab, but if you'd seen him I'm sure the same name would 
have occurred to you, because he had his shoulders hunched up and his elbows sticking out 
so much, he couldn't have done a better imitation of a crab if he'd made a study of it. He 
even led with one shoulder when he walked, just like a crab moving along sideways. He had 
a mustache on his face, and was very pleased to see Mameha, though more with an 
expression of surprise in his eyes than with a smile. 

Dr. Crab was a methodical and orderly man. When he closed the door, he turned the handle 
first so the latch wouldn't make noise, and then gave an extra press on the door to be sure it 
was shut. After this 

he took a case from his coat pocket and opened it very cautiously, as though he might spill 
something if he wasn't careful; but all it contained was another pair of glasses. When he'd 
exchanged the glasses he wore, he replaced the case in his pocket and then smoothed his 
coat with his hands. Finally he peered at me and gave a brisk little nod, whereupon Mameha 
said: 

"I'm so sorry to trouble you, Doctor. But Sayuri has such a bright future before her, and now 
she's had the misfortune of cutting her leg! What with the possibility of scars, and infections 
and the like, well, I thought you were the only person to treat her." 

"Just so," said Dr. Crab. "Now perhaps I might have a look at the injury?" 

"I'm afraid Sayuri gets weak at the sight of blood, Doctor," Mameha said. "It might be best if 
she simply turned away and let you examine the wound for yourself. It's on the back of her 
thigh." 

"I understand perfectly. Perhaps you'd be kind enough to ask that she lie on her stomach on 
the examination table?" 

I couldn't understand why Dr. Crab didn't ask me himself; but to seem obedient, I waited until 
I'd heard the words from Mameha. Then the Doctor raised my robe almost to my hips, and 
brought over a cloth and some sort of smelly liquid, which he rubbed on my thigh before 
saying, "Sayuri-san, please be kind enough to tell me how the wound was inflicted." 

I took a deep, exaggerated breath, still doing my best to seem as weak as possible. "Well, 
I'm rather embarrassed," I began, "but the truth is that I was . . . drinking a good deal of tea 
this afternoon-" 

"Sayuri has just begun her apprenticeship," Mameha said. "I was introducing her around 
Gion. Naturally, everyone wanted to invite her in for tea." 

"Yes, I can imagine," the Doctor said. 

"In any case," I went on, "I suddenly felt that I had to ... well, you know ..." 

"Drinking excessive amounts of tea can lead to a strong urge to relieve the bladder," the 
Doctor said. 


"Oh, thank you. And in fact. . . well, 'strong urge' is an understatement, because I was afraid 
that in another moment everything would begin to look yellow to me, if you know what I mean 
..." 

"Just tell the Doctor what happened, Sayuri," said Mameha. 

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just mean to say that I had to use the toilet very bad ... so bad that when 
I finally reached it ... well, I was struggling with my kimono, and I must have lost my balance. 
When I fell, my leg came against something sharp. I don't even know what it was. I