Song of the Spring Moon Waning

by E. E. Ottoman

  From behind him at the table of students, someone laughed loudly in a way that made Wen Yu's chest ache and heart clench. Wen Yu pushed his empty bowl over to Zhi Ping and stood, heading for the doorway.

  That night, he was awakened from where he'd been dozing, bent over his writing desk, by a scraping noise coming from just outside his door. Wen Yu jerked upright, blinking back sleep, his ears straining for any sound. The sun was beginning to creep above the horizon, bathing the room in pale light. The noise came again, a low scrape, and then a piece of paper was pushed under the door.

  Wen Yu stood quickly, straightening his tunic and stumbled towards the door, wrenching it open. A young man in expensive-looking clothes looked up, startled, and Wen Yu gripped him by the collar of his long tunic and hauled him through the door.

  "All right, then, why are you skulking about, putting notes under my door?" Wen Yu tried to sound stern and not like he'd been drooling all over his notes a moment ago.

  "Apologies, honorable student. I was sent to give you this note, since there had been no reply to the last one." The young man looked down meaningfully at the note on the floor.

  "You were sent by Liu Yi?" Wen Yu let go of the young man and rubbed one hand across his eyes. "Wait here for a moment."

  He went back to his desk, grabbing a brush and an ink stone, and reached for the first note, turning it over and scrawling across the back.

  Many apologies, but I do not know of the thrush that you speak of. Once more, I must beg a thousand apologies for causing you any inconvenience.

  He signed it and handed it over to the young man, who bowed and turned to go.

  "Tell Liu Yi I hope he finds whoever has made off with his songbird," he called after the young man.

  The sun was high enough now that Wen Yu thought he should probably eat some rice and start on the day's studies. As he went to heat the water for tea, he hoped this would be the last of the business regarding birds.

  Many hours later, when the sun was going down, Wen Yu was startled out of his studies by a rapping on the door. He stood, wondering who it could be, and moved across the room to open it. The young man from that morning stood on the other side. Without speaking, he held out yet another note to Wen Yu, who took it and opened it.

  Are you certain, honorable student, that you do not have my song thrush and have not simply misplaced it? I am quite sure that the address to which I have been directing these letters is correct. Are you claiming that you are not the honorable student, Wang Boa?

  Wen Yu reached for a brush and turned over the note.

  I am quite sure I do not have your thrush, he wrote. Nor I am the student Wang Boa. I am honorable student Wen Yu. I have not lived in this apartment long, though, so it is possible the Wang Boa of which you speak lived here before me. I send my deepest sympathies for the loss of your bird.

  He handed the note back to the young man, who bowed and left again. Wen Yu massaged the back of his neck and went to find something to eat.

  Two

  The incident with the tortoise happened two days later.

  He was making his way back from the paper shop, a slim bundle of new sheets in his arms. Wen Yu was in such a hurry to get back to his rooms and make up for the lost time in his studies that he almost walked right by it. Catching sight of something amiss in the space between a low building of student apartments and a dumpling shop, he doubled back. The tortoise stood on the packed-down earth of the alley next to a small puddle of brackish water. It was not a large tortoise, actually on the smallish side, and it was a dull green, its head cocked and alert as it scanned the area.

  "What are you doing here?" Wen Yu wondered aloud, stopping in front of the small space and crouching down. "You should be by the river, not here on this busy street."

  "I am waiting for you," the tortoise said. "You are honorable student Wen Yu, are you not?"

  Wen Yu stared down at the tortoise, his mouth open for a long few moments as his brain refused to work. Too many hours memorizing the words of Confucius, Wen Yu thought distantly, had turned his brain to mush.

  "Are you quite all right, honorable student?" the tortoise asked. Its voice was deep and melodic, with a certain measured quality that reminded Wen Yu of the eldest of his tutors.

  Wen Yu began to shake all over. "No, I don't think I am."

  "I would suggest you go back to your room and drink some medicinal herbal tea," the tortoise told him. "You will need your strength. Have you ever heard of the Moon Poems, honorable student?"

  Wen Yu's mind collected itself enough to realize the name was not familiar to him then it shut down again in protest. He shook his head.

  The tortoise slowly moved its head from side to side, regarding Wen Yu. "You will, soon enough. You have been chosen to translate them, honorable student."

  Coming from a person and not a tortoise, Wen Yu would have been elated. Literature was his specialty, after all. Since the news was in fact coming from a talking tortoise, he just stared at the creature, wondering when he was going to wake up and realize he'd rolled into the wall again.

  "I must go now." The tortoise blinked at him. "You would do well to drink some medicinal tea, I think, Wen Yu."

  With that, it turned and made its way back down the alley while Wen Yu watched, open-mouthed.

  When he was young, he and Shi Fei had often played together near a small pond on Shi Fei's father's property. There had been turtles in the water, and they had often watched them swim and sun themselves on stones. None of them had ever spoken to him; they'd been normal turtles and had only done normal turtle things. Then again, Wen Yu had almost no experience with tortoises. He was fairly certain, though, that they didn't talk any more than turtles did. How would Shi Fei react to all this, talking tortoises and the like, Wen Yu had no idea. She'd probably say something practical and arrange for him to see the best doctor money could buy.

  Still, perhaps it was because of the tortoise that Wen Yu dreamed of the pond that night.

  The sky was blue above his head, clear and bright with only a few wisps of clouds. Far off, the row of trees rustled in the breeze. The branches of the willow by the pond gently swayed as the wind picked up, brushing along the surface of the water and causing it to ripple. A bird sang from the tree, its voice clear and sweet. Wen Yu found himself walking towards the pond. He wasn't dressed in his trousers and tunic any longer, but the long, flowing robes of a scholar bureaucrat. He ran his fingers over the fine silk, wondering if this was some sort of a sign. Perhaps his future was bright after all.

  As he approached the pond, he caught sight of a tortoise sunning itself on a rock beside the water. Wen Yu's boots crunched on the stones surrounding the pond, and the tortoise turned towards him. With a start, Wen Yu realized it was the same tortoise as from early that day in the alley.

  "Honorable student Wen Yu," the tortoise greeted him, its deep tone unmistakable. "Or should I say honorable scholar Wen Yu?" He sounded both pleased and slightly amused. "I hope you are feeling better, for it is almost time for you to do that which you were chosen for."

  "He's coming." A sweet, high voice rang out, and Wen Yu looked up to see a dark form flutter from the branches of the willow. It was a thrush, and it landed on the gravel quite close the tortoise. "He'll be here soon, although he's taking his own sweet time about it." The thrush ruffled its feathers, cocked its head at Wen Yu, before turning to look at the tortoise. "So you found another one."

  "He is a scholar." The tortoise blinked slowly. "He will be able to translate the Moon Poems."

  "Are you sure?" The thrush looked back at him.

  It was all fine and good for there to be talking animals in a dream, but it was a very different story if they talked to him when he was awake. He looked away from them, up at the field that ended with a row of trees. There was someone moving towards him through the field. Wen Yu squinted, raising one hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

  The figure coming towards him wore silk robes very much like
his own, except with bright-colored brocade patterns along the bottom, nearly to the waist, and on each sleeve. It might have depicted birds, but at this distance, he couldn't be sure.

  "Good, he's finally here," the thrush said. "Took his time about it too."

  Back in his tiny room in Imperial City, Wen Yu jerked awake to the sound of tapping at his window.

  Wen Yu stumbled up and over to the window, opening the shutters in time for a small brown bird to flutter in. The bird circled the room and then came to rest on the edge of Wen Yu's wash bucket.

  "No, no." Wen Yu made for the bird, still half-asleep. "You shouldn't be in here, little one, this isn't where you belong."

  The bird chirped at him but stayed where it was, remarkably unafraid. Wen Yu peered at it, trying to push away the fog of sleep that crowed all the good sense out of his mind. Eventually he concluded that the bird was a thrush.

  "Good." Wen Yu stomped back over to his blankets. "I suppose you are going to want to talk to me too? You'll have to wait. I'm sleeping." To drive his point home, he lay down and wrapped himself in his blanket again, rolling to face away from the bird.

  The bird chirruped but did not speak.

  Wen Yu nestled into the blankets, feeling remarkably peaceful for the first time in what felt like years. He knew he should get up and begin his studies again, but the blankets were warm and soft. Maybe it would be all right if he slept a little longer.

  He dozed in the warmth of his blankets, woken again sometime later by the sound of the bird pecking at his window shutters, this time from the inside of the room. Wen Yu sat up and yawned, then scrubbed one hand across his face. He stood and went to the kettle to make his morning tea. Tea in hand, Wen Yu idly watched the bird cling to the shutters as he took a sip. The tea was good, hot and invigorating; drinking tea instead of wine was supposed to the make the senses keener, or so he'd been told.

  A thought formed in the back of his mind and traveled along its inner recesses until it met another thought, and the two together began the trek to the front of Wen Yu's consciousness.

  Wen Yu set aside his tea. He knew of someone looking for a thrush.

  *~*~*

  Birds, it turned out, were surprisingly hard to catch without hurting the bird or himself in the process. He only managed it halfway, ending up with bruised shins but an undamaged thrush. He threw the water in the bucket out the window, upending it over the bird. With a now-snared thrush, Wen Yu dressed with all due speed and went out to buy a birdcage.

  "This is a very nice birdcage," the man at the shop told Wen Yu, who eyed it.

  It looked small to him, even for a small bird like a thrush. Maybe it was actually a large cricket cage. It was also quite a bit above his price range. Wen Yu turned it over in his hands and knew that if he were to buy it he wouldn't be spending time at Zhi Ping's noodle shop any time soon.

  "It's very well crafted." The balding merchant ran one plump pink hand across the tiny birdcage in a loving manner. "Very popular, this design. Very fashionable these days; your lady wife will be pleased with this purchase."

  "Do you have something a little bigger?" Wen Yu asked. "Maybe bamboo?"

  The merchant dropped his hand, not looking at all pleased, probably because the bamboo cages were cheaper. "We do have this one, honorable student." He bustled into the back of the shop and came back with a much larger bamboo cage. "But I would recommend this if you keep a lot of birds; the smaller ones are really—"

  "That's quite all right." Wen Yu had glimpsed the price tag, and it was far more reasonable. "I'll take it."

  With obvious reluctance, the merchant handed over the cage, and Wen Yu passed him his coins.

  Once back in his room, Wen Yu put the birdcage down and went over to the bucket, from which came a frantic tapping. He lifted the bucket only the have the bird fly straight up to the ceiling, circling the room madly.

  "Wait!" Wen Yu dashed after it, circling the room himself as he tried to snare it in one of his tunics without hurting the little thing. "Come down from there."

  The bird fluttered around the room, dodging Wen Yu's pursuit and upsetting some of his papers as it passed over his desk. Wen Yu avoided stepping on any of the precious bundles of paper only to trip over his sleeping blankets and fall. Picking himself up, he made a lunge for the bird, managing to grab it finally and wrestle the door of the cage open with one hand. He stuffed the bird into the cage and got the door closed and locked. He wheezed for a few minutes, before he forced himself back up again to go collect the papers that were scattered across the floor.

  It was almost a full day gone without study, he thought, stacking the papers back onto his desk. Wen Yu hadn't gone a full day without studying since he was six, but suddenly he was loath to stop what he was doing and work on mathematics principals. Instead, he thought about how to contact Liu Yi.

  Neither Zhi Ping nor his sister had known who Liu Yi was or how he could be reached. Wen Yu had met a servant who claimed to work for the illusive individual, but he had no idea how to contact Liu Yi or his servant. So then what? Wen Yu sat at his desk and considered. His eyes drifted around the room, finally landing on a folded piece of paper lying forgotten to the side of where Wen Yu kept his cups and tea supplies. He stood and went over to pick it up. It was the second note from Liu Yi, the only one he had not returned with a reply on the back.

  Honorable student, you do not know with what urgency I need my songbird back. If you are in need of money, I will pay. You must return my little bird to me.

  Wen Yu frowned over the note. Liu Yi, whoever he was, must love birds if he was willing to go to such lengths for one. His eyes lingered on the bird he had in his cage. There had to be merchants selling thrushes in the city. Liu Yi must be able to get another, and yet he was so insistent on getting this particular one back. Wen Yu was beginning to doubt he'd take the one Wen Yu had found. Unless through some extreme good fortune, Wen Yu's bird was the one Liu Yi was missing.

  He looked again at the note in his hand. The paper was of fine quality, and Liu Yi had sent a servant to deliver his notes. Between the young servant and Liu Yi's apparent ability to waste good paper on simple notes about a lost bird, Wen Yu guessed he was a wealthy individual, and well-educated, judging from the writing.

  Wen Yu tucked the note back into his tunic, picked up the birdcage, and headed for Li Song's paper shop.

  Li Song was a tall, thin man, attractive enough for someone of his age, and dressed in expensive silk. His shop was small, tasteful but not garish. He sold paper along with brushes and ink stones, all the highest quality in the city. For this reason, Li Song didn't know many of the students in the city, but he did know many of the officials. He was also about the only person in the city aside from Pang that Wen Yu knew.

  Li Song had sold him ink when Wen Yu had first come to the city and engaged him casual conversation on the classic poets. Wen Yu wasn't sure what he'd said, the same as what everyone thought of the classic poets, probably, but Li Song had gotten very excited and taken him out to a teashop. Wen Yu had at first feared that he was being courted, which had made him twitchy and nervous, but he'd soon learned that Li Song just loved poetry and was particularly interested in Wen Yu's interpretation of it. Flattering, really; no one had ever been that interested in what Wen Yu had to say about poetry. Wen Yu had continued their friendship instead of cutting Li Song off, lest he get too close, as his father had always instructed him.

  Arching one dark eyebrow as Wen Yu pushed his way into the store, Li Song regarded Wen Yu's disheveled appearance and his giant birdcage.

  "I usually do not allow pets in the shop," Li Song told him. "But I must say no one has ever tried to bring a bird, until now. I find myself intrigued. How are you, Wen Yu? In good health, I trust. It has been a few weeks since you stopped by, and I had begun to worry that you had become ill."

  "Not ill, no. I'm in good health, actually. I've been busy with my studies. And some other matters which have come up, one of which I was h
oping you could help me with." Wen Yu put the cage down and pulled out the note. "Do you know who might have been the author of this?"

  He held the note out to Li Song, who took it in one long-fingered, elegant hand.

  "Let me see." He looked at the paper between his fingers and then read the note, eyebrows rising as he did. "That explains the thrush." He gave Wen Yu's birdcage a meaningful look. "As it happens, I do know the writer of this note, and he is not a student, which is why I am assuming you had trouble finding him." He handed the note back to Wen Yu.

  "Is he already a scholar bureaucrat?" Wen Yu asked, tucking the note away again.

  "Not quite." Li Song tapped his lips thoughtfully with his fingers. "Liu Yi is a eunuch at the Imperial Palace."

  Wen Yu blinked. "Well." He looked down at the birdcage. "I suppose that means they will know how to contact him?"

  "Possibly." Li Song folded his arms over his chest. "Although they will probably turn you away at the first gate. Alternatively, you could give me a note, and I would make sure that it got to him."

  "But I've brought the bird all the way here." Wen Yu thought of hauling the cage all the way back to his room, and Li Song laughed.

  "You'll just have to take it back with you. Here, write a short note and come back tomorrow."

  Feeling grumpy, Wen Yu nodded and took the paper and brush Li Song offered him.

  A thousand apologies, he wrote with quick brush strokes. I have come to possess a song thrush. I do not know if it is yours, but if you would like to see it, you are welcome.

  "I'll make sure he gets it." Li Song took the note and tucked it into his sleeve.

  "Thank you for your help." Wen Yu bowed low to him, and Li Song waved one hand.

  "Come by for tea sometime, that's all I ask. I've been dying to speak with you about your thoughts on the work of a certain poet."

  "Then we must have tea sometime soon." Wen Yu bowed again and picked up the birdcage. "Although ..." He hesitated for a moment. "Maybe not until after the examinations."