Mulberry and Peach

by Hualing Nieh

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  PROLOGUE

  PART I

  ONE - Peach’s First Letter to the Man from the USA Immigration Service

  TWO - Mulberry’s Notebook Chü-t’ang Gorge on the Yangtze River

  PART II

  ONE - Peach’s Second Letter to the Man from the USA Immigration Service

  TWO - Mulberry’s Notebook Peking, The Besieged City

  PART III

  ONE - Peach’s Third Letter to the Man from the USA Immigration Service

  TWO - Mulberry’s Notebook An Attic in Taiwan

  (A) Summer, 1957

  (B) Summer, 1958

  (C) Summer, 1959

  PART IV

  ONE - Peach’s Fourth Letter to the Man from the USA Immigration Service

  TWO - Mulberry’s Notebook Lone Tree, America

  EPILOGUE

  AFTERWORD

  NOTES

  Acknowledgments

  CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S FICTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD

  Copyright Page

  PROLOGUE

  The Man from the USA Immigration Service

  ‘I’m not Mulberry. Mulberry is dead!’

  ‘Well, what is your name, then?’ asks the man from the Immigration Service.

  ‘Call me anything you like. Ah-chu, Ah-ch’ou, Mei-chuan, Ch’un-hsiang, Ch’iu-hsia, Tung-mei, Hsiu-ying, Ts’ui-fang, Niu-niu, Pao-pao, Pei-pei, Lien-ying, Kuei-fen, Chü-hua. Just call me Peach, OK?’ She is dressed only in skin-coloured bikini panties and a peach blouse.

  The Immigration agent is standing in her doorway. He is dressed in a dark suit with a black and grey striped tie. He wears sunglasses, although it’s an overcast day. The dark lenses disguise the only distinguishing part of his face: eyebrows, eyes, the bridge of his nose. Only the anonymous parts are visible: bald head, sharp chin, high forehead, beak nose, and pencil-thin moustache.

  He takes a form out of his briefcase. The form is covered with a cramped script in fountain pen. In the corner is the number: (Alien) number 89-785-462. In the other corner is a woman’s photograph. The name Mulberry is written under the photo. One item on the form is checked in red: Application for Permanent Residency.

  He points at the woman’s photograph. ‘This is you in the picture, right? There’s a mole under her left eye and her right earlobe has a small notch. You . . .’ he says, pointing at Peach, ‘have a mole under your eye and there’s a notch in your right earlobe.’

  Peach laughs. ‘Mr Dark, you have a real good imagination. What you see isn’t real. What I see is real. You know what I see when I look at you? A tiger with nine human heads.’

  ‘Please don’t make jokes,’ the agent says. ‘May I come in and talk with you?’

  ‘Only on one condition. You can’t call me Mulberry.’

  The agent comes in, looks around. ‘There’s no furniture in here.’

  ‘The furniture belonged to Mulberry. I don’t want anything that belonged to a dead person, so I called the Salvation Army to haul it away. Besides, furniture gets in my way. I like it like this.’

  Peach moves aside heaps of clothing, boxes, bottles, newspapers, paints, and pieces of paper and sits down on the floor. She pats the floor beside her, ‘Sit down here.’

  Things are piled all over the room. There isn’t any place for him to sit. He stands in the middle of the room, looking around at the walls on which are scrawled crooked columns of words in English and in Chinese.

  A flower but not a flower

  I am the flower

  Mist yet not mist

  I am Everything

  When women grow beards

  and men bear children

  the world will be at peace

  Who is afraid of Mao Tse-tung?

  Who is afraid of Chiang Kai-shek?

  Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf?

  Mulberry murdered her father, murdered

  her mother murdered her husband

  murdered her daughter.

  The head is connected to the thighs

  Genitals grow out of the neck

  normal people

  Collins Radio Company

  Warning Poster

  Safety First

  Beyond this point safety glasses must be worn

  No running do not touch Emergency Clinic

  In work or play no matter where

  no matter when

  Safety First

  Electric mirror electric comb

  electric toothbrush electric brain

  electric people

  electric fan electric sun electric moon

  electric kiss electric sex electric god

  electric Virgin Mary electric electric electric

  electric genitals.

  A woman from Lone Tree

  Car accident on a one-way street

  Cause unknown

  Name unknown

  There are also drawings on the wall: A naked figure, beheaded, his two nipples, eyes; his protruding navel, a mouth. In one hand he holds a huge axe and hacks at the sky. With his other hand, he gropes for his head on the ground. To one side is a black mountain with a gaping hole. The head lies beside the hole.

  A tall man sits stiffly in an armchair. Leopard’s face: golden forehead, golden nose, golden cheekbones, black face, black eyes, white eyebrows. Forehead painted with red, white and black stripes. He bares his chest. His chest is an idol’s shrine enclosed by bars. A thousand-handed Buddha sits in the shrine. The hands stretch out through the bars. The Buddha is locked inside.

  A gigantic, swollen penis stands like a pillar in the middle of the floor. A butterfly bow has been tied around the glans and the two ends of the ribbon trail to the floor. Rose petals are strewn around it. A tiny Pekinese dog squats beside it, gazing up at a card that dangles from the bow: Happy Deathday Mulberry.

  The agent stands in the room, still wearing his sunglasses, pen and notebook in his hands. ‘May I copy down the things on the wall?’

  ‘Go ahead. I could care less. If you want to investigate Mulberry, I can give you a lot of information. I know everything about her. Wherever she went, I was always there. What are you after her for, anyway?’

  ‘It’s classified. I can’t tell you. Can I ask you some questions?’

  ‘If you want to know about me, I won’t tell you anything. If you want to know about Mulberry, I’ll tell you everything I know.’

  ‘I appreciate your cooperation.’ The agent looks over Mulberry’s form. ‘What is Mulberry’s nationality?’

  ‘Chinese.’

  ‘Where was she born?’

  ‘Nanking.’

  ‘Date of birth?’

  ‘October 26, 1929.’

  ‘And you,’ he says pointing at Peach, ‘where were you born?’ The dark glasses flash at her. ‘Where were you born, what date?’

  Peach giggles. ‘Mr Dark, don’t try to be so smart! You think I’m going to tell you that I was born in Nanking on 26 October 1929 so you can prove I’m Mulberry? Well, you’re wrong, Mr Dark. I was born in a valley when heaven split from the earth. The goddess Nüwa plucked a branch of wild flowers and threw it to the earth. Where the flowers fell, people sprang up. That’s how I was born. You people were born from your mothers’ wombs. I’m a stranger wherever I go, but I’m happy. There are lots of interesting things to see and do. I’m not some spirit or ghost. I don’t believe that nonsense. I only believe in what I can smell, touch, hear, see . . . I . . .’

  ‘Excuse me, Mulberry may I . . .’

  ‘Mulberry is dead. Mr Dark, I won’t let you call me by a dead woman’s name.’

  ‘You two are the same person all right.’ His moustache twitches slightly. He pushes his sunglasses back up on his nose.

&n
bsp; ‘You’re wrong. Mulberry is Mulberry and Peach is Peach. They’re not the same at all. Their thoughts, manners, interests, and even the way they look are completely different. Mulberry, for instance, was afraid of blood, animals, flashing lights. I’m not afraid of those things. Mulberry shut herself up at home, sighing and carrying on. I go everywhere, looking for thrills. Snow, rain, thunder, birds, animals, I love them all. Sometimes Mulberry wanted to die, sometimes she wanted to live. In the end she gave up. I’d never do that. Mulberry was full of illusions; I don’t have any. People and things I can’t see don’t exist as far as I’m concerned. Even if the sky fell and the world turned upside down, I still wouldn’t give up.’

  ‘You smoke?’ The agent takes out a cigarette.

  ‘Good idea! Mulberry didn’t smoke. Let’s have a cigarette to celebrate her death.’ She lights her cigarette, stretches out on the floor, staring up at the ceiling while she smokes. The window is open; a gust of air blows in. The newspapers on the floor rustle in the breeze. ‘Ooh, what a lovely breeze!’ She rolls on the floor in the breeze.

  The agent looks away and goes to close the window.

  ‘Mr Dark, please don’t close the window. Wind should blow, water should flow. You can’t stop it.’ Peach unbuttons her blouse, exposing her breasts. ‘What a nice breeze! Soft as a deer’s skin!’ The cigarette in her fingers falls to the floor.

  ‘Mulberry, please behave yourself.’ He puts the cigarette out with his foot.

  ‘Mulberry . . . is . . . dead. I am Peach.’

  ‘Please button your blouse.’

  ‘Even if I button it, I’m still naked inside.’

  ‘Don’t make jokes. I represent the Immigration Service of the Department of Justice and I am here to investigate Mulberry.’ He shivers in the breeze. ‘OK, Peach, you win. I need your cooperation. Please tell me everything you know about Mulberry.’

  ‘OK, listen.’ Peach sprawls on the floor and pillows her head with her arms. She crosses her legs and swings her calf up and down as she talks. She is speaking in Chinese.

  The agent can’t understand. He paces back and forth. The papers rustle under his feet. He motions for her to stop, but she goes on speaking in Chinese. Gusts of wind are blowing in.

  He finally interrupts her. ‘Excuse me, may I use your bathroom?’ The glasses slide down his nose, revealing his thick eyebrows. His eyes are still hidden.

  ‘Of course.’

  When he comes back, Peach is standing by the window, her blouse half-open, her breasts full. She looks out the window and smiles faintly. Her belly is slightly swollen.

  The agent from the Immigration Service picks up his briefcase and walks out, without saying goodbye.

  PART I

  ONE

  Peach’s First Letter to the Man from the USA Immigration Service

  (January 1970)

  CHARACTERS

  PEACH, one half of the split personality of the woman Mulberry-Peach. She is running away from the US Immigration Service agent while writing him about her wanders across America.

  THE MAN FROM THE IMMIGRATION SERVICE, he represents the modern institutionalized threat.

  Dear Sir:

  I’m wandering around these places shown on the map. If you want to chase me, come on. Anyway, I’m not Mulberry. Sometimes I hitchhike. Sometimes I take a bus. As soon as I get somewhere, I leave. I don’t have any particular destination. I’m always on the road. You can meet a lot of interesting people on the road. There is so much to see. One by one, the horizons sink behind me and new ones rise ahead of me.

  Right now I’m on Highway 70 heading east. We’re going 100 miles an hour. The car is black, painted with large red letters: March Against Death.

  I got this ride in St. Louis. I was standing by the road and a car came toward me. I waved. The car stopped. Inside were all kinds of people: white, black, yellow. I couldn’t tell the men from the women, they all had such long hair.

  Conversation with the driver:

  ‘Hey, you want a ride? Where are you going?’

  ‘I’ll go wherever you’re going.’

  ‘We’re going to Washington to join the March Against Death.’

  ‘I’ll come along to watch the excitement!’

  ‘Where are you coming from?’

  ‘The moon.’

  ‘Don’t be funny. So you’re the moon princess, huh? Why did you come back to earth?’

  ‘I came back to start over. First, I want to have a baby so that human beings won’t become extinct.’

  ‘Has the earth changed any since you’ve been gone?’

  ‘It’s weirder, but it’s more interesting.’

  ‘OK, Moon Princess, get in!’

  Inside the car is a mess strewn with newspapers, paper, coke cans, boxes, cigarette butts. Overcoats, blankets, and sleeping bags are piled on the seats. Eight people are squeezed together on top of these things. Counting me, that makes nine. I don’t know where they are from. They are talking about student demonstrations all over the world: Japan, England, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and the US. They are talking about the dead. They tell me about the March Against Death, a demonstration against the war in Vietnam They tell me that such protests are becoming increasingly desperate and increasingly useless. But they want to show the world that people don’t want to die anymore. Tonight in Washington 45,000 people carrying candles and wearing name tags with the names of soldiers killed in Vietnam, will walk single file from Arlington National Cemetery to the foot of Capitol Hill where there will be twelve coffins. The protest will last forty hours. Each person will place his name tag with the dead soldier’s name in a coffin.

  I tell them I also want to wear a tag. The name of the dead person is Mulberry.

  They yawn one by one. It’s boring to talk about death. The sun is shining right in our faces. Powdery snow drifts in the sunlight. If they keep on talking like this, I’m going to get out.

  Someone in the front seat holds up a poster:NOTICE

  Office of Civil Defense

  Washington, D.C.

  Instructions: What to do in case of Nuclear Attack

  When the First Warning is Sounded1. Stay away from all windows.

  2. Keep hands free of glasses, bottles, cigarettes, etc.

  3. Stand away from bars, tables, musical instruments, equipment, and other furniture.

  4. Loosen necktie, unbutton coat and any other restrictive clothing.

  5. Remove glasses, empty pockets of all sharp objects: pens, pencils, etc.

  6. When you see the flash of nuclear explosion, bend over and place your head firmly between your legs.

  7. Then kiss your ass goodbye.

  You said you wanted me to tell you about Mulberry. Today I’m sending you her diary. I’ll be sending you more material about her, piece by piece. Let me tell you, I know every detail of her life. I know her thoughts, feelings, illusions, dreams, and memories. I even know things she didn’t know or remember. We can work together on this. But you’ll have to remember one thing: I am not Mulberry. She is afraid of you. But I’m not. As long as you don’t call me by a dead woman’s name, I can give you a lot of information about her.

  I am also enclosing her photo album which she bought from a Japanese prisoner after the war, when she was returning from Chungking to her home in Nanking.

  Peach

  13 January 1970

  TWO

  Mulberry’s Notebook Chü-t’ang Gorge on the Yangtze River

  (27 July 1945-10 August 1945)

  CHARACTERS

  MULBERRY, (16 years old), during the Anti-Japanese War, Mulberry is running away from home with her lesbian friend, Lao-shih. Sometime after her parents’ marriage, Mulberry’s father became impotent as the result of a wound received in a battle between rival Chinese warlords. Later, the mother, who before her marriage had been a prostitute, began an affair with the family butler, and began to abuse her husband and children. As the story opens, Mulberry is running away to Chungking, t
he wartime capital of China.

  LAO-SHIH, (18), a dominating, mannish girl about Mulberry’s age. Her father was suffocated in the huge tunnel in which people hid from the continuous Japanese bombing of Chungking in the summer of 1941.

  THE OLD MAN, (in his 60s), he represents the traditional type of Chinese. He has been in flight from the Japanese since they occupied Peiping, his home, in 1937.

  REFUGEE STUDENT, (in his 20s), he represents the generation growing up during World War II. He is patriotic, aware of his rootless condition. He is rebellious against the old system represented by his father, who had seven wives and forty-six children, and lived in a huge gloomy house in Nanking. His father works for the Japanese. The angry young man reveals the inevitability of the coming revolution.

  PEACH-FLOWER WOMAN, (in her 20s), she represents the natural life force, vital, exuberant, sensuous and enduring. It is this spontaneous life force that has enabled the Chinese to survive thousands of years of wars, revolutions and natural disasters. She became the wife of a boy seven years her junior when she herself was a child. She raised the baby husband, and worked hard on the farm. When the husband grew up, he left her and studied in Chungking. The rumour is that he lives with another woman in Chungking. Peach-flower Woman is going there with her baby to look for her husband.

  There is no sun. There is no moon. There is no sky. The sky and the water are one, both murky. The river dragon stirs up the water. His hundred hairy legs and clumsy tail swish back and forth, churning the water.

  From the window at the inn in Tai-hsi, I can see the mountains across the river, so tall I can’t see the top, like a black sword piercing the sky. The sky dies without losing one drop of blood. The gorge suddenly darkens.