Bheela’s Blog -135
01 January 2024
Episode 134 Recap
Oshin and Ryuzo find their old love and togetherness. However, something is brewing in Ms. Kiyo’s mind. She wants to separate Oshin from Ryuzo. She talks about a superstition of a child dying if two woman give birth under the same roof.
Ryuzo decides not to tell Oshin.
Oshin’s hand has somewhat improved. She writes letters to her mother, Ms. Taka and Ms. Kayo and informs them of her pregnancy.
Please click the link below to read the full episode:
Episode 135
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
As Oshin takes breakfast in the kitchen, Ms. Kiyo enters with a stern face.
‘Good morning,’ says Oshin, and she greets Ms. Kiyo, bowing down. Oshin continues, ‘Excuse me for eating before you.’
Ms. Kiyo chooses not to acknowledge the greeting by looking to the other side. Oshin tells Tsuneko, ‘Thank you for the meal.’ She then walks to the sink with her plate.
Ms. Kiyo watches Oshin through the corner of her eyes. Tsuneko serves breakfast to Ms. Kiyo.
***
‘We need all the wheat harvested today. There is about three gen worth still left. I will help you after lunch.’ says Fukutaro to Ryuzo. Both brothers stand near the store area where Ryuzo comes to pick up his farming tools.
Oshin comes rushing. She says to her brother-in-law, ‘We will be going now.’ Oshin and Ryuzo then leave home for their usual day on the field.
After they leave, Tsuneko comes to her husband. She looks all sides to check if nobody is around, and then she starts a conversation with her husband. She says, ‘Is it all right between Mother and Oshin? Mother hasn’t spoken a word to Oshin in days,’ Tsuneko sounds anxious.
‘It is not for you to worry about,’ replies her husband.
‘But it is hard on me, living under the same roof as this,’ she is still worried.
‘It is nothing new,’ says Fukutaro, remaining calm.
‘It is worse than before. I am worried. Maybe you should speak to Oshin.’
‘About what?’
‘Mother and Atsuko are both very worried.’
‘That is silly!’
‘But it is true about having two babies under one roof being very unlucky. When I was small, two sisters in my neighborhood came home to give birth. The one born two or three days afterward died. It is not superstition!’ Tsuneko continues to worry.
‘Many babies die soon after birth even if two of them were born together or separate!’ replies Fukutaro.
‘I know, but I don’t blame Atsuko and Mother for being fearful. Oshin should know about this. She doesn’t know about it, so she thinks it is just fine that she and Atsuko can have their babies here.’
‘Just leave them alone,’ Fukutaro gives practical advice to Tsuneko, ‘Don’t forget you are the eldest son’s wife. I told you when you came here as a bride. Hear not, see not, and never speak out! It will only cause trouble within the family. Don’t take anybody’s side. Do you understand?’
(Fukutaro exhibits a typical mindset where the expectation from a ‘good’ wife is just never to have free spirit. She should not use any intellect, or her judgment has no value in a family. She should just remain submissive, bear children, do the cooking and stop thinking!)
Before Tsuneko could say anything, Ms. Kiyo enter and tells Tsuneko, ‘What is going on? You are making your husband late! It just puts our work behind others. Heikichi is crying again. Go attend to him!’ She orders.
Tsuneko stands with her head down like a school girl being punished by the head mistress. Ms. Kiyo continues, ‘Yu is such a good boy, by Heikichi cries too much for a boy. He will never amount to much,’ Ms. Kiyo never leaves a chance to insult her daughters-in-law, not sparing even Tsuneko ever.
She suddenly remembers and says, ‘Atsuko is coming today. Get some kobuna fish or dojo for her. She needs to eat bones and all for the baby.’ As Kiyo rushes back to the kitchen, Tsuneko nods and swallows her pride.
(Click to the link https://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia41/en/appetit/appetit01.html to know more about Dojo dish.)
***
‘My sister-in-law is being too stingy,’ says Ryuzo when he and Oshin sit for lunch break at the fields under the shade of a tree. He says, ‘You are with a child, you need more than a single rice ball! Besides, you are doing heavy labor every day.’
‘She is having a hard time, too. Even though she is in charge of the kitchen, your mother watches her like a hawk. She is probably not getting much food money to work with,’ says Oshin; she has no ill feelings towards Tsuneko.
‘You need food for yourself and the baby!’ shouts Ryuzo.
‘I am fine, at least it is rice I get. My mother worked harder, and she only got daikon gruel to eat. Sometimes she would go without so that the kids could eat. She had healthy babies, and she never got sick. I can’t complain,’ says Oshin, always remaining positive in her current happy state of mind. She chomps her rice ball speedily.
‘Yes, but..’
‘Never mind,’ says Oshin, and coming close to Ryuzo, she says, ‘Don’t you dare complain to them. That would just cause me to have a harder time! And your mother is in a terrible mood lately. I can’t think of what I did wrong.’
Oshin tries not to complain about her mother-in-law and realizes that she just started doing the same, so she makes a sorry face and says to Ryuzo, ‘I am sorry, I promised you that I would stop complaining. I told you that I will do my best to be a Tanokura! I should be grateful that I am not starving, and that I am allowed to have my baby here.’ She laughs, but Ryuzo remains serious. He thinks of the plans that his mother is making against Oshin.
***
Tsuneko and Ms. Kiyo are busy in the kitchen preparing the special dish for Atsuko. Tsuneko chops the vegetable and Ms. Kiyo washes the fish thoroughly.
‘Yu is asleep,’ says Atsuko, entering the kitchen.
‘Sorry for having you babysit, but I am making dojo nabe for you!’ Ms. Kiyo chirps, ‘I am sure you don’t get good food at your house. So eat heartily when you are here!’ She laughs, but Tsuneko remains serious.
***
Oshin and Ryuzo return from work, and they approach the well to wash their feet. Ryuzo spots a bucket full of fish, and he exclaims, ‘Oshin, look! Dojo! I guess we will get dojo tonight.’ He laughs and Oshin smiles at his childlike happiness.
Ryuzo says, ‘Remember back in Tokyo before we had our first baby? Genji used to buy dojo for you! I guess Tsuneko is being nice to you,’ Ryuzo is hopeful.
Oshin looks at another bucket where all the unwashed clothes are kept. She starts picking the clothes with her left hand.
‘Let me do the wash! You are tired, and you are pregnant, too!’ says Ryuzo, and he tries to take the clothes from Oshin.
‘If I let you do it, I will get yelled at,’ Oshin reminds him laughingly.
‘I wish I could help you,’ says Ryuzo.
‘I am just glad that you feel that way,’ Oshin is beaming with joy as she finds her husband’s love again.
***
The family gathers in the dining area. Tsuneko brings the special dish.
‘What a rare treat!’ says Daigoro and he laughs out loudly.
‘The dojo is for Atsuko, she is expecting,’ Ms. Kiyo reminds everyone.
‘I feel bad eating this all by myself,’ says Atsuko.
‘It is for the baby you are carrying!’ says her mother.
Ryuzo thinks sadly and mutters, ‘We get dried fish and cooked vegetables?’
‘Men should not complain about food!’ says Ms. Kiyo.
Unaware of the dinner table talks, Oshin completes the wash and dries the clothes on a bamboo rod, using her left hand and taking light support of her right hand. She wipes her forehead and drags herself out of tiredness.
Atsuko and Ms. Kiyo chat and laugh, but they stop as soon as Oshin enters the kitchen.
‘Thank you for dinner,’ she bows to Tsuneko and towards her mother-in-law. She sits with the maid and Tsuneko in the kitchen, whereas, rest of the family eat together in the dining area.
Ryuzo quietly enters the kitchen and asks Tsuneko, ‘will you please feed Oshin some dojo? She is pregnant, too. Why treat her any differently from Atsuko? All Atsuko does is lounge around all day while Oshin works in the field all day long!’ Oshin gets alarmed, and she tries to stop Ryuzo, but he continues, ‘why Atsuko gets dojo and Oshin only gets this?’
Tsuneko continues to eat silently without responding to Ryuzo. Instead, Ms. Kiyo speaks up, ‘Ryuzo, what are you saying to Tsuneko? Atsuko and Oshin are not the same! Atsuko has to be cared for well, or we will lose face to the family she is married into. That is why Tsuneko will feed Atsuko, as I advise.’
‘You don’t care what happens to one of our own?’ Ryuzo flares up.
‘Why are you shouting about some dojo?’ says Ms. Kiyo.
‘I just want my sister-in-law to be more considerate about Oshin, too.’ Ryuzo replies impatiently.
‘Don’t complain to Tsuneko. As I told you, if Oshin plans to have her baby here, we won’t lift a finger to help her. And you agreed. If you are so worried for her, let her go home to Yamagata to have her baby!’ declares Ms. Kiyo, and she continues, ‘Atsuko will be coming here more often before she is due, so don’t say any more about it. Maybe you both can go elsewhere.’ Ms. Kiyo looks the other way when she finishes her sermon.
‘Mother!’ shouts Ryuzo, and he stands up to protest.
‘Please don’t!’ Pleads Oshin. Ryuzo goes out stomping his feet.
Ms. Kiyo remains stern, sipping her drink. After Ryuzo goes, she speaks to Atsuko, ‘I am so disappointed in Ryuzo. He is letting some worthless woman lead him around by the nose, and he yells at his mother? It is too pathetic.’ Ms. Kiyo doesn’t leave a chance to insult Oshin in front of everyone.
Oshin lowers her head, she somehow swallows the meals.
***
The following morning, Oshin wakes up early as usual and goes to the well to fetch water.
‘Good morning!’ Oshin greets Tsuneko as she emerges from the house to the backyard.
Tsuneko looks around to ensure no one is in the vicinity. She comes close to Oshin and speaks out, ‘Oshin, let me give you some advice. You would be better off going home to Yamagata to have your baby. I can’t bear to see how you are treated here. That is why I am saying this to you.’
Oshin is taken aback. She never expected this conversation with Tsuneko. She says, ‘Thank you, but I have had worse troubles as a child.’
Tsuneko interrupts her and spells out quickly, ‘if you stay here, mother will kill you. For the first 10 years of my marriage, I had it worse than you. That is why I wasn’t shocked to see mother treating you so harshly. But this time it is different. There is an old belief in these parts about two babies born at the same time under one roof. They say one always dies.’ Tsuneko couldn’t keep the information with herself, she needed Oshin to know this.
As no one else in the house was ready, Tsuneko took it upon herself, risking her mother-in-law’s wrath, to let Oshin know what is going on.
She continues, ‘Mother is very concerned about that. Father and Ryuzo consider it just an old superstition. But Mother and Atsuko feel differently.’
Oshin listens to Tsuneko carefully, but being forward-looking, she cannot just believe the superstition. She says, ‘So that is why mother is not speaking to me,’ Oshin tries to make it light.
Tsuneko doesn’t give up, she says, ‘I hate having to tell you this. But I feel so sorry for you. That is why I am telling you this.’
‘It is just an old superstition!’ Oshin smiles to assure her sister-in-law.
‘Maybe so, but I am more concerned about how Mother is taking all this. She hates you to begin with, and she will just kill you with her venom.’
‘She wouldn’t!’ says Oshin, but now even Oshin begins to get uneasy.
‘You won’t get to eat much, and you will never get time off from work in the fields. The baby within you won’t grow much. And you will get sick. That is just like being killed. I would like to help you, but I am just a bride. I have no right to interfere. I too, don’t pay much heed to superstitions, but I am still a Tanokura. I am worried about Mother because she really does believe in superstitions. Just keep that in mind.’ Tsuneko, who normally is a submissive wife, but her love for Oshin and her humanity makes her do this brave action.
She runs into the house, leaving Oshin alone. Oshin wants to laugh it off. But she can tell that there is a lot of truth in what Tsuneko has told her. It sends a chill up her spine.
Oshin gets into deep thinking.
What drastic step will Kiyo take?
We will find out more in the coming episode, no 136, soon.