yinyangwizard

Lan Zhan has had his injuries treated, and after some protest, has been convinced to take some time to recover. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say he was guilted into taking the time.

In any case, Lan Zhan and Lan Yuan are now asleep on adjacent futons in Seimei's room. Seimei has left his retainer Shizuka, the seven-tailed fox, to wait in attendance in case they should need anything. Someone needs to deliver the bad news to Zenigata, and in Seimei's view, giving Rae Seddon this task - when she is already so weary from her own grief and the other burdens she has to bear - would be selfish and unkind. So he takes it upon himself.

Seimei goes up to Inspector Zenigata's door, takes a deep breath, and knocks.

There is a package at the Bar for Lan Zhan. It includes four items: a letter, a Japanese language primer specifically for Chinese readers, the volume of Lan An's poetry that he loaned to Abe no Seimei, and a small card inside the cover of said volume of poetry.

The letter, written in neat Chinese characters with a fountain pen on cream-colored paper, reads:

To the Honorable Lan Wangji,

Thank you once again for introducing me to the work of the founder of your sect. I found many of his poems deeply moving, and I daresay even the great Du Fu would have admired them.

I dare to hope that you find the poetry of my homeland to be so worthy. Our poems are written in a phonetic alphabet called katakana, in which a character represents a syllable (rather than a word, as in the Chinese system). The waka poems I have recommended to you are written in a pattern of 5/7/5/7/7 syllables. It has occurred to me that Milliways' translation effect may obscure this form. Therefore I have included, along with your book, a primer intended for Chinese people to learn katakana. May this gift serve you well.

安倍晴明

The card inside the cover of Lan An's poetry is blue, and the only thing written on it is a waka poem, like an offering:

Tare ka yo ni nagaraete mimu kakitomeshi ate wa kiesenu katami naredomo

As life flows on, who will ever read it - this keepsake to her whose memory will never die?

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Entries tagged with lan zhan

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