Whiteface Genden watched Subudal Dari head away up the mountain in the moonlight. He snorted and spat. What did she see in that rotten old husband of hers, the man was pushing sixty? Your loss, woman, never to know my sweet loving.
There were indeed a number of monks at Mamba Rasang hunting for the mysterious codex and Genden was one of them.
Genden was actually no fool. His medical skills stood in comparison with anyone's at the monastery. But he was the sort that is a bit too clever, which made everyone dislike him. He'd never set eyes on the codex so he didn't know what it was supposed to look like, though he imagined it would be a very thick tome. If he could get his hands on it he would become the number one doctor-monk at Mamba Rasang. That meant fame and money ...even if you didn't want any of that it would come looking for you. But where was the damned thing? Still, if such a book did indeed exist, so long as you looked hard and long for it there was every chance you would one day find it.
He'd had his mind set on the codex for a long time now, pondering and theorising countless times, even losing sleep. Perhaps the codex was hidden under a stupa? Or underneath one of the Buddha statues? Maybe in some cave up on Tuhai Mountain? It could be that some monk had it? Wherever it was there was bound to be someone who knew. So who would that be? If it was a monk who had it, which monk?
Genden was now thirty-six years old and he had spent twenty of those years turning this business of the codex over and over in his mind. Yet he had made no progress towards finding it. Not that he was ever going to give up. Even just picturing in his head what the codex might be like was the sweetest feeling.
He felt quite bitter about the snub he had just received from Subudal Dari. You're not the only woman in the world you know, I'll have my fun just fine without you! He headed deeper into the open ground at the foot of the mountain.
In the hazy moonlight Genden could dimly make out the hobbled monastery horses grazing. He carried on further into the grasslands until he saw a ger and beside it a small herd of sheep chewing the cud. The ger was home to Khajidormaa, a woman of middle years Genden had known for some time. Each summer herding families would move to the pastures below the mountain and the monks would go to them to get milk for brewing tea.
Genden went up to the door and called out in a soft voice, "Are you asleep? Could you light a lamp?"
The sibilant sounds of someone dressing could be heard from within the tent. "Who is it?" asked a sleepy woman's voice.
"It's me, Genden."
"What are you after at this unholy hour of the night?"
"I got lost. I went out on a call and I couldn't find my way back to Mamba Rasang."
"Is that right? You saucy beggar ..." She yawned then lit a lamp.
Genden went in. Khajidormaa looked drowsy, a robe draped over her shoulders. She asked him to take a seat to the right of the tulga, the iron fire-basket hearth, and she poured him some tea.
"No tea for me thanks, I'm sleepy."
"Do you mean to stay here? Did you not say you'd lost your way? I can show you. Mamba Rasang is right there on the north side of the mountain."
"I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble. After a good night's sleep I can find my own way to Mamba Rasang."
Khajidormaa gave a laugh and blew out the lamp.
A woman grown, she embraced Genden so tight he could barely breathe. Khajidormaa smelled good and warm.
"Are you not afraid?" she asked.
"What of?"
"Getting caught."
"Who's going to catch me?"
"Ha, was there not a doctor from Mamba Rasang kidnapped by some woman? Did they not get that Wangdan of yours?"
"Even you know about that!"
"I was there and watched it all happen, how would I not know?'
"What?"
"I'll tell you all about it in a bit, not now though ...have you forgotten what you came here for?"
After a little while when they were done and the pair lay together naked and drenched in sweat Genden couldn't help returning to his question.
"Did you really see Wangdan getting kidnapped?"
"You still thinking on that?"
"Out with it quick, lady, I'm begging you."
"By the Lord Buddha. Well, you recall how that night it was raining fearful hard? Lightning and thunder like it was right there over your head and not up in the sky, enough to frighten anyone. I'd only gotten here a couple of days before. I was worried that having just changed pasture the flock might be scared into running off, so I kept nipping out of the tent to check on them. Then there was this great bolt of lightning that seemed to strike right at the flock and an almighty clap of thunder ..."
"Why don't you tell me what happened with Wangdan instead of going on about all this other stuff?"
" ...So I came out to look for my flock, which had been scattered all over. They'd been frightened into running away. I ran and ran and ended up down below Mamba Rasang."
"Then what?"
"I saw a gang of people setting on another one."
"Did you now?"
"I was shocked and scared. Rain like that and late in the night, who would be out there fighting? If it wasn't bandits it might be demons. I was right close to them, only a few paces off. I panicked and hid behind a big boulder, and that's when I made out that one of them was Wangdan. So it wasn't demons, it was just people fighting. But why? It seemed quite strange. I looked again and there was this woman stood off to one side. She was giving orders to the others, saying get this beggar tied up good!"
"Hold on a minute, did you recognise any of these people fighting with Wangdan?"
"Not one of them."
"What was the woman like?"
"From the look of her not yet twenty. She was a pretty one too. If a doctor-monk like you set eyes on her you'd soon be forgetting all about Mamba Rasang and holy orders."
"What happened next?"
"They trussed Wangdan up, threw him on the back of a horse and made off."
Genden considered what he'd been told. It must be bandits from somewhere a way off that had taken Wangdan. And their leader was a woman? That was very strange.
"So long as that codex is hidden there somewhere you'll never get a day's peace up at Mamba Rasang," said Khajidormaa.
"What are you on about? What codex?"
"Hah, don't play dumb with me. Everyone knows about the marvellous medical codex of Mamba Rasang."
"I've heard it said, but what's the use of it?"
"What do you mean what's the use?"
"If it can't be found then it's no use to anyone."
Khajidormaa chuckled. "Do you really not know who has the codex?"
"I don't. And you do, then?"
"Of course I know."
"What!" Genden sat bolt upright. "Light the lamp and tell me everything!"
"Now what? I'll get dressed first, I'd be ashamed to light the lamp and me without a stitch on."
"Get dressed then. You really are a pain."
Khajidormaa lit a lamp. "It'll be Chultemiin who has that codex, I'm sure of it."
Genden was puzzled. "Chultemiin? And how do you know?"
"Listen and I'll tell you. Not so long back a distant aunt on my husband's side fell off her horse and broke her leg. I say a break but the bone had shattered into little bits, like a load of gravel in a sack it was. It so happened Chultemiin was visiting a sick neighbour of theirs. They begged him to come and see my aunt. Her leg had swollen so big it near burst her britches. Chultemiin took one look and shook his head saying he didn't set bones and they ought to get a specialist bone setter to look at it. But where were they going to find one of them? Plus if they didn't do something quick it would only get a lot worse. The whole family knelt and begged Chultemiin, and said as a doctor-monk from Mamba Rasang he ought to help them. Chultemiin thought about it for a long while, then said that since a life was at stake he'd do his best."
"What did he do?"
"They said he took some medicine out of his bag, mixed it in with some yoghurt, then applied that to her leg. Then he brewed up some other medicine for her to drink."
"What medicine?"
"They were country folk, not doctors, how would they know what medicine? What a pointless question."
"Then what happened? Keep on with the story."
"In less time than it takes to brew tea there comes this clicking sound from my auntie's leg, all the little broken bits of bones falling back into their right place. The swelling goes down a lot as well. That same evening my auntie could even walk again ..."
"Goodness! Is this really true?"
"If you don't believe me go and ask my auntie and her family. I heard that when Chultemiin was set to leave he kept on at them that they were not to tell anyone who'd fixed her leg and definitely not to tell anyone how it was done. But later on the neighbours all got to know about it and the story started spreading. People said it looked like Chultemiin had used some miracle formula and most likely he'd got it from the famous Mamba Rasang codex."
Genden fell into silent thought. What Khajidormaa said was true, Chultemiin must have used a very special preparation. Genden was a doctor himself and no bad one at that, so he could see that Chultemiin's cure was no ordinary medicine. A good hunter can tell what gun is used by the sound of a distant shot, and now Genden was hearing the strangest gunshot, the likes of which he'd never heard before.
If Chultemiin really did have the codex how had it come to him? Genden tried to puzzle it out. Chultemiin wasn't the brightest and kept to himself, just your average dutiful monk. Why would the abbot give him such a valuable thing to look after? Genden found it incredible. But then again, he thought, Chultemiin might have the codex. Chultemiin was a student of the famous doctor Wangdan and he was almost as skilled in medicine as his master, some even said he was better. Yet there were aspects of his medical skill Chultemiin kept to himself, something the other monks at Mamba Rasang had often remarked upon. In the normal course of things medical knowledge was not something you kept hidden away. So why was Chultemiin keeping secrets? That was suspicious enough in itself. And keeping to himself, rarely talking with the others, was that really just his nature? Maybe he was just trying to avoid attention. Why would he be worried about that? There was bound to be a reason.
If Chultemiin really did have the codex it would explain his odd behaviour. Well, well, well, Chultemiin . . .
Genden got up, he felt like the precious codex he had spent so much energy seeking all these years was now right before his eyes.
Dawn was breaking when he got back to Mamba Rasang, the black curtain of the night slowly lifting away to the east beyond the grasslands at the foot of the mountain, though the monastery remained in darkness. Genden walked with his head down, lost in thought. When he looked up it was to spy Ulen Tagas's compound away in the distance. The gates were open just a crack and someone came out and made off quickly towards Mamba Rasang.
Could it be ...it looked like Yechil, Chultemiin's apprentice. Surely he wasn't staying with Ulen Tagas? Genden couldn't work it out. He thought again on what Khajidormaa had said, Chultemiin must have the codex . . .
Yechil got back to his quarters just as dawn broke. He looked at the main hall. The window to his master's quarters was dark and still. He looked fearfully at the window before quietly creeping to his own room in a side hall.
He climbed onto his kang bed, took off his clothes, and crawled under the covers, hoping to pretend he'd slept like a log the whole night, someone who definitely hadn't been anywhere else.
But in truth his heart was nearly bursting. How could a young monk involved in an affair with the lady of the banner prince not be mortally afraid? Yechil had barely turned twenty and was just a kitchen servant; in his wildest dreams he could never have imagined a relationship like this with Ulen Tagas.
It all began one morning about a month ago. His master Chultemiin had gone up the mountain early to gather herbs and Yechil was alone in his room reading a medical treatise. Although he was still only a kitchen servant he longed to become a famous doctor and he applied himself diligently to his studies. Chultemiin seemed willing to teach him everything he knew of the medical arts, though oddly his master always instructed Yechil to never make a show of his learning. There was a heavy mist on the mountain that morning. When Yechil looked to the open gate he could see it rolling thick and low. Occasionally the mist would roll in through the gate like some wild beast creeping in. Yechil sat lost in thought when a young woman appeared out of the mist and came in through the gate. Yechil studied the woman carefully, but though she seemed familiar he did not recognise her.
The woman smiled as she came up to him. "I hope I find you well, young master."
Now it came to Yechil who this woman was - Ulen Tagas, wife of the banner prince. He stood up, unsure if he should kneel and make obeisance or offer her a seat.
Ulen Tagas smiled easily. "No need to be nervous. I'm not some tiger come to eat you up. I'm only a woman." She perched on the edge of the kang. "Do you have tea?"
Yechil spluttered nervously and rushed to pour a cup. He went to the cupboard and took out a dish of curds and placed it on the table too. Perhaps because she had never borne a child, Ulen Tagas still had a most appealing figure, which was why Yechil had mistaken her for a young woman when she first appeared out of the mist.
"Is your master not here?"
"He's gone up the mountain to gather herbs."
"I have something I want to ask of you, if that is all right."
"Whatever you require, my lady, I will do as I am instructed."
"I am sure you think the banner prince's lady lives a fine and happy life, but the lady has her sorrows too." Ulen Tagas sounded choked with emotion and tears welled in her eyes.
Yechil didn't know what to do.
Ulen Tagas looked at Yechil with tear-filled eyes. "It is said your master has medicine that can get a woman with child. Can you get that medicine for me?"
"Can my lady not ask my master directly?"
"I have asked him but he says he has no such medicine. Your master is a timid man and no doubt is afraid of becoming involved in some dispute." Tears rolled from Ulen Tagas's eyes as she spoke. "You do not know how much I suffer ..."
Yechil could not help feeling sorry for Ulen Tagas. The lady truly seemed to be suffering greatly. Surely if there was even the slightest thing she could do she would not be asking a mere kitchen servant for help.
"Don't worry, my lady, I will think of a way to find this medicine."
Ulen Tagas flushed red. "Then I shall no longer worry." Her eyes fell on Yechil's robe. "That button is almost off, I'll sew it back on for you. Have you a needle and thread?"
"I would not wish to trouble you my lady, I can sew it myself."
"There's no need to be so polite. Before I was the prince's lady I was just a herder girl and I know how to sew. Now where's that needle and thread?"
All the monks kept a sewing kit but usually they did their own patching and mending. Yechil found the small felt pouch where he kept his sewing kit.
Ulen Tagas threaded a needle and set to fixing Yechil's loose button. He could feel her soft breath on his face. Her long lashes fluttered only inches away. Yechil flushed hot and beads of sweat formed on his brow.
"Why are you sweating?" Ulen Tagas gave a laugh as she bit off the thread. "You're still young, one glimpse of a woman making you so nervous."
After that Ulen Tagas often came to visit Yechil. It might be first thing or in the evening, but she always chose a time when Chultemiin was not there. Yechil came to regard this frank, free and easy, warm-hearted woman as a friend, such that at times he forgot she was the banner prince's wife. His relationship with Ulen Tagas made Yechil a happy man.
"When will you come again?" Yechil always asked the same question when it came time for Ulen Tagas to leave.
"Whenever I get the chance. I have no friend besides you. But ...no one may see us. I am the banner prince's lady after all."
It was raining early one morning when Ulen Tagas came running in.
"I'd just set out when the rain started, I'm soaked through. Fetch me a towel."
Yechil fetched a towel for her. Ulen Tagas wiped her face and dried her hair, then she took off her robe and began wiping down her neck and arms. Yechil watched spellbound. He looked at Ulen Tagas's fine waist wearing only her underthings, his heart racing like a runaway stallion.
Ulen Tagas noticed his odd manner and laughed. "Why are you staring at me?"
"Oh, I ..." Yechil flushed bright red to the tips of his ears but didn't know how to respond.
"No need to be shy, we're friends." Ulen Tagas tossed the towel aside and came over to Yechil. She embraced him and kissed him softly on his forehead.
Yechil sat thunderstruck.
Ulen Tagas put her robe back on and gave Yechil a teasing look. "Tonight ...wait until everyone's asleep, then come to mine. I'll be waiting for you." With that she turned and left.
That night was pitch black. Yechil had spent the entire day waiting, heart aflutter, and now he trembled all over as he set out under cover of darkness. He looked all around, then tiptoed down past the sutra wheels and made his way to the big brick compound on the north-west side of the monastery, where he pushed open the gate.
Mamba Rasang lay so still and peaceful in the folds of darkness like a place where nothing ever happened, but now something had happened, something had quietly begun.
Yechil was now in the strangest of states, joy and suffering, hope and fear all mixed up inside him. Barely a month had passed but he was already growing thin. Would someone find out? If they carried on like this they were surely bound to get caught sooner or later. Maybe starting from tomorrow he wouldn't go to the compound again. It seemed his days now were all filled with this mixture of doubt, pain, and trepidation, but then he would imagine Ulen Tagas's expressive eyes upon him, or think of her small arms, the smell of her, her swelling breast ...and so all his doubts and hesitancy would melt away like snow under the spring sun. More than once Yechil resolved to never go to her again but when night came he could not stop his feet leading him back to the big brick compound. How I have let you down, master! That was the most painful thing, each time he thought of his master.
Yechil came from a poor family and as a child he had not been able to speak. He had come to Mamba Rasang aged seven and been apprenticed to Chultemiin. Chultemiin had treated him with acupuncture until finally Yechil was able to talk. Yechil was well aware that Chultemiin had been like a second father to him. How hurt and worried would his master be if he knew his disciple was carrying on with the wife of the banner prince? Even if his master never found out he was still badly letting him down. Yechil felt absolutely wretched.
Yechil tossed and turned as these thoughts crowded into his mind. A long time passed, then he heard his master coughing. A little while later he heard footsteps leaving their compound.
His master was going up the mountain to gather herbs again.
