Shipwrecks Read Online Free

sacred straw festoon as the boat bobbled its way out into deeper water. It eventually came to a stop after being skilfully manoeuvred out past the rocks. The villagers gathered on the shore pressed their palms together in prayer when the woman tossed the festoon into the water. The pregnant woman represented their wish for a good catch of fish, and the casting of the sacred festoon into the water their hope that a passing ship would be wrecked on the reef in front of the village.
    Isaku, his mother, with Teru tied to her back, his younger brother and sister, all watched the boat bob up and down as it headed back to shore. It was high tide, and the rocks were almost completely submerged, but even so the water foamed in spots.
    The boat reached the shore, and the woman stepped out onto the sand. The people gathered on the beach parted ranks to let her pass, then followed her as she walked up the shore. Normally a cheerful woman, known for her shrieks of laughter, she seemed to be a completely different person as she walked purposefully up the slope.
    Once on the path she advanced, with slow, deliberate steps, up to the village chief’s house. Isaku followed them inside, stepping onto the dirt floor of the entrance and peering between the men standing in front of him. The old village chief was sitting cross-legged, upright, a box-shaped table and a bowl full of food placed in front of him. The woman knelt, placing her hands on the floor as she bowed deeply. It was the first time Isaku had watched this ritual, because until this year he had not been permitted into the house.

    The woman stood, holding up the bottom of her kimono as she stepped toward the little table and overturned it with a solid kick. Then she knelt once more and bowed in front of the village chief. The kicking over of the bowl expressed their desire for a ship to capsize, and with this the ceremony ended.
    The villagers began to return to their homes. Work was forbidden on the day of the O- fune- sama ceremony, so Isaku followed his mother back along the narrow path leading to their house.
    In front of them a man named Senkichi was walking with his family. He had broken his thighbone when he was small, leaving him with one leg considerably shorter than the other, but he was famous for making the best dugout boats in the village. His eldest daughter had been sold into bondage, and there was talk that his fifteen-year-old second daughter would be sold in the near future.
    Isaku’s eyes followed the third daughter, Tami, as she walked behind her father. She was dark-skinned like Senkichi’s wife, but she had sharp eyes and a straight nose. Her movements were lithe, like an animal’s. Whenever he looked at Tami he felt strangely aroused.
    In the village, when a young man turned fifteen he was allowed to make advances to the girl he wanted for his wife. It was the custom for the youth to creep into her house at night, and if the girl did not refuse him the family would turn a blind eye to his presence. Isaku yearned for a chance to hold Tami in his arms. He worried that Tami, a year older than he was, might give herself to someone else before he reached the required age. The thought frightened him.
    He was also afraid that Tami might be sold into bondage like her older sisters. Women were normally sold as maids, and few returned home after their term of bondage was over. Some probably loathed the impoverished life in the village, and others would find a man during their indentureship and start a family once they had fulfilled their bond. Even if they did return, those who had served terms as long as ten years were too old to marry anyone except widowers. There were men with olderwives, but Isaku felt that he had little hope of ever being able to live under the same roof as Tami.
    They came to a fork in the path, and Tami and her parents walked off along the track parallel to the coast. Isaku stared at Tami’s legs, which showed underneath her