The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 20
Here we are on the twentieth day of Anadrasata's journey. Compulsory nights off the ship, and etcetera. You might almost think that the Kerajaa doesn't trust the Empire or something.
This piece runs to 2,685 words. I hope you enjoy it.
Index Page.
Naiphday, 1 Naisen, 1893 C.E.
Sulese, 16 Lamtan, 2157 T.M.L.
Dear Journal,
The second date at the top of today's page is today's date in the Kerajaan calendar. I have no idea what T.M.L. stands for or what it means.
Because everyone except the Captain and the Chief Engineer have to leave the ship today and spend two nights in Sengrangri's hostel, this morning's prayer service was truncated and in the short form. The entrical was recited by a professional actor, Mr Hairhai Ehaign, travelling in second class, this morning's verse for reflection was Naish, Chapter 4, Verse 17: "Remember that a guest is not a master, and that to stretch another's hospitality is to abuse it." Two curates travelling separately read alternate sections of an episcopal letter dated 23 Ochd condemning "Spiritual Guidance for the Modern Woman" by the Reverend Zaim Fairdaice and recommending that anyone reading it for religious or moral instruction put it aside now.
I am delighted to obey, co-operate, etc.
I had breakfast and returned to my cabin to finish preparations for leaving the ship. I am taking this journal and "Meditations on the Healthy Virtues" with me but leaving my language primer and the Reverend Fairdaice's book behind.
Mr Taighaign and I were the last first class passengers to leave the ship this morning because we were the only ones transferring to the hostel - everyone else will be staying in the Kerajaa. I did think to follow some of my own advice to young Mr dh'Jhaint and got the direction of the consulate here in Sengrangri from Mrs dh'Haibhaint before she disembarked. Dr Ghairn was cheerfully vocal about the next step in his and Mr Rhaimais'travels, and if I ever have reason to travel in the Kerajaa, I am sure his words will be helpful. The Right Reverend Dean dh'Jaint was being "forbearing" about not being asked to lead prayers this morning, and from his tone I was uncharitably grateful that he was not. Lord Retneseri was kind enough to bid me farewell, and Mrs Efune told me that she thought there was a bookshop in the city that carried her books in Imperial.
I felt that I was testing my government's assertion that the only travel document Imperial citizens and subjects require is their identity card when I presented it to the Kerajaan entry inspector, but he accepted it. He also checked my travel plans in the Kerajaa, made some notations in a book, and then filled in a printed letter, signed and stamped it, and handed it to me, telling me to keep it with me as it acknowledged my right to be in the Kerajaa until the Pearlish Queen left their skies. I thanked him, and then went to where I was directed.
One entrance of the hostel complex is directly across from the port entrance with a large court, almost a square, in between them to allow for traffic and cartage. The walls of the hostel buildings are made with stone cut from the Circle Mountains, so I suspect there was a large excavation project in the city around the time the hostel was built. The inside walls have been plastered white and in my room there are blinds instead of curtains. There is a bed with netting that can be let down around it and a colourful bed covering, a desk and a chair, and a small sofa or settee.
I only had ten minutes to freshen myself up [another place with water closets!], and then I had to present myself for lunch. Apparently, it is compulsory to be present at all meals here at the hostel.
There is one big dining hall here at the hostel, divided into sections for first, second, third class, and officers and crew by permanent dark wooden railings. The walls and ceilings are white plaster, the floors are dark blue tile, and the tables and chairs are dark wood. The tables in each section are divided up by ship. Mr Taighaign and I were the only ones at a four-a-side table for eight. The only other occupants of the first class section were two women and four children of ten and under at another table. I placed the women as a governess and a nanny with the children as their charges, based on the clothes, manner, and the way they spoke to each other. I was surprised that they didn't have a nursery maid with them as well, but I am in no position to talk. Lunch was soup. I was surprised when a large bowl of chopped up and sliced vegetables, poultry(?), and seafood was placed in front of me, and my cutlery was a fork and an oddly shaped spoon. Mr Taighaign explained that broth would be next and that I could choose from mild, medium, and very spicy. The broth would be hot and the idea was for it to finish cooking the contents of the bowl as you ate. He spoke loudly enough for the other group in the first class section to hear him and I think the children and the governess looked a little less apprehensive for hearing it.
The broth was brought around on a trolley by two servers with the pots sitting on a rack that allowed a lit candle to be under each pot to keep the contents warm. I asked for the mild broth because I have no idea where my idea of spicing and their idea of spicing intersect. Mr Taighaign chose the very spicy - it seems he has been here before. We spoke over our meal and he told me that he makes this trip regularly, meeting with his business contacts but eating and sleeping in the hostel, then travelling on. He finds it a very efficient and cost-effective way to conduct his affairs. He strongly recommended that I take the official guided tour this afternoon, even if it is Naiphday. One of the highlights is the Hamada, the local equivalent of a cathedral, and contemplation of a building dedicated to the glory of the Divinity is a worth Naiphday activity. He said this last with a look and tone that makes me think that he has a dry sense of humour.
The broth was creamy with orange oils spotting its surface, utterly delicious, and it really did cook the vegetables and meats through. Tomorrow I will try the medium spiced one.
After lunch we were introduced to our local guides. It seems that along with having to be back at the hostel for meals, we are also not supposed to leave without a guide. The guides are employed by the Kerajaan government, and the shipping line pays a premium so that first class passengers can have their own, personal, guide each. Mine is Miss Eyeu. (I don't know if that is how she would write it, because Kerajaan uses completely different letters to us but the beginning of her name is the same as the Eyeleutian sound 'eye'.) This afternoon is set aside for a standard tour of the sights of the city, but I noticed that Mr Taighaign was carrying a business satchel and set off leading his guide. When I saw the size of some of the other groups forming up to leave the hostel, I asked Miss Eyeu if it would be helpful if I agreed to ass a few of the unattached ladies from the other classes to my tour. She assured me that it was not necessary, and that enough guides were available for reasonable sized groups to be formed, people just had to agree not to be with all their particular friends.
I think she hustled me out of the hostel so I wouldn't try to be helpful anymore....
We saw the Palace of the Princes, where the local princely family lived before the last regnant Princess married the Patiraj Remid af Retniri and took the city into the Kerajaa as her dowery. I was told that she took this step because the Eyeleutian city states were falling to the Empire at the time, and she refused to be conquered. Since then the city has changed its name three times but kept the -ri ending on its name to reflect its Eyeleutian origins. The local dialect is Behessa Eyeleutia. The Palace has very little in the way of gardens, but the interior is very beautiful with great use of polished stone and mother-of-pearl. I am glad I don't have to live in it though, because it has the old-fashioned layout of one room after another and no corridors, and I have never been able to understand how it works walking through other people's bedrooms to get to your own and the other way around.
After the Palace we went through the open-air market and I had to reject the blandishments of several jewellery stalls, (their salesmen are very pushy - one almost laid hands on me to stop me walking away!). The we went through, I think it was an art gallery(?), but it was called the Arcade of the Arts. Lots of mosaics, abstracted patterns, and a style of painting that reminded me strongly of book illustrations - particularly the illustrations in Sura's natural history texts, only of hunting scenes and groups.
Then there was more open market, until we came to a little tea house on the edge of a park almost opposite the Hamada. Apparently we were early for our time to visit the Hamada, so we sat and had a cup of tea with some more of those dainties we had on the ship yesterday afternoon. Miss Eyeu told me that this is part of the tour but often ladies spend so much time buying things in the markets that they don't have time for it.
While we were drinking our tea, I thought I saw the governess from lunchtime walking past on her own on the other side of the road. Whoever she was, she was wearing Imperial clothes and did not have the colouring or warm complexion of the locals.
As it turns out, our tour of the Hamada was greatly truncated. In local belief, as it is a full moon tonight, today and tomorrow are very auspicious days on which to get married. Bridal parties were queued everywhere. Miss Eyeu was allowed to show me one entrance vestibule, a passageway connecting it to another vestibule with a robing chamber in between, and the second vestibule. There were something like five brides with their attendants waiting in the robing chamber and we were only allowed through it and the passageway because we were both women. The passageway was carved with scenes from the travels of the person I know as the Disciple Aihairon of Naish, and the robing room has a ceiling mural of a Shower of Divine Grace. The garments of the bridal parties were so beautiful - so many red, blue, and green silks! In the second vestibule I got a little religious talk from one of the resident clergy, which finished with me being gifted a copy of their version of the Book of Naish in Imperial. I wouldn't have thought that the Book of Naish was one you could found a religion on, but it's not my religion. I did my best to say thank you because it may be a cheap edition, but the printing is beautifully clear and the cover is lovely.
After we left the Hamada, Miss Eyeu asked me what I wanted to do next because we'd finished the official tour. I replied that I wanted to go back to the hostel and organise a bath. She told me that the hostel was not the place for a bath. Then she took me back to the hostel to collect clean undergarments and leave my copy of the book of Naish behind.
Then she took me to the bath house. I don't know if the help I got was normal or if it was because I had no idea what to do or how to behave. First, I had to strip off and leave my clothes in a locker to be watched over by a room attendant. Then we went into the next room where my hair was put up, wrapped in a towel, and pinned out of the way. Then the first attendant took over and I was sluiced down, vigorously soaped and scrubbed all over (there were parts I washed myself but not many) then I was sluiced over again and ushered without my robe into the next room which had a long, steaming bath/pool in it where other naked ladies were soaking, and talking to each other. Miss Eyeu joined me in the water, and we stayed in for about a quarter of an hour, when I began to get sleepy. Miss Eyeu led me to the next chamber where we were dried off, and then in the next chamber we were laid down on tables and a scented oil was rubbed into my skin by a woman with strong hands that persuaded all my muscles just to give up and relax. When that was done, we were patted down for excess oil, and ushered back to the locker room (with robes) to get ourselves dressed again.
It was blissful.
After that I went back to my room and read the first sermon in "Meditations on the Healthy Virtues" before dinner. This, this morning's prayer service and perhaps another chapter before bed will have to do for my Naiphday devotions today - prayer services cannot be held within the hostel and there is a local church of our faith, but evening prayer service is at the same time the hostel serves dinner. Reading another chapter tonight will not be a chore - the Reverend Doctor Ghaighul's thoughts on compassion left me feeling better about the world, other people, and my ability to be the person I ought to be than when I started.
Seating at dinner was identical to that at lunch. The meal was different though. First was a plate with a selection of fried and steamed single pieces of odd and two different dipping sauces. The orange sauce was spicy and sweet, while the green sauce was very like the seaweed sauce I had in Amnestri. The main course was a selection of dishes brought out on single plates, with a bowl of rice (not cooked with milk, and not at all gluggy!), and a plate to eat off. Much of the food was spicy or in a spicy sauce, but I found it all edible - with the rice. I did hear the nanny say to the youngest boy, "I thought you didn't like that?" His reply was, "This red sauce covers up the taste." [That red sauce had me eating more rice and drinking more water than anything else in the meal.] Dessert was cake-like balls soaked in a heavy, scented syrup. There was enough to eat but not quite too much. I am not sure that my mouth will ever seem the same again.
Mr Taighaign went out again with his satchel after dinner while I was shown to a sitting room/parlor with an attendant to pour tea for me. And possibly to stop me falling asleep in there. The room had white plaster ceiling and walls, with dark wooden and pinky red silk upholstered furniture. I thought the governess might have joined me, but when she didn't I presumed she was with her charges. I read the Reverend Doctor Ghaigul's thoughts on cleanliness and felt any guilt I had about the bath house disappear. I finished my evening with Chapter 4 of the Book of Naish, which I found not different in the essentials from the version I am used to. There is some difference in wording, but I think that is because this edition is translated out of Behessa instead of being a translation of the original into Imperial.
It is storming outside tonight, and I am for my bed and dreams.
Anadrasata Nearabhigan