Shōgun полностью

"Learn patience, puppy!"

"How can I be patient when I see you destroying yourself? It's my duty to point it out to you. You stay here hunting and wasting time while your enemies are pulling the whole world down on you. The Regents meet tomorrow. Four-fifths of all daimyos in Japan are either at Osaka already or on the way there. You're the only important one to refuse. Now you'll be impeached. Then nothing can save you. At the very least you should be home at Yedo surrounded by the legions. Here you're naked. We can't protect you. We've barely a thousand men, and hasn't Yabu-san mobilized all Izu? He's got more than eight thousand men within twenty ri, another six closing his borders. You know spies say he has a fleet waiting northward to sink you if you try to escape by galley! You're his prisoner again, don't you see that? One carrier pigeon from Ishido and Yabu can destroy you, whenever he wants. How do you know he isn't planning treachery with Ishido?"

"I'm sure he's considering it. I would if I were he, wouldn't you?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Then you'd soon be dead, which would be absolutely merited, but so would all your family, all your clan and all your vassals, which would be absolutely unforgivable. You're a stupid, truculent fool! You won't use your mind, you won't listen, you won't learn, you won't curb your tongue or your temper! You let yourself be manipulated in the most childish way and believe that everything can be solved with the edge of your sword. The only reason I don't take your stupid head or let you end your present worthless life is because you're young, because I used to think you had some possibilities, your mistakes are not malicious, there's no guile in you and your loyalty's unquestioned. But if you don't quickly learn patience and self-discipline, I'll take away your samurai status and order you and all your generations into the peasant class!" Toranaga's right fist slammed his saddle and the falcon let out a piercing, nervous scream. "Do you understand?"

Naga was in shock. In his whole life Naga had never seen his father shout with rage or lose his temper, or even heard of him doing so. Many times he had felt the bite of his tongue but with justification. Naga knew he made many mistakes, but always his father had turned it so that what he'd done no longer seemed as stupid as it had at first. For instance, when Toranaga had shown him how he had fallen into Omi's-or Yabu's-trap about Jozen, he had had to be physically stopped from charging off at once to murder them both. But Toranaga had ordered his private guards to pour cold water over Naga until he was rational, and had calmly explained that he, Naga, had helped his father immeasurably by eliminating Jozen's menace. "But it would have been better if you'd known you were being manipulated into the action. Be patient, my son, everything comes with patience," Toranaga had counseled. "Soon you'll be able to manipulate them. What you did was very good. But you must learn to reason what's in a man's mind if you're to be of any use to yourself-or to your lord. I need leaders. I've fanatics enough."

Always his father had been reasonable and forgiving but today… Naga leapt off his horse and knelt abjectly. "Please forgive me, Father. I never meant to make you angry… it's only because I'm frantic with worry over your safety. Please excuse me for disturbing the harmony-"

"Hold your tongue!" Toranaga bellowed, causing his horse to shy.

Frantically Toranaga held on with his knees and pulled the reins tighter in his right hand, the horse skittering. Off balance, his falcon began to bate-to jump off his fist, her wings fluttering wildly, screaming her ear-shattering hek-ekek-ek-ek-infuriated by the unaccustomed and unwelcome agitation surrounding her. "There, my beauty, there…" Toranaga desperately tried to settle her and gain control of the horse as Naga jumped for the horse's head. He caught the bridle and just managed to stop the horse from bolting. The falcon was screaming furiously. At length, reluctantly, she settled back on Toranaga's expert glove, held firmly by her thong jesses. But her wings still pulsated nervously, the bells on her feet jangling shrilly.

"Hek-ek-ek-ek-eeeeekk!" she shrieked a final time.

"There, there, my beauty. There, everything's all right," Toranaga said soothingly, his face still mottled with rage, then turned on Naga, trying to keep the animosity out of his tone for the falcon's sake. "If you've ruined her condition today, I'll-I'll-"

At that instant one of the beaters hallooed warningly. Immediately Toranaga slipped off the falcon's hood with his right hand, gave her a moment to adjust to her surroundings, then launched her.