Book report on “Memoirs of a Geisha” / CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5
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■The Two Men
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     After few days, Sayuri arrived at Mameha’s apartment, her maid helped 
Sayuri with her makeup, and afterward brought in the kimono ensemble Mameha had set out for her.
     Mameha told Sayuri we would be attending a sumo exhibition as the guests of Iwamura Ken, 
the founder of Iwamura Electric in Osaka. Iwamura’s right-hand man,
Nobu Toshikazu, who was president of the company, would also be attending.
     “I should tell you,” Mameha said to Sayuri, “that Nobu is…
a bit peculiar looking. You’ll make a great impression on him by behaving 
well when you meet him.” At the Exhibition Hall Sayuri knew at once that he was Nobu. 
Even from a distance the skin of his face looked like a melted candle. 
When seated beside him Sayuri couldn’t resist peering at the terrible burns 
on the side of his face and his neck, and at his ear, which was misshapen. 
Then she saw that the sleeve of his jacket was empty, it was folded in two and fastened 
to his shoulder by a long silver pin. Nobu had been severely injured in a bombing outside Seoul in 1910.
     And beside him, there was a very elegant man. From the moment 
Sayuri sets eyes on this man she felt a strange stillness settling over her. 
Then he turned his head, and for the first time she saw his broad face 
and the sharpness of his cheekbones…and most of all, his eyelids folded 
so tightly in the corners and so smooth and flat. 
     He was familiar, certainly─more familiar in some ways than her own image in the mirror. 
It was the Chairman.


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■Who is the Destiny?
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     After this meeting, Nobu was very fond of Sayuri. Actually, 
Sayuri and Nobu have an en, and it seems she can’t escape from it. 
Sayuri, herself continued to want to spend with the Chairman. 
Since she met the Chairman, she’d dreamed that one day the Chairman would tell her 
that he cared for her.
     Nobu think when Sayuri makes the shift from being an apprentice to being a geisha, 
it will be eighteen years old, he becomes her danna. But for Sayuri 
to become his mistress would have closed off her life from the Chairman forever. 
Because the Chairman and Nobu had their celebrated partnership. 

     On the other hand, before Sayuri can repay her debts, if Mother make up 
her mind to adopt Pumpkin, Sayuri will be thrown out of the okiya. 
It will be cut off her way to become a gaisha. 
So Mameha and Sayuri must lead Mother to adopt Sayuri instead. 
Could they handle it?