Datasets:

PocketDoc

/

Dans-Prosemaxx-Cowriter-XL

like 0

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Eiji Yoshikawa and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shonyu grimaced in the smoke of the evening kitchen fires as he rode out through the castle gate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Ikeda warriors were apprehensive of his frame of mind just from glancing at his face. They all knew that Shonyu's bad mood was due to Nagayoshi's defeat. Owing to his misjudgment, he had burdened his allies with a severe blow at the very outset of the war, even before Hideyoshi, the commander-in-chief, had arrived on the battlefield.\n\nIkeda Shonyu had always been confident that no one had ever pointed a finger of scorn at him, and for a man who had lived a warrior's life for forty-eight years, this disgrace must have been unexpected, at the very least." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yukisuke, come over here. Terumasa, you come, too. The senior retainers should come up close, too.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sitting cross-legged in the hall of the main citadel, he had called together his sons Yukisuke and Terumasa and his senior retainers.\n\n\"I want to hear your unreserved opinions. First, take a look at this,\" he said, producing a map from his kimono.\n\nAs the men passed the map around, they realized what Shonyu was suggesting.\n\nOn the map a line had been drawn in red ink from Inuyama through the mountains and over the rivers to Okazaki in Mikawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After looking at the map, the men silently waited to see what Shonyu would say next." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If we put Komaki and Kiyosu aside and advance our men along one road to the Tokugawa main castle at Okazaki, there's no doubt that even Ieyasu will be thrown into confusion. The only thing we need to be concerned about is how to keep our army from being seen by the enemy at Mount Komaki.\"\n\nNo one was quick to speak. It was an unusual plan. If a single mistake was made, it might result in a disaster that could be fatal to all of their allies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm thinking of offering this plan to Lord Hideyoshi. If it works, both Ieyasu and Nobuo will be able to do nothing as we take them captive.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shonyu wanted to perform some meritorious deed to make up for his son-in-law's defeat. He wanted to stare back in triumph at the people who were gossiping maliciously about him. Although they understood that those were his intentions, no one was ready to criticize what he had in mind. No one was ready to say, \"No, clever plans rarely invite merit. This is dangerous.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the end of the conference the plan had won unanimous support." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the commanders begged to be put in the vanguard that would go deep into enemy territory and destroy Ieyasu in the very bosom of his own province.\n\nA similar plan had been tried at Shizugatake by Shibata Katsuie's nephew, Genba. Nevertheless, Shonyu was ready to advocate the plan to Hideyoshi and said, \"We'll go to the main camp at Gakuden tomorrow.\"\n\nHe spent the night sleeping on the idea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At dawn, however, a messenger came from Gakuden and told him, \"As he makes the inspection rounds today, Lord Hideyoshi is likely to stop at Inuyama Castle around noon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Hideyoshi felt the mild breeze of the beginning of the Fourth Month wafting over him, he rode out of Gakuden and, after carefully observing Ieyasu's camp at Mount Komaki and the enemy fortifications in the area, took the road to Inuyama accompanied by ten pages and close attendants.\n\nWhenever Hideyoshi met with Shonyu, he treated him like an old friend. When they were young samurai in Kiyosu, Shonyu, Hideyoshi, and Inuchiyo had often gone out drinking together.\n\n\"By the way, how's Nagayoshi?\" he asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It had been reported that Nagayoshi had been killed, but he had only been badly injured." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He made a mess of things with his hotheadedness, but his recovery has been extraordinarily quick. All he can talk about is getting to the front as quickly as possible and clearing his name.\"\n\nHideyoshi turned to one of his retainers and asked, \"Ichimatsu, of all the enemy fortifications we saw at Mount Komaki today, which looked to be the strongest?\"\n\nThat was the sort of question he liked to ask, calling the men around him and listening happily to the frank words of the young warriors.\n\nAt such times, the crowd of young personal retainers that surrounded him never minced their words." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they became heated, Hideyoshi became heated too, and such an atmosphere made it difficult for an outsider to tell whether the arguers were lord and retainers or just friends." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once Hideyoshi became a little serious, however, everyone immediately straightened up.\n\nShonyu was seated next to him and finally broke in on the conversation. \"I have something I would earnestly like to talk to you about, too.\"\n\nHideyoshi leaned over to listen to him and nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He then commanded everyone to withdraw." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The room was empty of everyone but Shonyu and Hideyoshi. They were in the hall of the main citadel, and as there was a clear field of vision, it was not necessary for him to be on his guard.\n\n\"What is it about, Shonyu?\"\n\n\"You've been making the inspection tour today, and I imagine you've made some decisions. Don't you think Ieyasu's preparations at Mount Komaki are perfect?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, they're splendid. I don't think anyone but Ieyasu could have put up such fortifications and positions in such a short time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've ridden out and looked around a number of times too, and I don't see how we can make an attack,\" Shonyu said.\n\n\"The way it's set up, we're just going to be facing each other,\" Hideyoshi replied.\n\n\"Ieyasu's aware that his opponent is a true opponent,\" Shonyu went on, \"so he's acting with prudence. At the same time, our allies know that this is the first time we'll be confronting the famous Tokugawa forces in a decisive battle. So it's naturally turned into a situation like this—staring each other down.\"\n\n\"It's interesting. For a number of days there hasn't even been the sound of gunfire. It's a quiet battle with no fighting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, if I may...\" Shonyu advanced on his knees, spread out a map, and enthusiastically explained his plan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi listened just as enthusiastically, nodding a number of times. But the expression on his face did not indicate that he was going to be drawn easily into a quick agreement.\n\n\"If you'll give me your permission, I'll raise my entire clan and attack Okazaki. Once we strike the Tokugawa's home province at Okazaki, and Ieyasu hears that it's being trampled beneath our horses' hooves, it won't make any difference how well prepared his ramparts at Mount Komaki are, or how great a military genius he may be. He'll crumble from within even without our attacking him.\"\n\n\"I'll think about it,\" Hideyoshi said, avoiding a quick answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But you think about it one more night too—not as something of your own, but objectively. It's a clever plan and a heroic undertaking, so it's dangerous on that account alone.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shonyu's strategy was indeed an original idea, and it was clear that even the prudent Hideyoshi was impressed, but Hideyoshi's thoughts were quite different.\n\nBy nature, Hideyoshi did not care for clever strategies or surprise attacks. Rather than military strategies, he preferred diplomacy; rather than easy, short-term victories, he preferred mastery over the total situation, even if it took a long time.\n\n\"Well, let's not be in a hurry,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he relaxed a little." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll make my mind up by tomorrow. Come to the main camp tomorrow morning.\"\n\nHideyoshi's personal retainers had been waiting in the corridor and now came to his side. When they got as far as the entrance of the main citadel, a strangely dressed samurai was crouched in obeisance next to the place where the horses were tethered. His head and one arm were bandaged, and the coat over his armor was of gold brocade against a white background." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who's that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man raised his bound head a little.\n\n\"I'm ashamed to say that it's me, Nagayoshi, my lord.\"\n\n\"Well, Nagayoshi? I heard you were confined to your bed. How are your wounds?\"\n\n\"I was determined to be up by today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't push yourself so hard. If you'll only let your body recover, you will be able to wipe away your disgrace at any time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the mention of the word \"disgrace,\" Nagayoshi began to cry.\n\nTaking a letter from his coat and reverently handing it to Hideyoshi, he prostrated himself once again.\n\n\"I would be honored if you would read this, my lord.\"\n\nHideyoshi nodded, perhaps feeling compassion for the man's misery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After finishing the day's inspection rounds of the battlefield, Hideyoshi returned to Gakuden at dusk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His camp was not on high ground like the enemy's on Mount Komaki, but Hideyoshi had used the forests, fields, and streams in the vicinity to their fullest advantage, and his army's position was surrounded by two square leagues of trenches and palisades.\n\nAs a further precaution, the compound of the village shrine was disguised to look as though it was the place where Hideyoshi was staying.\n\nFrom Ieyasu's point of view, Hideyoshi whereabouts were unclear. He could have been at either the camp at Gakuden or Inuyama Castle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Security at the front lines was so tight that not even water could seep through, so surveillance by one side or the other was certainly impossible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I haven't been able to take a bath since leaving Osaka. Today I want to wash the sweat off for once.\"\n\nAn outdoor bath was immediately prepared for Hideyoshi. After digging a hole in the earth, his attendants lined it with huge sheets of oiled paper. Filling the hole with water, they next heated a piece of scrap iron in a fire and threw it in to warm the water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then they lined up planks around the hole and erected a curtain around the area." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, the water's great.\" In that simple open-air bath, the master of a less-than-splendid body soaked in hot water and looked up at the stars of the evening sky. This is the greatest luxury in the world, he thought as he rubbed the dirt from his body.\n\nSince the year before, he had been clearing away the land around Osaka and setting in motion the construction of a castle of unprecedented majesty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His own greatest human pleasures were in places like this, however, rather than in the golden rooms and jeweled towers of the castle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt a sudden nostalgia for his home in Nakamura, where his mother would wash his back when he was small.\n\nIt had been a long time since Hideyoshi had felt so relaxed, and it was in that state that he walked into his quarters.\n\n\"Ah, you're all here already!\" Hideyoshi exclaimed when he saw that the generals he had summoned that evening were waiting for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take a look at this,\" he said, taking a map and a letter from his coat and handing them over to his generals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The letter was a petition written in blood by Nagayoshi. The map was Shonyu's.\n\n\"What do you think of this plan?\" Hideyoshi asked. \"I want to hear everyone's frank opinions.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a while no one said a word." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone appeared to be sunk in thought.\n\nFinally one of the generals said, \"I think it's an exquisite plan.\"\n\nHalf of the men were in favor, but the other half were opposed, saying, \"A clever plan is a risky gamble.\"\n\nThe conference was deadlocked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi simply listened with a smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The subject was so momentous that a council resolution was not going to be settled upon easily.\n\n\"We'll have to leave it to your own wise decision, my lord.\"\n\nThe generals returned to their own camps at nightfall.\n\nThe truth was that Hideyoshi had already made up his mind on the return trip from Inuyama." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had called a conference not because he could not make up his own mind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In fact, he had invited his generals to a brief conference because he had already made his decision. Again it was a matter of psychological leadership. His generals returned to their camps with the impression that he would probably not put the plan into use.\n\nBut in his own mind Hideyoshi had already settled on action." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he did not accept Shonyu's suggestion, his and Nagayoshi's positions as warriors would become onerous." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moreover, it was certain that if their obstinate temperaments were repressed, they would somehow be manifested at a later time.\n\nIt was a dangerous situation in terms of military command. More than that, Hideyoshi feared that if Shonyu became discontented, Ieyasu would certainly try to tempt him to change sides.\n\nIkeda Shonyu is my subordinate now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he imagines himself to be the butt of dishonorable rumors, his haste is not unreasonable, Hideyoshi thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The present situation was deadlocked, and a positive move to invite some sort of change would have to be played.\n\n\"That's it,\" Hideyoshi said aloud. \"Rather than wait for Shonyu to come here tomorrow morning, I'll send a messenger to him tonight.\"\n\nUpon receiving the urgent letter, Shonyu flew off toward Hideyoshi's camp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was the fourth watch, and the night was still dark." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have decided, Shonyu.\"\n\n\"Good! Are you going to favor me with the command to make a surprise attack on Okazaki?\"\n\nThe two men finished all the preliminaries before dawn. Shonyu joined Hideyoshi for breakfast and then returned to Inuyama." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On the following day, the battlefield outwardly appeared to be in the doldrums, but there were subtle signs of delicate movement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Resounding in the thinly clouded afternoon sky, both enemy and ally gunfire could be heard coming from the direction of Onawate. From the Udatsu Road, sand and dust could be seen far off, at the place where two or three thousand soldiers of the western army were beginning to attack enemy fortifications.\n\n\"The general attack is starting!\"\n\nAs they looked out into the distance, the generals felt a wild surging excitement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This was, indeed, a turning point in history." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whichever man won, the age would belong to him.\n\nIeyasu knew that Hideyoshi had feared and respected Nobunaga more than anyone else. Now there was no one he feared or respected more than Ieyasu. Not a single banner in the entire camp on Mount Komaki moved that morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was almost as though strict orders had been given not to react to the small attacking sorties from the western army that would be testing the eastern army's resolve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evening arrived. A corps of the western army that had withdrawn from the fighting delivered a sheaf of propaganda handbills they had picked up along the road to Hideyoshi's main camp.\n\nWhen Hideyoshi read one of them, he became enraged.\n\nHideyoshi caused the suicide of Lord Nobutaka, the son of his former lord, Nobunaga, to whom he owed so much. He has now rebelled against Lord Nobuo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He has constantly caused turmoil within the warrior class, has brought disasters to the common people, and has been the chief instigator of the present conflict, using every means to achieve his own ambitions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The flyer went on to claim that Ieyasu had risen up with a true justification for war and that he led the army of moral duty.\n\nAn expression of rage—rare for Hideyoshi—contorted his face. \"Which one of the enemy wrote this tract?\" he demanded.\n\n\"Ishikawa Kazumasa,\" a retainer replied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Secretary!\" Hideyoshi yelled, looking over his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have placards raised everywhere with the same message: The man who takes Ishikawa Kazumasa's head will receive a reward of ten thousand bushels.\"\n\nEven with that command, Hideyoshi's anger did not subside, and calling for the generals who happened to be present, he gave the order for a sortie himself.\n\n\"So this is how that damned Kazumasa behaves!\" he fumed. \"I want you to take a reserve corps and help our men in front of Kazumasa's lines. Attack him throughout the night. Attack him tomorrow morning. Attack him tomorrow night. Follow one attack with another, and don't give Kazumasa the chance to take a breath.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally he called out for rice and pressed for his evening meal to be brought in right away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi never forgot to eat. Even as he was eating, however, messengers continued to go back and forth between Gakuden and Inuyama.\n\nThen the final messenger arrived with a report from Shonyu. Mumbling to himself, Hideyoshi leisurely drank the soup from the bottom of his bowl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That evening, the sound of musket fire could be heard far behind the main camp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The firing had been echoing here and there on the front lines since dawn and continued until the following day. Even now this was considered to be the opening action of a general attack by Hideyoshi's western army.\n\nThe first blow of the day before, however, had been a feint by Hideyoshi, while the real movement had been the preparations at Inuyama for Shonyu's surprise attack on Okazaki.\n\nThe strategy was to divert Ieyasu's attention, while Shonyu's troops took back roads and struck at Ieyasu's main castle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shonyu's army consisted of four corps:" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "First Corps: Ikeda Shonyu's six thousand men.\n\nSecond Corps: Mori Nagayoshi's three thousand men.\n\nThird Corps: Hori Kyutaro's three thousand men.\n\nFourth Corps: Miyoshi Hidetsugu's eight thousand men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The vanguard First and Second Corps naturally constituted the main strength of these forces—warriors who were ready for victory or death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was now the sixth day of the Fourth Month. Waiting until the dead of night, Shonyu's twenty thousand troops finally departed Inuyama in the utmost secrecy. The banners were lowered, the horses' hooves muted. Riding through the night, they met the dawn at Monoguruizaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The soldiers ate their provisions and had a short rest, then went on and made camp at the village of Kamijo, from which a reconnaissance party was sent out to Oteme Castle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Earlier, the commander of the Blue Herons, Sanzo, had been sent by Shonyu to Morikawa Gonemon, the commander of the castle, who had promised to betray Ieyasu. But now, just to make sure, Sanzo was sent out again.\n\nShonyu was now deep inside enemy territory. The army advanced, step by step, hourly approaching Ieyasu's main castle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu, of course, was absent, as were all of his generals and soldiers, who had gone to the front lines at Mount Komaki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was toward this vacant house, the empty cocoon that the core of the Tokugawa clan's home province had become, that Shonyu would aim his lethal blow.\n\nThe commander of Oteme Castle, who had been aligned with the Tokugawa, but tempted by Shonyu, had already accepted his pledge from Hideyoshi for a domain of fifty thousand bushels.\n\nThe castle gate was open, and its commander came out to greet the invaders himself, showing them the way. The samurai class under the old shogunate did not have a monopoly of immorality and degradation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under Ieyasu's rule, both lord and retainer had eaten cold rice and gruel; they had fought battles; they had taken up the hoe, worked in the fields, and done piecework to survive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally they had overcome every hardship and had become strong enough to stand against Hideyoshi. Still, even here, there existed such samurai as Morikawa Gonemon.\n\n\"Well, General Gonemon,\" Shonyu said, his face aglow with happiness. \"I'm grateful that you haven't gone back on your promise and have come out to greet us today. If everything turns out as planned, I'll send that proposal for fifty thousand bushels directly to Lord Hideyoshi.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, I already received Lord Hideyoshi's pledge last night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Gonemon's reply, Shonyu was once again surprised at Hideyoshi's vigilance and reliability.\n\nThe army now divided into three columns and started out for the plain of Nagakute. It passed another fortress, Iwasaki Castle, which was defended by only two hundred thirty soldiers.\n\n\"Leave it alone. A little castle like that hardly merits taking. Let's not play along the way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looking askance at the castle, both Shonyu and Nagayoshi rode by as though it was not even dust in their eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But just as they were passing by, they were showered with gunfire from inside the castle, and one of the bullets grazed the flank of Shonyu's horse. The horse reared, nearly throwing Shonyu from the saddle.\n\n\"What impudence!\" Raising his whip, Shonyu shouted at the soldiers of the First Corps. \"Finish off that little castle now!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The troops' first fighting action had been approved." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All of their pent-up energy was released. Two commanders each led about a thousand men and charged the castle. Even a much stronger fortress would not have been able to withstand warriors with their kind of spirit, and this castle was defended by a small force of men.\n\nIn the twinkling of an eye, its stone walls were scaled, its moat was filled, fires were set, and the sun was blotted out with black smoke." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At that point, the castle's commanding general came out fighting and was killed in battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The castle's soldiers were all killed with the exception of one man, who escaped and raced to Mount Komaki to inform Ieyasu of the emergency. During the short battle, Nagayoshi's Second Corps had put a good distance between itself and the First Corps. The men now rested and ate their provisions.\n\nAs the soldiers ate their meal, they looked up and wondered what the reason for the rising smoke might be." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Very soon, however, a runner from the front lines informed them of the fall of Iwasaki Castle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The horses nipped at the grass while laughter reverberated across the plain.\n\nUpon learning the same information, the Third Corps naturally stopped and rested both men and horses at Kanahagiwara. At the very rear, the Fourth Corps also reined in the horses and waited for the corps in front to start advancing again.\n\nSpring was departing in the mountains and summer was near." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The azure of the sky was beautifully clear, deeper even than the sea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shortly after stopping, the horses became drowsy, and the high-pitched songs of the skylark and bulbul could be heard in the barley fields and forests.\n\nTwo days before this, during the evening of the sixth day of the Fourth Month, two farmers from the village of Shinoki had crawled through the fields and run from tree to tree, avoiding the lookouts of the western army.\n\n\"We have something to tell Lord Ieyasu! It's very important!\" the two men yelled as they ran into the main camp at Mount Komaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ii Hyobu led them to Ieyasu's headquarters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A few moments before Ieyasu had been talking with Nobuo, but after Nobuo had left, Ieyasu had taken the copy of the Analects of Confucius from the top of his armor chest and began to read silently, ignoring the sounds of distant gunfire.\n\nFive years younger than Hideyoshi, he was forty-two years old this year, a general in his prime. His appearance was so mild and good-natured—and he had such such soft flesh and pale skin—that an observer might have doubted that he had been through every extremity, and had fought battles in which he had rallied his troops with nothing more than the look in his eye.\n\n\"Who is it? Naomasa? Come in, come in.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Closing the Analects, Ieyasu pulled his stool around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two farmers reported that on that very evening, some units of Hideyoshi's army had left Inuyama and were heading in the direction of Mikawa.\n\n\"You've done well,\" Ieyasu said. \"You'll be rewarded!\"\n\nIeyasu's brow tightened. If Okazaki was attacked, nothing could be done. Even he hadn't thought that the enemy would leave Mount Komaki and strike out for his home province of Mikawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Summon Sakai, Honda, and Ishikawa immediately,\" he said calmly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He ordered the three generals to guard Mount Komaki in his absence. He would lead the bulk of his forces himself and go in pursuit of Shonyu's army.\n\nAt about that time, a country samurai had come to report to Nobuo's camp. By the time Nobuo brought the man to speak with Ieyasu, Ieyasu had already summoned a conference of his field staff." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You come too, Lord Nobuo! I think we can say that this pursuit is going to finish with an impressive battle, and if you're not present, it's going to lack significance.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ieyasu's forces were to be divided into two corps, and would total fifteen thousand nine hundred men. Mizuno Tadashige's four thousand troops would act as the army's vanguard.\n\nBy the night of the eighth day of the month, the main corps under Ieyasu and Nobuo had left Mount Komaki. Finally they crossed over the Shonai River." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The units under Nagayoshi and Kyutaro were bivouacking only two leagues away in the village of Kamijo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dim white light on the water-covered rice fields and little streams showed that the dawn was near, but black shadows lay all around, and dark clouds hung low to the earth.\n\n\"Hey! There they are!\"\n\n\"Get down! Lie down!\"\n\nIn the rice paddies, in the clumps of bushes, in the shadows of the trees, in the hollows of the ground, the figures of the men in the pursuing army all bent down quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Straining their ears, they could hear the western army moving in a long black line along the single road that disappeared into a forest in the distance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pursuing troops divided into two corps and secretly trailed behind the tail end of the enemy, which was composed of the Fourth Corps of the western army led by Mikoshi Hidetsugu.\n\nThat was the shape of the fate of both armies on the morning of the ninth day of the month. Moreover, the commander selected by Hideyoshi for this important undertaking—his own nephew Hidetsugu—was still unaware of the situation as dawn began to break.\n\nWhile Hideyoshi had appointed the steady Hori Kyutaro as the leader of the invasion of Mikawa, it was Hidetsugu whom he designated as commander-in-chief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hidetsugu, however, was still only a sixteen-year-old boy, so Hideyoshi had selected two senior generals and ordered them to watch over the young commander." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The troops were still tired as the sun peacefully announced the dawn of the ninth day of the month. Knowing that the men must be hungry, Hidetsugu gave the order to stop. At the command to eat their provisions, the generals and soldiers sat down and ate their morning meal.\n\nThe place was Hakusan Woods, so-called because Hakusan Shrine stood at the top of a small hill there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hidetsugu set up his stool on the hill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't you have any water?\" the young man asked a retainer. \"There's none left in my canteen, and my throat is really dry.\"\n\nTaking the canteen, he gulped down every last drop of water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not good to drink too much when we're on the move. Be a little patient, my lord,\" a retainer reproved him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Hidetsugu did not even turn to look at him. The men whom Hideyoshi had sent to watch him were eyesores to the young man. He was sixteen years old, a commanding general, and naturally in a fighting mood.\n\n\"Who's that running in this direction?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's Hotomi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's Hotomi doing here?\" Hidetsugu narrowed his eyes and stretched up to see. The commander of the spear corps, Hotomi, approached him and knelt. He was out of breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lord Hidetsugu, we have an emergency!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Really.\"\n\n\"Please climb a little farther up to the top of the hill.\"\n\n\"There.\" Hotomi pointed out a cloud of dust. \"It's still far away, but it's moving from the shelter of those mountains toward the plain.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not a whirlwind, is it? It's bunched up in front, with a crowd following to the rear. It's an army, that's for sure.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have to make a decision, my lord.\"\n\n\"Is it the enemy?\"\n\n\"I don't think it could be anyone else.\"\n\n\"Wait, I wonder if it really is the enemy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hidetsugu was still acting with indifference." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seemed to think that it just could not be true.\n\nBut as soon as his retainers reached the top of the hill, they all shouted together.\n\n\"Damn!\"\n\n\"I thought the enemy might have a plan to follow us. Prepare yourselves!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unable to wait for Hidetsugu's orders, all of them moved to take action, kicking up bits of grass and dust in their haste." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ground shook, the horses whinnied, officers and men shouted back and forth. In the moment it took to transform the rest period for a meal into readiness for battle, the commanders of the Tokugawa army had given the orders for a wild fusillade of bullets and arrows directly into Hidetsugu's troops.\n\n\"Fire! Loose your arrows!\"\n\n\"Strike into them!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Observing the confusion of the enemy, the mounted men and spear corps suddenly charged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't let them get close to His Lordship!\"\n\nThe shouts surrounding Hidetsugu were now only wild voices calling to protect his life.\n\nHere, there, from among the trees and shrubs, from everywhere along the road, came swarms of enemy soldiers. The only force that was unable to open up an escape route was a small one made up of Hidetsugu and his retainers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hidetsugu had been slightly wounded in two or three places and labored furiously with his spear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you still here, my lord?\"\n\n\"Hurry! Retreat! Move back!\"\n\nWhen his retainers saw him, they spoke almost as if they were scolding him. Every one of them died fighting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kinoshita Kageyu saw that Hidetsugu had lost sight of his horse and was now on foot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here! Take this one! Use the whip and get out of this place without looking back!\"\n\nGiving Hidetsugu his own horse, Kageyu planted his banner in the ground and cut his way through as many of the enemy soldiers as he could before he was finally killed as well. Hidetsugu put his hand on the horse, but before he could mount it, the animal was hit by a bullet.\n\n\"Lend me your horse!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fleeing desperately through the midst of the fighting, Hidetsugu had spied a mounted warrior hurrying by close to him and had yelled out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly pulling the reins and turning around, the man looked down at Hidetsugu.\n\n\"What is it, my young lord?\"\n\n\"Give me your horse.\"\n\n\"That's like asking for someone's umbrella on a rainy day, isn't it? No, I won't lend it to you, even if it is my lord's command.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why not?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because you're retreating and I'm one of the soldiers still charging ahead.\"\n\nFlatly refusing, the man dashed off. From his back, a single strand of bamboo grass whistled in the wind.\n\n\"Damn!\" Hidetsugu swore as he watched him go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It seemed that in that man's eyes, he had been less than a leaf of bamboo grass along the roadside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Looking behind him, Hidetsugu could see a cloud of dust being raised by the enemy. But a group of routed soldiers from different corps carrying spears, firearms, and long swords saw Hidetsugu and shouted for him to stop.\n\n\"My lord! If you run that way, you'll meet up with yet another enemy unit!\"\n\nAs they approached, they surrounded him and then pulled him away to escape toward the Kanare River." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On their way they picked up a runaway horse, and Hidetsugu was finally mounted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But when they took a short rest at a place called Hosogane, they were again attacked by the enemy and, suffering another defeat, fled in the direction of Inaba.\n\nThus the Fourth Corps was routed. The Third Corps, which was led by Hori Kyutaro, consisted of about three thousand men. A distance of one to one and a half leagues was maintained between the corps, and messengers had constantly kept communications open between the forces, so that if the First Corps took a rest, the advance of the other corps was naturally halted as well, one after another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kyutaro suddenly cupped his ear and listened." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That was gunfire, wasn't it?\"\n\nJust at that moment, one of Hidetsugu's retainers whipped his horse into the resting camp and tumbled forward.\n\n\"Our men have been completely routed. The main army has been annihilated by the Tokugawa forces, and even Lord Hidetsugu's safety is uncertain. Turn back immediately!\" he wailed.\n\nKyutaro was taken by surprise, but his composed brow checked the impulse of the moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are you in the messenger corps?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why are you asking me that now?\"\n\n\"If you're not one of the messengers, why have you come running up so upset? Did you run away?\"\n\n\"No! I came here to inform you of the situation. I don't know if it was cowardly or not, but this is an emergency, and I came as fast as I could to inform Lord Nagayoshi and Lord Shonyu.\"\n\nWith that parting remark, the man whipped his horse and disappeared, continuing on to the next corps up ahead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Since a retainer came instead of a messenger, we can only surmise that our men at the rear have suffered a total defeat.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Kyutaro remained seated on his camp stool for another moment.\n\n\"Everyone come here!\" Already aware of the situation, his retainers and officers gathered around, their faces pale. \"The Tokugawa forces are about to attack us. Don't waste your bullets. Wait until the enemy has come to within sixty feet before firing.\" After instructing them in the disposition of troops, he made one concluding remark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will give one hundred bushels for every dead enemy warrior.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What he anticipated was not off the mark. The Tokugawa force that had struck Hidetsugu's corps with an obliterating blow was now descending on his own corps fiercely. The Tokugawa commanders were themselves frightened by the unrelenting force of their troops' spirit.\n\nFroth covered the horses' mouths, the men's faces were tense with determination, and the armor that was coming in waves was covered with blood and dust." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the Tokugawa forces pressed closer and closer into firing range, Kyutaro watched carefully and then gave the command." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fire!\"\n\nAt that instant, gunfire created a dreadful roar and a wall of smoke. With matchlock firearms, the time it took to load and fire was a period of perhaps five or six breaths, even for well-practiced men. Because of that, a system of alternating volleys was used." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thus, after each fusillade, another fell upon the enemy in rapid succession." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The assaulting army fell helter-skelter before this defense. Their vast numbers could be seen on the ground between the clouds of gunpowder smoke.\n\n\"They're prepared!\"\n\n\"Stop! Fall back!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Tokugawa commanders yelled orders to fall back, but their charging soldiers could not be so easily stopped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kyutaro saw that the moment had come and shouted to the troops to counterattack. The victory was now clear, both psychologically and physically, without anyone having to wait for the actual result. The corps of warriors that had been so brilliantly victorious now received themselves what they had given to Hidetsugu only moments before.\n\nThroughout Hideyoshi's army Hori Kyutaro's spear corps was famed for its great efficiency." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The corpses of men who had been pierced by the points of those spears now deterred the horses carrying the commanders who were trying to flee." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Tokugawa generals escaped, swinging their long swords behind them as they fled the pursuing points of the spears." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Eiji Yoshikawa spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The plain of Nagakute was covered with a thin veil of gunpowder smoke and filled with the stink of corpses and blood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With the morning sun, it smoldered with all the colors of the rainbow.\n\nPeace had already returned there, but the soldiers who had brought carnage with them were now heading for Yazako, like the clouds of an evening shower. Flight simply provoked more flight, endless flight and destruction.\n\nKyutaro did not lose his head as he pursued the Tokugawa troops." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The rear guard should not follow us. Take the roundabout way toward Inokoishi and pursue them along two roads.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One unit broke away and followed a different road, while Kyutaro led six hundred men against the retreating enemy. The dead and wounded abandoned along the road by the Tokugawa could not have numbered less than five hundred men, but Kyutaro's soldiers also grew fewer and fewer as they continued.\n\nAlthough the main corps had advanced far ahead, two men still breathing among the corpses now crossed spears, then abandoned them as too cumbersome and drew their swords. Grappling, then breaking loose, they fell down, stood up again, and fought interminably in their own private battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally one took the other's head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yelling almost insanely, the victor chased after his companions in the main corps, disappeared once again into the miasma of smoke and blood, and, struck by a stray bullet, fell dead before he could catch up with his comrades.\n\nKyutaro was yelling himself hoarse. \"It's useless to chase after them for too long. Genza! Momoemon! Stop the troops! Tell them to fall back!\"\n\nSeveral of his retainers rode forward and, with difficulty, restrained their troops." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fall back!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Draw up beneath the commander's standard!\"\n\nHori Kyutaro dismounted and walked from the road onto the promontory of a bluff. From where he stood, his field of vision was unobstructed. He stared steadily out into the distance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah, he has come so quickly,\" he muttered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The expression on his face showed that he had become completely sobered. Turning to his attendants, he invited them to take a look.\n\nIn the west, in an elevated area just opposite the morning sun, something was glittering on Mount Fujigane.\n\nWas it not Ieyasu's emblem—the commander's standard with the golden fan?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kyutaro raised his voice in grief." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's a sad thing to say, but we have no strategy for dealing with such a great foe. Our work here is finished.\"\n\nCollecting his troops, Kyutaro quickly began to retreat. But at that point, four messengers from the First and Second Corps came together from the direction of Nagakute looking for him.\n\n\"The order is for you to turn back and join forces with the vanguard. This comes directly from Lord Shonyu.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kyutaro flatly refused. \"Absolutely not. We're retreating.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The messengers could hardly believe their ears. \"The battle is starting now! Please turn back and join our lords' forces immediately!\" they repeated, raising their voices.\n\nKyutaro raised his voice as well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I said I'm retreating, I'm retreating! We have to make sure that Lord Hidetsugu is safe. Besides, more than half of this section of the army has sustained wounds, and if our men come up against a fresh enemy, it will be a disaster. I, for one, am not going to fight a battle that I know I'll lose. You can tell that to Lord Shonyu and to Lord Nagayoshi as well!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With those parting words, he rode off at a gallop.\n\nHori Kyutaro's corps ran into Hidetsugu and his surviving troops in the vicinity of Inaba. Then, setting fire to the farmhouses along the way, they defended themselves time and again from the pursuing Tokugawa troops and finally returned to Hideyoshi's main camp at Gakuden before sunset.\n\nThe messengers who had come seeking Kyutaro's aid were outraged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What kind of cowardice is it to run away to the main camp without even looking back at your allies' desperate situation?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's clearly lost his nerve.\"\n\n\"Today Hori Kyutaro showed us his true character. We'll despise him if we return alive.\"\n\nThey now turned toward their own isolated corps, led by Shonyu, and whipped their horses' flanks in fits of rage.\n\nIndeed, the two corps under the command of Shonyu and Nagayoshi were now only fodder for Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two men were as different as their abilities." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The battle between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu at this time was like a grand championship match in sumo, and each man understood his opponent well. Both Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had realized early on that the situation would reach the present pass, and each knew through his own circumspection that his enemy was not a man who could be brought down by a cheap trick or showmanship. But pity the brave and ferocious soldier who acts with a warrior's pride alone. Burning with nothing but his own will, he knows neither the enemy nor his own capacities." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having had his camp stool set up on Mount Rokubo, Shonyu inspected the more than two hundred enemy heads that had been taken at Iwasaki Castle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was morning, just about the first half of the Hour of the Dragon. Shonyu still had not the slightest idea of the disaster that had occurred at his rear. Looking only at the smoking ruins of the enemy castle in front of him, he was drunk on the small pleasure that the warrior falls into so easily.\n\nAfter the inspection of the heads and the recording of the meritorious deeds of the troops, breakfast was eaten." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the soldiers chewed their food, they occasionally looked toward the northwest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suddenly something in that direction caught Shonyu's attention as well.\n\n\"Tango, what's that in the sky over there?\" Shonyu asked.\n\nThe generals around Shonyu all turned to the northwest.\n\n\"Could it be an insurrection?\" one suggested." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But as they continued to eat what was left of their rations, they suddenly heard some confused shouting at the foot of the hill." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As they were wondering what it was about, a messenger from Nagayoshi ran up to them. \"We've been taken off guard! They've come up behind us!\" the man shouted as he prostrated himself in front of Shonyu's camp stool.\n\nThe generals felt as if a chill wind had blown clear through their armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you mean, they've come up behind us?\" Shonyu asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"An enemy force followed Lord Hidetsugu's rear guard.\"\n\n\"The rear guard?\"\n\n\"They made a sudden attack from both flanks.\"\n\nShonyu stood up abruptly, just as a second messenger arrived from Nagayoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's no time to lose, my lord. Lord Hidetsugu's rear guard has been completely routed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a sudden stir of motion on the hill, and following that, the noise of short-tempered commands and the sounds of soldiers flowing down the road to the bottom of the hill.\n\nFrom the shady side of Mount Fujigane, the commander's standard of the golden fan shone brilliantly above the Tokugawa army. There was something almost bewitching about the symbol, and it sent a shiver through the soul of every warrior of the western army on the plain.\n\nThere is a great psychological difference between the spirit of an advancing army and that of an army that has turned back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nagayoshi, who was now encouraging his men from horseback, looked like a man who was anticipating his own death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His armor was made of black leather with dark blue threading, and his coat was gold brocade on a white background. Deer horns adorned his helmet, which he wore thrown back on his shoulders. His head was still wrapped down to his cheeks in the white bandage that covered his wounds.\n\nThe Second Corps had been resting at Oushigahara, but as soon as he heard about the Tokugawa forces' pursuit, Nagayoshi roused his men and glared at the golden fan on Mount Fujigane." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This man is a worthy opponent,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The failure at Haguro that I wash away today won't be just for me. I'll show them that I'll wipe away my father-in-law's disgrace as well.\"\n\nToday he intended to vindicate his honor. Nagayoshi was a handsome man, and the death attire that he wore today seemed all too desolate for him.\n\n\"Did you deliver the report to the vanguard?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The messenger, who had returned, brought his horse up next to his lord's, adjusted himself to his lord's pace, and made his report." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nagayoshi, looking straight ahead, held the reins loosely as he listened. \"What about the men at Mount Rokubo?\" he asked.\n\n\"The men were quickly put in order, and they're now coming along behind us.\"\n\n\"Well then, tell Lord Kyutaro of the Third Corps that we have combined our forces and are advancing to confront Ieyasu at Mount Fujigane, so he should pull back in this direction to support us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as the man galloped off, two mounted messengers hurried up with the same instructions for Kyutaro from Shonyu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But, as has already been related, Kyutaro refused that request and the messengers returned in outrage. By the time Nagayoshi received their reports, his army had already marched through a swampy area between the mountains and was starting to climb to the top of Gifugadake in search of a good position. Before them waved Ieyasu's standard of the golden fan.\n\nThe lay of the land was complicated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the distance, an approach to one section of the open plain of Higashi Kasugai wound and bent its way along, now scissored between the mountains, now embracing smaller plains." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Mikawa road that connected with Okazaki could be seen in the distant south.\n\nBut mountains covered more than half of the field of vision. There were no steep precipices or high crags but only undulating waves of hills. As spring departed, the trees were covered with faintly red buds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Messengers were exchanged in rapid succession, but the thoughts of Nagayoshi and Shonyu were communicated without words." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shonyu's six thousand troops were immediately divided into two units. About four thousand men headed toward the north, and then made their formation to the southeast on high ground. The commander's standard and banners clearly announced that the generals here were Shonyu's eldest son, Yukisuke, and his second son, Terumasa.\n\nThat was the right wing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The left wing was made up of Nagayoshi's three thousand soldiers on Gifugadake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Leading the remaining two thousand soldiers, Shonyu stayed with them as a reserve corps. Shonyu set up his commander's standard at the very center of this crane-wing formation.\n\n\"I wonder how Ieyasu is going to attack,\" he said.\n\nLooking up at the sun, the men could see that it was still only the second half of the Hour of the Dragon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had the hours been long or short?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was not a day for measuring time in the ordinary way. Their throats were dry, but they did not want water.\n\nThe uncanny silence made their flesh crawl. A bird cried wildly as it flew across the valley." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But that was all." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The birds had all flown to some other more peaceful mountain leaving the place to men." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu appeared to be too stoop-shouldered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After passing forty he had become somewhat fleshy, and even when he put on his armor, his back was rounded, his shoulders plump; his head seemed to be almost stuffed into his shoulders by his heavy decorated helmet. His right hand, which held the baton of command, and his left were both on his knees. Seated on the edge of his camp stool with his thighs apart, he slouched forward in a way that affected his dignity.\n\nAnd yes, that was his ordinary posture, even when seated before a guest or walking around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was not one to stick out his chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His senior retainers had once advised him to correct his posture, and Ieyasu had nodded vaguely in assent. But as he was talking with his retainers one night, he told them a little about his past.\n\n\"I was brought up in poverty. More than that, I was a hostage in another clan from the time I was six, and everyone I saw around me had more rights than I did. So I naturally got into the habit of not going around with my chest stuck out, even when I was with other children. Another reason for my bad posture is that when I studied in the cold room at the Rinzai Temple, I read my books at a desk so low I had to hold on to them like a hunchback. I became almost obsessed by the thought that someday I would be released as a hostage from the Imagawa clan and my body would become my own again. I couldn't play like a child.\"\n\nIt seemed that Ieyasu could never forget the time he had spent with the Imagawa clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no one among his attendant retainers who had not heard the stories of his days as a hostage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But you know,\" he continued, \"according to what I was told by Sessai, priests have more respect for what a man's shoulders say about him than what his face does. It seems that he could tell if a man had reached enlightenment just by looking at his shoulders. So, when I looked to see what the abbot's shoulders were like, I found that they were always as round and soft as a halo. If a man wanted to put the entire universe in his breast, he couldn't do it with his chest stuck out. So I started to think that my own posture was not so bad.\"\n\nHaving set up his headquarters in Fujigane, Ieyasu looked around calmly.\n\n\"Is that Gifugadake? The men there must be Nagayoshi's. Well, I suppose Shonyu's forces will very soon be getting themselves ready at some mountain or another. One of you scouts hurry and take a look.\"\n\nThe scouts quickly returned and made their reports to Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Of course, the information about the enemy positions came in piecemeal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Ieyasu listened to the reports, he formulated his strategy.\n\nBy that time it was already the Hour of the Serpent. Nearly two hours had passed since the enemy's banners had appeared on the mountain before them.\n\nBut Ieyasu was composed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shiroza. Hanjuro. Come over here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still seated, he looked around with a serene expression.\n\n\"Yes, my lord?\" The two samurai approached him, their armor clattering.\n\nIeyasu asked for the two men's opinions as he compared the map in front of him with the immediate scene.\n\n\"When I think about it, it seems that Shonyu's forces at Kobehazama must consist of the real veterans. Depending on how they move, we may be at a real disadvantage here at Fujigane.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the men pointed to the peaks in the southeast and answered, \"If you're resolved to a decisive battle of close fighting, I think that the foothills over there could be much better places to plant your banners.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good! Let's move.\"\n\nHis decision was that quick. The change in the army's position was made immediately. From the foothills, the elevated land held by the enemy was close enough to touch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Separated only by a marsh and the low area of Karasuhazama, the soldiers could see their enemies' faces and even hear their voices carried on the wind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ieyasu ordered the placement of each unit, while he himself had his camp stool set up in a place with an unobstructed view.\n\n\"Well, I see that Ii is leading the vanguard today,\" Ieyasu said.\n\n\"The Red Guard has come out to the front!\"\n\n\"They look good, but I wonder how well they'll fight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ii Hyobu was twenty-three years old." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone knew that the young man was highly regarded by Ieyasu, and until that morning he had been among the retainers at Ieyasu's side. For his part, Ieyasu viewed Ii as a man that could be put to good use, and he had given him the command of three thousand men and the responsibility for leading the vanguard. That position held the possibility of yielding both the greatest fame and the bitterest hardship.\n\n\"Show your spirit just as you please today,\" Ieyasu counseled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ii was so young, however, that Ieyasu took the precaution of attaching two of his experienced retainers to his unit." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He added, \"Listen to the words of these veterans.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Eiji Yoshikawa and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The brothers Yukisuke and Terumasa looked out at the Red Guard from their elevated position at Tanojiri, to the south.\n\n\"Strike at that ostentatious Red Corps that's making such a show!\" Yukisuke ordered.\n\nWith that, the brothers sent a unit of two or three hundred men out from the side of a ravine and a attack corps of one thousand men from the front lines, first opening up with their firearms. At the same time, the foothills erupted in thunderous gunfire, and white smoke spread out like a cloud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the smoke turned into a light haze and drifted toward the marsh, Ii's red-clad warriors quickly ran toward the low ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A group of black-armored warriors and foot soldiers ran out to meet them. The distance between the two groups was quickly breached, and the two spear corps engaged in hand-to-hand fighting.\n\nThe real heroics of a warrior's battle were usually seen in the fight of spear against spear. More than that, the outcome of battle was often decided by the actions of the spearmen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was here that the Ii corps killed several hundred of the enemy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Red Guard, however, did not escape without casualties, and a good number of Ii's retainers met their deaths.\n\nIkeda Shonyu had been thinking about the plan of battle for some time. He saw that the troops under his sons were engaged in hand-to-hand fighting with the Red Guards, and that the battle was gradually becoming intensified. \"Now's your chance!\" he yelled behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A corps of about two hundred men who were ready to win or die had readied their spears beforehand and were waiting for the moment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as they were given the command to advance, they were to rush out into the direction of Nagakute. It was in Shonyu's character to choose unusual battle tactics even at a time like this. The unit of attack troops received the command, circled around Nagakute, and aimed at the troops that remained after the Tokugawa's left wing had pushed forward. The plan was to swiftly attack the enemy's center and, when the enemy's battle array was in confusion, to capture the commander-in-chief, Tokugawa Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The plan, however, did not succeed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Discovered by the Tokugawa before reaching their objective, they received a heavy fusillade of musket fire and were brought to a standstill in a swampy area where it was difficult to move. Unable to advance or retreat, they sustained pitiful losses.\n\nNagayoshi looked out at the battle situation from Gifugadake and clicked his tongue. \"Ah, they were sent too early,\" he cried out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not like my father-in-law to be so impatient.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Today it was the young man who, in every situation, was far more composed than his father-in-law. In fact, Nagayoshi was resolved in his heart that that day was to be the day of his death. With no other thoughts or distractions, he simply looked straight ahead at the commander's stool under the golden fan in the foothills in front of him.\n\nIf only I can kill Ieyasu, he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu, for his part, kept his eye on Gifugadake more than on any other area, aware that the spirit in Nagayoshi's ranks was high." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When a scout informed him about the way Nagayoshi was dressed that day, he issued a warning to the men around him.\n\n\"Nagayoshi appears to be dressed in his death outfit today, and there's nothing more intimidating than an enemy determined to die. Don't make light of him and be taken in by the god of death.\"\n\nThus, the confrontation was not going to be easily initiated by either side. Nagayoshi watched his opponent's movements, feeling in his heart that if the battle at Tanojiri intensified, Ieyasu would not be able to look on simply as a spectator." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Surely he would detach a division of soldiers and send them as reinforcements." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And with that opportunity Nagayoshi would strike.\n\nBut Ieyasu was not going to be taken in easily.\n\n\"Nagayoshi is fiercer than most men. If he's this quiet, it's certain that he's up to something.\"\n\nBut the situation at Tanojiri betrayed Nagayoshi's expectations, and the signs of the Ikeda brothers' defeat were coming thick and fast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally he resolved that he could wait no longer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But just at that moment, the commander's standard with the golden fan that had remained invisible until now was suddenly raised in the foothills where Ieyasu waited. Half of Ieyasu's army dashed toward Tanojiri, while the remaining men raised their voices and attacked Gifugadake.\n\nNagayoshi's troops charged out to meet them, and with the collision of the two armies, the lowland area of Karasuhazama was turned into a whirlpool of blood.\n\nThe gunfire was unceasing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was a desperate battle in a place hemmed in by hills, and the whinnying of horses and the clanging of long swords and spears echoed back and forth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The voices of the warriors calling out their names to their opponents shook heaven and earth.\n\nSoon there was not a single position unengaged throughout the narrow confines of the area, not a single commander or soldier who was not fighting for his life. Just as some troops appeared to be victorious, they crumbled; and just as others seemed to be defeated, they struck through. No one knew who had won, and for a while it was a battle in the dark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Some men were struck down and killed, while others were victorious and called out their own names." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of those who received wounds, some were called cowards, while others were praised as brave men. If an observer looked carefully, however, he could see that each individual was hurrying along toward eternity, creating his own unique fate.\n\nShame was the one thing that would not let Nagayoshi think about returning alive to the everyday world. It was the reason he had put on his death robes today." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will meet Ieyasu!\" Nagayoshi vowed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the battle became more and more chaotic, Nagayoshi called together forty or fifty warriors and started out for the commander's standard of the golden fan.\n\n\"I'm going to meet Ieyasu. Now!\" and he started to whip his horse toward the opposite hill.\n\n\"Stop! You're not going anywhere!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "a Tokugawa soldier shouted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Get Nagayoshi!\"\n\n\"He's the man with the white hood, riding at a gallop!\"\n\nThe waves of armored men that tried to stop him ran up to his side and were trampled or, approaching him, were wrapped in sprays of blood.\n\nBut then, one bullet from the driving rain of musket fire, shot from a gun that was aimed at the warrior in the white brocade coat, hit him directly between the eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The white hood around Nagayoshi's head suddenly turned red." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Falling back on his horse, he had one last glimpse of the sky in the Fourth Month, and in that valley, the heroic young man of twenty-six years fell to the ground, still holding the reins. Hyakudan, Nagayoshi's favorite horse, reared up and whinnied in grief.\n\nA shout like a great sob rose up from his men as they quickly rushed to his side. Carrying his corpse on their shoulders, they withdrew to the top of Gifugadake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Men from the Tokugawa forces ran after them, fighting for the symbol of their deed, shouting, \"Take his head!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warriors who had lost their leader were close to tears. Wheeling around with frightening expressions, they turned their spears back on their pursuers. Somehow they were able to hide Nagayoshi's body. But the news that Nagayoshi had been struck down blew like a chill wind across the entire battlefield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Along with the other tides of war that had been turning against their position, yet another disaster had befallen Shonyu's forces." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was as though boiling water had been poured onto a hill of ants: everywhere warriors were fleeing in confusion.\n\n\"They're hardly worth calling allies!\" Shonyu shouted as he climbed toward higher ground and, in contrast to the peaceful surroundings, sputtered in rage at the few soldiers he encountered. \"I'm right here! Don't make a disgraceful retreat! Have you forgotten what you learned every day? Go back! Go back and fight!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the group of black-hooded men around him did not stop their own flight in the general collapse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the contrary, only a pitiful young page of fifteen or sixteen approached him falteringly.\n\nLeading up a stray horse, he offered it to his lord.\n\nIn the battle at the bottom of the hill, Shonyu's horse had been shot and he had fallen to the ground. He had been surrounded by the enemy, but had desperately cut open a path and climbed up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't need a horse anymore. Set up my camp stool here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The page set up the camp stool behind him, and Shonyu sat down.\n\n\"Forty-eight years end here,\" he muttered to himself. Still looking at the page, he talked on. \"You're Shirai Tango's son, aren't you? I imagine your father and mother are waiting. Run as quickly as you can to Inuyama. Look, the bullets are coming! Get out of here fast! Now!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having chased the teary-eyed page away, he was alone and felt free from care." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Calmly he took his last look at the world.\n\nVery soon he could hear a noise like the fighting of wild animals, and the trees shook in the crags directly beneath him. It appeared that some of his black-hooded warriors still remained and were brandishing their weapons in mortal combat.\n\nShonyu felt numb. It was no longer a matter of victory or defeat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sorrow of parting from the world made him reflect on the faraway past, tinged with the scent of his mother's milk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suddenly the shrubs directly in front of him began to shake.\n\n\"Who is it!\" Shonyu's eyes shone with rage. \"Is it the enemy?\" he called out. His voice was so calm that the approaching Tokugawa warrior unconsciously stepped back in shock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shonyu called out again, pressing the man further." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you one of the enemy? If you are, take my head and you'll achieve a great deed. The man who is speaking now is Ikeda Shonyu.\"\n\nThe warrior crouching down in the thick undergrowth raised his head and looked at Shonyu sitting there. He shuddered for a moment and then spoke in an arrogant voice as he stood up.\n\n\"Well, I've encountered a good one here. I am Nagai Denpachiro of the Tokugawa clan. Prepare yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he shouted, and thrust out his spear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In response to his shout, quick resistance from the sword of the famous fierce general would have been expected, but Denpachiro's spear slid deeply into his opponent's side without any trouble at all. Rather than Shonyu, whose side had been pierced through, it was Denpachiro who tumbled forward from the momentum of his excessive force.\n\nShonyu fell over, the spearpoint protruding from his back.\n\n\"Take my head!\" he yelled again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He did not have his long sword in his hand even now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On his own he had invited his death, on his own he was offering his head. Denpachiro had been in an arrogant trance, but when he was suddenly aware of the feelings of this enemy general and the way he was meeting his final moments, he was struck with a violent emotion that made him want to weep.\n\n\"Ah!\" he cried out, but then was so beside himself with joy at his unexpected great achievement that he forgot what to do next.\n\nJust then he heard the rustling sounds of his allies fighting to be the first to climb up from beneath the crags." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm Ando Hikobei! Prepare yourself!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My name is Uemura Denemon!\"\n\n\"I'm Hachiya Shichibei of the Tokugawa clan!\"\n\nEach announced his name as they competed to be the one to take Shonyu's head.\n\nBy whose sword had the head been taken?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their bloody hands grabbed the topknot and swung it around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I took the head of Ikeda Shonyu!\" yelled Nagai Denpachiro.\n\n\"No, I took it!\" cried Ando Hikobei.\n\n\"Shonyu's head is mine!\" Uemura Denemon shouted.\n\nA storm of blood, a storm of violent voices, a storm of selfish desire for fame." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Four men, five men—a growing cluster of warriors, with the single head at its center, set off the direction of Ieyasu's campstool." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shonyu has been killed!\"\n\nThat shout became a wave that went from the peaks to the marsh and caused the Tokugawa forces all over the battlefield to bellow with joy.\n\nThe men of the Ikeda forces who had managed to escape did not shout at all. In a moment, those men had lost both heaven and earth, and like dry leaves they now searched for a place to go where their lives might be spared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't let one of them return alive!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Chase after them! Run them down!\"\n\nThe victors, driven by an insatiable bloodlust, slaughtered the Ikeda wherever they found them.\n\nFor men who had already forgotten about their own lives, violently taking other lives very likely felt like nothing more than playing with fallen flowers. Shonyu had been finished off, Nagayoshi had been killed in battle, and now the remaining Ikeda formations at Tanojiri were scattered by the Tokugawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One after another, the generals brought the stories of their exploits into the camp that spread out under Ieyasu's golden fan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There are so few of them.\"\n\nIeyasu was troubled.\n\nThis great general rarely displayed his emotions, but he worried about the warriors who had gone out in pursuit of the defeated enemy. Many had not returned, even though the conch had been blown several times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps they had been carried away with their victory." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ieyasu repeated himself two or three times.\n\n\"This is not a matter of adding victory on top of victory,\" he said. \"It's not good to want to win still more after you've already won.\"\n\nHe did not mention Hideyoshi's name, but no doubt he had intuited that that natural-born strategist had already pointed a finger in this direction in reaction to the great defeat suffered by his army." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A long pursuit is dangerous. Has Shiroza gone?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. He hurried off some time ago with your orders.\"\n\nHearing Ii's answer, Ieyasu gave out another order. \"You go too, Ii. Reprimand those who have gotten carried away and order them to abandon the chase.\"\n\nWhen the pursuing Tokugawa forces reached the Yada River, they found Naito Shirozaemon's squad lined up along the bank, each man holding out the shaft of his spear horizontally." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Halt!\"\n\n\"The order has come from our lord's main camp not to make a long pursuit!\"\n\nWith those words from the men along the bank, the pursuers were halted.\n\nIi galloped up and nearly made himself hoarse, yelling at the men as he rode back and forth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Our lord has said that those men who become so proud of their victory that they get carried away and go after the enemy will be asking for a court-martial when they return to camp. Go back! Go on back!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally their blind enthusiasm ebbed away, and the men all withdrew from the bank of the river.\n\nIt was just about the second half of the Hour of the Horse, and the sun was in the middle of the sky. It was the Fourth Month, and the shape of the clouds indicated that summer was near. Every soldier's face was smeared with earth, blood, and sweat, and appeared to be on fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the Hour of the Ram Ieyasu went down from the encampment on Fujigane, crossed the Kanare River, and formally inspected the heads at the foot of Mount Gondoji." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fight had lasted half a day, and all across the battlefield, the dead were counted. Hideyoshi's side had lost more than two thousand five hundred men, while the casualties from the Ieyasu's and Nobuo's armies amounted to five hundred ninety dead and several hundred wounded.\n\n\"This great victory is nothing we should be too proud of,\" a general cautioned. \"The Ikeda were only a branch of Hideyoshi's army, but we took our entire force from Mount Komaki and used them here. At the same time, it would be fatal to our allies if we were to suffer a collapse here for some reason. I think the best measure would be for us to withdraw to Obata Castle as quickly as possible.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another general immediately countered, saying, \"No, no. Once victory is in your grasp, you should take the initiative with daring. That's what war is all about. It's certain that when Hideyoshi hears about his great defeat, it's going to provoke him to anger. He'll probably assemble his forces and rush here. Shouldn't we wait for him, prepare ourselves as warriors, and then take Lord Monkey's head?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In response to those two arguments Ieyasu said again, \"We shouldn't try to add victory to victory.\" And then, \"Our men are all tired. Hideyoshi is most likely raising the dust on his way here even now, but we shouldn't meet him today. It's too soon. Let's retire to Obata.\"\n\nWith that quick decision, they passed south of Hakusan Woods and entered Obata Castle while the sun was still high.\n\nAfter bringing the entire army inside Obata Castle and closing the castle gates, Ieyasu savored the day's great victory for the first time." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Eiji Yoshikawa spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "human", "value": "After Shonyu and his son had departed on the morning of the ninth, Hideyoshi summoned Hosokawa Tadaoki to his camp at Gakuden and gave him, as well as several other generals, the command for an immediate attack on Mount Komaki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After they attacked he climbed the observation tower and watched the progress of the battle. Masuda Jinemon waited at his side, looking out into the distance.\n\n\"You know, as hot-blooded as Lord Tadaoki is, won't it be a problem if he penetrates too deeply into the enemy?\"\n\nWorrying about how close the Hosokawa forces had come to the enemy ramparts, Jinemon looked at the expression on Hideyoshi's brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It'll be all right. Tadaoki may be young, but Takayama Ukon is a man of good sense. If he's there with him, it will be fine.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi's mind was far away. How had Shonyu fared? All he could think about was the good news that he hoped would come from that quarter.\n\nAt about noon, a number of mounted men rode up, having withdrawn from Nagakute." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With wretched looks on their faces, they related the tragic news: the main army of Hidetsugu had been completely crushed, and it was unclear whether Hidetsugu was alive or dead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What! Hidetsugu?\" Hideyoshi was plainly surprised. He was not someone who could look unperturbed at hearing something shocking. \"Well, what an oversight!\" He said this not so much to criticize the shortcomings of Hidetsugu and Shonyu as to admit his own failure and praise the insight of his enemy, Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Jinemon,\" he called, \"blow the conch shell for the men to assemble.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi immediately sent out yellow-hooded messengers to each of his divisions with emergency orders, and within an hour, twenty thousand soldiers had departed from Gakuden and hurried toward Nagakute.\n\nThat rapid shift did not go unnoticed at the Tokugawa headquarters on Mount Komaki. Ieyasu was already gone, and a small number of men had been left for its defense.\n\n\"It appears that Hideyoshi himself is at the head of his army.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Sakai Tadatsugu, one of the generals left in charge of Mount Komaki, heard that news, he clapped his hands and said, \"This is turning out just as we expected! While Hideyoshi is gone, we can burn his headquarters at Gakuden and the fortress at Kurose. Now is the time to make the kill. Everyone follow me for a grand attack!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Ishikawa Kazumasa, another of the generals left in charge, opposed him directly.\n\n\"Why are you being so hasty, Lord Tadatsugu? Hideyoshi is almost divinely inspired in his military strategies. Do you think a man like that would leave an incapable general in charge of defending his headquarters, no matter how much of a hurry he was in to depart?\"\n\n\"Any human being may not be up to his usual capacities when he's acting in haste. Hideyoshi had the conch blown to assemble, and he departed in such a hurry one may suppose even he was confused at the news of the defeat at Nagakute. We shouldn't miss the chance now to set fire to Lord Monkey's tail.\"\n\n\"That's superficial thinking!\" Ishikawa Kazumasa laughed out loud and resisted Tadatsugu all the more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It would be Hideyoshi's style to leave behind a considerable military force to take advantage of the situation that would exist if we left our own fortifications. And it would be ridiculous for a small force like ours to sally out now.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Disgusted with all the confusion, Honda Heihachiro stood up indignantly. \"Is this a discussion? People who like discussions are just prattlers. Personally, I can't just sit here idly. Pardon me for leaving first.\"\n\nHonda was both a poor talker and a man of strong character. Both Tadatsugu and Kazumasa had been insisting on the validity of their own arguments and engendering a controversy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They now looked in shock at Honda's indignant departure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Honda, where are you going?\" they asked hurriedly.\n\nHonda turned around and spoke as though he had come to some deep conclusion. \"I have been my lord's retainer ever since I was an infant. Considering the situation he's in, I can do nothing but go to his side.\"\n\n\"Wait!\" Kazumasa appeared to think that Honda was simply being hotheaded, and raised his hand to restrain him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We were commanded by our lord to defend Mount Komaki in his absence, but we were not commanded to do just as we pleased. Calm down a little.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tadatsugu also tried to calm him down. \"Honda, will it achieve anything if you go out alone right now, of all times? The defense of Mount Komaki is more important.\"\n\nHonda's mouth curled up in a thin smile, as though he pitied their narrow thinking, but he spoke politely, as the two other men were superior to him in both rank and age.\n\n\"I'm not going with the other generals. Each of you can do as he pleases. But Hideyoshi is leading a fresh army toward Lord Ieyasu, and as for me, I can't just stand here without doing anything. Think about it. Our lord's forces must be exhausted from fighting last night and this morning, and if the twenty thousand men Hideyoshi is leading join the rest of the enemy in an attack from both the front and the rear, how do you suppose Lord Ieyasu will get away safely? The way I see it is, even if I am wrong in rushing off to Nagakute alone, if my lord is killed in battle, I am resolved to die with him. That should not trouble you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At those words, all murmuring stopped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Honda led out his own small force of three hundred men and dashed away from Mount Komaki. Infected with the man's spirit, Kazumasa also collected his two hundred men and joined the determined party.\n\nTheir joint forces numbered fewer than six hundred men, but Honda's spirit enveloped them from the time they left Mount Komaki. What was an army of twenty thousand men, after all?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And who was this Lord Monkey, anyway?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The foot soldiers were lightly armored, the banners were rolled up, and as the horses were whipped, the dust from their little force flew up like a tornado hurrying toward the east.\n\nAs they came out to the southern bank of the Ryusenji River, they found Hideyoshi's army moving along the northern bank, troop after troop.\n\n\"Well, there they are!\"\n\n\"The commander's standard with the golden gourds.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hideyoshi must be surrounded by his retainers.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Honda and his men had ridden up without stopping, and were looking over at the opposite bank, noisily pointing and holding their hands over their eyes. All of them shook with excitement.\n\nIt was such a short distance that if Honda's men had yelled out, the enemy's shouts would have reached right back to them. The faces of the enemy soldiers were visible, and the footsteps of twenty thousand men mixed with the clatter of innumerable horses' hooves crossed the river and reverberated against the chests of the men who were watching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Kazumasa!\" Honda yelled behind him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\"\n\n\"Do you see that on the opposite bank?\"\n\n\"Yes, it's an immense army. Their line looks longer than the river itself.\"\n\n\"That's just like Hideyoshi,\" Honda laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's his skill to take an army of that size and then move it as though the men were his own hands and feet. He may be the enemy, but you have to give him credit.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've been looking at them for a while. Do you suppose Hideyoshi is over there, where you see the commander's standard with the golden gourds?\"\n\n\"No, no. I'm sure he's hidden somewhere in the middle of another group of men. He's not going to ride out in the open where he'd be the target for someone's gun.\"\n\n\"The enemy soldiers are moving quickly, but they're all looking over here with suspicion.\"\n\n\"What we must do here is delay Hideyoshi on the road along the Ryusenji River, even if just for a few moments.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Should we attack?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, the enemy has twenty thousand men, and our own forces only number five hundred, so if we attacked them it would take only an instant for the surface of the river to be dyed red with our blood. I'm resolved to die, but not pointlessly.\"\n\n\"Ah, so you want to give our lord's army in Nagakute enough time to be fully prepared and waiting for Hideyoshi.\"\n\n\"That's right,\" Honda nodded, striking his horse's saddle. \"To buy time for our allies in Nagakute, we should do our best to get a firm grip on Hideyoshi's feet and slow down his attack—even if just a little—with our own deaths. Act with that in mind, Tadatsugu.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good. I understand.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kazumasa and Honda turned their horses' heads to the side.\n\n\"Divide your gunners into three groups. As they hurry along the road, each group can alternately kneel and fire at the enemy on the opposite bank.\"\n\nThe enemy moved quickly along the opposite bank, seeming almost to keep pace with the quick-running current. Honda's men had to do everything with the same rhythm but in double-time and constantly on the run—whether it was an attack or the reorganization of their units." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Because they were close to the water, the musket fire echoed far more loudly than it ordinarily would have, and the gunpowder smoke spread over the river like a vast curtain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As one unit leaped in front and fired, the next unit readied its muskets. Then that unit jumped forward, taking the place of the first unit, and immediately fired toward the opposite bank.\n\nA number of Hideyoshi's troops were seen to tumble over in rapid succession. Very quickly, the line of marching men started to waver." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who in the world can that be, challenging us with such a tiny force?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi was surprised. With a look of shock on his face, he unconsciously stopped his horse.\n\nThe generals riding around him and the men close by all shaded their eyes with their hands and looked at the opposite bank, but no one could give a quick answer to Hideyoshi's question.\n\n\"To act so bravely toward an army of this size with a little force of less than a thousand men, that must be a daring commander! Does anybody recognize him?\"\n\nHideyoshi asked the question repeatedly, looking around at the men in front and behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then someone at the head of the line said, \"I know who that is.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man who spoke was Inaba Ittetsu, the commander of Sone Castle in Mino. In spite of his venerable age, he had joined this great battle for Hideyoshi's sake and had been at his side as a guide from the very beginning of the campaign.\n\n\"Ah, Ittetsu. Do you recognize the enemy general on the other side of the river?\"\n\n\"Well, from the antlers on his helmet and the white braid on his armor, I'm sure it must be Ieyasu's right-hand man, Honda Heihachiro. I remember him clearly from the battle at Ane River years ago.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Hideyoshi heard this, he looked as though he were about to shed tears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, what a brave man! With one small force he strikes at twenty thousand. If that is Honda, he must be a stalwart fellow. How touching that he would try to help Ieyasu escape by momentarily obstructing us here and by dying himself,\" he muttered. And then, \"He's to be sympathized with. Our men are not to shoot a single arrow or bullet in his direction, no matter how much of an attack the man might make. If there is some karmic relation between us, I'll make him one of my own retainers one day. He's a man to be loved. Don't shoot; just let him go.\"\n\nDuring that time, of course, the three groups of gunners on the other bank busily continued to load their muskets and shoot relentlessly. One or two bullets even came close to Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just then, the armored warrior upon whom Hideyoshi had been straining his eyes—Honda, the man wearing the helmet adorned with deer antlers—went down to the water's edge, dismounted, and washed his horse's muzzle with water from the river." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Separated from him by the width of the river, Hideyoshi looked at the man, while Honda gazed steadily at the group of generals—one of whom was clearly Hideyoshi—who had stopped their horses.\n\nHideyoshi's gunners' corps began to open fire in response, but Hideyoshi once again reproved his entire army. \"Don't shoot! Just hurry on! Hurry on ahead!\" With that, he urged his horse on with all the more speed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Honda observed that action on the other bank, he yelled out, \"Don't let them go!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "and doubled his speed. Moving ahead on the road, he once again made a fierce musket attack on Hideyoshi's troops, but Hideyoshi would not take up the challenge and soon took up a position on a hill close to the plain of Nagakute.\n\nAs soon as they arrived at their destination, Hideyoshi gave orders to three of his generals to take the same number of light cavalry units and ride out quickly. \"Do what you can with the Tokugawa forces that are withdrawing from Nagakute to Obata.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He made his headquarters on the hill, while his twenty thousand fresh troops spread out beneath the red evening sun, demonstrating their intention to take revenge upon Ieyasu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi assigned two men as chiefs of a scouting unit, and they went off secretly toward Obata Castle. After that, Hideyoshi quickly worked out the military operations for his entire army. But before the orders could be sent out, an urgent report arrived:\n\n\"Ieyasu is no longer on the battlefield.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That can't be!\" the generals all said together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Hideyoshi sat silently, the three commanders he had previously sent out toward Nagakute came hurrying back.\n\n\"Ieyasu and his main force have already withdrawn to Obata. We encountered a few scattered groups of the enemy that were late in retreating toward the castle, but the others seem to have been about an hour ahead of us,\" they reported.\n\nOf the three hundred Tokugawa soldiers they had killed, not one had been a general of note.\n\n\"We were too late.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi had no way to dispel his anger, and it clearly burned in the color of his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The scouts' reports were all the same: the castle at Obata had closed its gates and appeared to be quiet, proof that Ieyasu had already withdrawn into the castle and was calmly savoring today's military victory as he rested.\n\nIn the midst of his complicated emotions, Hideyoshi unconsciously clapped his hands and congratulated Ieyasu. \"That's Ieyasu for you! He has remarkable speed. He retreats into a castle and closes up the gates without any boasting. This is one bird we're not going to catch with either birdlime or a net. But you watch, I'll make Ieyasu behave a little more properly after a few years and have him bow in front of me.\"\n\nIt was already twilight, and a night attack on a castle was considered something to avoid." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moreover, the army had come from Gakuden without rest, so further action tonight was temporarily postponed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The orders were changed. The men were to eat their provisions. Clouds of campfire smoke climbed into the evening sky.\n\nThe scouts who had gone from Obata quickly returned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu had been sleeping but got up to hear the report." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Apprised of the situation, he announced that everyone would immediately be returning to Mount Komaki. His generals argued emphatically for a midnight attack on Hideyoshi, but Ieyasu just laughed and left for Mount Komaki by a circuitous route." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Having no other recourse, Hideyoshi turned his army around and withdrew to the fortified camp at Gakuden. He could not deny that the defeat at Nagakute had been a serious blow, even though it had been caused by the overzealousness of Shonyu. But it was also a fact that, on this particular occasion, Hideyoshi had been slow in starting.\n\nIt was not because Hideyoshi was measuring himself against Ieyasu on the battlefield for the first time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had know Ieyasu long before engaging him in battle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rather, because it was a standoff of master against master—a match between two champions—Hideyoshi was being especially circumspect.\n\n\"Don't pay any attention to small castles on the way. Don't waste time,\" Hideyoshi had warned, but Shonyu had been challenged by the garrison of Iwasaki and had stopped to crush it.\n\nThe abilities of Ieyasu and Hideyoshi would determine the outcome of the battle. When Hideyoshi heard of the defeat at Nagakute, he was convinced that his opportunity had come." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The deaths of Shonyu and Nagayoshi would surely be the bait for taking Ieyasu alive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the enemy had appeared like fire and disappeared like the wind, and after he had gone, it was as silent as the woods. When Ieyasu withdrew to Mount Komaki, Hideyoshi felt he had just missed bagging a scared rabbit, but told himself that he had suffered only a little wound to the finger. Certainly there had been no great damage to his military strength. Psychologically, however, he had given Ieyasu's side a victory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At any rate, after the violent half-day battle at Nagakute, both men were extremely prudent and watched the other's movements closely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And while each waited to seize a favorable opportunity, neither man would have even considered making a careless attack. Provocations, however, were made repeatedly.\n\nFor example, when Hideyoshi sent his entire sixty-two-thousand-man army out to Mount Komatsuji on the eleventh day of the Fourth Month, the reaction at Mount Komaki was nothing more than a peaceful, wry smile.\n\nAfter that, on the twenty-second day of the same month, a provocation was set up by Ieyasu's side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A combined force of eighteen thousand men was divided into sixteen units and emerged heading toward the east." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beating drums and raising war cries, a vanguard led by Sakai Tadatsugu and Ii Hyobu made repeated challenges, almost as if to say, \"Come out, Hideyoshi!\"\n\nThe moated palisades were defended by Hori Kyutaro and Gamo Ujisato. Gazing out at the raucous enemy forces, Kyutaro ground his teeth.\n\nAfter Nagakute, the enemy had been spreading rumors that Hideyoshi's soldiers were frightened of the Tokugawa warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But Hideyoshi had made it clear that the soldiers were to make no sorties without his express order, so they could do nothing more than send runners flying off to the main camp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the messenger arrived, Hideyoshi was playing go.\n\n\"A large Tokugawa force is approaching our men at the double moats,\" the man announced.\n\nHideyoshi raised his eyes from the go board for a moment and asked the messenger, \"Has Ieyasu himself appeared?\"\n\n\"Lord Ieyasu has not come out himself,\" the man replied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi picked up a black stone, placed it on the board and said, without looking up, \"Tell me if Ieyasu makes an appearance. Unless he comes out at the head of his army, Kyutaro and Ujisato can fight or not, as they please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At about the same time, Ii Hyobu and Sakai Tadatsugu at the front lines sent messengers twice with pleas to Ieyasu at Mount Komaki.\n\n\"Now is the time for you to make a personal appearance. If you do it immediately, we will undoubtedly be able to strike a fatal blow to the main body of Hideyoshi's troops.\"\n\nTo that Ieyasu responded, \"Has Hideyoshi himself made a move? If he's still at Mount Komatsuji, there's no need for me to go out, either.\"\n\nIn the end, Ieyasu did not leave Mount Komaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During that time, Hideyoshi clearly meted out the praise and blame for the battle at Nagakute." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was particularly careful about the presentation of increases in stipends and rewards, but did not say a word to his nephew Hidetsugu. And, after having fled from Nagakute, Hidetsugu seemed to feel awkward in front of his uncle. On his return to camp he simply reported that he had come back and later tried to explain the reason for his defeat. But Hideyoshi only talked to the other generals seated around him and did not look Hidetsugu in the face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was my own blunder that sent Shonyu to his death,\" Hideyoshi said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"From the time of his youth, we shared our poverty, our nighttime amusements, and our whoring around. I'll never be able to forget him.\"\n\nEvery time he talked with others about his old friend, his eyes filled with tears.\n\nThen one day, without letting anyone know what he was thinking, Hideyoshi suddenly ordered the construction of fortifications at Oura. Two days later, on the last day of the Fourth Month, he gave out more instructions: \"I plan on taking a chance tomorrow on the battle of a lifetime. We're going to see who falls, Ieyasu or Hideyoshi. Sleep well, prepare yourselves, and don't be caught off guard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The following day was the first of the Fifth Month." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Expecting that it would be the day on which the great decisive battle would be fought, the entire army had been preparing itself since the night before. Now, finally seeing Hideyoshi in front of them, the soldiers listened to his words in blank amazement.\n\n\"We're going back to Osaka! All of the troops should withdraw.\" Then came his next orders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The corps under Kuroda Kanbei and Akashi Yoshiro should coordinate with the troops at the double moats. The position of rear guard is to be taken by Hosokawa Tadaoki and Gamo Ujisato.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sixty thousand troops moved out. Heading west, they began their retreat just as the morning sun appeared over the horizon. Hori Kyutaro was left at Gakuden and Kato Mitsuyasu at Inuyama Castle. Except for them, all the troops crossed the Kiso River and entered Oura." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This sudden withdrawal caused Hideyoshi's generals to wonder about his true intentions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi gave orders in a carefree way, but withdrawing such a large army was even more difficult than leading it to attack. The responsibility of taking up the rear guard was considered to be the most difficult of all, and it was claimed that only the bravest warriors were suitable for the work.\n\nWhen the men at Ieyasu's headquarters saw Hideyoshi's army suddenly withdraw to the west that morning, they were all seized with doubt and reported the event to Ieyasu.\n\nThe generals there were in complete agreement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's no doubt about it. We've crushed the enemy's will to fight.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If we give chase and attack, the western forces will be totally routed and a great victory will surely be ours!\"\n\nEach of them spoke enthusiastically for an attack and asked for the command, but Ieyasu did not look the least bit happy. He strictly refused permission for a pursuit.\n\nHe knew that a man like Hideyoshi would not withdraw a large army without reason." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He also knew that while he had sufficient strength for defense, he did not have the forces to fight with Hideyoshi in an unobstructed battle on an open plain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Warfare is not a gamble. Are we going to stake our lives on an event when we have no idea of the outcome? Put out your hand to grasp something only when destiny has come to bless you.\"\n\nIeyasu hated taking risks. He also knew himself very well. In that regard, the absolute opposite of Ieyasu was Nobuo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nobuo was constantly under the illusion that he himself had the same great popularity and genius as Nobunaga." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could not keep quiet at this time, even though the other generals were sitting in silence after Ieyasu had told them that there would be no pursuit.\n\n\"It is said that a soldier respects the opportunity given him. How can we sit here and let this heaven-sent opportunity pass us by? Please leave the pursuit to me.\" Nobuo argued with increasing vehemence.\n\nIeyasu admonished him with two or three words, but Nobuo was parading his courage more than he ever had before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Arguing with Ieyasu, he acted like a spoiled child who would listen to nobody." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well then, there's nothing to be done. Do as you please.\"\n\nIeyasu gave his permission, knowing full well that disaster would follow. Nobuo immediately led out his own army and chased after Hideyoshi.\n\nAfter Nobuo left, Ieyasu put Honda in charge of a group of soldiers and sent him along behind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as Ieyasu had thought he would do, Nobuo fought Hideyoshi's rear guard as it withdrew and, while he looked superior for a moment, was quickly defeated." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this way he caused the death in battle of a great number of his retainers.\n\nIf Honda's reinforcements had not come from the rear, Nobuo himself might have become one of the greatest prizes of Hideyoshi's rear guard. Retreating to Mount Komaki, Nobuo did not appear before Ieyasu right away. But Ieyasu heard the details of the situation from Honda. With no change of expression, he nodded and said, \"It was only to be expected.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Hideyoshi retreated, it was not just a simple withdrawal. As his army moved along the road he said to his retainers, \"Shouldn't we take some nice souvenir?\"\n\nKaganoi Castle stood on the left bank of the Kiso River, in an area to the northeast of Kiyosu Castle. Two of Nobuo's retainers had entrenched themselves there, prepared to act as one of Nobuo's wings in case of an emergency." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take it.\" Hideyoshi gave the command to his generals as though he were pointing at a persimmon on a branch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The army crossed the Kiso River and took up a position at the Seitoku Temple. At the center of the reserve army, Hideyoshi opened the attack on the morning of the fourth day of the month. From time to time he went out on his horse and watched the battle from a hill in the vicinity of Tonda.\n\nDuring the fighting on the following day, the commander of the castle was killed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The castle itself, however, did not fall until the evening of the sixth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi had fortifications built for a later day at a strategic point in Taki, and returned as far as Ogaki on the thirteenth. At Ogaki Castle he met with Shonyu's surviving family, and comforted his wife and mother.\n\n\"I can imagine that you feel lonely. But keep the promising futures of your children in mind. You should try to live the rest of your lives in harmony, rejoicing in the growth of young trees and watching the flowers of the season.\"\n\nHideyoshi also called over Shonyu's two surviving sons and encouraged them to be strong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That night he became like one of the family and talked for hours about his memories of Shonyu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm a short man, and Shonyu was too. When that short little man entertained the other generals, he'd often do the spear dance when he got drunk. I don't suppose he ever showed it to the members of his family, but it went something like this.\" Doing an imitation, he made them all laugh. He stayed in the castle for a number of days, but finally, on the twenty-first of the month, he took the Omi Road back to Osaka Castle.\n\nOsaka was now a large city, radically changed from the little port of Naniwa, and when Hideyoshi's army arrived, the people jostled together along the streets and in the vicinity of the castle, cheering them on until nightfall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The external construction work for Osaka Castle had already been completed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When night fell, an otherworldly scene unfolded. Bright lamps shone from the innumerable windows of the five-story keep of the main citadel, as well as from the second and third citadels, adorning the night sky and illuminating the boundaries of the castle on all four sides: to the east, the Yamato River; to the north, the Yodo River; to the west, the Yokobori River; and to the south, the great dry moat.\n\nHideyoshi had left his camp at Gakuden, changing his mind and taking up the strategy of a \"fresh start.\" But how had Ieyasu reacted to that change?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had sat and watched as Hideyoshi's retreating troops marched away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And even though he had heard about the distress of his allies at Kaganoi Castle, he had not sent reinforcements.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" Voices of indignation rose among Nobuo's subordinates. Nobuo, however, had already ignored Ieyasu's advice, attacked Hideyoshi's rear guard, and met with an ignominious defeat. Saved by Honda, he had finally returned to camp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thus Nobuo now felt that he had lost his right to say anything at all." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thus, festering discord had become the weak point of the allied army. More than that, the main advocate of this great battle had been Nobuo, not Ieyasu. Nobuo had preached the cause of duty to Ieyasu, and the lord of Mikawa had risen up to help him. His standpoint, therefore, was one of an ally, and so it was all the more difficult to control Nobuo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally he made a suggestion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"While Hideyoshi is in Osaka, sooner or later he will move on Ise. Indeed, for our allies, some worrisome signs have already appeared. I think you should return to your main castle at Nagashima as soon as possible.\"\n\nTaking this opportunity, Nobuo quickly returned to Ise. Ieyasu remained at Mount Komaki for a little while, but he too finally departed for Kiyosu, leaving Sakai Tadatsugu in command. The people of Kiyosu came out to greet Ieyasu with cheers of victory, but not in the same numbers as the people of Osaka had for Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The citizens and soldiers hailed the battle of Nagakute as a great victory for the Tokugawa clan, but Ieyasu cautioned his retainers against frivolous pride and sent the following message to his troops:" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Militarily, Nagakute was a victory, but in terms of castles and land, Hideyoshi has taken the real advantage. Do not be so happily dull-headed as to get drunk on a false reputation.\n\nDuring the stalemate at Mount Komaki, the fact was that in Ise, where there had been no battles for a while, Hideyoshi's allies had taken the castles at Mine, Kanbe, Kokufu, and Hamada, and attacked and destroyed the castle at Nanokaichi. Before anyone was aware of it, most of Ise had fallen into Hideyoshi's hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi was at Osaka Castle for about one month, looking to the affairs of its internal administration, making plans for regulating the areas around the capital, and enjoying his own private life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For the present, he regarded the Mount Komaki crisis as someone else's concern.\n\nDuring the Seventh Month he traveled to Mino and back. Then, in about the middle of the Eighth Month he said, \"It's boring to drag this out for too long. This autumn I'll have to finish the matter up once and for all.\"\n\nOnce again, he announced that a great army would depart for the front." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For two days before the departure, the flutes and drums of Noh plays resounded through the depths of the main citadel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From time to time the boisterous laughter of a large crowd of people could be heard.\n\nEngaging a troupe of Noh actors, Hideyoshi invited his mother, his wife, and his kinsmen in the castle to share one day of enjoyment together.\n\nAmong the guests were the three princesses who were being raised in seclusion in the third citadel. Chacha was seventeen that year; the middle sister was thirteen; and the youngest of the three was going to be eleven." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just one year before, on the day Kitanosho Castle fell, the girls had looked behind them at the smoke enshrouding the death of their foster father, Shibata Katsuie, and their mother." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had been moved from the camp in the northern provinces and had seen no one but strangers, no matter where they looked. For a while their eyes were swollen with tears day and night, and not a single smile appeared on the youthful faces that ordinarily would have been full of mirth. But the three princesses finally got used to the people in the castle and, humored by Hideyoshi's easygoing style, became fond of him as \"our interesting uncle.\"\n\nThat day, after a number of performances, that \"interesting uncle\" went into the dressing room enclosure, changed into costume, and came out on the stage himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Look! It's uncle!\" one of the girls called out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My, he looks so funny!\"\n\nIgnoring the presence of the others, the two younger princesses clapped their hands and pointed, unable to stop laughing. As might be expected, the eldest sister, Chacha, reprimanded them. \"You shouldn't point. Just watch quietly,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She did her best to sit modestly, but Hideyoshi's antics were so funny that, in the end, Chacha hid her mouth behind her sleeve and laughed as though her sides would burst." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's this? When we laugh, we get scolded. But you're laughing now.\"\n\nWith her two sisters poking fun at her, Chacha could only laugh more and more.\n\nHideyoshi's mother also laughed from time to time as she watched her son's comic dance, but Nene, used to her husband's antics and his constant joking inside the family circle, did not look particularly amused.\n\nWhat interested Nene today was the peaceful observation of her husband's concubines, who were sitting here and there, surrounded by maids." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While they were still in Nagahama, he had had only two mistresses, but after they had moved to Osaka Castle, before she knew it there was a concubine in the second citadel, and another in the third." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was hard to believe, but in his triumphal return from the siege of the north, he had brought back Asai Nagamasa's three orphaned daughters and was lovingly raising them in the second citadel.\n\nIt pained the ladies who served Nene—Hideyoshi's true wife, after all—that the eldest sister, Chacha, was even more beautiful than her mother.\n\n\"Lady Chacha is already seventeen years old. Why does His Lordship gaze at her the way he'd look at a flower in a vase?\"\n\nThey only added fuel to the fire with comments like that, but Nene simply laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's nothing to be done; it's like a scratch on a pearl,\" she'd say." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Formerly, she, too, had been as jealous as any other wife might be, and when she was living in Nagahama she had gone as far as to complain to Nobunaga, who had sent her a written reply:\n\nYou were born a woman, and have chanced to meet an extremely unusual man. I imagine that there must be faults in such a man, but his good points are numerous. When you are looking out from the midst of a large mountain, you can't understand how big that mountain truly is." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Be at peace, and enjoy living with this man in the way he wants to live." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am not saying that jealousy is a bad thing. To a certain extent, jealousy adds depth to the life of a married couple.\n\nSo in the end, it was she who had been reprimanded. Having learned by that experience, Nene had set her mind on self-control and had planned on becoming a woman who could overlook her husband's affairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Recently, however, there were days when she felt threatened, wondering if her husband wasn't beginning to indulge himself too much." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At any rate, he was now approaching the age of forty-seven, the most prosperous time for a man. While he had his hands full with external problems like the battle at Mount Komaki, he was also very busy with internal affairs like the administration of his bedroom. And so he lived insatiably, day by day, with the vitality of a healthy man—so much so that an observer might have wondered how he was able to sort out the common from the uncommon, the magnanimous gesture from the discreet, and grand public actions from the ones that should be totally hidden away.\n\n\"Watching the dance is amusing, but when I go out and perform on stage, it's not so much fun at all. In fact, it's hard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi had come up behind his mother and Nene." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had just a moment ago left the stage at the applause of the spectators and appeared not to have sobered up from the excitement of the act.\n\n\"Nene,\" he said, \"let's spend a quiet evening in your room tonight. Would you prepare a banquet?\"\n\nAs the performance ended, the bright light of the lamps flooded the area, and the guests made their way back to the third and second citadels.\n\nHideyoshi now dropped in at Nene's room, accompanied by a large crowd of actors and musicians." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mother had retired to her quarters, so husband and wife were alone with their guests." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was customary for Nene to pay attention to such people and their servants, and to all her subordinates. Especially after today's gathering, she enjoyed thanking them for their services and seeing them frivolously exchanging sake cups, and making conversation with their audience.\n\nHideyoshi had been sitting by himself from the very beginning, and since everyone seemed to be ignoring him, he looked a little morose.\n\n\"Nene, I suppose it would be all right if I had a cup too,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you think you should?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you think I'm not going to drink? Why do you think I came to your room?\"\n\n\"Well, your mother said, 'That boy will be heading for Mount Komaki again the day after tomorrow,' and she strictly ordered me to apply the usual moxa to your shins and hips before you leave for the front.\"\n\n\"What! She said to apply moxa?\"\n\n\"She worries that the lingering heat of autumn will still be over the battlefield, and if you drink bad water, your liable to fall ill. I'll apply the moxa and give you a cup of sake after that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's ridiculous. I don't like moxa.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Whether you like it or not, those are your mother's orders.\"\n\n\"Well, just for that I'm staying away from your room. Of all the people watching my performance this afternoon, you were the only one who didn't laugh. You looked so serious.\"\n\n\"That's my nature. Even if you tell me to behave like the pretty girls, I can't.\" Nene showed a little anger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes as she recalled the old days when she herself was Chacha's age and Hideyoshi was the twenty-five-year-old Tokichiro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi looked curiously at his wife and asked, \"Why are you crying?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Nene said, looking away, and Hideyoshi turned to face her directly.\n\n\"Are you saying that it's going to be lonely when I go to the front again?\"\n\n\"Since the beginning of our married life, how many days have you spent at home?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There's nothing to be done until we put the world at peace, even if you don't like war,\" Hideyoshi replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And if the unforeseen hadn't happened to Lord Nobunaga, I'd probably be in charge of some countryside castle, sitting out my life and forced to be at your side exactly the way you like it.\"\n\n\"People are going to hear the nasty things you're saying. I understand exactly what's in a man's heart.\"\n\n\"And I understand a woman's heart too!\"\n\n\"You always make fun of me. I'm not speaking out of jealousy, like some ordinary woman.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Any wife would say that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Will you listen to me without making this into a joke?\"\n\n\"All right. I'm listening with great respect.\"\n\n\"I resigned myself a long time ago. So I'm hardly going to tell you that I'm lonely taking care of your castle when you're on a campaign.\"\n\n\"A virtuous woman, a faithful wife! This is why the Tokichiro of so long ago put his mark on you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't carry your joking too far! That is why your mother spoke to me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did my mother say?\"\n\n\"She said I was so submissive that you were going to get carried away and become dissipated. She told me I should speak up to you from time to time.\"\n\n\"Is that the reason for the moxa?\" Hideyoshi laughed.\n\n\"You don't have a thought about her worries. Your self-indulgent intemperance has led you to be unfilial.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When was I intemperate?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Weren't you making a lot of noise about something in Lady Sanjo's room right up until dawn two nights ago?\"\n\nThe attendants and actors drinking in the next room pretended not to listen to the rare—well, perhaps not so rare—argument between husband and wife. Just at that point, however, Hideyoshi raised his voice and yelled, \"Hey, now! What does the audience think of this couple's performance?\"\n\nOne of the actors answered, \"Yes indeed, it looks to me like a game of kickball between blind people.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "On the following day Hideyoshi's family was unable to get even a glimpse of him, even though they were in the same castle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Throughout the day Hideyoshi was pressed with the work of giving instructions to his retainers and generals.\n\nOn the twenty-sixth day of the Eighth Month, Ieyasu received an urgent report that Hideyoshi was coming. He hastened from Kiyosu to Iwakura with Nobuo, and set up a position opposing Hideyoshi. Ieyasu again took up a totally defensive position and warned his men not to initiate any movement or challenge on their own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This is a man who doesn't know the meaning of enough.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi had already found Ieyasu's patience difficult to deal with, but he was not completely without such resources himself. He knew that it was impossible to open the wreath shell's cap, even with a hammer, but if the tail end of its shell was roasted, however, the meat could be taken out easily. It was this sort of ordinary reasoning that now occupied his thinking. Quietly sending Niwa Nagahide to see about concluding a peace agreement was like heating the wreath shell's tail." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Niwa was the most senior among the Oda clan's retainers and was a dependable and popular character." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now that Katsuie was dead and Takigawa Kazumasu was in reduced circumstances, Hideyoshi did not forget the necessity of winning over that warm, good man as his own \"chessman in reserve\" before the hostilities at Mount Komaki began.\n\nNiwa was in the north with Inuchiyo, but Niwa's generals, Kanamori Kingo and Hachiya Yoritaka, were participating in the war on Hideyoshi's side. Before anyone even knew it, those two generals had gone back and forth a number of times between Hideyoshi and their home province of Echizen.\n\nThe content of the letters that were being sent was unknown even to the envoys, but finally Niwa himself made a secret journey to Kiyosu and had an interview with Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such talks, however, were conducted in extreme secrecy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The only men who knew about them on Hideyoshi's side were Niwa and his two generals. At Hideyoshi's suggestion, Ishikawa Kazumasa became his go-between.\n\nEventually, however, someone within the Tokugawa clan leaked a rumor that secret peace talks had been initiated. That set off great agitation in Ieyasu's defenses centered at Mount Komaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When rumors leak out, they are always accompanied by malicious gossip." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this case the name that surfaced was one that was already held in suspicion by his fellow retainers—that of Ishikawa Kazumasa.\n\n\"It's being said that Kazumasa is the mediator. Somehow there's always something that smells funny between Hideyoshi and Kazumasa.\"\n\nThere were some people who spoke about it directly to Ieyasu, but he rebuked whoever spoke to him and never doubted Kazumasa in the least.\n\nBut once that kind of doubt had arisen among the retainers, the morale of the whole clan began to suffer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu, of course, was in favor of holding peace talks, but when he saw the internal condition of his forces, he suddenly rejected Niwa's messenger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have no desire for peace,\" Ieyasu said. \"I have no hopes for a settlement with Hideyoshi, no matter what conditions he offers. We're going to fight a decisive battle here, I'm going to take Hideyoshi's head, and we'll let the nation know what true duty is.\"\n\nWhen this was announced officially throughout Ieyasu's camp, the soldiers were pleased, and the dark rumors about Kazumasa were swept away.\n\n\"Hideyoshi's started to break down!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their spirits revitalized, they became all the more aggressive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi received the bitter cup with resignation. To him, the result seemed not altogether bad. So he did not venture to use military strength that time either, but ordered his forces to occupy strategic areas. Toward the middle of the Ninth Month, he sent his soldiers back once more and entered the castle at Ogaki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How many times was it now that the citizens of Osaka had watched Hideyoshi and his army leave for the front and then return, going back and forth between the castle and Mino?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was now the twentieth day of the Tenth Month—already late autumn. Hideyoshi's army, which usually passed through Osaka, Yodo, and Kyoto, suddenly changed its route at Sakamoto and this time passed through Koga in Iga and went on toward Ise. There it left the Mino Road and took the one that led to Owari.\n\nDispatch after urgent dispatch was sent out from Nobuo's branch castles and spies in Ise, almost as though a dike had unexpectedly opened in a number of places and the muddy waters of a turbulent river were rushing that way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's Hideyoshi's main force!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"These are not soldiers under the command of a single general, as we've seen until now.\"\n\nOn the twenty-third of the month Hideyoshi's army camped at Hanetsu and built fortifications at Nawabu.\n\nWith Hideyoshi's army closing in on his castle, Nobuo was unable to keep his composure. For about a month now he had had forebodings that the storm was approaching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Which is to say that Ishikawa Kazumasa's actions—which had been kept an absolute secret by the Tokugawa clan—had been mysteriously exaggerated and discussed by someone, though nobody could quite say who." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rumor went that the inner circle of the Tokugawa clan was not really united. It appeared that a number of Ieyasu's retainers were hostile to Kazumasa and were just waiting for the right moment.\n\nIt was also being widely rumored that the Tokugawa had been negotiating with Hideyoshi, that Ieyasu was trying to make peace quickly, before news of the rupture of his inner circle leaked out, but that negotiations had been broken off because the conditions set by Hideyoshi were too severe.\n\nNobuo was frankly pained." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What, after all, would happen to him if Ieyasu made peace with Hideyoshi?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If Hideyoshi changes direction and heads out on the Ise Road, you had better be resigned to the fact that there is already a secret understanding between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu to sacrifice your clan, my lord.\"\n\nAnd, just as Nobuo had feared, Hideyoshi's army suddenly confirmed his worse nightmares. There was no plan he could follow other than to report the emergency to Ieyasu and call for his help.\n\nSakai Tadatsugu was in charge of Kiyosu Castle during Ieyasu's absence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he received the urgent report from Nobuo, he immediately had a runner relay it to Ieyasu, who raised all his forces on the same day and marched to Kiyosu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He then quickly sent reinforcements under Sakai Tadatsugu to Kuwana.\n\nKuwana is the geographical neck of Nagashima. Nobuo also took soldiers there and placed them facing Hideyoshi, who had set up his headquarters in the village of Nawabu.\n\nNawabu was on the bank of the Machiya River, about one league to the southwest of Kuwana, but the mouths of the Kiso and Ibi rivers were close by, and it was an excellent place from which to threaten Nobuo's headquarters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Late autumn. The numerous reeds in the area concealed several hundred thousand soldiers, and the smoke of the campfires spread out thickly over the riverbank, morning and night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The order for battle had still not been given. The relaxed soldiers even went fishing for gobies. At such times, when the lightly armored Hideyoshi made a tour of the encampments and suddenly appeared on horseback, the flustered rank-and-file would quickly throw away their fishing rods. But even if Hideyoshi noticed this, he would just pass by smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fact is that if it hadn't been this particular place, he too would have wanted to fish for gobies and walk barefoot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was still, in some ways, a boy at heart, and such scenes called forth the pleasures of his childhood.\n\nAcross this river was the earth of Owari. Under the autumn sun, the smell of the earth of his birthplace tantalized his senses.\n\nTomita Tomonobu and Tsuda Nobukatsu had returned from a mission and were waiting impatiently for his return." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Leaving his horse at the gate, Hideyoshi hurried along at a pace unusual for him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He himself led the two men who had come out to greet him to a hut in the middle of a heavily guarded stand of trees.\n\n\"What was Lord Nobuo's answer?\" he asked. His voice was low, but there was an extraordinary expectant light in his eyes.\n\nTsuda spoke first. \"Lord Nobuo says that he understands your feelings very well and gives his consent for a meeting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What! He's agreed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not only that, but he was extremely pleased.\"\n\n\"Really?\" Hideyoshi expanded his chest and let out a tremendous sigh. \"Really? That's really what happened?\" he repeated.\n\nHideyoshi's intentions in advancing along the Ise Road at this time had been based on a gamble from the very beginning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had hoped for a diplomatic solution, but if that had failed, he would strike at Kuwana, Nagashima, and Kiyosu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That would open Mount Komaki to attack from the rear.\n\nTsuda was related to the Oda clan and was a second cousin to Nobuo, to whom he explained the advantages and disadvantages of the situation, and from whom he finally elicited an answer.\n\n\"I'm not the kind of person who likes war at all,\" Nobuo replied. \"If Hideyoshi thinks that much of me and wants to hold a peace conference, I would not be indisposed toward meeting him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the very first battle at Mount Komaki, Hideyoshi had seen that Ieyasu would be difficult to deal with." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After that, he had studied the inner workings of the human heart and had manipulated the men around him from the shadows.\n\nIn the inner circles of the Tokugawa clan, Ishikawa Kazumasa was regarded with some suspicion, due to Hideyoshi's influence. Thus, when Niwa Nagahide moved toward arbitration, the men in Nobuo's inner circle who had former connections with him were quickly ostracized as a peace faction. Nobuo himself was uneasy about Ieyasu's true intentions, and the Tokugawa eyed Nobuo's army with vigilance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This state of affairs had evolved under specific orders from faraway Osaka." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was an article of faith with Hideyoshi that no matter what kind of diplomatic scheme he used, the sacrifices involved were far preferable to those made in war. More than that, after having tried the alternatives—facing Ieyasu directly at Mount Komaki, engaging in some clever military plan, and even making a menacing bluff—Hideyoshi felt that making war on Ieyasu was having absolutely no effect and that he would have to try some other tack.\n\nThe meeting the following day with Nobuo was exactly the realization of such deliberation and forethought.\n\nHideyoshi got up early and, looking up at the sky, said, \"The weather's just right.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the sky the night before, the cloud movements of late autumn had given him some anxiety; and he feared that if by any chance it became windy and rainy, Nobuo's side might say it wanted to postpone the time or change the place, and it might then be suspected by the Tokugawa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi had gone to sleep concerned about how unsavory that might be, but this morning the clouds had blown away and the sky was bluer than usual for the time of year. Hideyoshi took it as a good omen and, wishing himself luck, mounted his horse and left the camp at Nawabu.\n\nHis attendants were only a few senior retainers and pages and the two former envoys, Tomita and Tsuda. When the group finally crossed the Machiya River, however, Hideyoshi had taken the precaution to hide a number of his soldiers among the reeds and farmhouses during the night before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hideyoshi chatted amiably on horseback as though he didn't see them, and finally dismounted at the bank of the Yada River close to the western outskirts of Kuwana." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shall we wait here for Lord Nobuo to come?\" he asked, and, sitting down on his camp stool, he looked out at the local scenery.\n\nNot long thereafter, Nobuo, accompanied by a group of mounted retainers, arrived on time. Nobuo must have spotted the men waiting on the riverbank as well, and he immediately began conferring with the generals to his right and left as he focused his eyes on Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He brought his horse to a halt in the distance and dismounted, apparently still quite apprehensive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The crowd of warriors that accompanied him opened up to the right and left. Placing himself at their center, Nobuo started toward Hideyoshi, his armor displaying all of his martial prestige.\n\nHideyoshi. Here was the man who, until just the other day, had been vilified to the nation as the worst kind of assassin and inhuman ingrate. Here was the enemy whose crimes had been enumerated by both himself and Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even though he had agreed to Hideyoshi's proposal and was meeting him here, Nobuo was unable to feel at ease." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What were the man's true intentions?\n\nAs Hideyoshi caught sight of Nobuo standing in all his dignity, he left his stool behind him and, completely alone, went hurrying toward him.\n\n\"Ah, Lord Nobuo!\" He was waving both hands, just as though this were some unplanned and unexpected meeting.\n\nNobuo was bewildered, but the retainers around him, who looked so imposing with their spears and armor, gaped in openmouthed surprise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But this was not their only shock." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi was now kneeling at Nobuo's feet, prostrating himself so that his face nearly touched Nobuo's straw sandals.\n\nThen, taking the hand of the stunned Nobuo, he said, \"My lord, there hasn't been a day this year that I haven't thought about wanting to meet you. Before anything else, I'm extremely pleased to see that you're in good health. What kind of evil spirit could have confused you, my lord, and brought us to fight one another? From this day forth you will be my lord, just as before.\"\n\n\"Hideyoshi, please get up. I'm speechless at your repentance. We were both at fault. But first please get up.\"\n\nNobuo pulled Hideyoshi up with the hand the latter had grasped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The meeting of the two men on the eleventh day of the Eleventh Month went smoothly, and the peace accord was agreed upon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It goes without saying that the proper order of things would have been for Nobuo to have discussed the matter with Ieyasu and to have gotten his agreement before the fact. But he responded totally to this opportune blessing, and an independent peace was established.\n\nThe simple fact was that the beanbag that Ieyasu had thrown around and used for his own purposes was being snatched from the side by Hideyoshi. Essentially, Nobuo had been taken in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One can only imagine the sweet words Hideyoshi used to gain Nobuo's favor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In fact, in all his years of service, Hideyoshi had rarely moved Nobuo's father, Nobunaga, to anger, so appeasing Nobuo must have been easy for him. But the conditions of the peace accords that had first been communicated by the two envoys were neither sweet nor easy:\n\nItem: Hideyoshi would adopt Nobuo's daughter.\n\nItem: The four districts in northern Ise that Hideyoshi had occupied would be returned to Nobuo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Item: Nobuo would send women and children from his clan as hostages." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Item: Three districts in Iga, seven districts in southern Ise, Inuyama Castle in Owari, and the fortress at Kawada would be given to Hideyoshi.\n\nItem: All of the temporary fortifications belonging to both sides in the two provinces of Ise and Owari were to be destroyed.\n\nNobuo affixed his seal to the document. As gifts from Hideyoshi that day, Nobuo received twenty pieces of gold and a sword made by Fudo Kuniyuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was also presented with thirty-five thousand bales of rice as spoils of war from the Ise area." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hideyoshi had bowed to Nobuo and shown him respect, and had given him gifts as proof of his goodwill. Treated in that way, Nobuo could not help but smile with satisfaction. It is certain, however, that Nobuo had not considered how his scheming was going to come back at him. In terms of the ebb and flow of the violent tides of the times, Nobuo could only be called an unpardonable fool." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There would be no blame if Nobuo had remained on the sidelines." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he had come out at the very center, had been made a tool of war, and had caused a great number of men to die under his banners." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one who was most surprised when the facts were out was Ieyasu, who had already moved from Okazaki to Kiyosu to gain a war footing and confront Hideyoshi. It was the morning of the twelfth.\n\nSakai Tadatsugu suddenly whipped his horse to the castle, having traveled overnight from Kuwana.\n\nIt was unusual for a commander at the front lines to leave his battle position and come to Kiyosu unannounced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Moreover, Tadatsugu was a sixty-year-old veteran." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why had this old man traveled all night with only a few attendants?\n\nIt was before breakfast, but Ieyasu came out of his bedroom, sat down in the audience chamber, and asked, \"What is it, Tadatsugu?\"\n\n\"Lord Nobuo met with Hideyoshi yesterday. The rumor is that they made peace without consulting you, my lord.\"\n\nTadatsugu could see the repressed emotion on Ieyasu's face, and, unexpectedly, it made Tadatsugu's own lips twitch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could hardly hold his feelings back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wanted to shout that Nobuo was a great fool. Perhaps that is what Ieyasu was holding down in his heart. Should he be angry? Should he laugh? No doubt he was repressing all those things inside of himself at once, almost as though he could not accept the violent emotions raging inside him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu appeared to be dazed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was dumbfounded. That was all his expression said. The two men sat in that way for some time. Finally, Ieyasu blinked two or three times. Then he pinched his large earlobe with his left hand and rubbed the side of his face. He was puzzled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His round back began to move a little from side to side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His left hand dropped back to his knee.\n\n\"Tadatsugu, are you sure?\" he asked.\n\n\"I wouldn't come to report such a thing lightly. But dispatches will arrive later with more detailed information.\"\n\n\"You still haven't heard anything from Lord Nobuo?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We heard the report that he had left Nagashima, passed through Kuwana, and stopped at Yadagawara, but I thought he was just looking over the defenses and the disposition of his troops. Even when he returned to his castle, we had no idea of what his intentions had been.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Subsequent reports confirmed the rumors of Nobuo's separate peace agreement, but no word came from Nobuo himself throughout the entire day. The truth was soon known generally among the Tokugawa clan's retainers. Each time they met, their excited voices rose as they confirmed together what they could hardly believe. Gathering at Kiyosu, they accused Nobuo of lacking integrity and wondered aloud how the Tokugawa could face the nation with dignity after the predicament in which they had been placed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If this is the truth, we're not going to let him be, even if he is Lord Nobuo,\" the hot-blooded Honda said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"First we should take Lord Nobuo out of Nagashima and investigate this crime,\" Ii added with a furious glare. \"After that we should fight a decisive battle with Hideyoshi.\"\n\n\"I agree!\"\n\n\"Isn't it because of Lord Nobuo that we mobilized in the first place?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We advocated the upholding of duty and rose up only because Lord Nobuo came begging for Lord Ieyasu's help and crying that Lord Nobunaga's descendants would perish because of Hideyoshi's ambitions! Now the banner of that war of duty—the embodiment of justice—has tumbled over to the enemy's side. The stupidity of that man is beyond words!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As the situation is now, it's an affront to His Lordship's dignity, and we've become a laughingstock. It's also an insult to the spirits of our comrades who died at Mount Komaki and Nagakute.\"\n\n\"They were made to die tragically meaningless deaths, and there's no reason why the living should have to bear such painful thoughts. What kind of decision can our lord have made by now?\"\n\n\"He stayed in his living quarters all morning. He called a meeting of the senior retainers, and it seems that they've been deliberating all day.\"\n\n\"How about someone here delivering our opinion to the senior retainers?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's right. Who would be good?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They all looked around at one another.\n\n\"What about you, Ii? And Honda, you should go too.\" Honda and Ii were just about to leave the room as representatives for the others when a messenger came in with specific information.\n\n\"Two envoys from Lord Nobuo have just arrived.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What! Envoys from Nagashima?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The news made the men's indignation boil up again.\n\nAs the envoys had already been taken into the large audience chamber, however, it was very likely that they were already face to face with Ieyasu. Calmly reassuring each other that their lord's intentions would now be made clear, the men decided to wait for the result of the meeting.\n\nNobuo's envoys were his uncle, Oda Nobuteru, and Ikoma Hachiemon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As might be imagined, it was extremely awkward for those men to face Ieyasu, let alone try to explain Nobuo's thoughts, and they waited in the room, withering at the mere thought of the meeting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soon enough, Ieyasu appeared with a page. He was dressed in a kimono, without armor, and seemed to be in a good mood.\n\nHe sat down on a cushion and said, \"I've heard that Lord Nobuo has made peace with Hideyoshi.\"\n\nThe two messengers responded in the affirmative as they prostrated themselves, unable even to raise their heads." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nobuteru said, \"The sudden peace talks with Lord Hideyoshi were surely both unexpected and mortifying to your clan, and we can only respectfully appreciate what your thoughts must be, but in fact, His Lordship put much deep thought into the situation before him, and—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I understand,\" Ieyasu replied. \"You don't need to give me some long explanation.\"\n\n\"The details are fully explained in this letter, so, ah, if you would read it—\"\n\n\"I'll take a look at it later on.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The only thing that pains His Lordship is the thought that you may be angry,\" Hachiemon said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now, now. That's not worth his consideration. From the very beginning, these hostilities had nothing to do with my own desires or plans.\"\n\n\"We understand completely.\"\n\n\"That being so, the hope I entertain for Lord Nobuo's well-being is unchanged.\"\n\n\"His Lordship will be relieved to hear it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've had a meal prepared for you in another room. That this war has been terminated so quickly is the greatest blessing of all. Have a leisurely lunch before you go.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ieyasu went back into the interior of the castle. The messengers from Nagashima were entertained with food and drink in another room, but they ate hurriedly and soon left.\n\nWhen Ieyasu's retainers heard about this, they were outraged.\n\n\"His Lordship must have some deeper thoughts. Otherwise, how could he so easily approve of this monstrous alliance of Lord Nobuo and Hideyoshi?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "During this time, Ii and Honda went off to the senior retainers to inform them of the young retainers' opinion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Secretary!\" Ieyasu called out.\n\nAfter meeting with Nobuo's envoys in the audience chamber he had returned to his own quarters and sat quietly alone for a while. Now his voice rang out.\n\nThe secretary brought out an inkstone and waited for his lord's dictation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I want to sent congratulatory letters to both Lord Nobuo and Lord Hideyoshi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he dictated the letters, Ieyasu looked off obliquely and closed his eyes. Indeed, as he polished the sentences to be written down, he seemed first to absorb thoughts in his breast that must have been like draughts of molten iron.\n\nWhen the two letters were finished, Ieyasu gave an order to a page to summon Ishikawa Kazumasa.\n\nThe secretary left the two letters in front of Ieyasu, bowed, and withdrew." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As he left, a personal attendant came in carrying a candle and quietly lit two lamps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At some point the sun had set. Looking at the lamps, Ieyasu felt that somehow the day had been a short one. He wondered if that was why—even with all the pressure of work—he was still feeling an emptiness in his heart.\n\nAs though from far away, he could hear the sound of the sliding door opening softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kazumasa, dressed in civilian clothes like his lord, was bowing in the doorway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Almost none of the warriors of the clan had yet untied their armor. Nevertheless, Kazumasa realized that Ieyasu had been dressed in plain clothes since the morning and had quickly changed into a kimono.\n\n\"Ah, Kazumasa? You're too far away over there. Come a little closer.\"\n\nThe man who had not changed at all here was Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Kazumasa came before him, however, he seemed almost to have been disarmed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kazumasa, I'd like you to be my envoy tomorrow morning to Lord Hideyoshi's camp and Lord Nobuo's headquarters at Kuwana.\"\n\n\"Certainly.\"\n\n\"Letters of congratulation are right here.\"\n\n\"Congratulations for the peace accords?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's right.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think I understand what's in your mind, my lord. You won't be showing your dissatisfaction, but when he sees such magnanimity, even Lord Nobuo will probably be embarrassed.\"\n\n\"What are you saying, Kazumasa? It would be cowardly of me to embarrass Lord Nobuo, and a declaration to continue fighting from a sense of duty would look a little strange. Whether it's a false peace or whatever it is, I have no reason to voice dissatisfaction about peace. You are to explain earnestly and even happily that I think it is splendid from the bottom of my heart, and that I rejoice together with all the subjects of the Empire.\"\n\nKazumasa was someone who knew his lord's heart well, and now Ieyasu had given him careful instructions concerning his mission. But for Kazumasa, there was yet one more pain he had to bear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was the misunderstanding the other retainers had had about him from the very beginning—that he and Hideyoshi had some intimate connection." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The year before, after Hideyoshi's victory at Yanagase, Kazumasa had been selected as Ieyasu's envoy to Hideyoshi.\n\nAt that time Hideyoshi's joy had been extraordinary. He had invited the various lords to a tea ceremony at Osaka Castle, which was still under construction.\n\nAfter that, whenever there was occasion for some communication with the Tokugawa clan, Hideyoshi would inevitably ask for news of Kazumasa, and would always talk about Kazumasa to the lords who had friendly relations with the Tokugawa clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That Kazumasa was quite popular with Lord Hideyoshi was deeply carved into the minds of the Tokugawa warriors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the standoff at Mount Komaki, and again during Niwa's attempt at reconciliation, the eyes of his allies would be scrutinizing Kazumasa's actions, regardless of the situation.\n\nAs might be expected, Ieyasu was not affected by that at all.\n\n\"Well, it's pretty noisy out there, isn't it?\"\n\nAnimated voices were coming from the hall, which was a number of rooms away from where Ieyasu and Kazumasa were sitting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It seemed that the retainers who were dissatisfied with the peace accords were expressing their doubts and indignation at Kazumasa's being called before their lord." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ii and Honda, who were acting as representatives, and some of the others had surrounded Tadatsugu a while before.\n\n\"Didn't you lead the vanguard and stay in the castle town of Kuwana? Aren't you abashed at not having known that Lord Nobuo and Hideyoshi were able to meet at Yadagawara? And what about the fact that Hideyoshi's messengers came right into Kuwana Castle? What's happened now that you've found out about their illicit peace treaty and have come running here?\"\n\nThey grilled Tadatsugu. First of all, it was Hideyoshi, a man who was little likely to make a plan that would leak out ahead of time. For Tadatsugu, that was justification enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the face of the concentrated dissatisfaction, however, he could only receive their indignation and abuse with resignation and apologize to them with the forbearance becoming an old general." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But it was the purpose of neither Ii nor Honda to persecute the old man. Rather, they wanted to deliver their own opinions to their lord and to repudiate the peace accords. And they wanted to tell the world that the Tokugawa clan had nothing to do with Nobuo's peace talks.\n\n\"Would you please intercede for us? You're a respected elder.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, that would be a serious breach of etiquette,\" Tadatsugu answered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Honda insisted. \"These men have not loosened their armor and are dressed for the battlefield. Everyday etiquette does not apply in this situation.\"\n\n\"There's no time for that,\" Ii said. \"We're burning up with the fear that something may happen before he talks to us. If you won't be our intermediary, then it can't be helped. We'll have to appeal directly through his personal attendants and meet him in his quarters.\"\n\n\"No! He's in the middle of a conversation with Lord Kazumasa right now. You must not intrude on him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What! Kazumasa?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fact that Kazumasa was alone with their lord at this time only added to their uneasiness and discomfort. From the beginning of the campaign at Mount Komaki, they had viewed Kazumasa as a man playing a double game. And when Niwa Nagahide initiated a reconciliation, it was Kazumasa who had been involved in the negotiations. They suspected that Kazumasa was somehow in the shadows of the most recent maneuvers, too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When those feelings suddenly broke into a noisy commotion, it reached Ieyasu's ears, even though he was some distance away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A page now hurried down the corridor toward the retainers.\n\n\"You're being summoned!\" the page announced.\n\nTaken by surprise, they looked around at each other in awe. But the expression on the faces of the obstinate Honda and Ii revealed that a summons was just what they wanted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Urging on Sakai Tadatsugu and the others, they filed into the audience chamber." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ieyasu's room was soon filled to overflowing with samurai in full armor.\n\nEveryone's attention was focused on Ieyasu. Next to him sat Kazumasa. Sakai Tadatsugu was next, and behind them the very backbone of the Tokugawa clan was represented." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu started to speak but, suddenly turning toward the lowest seats, he said, \"The men in the lowest seats are a little too far away. My voice isn't very loud, so come up a little closer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The men all packed in more closely together, and those in the lowest seats all gathered around Ieyasu as he began to speak.\n\n\"Yesterday Lord Nobuo made peace with Hideyoshi. I am thinking of sending out an official notice of this to the entire clan tomorrow morning, but apparently you've all heard the news and it's worried you considerably. Please forgive me. I was not trying to keep the facts from you.\"\n\nAll of them hung their heads.\n\n\"It was my mistake to mobilize in response to Lord Nobuo's plea. It was also my fault that so many good retainers were killed in the battles at Mount Komaki and Nagakute. Once again, the fact that Lord Nobuo secretly joined hands with Hideyoshi and rendered your righteous indignation and loyal anger meaningless is by no means his fault. Rather, it is due to my own oversights and lack of wisdom. You have all been completely and unselfishly sincere, and as your lord, I cannot find the words to apologize properly. Please forgive me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "At some point, everyone there had lowered his head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one looked at Ieyasu's face. Shivers of unmanly weeping undulated from shoulder to shoulder like waves.\n\n\"There's nothing we can do, so please endure this. Strengthen your resolve and wait for another day.\"\n\nAfter they had sat down, neither Ii nor Honda had said a word." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indeed, both men had taken out handkerchiefs and, looking aside, wiped their faces." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This is a blessing. The war is over, and tomorrow I'll return to Okazaki. All of you should soon be on the road home, too, to see the faces of your wives and children,\" Ieyasu said, as he too blew his nose.\n\nOn the following day, the thirteenth of the month, Ieyasu and the greater part of the Tokugawa army withdrew from Kiyosu Castle and returned to Okazaki in Mikawa. On the morning of the same day, Ishikawa Kazumasa went to Kuwana with Sakai Tadatsugu. After meeting with Nobuo, he went on to visit Hideyoshi at Nawabu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Relaying Ieyasu's formal greetings, he presented the letter of congratulations and left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After Kazumasa had gone, Hideyoshi looked at the men around him.\n\n\"Look at that,\" he said. \"That's just like Ieyasu. No one else would have been able to swallow this painful blow as though it were simply hot tea.\"\n\nAs the man who had made Ieyasu drink molten iron, Hideyoshi appreciated his feelings very well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Putting himself in Ieyasu's place, he asked himself if he would have been able to react in the same way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As these days passed, one man who felt quite happy with himself was Nobuo. After the meeting at Yadagawara, he became Hideyoshi's perfect puppet. Regardless of the situation, he would ask himself, \"I wonder what Hideyoshi would think about this.\"\n\nJust as he had formerly relied on Ieyasu, he now worried about how Hideyoshi would react to whatever he did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He therefore was inclined to go along with exactly what Hideyoshi had desired in fulfilling the conditions laid down in the peace treaty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Portions of his lands, the hostages, and the written pledges were all presented without exception.\n\nAt that point Hideyoshi relaxed a little. Nevertheless, thinking that the army should remain at Nawabu until the following year, he sent a messenger to the men in charge at Osaka and made preparations to spend the winter in the field.\n\nIt goes without saying that from the very beginning Hideyoshi's object of concern had been Ieyasu, not Nobuo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since he had not yet concluded matters with Ieyasu, he could not say that the situation was under control, and his aims were only half-fulfilled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One day Hideyoshi visited Kuwana Castle, and after talking with Nobuo about various subjects, he asked, \"How have you been feeling recently?\"\n\n\"I'm in great health! And I'm sure it's because I have no unpleasant thoughts. I've recovered from the exhaustion of the battlefield, and my mind is completely at ease.\"\n\nNobuo displayed a bright and cheerful laughter, and Hideyoshi nodded a number of times, as though he were holding a child on his knee.\n\n\"Yes, yes. I imagine that that meaningless war wore you out, my lord. But you know, there a still are few remaining difficulties.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What do you mean, Hideyoshi?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If Lord Ieyasu is left just as he is, he may cause you some trouble.\"\n\n\"Really? But he sent a retainer here with a message of congratulations.\"\n\n\"Well, he certainly wouldn't have wanted to go against your will.\"\n\n\"To be sure.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So you'll have to say something first. In his heart, Lord Tokugawa would clearly like to make peace with me, but if he gave in on his own, he would lose face. Since there's no reason to confront me, he's probably perplexed. Why don't you help him out?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There are many men among the sons of famous families who are extremely selfish, quite probably because of the illusion that everyone around them exists for their sake. Never would they think about serving someone else. But, being spoken to in that way by Hideyoshi, even Nobuo was able to conceive of something greater than his own interest.\n\nSo, several days later, he suggested that he himself act as a mediator between Hideyoshi and Ieyasu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That was his natural responsibility, but he hadn't thought of taking it on until Hideyoshi had suggested it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If he'll agree to our conditions, we'll forgive his armed action in deference to your handling the situation.\"\n\nHideyoshi was taking the position of a victor but wanted to convey the terms for peace through Nobuo's mouth.\n\nThe conditions were that Ieyasu's son, Ogimaru, was to be adopted by Hideyoshi, and that Kazumasa's son, Katsuchiyo, and Honda's son, Senchiyo, were to be delivered as hostages.\n\nOther than the destruction of the fortifications, the division of lands formerly agreed upon by Nobuo, and the confirmation of the status-quo by the Tokugawa clan, Hideyoshi did not seek any further changes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There is some resentment in my heart concerning Lord Ieyasu that will not easily be cleared away, but I can endure it for the sake of your honor. And since you've decided to take on this task, it would be distressing to delay it too long. Why don't you send a messenger to Okazaki right away?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thus instructed, Nobuo sent two of his senior retainers as representatives to Okazaki that very day.\n\nThe conditions could not really be called severe, but when he heard them, even Ieyasu had to call on his reserves patience.\n\nEven though Ogimaru was said to be adopted, he was truly a hostage. And sending the sons of senior retainers to Osaka was clearly a pledge of the defeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though his retainers were upset, Ieyasu remained calm so that Okazaki would remain calm as well." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree to the conditions, and I'll ask you to take care of the matter,\" he replied to the envoys.\n\nBack and forth they went, a number of times. Then, on the twenty-first day of the Eleventh Month, Tomita Tomonobu and Tsuda Nobukatsu came to Okazaki to sign a peace treaty.\n\nOn the twelfth day of the Twelfth Month, Ieyasu's son was sent to Osaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kazumasa's and Honda's sons went with him." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warriors who saw off the hostages lined up along the streets and wept. Their action at Mount Komaki—an action that had temporarily shaken the entire nation—had ended in this.\n\nNobuo came to Okazaki on the fourteenth, toward the year's end, and stayed until the twenty-fifth. Ieyasu did not say one unpleasant word. For ten days he entertained that good-natured man whose future was so obvious, and then sent him home again." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nEiji Yoshikawa" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The eleventh year of Tensho came to a close." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "People had an inordinate number of feelings about the passing year. Among the things they felt keenly was the certainty that the world had changed. It had been only a year and a half since Nobunaga's death in the tenth year of Tensho. Everyone was surprised that such sweeping changes had come so quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The exalted position, the popularity, and the mission that had formerly been Nobunaga's had quickly become Hideyoshi's." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indeed, the liberality of Hideyoshi's character was in accord with the times, and helped create subtle revolutions and advances in society and government.\n\nWatching the trends of the day, even Ieyasu could not help scolding himself for the stupidity of rowing against them. Of the men who had gone against the tide of fortune, not one had escaped with his life since time immemorial, as he knew very well. At the foundation of his thinking was the cardinal rule that the observer should distinguish between the smallness of man and the vastness of time, and not resist the man who had grasped the moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thus he deferred at each step to Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At any rate, the man who saw in the New Year while he was at the very height of prosperity was Hideyoshi. He was now in his forty-ninth year. At the age of fifty, in one more year, he would be in the prime of manhood.\n\nThe New Year's guests numbered many times more than they had the year before, and, dressed in their finery, they filled Osaka Castle, bringing with them the feeling of the springtime that was close at hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ieyasu, of course, did not come, and a small number of provincial lords who paid deference to Ieyasu followed suit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moreover, there were certain forces that even now decried Hideyoshi and rushed around making military preparations and gathering secret intelligence. Those men also refrained from tying up their horses at the gate of Osaka Castle.\n\nHideyoshi observed all that as he continued to greet guest after guest.\n\nAs the year entered the Second Month, Nobuo visited from Ise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he had come at New Year's with all the other provincial lords, it would have been as though he were making a New Year's call on Hideyoshi, and that would have been beneath his dignity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or so he reasoned.\n\nThere was nothing easier than satisfying Nobuo's conceit. Using the same courtesy he had shown when he knelt in front of Nobuo at Yadagawara, Hideyoshi demonstrated a perfect sincerity in his hearty welcome. What Hideyoshi had said at Yadagawara was not a lie, Nobuo thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When rumors surfaced about Ieyasu, Nobuo criticized the man's calculating nature because he thought it would please Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Hideyoshi simply nodded silently.\n\nOn the second day of the Third Month, Nobuo returned to Ise in great joy. During his stay in Osaka, he had been told that he had been invested with a court title, thanks to Hideyoshi's good offices. Nobuo had remained in Kyoto for about five days, receiving the congratulations of many callers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It seemed to him that the sun would hardly rise if it were not for Hideyoshi." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The traffic of provincial lords to and from Osaka during the New Year, and the activities of Nobuo in particular, were reported in detail to Hamamatsu. Ieyasu, however, could now do nothing more than observe Hideyoshi's appeasement of Nobuo from the sidelines." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Between the spring and fall of that year Hideyoshi sent ships to the south and horses to the north in his campaigns to subdue the country." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He returned to Osaka Castle in the Ninth Month and began overseeing the internal administration and foreign affairs of the Empire.\n\nFrom time to time he would look back on the mountains he had climbed to get thus far, and at such moments he could not help congratulating himself on the first half of his life. In the coming year he would be fifty years old, the season in which a man reflects on his past and is made to think about his next step.\n\nThen, because he was human and indeed was subject to carnal passions more than the common run of men, it was natural that at night he would reflect on those passions that had governed his life in the past and continued to do so in the present, and would wonder where they might lead in the future." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is the autumn of my life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not many more months remain of my forty-ninth year.\n\nAs he compared his life to climbing mountains, he felt as if he were looking down toward the foothills after having climbed almost to the summit.\n\nThe summit is believed to be the object of the climb. But its true object—the joy of living—is not in the peak itself, but in the adversities encountered on the way up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There are valleys, cliffs, streams, precipices, and slides, and as he walks these steep paths, the climber may think he cannot go any farther, or even that dying would be better than going on." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But then he resumes fighting the difficulties directly in front of him, and when he is finally able to turn and look back at what he has overcome, he finds he has truly experienced the joy of living while on life's very road.\n\nHow boring would be a life lacking the confusions of many digressions or the difficult struggles! How soon would a man grow tired of living if he only walked peacefully along a level path. In the end, a man's life lies in a continuous series of hardships and struggles, and the pleasure of living is not in the short spaces of rest. Thus Hideyoshi, who was born in adversity, grew to manhood as he played in its midst." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Eiji Yoshikawa.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Eiji Yoshikawa.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Eiji Yoshikawa sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the Tenth Month of the fourteenth year of Tensho, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu met in Osaka Castle for a historic peace conference. Undefeated in the field, Ieyasu nevertheless ceded the political victory to Hideyoshi. Two years before, Ieyasu had sent his son as a hostage to Osaka, and now he took Hideyoshi's sister as his bride. The patient Ieyasu would wait for his chance—perhaps the bird would yet sing for him." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the dozen years left to him, Hideyoshi solidified his grip on the nation, breaking the power of the samurai clans forever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His patronage of the arts created an opulence and beauty still celebrated as Japan's Renaissance. Titles were heaped upon him by the Emperor: Kampaku. Taiko. But Hideyoshi's dreams did not end at the water's edge; his ambitions reached beyond, to the lands he had dreamed of as a child—the realm of the Ming emperors. But there the armies of the Taiko would fail to conquer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man who never doubted that he could turn every setback to his own purpose, that he could persuade his enemies to be his friends, that he could even make the silent bird wish to sing a song of his own choosing—in the end he had to yield to a greater force, and a more patient man." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he left a legacy whose brilliance yet remains as the memory of a Golden Age." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long before it was called Japan,\n\nthe island empire was known\n\nto the world as Akitsushima,\n\nthe Autumn Creek Land," } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Known as Year of the Metal Rabbit,\n\nSecond Year of Shōan,\n\neight years prior to the Genpei War\n\nand the ensuing struggle" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[ 4 bell strikes, First quarter, Hour of the Snake, Full Moon of New Life Month, The Kanmon Strait ]\n\nIn pristine battle armor, traveling without her personal guards or handmaids, not wearing any insignia that revealed her exact rank, Yamabuki at last stood in her own right on the promontory that looked north across the Barrier Strait. The rising sun burned so bright that the heavens scarcely looked blue. Shimmering light shone all the way across the vast Windward Sea which flowed off the edge of the world at the eastern horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A moist westerly breeze caressed the warrior's young face, leaving the slightest taste of brine on her lips and the fresh scent of fish and kelp in her nostrils." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mochizuki, her jet-black two-year-old colt, snorted his displeasure.\n\n\"I know you don't like the wind,\" she whispered, reaching up to stroke his mane with one hand while tightening her grip on his bridle with the other. His hot wet breath blew across her hand. As with all horses, his hearing was keen and he grew fretful when anything impeded it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wondered to what extent his disquiet had infected her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ever since crossing into Chikuzen Province two days before, her mount had grown increasingly temperamental—possibly because the North Road from Mizuki to Kita had teemed with people, horses, carts, wagons, and livestock. Disguised as a common samurai, more or less blending into the throng, Yamabuki trusted that she had escaped notice. However, if someone was shadowing her, it would have been easy enough for them to meld in as well.\n\nThis morning she dismissed her earlier apprehensions as mere fancy and instead looked ahead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She strained to make out the opposite shore through the thin, lingering haze, which washed out the details of the Main Isle of Honshu, her destination." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A voice startled her. \"'Better to cross the strait as the sun rises than as she sets.' At least that's how the commoners put it.\" The voice belonged to a man who not only had the temerity to interject himself into a nonexistent conversation with her, but even had the impertinence to approach her along her horse's opposite flank, the samurai's blindside.\n\nSince Mochizuki stood between her and the stranger, at first all she could see was the man's muddy sandals and loose-fitting cotton trousers, blue-on-white, with the ine rice plant pattern." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She immediately stepped around her mount, her left hand near, but not exactly on, her sword hilt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her eyes met the stranger's.\n\nHe's not even armed, let alone warrior class.\n\nHe had a ruddy face. Handsome in a rugged way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A bit older than she." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kindly bloodshot eyes which were happy and sad all at the same time.\n\nOdd. A rich man's sandals, but a commoner's tunic.\n\nAs he grinned, his eyes smiled. He may have noticed her sword hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was just behind you on the road all the way up from Kita. Wasn't following,\" he assured." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just going to the trailhead.\"\n\nHe cast his gaze toward Honshu. \"Boatmen call this place Dragon's Throat. It's the shortest distance between the Great Isles. The two seas somehow know it, too, and so they rush through the channel. In the end, the shortest distance to land has the strongest currents.\"\n\nShe moved her hand away from her weapon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He tossed a wrist in a casual gesture toward the north eastern horizon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Beautiful morning for it though. We are both crossing the barrier, no?\"\n\nResolute, she looked across the turbid expanse. Seemingly lost in the idea of crossing, finally she answered softly, almost to herself, \"I haven't traveled for ten days and nights for just a view.\"\n\n\"Ha-ha!\" he laughed, respectfully looking her up and down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"White crossed arrow-feather insignia on indigo. You are of the Taka clan from Great Bay Province... from the southeastern tip, yes?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As far from here as it is possible to be, yet still be on the same isle.\"\n\n\"Hai, but not for long.\" His eyes narrowed. \"Hear that?\" He tilted his head, his ear toward the sea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She found that for the moment she could hear nothing more than the hum of a steady wind mingling with the soft pulse of the sea and the occasional screeches of wheeling gulls." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since her battle helmet concealed her hair gathered up under its steel crown, if she removed her kabuto to improve her hearing, her long locks would be released and everyone would immediately see that she was a female, and a young one at that. But then, a moment later, shouts drifted up from the water below.\n\nThe man beckoned her to the sea cliff's edge. \"My ears aren't actually that good,\" he said, pointing over the side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I saw the cargo boat enter the cove.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She peered down the nearly vertical drop-off of gray clay and rock. Far below, a festively decorated shallow-draught kobune, cram­med to capacity with about forty warriors, tacked toward shore. Its senchou skillfully guided his craft through the swirling whitish-blue current that streamed out to sea. As he maneuvered the kobune toward the wooden landing, thick rope coils flew from the boat to waiting hands on the shore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the splendidly open air, the voices of the shore crew's calling-song carried up from below, echoing off the surrounding crescent cliffs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haul, haul. Heave-ho! Heave-ho!\n\nPut your backs in. Dokkoisho!\n\nThough the gulls call us\n\nWe cannot tarry" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pretty girls we wait to marry" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "(Please wait, please wait.)\n\nSteadily the haulers drew the craft out of the tidal basin and toward the calmer waters near the decaying timbers of the makeshift dock. Though weathered by salt spray and the pounding sun, and feasted upon by all manner of marine bores, the pier's rough-hewn pilings were still sturdy enough for lashing and securing the boat. The lines were hardly tied when the contingent of samurai leapt onto the dock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Looks like an invasion,\" Yamabuki said drolly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man in the white-on-blue kimono laughed, for they both knew it was nothing of the kind. The warriors were merely glad that they had reached their destination and could at last escape the wave-tossed kobune. Doubled over on the rocky beach, three of the passengers joined into the ancient and unwelcome ritual of losing the contents of their stomachs.\n\n\"They didn't drink enough saké,\" he breathed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For courage?\" She looked askance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" he said seriously, \"you drink it because it makes the land move like the sea. If you've drunk enough before you board, once you're out on the water, you can't tell the difference. You won't get seasick.\"\n\nHe reached into his copious sleeve, where he dug around until his face brightened. \"This one's full.\" He pulled out an ornate porcelain flask with the ine emblem painted on its side. Raising the saké bottle high, he breathed, \"It's what you'll need to cross the barrier.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hummed, rolling his tongue across his lips." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good saké. Strong.\" He smiled more broadly as he unstoppered the flask and offered the bottle's now naked neck to her.\n\nWith a subtle gesture of her small finger, she indicated for him to take it away.\n\nHe shook the bottle hard enough that she could hear the saké slosh inside. \"If we don't drink together, it will mean you have no friends.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "To most people, at least of her class, a person's mouth was considered to be unclean." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A vile thing. Contact with another's mouth, or whatever it touched, was unthinkable to all but the most wanton. Even the practice of mouth-sucking was usually confined to the bedchamber, and then only between married people or among lovers.\n\nYamabuki shook her head.\n\n\"I do not have any sickness, if that's what you think,\" he huffed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not thirsty,\" she replied, her eyes slightly drawn, but expressing a modest smile of politeness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Far below, the seasick warriors eventually recovered and chased after their fellows, who already were headed up the steep cliff-trail.\n\n\"They're Ōuchi clan.\" He gulped down a generous mouthful of saké and continued, \"And low-ranking ones at that.\"\n\n\"And how do you know this?\"\n\n\"For one, the hanabishi insignia on their banner flags. The diamond-flower is the Ōuchi clan symbol.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That doesn't declare their rank.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" He nodded, looking pleased with his own perspicacity, which he celebrated with another swig. \"It does not, but that boat carries a horse-blind, yet they don't have a horse amongst them. They even packed some of their number into the kobune's stable.\" He twisted his nose into a sign of a disgusting smell. \"As I said, low ranking. Samurai of importance ride horses. The better the horse, the higher their status,\" he said, shooting a glance at Mochizuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Although he had readily recognized her clan crest, had offered her saké, and had even spoken to her about the \"common people,\" as if they were the \"other,\" the two of them had not exchanged names, nor were they likely to." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Such niceties were practiced, of course, only by those of the buké warrior class and the kuge aristocratic class—in short, among those who had clan affiliations to begin with and therefore had something to announce. Their honored names were derived from being of high rank while in service of a local ruler, or were handed down to the progeny of the various branches of the imperial households.\n\nEven then, disclosing one's names and titles was not done without a specific reason. Such reasons could vary, from forming a lifelong friendship all the way to initiating a duel to the death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the latter case the combatants would, before ever drawing steel, announce not only their clan and personal names, but their titles and, above all, their impressive string of victories, real or embellished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But when it came to commoners, what good would it be to exchange names? The upper classes called them nanigashi, the thus-and-such people—names such as carpenter, woodcutter, fisherman, kago runner, combined with some mundane personal name: Tree, Mountain, River, First Born, Second Born, Young Cattle, and so forth. Hardly worth taking the time to remember.\n\nThe man with the saké bottle did not fit into any immediately identifiable commoner category." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, she was unwilling to exchange names with him, though she wanted to refer to him in some way, if only to herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki eyed him. Because of his blue kimono with its rice plant pattern, she gave him a sobriquet: Aoi Ine. Blue Rice.\n\nHe lifted his flask and took a drink. \"Sure you don't want any?\"\n\nAgain Yamabuki politely declined." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With that, Blue Rice turned and moved away from the bluff." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well then, it shall not be long now. My sister awaits me across the channel. If I don't miss my guess, the senchou will be shoving off soon enough. They never wait for very long.\" He smiled wistfully. \"I shall see you down to the dock,\" he said over his shoulder as he walked away.\n\nYamabuki looked askance. \"Not taking the trail?\"\n\n\"The road.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's longer,\" she called after him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Reminiscence,\" he shouted back and disappeared around the downhill bend.\n\nShe looked at the empty road, shaking her head. I suppose this is how common people speak. Even if Blue Rice thought I was merely of the buké class, his manners are so forward!" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indeed there were two routes down the cliff." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one Blue Rice took, called Carriage Road, was longer, wider, and more gentle. It consisted of a series of graded switchbacks that could accommodate draft carts, merchant wagons, and the occasional royal carriage. It was the road Yamabuki had always taken before, but unlike Blue Rice, never on foot.\n\nToday, Yamabuki chose the route called Foot Trail." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Steeper than Carriage Road, it had the advantage of being more direct and therefore faster." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Over the centuries the footfalls of the thousands who had approached the Barrier Strait had carved a steep path into the cliff face. Even so, in too many places the path was still scarcely horse width.\n\nYamabuki recalled advice from the previous evening when, in the commoner's manner of speaking, innkeeper Inu had described the manners, protocol, and nuances she could expect at the channel crossing point, explaining it thus: If the weather was seasonable and the tides right, travelers with means could find boats of assorted sizes, with captains of varying skill, to ferry passengers, livestock, horses, carts, and cargo. For a fair sum, the boatmen would accommodate just about anyone—regardless of rank—traveling in either direction, no questions asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even if someone had a price on his head, with enough additional gold to cover the additional risk (and required bribes), under the cover of darkness the senchou would deliver his passenger to one of the numerous (and discreet) alternate landing spots away from the ever-present spears of the shoreline patrols." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This day marked Yamabuki's fourth crossing to the Main Isle. On the three prior crossings, as a maiden of the Taka House, she had traveled in a grand carriage escorted by a retinue flying Taka clan banners in a stylized journey with its own punctilious practices, including the requirement that each and every commoner who encountered the retinue had to pause, bow down, and pay homage. For as long as there had been written records, this was how the empire's sixty-six provincial daimyō, the landholding self-styled warlords, were honored when they traveled.\n\nAnd, over time, the level of required obeisance had evolved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Centuries had passed since any emperors had ventured beyond the immediate outskirts of Heian-kyō, let alone braved the journey to the southern-most of the empire's four Great Isles." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And in the absence of imperial visits, the local daimyō had decided they would afford themselves the same high-level courtesies as the Mikado himself. And, thus, as was the case with the Emperor and His family, commoners were not allowed to see those who rode inside any carriages. The faces of the highborn ladies within the daimyō's circle, especially females of marriageable years, were never exposed—not even to their betrothed, and then only on their wedding night. At least that was the theory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In reality, sometimes passions needed quenching long before the nuptials, even if it were with someone other than a husband-to-be." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Theories and realities aside, on Yamabuki's prior crossings of the strait, it had fallen to the retinue to clear the path of riffraff, making sure that the prying eyes of the lowborn were directed elsewhere—usually toward the dirt, foreheads touching the soil.\n\nHowever, on the previous occasions, Yamabuki and the other highborn ladies traveling in her company, in keeping with the custom, would let one of their arms dangle from behind one of the silk-curtained carriage windows; whose arms and which window remained a matter of changing fashion. With arms appropriately extended, the prevailing breeze would pick up the graceful cut sleeves of the women's lavish brocade kimonos. Thus, the quick of eye could catch a glimpse of a milky-white exposed wrist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At this a gasp might escape from someone who kowtowed by the roadside—a muted gasp at that, for if discovered, the wrath visited by the retinue on the offender was swift and painful." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone knew firsthand, or at least in the telling, that being smacked with swords, even those still in their scabbards, left bruises.\n\nMen—as men are, from the lowest to the highest—could not help but wonder what fetching creatures remained hidden behind the colorful curtains; and the women for their part laughed and giggled coyly, adding to the allure which their station demanded that they uphold at all times.\n\nToday, however, the demands on Yamabuki were entirely different. Not giggling. Not hiding behind silk curtains nor exposing a wrist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not in the finest brocade but in the best-made battle gear, she led Mochizuki down Foot Trail while the arriving Ōuchi men trekked up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her armor covered almost every bit of her body—feet, legs, torso, shoulders, head, arms, and hands—all except for her fingertips, where tactile sense was needed to effectively wield her weapons. And in a twist of irony, the only other part of her flesh that was exposed was her quite naked face.\n\nYamabuki's personal servants had been aghast that she would let herself be seen thus. Exposed to everyone! Her handmaids had almost insisted, though it was not really their place to do so, that she wear a mempo battle mask to conceal her physiognomy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nakagawa had suggested otherwise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A mask would only invite curiosity. He had noted there was a common samurai protocol used to defuse unwarranted suspicion: while passing one another on any given street or road, warriors would briefly trade momentary glances in what Nakagawa called the peaceable practice of wolves recognizing wolves.\n\nThough at first she did not care for the custom, quickly she had learned that if another samurai's gaze lingered, she had to look directly back without exactly locking eyes until they looked away in feigned disinterest.\n\nIf anything, it was the spirited horse, and not of the seemingly ordinary Taka warrior in the dark-green armor with cobalt-blue woven-silk cords, that drew the attention of other warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "During prior journeys, the retinue had forced everyone to gather along the roadside and thus attracted a great deal of mandated attention, after which the retinue thrashed those who could not help but finally look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But now in the guise of a buké she realized that most people simply moved through the world. Anyone who dared to meet her gaze could apprehend her countenance—though so far on her journey few commoners had.\n\nThough her gear was immaculate, it was not all that different from the gear worn by the warriors now coming up Foot Trail. Like them, she too bore swords, bow, arrows, and a pole arm, as well as the other armaments, such as daggers and throwing stars, peculiar to warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "However, there was one thing that might have drawn attention to her, if the others only knew: she carried three scroll-length dispatches hidden on her person." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meant only for the Taka courtiers in Heian-kyō, under no circumstances were they to fall into unintended hands." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like Katherine M. Lawrence would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki was more than halfway down Foot Trail when she saw a man whose black hair glistened strangely, almost blue in the sun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clad in fisherman's gear, on hands and knees, he struggled to recover a tipped-over basket-load of spider crabs that scrambled in every direction. Muttering plaintively about not making it to market on time, one by one he tossed the feisty still-living creatures back into the carrier.\n\nYamabuki paused while the procession of approaching Ōuchi stepped around the crabber, paying him no more notice than a river would to a large boulder. She watched him moving crab-like." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The daimyō of things ten-legged, she thought to herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Already on his knees, he kowtowed even further, if such a thing were possible. After all, she led a battle horse who needed a wide berth, yet she did not drive the old man off the side of the hill as would have been her warrior-class right.\n\nWhen he finally did look up, she saw the frayed, thick, and soiled patch he wore over his right eye. He smiled cautiously. Despite the missing eye, he seemed otherwise fit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He even had all his teeth, which was unusual for a commoner of his years." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eating crabs must be bringing you health,\" she said with a grin. As she moved away from the cliff to walk around the crabber, Mochizuki snorted.\n\nWithout warning, an Ōuchi samurai with the build of an ox marched downhill past the temperamental steed, well-nigh knocking the crabber aside. Paying not the least mind to the common fisherman, nor his catch, the samurai tramped straight through the still-swarming crabs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Annoyed by the crab basket in the road, he growled and kicked it, sending more crabs flying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ahh!\" The old man let out a muffled scream.\n\nCrunch.\n\nThe samurai's foot crushed one crab.\n\nCrunch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another crab suffered the same fate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What impertinence! Yamabuki stiffened at the affront to her, not the crabber.\n\nThe samurai moved as if he could not get to the dock fast enough. She speculated that he must have forgotten something on the boat. But when she saw his sword blade's length, she knew he was definitely not among the Ōuchi warriors who had just come up the hill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She would have certainly remembered someone hefting a field-sword—a weapon whose chief function was to enable foot soldiers to bring down mounted samurai." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Too long to sling from the waist, its bearer had to shoulder the nodachi blade in the manner of a spear. In fact the amount of steel residing in the blade made it unusually heavy, so much so that it ordinarily took two warriors simultaneously grasping the hilt to correctly swing a field sword through its effective arc. However, if a warrior possessed exceptional strength, he might master one-man-nodachi-style, enabling him to hack down any adversary before his opponent could ever get close.\n\nMomentarily her thoughts flashed back to the day Nakagawa had brought his own nodachi into the Taka training hall back in Great Bay Province and challenged her, his ten-year-old student at the time, to find a way to defend against it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For the very strong,\" he had said, \"a nodachi provides many advantages, yet a weakness is buried in each.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But, as always, he never exactly showed her the answer, and of course he never revealed it in words. But after a score of days in the training hall had passed, she came to understand how to defeat the nodachi: speed.\n\nShe continued to watch as the long-sword samurai disappeared around a switchback. So, she thought to herself, this \"Long Sword\" will likely have to be endured on the boat today. She frowned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fisherman, still on all fours, chased after what remained of his catch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She moved on, leaving him to his woes.\n\nBut the one-eyed man was watching her retreating back, and once she was around the bend and barely out of sight, he leapt up and started scaling the hillside, abandoning his crabs and basket in the middle of the trail.\n\nClimbing like a goat, he reached an overlook point in a line of sight with the beach.\n\nHe pulled a bright yellow silk scarf out of his tunic." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki arrived at the base of Foot Trail." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun had risen high enough to wash the cove with full morning light, but beneath the bluff's semi-shadow, by the water's edge where the air was definitely cooler, squawking gulls scuttled across the rocks, sand, and shell. Out in the channel cormorants and pelicans poked their bills into dark waters, coming up with prey in their beaks.\n\nUp and down the shore, villagers with waterlogged wooden buckets dug around the half submerged larger boulders. Oyster hunters.\n\nShe looked further along the shoreline to the point where the land curved away from the channel, beyond which only the wide-open, mysterious blue ocean stretched toward the world's edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Near land's end she noticed a small hovel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dirty smoke rose from a vent in the roof. Someone had notched together a series of square wooden frames. They lay on the sand just outside the hut. Probably makers.\n\nStanding on some rocks above a tidal pool, two laughing young men with shaven heads, flowing white robes, and thick walking sticks skipped pebbles out into the channel to see who could get the most hops over the wave tops of the rapidly outgoing tide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Buddhists. Tendai sect, no doubt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She saw the samurai with the nodachi sitting on a large boulder high above the water, away from everyone else. He had assumed the countenance of a rotund Buddha, but instead of gold-plate, this one sat clad in indigo armor. He scowled as he studied the two monks.\n\nWell, she laughed to herself, almost a Buddha." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A scowling Buddha at best." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hmm. What interest does he have in the monks? A manly attraction? Maybe. They certainly could be pleasing.\n\nOne of the oyster hunters, a reedy girl with a sweet smile, carefully approached Yamabuki." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The girl glanced uneasily at Mochizuki, who for the moment remained placid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Overcoming whatever fear she might have had, the girl lifted a brimming bucket for Yamabuki's inspection.\n\n\"Oysters, samurai-sama?\" she said, bowing.\n\nYamabuki had not eaten an oyster since she left the shores of Great Bay Province, and the mere sight of the barnacle-covered shells filled her with memories of home.\n\n\"How much?\" Yamabuki asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A copper,\" the girl answered, casting her eyes down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki's eyes narrowed. \"A copper? For how many?\"\n\nThe girl started. Her eyes shot back up. Her lips quavered slightly.\n\nThe older oyster hunters, who waded out among the rocks, watched the interchange from out of the corners of their worried eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Likewise, Yamabuki watched the oyster hunters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their fear was obvious, and she understood their concern. Both she and they knew that most samurai made a point of being unpredictable, temperamental, and dangerous. A samurai would think nothing of striking an oyster hunter, whatever her age, who delivered an insult, real or imagined.\n\nTrying to stay only a bit stern, Yamabuki glanced at the bucket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are they good? Fresh?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just now,\" the girl answered, pointing back toward the oyster hunters who waded ever further out into the channel. \"Full Moon tide. Water's low. Good.\"\n\nYamabuki looked skeptically into the bucket. When she let her eyes meet the girl's, she did not show her samurai face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She smiled down at the child. \"They alive?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hai,\" the girl replied and poked her finger into the various open shells, each of which lazily closed.\n\n\"One copper. Five oysters.\"\n\nThe girl's eyes opened wide.\n\nMaybe she can't count." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki held up five fingers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl bowed very low.\n\nHumph. Looks like I've already agreed to pay too much.\n\nThe girl quickly fished out five oysters, ones toward the bucket bottom.\n\n\"These're the best,\" she said, catching her breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Biggest. Freshest of all.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl yanked a knife out of her sash and shucked the five with total alacrity, setting the half shells on a waist high boulder next to Yamabuki.\n\nLarge indeed. Yamabuki took the closest oyster and lifted it, shell and all, to her lips to scoop the meat off into her mouth; she could not help but smile as the taste of ocean mingled with the delicate flavor of the oyster's flesh.\n\nYamabuki handed the girl the promised copper.\n\nThe girl scurried away to the other oyster gatherers, where there was much talking, nodding of heads, and veiled gesturing in Yamabuki's direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indeed, I definitely paid too much." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, as she finished the fifth and final oyster, it tasted just as good as the first. In fact, it was better than what she remembered being served at her estate house in the Taka compound.\n\nMaybe the old saw was true: \"Oysters taste best when your toes touch the sea.\"\n\nShe was sated. The copper coin was irrelevant, the actual purchase being the girl's momentary smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One more thing remained." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She reached into her saddle pouch to remove a small bamboo canteen adorned with an indigo-black jade Taka crest. She took a quick, yet ample, sip of saké from the flask innkeeper Inu had replenished just that morning. Not too much, now, she reminded herself. Who knows how long it will be before I again shall taste saké such as this?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just then she heard sounds behind her that echoed and re­echoed along the crescent cliffs: a group of shouting men coming down the Carriage Road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She counted six of them. They rolled a rickety two-wheel cart onto the rocky beach. All wore vivid green work tunics decorated with golden roundels. Fine clothes or not, the men wrestled like common laborers with the handcart they had stacked to overflowing with bundles." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They are wearing fine fabrics. Probably fabric merchants." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of their number, who seemed to be the master weaver, animatedly pointed, bobbed his head, and waved his arms. The other men heaved, pulled, and shouted at one another, but finally the cart bumped its way over the rocks and onto the wide set of planks that covered the last forty or so strides to the dock. Even so, the merchants were making painfully slow progress.\n\nFor the time being, Yamabuki thought it best to keep her colt back from their ruckus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She glanced back at Carriage Road and saw Blue Rice saunter onto the beach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused. Taking in a deep breath, he placed one hand up to shield his face from the direct rays of the sun, which just now broke over the highest top of the hillside.\n\n\"Feed for your handsome stallion, samurai-sama?\" asked a wizened man, stooped from carrying a load of hay across his back. \"Only one copper for all this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A copper for just that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then again, Mochizuki won't eat that much anyway; and besides, it will keep him quiet.\n\nShe flipped the man the coin, which he caught one-handed. He set the bale down, bowed, and scurried away. Mochizuki snorted and immediately started to munch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sun was still rising." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She turned her gaze toward the mid-morning seascape, taking in the beauty, wishing to seal these precious moments in her memory.\n\nIt would be some time before she would cross home over Barrier Strait.\n\nThe morning moon had set. Though she did not wish to let herself become overly sentimental, her Taka-born characteristic realism reminded her that sentimentality might not be an indulgence at all.\n\nAs the tide moved out to sea, she felt a sweeping sense of awaré, the sorrowful awareness that the world is transient." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The prior afternoon, just as the sun had begun to settle into the Leeward Sea, Yamabuki had ridden into the bustling coastal port of Kita, a town of a thousand strangers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only a quarter hour's ride from the Barrier Strait, the town consisted more or less of two hundred permanent structures, including several inns, making it the perfect place for travelers to bed down and wait for the dawn.\n\nAs was the custom among the Taka, she sought out the Inn of Young Bamboo, the Wakatake. A place of genuine hospitality, the inn was a source of valuable information to the Taka as to what and who of note passed by on the road, as well as sailed into and out of the port. The Yūkū family, Wakatake's fifth-generation proprietors, were not only friendly to the Taka but also in the clan's pay." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Don't the Taka call innkeeper Inu \"Ears\"?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki stopped Mochizuki in front of the inn and took a moment to observe the surroundings.\n\nA chest-high fence of woven bamboo staves separated the front garden from the street, but it did not obstruct the inviting view of the large building, one of the few two-story structures in all of Kita. Emerald banners inscribed with white calligraphy flew to tout the inn to passersby. A wide first-floor veranda ran the inn's entire perimeter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Heavy wooden outer doors stood open to let in the warm and fragrant spring afternoon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She slung her leg over the saddle and, despite wearing full armor, leapt down, landing gracefully and solidly on her feet. She tethered Mochizuki at the entry gate, taking in the sweet aroma of the cherry blossoms that bloomed in abundance.\n\nNo sooner had she set foot through the gateway than Old Inu stepped out onto the veranda.\n\n\"Welcome, Lady Taka. Welcome!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Having not aged a day, he almost sprang on the balls of his feet, bowing low several times as he approached her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was told you might be our guest tonight, though I wasn't exactly sure when you were going to arrive.\"\n\nShe indicated with a small gesture of her hand that he should not so freely reveal her exact identity.\n\n\"Ha!\" he exclaimed, blushing a bit from embarrassment. \"Don't worry. You're our only guest tonight. No one else's here. I've been telling everyone that we have no rooms.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then she noticed a stranger hanging back in the entryway shadows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quite tall, at least as tall as she. Powerful of build, he stood erect like a warrior.\n\n\"You said I was the only guest.\" She pointed in the stranger's direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah?\" Inu's breath caught in his throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Immediately he spun his head to where she pointed, but then he exhaled slowly as he turned back to her with a satisfied expression. \"Ahhh!\" Inu scoffed politely, waving the so-called stranger forward. \"Have you forgotten him? That's Ryuma!\"\n\nRyuma? Her memory flashed back four years to the willowy stable boy she had known." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If this were truly he, that boy had filled out and grown handsome—virile in fact, though she could still see the boyish face behind the mask of the man he had become." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inu bowed to acknowledge Ryuma's presence. \"I suppose he's grown since you were last here, but then, if I am permitted to say, so have you. He's now become, how shall I say this, an assistant.\"\n\n\"Assistant? Assistant of what?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" Inu began vaguely, \"he's helpful where a young man's strength's needed. Say that someone comes to the inn and becomes violent. Or, say that a guest decides not to pay. Ryuma helps them remember the rules.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's your hatchet man then, is he?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At least that,\" Old Inu said, and added slyly, \"and he performs other duties as well. Come. No need to stand here. The sun has already begun to set.\" Inu bowed low.\n\nYamabuki inclined her head. \"My mount.\"\n\n\"Ryuma,\" said Inu. \"Her horse.\"\n\nRyuma stepped further out onto the veranda and met Yamabuki's eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment an expression of something unspoken flitted across his face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She held his gaze for as long as protocol required, but he turned his eyes away before it was time and bowed.\n\nWhy is he so dour?\n\n\"Take her horse to the back,\" Inu commanded in a light tone.\n\n\"His name is Mochizuki,\" she said waiting to see if Ryuma would look at her again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He passed her without glancing at her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His name, then, is Full Moon?\" Ryuma muttered barely above a whisper.\n\n\"Just under two years old and still half wild. Can you manage him?\" Yamabuki chided gently with a smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be afraid to ask for help, if you need it. Mochizuki can be a handful.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can,\" he said. \"Not my first encounter with half-wild things,\" he breathed, his back to her. Confidently he took Mochizuki's reins and, still not looking at Yamabuki, led the mount to the back.\n\nYamabuki, her eyes narrowed, watched Ryuma walk away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come.\" Inu stepped onto the veranda, beckoning her spiritedly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll get everything prepared,\" he said, after which he disappeared inside.\n\nShe followed him through the entry.\n\nJust inside, two fetching female attendants waited with gracious smiles. Several years younger than she, the girls were dressed in fine silk kimonos: one in peach, the other in straw green." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two girls bowed politely, and then straightaway started to remove Yamabuki's battle gear, untying its disparate fastenings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two girls were well aware of the protocol and the stacking of arms, which they accomplished with a minimum of conversation. Efficiently they slipped off her shoulder plates, untied her corselet armor, and lifted away her sleeve protectors, placing all the pieces just inside the door on a small stand that had been built for just this purpose.\n\nThey took her tachi, which she had named Tiger Claw, and placed it, scabbard and all, on a weapons rack, but not her shorter personal sword, Tiger Cub, which they left with her. The final piece of her armor to come off was, as custom would have it, her kabuto; but when they loosened its binding cords from her chin and lifted the helmet free, Yamabuki's hair immediately spread out and fell to her shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, so long,\" whispered the girl in peach, stressing her words to show her awe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The girl in the straw-green kimono tittered.\n\n\"You are pretty!\" exclaimed the girl in peach, her eyes dancing in genuine surprise as they met Yamabuki's.\n\n\"I trust you will keep that a secret,\" Yamabuki replied under her breath. \"What is your name?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm Ishi-tsuki.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you?\" Yamabuki asked the girl in straw green.\n\n\"I'm Chi-ye.\"\n\n\"Ah. Stone Moon and Thousand Blessings.\"\n\nYamabuki stood in her own dark-green outer kimono with its embroidered gold turtle-back pattern, and her matching hakama, a split-trouser riding-skirt usually worn only by the upper class." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She slipped Tiger Cub through her kimono's cobalt-blue waist sash." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My lady,\" Ishi-tsuki said with some astonishment. \"You're still dressed like a samurai.\"\n\nYamabuki replied, \"That's good.\" She paused. \"Because I am a samurai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ishi-tsuki blushed, and her hands shot to her cheeks to cover the fact." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No longer able to keep a straight face, Yamabuki laughed. Chi-ye joined in.\n\nOld Inu reappeared at the entry. \"Come. Food. Saké. Songs. Dancing.\"\n\nInu bowed, leading Yamabuki further inside Wakatake where he bade her sit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She took her place, that of honor, before a low table, placing Tiger Cub on the floor to her right, in easy reach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The staff had readied cold, strong saké and steaming white rice mixed with seaweed, as well as a plate of slow-cooked young boar. She had not eaten this well in several days, and as the old saying went, \"Every food is delicious to a hungry man\"; yet she knew the difference: Inu's rice and seaweed was superb, the boar succulent, and his cold saké strong and pure.\n\nInu slipped away for a brief moment, then returned bearing a black-lacquered bamboo serving plate with raw, freshly cleaned fish elegantly laid out down to the tiniest detail.\n\n\"Fugu.\" Inu grinned as he moved his arm in a flourish, inviting her to partake." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki was no more than six years of age when she had unwillingly witnessed the fugu toxin at work." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During her second stay in Heian-kyō, one of her father's bodyguards, his name was Giichi, touched his tongue to a piece of puffer. His death had been almost immediate. There was a great commotion among the retinue, but no one could do anything for him, for there was no antidote.\n\nFrom that day forward, fugu was banned from the Take compound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one was allowed to partake of it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Strictly forbidden! There were more meaningful reasons to die.\n\nShe now looked into Inu's hopeful face and then at the colorless fish. \"I don't believe that I've ever had the pleasure.\"\n\n\"Hai, fugu. Fresh.\" Inu bowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I prepared it myself. Very good.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki paused for the briefest of moments. Has Inu been informed of my father's decree about Taka not eating fugu?\n\nInu, in what in any other circumstances would have been a severe breach of etiquette when serving a guest, especially of her rank, plucked a piece of fugu from the platter and put the morsel into his mouth. \"Hmmm.\" He pressed his lips closed, expressing his enjoyment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have the courage of a samurai... and the graciousness of a scrupulous host,\" she said softly, ready to take a small portion of fugu for herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fish was sliced so thin, she could almost see through it.\n\nFor a brief moment, her memory again drifted back to what had happened when the tainted fugu had hardly touched Giichi's lips. It was not as if Giichi was just one of her father's numerous guards. She had liked him the way a child likes a beloved uncle, and so it was terrifying to witness Giichi's crash to the floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She remembered the alarm that had filled his eyes as his breath caught in his throat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moments later his heart no longer pumped. Giichi's eyes remained wide to the end. All these years later, her own shrieks of horror still rang in her ears.\n\nShe took a deep breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With two wooden hashi sticks, she lifted a piece of fish, holding it against the light." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It looked like a wafer of ice with the consistency of the most-finely cut radish. She politely placed the piece into her mouth. Her lips closed, her tongue touching the flesh, her teeth biting into the meat.\n\nImmediately an unfamiliar taste filled her mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not what she expected." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not poison, but a delicacy it was not. Bland, in fact. It did not taste nearly as good as her favorite, buri, which always tantalized her palate.\n\nFugu: Tough. Chewy. Like jellyfish.\n\n\"Haaaa. Good! Delicious, no?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inu nodded vigorously, smiling in the triumph of his culinary skills." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki mused to herself. Perhaps the only reason to eat raw fugu was to show raw courage.\n\nShe exhaled. \"Delicious!\"\n\nShe indicated with her hand that she wished to share it with everyone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A delicacy,\" she repeated, and the serving staff, after the polite ritual of several perfunctory refusals required of those with good manners, eagerly partook." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only Ryuma, hatchet man that he was, forbore, keeping his eye on the entries to the room.\n\nAfter the puffer fish was eaten down to the last bite, seven more young women, all comely, entered the room to serve Yamabuki, bringing her more food bowls, this time filled with an assortment of pickled vegetables, and, of course, more saké flasks.\n\nThough the young women served food and drink, their real purpose was to provide the evening's entertainment: Two of their number brought in string instruments. One carried a drum." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And to Yamabuki's surprise, one even played a flute, though the latter was considered the province of men." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Three of the other girls were singers.\n\nIt was then that Ishi-tsuki and Chi-ye moved to the center of the room." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All at once the music began. There may have been only four instruments and three singers, but the room filled with music as grand as at the Taka compound.\n\nOld Inu joined the three singers in an unfamiliar melody. Ishi-tsuki and Chi-ye displayed energy and elegance; their arms and legs moved fluidly in time to the rhythm of the song." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Watching what appeared to be effortless gliding and leaping, Yamabuki could not help but be pleased." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knew the strength and stamina it took to make it look simple.\n\nThey performed dance after dance—some animated, some quiet, others with bawdy refrains, but always with feminine grace, even when the steps grew wild and driving.\n\nThe last time Yamabuki had been entertained at Wakatake, she was hardly twelve springs; and she had been seated in the second row of the Taka, and then in a separate room at that, for with the retinue of overflowing numbers, several rooms were needed to delight and feed so many.\n\nAnd it was the retainers who enjoyed the most salacious of the dances." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She, on the other hand, as always, had found herself relegated to the room where girls' songs were sung to the well-bred young ladies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since girls' songs were mostly soft, at the time she had sometimes caught some of the more raucous refrains and coarse lyrics coming from afar.\n\nBut tonight she was the only guest and everyone sat in the same room. She was the focus of everything.\n\nEither because of this newfound freedom, or because she was under sway of the saké—which Ryuma now served while the young women danced—a plan began to form." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki declared, \"The dances of the Chikuzen District are filled with such energy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh no,\" all the girls corrected almost at once, \"these are the toi dances. Not even of Kita, but of the local fishing settlements.\"\n\nYamabuki rose. \"Unknown dances of toi? Then you shall have to teach them to me so I may show everyone in Great Bay. So they can realize that the Kita girls' performances are the most magnificent.\"\n\nEveryone squealed their delight as Yamabuki took her place next to Ishi-tsuki and Chi-ye. They showed her one dance, then another, and another, until she had memorized five in all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All the while, Yamabuki's saké and food bowls were filled and then refilled to overflowing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You might be dressed like a samurai, but you dance like a lady,\" said Ishi-tsuki. Chi-ye and the others nodded in hearty agreement.\n\nInu slapped the floor. \"Ha! See how a samurai moves—in the battlefield or in dancing, she's a master of movement!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The chamber erupted with approving laughter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ishi-tsuki wondered aloud, \"Are these dances all so different from Great Bay Province's?\"\n\nYamabuki answered, \"They are similar, but they are not exactly the same.\"\n\nSoon everyone began to beg Yamabuki, \"Would you show us the dances of Great Bay Province, then?\"\n\nYamabuki paused thoughtfully, then answered deliberately. \"Under two conditions.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "All eyes stayed fixed on her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"First, you have to join in and learn the steps.\"\n\nEveryone eagerly agreed.\n\n\"Then,\" she continued, \"please find me a silk kimono that will fit someone as tall as me!\"\n\n\"Hai!\" Chi-ye bolted up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I know right where there's one.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She immediately returned, handing Yamabuki an elegant kimono of vivid blue heavy silk with finely stitched red cranes and a yellow fine silk inner lining.\n\nYamabuki unabashedly slipped out of her warrior's garb and into the costume of a lady.\n\n\"And now for the music.\" Yamabuki's face grew serious, yet still cheerful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She hummed a tune." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ha. Ha!\" the four musicians exclaimed. They knew the song. They began to play the instruments, and the three singers joined in with verses about soft fragrant spring blossoms.\n\nYamabuki waved her hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. No. We have different words for this song. You just play,\" she said to the musicians." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You? Clap along,\" she said to the singers. \"And I,\" she paused, \"shall sing the verses.\"\n\n\"Do you need a fan?\" Chi-ye asked.\n\nWith a small smile Yamabuki shook her head as she reached into her warrior's tunic, which had been set aside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I shall use mine.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With the snap of her wrist (that of a fancy lady, or was it of a swordsman?) Yamabuki opened her personal tessen. Its significance was not lost on anyone in the room. Not only was this her personal iron-ribbed fan, it was also her war fan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Its seventeen folds denoted her rank." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lower ranks had fewer ribs. The Mikado's was twenty-five, the highest allowed in the empire. No one dared carry a fan of more ribs than their rank allowed.\n\nHer tessen, besides doubling as a weapon, was also a symbol of her authority, which meant that despite her youth, she was allowed to command troops in the field." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was said that all she had to do was to raise it in battle and the Taka would rally to her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now all anyone needed to do was to politely watch her dance.\n\nMoments later she dropped her noble born manner of speech and began to sing in the thick and all-but-incomprehensible accent that was spoken by the common people of Great Bay, and which few outsiders of any social class could fathom. This made the song sound all the more glamorous.\n\nYamabuki could not help but notice that Ryuma kept his eyes on her almost every moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Is it that he is charmed by me, she wondered to herself, or is he after something else?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She smiled enigmatically.\n\nThen with the most gentle, subtle, slow, and soft motions of her arms and hands, she depicted the ocean waves. It was a dance and song about the tide coming in and covering everything that had once been visible, and yet it was a song as much about fate as it was about the sea.\n\nMoments before, everyone had been laughing raucously, but now a hush fell over the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only the music, Yamabuki's singing, and the rustle of the kimono could be heard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound of the silk was as much a part of the song as were the strings and her voice. Hishhh. Hishhh. The silks of the kimono brushed against one another, making the hissing sound of waves coming to shore.\n\nAscending overhead, over the south\n\nThe Sun Goddess shimmers within the sea" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Wind God fetches the breeze" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Sea God drives the waves\n\nIn awe we ride the ripples of our fleeting lives\n\nIn this world of woe\n\nTears formed in the corners of Yamabuki's eyes and in the eyes of her audience." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the last note was plucked, everyone softly murmured, \"Good. Very good. How beautiful.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inu choked back his emotions, forcing a congenial smile. \"Ahhh! Lady Taka made us all promise we would learn the dance, too.\" He leapt to his feet, slapped his knee, which created a more festive mood, commanding, \"We must not disappoint!\"\n\nWith that, Inu, the singers, and the dancers moved forward to join in step—all but the musicians, who continued to play, and Ryuma, who saw to it that Yamabuki's saké bowl stayed full." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She danced, exchanging a glance or two with Ryuma." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she did not permit herself any more eye contact than that. Her focus had to stay fixed on the precise dance steps and the three scrolls she had carefully slipped into her silk kimono sleeve, hidden along with her dagger." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A coastal front blew in, and the night grew darker and cooler." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki announced, given all the food, dancing, singing, that it finally was time for her to retire. Everyone expressed disappointment, moaning that the lovely evening was coming to an end far too soon.\n\nHolding an oil brazier, Inu led Yamabuki along the dim hallway, then up a stair ladder. He stopped just outside a chamber that faced the front street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Our best room. The backside rooms?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He shook his head. \"Too close to the stables.\"\n\nHe slid the screen aside and then, in a voice not much more than a whisper, said, \"You will be leaving for the Main Isle tomorrow. Perhaps you would like some companionship, someone to pleasure you on your last night on the Isle of Unknown Fires.\"\n\nWhen she raised a brow at the thought of a bed companion, Inu clarified that it would be someone of the sex of her choosing, for the Inn of Young Bamboo knew samurai's pleasures were varied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His inn was in Kita, a crossroads, where any accommodation she desired would be met." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she was in fact tempted by Inu's offer, she did not let on. \"Tonight's a time to remember,\" she said, \"not to forget.\"\n\nHe laughed, \"Ha! You can do both.\" He bowed as she entered the chamber." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have already selected my two companions.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Two!\" Inu's eyes shot up. A look crossed his face. \"Ishi-tsuki and Chi-ye?\"\n\n\"My ink stone and brush.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" Inu said with a hint of resignation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tonight, I want to think only on my home.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inu bowed. \"Hai.\" He paused. \"But if you should change your mind after you have finished with your ink and brush...\" He stepped back, slid her chamber door shut, and spoke through the closed door. \"If you need anything, call out. We will hear you.\"\n\nAfter many hours in others' company, delightful though it was, she sighed with relief that once again she was alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maybe because she was still so very young of spirit, Yamabuki would not allow the possibility that this was to be her last crossing of the barrier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How could harm come to her? This would not be the last she'd see of the southern-most isle. She would come back.\n\nAnd when she returned to the Taka compound, her diary would be filled with her adventures, the people she met, and what she saw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nakagawa had encouraged her to observe everything, and, while it was still fresh, to set it down in her pillow book." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So instead of seeking distraction in the arms of a stranger, she picked up her brush, which she held with the same confidence as her sword or bow.\n\nNakagawa had taught her well, from weapons, to mathematics, to language. Few women, especially one just reaching seventeen springs, were allowed to master Hō's calligraphy, let alone were they trained to be fluent in its tongue—Hō, the magnificent kingdom that lay on the furthest edge of the great Leeward Sea.\n\nSo on this night, having captured her recollections, but still inspired to write, Yamabuki sat under brazier light to translate a poem composed hundreds of years before by a monk of Hō named Ch'u-mo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His original poem made reference to a monastery on a river." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As usual, she translated the calligraphy into the phonetic writing used by literate women of Akitsushima, her own country, or Wa, as it was called by the people of Hō. She dropped several lines of Ch'u-mo's original text, and then, in a dash of boldness, replaced the river he mentioned with the Barrier Strait. This suited her purpose and her mood.\n\nPleased, she dimmed the brazier and placed the paper aside to let the ink dry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The town bell struck four times marking the Third Watch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Somewhere far off a dog barked and then fell quiet.\n\nShe lay in the warmth of the bedding, her eyes slowly growing accustomed to the dimness.\n\nThe silence was interrupted by the sound of men chanting, \"Ho-ha! Ho-ha! Ho-ha!\"\n\nShe did not need to look." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just listening, she easily pictured the low-class traveling kago with its occupant slung hammock-like in the litter, carried by two runners bearing its support pole over their shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A guide would be running ahead of the kago, calling the pace, carrying a torch to light the way.\n\nKago. Deer killer. She sometimes wondered if the carrier was not named after the poles used by hunters for carrying back wild game, dangling it by its feet.\n\nFrom their footfalls and voices she could tell that the kago was headed north. \"Ho-ha! Ho-ha! Ho-ha!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But then, the chanting stopped just below her open window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind the partially drawn shutters of the darkened room, she peered down onto the street to get a glimpse of the kago's occupant: a man. She could make out that much, but because the guide's torch was dim and the night was overcast, she could not ascertain the man's age or make out his features.\n\nThe kago guide walked into the courtyard, calling loudly, \"Innkeeper!\"\n\nA stir rippled through the interior of the inn; everyone inside shushed each other, for she, the inn's only guest, was not to be disturbed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hushed or not, she could hear everything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Innkeeper!\" the guide cried out again. \"An important guest has arrived. Summon your staff.\"\n\nMore sounds floated up from inside the inn. Whispers. Steps. More steps." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More than just Inu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The inn's outer door slid aside. Inu's voice reached into the night. \"Hai?\"\n\nYamabuki thought Inu's greeting was uninviting, likely because it was meant to be, all without exactly insulting anyone.\n\n\"An important guest,\" the guide repeated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, I am so sorry. We have no rooms left.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki could picture Inu bowing low.\n\nThe man in the kago mumbled something. Yamabuki could not make out the words.\n\n\"Then food and drink?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The guide spoke with some agitation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, I am so sorry,\" Inu said yet again. \"So many guests. So many appetites. We have nothing left fit for eating or drinking of important guests.\"\n\n\"Ha!\" the guide almost spat. \"It's late! Our passenger is tired.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another voice from inside the inn rumbled, deep and masculine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was Ryuma speaking in the tone of a samurai. \"Just north of here there're other inns that always have rooms.\"\n\n\"But we have come here,\" pressed the guide.\n\nRyuma's voice became almost a growl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do you not listen? Other inns can serve you. Up the road, not far at all.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man in the kago muttered something.\n\n\"Sorry to trouble you.\" The kago guide bowed low toward the inn and turned on his heel and without another word went to the head of the procession.\n\n\"Ho-ha! Ho-ha! Ho-ha!\" the guide and pole-bearers called out, and the kago and their occupant disappeared into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki was familiar enough with Kita to know that most all the houses of pleasure were closest to the barrier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ryuma had directed the stranger there. With their brisk turnover of rooms, vacancies during the night were common, for sleeping was only the secondary purpose of the bedchambers. Anyway, thought Yamabuki, the kago passenger was likely to have a far better time there. This late, most everyone was probably thinking only of lovemaking, and tonight the Inn of Young Bamboo was certainly not a place likely to fulfill a stranger's desires." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Silence fell again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lovemaking. She sighed.\n\nA soft rain made itself known on the roof, its sound filling the night.\n\nFor a brief moment she wondered if she had been wrong in refusing companionship. Perhaps the pleasure of someone's company was just the comfort she required." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment she imagined herself swept up in another's arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She imagined the scent. The first touch. The caresses. Then something more.\n\nShould I never return, maybe a last night of love would be... Then she thought of Ryuma. Hmm. He had not taken his eyes away from her all night, and he had seemed especially attentive when she danced in the silk kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She recalled the intensity of his eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The size of his legs. His arms. She wondered how he looked without his kimono. Without anything. Not the spindly boy of four summers ago who had just gone through his genpuku.\n\nBack then, Ryuma had been flush with excitement of his coming-of-age celebration, and she, also the same age, had been swept up in the headiness of his mood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under the guise of checking the horses, he and she had sneaked off together to celebrate his manhood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet with his clothes off he had looked as much like a girl as she, except for that part of him, or maybe she had looked like a boy, except for that part of her. Two sexless would-be lovers who did not know quite what to do, and so they did not do anything.\n\nThe memory of that day had faded until now. Yamabuki wondered if thicker hair finally sprouted on his chest? Elsewhere? Probably." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He, and certainly she, knew what they could do if only they had the chance to be alone with each other again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now to her mild surprise her omeko grew wet. She tossed.\n\nThe rain fell harder. Water sputtered in the downspouts.\n\nSuddenly she realized that she could not rid herself of the image of Ryuma that she had just conjured in her mind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This is madness. If someone visits my chamber tonight, what then?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Word's bound to get back to Great Bay.\n\nThe scent of moist wood and thatching filled the chamber. She turned over in her bed, eyes wide, she stared at the ceiling.\n\nYet Inu had boasted of Wakatake's worldliness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ears\" probably would not exactly be in a rush to tell his benefactors how he had not only suggested, but had machinated, that the inestimable Lady Taka would be pleasured in her bedchamber by a man who wasn't her husband." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sighed as the rain increased.\n\nBut it was more than a matter of what Inu might recount. Servants and retainers insatiably prattled about whom they served. She knew this well for she had seen the same in herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nevertheless, it might be years for the murmurs to reach Great Bay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It might be years before she returned from her errantry.\n\nAnd if they bring it up, so what?\n\nShe sighed deeply, rolled over toward the door, and slid it slightly open.\n\n\"Inu?\" she called down the hall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A far-off voice called back, \"Yes, my Lady?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I want some more saké!\"\n\n\"Saké? Hai! Saké! I'll be there in a moment.\"\n\n\"Inu?\"\n\n\"Hai!\"\n\n\"Can you have Ryuma bring it?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coastal rains can vary, falling in sheets if a storm brews out at sea, or they can be gentle and misty, almost fog-like, if a sea breeze sends in a cloud. It was the latter kind of rain that continued to fall as the kago, its passenger, and its bearers headed ever further into the night. The cloud-shrouded moon offered no help in lighting the way. The running guide raised his torch, holding it as high as he could." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki had been wrong in supposing that the kago would wind up at one of the pleasure houses of Kita." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Near the edge of town, the kago and runners approached several buildings where feminine voices called out from dimly lit verandas, \"Saké. Dancing. Songs. Warm company for the night.\" But the runners continued right past without missing a step.\n\nAs the second bells of the Third Watch rang, marking the end of the first quarter of the Hour of the Mouse, the runners left the main road and entered a grove of fruit trees. Immediately the pole-bearers fell silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Under thinning torchlight, the kago and bearers headed down a long-forgotten path to a shadowy home, an old-style pit dwelling where an impoverished farmer might live." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound of rain filled the orchard—drops hitting the fresh flowers and then trickling off. The scent of wet soil, lush blossoms, and salt air floated in the dark. A thin wisp of smoke rose through the roof vent of the shadowy farmhouse.\n\nThe kago bearers stopped and slowly lowered the litter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The passenger, shrouded in a dark cloak, stepped out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fat satchels of coins were handed to the kago runners, who pocketed their earnings and slipped into the night like ninja, headed back to Kita, likely to the pleasure houses.\n\nThe shadowy figure stood still in the rain.\n\nMoments later, the door to the house opened a crack. A narrow column of light escaped." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki stood on the beach, smiling with memories of Ryuma the previous evening. The struggling fabric merchants' commotion ceased... which brought her back to the present. She saw that the boatmen had at last secured the merchants' cart to the kobune deck.\n\nThe senchou cried out, announcing to the travelers that the kobune was about to head across the strait." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two white-robed monks stopped skipping rocks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long Sword left his place on the high rock. Blue Rice took another swig of saké. Everyone headed for the boat.\n\nMochizuki seemed as ready as he would ever be, having munched what hay he wanted, leaving most of the bale scattered among the rocks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She led her mount onto the planks and down the wooden walkway, out of the cliff's shadow and into the brilliant sunlight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She then paused and took in a deep breath of salt air. She raised the paper with the poem she had translated the night before—less a poem, more a prayer.\n\nA winding overgrown trail\n\nLeading down from soaring peaks" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ageless trees at the Barrier Strait" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blue skies merge with churning waters\n\nShe had scarcely finished its parsimonious syllables when she realized her whispers were loud enough to be overheard by Long Sword, for he studied her with more than mild interest.\n\nNow, as their eyes finally met, she took him in with but a glance: older, balding—though she could not be sure of that for he wore a braided, black-lacquered amigasa shade-hat that half-hid his face. In spite of the hat, she saw that he was clean shaven, which likely meant that he wished not to call attention to the fact he had started to turn gray." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yet the creases that had crept into his face revealed he was at least twice her age, maybe a little bit more." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked as if he was about to speak to her when the senchou called for everyone to board. At this Long Sword sat down and removed his amigasa. Bald, indeed. He then continued, piece by piece, to remove his armor—lacquered indigo kozane platelets interlaced with dark orange silk cords.\n\n\"First crossing, samurai-kun?\" he muttered in her direction, though not exactly politely, for he had addressed her as kun, in the way an older man might address a younger one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shook her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Humph,\" he snorted. \"If we end up going in, you can't swim in that.\" He jabbed his thumb at her, indicating her heavy battle gear.\n\n\"If it comes to that, I'll let my horse do the work,\" she remarked grimly. \"I'll just hold onto my mount. He'll do all the swimming for me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Horse, eh?\" He frowned, fussing with his armor fastenings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fancy. Fancy Taka boy. Did your father give you that horse for your genpuku?\"\n\nGenpuku? Boy? He thinks I am twelve. Doesn't he notice I am taller than he?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Well... it's not that I want him to know who I really am." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The senchou walked up to her, gesturing to the boarding planks, and softly said, \"Your mount, Taka-sama. You can board now.\"\n\nShe led Mochizuki forward. Despite the colt's whinnies of protest, Yamabuki, with the help of the senchou, who showed his experience with battle horses, maneuvered her spirited mount across the planks and onto the boat. The senchou helped her lead the colt to the blind, which would shield Mochizuki's ears from the wind and his eyes from the crested rollers of the open waters." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Smooth today,\" one of the crew called out to no one in particular." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The sea deity seems satisfied.\"\n\nThe morning haze continued to lift and the features of the Great Isle became sharper. Quiet conversations started up among the passengers, all except for Long Sword, who surreptitiously studied her from his seat at the stern, next to his stacked weapons and armor, just ahead of the senchou at the tiller.\n\nWhat's he interested in? The dispatches? Doubtful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She decided, for the moment at least, to give Long Sword no further thought.\n\nBlue Rice worked his way to the middle of the boat and sat across from Yamabuki, his hands folded in his lap.\n\n\"Are those forts?\" he asked, lifting one hand to point at mounds on hillsides and hilltops along the shore of the Isle of Unknown Fires behind them and the shore of the Main Isle ahead of them.\n\nYamabuki nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blue Rice took a gulp from his sake bottle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But there have been no invasions in centuries. We are at peace.\"\n\n\"Rulers can change overnight,\" Yamabuki said. \"'Peace with one, then war with his son,' or so the adage goes.\" She paused. \"And there are always pirates.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Pirates?\" He looked up and down the channel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki smiled wryly. \"A few cutthroats in most cases, with whom we'd deal straightaway. Heian-kyō is too far away to grant us tsuibu kampu in time.\"\n\n\"A Warrant of Pursuit?\" Blue Rice seemed to be quite ignorant of how troops were mustered.\n\n\"We can legally act without consulting Heian-kyō,\" she said with some pride, \"because if raiders come, we have to respond immediately. Our city of Dazaifu is almost an auxiliary capital. We trade with the world. It's why our isle has more wealth, goods, knowledge, and learning than anywhere in the empire. You noticed Mochizuki. Where do you think we could get such a fine steed?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Long Sword exhaled loudly, apparently listening to her conversation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She continued to ignore him and pointed west, out across the sea to the horizon. Blue Rice glanced at the expanse and took another swig from his flask.\n\n\"But the Nagato District,\" she said with a flick of her hand to indicate the other side of the channel, \"that's another matter. Many call it by its literal name, 'Main Gate.' The Ōe clan are the stopper on the bottle, the bottle being the rest of the empire. Their forts also stand at the ready.\" She thought about what she'd just said, and added, \"We certainly will be interrogated by the sakimori barrier guards.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blue Rice cast a worried look at Nagato." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She grinned and shook her head. \"You don't look or act much like a pirate. I do not think they will bother with you.\"\n\nHe gave a small grin in return, took another swig, and lay back down in the bottom of the boat.\n\nShe, on the other hand, rose to her feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her previous passages had been on much larger craft—ones which could hold a royal carriage, its oxen, and sixty mounted samurai." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Those crossings took most of an hour. On the royal journeys, it was required that a noblewoman, young as she was then, remain out of plain sight and away from the punishing sun, which in turn meant that she as of yet had never enjoyed a clear mid-channel view of the strait, the isles, or the Leeward Sea. But today in the open craft, with no reason to conceal herself, for the first time she got an unobstructed glimpse of the Isle of Unknown Fires from out in the strait. Her home isle's snowcapped inland mountaintops shone brightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Already six day's journey from the outer edge of Great Bay Province, she strained to see any smoke from Shinmoe-dake, but found no sign of the volcanic plume." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A long way from home, she thought to herself.\n\nThe sail fluttered and flapped against the penetrating blue sky. And though the breeze was strong, moist, and cool, she remained warm, comfortable, and dry in her armor. Arms akimbo, she let the air sweep over her, her hakama fluttering, tugged by the wind, just like the sail." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps it was her imagination, but the small, low-slung kobune seemed to move faster than the larger ships of previous crossings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her interest flowed to the other passengers, whose conversation she could not help but overhear. From what she could gather, the two genial monks, who were about her age or slightly older, were embarked on a pilgrimage to an important temple near the summit of a sacred mountain. The fretful merchant and his apprentices were on their way north, possibly as far as the Heavenly Capital, where it was rumored that fabrics fetched higher prices. The boatmen talked among themselves, mostly focusing on keeping the kobune steered toward the spot on the opposite shore, where more passengers undoubtedly waited for the return trip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Blue Rice lay in the bottom of the boat with his cap across his face, seemingly half-asleep." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe it was because they were closer to Yamabuki's age, or they still had the visual acuity of youth, but she was taken slightly by surprise when one of the monks said in a loud whisper to her, \"A Taka warrior—and a woman, at that!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of Katherine M. Lawrence.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of Katherine M. Lawrence.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a Katherine M. Lawrence sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The monk's name was Akibō—\"bō\" being the suffix that monks added to their names to denote their religious status." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other monk was called Iebō. She knew monks were discouraged from discoursing with females, but these two seemed at ease with her—as if she were a sister. Yamabuki had a momentary fantasy where she, like them, had become an itinerant Buddhist. Then her name would have been Yamabukiama—Yamabuki the nun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Have you been to the Main Isle before?\" asked Iebō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's been some years,\" she said.\n\n\"But that was before you were a samurai.\" Akibō nodded in answer to his own question.\n\n\"Heian-kyō is a magnificent city,\" said Iebō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That it is,\" she said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With palaces and wonders. And more people than you'd ever thought existed,\" Iebō said. \"Tens of thousands of people.\"\n\n\"Hundreds of thousands,\" she corrected.\n\nAkibō cocked his head, casting quick glances at both Blue Rice and Long Sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You seem to be traveling by yourself.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No.\" Yamabuki grinned slightly. \"I have my colt.\"\n\nIebō's eyes sparkled as he laughed. \"True. A good companion. Those born under the sign of the horse are said to be quick and smart, though sometimes so quick and so smart that people will say that such a person is hotheaded.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki laughed along with him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then you know Mochizuki well. He is all of that.\"\n\n\"Do you know the places to stay on your way to Heian-kyō?\" Iebō asked.\n\nYamabuki grinned enigmatically.\n\nAkibō said in a friendly tone, \"We know many temples along the imperial highway at which to stay, friendly to monk and warrior alike.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She began to wonder why these monks were seemingly asking her to accompany them, when suddenly she felt the boat slightly list." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In an instant, Long Sword, still at the stern of the craft, was standing. \"You!\" he shouted almost in accusation, and again addressed her as a familiar. \"A woman?\"\n\nThe boat continued listing slightly as Long Sword made his way forward.\n\nShe noticed immediately that his field sword, along with the rest of his blades, lay next to his stacked armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If he wanted to start trouble, he would not be using those weapons, at least not without retreating to get them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He scowled, stopping three steps away and pointedly looked her over as if for the first time.\n\nShe returned a look of dead calm.\n\nHis scowl changed into an expression which on any other face would have been haughty, but on his was more of a grimace. \"Are the Taka men so short of warriors that they are training up women as samurai?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are the Ōuchi women not taught how to defend their castles when their husbands are away in battle? Does the blood of the warrior Goddess Jingū no longer flow as strongly as it once did through their veins?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knew she should not have made the sly reference to the clan's diluted ancestry, especially since it was not true, but his cheek needed to be checked.\n\n\"Do you have a husband whose castle you defend?\" he demanded, eyes narrowed.\n\n\"Are my teeth black?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she quipped, and to prove her point she smiled broadly, though not warmly, showing her perfect white teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like all unmarried upper class women, she did not blacken her teeth in the practice of haguro.\n\nHe begrudgingly snorted a laugh. \"Women who walk around with swords should not go around reciting poetry.\"\n\n\"But women who can use them can,\" she said without making it sound like a challenge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Better to keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glared at her.\n\nBlue Rice stirred, looking sleepily toward Long Sword. \"We both heard the Taka warrior's poem. If someone were to judge her fighting skill based on her poetry, they would be very wise not to contest with her.\"\n\nBy now, everyone had fallen silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The only sound was the lap­ping rush of waters, the cry of gulls, and the flapping of the sail." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So.\" Long Sword quieted down, realizing that most everyone else aboard, even a crewmember, had withdrawn forward, away from him—which was not all that far given the size of the boat. As for the senchou, he stayed at his station, seemingly indifferent to the warriors' conversation. For his part, Blue Rice was back to snoring without moving.\n\n\"What do the Taka teach their women warriors?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Long Sword's voice was low, almost conversational, though not quite, and this meant he had only changed tactics; whatever his goal in addressing her, she did not know." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki stood still, mirroring his outward pretense of calm. \"We learn from our teachers. Same as you. Same as everyone.\"\n\n\"Teachers... ha!\" He directed some latent ire toward some unnamed teachers. \"There's fencing-hall teaching and then there's real-world experience. There're things they can't teach in some training hall... things you only know by living and fighting and killing—and you don't get that from some old fool.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took a step forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her pulse quickened. She remained relaxed, ready, saying nothing.\n\n\"Like back on shore. You didn't remove your armor like I did. If this boat were to capsize, you'd have to swim for it—and don't look to that fancy horse of yours to save you, either—he won't. If you were my pupil, you wouldn't get away with that.\"\n\nHis pupil? My!\n\nThere was what seemed like a long silence before he sniffed, \"Ever been in a duel?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She smiled." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akibō and Iebō cast uneasy sideways glances at each other." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ever kill a man? That takes cold blood.\" The samurai looked at her, his eyes searching hers, then nodded to himself, \"I can see you haven't... but I have... plenty of times. I fought in the Hōgen Rebellion—for the victorious side!—and it's nothing like those old fools tell you.\"\n\nYamabuki inclined her head politely, indicating that she had heard his words.\n\nWhy was this warrior saying all this?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's nothing like they have you stage in some dojo. It's not like that. Everyone's cutting at each other. Blood everywhere. Limbs hacked away. Screams. Oh, the screams. Screams like nothing you've ever heard. Anger. Pain. Fear. Despair. They cry for Buddha's help, but Buddha doesn't help. Better to cry for a quick death and hope your enemy listens, because in battle they'll beg you to finish them off. Blood. Lots of blood. More than you've ever seen, girl.\"\n\nYamabuki's mouth twisted. \"A woman isn't afraid of blood. She sees it every month of her life.\"\n\nLong Sword snorted, his expression sour. \"A girl with a tongue as sharp as her sword. Duels are different. They're more like the fencing hall. Ever practiced with real steel against someone who's not obliged to hold back?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Ōuchi train that way with each other?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the mention of the Ōuchi, Long Sword once again darkened, and she began to suspect that he had had a falling-out with the clan. Why else would he be traveling by himself, in the opposite direction? she considered, reflecting upon the forty Ōuchi warriors who had just returned to the Isle of Unknown Fires. Perhaps he's an outcast who no longer serves a clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A ronin, a person of the wave." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maybe that is why he acts this way.\n\nLong Sword continued. \"We use dull blades. Can't really get too hurt. It's very different from wooden swords.\" He paused for a moment. \"In fact I have a proposal. When we reach shore, we shall fight each other with sword-length sticks, just like you're probably used to in your dojo. If you win, you go on your way. If I win, you become my student and learn the real art of war from someone who has experienced it firsthand.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are very kind,\" she answered politely, \"but I am duty-bound to reach my final destination and I cannot tarry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where are you headed?\" He grew dark again.\n\nShe shrugged, for where she was going, or why, was not something to be shared with anyone, least of all him.\n\n\"Heian-kyō,\" he said flatly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are headed for capital, ne?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She still did not answer him.\n\nThe seas grew choppy and the boat started to sway. \"Prepare!\" yelled the senchou, and indeed the boat turned, heading directly on the final leg toward the landing on the Main Isle. \"Weather coming in,\" the senchou called out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Long Sword gave Yamabuki a look, turned, and made his way back toward his gear as the boat started to jostle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Muted cheers erupted from the people at the shore—in both greeting and delight that the boat would be there in time to make a crossing back today.\n\nAs the crew dropped sail, a temple bell tolled out the last quarter of the Hour of the Snake. The entire seagoing leg had taken but half an hour.\n\nBlue Rice sat up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "If it was possible for a man to have a completely green complexion, he had achieved it; at least that is what Yamabuki thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His saké bottle, sans stopper, lay in the corner of the deck.\n\n\"The last bit was rough,\" she said.\n\nBlue Rice appeared to grow more ill at the mere mention of the rough seas. He gasped and pointed over the side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A water fox!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki's eyes shot to the place he pointed. Nothing. She shook her head.\n\nHe pointed, shaking his finger at the spot. \"Red! Fox face. Fox tail. Laughing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She wondered if his saké had gotten the better of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had not only heard of, but also seen, people who were so possessed by drink, or lack of it at the moment, that they saw what wasn't there or, rather, did not understand the things they did see.\n\n\"Ah,\" Yamabuki's eyes narrowed. \"Maybe a sea lion. They can look a bit like foxes.\"\n\nBlue Rice snapped, \"I know what a sea lion looks like! I am not some fool.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rose to his feet." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I once was of a daimyō lineage,\" he thundered, \"and that was not a sea lion.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The senchou guided the boat toward the dock and the shore crew pulled it in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki immediately headed forward to her colt. While the fabric merchant and his five helpers scuttled about, she moved Mochizuki toward the gangplank, determined to be off the boat before the cart got in the way. Again with the help of the senchou, she led her mount onto shore.\n\nThe horse was not pleased with the crowd." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He snorted, threatening to rear as she led him through the waiting passengers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The commoners quickly parted at the sight of the prancing hooves.\n\nShe took a quick look at the stern of the craft—Long Sword, along with his armor, was thankfully gone.\n\nWhat a strange man.\n\nShe turned to find Akibō and Iebō waiting for her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They bowed and gave her a small unrequested blessing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Iebō said, \"Maybe you should travel with us.\"\n\n\"Hai!\" Akibō agreed.\n\nIebō added, \"That Ōuchi warrior's looking for trouble.\"\n\nYamabuki inhaled. \"As much as I appreciate your kindness, I believe I am not in danger.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And I doubt I'll need the help of two unarmed monks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The monks shifted uncomfortably and bowed to her.\n\nShe bowed in return. \"You go on ahead. Have a safe journey to your temple.\"\n\nThey turned and somewhat stiffly headed toward the inland road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was no need for wooden planking since this beach, unlike the one below Kita, was not nearly as rocky." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The soil was quite sandy. Muddy. It rained harder here last night than back across the channel. Getting Mochizuki to the road would be much easier along these low bank shores. No cliff to climb, she smiled to herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked along the coast, a series of coves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The beach close to the kobune was backed up with carts and goods, too many to fit all aboard for the upcoming departure.\n\nNo wonder the senchou was so quick to leave Kita. He knew he had a throng awaiting. They had probably been forced to give up their places to the Ōuchi warriors who had crossed earlier." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Meanwhile, the fabric merchants, who finally got their cart off the kobune, now struggled to get its wheels through the sand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki looked above the high-water mark, where about ten Ōe sakimori blocked the path. They were dressed in black warrior-tunics, each displaying the bright orange-on-white Ōe clan emblem: a single upright arrow feather.\n\nThe guards struck her as overly grim for merely checking people headed inland.\n\nA man wearing a gold medallion, the symbol of a leader, stood at their center." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two of his lieutenants flanked him, one on each side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All three carried bows, arrows, and long swords. The remaining guards carried only polearms. None of the Ōe wore battle armor.\n\nAs she approached them, they were already busily questioning Akibō and Iebō, who held out their alms bowls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The guards promptly responded by sending them packing, empty handed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sakimori then eyed Yamabuki and her mount. One of the lieutenants, not much older than she, looked her up and down, and not in the way one warrior might look at another, nor in the way a man might look at a woman that he found interesting. It was as if he were searching for some flaw in her armor in which he could find weakness or fault.\n\n\"Who are you and what Lord do you serve?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked, affecting a tough manner." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am Yamabuki of the Taka and I serve that clan,\" she said simply.\n\n\"Where are you headed?\" he asked.\n\n\"Heian-kyō.\"\n\n\"On what business?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In the service of Lord Moroto.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Ōe men flashed looks to one other.\n\n\"Beautiful mount, Taka-san,\" said the leader as he let his eyes sweep over Mochizuki. \"Young.\"\n\n\"Barely more than a yearling,\" she said, bowing slightly in acknowledgment.\n\n\"How long have you had him?\" he asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I raised him from a foal.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Great Bay District has fine horses.\"\n\nThe other lieutenant, the plain looking one, began to speak, \"There is a fee for those who—\"\n\nThe leader raised his hand and the lieutenant stopped mid-sentence, stunned but obedient. The man in charge waved her on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Have a safe journey, Taka-san.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had barely exchanged small bows of departure when she heard a sudden commotion.\n\nThe guards, as one, looked at the shore behind her. As she turned, she saw Blue Rice in the distance, his hands over his mouth, running headlong across the beach toward a clump of bushes and trees above the shoreline.\n\nHe's going to lose his stomach." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Halt!\" yelled one of the guards. \"Ha!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "other guards echoed.\n\nEither Blue Rice did not hear the sakimori yelling at him, or he was too embarrassed to care. Now starting to double over in the throes of nausea, he raised one arm, waving at the shouting men, indicating that they should wait.\n\nObviously his saké cure has failed, Yamabuki thought to herself, shaking her head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki started to say, \"He's just seasick—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But before she could finish her sentence, the tough lieutenant had already drawn his bow and shot an arrow.\n\nYamabuki gasped.\n\nThe arrow lodged in Blue Rice's ribcage. He stumbled and fell, losing his stomach." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At first he vomited what looked like what he had eaten, mostly saké, but then blood." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He managed to stand up, his eyes in pain, throwing his arms open as if asking, \"Why?\"\n\nPeople in the waiting crowd screamed.\n\nYamabuki choked.\n\nAnother arrow hit Blue Rice, this time in the chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked upward, grabbed the arrow shaft, staggered, then fell back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Right in the heart,\" smirked one of the guards.\n\n\"Perfect shot, Misaki-san,\" another said with admiration.\n\nFor a moment, Yamabuki wanted to run over to Blue Rice. She wanted to say something." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Katherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki led Mochizuki up a road that sloped gradually and gently inland." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the first bend that was out of the sight of the beach, she paused by a dry fallen log that rested on sandy soil near trees where cherry buds bloomed. Tethering Mochizuki, she sat on the log and only then realized that she was shaking—not in fear, but in anger.\n\nWhy am I upset?\n\nIt was a local matter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She did not know Blue Rice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had not met him until this morning. They had not exchanged all that many words. She didn't even know his name or where he was from. Why would she feel this way?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "But then she knew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was the look on his face. His dismay. The shock. He had done nothing more than lose his stomach. Hadn't the guards seen that countless times?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Who would now bury him?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who would take a lock of his hair back to his home village? Who would say the sutras to rest his young soul after having died on a strange and foreign beach?\n\nShe gathered some small stones, stacking a simple mound behind the shelter of the log. She stood up to cut several cherry sprigs with her tantō-style dagger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She walked over to Mochizuki, reached into her saddle pouch, where she found three incense sticks and her bamboo canteen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She placed the flowers around the stone mound and spread the sand to hold the incense sticks, which she then lit, placing them around the tiny cenotaph. She pushed three copper coins into the sand. Commoners placed coins in various orifices of the corpse—mouth, ears, eyes, anus—to help the dead journey into whatever lay beyond life. Today the sand would have to suffice." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nakagawa had advised her that since the southern coasts of the Main Isle at this point consisted of rocky bluffs, the road through the mountains was the fastest and easiest way to Heian-kyō." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She rode along the level road until she came to Akamagaseki, a small settlement of about fifty buildings located just at the point where the main north-south road steepened.\n\nThere she found sweet water to replenish her canteen and bought a handful of warm rice from a street vendor, but she did not have time for more than that. Within a day, two at most, she would face the passes that, this early in the spring, might still hold snow.\n\nAs she left Akamagaseki, the road sloped up sharply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked back over her shoulder from the higher vantage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The morning sun rose over fishing villages and farms on the fertile coastal plain below. In the far distance, she could barely make out the kobune, mid-channel, making its way back to Kita.\n\nBack at the beach, the six fabric merchants and their fabric-laden cart were only just starting to make their way toward the town.\n\nNow she walked, leading Mochizuki along the highway, up into the hills." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The fragrance of cherry trees in full flower replaced the scent of the sea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The chirping of crickets, a sign of good luck, filled the forests. The far-away bell of Akamagaseki temple began to sound out the hour. A woodcock joined in. Then the cry of a black kite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She paused to count the number of bells." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nine strikes. Hear that? The sun is directly overhead. The Hour of the Horse, Mochizuki. Your hour.\"\n\nThe day, which up until then had been growing progressively warmer, now grew cool as a squall blew in from what had been a cloudless sky. A steady rain began to fall.\n\nShe walked along the Main Isle road for some time, protected from the worst of the weather by the leafing tree branches that arched over the road, until she came to a clearing where someone had erected a very small Shintō shrine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was typical of so many such shrines along the highway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What was not typical was the Buddhist monk standing before it, his back to her, seemingly praying to the Old Gods.\n\nEither seeing or sensing her approach, he turned around. He had a bottle of saké in his hand. He looked at her and took a generous swig." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Iebō?\" she said in puzzlement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though he grinned, his expression had lost all boyish charm. His eyes narrowed like a snake's. His white flowing robes were tied back in the way warriors secured their sleeves before a duel.\n\n\"How is it that you are here?\" she asked politely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I paused here to pray.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A Buddhist praying at a Shintō shrine?\"\n\n\"Does it matter?\" Iebō seemed dismissive.\n\n\"Where is Akibō?\"\n\n\"Behind you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She turned her head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No more than ten paces away, Akibō stood in the middle of the road, his sleeves also tied back in dueling style.\n\nYamabuki revealed no emotion.\n\nMochizuki snorted, agitated, as Akibō slowly moved toward Yamabuki.\n\n\"What are you after?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like Katherine M. Lawrence and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Iebō sniffed. \"You say too much Aki.\"\n\n\"Aki, is it? Not Aki-bō?\" she sneered. \"Your monk's vows could not survive even the crossing of The Barrier.\" She glared. \"But then again, you were never monks to begin with, were you? And you, your name isn't Iebō either, is it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mouth grew ugly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does that surprise you?\"\n\n\"Who do you work for?\"\n\n\"Let's say we hold gold higher than Gods.\" Iebō lips twisted petulantly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Someone wants the two dispatches you carry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Two dispatches?\" Yamabuki's tone remained flat.\n\n\"Don't toy with us!\" Aki sneered.\n\nWith that, Iebō, or whatever he called himself, tugged on his walking staff.\n\nIn one motion, he pulled the top off, revealing what was actually a ninja-style long sword that had been sheathed within the staff." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You two fools think you can win,\" she said in a low voice, not about to show fear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Give this up. Run for your lives while you still can. There may be two of you, but I warn you, I am well trained and I'm wearing full yoroi armor.\"\n\n\"Maybe so,\" Iebō' said, his mouth drawn into a line, \"but it will take no more than a nick to end you.\"\n\nThen she noticed a honey-like substance that glistened at the tip of Iebō's blade.\n\nHe answered her unvoiced question." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The walking sticks are hollow, but not empty. They hold something special.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He thumped the butt of the walking staff against the ground.\n\n\"Once your skin is broken, even if only slightly, you'll be paralyzed. Your death will be almost immediate, so you might even wish to thank us. It'll be over for you quickly.\"\n\nWith that Aki drew his blade, which was no different from Iebō's, gleaming with the thick contagion on its tip.\n\nShe again vividly pictured the final moments of her father's bodyguard, Giichi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did Iebō and Aki use the same poison?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Possibly. Abundant here at the strait. A local delicacy.\n\nYamabuki's mouth drew into a thin line. \"How do I know that it's poison at all?\"\n\n\"Why don't we find out on your horse?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Iebō sneered as he stepped toward Mochizuki." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tore Tiger Claw from its scabbard and stepped in to guard the colt; but this, alas, put her between the assailants. Confidently, they circled like wild dogs closing in for the kill.\n\nHer mouth went dry. She knew that it would take more than a glancing blow for anyone to get the better of her armor, but the armor was not immune to every type of attack." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoroi was meant to blunt killing blows, or strikes that maimed—those delivered to the head, torso, arms, and wrists—not incidental scratches." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And by how the two assassins handled themselves, she suspected they knew where armor was vulnerable, where they might deliver the poison most easily.\n\nThe two false monks looked at each other, exchanged a signal, and pounced as one.\n\nAki rushed her, feinting, his poison-tipped blade lashing out. Yamabuki blocked, knocking the ninja sword aside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No sooner had she parried Aki than Iebō drove his blade toward her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His sword tip, like a ridged viper with dripping venom, almost cut her leg. Yamabuki blocked him in time, only to have Aki move in from the other side to deliver yet another thrust.\n\nThe sword's grim tip flashed in front of her eyes, narrowly missing her face.\n\n\"You can't win!\" Aki shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ha!\" Yamabuki spat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To win, you have to kill us both. All we need do is cut you, and only once,\" Aki sneered.\n\n\"Bad odds,\" Iebō laughed.\n\nAki and Iebō attacked simultaneously. She turned her sword, defending, blocking, and reversing against each of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two assassins repeated this ploy over and over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As sweat trickled down Yamabuki's reddening face, Iebō called out, \"I can see the girl's getting tired. Weak. Exhausted.\"\n\n\"We're getting more rest than she is,\" Aki snorted. \"And she's getting hot inside that armor.\" He suddenly made a thrust." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She deflected and lashed out with a spirited strike that grazed his shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He laughed, seemingly unaffected. \"Too bad you don't have the venom on your blade, or it might have done some good.\"\n\n\"I have venom,\" she shouted, \"in my heart.\" She sprang forward, armor and all, driving her sword toward Aki's heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was agile and leapt back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet he was more exhausted than he let on, and she managed to pierce him just below his collarbone. All at once the white robe at his shoulder blossomed bright red.\n\nStaggering backward, he tried to make it appear that he was hardly hurt, but almost immediately he collapsed into a squatting position.\n\n\"That won't kill me,\" he snarled, but then coughed and started to bleed from the corner of his mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Maybe,\" she gasped. \"Maybe I'll just wait for you to bleed out.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Iebō snarled and moved toward Yamabuki.\n\nShe backed up.\n\nAki barked, \"What are you waiting for?\"\n\nWith force enough to pierce her armor, Iebō thrust his blade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki leapt backward. Iebō missed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yamabuki delivered a counter, which he eluded.\n\nAki, now crawling on the ground, moaned, \"She getting tired! She's spent! Do it!\"\n\nYamabuki backed toward a stand of trees at the clearing's edge.\n\nAki gasped as his robe grew evermore sopped in blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Iebō pursued nimbly. Laughing wickedly. Taunting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his blade to remind her of the dark liquid on its tip.\n\nWithout warning, something cut her left cheek. Blood spurted.\n\nBut Iebō was still more than a sword length away. Aki still remained slumped by the roadside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Who? How?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aki gave a weak laugh. \"I got you!\" He coughed up more gore.\n\nHer eyes darted down. Her blood was on a jagged rock that lay at her feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Obviously, despite his wound, Aki had managed to throw the rock and hit her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But had he dipped it in poison?\n\nShe waited. The short moment seemed to take forever.\n\nIebō must have wondered as well, for he stood still, waiting for Yamabuki to collapse.\n\nShe breathed. Just pain. No poison." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with four sentences in the style of Katherine M. Lawrence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Only two of us now, ninja,\" she said through gritted teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let's see how good you are with your blade.\"\n\nIebō moved toward her. \"Just a scratch. It's all I need to deliver. Then you're dead.\"\n\n\"Like Aki?\" she sneered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Iebō flicked his blade, sending poison in her direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She dodged just in time as a splotch of venom flew right by her face, very close to the open cut on her cheek.\n\n\"Keep doing that and there won't be enough of your little concoction left to kill an ant.\"\n\nThey were both exhausted. Blades extended, they again began moving in a circle, each waiting for the other to make a mistake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Iebō snarled, \"I've never lost a duel.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suppose Aki hadn't either,\" she hissed, \"and he was more skilled with the blade than you. That I can easily see.\"\n\nIebō attacked. Sword flashing, he screamed, \"Die!\"\n\nShe parried. This time she countered vigorously. One. Two." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Three strikes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She moved in on him all at once.\n\nIebō barely managed to defend, quickly backing up.\n\nThere was movement behind Iebō. Had Aki rallied? Yamabuki caught colors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indigo and dark orange." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a guttural shout. A field sword sliced down, seemingly from nowhere, cutting Iebō from his right collar bone on down through the left side of his rib cage. Blood sprayed everywhere. His upper torso, head and all, simply sloughed away to the ground, landing with a thud.\n\nLong Sword!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Before the rest of Iebō's body had fully fallen to the ground, Long Sword stomped off toward Aki and drove the nodachi through Aki's back, through the heart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he was not dead before, he was surely dead now.\n\n\"Cowards!\" Long Sword thundered.\n\nYamabuki fought to catch her breath. She reached into her sash-sleeve to remove a piece of paper with which to dab the blood from her face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She then wiped her blade, careful not to touch any poison that it might have picked up while clashing with Aki's and Iebō's ninja swords." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the meantime, Long Sword pulled papers from his jacket sleeve to wipe the blood from his blade.\n\nWhen they finished, Long Sword and Yamabuki let go of the papers and the slight breeze carried the bloody tissues into the trees. The two mutually sheathed their weapons.\n\n\"Why?\" asked Yamabuki, still catching her breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I knew they were ninja. Cowards disguised as holy men, using fugu venom!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You knew?\" she repeated.\n\n\"You're so naïve.\"\n\n\"Naïve!\" Yamabuki's eyes flashed.\n\n\"Humph,\" he snorted. \"I told you on the boat to keep your eyes open, but you didn't keep your eyes open at all. It was obvious. I saw it back on the beach at Kita. They were dressed as Tendai sect, but they did not behave like Buddhist monks. I watched them eating oysters. They cut and shucked them with their own knives. That's outright killing from the Tendai way of looking at things.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grunted. \"But you're no Buddhist, are you? Shintō, if even that, ne? You're a warrior. Killing some oysters means nothing to you, does it? Doesn't to me, either. Nor to them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long Sword shrugged, dismissively throwing his hand in the direction of the two corpses.\n\n\"And the way they spoke.\"\n\nHe continued in a speech that mocked theirs, deliberately aping a failed attempt at the upper class manner, adding feminine softeners, effetely rolling his eyes skyward: \"'We know many temples along the imperial highway at which to stay; friendly to monk and warrior alike.' Ha!\"\n\nHe laughed. \"That a monk would dare approach a warrior and dare speak with such familiarity! Oh, girl, you have so much yet to learn.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked her up and down." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At first I thought you might even be working with them and that I was the target. I suspected that when you stopped for 'Gankyū' before the crossing, back up on Foot Trail.\"\n\n\"Stopped for Eyeball?\" Yamabuki looked askance. \"Who is Eyeball?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of Katherine M. Lawrence.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of Katherine M. Lawrence every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I just said: Gankyū. He'll do anything for any official, for a price. He's no crabber. Never trust someone who doesn't drink saké. They're hiding something about themselves for which they are ashamed. When I saw the two of you together, I figured either you were working with him, or you were easily taken in. Obviously it was the latter.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused to contemplate her again. \"No. He won't work for any clan, but he'll work for traitors within one.\" He raised his eyebrow. \"Taka traitors.\"\n\nA look of ire crossed Yamabuki's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Long Sword rubbed his chin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I overheard them say something about some dispatches you're carrying.\"\n\nYamabuki did not react.\n\n\"Don't try and fool me. I heard those two say that's what they wanted.\"\n\nHer eyes narrowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah!\" he growled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't care about your foolish scrolls. You can wipe the kuso off your ass with each and every one of them as far as I am concerned, but did it ever occur to you that you were sent out alone and yet somehow someone knew that you carried dispatches? Why not just send a detachment if these scrolls are all so important? I'll wager you don't even know what's on them, or did you dare read them?\"\n\nHe took a long look at her. \"No. You didn't.\" He sighed. \"For all you know, you're carrying blank documents, or forgeries that are supposed to fall into someone else's hands. It's obvious that you were sent out as bait to smoke someone else out and it looks like it worked, chibi,\" he said, calling her a runt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And now that they've failed, do you think this will be the last attempt they'll make?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He snorted back a laugh. \"It's only the first! It's good that I am trained.\" He nodded to himself. \"Good that I took it on myself to follow you. These are the sorts of things,\" he sniffed, \"that you can't learn in a training hall.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki did not have even the slightest look of appreciation on her face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That you got involved is true,\" she said, \"and that your sword dispatched the one calling himself Iebō is undeniable, but one of them was already down when you entered the fray. He was bleeding from the mouth. I got his lung. He was finished with or without you.\" She held her voice steady. \"I am confident that the other one would have fallen quickly.\"\n\n\"You're just telling yourself a story. I watched the whole thing. I only stepped in when I saw that you were in over your head.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The only way to have found out was if you had stayed out of it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long Sword chuckled. \"There's that sharp tongue again.\" He paused. \"Come with me and I'll give you real training, the kind you did not get from the Taka.\"\n\nYamabuki said nothing, looking at him impassively.\n\nHe snorted. \"You're like the Ōuchi. You're afraid to get hurt during training. I ask, 'When are they going to find out their students do not have enough skill?' They'll find out, just as you did just now. You aren't ready. But I shall teach you, and in a few years, if you survive, you'll be on your way, and better for it. Remember our agreement back on the boat? We shall fight with sticks, and if you lose, you will follow me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yamabuki quietly stepped toward Mochizuki, taking his bridle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I shall be on my way. I am a Taka bushi on an assignment, regardless of your speculations about intrigue, and I have made no agreement with you, so if you would, please stand out of the road so that I may pass.\"\n\n\"If not more ninja, there are rough men out there—and not kind like me. They'll have their way with you, you know.\"\n\nSo that's why he keeps gawking at me. He wants to have nan'in with me!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It's what he's wanted all along." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "First when he thought I was a boy, and now that he knows I'm a woman.\n\n\"I am able to take care of myself,\" she said firmly.\n\n\"I've seen what you can do. You didn't do so well. You owe me your life.\"\n\n\"As I just said, you do not know how that match would have ended. You interfered. I owe you nothing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He grew grim. \"Be careful, girl. Careful before you make a decision that you won't live to regret.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will be on my way.\" She glared at him.\n\n\"You won't last!\" He glared back. \"You'll be a morsel for the first truly tough guy who comes along.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We shall find out.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We find out now!\" His steel hissed against his scabbard. He raised the field sword over his head in the prepare position—an excellent position where the reach of the blade was at its optimum. He stood, supreme in his indigo yoroi, with the look of a man who expected only victory or capitulation.\n\n\"You've drawn steel against me,\" she said, dropping her voice low, \"so tell me, please, what is your name, so that I know who it is that I am about to kill.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nKatherine M. Lawrence" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So you would dare to challenge me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long Sword's cheeks flushed, for Yamabuki had taken the next step in a formal duel: the request for an exchange of names. In a tone certainly lower than hers, he obliged her, growling, \"I am Shima Sa-me. It means 'Shark Island.' I've killed too many to count. Easily more than that boatload of Ōuchi earlier today... and now I'll add a girl to my list. We'll soon see what those old fools have taught you, sorry though you'll be for it.\"\n\n\"I am Taka Tori Yamabuki, daughter of General Moroto, who is also my teacher, and no fool.\"\n\n\"Moroto's daughter, eh?\" He lifted his chin in disdain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, it can't be helped.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused again, then commanded at last, \"You want to fight? Then draw!\"\n\nShe did not. Instead she commanded, \"Out of my way!\" Again resorting to the lowest register she could muster, she growled, \"I must pass.\" She led her mount forward, her left hand on Tiger Claw's hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What if I just add a nick to your other cheek?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The noon sun glinted off his blade. The nodachi's reach was breathtaking. He moved toward her.\n\nYamabuki let go of Mochizuki's reins and backed up slowly, not taking her eyes off Shima's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes, not his blade, would show when he would strike." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You afraid? Afraid to draw, chibi?\"\n\nShe recalled Nakagawa's words, \"A field sword is designed to bring down horses as they run past. It's meant to do battle in the wide open.\"\n\nShe certainly was not some foolish horse about to gallop past him in the open. She backed up carefully, retreating toward the trees; but immediately she found her feet were on progressively rougher terrain, covered with underbrush and the protruding branches of fallen trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She did not dare look away from Shima's gaze to check what was behind her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still, with few alternatives, she continued to work her way toward the woods.\n\nShima easily recognized her tactic and immediately flanked her, keeping her parallel to the tree line.\n\n\"You didn't think you could escape into the woods that easy, did you?\"\n\nHe advanced, forcing her onto even more uncertain ground covered with thin new-growth trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She knew they were too slender to offer cover or protection, for his field sword could shear them like grass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he did not strike—at least not yet.\n\nShe soon found herself in the midst of a maze of nascent yellow pine, none of whose trunks were any thicker than her wrist. Pieces of dry, fallen bark snapped under her feet. The air filled with the scent of humus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trees smelled of sap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you going to draw, or have you accepted your fate?\"\n\n\"There is still time to call this off,\" Yamabuki hissed. \"Once I draw steel, there's no going back.\"\n\nShe watched his jaw set." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't force me kill you,\" she said flatly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obviously angered by her audacious pronouncement, he showed his upper teeth, almost as if he intended to bite her. Then she saw his eyes narrow.\n\nThis is it!\n\nHe growled like a bear as his field sword shot straight at her throat in the manner of a lance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hindered by the underbrush, she twisted sideways in the nick of time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound of cracking wood filled the air as his sword crashed through the saplings. Splinters flew in every direction; but once his nodachi was within the trees, he could not appreciably change its straight-line path.\n\nHe snarled, \"That was luck!\"\n\nHe immediately drove the tip at her again, and again she moved out of the way, letting the surrounding saplings swallow the blade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shima gritted his teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His eyes flashed. \"Let's try this, then!\"\n\nHe swung the field sword horizontally at chest height, slashing his way toward her. Whoosh! The sound of the air moving before the sword was almost a howl. The saplings snapped as the nodachi cut down the young trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He growled with each swing, further leveling the shrubs each time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sweat trickled down Yamabuki's face. In no way had she averted the duel. If anything, she was merely prolonging it. Nakagawa's words again rang in her head: \"Some fights are inevitable. Best get them over quick.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The answer to the nodachi was speed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mouth dry, she grabbed one thick, long branch at her feet.\n\nI'll have only one chance.\n\nYamabuki, her tachi still in its scabbard, bolted from the devastated saplings, brandishing the tree limb.\n\nThere will be no second chance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sword held high, Shima raced toward Mochizuki to intercept her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she was not running toward her mount. Instead, she stopped in the middle of the clearing.\n\nI must get him to commit.\n\n\"Ha!\" he shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He moved toward her, death the one thought clearly written on his face and burning in his mind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Breathing hard. Face red. Eyes red. Teeth bared.\n\nShe stood in the open, raising the tree limb. It was about as thick as her wrist and as tall as she." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wooden sword,\" he spat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too late for that, girl. It's steel now!\"\n\nNakagawa said, \"Even a wooden sword, if it's long enough, can match one of steel.\"\n\nSo far she had always been just out of range, or had found ways to keep him from making a full strike.\n\nSo long as his sword swings go unopposed, he controls the field." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Controls everything. Controls me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knew that he was counting on one last sweep of his nodachi, out in the open, to finish her.\n\nTheir eyes locked as he again raised his sword high.\n\nHe lunged, planting his right front foot. With a mighty grunt, he swept his long blade horizontally to cut her in half at the waist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One chance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She swung the branch as if it were a field sword of her own. Though the wood did not meet his blade, the unexpected countermove momentarily distracted his concentration. Nevertheless his blade kept coming.\n\nSpeed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As it reached her, she leapt to her back foot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gasped as the nodachi tip scraped her corselet. She felt its visceral power push her sideways as it tore straight through her dark-green chest protector. The sound of the blade tip slicing open her armor assaulted her ears. But as she had gambled, the tip failed to penetrate to her skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would have been natural for anyone to withdrawal after such a blow with all its damage, but her training instilled in her one final lesson with the nodachi: stepping away was stepping into death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One chance.\n\nShe leapt forward right behind the arc of his sword's swath and delivered a sharp rap to his wrist with the branch.\n\nShima grimaced but did not let go of the massive field sword as he completed the arc from right to left. Then, in one fluid motion he moved in for a return strike, back from left to right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had her now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he began his second strike, his arms were held high. When he lifted his arms, it also raised his chest armor, exposing the bottom of his ribcage.\n\nLast chance.\n\nShe dropped the tree branch and leapt even closer to him, taking a low, elongated stance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tiger Claw flew from its scabbard, flashing under the noonday sun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Without changing the trajectory of her sword draw, she flipped the tachi's point forward so that its tip was directed at him. Before he could move, she shifted her weight from back to front and with all her might drove the blade into the vulnerable spot below his ribcage.\n\nHe grunted, staggered backward, nodachi still in the overhead position, but then his left leg buckled. Blood trickled from his mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"By a girl,\" he gasped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still holding her blade from her crouched position, she pulled hard, withdrawing the tachi from his side.\n\n\"So,\" he gurgled, \"you've finally killed...\"\n\nHis other leg buckled and he fell face-first onto the road and lay very still.\n\nShe stood up, the blood singing in her ears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As she had been trained, she wiped her blade clean and sheathed it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tore off her helmet. Her hair, soaking wet, fell around her shoulders. The slight breeze passed through her moist tresses, more than cool—cold. She shivered. She moved her hand to the corselet of her once-pristine battle armor and slid her palm across the gash, sensing the roughness and splinters, and the woven rings of steel now exposed underneath. Her hand shook." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Insects buzzed. Here and there the cries of birds drifted through the now-calm air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The three bodies lay in the clearing, as much a part of the landscape as the trees, brush, and blossoms and no more animated than the rocks.\n\nShe walked to her mount. He snorted. She had not quite caught her breath.\n\nGripping his reins she paused, looking at the stirrup, then let go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She opened her mouth to say something to Mochizuki, but realized her teeth were chattering." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tears filled her eyes. She buried her face in the crook of her arm and wept and wept." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The panic-stricken girl was galloping full speed back towards the coast, half a mile ahead, along footpaths that led precariously through the rice swamps and paddy fields. The afternoon sun bore down. She rode sidesaddle and though normally expert, today she could hardly keep her balance. Her hat had vanished and her green riding habit, the height of Parisian fashion, was ripped by brambles and speckled with blood, tawny fair hair streaming in the wind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She whipped the pony faster." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now she could see the tiny hovels of the Yokohama fishing village clustering the high fence and canals that enclosed the Foreign Settlement and spires of the two small churches within and knew, thankfully, in the bay beyond were British, French, American and Russian merchantmen and a dozen warships, both steam and sail.\n\nFaster. Over narrow wooden bridges and canals and irrigation ditches that crisscrossed the paddy and swamps. Her pony was lathered with sweat, a deep wound on his shoulder and tiring rapidly. He shied. A bad moment but she recovered, and now she swerved onto the path that led through the village to the bridge over the encircling canal and to the main gate and the samurai guard house, and Japanese Customs House." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two-sworded samurai sentries saw her coming and moved to intercept, but she charged through them into the wide main street of the Settlement proper on the seafront." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the samurai guards rushed for an officer.\n\nShe reined in, panting. \"Au secours... à l'aide, help!\"\n\nThe promenade was almost deserted, most of the inhabitants at siesta or yawning in their countinghouses, or dallying in the Pleasure Houses outside the fence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Help!\" she called out again and again, and the few men spread along its length, British traders and off-duty soldiers and sailors mostly, some Chinese servants, looked up startled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"God Almighty, look there! It's the French girl...\"\n\n\"What's amiss? Christ, look at her clothes...\"\n\n\"Cor, it's her, the smasher, Angel Tits, arrived couple of weeks ago...\"\n\n\"That's right, Angelique... Angelique Beecho or Reecho, some Frog name like that...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My God, look at the blood!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everyone began converging on her, except the Chinese who, wise after millennia of sudden trouble, vanished. Faces began to appear in windows.\n\n\"Charlie, fetch Sir William on the double!\"\n\n\"Christ Almighty, look at her pony, poor bugger will bleed to death, get the vet,\" a corpulent trader called out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you, soldier, quick, get the General, and the Frog, she's his ward—oh, for God's sake, the French Minister, hurry!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Impatiently he pointed at a single-story house flying the French flag. \"Hurry!\" he bellowed. The soldier rushed off, and he trundled for her as fast as he could. Like all traders he wore a top hat and woolen frock coat, tight pants, boots, and sweated in the sun. \"What on earth happened, Miss Angelique?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he said, grabbing her bridle, aghast at the dirt and blood that speckled her face and clothes and hair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you hurt?\"\n\n\"Moi, non... no, I think not but we were attacked... Japanners attacked us.\" She was trying to catch her breath and stop shaking, still in terror, and pushed the hair out of her face. Urgently she pointed inland westwards, Mount Fuji vaguely on the horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Back there, quick, they need—need help!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Those nearby were appalled and noisily began relaying the half news to others and asking questions: Who? Who was attacked? Are they French or British? Attacked? Where? Two-sword bastards again!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where the hell did this happen...?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Questions overlaid other questions and gave her no time to answer, nor could she yet, coherently, her chest heaving, everyone pressing closer, crowding her. More and more men poured into the street putting on coats and hats, many already armed with pistols and muskets, a few with the latest American breechloading rifles. One of these men, a big-shouldered, bearded Scot, ran down the steps of an imposing two-story building. Over the portal was \"Struan and Company.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He shoved his way through to her in the uproar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quiet, for God's sake!\" he shouted, and in the sudden lull, \"Quick, tell us what happened. Where's young Mr. Struan?\"\n\n\"Oh, Jamie, je... I—I...\" The girl made a desperate effort to collect herself, disoriented. \"Oh, mon Dieu!\"\n\nHe reached up and patted her shoulder like a child, to gentle her, adoring her, like all of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't worry, you're safe now, Miss Angelique. Take your time. Give her some room, for God's sake!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jamie McFay was thirty-nine, chief manager of Struan's in Japan. \"Now, tell us what happened.\"\n\nShe brushed away the tears, her tawny hair askew. \"We... we were attacked—attacked by samurai,\" she said, her voice tiny and accent pleasing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everyone craned to hear better." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We were... we were on the... on the big road...\" Again she pointed inland. \"It was there.\"\n\n\"The Tokaidō?\"\n\n\"Yes, that's it, the Tokaidō...\" This great coastal trunk toll road, a little over a mile west of the Settlement, joined the Shōgun's forbidden capital, Yedo, twenty miles northwards, to the rest of Japan, also forbidden to all foreigners. \"We were... riding...\" She stopped and then the words poured out: \"Mr. Canterbury, and Phillip Tyrer and Malcolm—Mr. Struan—and me, we were riding along the road and then there were some... a long line of samurai with banners and we wait to let them pass then we... then two of them rush us, they wound Mr. Canterbury, charge Malcolm—Mr. Struan—who had his pistol out and Phillip who shout me to run away, to get help.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shaking began again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quick, they need help!\"\n\nAlready men were rushing for mounts, and more guns. Angry shouts began: \"Someone get the troops...\"\n\n\"Samurai got John Canterbury, Struan, and that young chap Tyrer—they've been chopped on the Tokaidō.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Christ, she says samurai have killed some of our lads!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where did this happen?\" Jamie McFay called out above the noise, curbing his frantic impatience. \"Can you describe the place where this happened, exactly where?\"\n\n\"By the roadside, before Kana... Kana something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Kanagawa?\" he asked, naming a small way station and fishing village on the Tokaidō, a mile across the bay, three odd miles by coastal road." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oui—yes. Kanagawa! Hurry!\"\n\nHorses were being led out of the Struan stables, saddled and ready. Jamie slung a rifle over his shoulder. \"Don't worry, we'll find them quickly. But Mr. Struan? Did you see if he got away—if he was hurt?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Non. I saw nothing, just the beginning, poor Mr. Canterbury, he... I was riding beside him when they...\" The tears flooded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did not look back, I obeyed without... and came to get help.\"\n\nHer name was Angelique Richaud. She was just eighteen. This was the first time she had been outside the fence." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like James Clavell and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without delay, McFay, a dozen or so traders, and a Dragoon officer with three of his lancers found John Canterbury on the side of the Tokaidō, but viewing him was more difficult." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was decapitated and parts of his limbs were scattered nearby. Ferocious sword cuts were patterned all over his body, almost any one of which would have been a death blow. There was no sign of Tyrer and Struan, or the column of samurai. None of the passersby knew anything about the murder, who had done it, or when or why." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would the other two have been kidnapped, Jamie?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "an American asked queasily.\n\n\"I don't know, Dmitri.\" McFay tried to get his brain working. \"Someone better go back and tell Sir William and get... and bring a shroud or coffin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "White-faced, he studied the passing crowds, who carefully did not look in his direction but observed everything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The well-kept, beaten earth roadway was massed with disciplined streams of travellers to and from Yedo, which one day would be called Tokyo. Men, women and children of all ages, rich and poor, all Japanese but for an occasional long-gowned Chinese. Predominately men, all wearing kimonos of various styles and modesty, and many different hats of cloth and straw. Merchants, half-naked porters, orange-robed Buddhist priests, farmers going to or coming from market, itinerant soothsayers, scribes, teachers and poets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Many litters and palanquins of all kinds for people or goods with two, four, six or eight bearers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The few strutting samurai amongst the crowds stared at them balefully as they passed.\n\n\"They know who did it, all of them,\" McFay said.\n\n\"Sure. Matyeryebitz!\" Dmitri Syborodin, the American, a heavyset, brown-haired man of thirty-eight, roughly clothed and a friend of Canterbury, was seething. \"It'd be goddam easy to force one of them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then they noticed a dozen or so samurai standing in a group down the road, watching them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many had bows and all Westerners knew what adept archers samurai were.\n\n\"Not so easy, Dmitri,\" McFay said.\n\nPallidar, the young Dragoon officer, said crisply, \"Very easy to deal with them, Mr. McFay, but ill-advised without permission—unless of course they attack us. You're quite safe.\" Settry Pallidar detailed a dragoon to fetch a detachment from the camp, with a coffin, the American visibly irritated by his imperiousness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You'd better search the nearby countryside. When my men arrive they'll assist. More than likely the other two are wounded somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay shuddered, motioned at the corpse. \"Or like him?\"\n\n\"Possibly, but let's hope for the best. You three take that side, the rest of you spread out and—\"\n\n\"Hey, Jamie,\" Dmitri interrupted deliberately, hating officers and uniforms and soldiers, particularly British ones. \"How about you and me going on to Kanagawa—maybe someone in our Legation knows something.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pallidar disregarded the hostility, understanding it, well acquainted with the American's fine service record." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dmitri was an American of Cossack extraction, an ex-cavalry officer of the U.S. Army, whose grandfather had been killed fighting the British in the American War of 1812. \"Kanagawa is a good idea, Mr. McFay,\" he said. \"They should certainly know what big procession of samurai passed through and the sooner we find out who the culprit is the better. The attack must have been ordered by one of their kings or princes. This time we can peg the bastard and God help him.\"\n\n\"God rot all bastards,\" Dmitri said pointedly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again the resplendently uniformed Captain did not provoke but did not let it pass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quite right, Mr. Syborodin,\" he said easily. \"And any man who calls me a bastard better quickly get himself a second, a pistol or sword, a shroud and someone to bury him. Mr. McFay, you'll have plenty of time before sunset. I'll stay here until my men return, then we'll join the search. If you hear anything in Kanagawa, please send me word.\" He was twenty-four and worshipped his regiment. With barely concealed disdain he looked at the motley group of traders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I suggest the rest of you... gentlemen... begin the search, spread out but stay in visual contact. Brown, you go with that group and search those woods. Sergeant, you're in charge.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yessir. Come on, you lot.\"\n\nMcFay took off his coat and spread it over the body, then remounted. With his American friend he hurried northwards toward Kanagawa, a mile away.\n\nNow the dragoon was alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Coldly he sat on his horse near the corpse and watched the samurai." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They stared back. One moved his bow, perhaps a threat, perhaps not. Pallidar remained motionless, his sabre loose in its scabbard. Sunlight sparked off his gold braid. Pedestrians on the Tokaidō hurried by silently, afraid." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His horse pawed the ground nervously, jingling the harness." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This isn't like the other attacks, the lone attacks, he thought with growing anger. There's going to be hell to pay, attacking those four, a woman amongst them, and killing an Englishman so foully. This means war." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A few hours ago the four of them had ridden out of the main gate, past the Customs House, casually saluted the samurai guards who bowed perfunctorily, and trotted leisurely inland along meandering paths, heading for the Tokaidō. All were expert riders, their ponies nimble.\n\nIn Angelique's honor, they wore their best top hats and riding clothes, and were the envy of every man in the Settlement: one hundred and seventeen resident Europeans, diplomats, traders, butchers, shopkeepers, blacksmiths, shipwrights, armorers, adventurers, gamblers and many ne'er-do-wells and remittance men, most of them British, the clerks Eurasian or Chinese, a few Americans, French, Dutch, Germans, Russians, Australians and one Swiss; and amongst them three women, all matrons, two British, wives of traders, the last a madam in Drunk Town, as the low-class quarter was called. No children. Fifty to sixty Chinese servants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "John Canterbury, a good-looking, craggy-faced British trader acted as their guide." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The purpose of the excursion was to show Phillip Tyrer the way by land to Kanagawa, where meetings with Japanese officials took place from time to time; it was well within the agreed Settlement area. Tyrer, just twenty-one, had arrived yesterday from London via Peking and Shanghai, a newly appointed student interpreter to the British Legation.\n\nThis morning, overhearing the two of them in the Club, Malcolm Struan had said, \"May I come along, Mr. Canterbury, Mr. Tyrer? It's a perfect day for sightseeing; I'd like to ask Miss Richaud to join us—she hasn't seen any of the country yet.\"\n\n\"We'd be honored, Mr. Struan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Canterbury was blessing his luck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're both welcome. The ride's good though there's not much to see—for a lady.\"\n\n\"Eh?\" Tyrer had said.\n\n\"Kanagawa's been a busy post village and stopover place for travellers to and from Yedo for centuries, so we're told. It's well stocked with Teahouses, that's what most brothels are called here. Some of them are well worth a visit, though we're not always welcome like at our own Yoshiwara across the swamp.\"\n\n\"Whorehouses?\" Tyrer had said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other two had laughed at his look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The very same, Mr. Tyrer,\" Canterbury had said. \"But they're not like the doss houses or brothels in London, or anywhere else in the world; they're special. You'll soon find out, though here the custom is to have your own doxy, if you can afford it.\"\n\n\"I'll never be able to do that,\" Tyrer said.\n\nCanterbury laughed. \"Maybe you will. Thank God the rate of exchange favors us, oh my word! That old Yankee Townsend Harris was a canny bastard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He beamed at the thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Harris was the first American Consul-General appointed two years after Commodore Perry had forced the opening of Japan to the outside world, first in '53, then '56 with his four Black Ships—the first steamers seen in Japanese waters. Four years ago, after years of negotiating, Harris arranged Treaties later ratified by major Powers that granted access to certain ports. The Treaties also fixed a very favorable rate of exchange between silver Mex—Mexican silver dollars, the universal coin of exchange and trade in Asia—and Japanese gold oban, whereby if you changed Mex for oban and later exchanged them for Mex, you could double or triple your money.\n\n\"An early lunch, then off we go,\" Canterbury said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll be back in good time for supper, Mr. Struan.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Excellent. Perhaps you'd both join me in our company dining room? I'm giving a small party for Mademoiselle Richaud.\"\n\n\"Thank you kindly. I trust the tai-pan's better?\"\n\n\"Yes, much better, my father's quite recovered.\"\n\nThat's not what we heard in yesterday's mails, John Canterbury had thought worriedly, for what affected the Noble House—the nickname by which Struan and Company was known the world over—affected them all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rumor is your old man's had another stroke." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Joss. Never mind, it's not often a man like me gets the chance to chat to a real tai-pan-to-be, or an angel like her. This's going to be a great day!\n\nAnd once en route, he became even more affable. \"Oh, Mr. Struan, you... are you staying long?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Another week or so, then home to Hong Kong.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Struan was the tallest and strongest of the three. Pale blue eyes, long reddish brown hair tied in a queue, and old for his twenty years. \"No reason to stay, we're in such good hands with Jamie McFay. He's done a sterling job for us, opening up Japan.\"\n\n\"He's a nob, Mr. Struan, and that's a fact. Best there is. The lady will leave with you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah, Miss Richaud. I do believe she'll return with me—I hope so. Her father asked me to keep an eye on her, though temporarily she's the French Minister's ward while she's here,\" he said lightly, pretending not to notice the sudden gleam, or that Tyrer was deep in conversation with Angelique in French, which he himself spoke hesitantly, and already under her spell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't blame him, Canterbury, or anyone, he thought, amused, then spurred forward to give the others room as the path ahead became a bottleneck.\n\nThe terrain was flat but for bamboo thickets, though it was wooded here and there—the trees already autumn-tinged. There were many duck and other game fowl. Paddy fields and rice swamps were being cultivated intensively, and land reclaimed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Narrow pathways. Streams everywhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The stench of human manure, Japan's only fertilizer, ever present. Fastidiously, the girl and Tyrer held scented handkerchiefs to their noses, though a cooling breeze came off the sea to take away most of the stink and the dregs of summer's humidity, mosquitoes, flies and other pests. The far hills, densely forested, were a brocade of reds and golds and browns-beech, scarlet and yellow larch, maples, wild rhododendrons, cedar and pines.\n\n\"It's beautiful there, isn't it, Monsieur Tyrer? A shame we can't see Mount Fuji clearer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oui, demain, il est là! Mais mon Dieu, Mademoiselle, quelle senteur.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What a smell, Tyrer replied happily in fluent French—an essential language for any diplomat.\n\nCasually Canterbury dropped back alongside her, neatly displacing the younger man. \"Are you all right, Mademoiselle?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, thank you, but it would be good to gallop a little. I'm so happy to be outside the fence.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since she'd arrived two weeks ago with Malcolm Struan on the bimonthly Struan steamer she had been closely chaperoned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And quite right too, Canterbury was thinking, with all the riffraff and scum of Yokohama, and let's be honest, the odd pirate sniffing around. \"On the way back you can take a turn around the racetrack if you like.\"\n\n\"Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you.\"\n\n\"Your English is just wonderful, Miss Angelique, and your accent delightful. You were in school in England?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"La, Mr. Canterbury.\" She laughed and a wave of heat went through him, the quality of her skin and beauty exhilarating." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've never been to your country. My young brother and I were brought up by my aunt Emma and uncle Michel; she was English, and refused always to learn French. She was more a mother than an aunt.\" A shadow crossed her face. \"That was after my mother died birthing my brother, and Father left for Asia.\"\n\n\"Oh, sorry about that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was a long time ago, Monsieur, and I think of my darling aunt Emma as Mama.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her pony tugged at her reins. She corrected him without thought. \"I was very lucky.\"\n\n\"This's your first visit to Asia?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked, knowing the answer and much more, wanting to keep her talking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The snippets of information about her, gossip, rumors, had sped from smitten man to smitten man.\n\n\"Yes, it is.\" Again her smile lit up his being. \"My father's a China trader in your Colony of Hong Kong. I'm visiting him for the season. He's a friend of Monsieur Seratard here, and kindly arranged this visit for me. You may know him, Guy Richaud, of Richaud Frères?\"\n\n\"Of course, a fine gentleman,\" he answered politely, never having met him, knowing only what others had told him: that Guy Richaud was a philandering, minor foreigner who had been there for a few years, scratching a living." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We're all honored that you're visiting us here. Perhaps I may host a dinner in your honor, at the Club?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you. I will ask my host, Monsieur Seratard.\" Angelique saw Struan glance back, up ahead, and she waved gaily. \"Mr. Struan was kind enough to escort me here.\"\n\n\"Really?\" As if we didn't know, Canterbury thought, and wondered about her, how you could catch and hold and afford such a treasure, wondered about the brilliant young Struan who could afford it, wondered too about rumors that the struggle for dominance between Struan's and their major trading rival, Brock and Sons, was rising again, something to do with the American civil war that had started last year." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The pickings are going to be huge, nothing like a war for business, both sides already going at each other like maniacs, the South more than a match for the Union..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Angelique, look!\" Struan reined in, pointing. Ahead a hundred yards, down the small rise, was the main road. They came up beside him.\n\n\"I never thought the Tokaidō would be this big, or so crowded,\" Phillip Tyrer said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Except for a few ponies, everyone was on foot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But... but where are the carriages, or tumbrils or carts? And more than that,\" she burst out, \"where are the beggars?\"\n\nStruan laughed. \"That's easy, Angelique. Like almost everything else here they're forbidden.\" He shifted his top hat to a more jaunty angle. \"No wheels of any sort are allowed in Japan. Shōgun's orders. None!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's one sure way of keeping the rest of the population in order, isn't it?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed.\" Canterbury laughed sardonically, then motioned towards the road. \"And add to that, every Tom, Dick or Mary there, high or low, has to carry travel papers, permission to travel, even to be outside their own village, same for princes or paupers. And notice the samurai—they're the only ones in all Japan who can carry weapons.\"\n\n\"But without proper stagecoaches and railways, how can the country possibly work?\" Tyrer was perplexed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It works Japan style,\" Canterbury told him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Never forget Jappers have only one way of doing things. Only one. Their way. Jappers are not like anyone else, certainly not like Chinese, eh, Mr. Struan?\"\n\n\"Indeed they are not.\"\n\n\"No wheels anywhere, Miss. So everything, all goods, food, fish, meat, building supplies, every sack of rice, stick of wood, bale of cloth, box of tea, keg of gunpowder—every man, woman or child who can afford it—has to be carried on someone's back—or go by boat, which means by sea 'cause they've no navigable rivers at all, so we're told, just thousands of streams.\"\n\n\"But what about the Settlement? Wheels they are allowed there, Mr. Canterbury.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, indeed they are, Miss, we've all the wheels we want though their officials bitched like bloody... sorry, Miss,\" he added quickly, embarrassed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We're not used to ladies in Asia. As I was saying, Japper officials, they're called Bakufu, they're like our civil service, they argued about it for years until our Minister told them to get f—to, er, to forget it because our Settlement was our Settlement! As to beggars, they're forbidden too.\"\n\nShe shook her head and the feather on her hat danced merrily. \"It sounds impossible. Paris, she is... Paris is filled with them, everywhere in Europe, it's impossible to stop the begging. Mon Dieu, Malcolm, what about your Hong Kong?\"\n\n\"Hong Kong's the worst,\" Malcolm Struan said, smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But how can they forbid begging and beggars?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer asked, perplexed. \"Mademoiselle Angelique is right, of course. All Europe's a begging bowl. London's the richest city in the world, but it's inundated.\"\n\nCanterbury smiled strangely. \"There're no beggars because the Almighty Tycoon, the Shōgun, king of the lot, says no begging, so it's law. Any samurai can test his blade on any beggar at any time—or on any other bugger... pardon... or anyone else for that matter so long as he's not samurai. If you're caught begging you're breaking the law, so it's into the slammer, prison, and once there, the only penalty's death. That's law also.\"\n\n\"None other?\" the girl said, shocked.\n\n\"'Fraid not. So Japanners are untoward law-abiding.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again Canterbury laughed sardonically and looked back at the twisting road, halting abruptly half a mile away for a wide shallow stream that every person had to ford or be carried over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the far bank was a barrier. There, they bowed and presented papers to the inevitable samurai guards.\n\nBloody bastards, he thought, hating them but loving the fortune he was making here—and his lifestyle that centered around Akiko, now his mistress of a year. Ah yes, luv, you're the best, most special, most loving in all the Yoshiwara." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Look,\" she said. On the Tokaidō they could see groups of passersby had stopped and were pointing in their direction, gaping and talking loudly above the ever present hum of movement—hatred on many faces, and fear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pay no attention to them, Miss, we're just strange to them, that's all, they don't know better. You're probably the first civilized woman they've ever seen.\" Canterbury pointed north. \"Yedo's that way, about twenty miles. Of course, it's off limits.\"\n\n\"Except for official delegations,\" Tyrer said.\n\n\"That's right, with permission, which Sir William hasn't got once, not since I've been here and I was one of the first. Rumor has it that Yedo's twice as big as London, Miss, that there's over a million souls there and fantastical rich, and the Shōgun's castle the biggest in the world.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Could that be a lie, Mr. Canterbury?\" Tyrer asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The trader beamed. \"They're powerful liars, that's the God's truth, Mr. Tyrer, the best that have ever been, they make the Chinee seem the Angel Gabriel. I don't envy you having to interpret what they say, which sure as God made periwinkles won't be what they mean!\" Normally he was not so talkative but he was determined to impress her and Malcolm Struan with his knowledge while he had the opportunity. All this talking had given him a vast thirst. In his side pocket was a thin silver flask but he knew, regretfully, that it would be bad manners to swig some of the whisky in front of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Could we get permission to go there, Malcolm?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she was saying. \"To this Yedo?\"\n\n\"I doubt it. Why not ask Monsieur Seratar?\"\n\n\"I shall.\" She noticed that he had pronounced the name correctly, dropping the \"d\" as she had taught him. Good, she thought, her eyes drawn back to the Tokaidō." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where does she end, the road?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a curious pause, Canterbury said, \"We don't know. The whole country's a mystery and it's clear the Jappers want to keep it that way and don't like us, any of us. They call us gai-jin, foreign persons. Another word is I-jin, meaning 'different person.' Don't know the difference 'cepting I'm told gai-jin's not so polite.\" He laughed. \"Either way, they don't like us. And we are different—or they are.\" He lit a cheroot. \"After all, they kept Japan closed tighter than a gnat's... closed for nigh on two and a half centuries until Old Mutton Chops Perry bust her open nine years ago,\" he said with admiration." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Rumor says the Tokaidō ends in a big city, a kind of sacred city called Keeotoh, where their chief priest—called the Mikado—lives. It's so special, and sacred, we're told the city's off limits to all but a few special Japanners.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Diplomats are allowed to travel inland,\" Tyrer said sharply. \"The Treaty permits it, Mr. Canterbury.\"\n\nThe trader eased off the beaver topper of which he was inordinately proud, mopped his brow and decided that he would not let the young man spoil his air of bonhomie. Cocky young bastard, with your hoity-toity voice, he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I could break you in two and not even fart." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It depends how you interpret the Treaty, and if you want to keep your head on your shoulders. I wouldn't advise going outside the agreed safe area. That's a few miles north and south and inland, whatever the Treaty says—not yet, not without a regiment or two.\" In spite of his resolve, the swell of the girl's full breasts under the green form-fitting jacket mesmerized him. \"We're penned in here but it's not bad. Same at our Settlement at Nagasaki, two hundred leagues westwards.\"\n\n\"'Leagues'? I don't understand,\" she said, hiding her amusement and pleasure at the lust surrounding her. \"Please?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer said importantly, \"A league is approximately three miles, Mademoiselle.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was tall and lithe, not long out of university, and besotted by her blue eyes and Parisian elegance. \"You, er, you were saying, Mr. Canterbury?\"\n\nThe trader tore his attention off her bosom. \"Just that it won't be much better when the other ports are opened. Soon, very soon we'll have to break out of them too if we're to really trade, one way or t'other.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer glanced at him sharply. \"You mean war?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why not? What are fleets for? Armies? It works fine in India, China, everywhere else. We're the British Empire, the biggest and best that's ever been on earth. We're here to trade and meanwhile we can give them proper laws and order and proper civilization.\" Canterbury looked back at the road, soured by the animosity there. \"Ugly lot, aren't they, Miss?\"\n\n\"Mon Dieu, I do wish they wouldn't stare so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"'Fraid you just have to get used to it. It's the same everywhere. As Mr. Struan says, Hong Kong's the worst. Even so, Mr. Struan,\" he said with sudden esteem, \"I don't mind telling you what we need here is our own island, our own Colony, not a rotten, smelly mile strip of festering coast that's indefensible, subject to attack and blackmail at any moment if it weren't for our fleet! We should take an island just like your granddad took Hong Kong, bless him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps we will,\" Malcolm Struan said confidently, warmed by the memory of his famous ancestor, the tai-pan, Dirk Struan, founder of their company and main founder of the Colony twenty-odd years ago in '41.\n\nWithout being aware of what he was doing, Canterbury slipped out his small flask, tipped it back and drank, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slid the flask away. \"Let's go on. Best I lead, single file where necessary, forget the Jappers! Mr. Struan, perhaps you'd ride alongside the young lady, and Mr. Tyrer, you keep the rear.\" Very pleased with himself, he spurred his pony into a brisk walk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Angelique came alongside, Struan's eyes crinkled in a smile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had been openly in love with her from the first moment he had seen her four months ago in Hong Kong, the first day she arrived—to take the island by storm. Fair hair, perfect skin, deep blue eyes with a pleasing upturned nose in an oval face that was in no way pretty but possessed a strange, breathtaking attractiveness, very Parisian, her innocence and youth overlaid with a perceptible, constant, though unconscious sensuality that begged to be assuaged. And this in a world of men without eligible wives, without much hope of finding one in Asia, certainly never like her. Many of the men rich, a few of them merchant princes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Pay no attention to the natives, Angelique,\" he whispered, \"they're just awed by you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She grinned. Like an Empress, she bowed her head. \"Merci, Monsieur, vous êtes très aimable.\"\n\nStruan was very content and now, very sure. Fate, joss, God threw us together, he thought, elated, planning when he would ask her father's permission to marry. Why not Christmas?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Christmas will be perfect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We'll marry in the spring and live in the Great House on the Peak in Hong Kong. I know Mother and Father already adore her; my God, I hope he really is better. We'll give a huge Christmas party.\n\nOnce on the road they made good progress, taking care not to impede traffic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But, whether they liked it or not, their unexpected presence—the vast majority of incredulous Japanese had never seen people of this size and shape and coloring, particularly the girl—along with their top hats and frock coats, stovepipe trousers and riding boots, and her boots and riding habit and top hat with its saucy feather, and riding sidesaddle, inevitably created traffic jams." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both Canterbury and Struan watched those on the road carefully as the oncomers swirled past, around them, though always giving way to their progress. Neither man sensed or expected any danger. Angelique kept close, pretending to ignore the guffaws and gaping and the occasional hand that tried to touch her, shocked at the way many men carelessly tucked up their kimonos, exposing their skimpy loincloths and ample nakedness: \"Dearest Colette, you'll never believe me,\" she thought, continuing the letter she would complete tonight to her best friend in Paris, \"but the vast majority of the legions of porters on the public highway wear only these tiny loincloths that hide almost nothing in front and become a thin string between the buttocks behind! I swear it's true, and I can report that many of the natives are quite hairy though most of their parts are small. I wonder if Malcolm...\"\n\nShe felt herself flush." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The capital, Phillip,\" she said, making conversation, \"it is truly forbidden?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not according to the Treaty.\" Tyrer was vastly pleased. Only a few minutes and she had dropped the Monsieur. \"The Treaty arranged for all Legations to be in Yedo, the capital. I was told we evacuated Yedo last year after the attack on ours. Safer to be at Yokohama under the guns of the fleet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Attack? What attack?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, some madmen called ronin—they're some kind of outlaw, assassins—a dozen of them attacked our Legation in the middle of the night. The British Legation! Can you imagine the gall! The devils killed a sergeant and a sentry...\"\n\nHe stopped as Canterbury swung off the roadway and reined in and pointed with his riding crop. \"Look there!\"\n\nThey halted beside him. Now they could see the tall, thin banners held aloft by the ranks of samurai tramping around a bend towards them, a few hundred yards ahead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All travellers were scattering, bundles and palanquins hastily thrown to the ground, well out of the way, riders dismounting hurriedly, then everyone knelt on the sides of the roadway with heads bowed to the packed earth, men women children, and stayed motionless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only the few samurai remained standing. As the cortege passed, they bowed deferentially.\n\n\"Who is it, Phillip?\" Angelique asked excitedly. \"Can you read their signs?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sorry, no, not yet, Mademoiselle. They say it takes years to read and write their script.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer's happiness had evaporated at the thought of so much work ahead.\n\n\"It is the Shōgun perhaps?\"\n\nCanterbury laughed. \"No chance of that. If it was him they'd have this whole area cordoned off. They say he has a hundred thousand samurai at his slightest beck. But it'll be someone important, a king.\"\n\n\"What shall we do when they pass?\" she asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll give them the royal salute,\" Struan said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll doff our hats and give him three cheers. What will you do?\"\n\n\"Me, chéri?\" She smiled, liking him very much, remembering what her father had said before she had left Hong Kong for Yokohama: \"Encourage this Malcolm Struan, but with care, my little cabbage. I have already, discreetly. He would make a marvelous match for you, that's why I advocate this sightseeing trip to Yokohama, unchaperoned, providing he escorts you in one of his ships. In three days you're eighteen, time you were married. I know he's barely twenty and young for you, but he's smart, the eldest son, he'll inherit the Noble House in a year or so—it's rumored his father, Culum, the tai-pan, is much sicker than the company publicly allows.\"\n\n\"But he's British,\" she had said thoughtfully. \"You hate them, Papa, and say we should hate them. You do, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, little cabbage, but not publicly. Britain's the richest country in the world, the most powerful, in Asia they're king, and Struan's the Noble House—Richaud Frères are small. We would benefit immensely if we had their French business. Suggest it to him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, I couldn't, Papa, that would be... I couldn't, Papa.\"\n\n\"You're a woman now, not a child, my pet. Beguile him, then he will suggest it himself. Our future depends on you. Soon Malcolm Struan will be the tai-pan. And you—you could share it all...\"\n\nOf course I would adore such a husband, she thought. How wise Papa is!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How wonderful to be French, therefore superior." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's easy to like, perhaps even to love this Malcolm with his strange eyes and young old looks. Oh, I do so hope he asks me.\n\nShe sighed and turned her attention to the present. \"I will bow my head as we do in the Bois to His Majesty, the emperor Louis Napoléon. What is it, Phillip?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Perhaps we'd better turn back,\" Tyrer said uneasily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Everyone says they're touchy about us near their princes.\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" Canterbury said. \"There's no danger, never has been a mob attack—this isn't like India, or Africa or China. As I said, Japanners are mighty law-abiding. We're well within the Treaty limit and we'll do as we always do, just let them pass, raise your titfer politely as you would to any potentate, then we'll go on. You're armed, Mr. Struan?\"\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\n\"I'm not,\" Angelique said a little petulantly, watching the banners that now were barely a hundred yards away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think women should carry pistols if men do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were all shocked. \"Perish that thought. Tyrer?\"\n\nFeeling awkward Tyrer showed Canterbury the small derringer. \"It was a going-away present from my father. But I've never fired it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You won't need to, it's only the lone samurai you have to watch, the ones or twos, the anti-foreign fanatics. Or the ronins,\" then added without thinking, \"Not to worry, we haven't had any trouble for a year or more.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Trouble? What trouble?\" she asked.\n\n\"Nothing,\" he said, not wanting to concern her and trying to cover the slip. \"A few attacks by a few fanatics or two, nothing important.\"\n\nShe frowned. \"But Monsieur Tyrer said there was a mass attack on your British Legation and some soldiers were killed. That's not important?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That was important.\" Canterbury smiled thinly at Tyrer who read the message clearly: you're a bloody idiot to tell a lady anything of any importance!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But they were an isolated gang of cutthroats. The Shōgunate bureaucracy have sworn they'll catch them and punish them.\"\n\nHis voice sounded convincing, but he was wondering how much of the truth Struan and Tyrer knew: five men murdered on the streets of Yokohama in their first year. The next year two Russians, an officer and a sailor from a Russian man-of-war, hacked to death, again in Yokohama. A few months later two Dutch merchants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then the young interpreter at the British Legation in Kanagawa stabbed from behind and left to bleed to death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Heusken, the Secretary of the American Mission, butchered into a dozen pieces while riding home after a dinner party at the Prussian Legation. And last year a British soldier and sergeant cut down outside the Consul General's bedroom!\n\nEvery murder premeditated and unprovoked, he thought, incensed, and committed by a two-sworder. Never once was any offense given—and worst of all, never once has any bastard been caught and punished by the Shōgun's all-powerful Bakufu, however much our Legation Heads screamed, and however much the Jappers promised." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Our leaders are a bloody bunch of stupid bastards!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They should have ordered up the fleet at once and blown Yedo to hell, then all the terror would stop, we could sleep safe in our beds without guards, and walk our streets, any streets, without fear when any samurai's nearby. Diplomats are anus eaters and this young popinjay's a perfect specimen.\n\nSourly he watched the banners, trying to decipher the characters. Behind the cortege, once it had completely passed, travellers picked themselves up and went on again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Those going the same way as the column followed at a judicious distance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It felt curious to the four of them to be mounted and so high above the ragged lines of kneeling figures on both shoulders of the roadway, heads in the dust, rumps in the air. The three men tried not to notice the nakedness, embarrassed that she was there, equally embarrassed.\n\nThe ranks of samurai banner men approached relentlessly. There were two columns, each of about a hundred men, then more flags and massed ranks surrounding a black lacquered palanquin carried by eight sweating porters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More banners and samurai followed, then more leading pack ponies and last a motley crowd of ladened baggage porters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All samurai wore grey kimonos with the same insignia, three interlocking peonies, that was also on the banners, and straw hats tied under their chins. Two swords in their belts, one short, one long. Some had bows and arrows slung, a few carried muzzle-loading muskets. A few were more elaborately dressed than others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The columns bore down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With growing shock Struan and the others saw what was on all the faces, all eyes fixed on them: fury. He was the first to break the spell. \"I think we'd better move farther back...\"\n\nBut before he or any one of them could start, a young, broad-shouldered samurai broke ranks and charged up to them, closely followed by another man, planting himself between them and the approaching palanquin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Choking with rage, the first man threw down his banner and shouted, cursing them away, the suddenness of his blazing anger paralyzing them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The columns faltered, then picked up the cadence and continued passing. The kneeling people did not move. But now, over all was a great, sick silence, broken only by the sound of marching feet.\n\nAgain the samurai cursed them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Canterbury was nearest to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obediently, nauseated with fear, he spurred his pony. But the turn was inadvertently towards the palanquin, not in the other direction. At once the samurai jerked out his killing sword, shouted, \"sonnojoi!\" and hacked with all his might." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the same instant the other man went for Struan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The blow took off Canterbury's left arm just above his biceps and sliced into his side. The trader gaped at the stump with disbelief as blood sprayed onto the girl. The sword whirled in another brutal arc. Impotently Struan was groping for his revolver, the other samurai charging him, blade raised." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More by luck than judgment he twisted out of the path of a blow that wounded him slightly on his left leg and sliced into his pony's shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pony screamed and reared in sudden panic, knocking the man aside. Struan aimed and pulled the trigger of the small Colt, but the pony reared again and the bullet went into the air harmlessly. Frantically he tried to steady the animal and aimed again, not seeing that now the first man was attacking from his blind side.\n\n\"Watchouttt!\" Tyrer screeched, coming back to life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Everything had happened so fast it was almost as though he were imagining the horror—Canterbury on the ground in agony, his pony fleeing, the girl stupefied in her saddle, Struan pointing the gun a second time and the killing sword arching at his unprotected back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw Struan react to his warning, the frantic pony skittering at his touch, and the blow that would have killed him was deflected somehow by the bridle or pommel and sliced into his side. Struan lurched in his saddle and let out a howl of pain.\n\nThis galvanized Tyrer.\n\nHe jammed in his spurs and charged Struan's attacker." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man leapt aside untouched, noticed the girl and ran for her, sword on high." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer spun his terrified pony, saw Angelique staring at the approaching samurai in frozen horror. \"Get out of here, get help!\" he screamed, then again slammed at the man who once more twisted to safety, recovered perfectly, and stood with his sword in attack position.\n\nTime slowed. Phillip Tyrer knew he was dead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But that did not seem to matter now, for in the moment's respite he saw Angelique whirl her pony and flee safely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no room for Tyrer to escape, or time.\n\nFor a split second the youthful samurai hesitated, exulting in the killing moment, then leapt. Helplessly, Tyrer tried to back away. When the explosion happened, the bullet thrust the man sprawling and the sword failed, cutting Tyrer in the arm but not badly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment Tyrer did not believe that he was still alive, then he saw Struan reeling in his saddle, blood seeping from the wound in his side, the gun levelled at the other samurai, his frenzied pony twisting and cavorting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again Struan pulled the trigger. The gun was near the pony's ear. The explosion blew away her control and she took the bit and charged off, Struan barely able to hold on. At once the samurai rushed after him and this moment gave Tyrer the chance to dig in his spurs, spin away from the road and race in pursuit, northwards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sonno-joiiii!\" the samurai shouted after them, enraged that they had escaped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "John Canterbury was writhing and moaning in the dirt near some petrified travellers, all of them still kneeling, heads down and frozen. Angrily the youth kicked Canterbury's top hat aside and decapitated him with a single blow. Then, with great care, he cleansed his blade on the frock coat, and replaced it in its scabbard.\n\nAnd all the while the cortege continued to pass as though nothing was happening, that nothing had happened, eyes seeing everything but nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nor did any of the foot travellers move their heads from the earth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other younger samurai was sitting cross-legged on the ground, nursing his shoulder, using his bunched kimono to stop the flow of blood, his sword, still stained, in his lap. His compatriot went over to him and helped him up, cleansed the sword on the kimono of the nearest traveller, an old woman, who shivered in terror but kept her head pressed to the earth.\n\nBoth men were young and strongly built. They smiled at each other, then, together, examined the wound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bullet had gone right through the muscle of his upper arm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No bone touched. Shorin, the older, said, \"The wound's clean, Ori.\"\n\n\"We should have killed them all.\"\n\n\"Karma.\"\n\nAt this moment the massed samurai and the eight terrified porters carrying the palanquin began passing, all pretending the two men and the corpse did not exist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With great deference, the two youths bowed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tiny side window of the palanquin slid open, then closed again." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Here, Mr. Struan, drink this,\" the doctor said kindly, towering over the camp bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were in the surgery of the British Legation at Kanagawa and he had managed to stanch most of the blood flow. Tyrer sat on a chair near the window. The two of them had arrived half an hour ago. \"It will make you feel better.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Magic—mostly laudanum, that's a tincture of opium and morphine of my own devising. It will stop the pain. I have to patch you up a little but not to worry, I will use ether to put you quite to sleep.\"\n\nStruan felt a sick fear rush through him. Ether for surgery was a recent innovation, much heralded, but still experimental. \"I've—I've never had one or an—an operation and, and I don't... think...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't worry yourself. Anesthetics are really quite safe in the right hands.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dr. George Babcott was twenty-eight, well over six feet five and equally proportioned. \"I've used ether and chloroform many times over the last five or six years, with excellent results. Believe me, you won't feel anything, and it's a godsend to the patient.\"\n\n\"That's right, Mr. Struan,\" Tyrer said, trying to be helpful, knowing he was not. His arm already had been swabbed with iodine, sewn up and bandaged and in a sling and he was thanking his luck that his wound was relatively superficial." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I met a fellow at university who told me he had had his appendix out with chloroform, and it didn't hurt a bit.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wanted to sound reassuring, but the idea of any operation—and the gangrene that all too often followed—frightened him too.\n\n\"Don't forget, Mr. Struan,\" Babcott was saying, masking his concern, \"it's almost fifteen years since Dr. Simpson first used chloroform in surgery and we've learned a lot since then. I studied under him at the Royal Infirmary for a year before I went out to the Crimea.\" His face saddened. \"Learned a lot there too. Well, that war's over so not to worry, lovely laudanum will give you some erotic dreams too, if you're lucky.\"\n\n\"And if I'm not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're lucky. You're both very lucky.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Struan forced a smile through his pain. \"We're lucky we found you here and so quickly, that's certain.\" Instinctively trusting Babcott he drank the colorless liquid, and lay back again, almost fainting from the pain.\n\n\"We'll let Mr. Struan rest a moment,\" Babcott said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You'd better come with me, Mr. Tyrer, we've things to do.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course, Doctor. Struan, can I get you anything, do anything?\"\n\n\"No... no, thanks. No... no need for you to wait.\"\n\n\"Don't be silly, of course I'll wait.\" Nervously Tyrer followed the doctor out and closed the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is he going to be all right?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know. Fortunately samurai blades are always clean and they cut as beautifully as any scalpel. Excuse me a minute. I'm the only official here this afternoon, so now that I've done everything medically possible for the moment, I'd better act like Her Britannic Majesty's representative.\" Babcott was Deputy to Sir William. He ordered the Legation cutter across the bay to Yokohama to sound the alarm, sent a Chinese servant to fetch the local Governor, another to find out what daimyo, or prince, had passed through Kanagawa a couple of hours ago, put the six-man detachment of soldiers on alert, and poured Tyrer a large whisky. \"Drink it, it's medicinal. You say the assassins shouted something at you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, it, it sounded like 'sonoh... sonnoh-ee.'\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Means nothing to me. Make yourself at home. I'll be back in a moment, I've got to get ready.\" He went out.\n\nTyrer's arm was aching, with seven stitches in it. Though Babcott had been expert, Tyrer had been hard put not to cry out. But he had not and that pleased him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What appalled him were the currents of fear that continued to shake him, making him want to run away and keep on running." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're a coward,\" he muttered, aghast at the discovery.\n\nLike the surgery, the anteroom stank of chemicals, making his stomach heave. He went to the window and breathed deeply, trying unsuccessfully to clear his head, then sipped some of the whisky. As always the taste was raw and unpleasant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stared into the glass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bad pictures there, very bad. A shudder went through him. He forced himself to look just at the liquor. It was golden brown and the smell reminded him of his home in London, his father after dinner sitting in front of the fire with his dram, Mother complacently knitting, their two servants clearing the table, everything warm and cozy and safe, and that reminded him of Garroway's, his favorite coffee house on Cornhill, warm and bustling and safe, and of university, exciting and friendly but safe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Safe. His whole life safe. But now?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again panic began to overwhelm him. Jesus Christ, what am I doing here?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After their escape but still not far enough away from the Tokaidō, Struan's bolting pony had shied as her half-severed shoulder muscle gave out and Struan tumbled to the ground. The fall hurt him badly.\n\nWith great difficulty, still weak with fear, Tyrer had helped Struan onto his own pony, but he had been barely able to hold the taller, heavier man in the saddle. All the time his attention was on the disappearing cortege, expecting any moment to see mounted samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Can you hold on?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, yes, I think so.\" Struan's voice was very weak, his pain great. \"Angelique, she got away all right?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, she did. The devils killed Canterbury.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I saw that. Are... are you hurt?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, not really. I don't think so. Just a gash in my arm.\" Tyrer tore off his coat, cursed at the sudden pain. The wound was a neat slice in the fleshy part of his forearm. He cleaned some of the blood away with a handkerchief, then used it as a bandage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No veins or arteries cut—but why did they attack us? Why? We weren't doing any harm.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I... I can't turn around. The bastard got me in the side... How... how does it look?\"\n\nWith great care Tyrer eased the split in the broadcloth coat apart. The length and depth of the cut, made worse by the fall, shocked him. Blood pulsated from the wound, frightening him further." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's not good. We should get a doctor quickly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'd... we'd better... better circle for Yokohama.\"\n\n\"Yes... yes, I suppose so.\" The young man held on to Struan and tried to think clearly. People on the Tokaidō were pointing at them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His anxiety increased. Kanagawa was nearby and he could see several temples." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One of them must be ours,\" he muttered, a foul taste in his mouth. Then he saw that his hands were covered with blood and his heart again surged with fright, then surged again with relief when he discovered that most of it was Struan's. \"We'll go on.\"\n\n\"What... did you say?\"\n\n\"We'll go on to Kanagawa—it's close by and the way clear. I can see several temples, one of them must be ours. There's bound to be a flag flying.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "By Japanese custom, Legations were housed in sections of Buddhist temples." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only temples or monasteries had extra rooms or outbuildings of sufficient size and quantity, so the Bakufu had had some set aside until individual residences could be constructed.\n\n\"Can you hold on, Mr. Struan? I'll lead the pony.\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Struan looked across at his own mount as she whinnied miserably, tried to run again but failed, her leg useless. Blood ran down her side from the savage wound." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She stood there shivering." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Put her out of her pain and let's go on.\"\n\nTyrer had never shot a horse before. He wiped the sweat off his hands. The derringer had twin barrels and was breechloaded with two of the new bronze cartridges that held bullet and charge and detonator." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The pony skittered but could not go far." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stroked her head for a second, gentling her, put the derringer to her ear and pulled the trigger. The immediacy of her death surprised him. And the noise that the gun made. He put it back in his pocket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again he wiped his hands, everything still as in a trance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'd best stay away from the road, Mr. Struan, best stay out here, safer.\"\n\nIt took them much longer than he had expected, with ditches and streams to cross. Twice Struan almost lost consciousness, and Tyrer only just managed to keep him from falling again. Peasants in the rice paddies pretended not to see them, or stared at them rudely, then went back to their work, so Tyrer just cursed them and pressed onwards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The first temple was empty but for a few frightened, shaven-headed Buddhist monks in orange robes who scurried away into inner rooms the moment they saw them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a small fountain in the forecourt. Thankfully Tyrer drank some of the cool water, then refilled the cup and brought it to Struan, who drank but could hardly see for pain.\n\n\"Thanks. How... how much farther?\"\n\n\"Not far,\" Tyrer said, not knowing which way to go, trying to be brave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll be there any moment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here the path forked, one way going towards the coast and to another temple soaring above village houses, the other deeper into the town and another temple. For no reason he chose the way towards the coast.\n\nThe path meandered, ran back on itself then went east again, no people in the maze of alleys but eyes everywhere. Then he saw the main gate of the temple and the Union Jack and the scarlet-uniformed soldier and almost wept with relief and pride, for at once they were seen and the soldier rushed to help, another went for the Sergeant of the Guard and in no time there was Dr. Babcott towering over him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Christ Almighty, what the hell's happened?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had been easy to tell—there was so little to tell." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you ever assisted at an operation before?\"\n\n\"No, Doctor.\"\n\nBabcott smiled, his face and manner genial, his hands moving swiftly, undressing the half-conscious Malcolm Struan as easily as if he were a child. \"Well, soon you will have—good experience for you. I need help and I'm the only one here today. You'll be back in Yokohama by suppertime.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll... I'll try.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You'll probably be sick—it's the smell mostly, but not to worry. If you are, do it in the basin and not over the patient.\" Again Babcott glanced at him, gauging him, asking himself how reliable this young man might be, reading his bottled terror, then went back to work. \"We'll give him ether next and then off we go. You said you were in Peking?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, for four months—I came here by way of Shanghai and arrived a few days ago.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer was glad to be able to talk to help keep his mind off the horrors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Foreign Office thought a short stay in Peking learning Chinese characters would help us with Japanish.\"\n\n\"Waste of time. If you want to speak it—by the way, most of us out here call it Japanese, like Chinese—if you want to read and write it properly, Chinese characters won't help, hardly at all.\" He shifted the inert man to a more comfortable position. \"How much Japanese do you know?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer's unhappiness increased. \"Practically none, sir. Just a few words. We were told there would be Japanish—I mean Japanese—grammars and books in Peking, but there weren't any.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In spite of his enormous concern over this whole incident, Babcott stopped for a moment and laughed. \"Grammars are as rare as a dragon's dingle and there're no Japanese dictionaries that I know of, except Father Alvito's of 1601 and that's in Portuguese—which I've never even seen and only heard about—and the one Reverend Priny's been working on for years.\" He eased off Struan's white silk shirt, wet with blood. \"Do you speak Dutch?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Again just a few words. All student interpreters for Japan are supposed to have a six-month course, but the F.O. sent us off on the first available steamer. Why is Dutch the official foreign language used by the Japanese bureaucracy?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It isn't. The F.O. are wrong, and wrong about a lot of things. But it is the only European language presently spoken by a few Bakufu—I'm going to lift him slightly, you pull off his boots then his trousers, but do it gently.\"\n\nAwkwardly Tyrer obeyed, using his good left hand.\n\nNow Struan was quite naked on the surgical table. Beyond were the surgical instruments and salves and bottles." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Babcott turned away and put on a heavy, waterproofed apron." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Instantly Tyrer saw only a butcher. His stomach heaved and he just made the basin in time.\n\nBabcott sighed. How many hundreds of times have I vomited my heart out and then some more? But I need help, so this child has to grow up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come here, we have to work quickly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't, I just can't...\"\n\nAt once the doctor roughened his voice. \"You come over here right smartly and help or Struan will die and, before that I'll thump the hell out of you!\"\n\nTyrer stumbled over to his side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not here, for God's sake, opposite me! Hold his hands!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Struan opened his eyes briefly at Tyrer's touch and went back again into his nightmare, mouthing incoherently.\n\n\"It's me,\" Tyrer muttered, not knowing what else to say.\n\nOn the other side of the table Babcott had uncorked the small, unlabeled bottle and now he poured some of the yellowish oily liquid onto a thick linen pad. \"Hold him firmly,\" he said, and pressed the pad over Struan's nose and mouth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At once Struan felt himself being suffocated and grabbed at the pad, almost tearing it away with surprising strength." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For Christ sake, get hold of him,\" Babcott snarled. Again Tyrer grabbed Struan's wrists, forgetting his bad arm, and cried out but managed to hold on, the ether fumes revolting him. Still Struan struggled, twisting his head to escape, feeling himself dragged down into this never-ending cesspool. Gradually his strength waned, and vanished." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Excellent,\" Babcott said. \"Astonishing how strong patients are sometimes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned Struan onto his stomach, making his head comfortable, revealing the true extent of the wound that began in his back and came around just under the rib cage to end near his navel. \"Keep a close watch on him and tell me if he stirs—when I tell you, give him more ether...\" But Tyrer was again at the basin. \"Hurry up!\"\n\nBabcott did not wait, letting his hands flow, used to operating in far worse circumstances. Crimea with tens of thousands of soldiers dying-cholera, dysentery, smallpox mostly—and then all the wounded, the howls in the night and in the day, and then in the night the Lady of the Lamp who brought order out of chaos in military hospitals." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nurse Nightingale who ordered, cajoled, threatened, demanded, begged but somehow instituted her new ideas and cleansed that which was filthy, cast out hopelessness and useless death, yet still had time to visit the sick and the needy all hours of the night, her oil or candle lamp held high, lighting her passage from bed to bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't know how she did it,\" he muttered.\n\n\"Sir?\"\n\nMomentarily he looked up and saw Tyrer, white-faced, staring at him. He had quite forgotten him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was just thinking about the Lady of the Lamp,\" he said, allowing his mouth to talk, to calm himself—without letting this disturb his concentration on the sliced muscles and damaged veins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Florence Nightingale. She went out to the Crimea with just thirty-eight nurses and in four months cut the death rate from forty in every hundred to about two in every hundred.\"\n\nTyrer knew the statistic as every Englishman knew proudly that she had really founded the modern profession of nursing. \"What was she like-personally?\"\n\n\"Terrible, if you didn't keep everything clean and as she wanted it. Other wise she was Godlike—in its most Christian way. She was born in Florence, in Italy, hence her name—though she was English through and through.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\" Tyrer felt the doctor's warmth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wonderful. So wonderful. Did you know her well?\"\n\nBabcott's eyes did not waver from the wound, or from his wise fingers as they probed and found, as he had feared, the severed part of the intestine. He swore without noticing it. Delicately he began seeking the other end." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The stench increased. \"You were talking about Dutch. You know why some of the Japanners speak Dutch?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a violent effort, Tyrer tore his gaze away from the fingers and tried to close his nostrils. He felt his stomach twist. \"No, sir.\"\n\nStruan stirred. At once Babcott said, \"Give him more of the ether... that's right, don't press too firmly... good. Well done. How do you feel?\"\n\n\"Dreadful.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Never mind.\" The fingers began again, almost outside the doctor's will, then stopped." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gently they exposed the other part of the severed intestine. \"Wash your hands then give me the needle that's already threaded-there, on the table.\"\n\nTyrer obeyed.\n\n\"Good. Thanks.\" Babcott began the repair. Very accurately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"His liver's not hurt, bruised a little but not cut. His kidney's all right too. Ichiban—that's Japanese for 'very good.' I have a few Japanner patients. In return for my work I make them give me words and phrases. I'll help you learn if you like.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd... that would be wonderful—ichiban. Sorry I'm so useless.\"\n\n\"You're not. I hate doing this alone. I... well, I get frightened. Funny, but I do.\" For a moment his fingers filled the room.\n\nTyrer looked at Struan's face, no color now where an hour ago it was ruddy, and strong where now it was stretched and ominous, eyelids flickering from time to time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Strange, he thought, strange how unbelievably naked Struan seems now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two days ago I'd never even heard his name, now we're bonded like brothers, now life is different, will be different for both of us, like it or not. And I know he's brave and I'm not.\n\n\"Ah, you asked about Dutch,\" Babcott said, scarcely listening to himself, all his attention on the repairs. \"Since about 1640 the only contact Japanners have had with the outside, apart from China, has been with Dutchmen. All others were forbidden to land in Japan, particularly Spaniards and Portuguese. Japanners don't like Catholics because they meddled in their politics back in the 1600s. At one time, so legend says, Japan almost went Catholic. Do you know any of this?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, sir.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So the Dutch were tolerated because they'd never brought missionaries here, just wanted to trade.\" For a moment he stopped talking but his fingers continued the fine neat stitches. Then he rambled on again. \"So a few Hollanders—men, never women—were allowed to stay, but only with the most severe restrictions and confined on a man-made island of three acres in Nagasaki harbor called Deshima. The Dutch obeyed any law the Japanners made, and kowtowed—growing rich meanwhile. They brought in books, when they were allowed, traded, when they were allowed, and carried the China trade that's essential to Japan—Chinese silks and silver for gold, paper, lacquer, chopsticks—you know what those are?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, sir. I was in Peking for three months.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh yes, sorry, I forgot. Never mind. According to Dutch journals of the 1600s the first of the Toranaga Shōguns, their equivalent of emperors, decided foreign influence was against Japan's interests, so he closed the country and decreed that Japanners could not build any oceangoing ships, or leave the country—anyone who did could not come back, or if they returned, they were to be killed instantly. That's still the law.\" His fingers stopped for an instant as the delicate thread parted and he cursed. \"Give me the other needle. Can't get decent gut, though this silk's fine. Try to thread one of the others but wash your hands first and wash it when you're done. Thanks.\"\n\nTyrer was glad to have something to do and turned away, but his fingers were helpless." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His nausea was growing again, his head throbbing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You were saying, about the Dutch?\"\n\n\"Ah, yes. So, warily, Dutch and Japanners began learning from the other though the Dutch were officially forbidden to learn Japanese. Ten-odd years ago the Bakufu started a Dutch language school...\" Both men heard the running feet.\n\nHasty knock. The sweating Grenadier Sergeant stood there, trained never to enter while an operation was in progress. \"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but there's four of the rotten little buggers coming down the road. Looks like a deputation. They's all samurai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The doctor did not stop sewing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is Lim with them?\"\n\n\"Yessir.\"\n\n\"Escort them into the reception room and tell Lim to look after them. I'll be there as soon as I can.\"\n\n\"Yessir.\" The Sergeant took one last glazed look at the table, then fled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The doctor completed another stitch, knotted it, cut the thread, swabbed the oozing wound, and began anew." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lim's one of our Chinese assistants. Our Chinese do most of our leg work, not that they're Japanese speakers or—or very trustworthy.\"\n\n\"We... it was the same... we found it was the same in Peking, sir. Dreadful liars.\"\n\n\"The Japanners are worse—but in a way that's not true either. It's not that they're liars, it's just that truth is mobile and depends on the whim of the speaker. Very important for you to learn to speak Japanese very quickly. We don't have even one interpreter, not of our own people.\"\n\nTyrer gaped at him. \"None?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"None. The British padre speaks a little but we can't use him; Japanners detest missionaries and priests. We've only three Dutch speakers in the Settlement, one Hollander, one Swiss who's our interpreter, and a Cape Colony trader, none British. In the Settlement we speak a bastard sort of lingua franca called 'pidgin,' like in Hong Kong and Singapore and the other China Treaty ports and use compradores, business intercessors.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was the same in Peking.\"\n\nBabcott heard the irritation but more the underlying danger. He glanced up, instantly saw into Tyrer that he was near to breaking, ready to vomit again any second. \"You're doing fine,\" he said encouragingly, then straightened to ease his back, sweat running off him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again he bent down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Very carefully he resettled the repaired intestine into the cavity, quickly began to stitch another laceration, working outwards. \"How'd you like Peking?\" he asked, not caring but wanting Tyrer to talk. Better that than an outburst, he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Can't deal with him till this poor bugger's closed up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've never been there. Did you like it?\"\n\n\"I, well... yes, yes, very much.\" Tyrer tried to collect his wits through a blinding headache that racked him. \"The Manchus are quite subdued at the moment, so we could go anywhere we wanted quite safely.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Manchus, a nomadic tribe from Manchuria, had conquered China in 1644 and now ruled as the Ch'ing Dynasty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We could ride around without... without any problems... the Chinese were... not too friendly but...\" The closeness of the room and the smell crested. A spasm took him and he was sick again. Still nauseated, he came back. \"Sorry.\"\n\n\"You were saying—about Manchus?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Suddenly Tyrer wanted to scream that he cared nothing about Manchus or Peking or anything, wanting to run from the stench and his helplessness. \"The devil with—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Talk to me! Talk!\"\n\n\"We... we were told that... that normally they're an arrogant, nasty lot and it's obvious the Chinese hate Manchus mortally.\" Tyrer's voice was phlegmy but the more he concentrated the less he felt the urge to flee. He continued, hesitating, \"It... it seems they're all petrified the Tai'ping Rebellion will spread up from Nanking and engulf Peking, and that will be the end of...\" He stopped, listening intently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His mouth had a dreadful taste and his head pounded even more." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\"\n\n\"I... I thought I heard someone shouting.\"\n\nBabcott listened, hearing nothing. \"Go on about Manchus.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, the, er, the Tai'ping Rebellion. Rumor has it that more than ten million peasants have been killed or died of famine in the last few years. But it's quiet in Peking—of course, burning and looting the Summer Palace by British and French forces two years ago, which Lord Elgin ordered as a reprisal, also taught the Manchus a lesson they won't forget in a hurry. They aren't going to murder any more British lightly. Isn't that what Sir William will order here? A reprisal?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If we knew who to carry out the reprisal against we would have started. But against who? You can't bombard Yedo because of a few unknown assassins...\"\n\nAngry voices interrupted him, the Sergeant's English at odds with guttural Japanese. Then the door was jerked open by a samurai and behind him two others threatened the Sergeant, their swords half out of their scabbards; two Grenadiers with breechloaders levelled stood in the passageway. The fourth samurai, an older man, came forward into the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer backed against the wall, petrified, reliving Canterbury's death." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kinjiru!\" Babcott bellowed, and everyone froze. For a moment it looked as though the older man, furious now, would pull out his sword and attack. Then Babcott whirled and faced them, a scalpel in his enormous fist, blood on his hands and apron, gigantic and diabolical. \"Kinjiru!\" he ordered again, then pointed with the scalpel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Get out! Dete. Dete... dozo.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glared at all of them, then turned his back on them and continued sewing and swabbing. \"Sergeant, show them the reception room—politely!\"\n\n\"Yessir.\" With signs, the Sergeant beckoned to the samurai who chattered angrily amongst themselves. \"Dozo,\" he said, muttering." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come on, you rotten little bastards.\" Again he beckoned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The older samurai imperiously waved at the others and stomped off. At once the other three bowed and followed.\n\nAwkwardly Babcott wiped a bead of sweat off his chin with the back of his hand, then continued his work, his head and neck and back aching. \"Kinjiru means 'it is forbidden,'\" he said, making his voice calm though his heart was beating violently, as it always did when samurai were near with drawn or even half-drawn swords and he had no pistol or gun in his hands, cocked and ready." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Too many times he had been summoned to the result of their swords, against both Europeans and themselves—fights and samurai feuds were constant in and around Yokohama, Kanagawa and the surrounding villages." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dozo means please, dete, go out. Very important to use please and thank you with Japanese. Thank you is domo. Use them even if you shout.\" He glanced at Tyrer who was still against the wall, shaking. \"There's whisky in the cabinet.\"\n\n\"I'm... I'm all right...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're not, you're still in shock. Take a good dose of whisky. Sip it. Soon as I'm finished I'll give you something to stop the sickness. You-are-not-to-worry! Understand?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer nodded. Tears began streaming down his face that he could not stop and he found it difficult to walk. \"What's... what's the matter with... me?\" he gasped.\n\n\"Just shock, don't worry about it. It'll pass. It's normal in war and we're at war here. I'll be finished soon. Then we'll deal with those bastards.\"\n\n\"How... how will you do that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't know.\" An edge came into the doctor's voice, as he cleaned the wound again with a fresh square of linen from a dwindling pile—still much sewing to be done." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The usual, I suppose, just wave my hands and tell them our Minister will give them bloody hell and try to find out who attacked you. Of course they'll deny all knowledge of the affair, which is probably right—they never seem to know anything about anything. They're unlike any other people I've ever come across. I don't know whether they're just plain stupid, or clever and secretive to the point of genius. We can't seem to penetrate their society—nor can our Chinese—we've no allies amongst them, can't seem to bribe any of them to help us, we can't even speak to them directly. We're all so helpless. Are you feeling better?\"\n\nTyrer had taken a little whisky. Before that he had wiped the tears away, filled with shame, and washed his mouth and poured water on his head. \"Not really... but thanks. I'm all right. How about Struan?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a pause Babcott said, \"I don't know. You never truly know.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His heart surged at the sound of more footsteps, Tyrer blanched. A knock. The door opened immediately.\n\n\"Christ Jesus,\" Jamie McFay gasped, his whole attention on the bloody table and the great gash in Struan's side. \"Is he going to be all right?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, Jamie,\" Babcott said. \"You heard about—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, we've just come from the Tokaidō, tracking Mr. Struan on the off chance. Dmitri's outside. You all right, Mr. Tyrer? The bastards butchered poor old Canterbury into a dozen pieces and left the bits to the crows...\" Tyrer lurched for the basin again. Uneasily, McFay stayed at the door. \"For Christ's sake, George, is Mr. Struan going to be all right?\"\n\n\"I don't know!\" Babcott flared, his never-ending impotence at not knowing erupting as anger, not understanding why some patients lived and others less wounded did not, why some wounds rotted and others healed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's lost pints of blood; I've repaired a severed intestine, three lacerations, there are three veins and two muscles yet to be done and the wound closed, and Christ alone knows how much foulness has got in from the air to infect him if that's where disease or gangrene comes from. I don't know! I-don't-bloody-know! Now get to hell out of here and deal with those four Bakufu bastards and find out who did this, by God.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, certainly, sorry, George,\" McFay said, beside himself with worry, and shocked at the violence from Babcott, who was usually imperturbable, adding hastily, \"we'll try—Dmitri's with me—but we know who did it, we leaned on a Chinese shopkeeper in the village. It's damn strange, the samurai were all from Satsuma and—\"\n\n\"Where the hell's that?\"\n\n\"He said it's a kingdom near Nagasaki on the south island, six or seven hundred miles away and—\"\n\n\"What the hell are they doing here, for God's sake?\"\n\n\"He didn't know, but he swore they were overnighting at Hodogaya—Phillip, that's a way station on the Tokaidō a few miles from here—and their king was with them.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like James Clavell and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sanjiro, Lord of Satsuma, eyes slitted and pitiless—a heavyset, bearded man of forty-two, his swords priceless, his blue over-mantle the finest silk-looked at his most trusted advisor. \"Was the attack a good thing or a bad thing?\"\n\n\"It was good, Sire,\" Katsumata said softly, knowing there were spies everywhere. The two men were alone, kneeling opposite each other, in the best quarters of an inn at Hodogaya, a village way station on the Tokaidō, barely two miles inland from the Settlement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why?\" For six centuries Sanjiro's ancestors had ruled Satsuma, the richest and most powerful fief in all Japan—except for those of his hated enemies, the Toranaga clans—and, as zealously, had guarded its independence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It will create trouble between the Shōgunate and gai-jin,\" Katsumata said. He was a thin, steel-hard man, a master swordsman and the most famous of all Sensei—teachers—of martial arts in Satsuma province. \"The more those dogs are in conflict the sooner they will clash, the sooner the clash the better, for that will help bring down the Toranagas and their puppets at last, and let you install a new Shōgunate, a new Shōgun, new officials, with Satsuma preeminent and yourself one of a new roju.\" Roju was another name for the Council of Five Elders that ruled in the name of the Shōgun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the roju?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why only one? Sanjiro thought secretly. Why not Chief Minister? Why not Shogun—I have all the necessary lineage. Two and a half centuries of Toranaga Shōguns is more than enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nobusada, the fourteenth, should be the last—by my father's head, will be the last!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This Shōgunate had been established by the warlord Toranaga in 1603 after winning the battle of Sekigahara, where his legions took forty thousand enemy heads. With Sekigahara he eliminated all practical opposition and, for the first time in history, had subdued Nippon, the Land of the Gods, as Japanese called their country, and brought it under one rule.\n\nAt once this brilliant general and administrator, now holding absolute temporal power, gratefully accepted the title Shōgun, the highest rank a mortal could have, from a powerless Emperor—which confirmed him, legally, as Dictator. Quickly he made his Shōgunate hereditary, at once decreeing that, in future, all temporal matters were the sole province of the Shōgun, all spiritual matters the Emperor's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the last eight centuries the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, and his court had lived in seclusion in the walled Imperial Palace at Kyōto." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once a year, only, he came outside the walls to visit the sacred Ise shrine, but even then he was hidden from all eyes, his face never seen in public. Even inside the walls he was screened from all but his most immediate family by zealous, hereditary officials and ancient, mystic protocols.\n\nThus the warlord who had physical possession of the Palace Gates decided who went in and who came out, had de facto possession of the Emperor and his ear, and thus his influence and power. And though all Japanese absolutely believed him to be divine, and accepted him as the Son of Heaven, and descended from the Sun Goddess in an unbroken line since time began, by historic custom the Emperor and his court retained no armies, and had no revenue other than that granted by the warlord at his Gates—yearly at the man's whim." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For decades Shōgun Toranaga, his son and grandson, ruled with wise though ruthless control." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Following generations loosened their hold, lesser officials usurped more and more power, gradually making their own offices hereditary too. The Shōgun remained titular head but, over a century or more, had become a puppet—but always and only selected from the Toranaga line, as was the Council of Elders. The present Shōgun, Nobusada, was chosen four years ago when he was twelve.\n\nAnd not long for this earth, Sanjiro promised himself, and came back to the present problem which disturbed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Katsumata, the killings, though merited, may provoke the gai-jin too much and that would be bad for Satsuma.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I do not see any bad, Sire. The Emperor wants the gai-jin expelled, as you do, as do most daimyos. That the two samurai are Satsumas will also please the Emperor. Do not forget your mission to Yedo was accomplished perfectly.\"\n\nThree months ago Sanjiro had persuaded Emperor Komei, through intermediaries at the Imperial court in Kyōto, personally to sign several \"wishes\" Sanjiro had suggested, and to appoint him escort to an Imperial Messenger who would formally deliver the scroll in Yedo which would ensure its acceptance—a \"wish\" of the Emperor, if accepted, was difficult to refuse, sometimes. For the last two months he had led the negotiations and as much as the Elders and their Bakufu officials twisted and turned, he had dominated them and now had their written assent to certain reforms bound to weaken the whole Shōgunate. Importantly he now had their formal consent to cancel the hated Treaties, signed against the Emperor's wishes, to expel the hated gai-jin and to close the land as it was before the unwelcome arrival and forced entry of Perry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Meanwhile, what about those two fools who broke ranks and killed without orders?\" Sanjiro asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Any act that embarrasses the Bakufu helps you.\"\n\n\"I agree the gai-jin were provocative. Those vermin had no right to be anywhere near me. My banner and the Imperial banner were in the front rank forbidding it.\"\n\n\"So let the gai-jin bear the consequences of their act: they forced their way onto our shores against our wishes and have the Yokohama foothold. With the men we have now, and a surprise attack by night, we could obliterate the Settlement and burn the surrounding villages easily. We could do it tonight and solve the problem permanently.\"\n\n\"Yokohama, yes, with a sudden attack. But we cannot get at their fleets, we cannot squash them and their cannon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, Sire. And the gai-jin would retaliate at once. Their fleet would bombard Yedo and destroy it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree, and the sooner the better. But that would not destroy the Shōgunate and after Yedo they would go against me, they would attack my capital, Kagoshima. I cannot risk that.\"\n\n\"I believe Yedo would satisfy them, Sire. If their base is burnt they would have to go back aboard their ships and sail away, back to Hong Kong. Sometime in the future they may come back, but then they must land in strength to erect a new base. Worse for them, they must use land forces to maintain it.\"\n\n\"They humbled China. Their war machine is invincible.\"\n\n\"This isn't China and we are not mealymouthed, cowardly Chinese to be bled to death or frightened to death by these carrion. They say they just want to trade. Good, you want to trade too, for guns, cannon and ships.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Katsumata smiled and added delicately, \"I suggest if we burn and destroy Yokohama—of course, we pretend the attack is at the Bakufu's request, the Shōgun's request—when the gai-jin return, whoever controls the Shōgunate then would reluctantly agree to pay a modest indemnity and, in return, the gai-jin will happily agree to tear up their shameful Treaties and trade on any terms we decide to impose.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They would attack us at Kagoshima,\" Sanjiro said. \"We could not repel them.\"\n\n\"Our bay is hazardous for shipping, not open like Yedo; we have secret shore batteries, secret Dutch cannon; we grow stronger every month. Such an act of war by gai-jin would unite all daimyo, all samurai, and the whole land into an irresistible force under your banner. Gai-jin armies cannot win on land. This is the Land of the Gods, the gods will come to our aid too,\" Katsumata said fervently, not believing it at all, manipulating Sanjiro as he had done for years. \"A divine wind, a kamikaze wind, destroyed the armadas of the Mongol Kublai Khan six hundred years ago, why not again?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"True,\" Sanjiro said. \"The gods saved us then. But gai-jin are gai-jin and vile and who knows what mischief they can invent? Foolish to invite a sea attack until we've warships—though, yes, the gods are on our side and will protect us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Katsumata laughed to himself. There are no gods, any gods, or heaven, or life after death. Stupid to believe otherwise, stupid gai-jin and their stupid dogma. I believe what the great Dictator General Nakamura said in his death poem, From nothing into nothing, Osaka Castle and all that I have ever done is but a dream within a dream." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The gai-jin Settlement is within your grasp like never before. Those two youths awaiting judgment pointed a way. I beg you take it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He hesitated and dropped his voice even more.\n\n\"Rumor has it, Sire, secretly they are shishi.\"\n\nSanjiro's eyes narrowed even more.\n\nShishi—men of spirit, so called because of their bravery and deeds—were young revolutionaries who were spearheading an unheard-of revolt against the Shōgunate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They were a recent phenomenon, thought to number only about a hundred and fifty throughout the land." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To the Shōgunate and most daimyos they were terrorists and madmen to be stamped out.\n\nTo most samurai, particularly rank-and-file warriors, they were loyalists waging an all-consuming battle for good, wanting to force the Toranagas to relinquish the Shōgunate and restore all power to the Emperor, from whom, they fervently believed, it had been usurped by the warlord Toranaga, two and a half centuries ago.\n\nTo many commoners and peasants and merchants, and particularly to the Floating World of geishas and Pleasure Houses, shishi were the stuff of legends, sung about, wept over, and adored.\n\nAll were samurai, young idealists, the majority coming from the fiefs of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa, a few were fanatic xenophobes, most were ronin—wave men, because they were as free as the waves—masterless samurai, or samurai who had been outcast by their lord for disobedience, or a crime, and had fled their province to escape punishment, or those who had fled by choice, believing in a new, outrageous heresy: that there could be a higher duty than that due their lord, or their family, a duty to the ruling Emperor alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A few years ago the growing shishi movement had formed themselves into small, secret cells, committing themselves to rediscover bushido—ancient samurai practices of self-discipline, duty, honor, death, swordsmanship and other warlike pursuits, arts long since lost—except for a few Sensei who had kept bushido alive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lost because for the last two and a half centuries Japan had been at peace under rigid Toranaga rule that forbade warlike pursuits, where, for centuries before, there had been total civil war.\n\nCautiously the shishi began to meet and discuss and to plan. Swordsmanship schools became centers of discontent. Zealots and radicals appeared in their midst, some good, some bad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But one common thread joined them—all were fanatically anti-Shōgunate, and opposed to allowing Japanese ports to be opened to foreigners and foreign trade." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To this end, for the last four years, they had waged sporadic attacks on gai-jin, and begun to articulate an unprecedented, all-out revolt against the legal ruler, Shōgun Nobusada, the all-powerful Council of Elders and Bakufu that in theory did his bidding, regulating all aspects of life.\n\nThe shishi had conjured up an all-embracing slogan, Sonnojoi: Honor the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians, and had sworn, whatever the cost, to remove anyone in the way.\n\n\"Even if they are shishi,\" Sanjiro said angrily, \"I cannot allow such a public disobedience to go unpunished, however merited—I agree those gai-jin should have dismounted and knelt, as customary, and behaved like civilized persons; yes, it was they who provoked my men. But that does not excuse those two.\"\n\n\"I agree, Sire.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then give me your advice,\" he said irritably." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If they're shishi as you say and I crush them, or order them to commit seppuku, I will be assassinated before the month is out, however many my guards—don't attempt to deny it, I know. Disgusting their power is so strong though most are common goshi.\"\n\n\"Perhaps that is their strength, Sire,\" Katsumata had replied. Goshi were the lowest rank of samurai, their families mostly penniless country samurai, hardly more than the warrior peasants of olden times with almost no hope of getting an education, therefore no hope of advancement, no hope of getting their views acted upon, or even heard by officials of low rank, let alone daimyo. \"They've nothing to lose but their lives.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If anyone has a grievance I listen, of course I listen. Special men get special education, some of them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why not allow them to lead the attack on the gai-jin?\"\n\n\"And if there is no attack? I cannot hand them over to the Bakufu, unthinkable, or to the gai-jin!\"\n\n\"Most shishi are just young idealists, without brains or purpose. A few are troublemakers and outlaws who are not needed on this earth. However, some could be valuable, if used correctly—a spy told me the oldest, Shorin, was part of the team that assassinated Chief Minister Ii.\"\n\n\"So ka!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like James Clavell would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now in the audience room a maid was serving Sanjiro tea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Katsumata sat beside him. Around stood ten of his personal bodyguard. All were armed. The two youths kneeling below and in front of him were not, though their swords lay on the tatami within easy reach. Their nerves were stretched but they showed none of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The maid bowed and left, hiding her fear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sanjiro did not notice her going. He lifted the exquisite little porcelain cup from the tray, sipped the tea. The tea's taste was good to him and he was glad to be ruler and not ruled, pretending to study the cup, admiring it, his real attention on the youths. They waited impassively, knowing the time had come." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He knew nothing about them except what Katsumata had told him: that both were goshi, foot soldiers like their fathers before them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Each had a stipend of one koku yearly—a measure of dry rice, about five bushels, considered enough to feed one family for one year. Both came from villages near Kagoshima. One was nineteen, the other, who had been wounded and now had his arm bound, was seventeen. Both had been to the select samurai school at Kagoshima that gave extra training, including studies of carefully chosen Dutch manuals, which he had begun twenty years ago for those showing special aptitudes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both had been good students, both were unmarried, both spent their spare time perfecting their swordsmanship and learning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both were eligible for promotion sometime in the future. The older was called Shorin Anato, the younger Ori Ryoma.\n\nThe silence became heavier.\n\nAbruptly he began talking to Katsumata as though the two youths did not exist: \"If any of my men, however worthy, however much provoked, whatever the reason, were to commit a violent act that I had not authorized and they remained within my reach, I would certainly have to deal with them severely.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, Sire.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw the glint in his counselor's eyes. \"Stupid to be disobedient. If such men wanted to remain alive their only recourse would be to flee and become ronin, even if they were to lose their stipends. A waste of their lives if they happened to be worthy.\" Then he looked at the youths, scrutinizing them carefully. To his surprise he saw nothing on their faces, just the same grave impassivity. His caution increased." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You are quite correct, Sire. As always.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Katsumata added, \"It might be that some such men, if special men of honor, knowing that they had disturbed your harmony, knowing you would have no other option than to punish them severely, these special men even as ronin would still guard your interests, perhaps even forward your interests.\"\n\n\"Such men do not exist,\" Sanjiro said, secretly delighted his counselor agreed with him. He turned his pitiless eyes onto the young men. \"Do they?\"\n\nBoth youths tried to maintain their direct gaze but they were overwhelmed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They dropped their glance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shorin, the older, muttered, \"There—there are such men, Sire.\"\n\nThe silence became rougher as Sanjiro waited for the other youth to declare himself also. Then the younger Ori nodded his bowed head imperceptibly, put both hands flat on the tatami and bowed lower. \"Yes, Lord, I agree.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sanjiro was content, for now, at no cost, he had their allegiance and two spies within the movement—whom Katsumata would be answerable for." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Such men would be useful, if they existed.\" His voice was curt and final. \"Katsumata, write an immediate letter to the Bakufu, informing them two goshi called...\" he thought a moment, paying no attention to the rustle in the room, \"put whatever names you like... broke ranks and killed some gai-jin today because of their provocative and insolent attitude—the gai-jin were armed with pistols which they pointed threateningly at my palanquin. These two men, provoked, as all my men were, escaped before they could be caught and bound.\" He looked back at the youths." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"As to you two, you will both come back at the first night watch for sentencing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Katsumata said quickly, \"Sire, may I suggest you add in the letter that they have been ordered outcast, declared ronin, their stipends cancelled and a reward offered for their heads.\"\n\n\"Two koku. Post it in their villages when we return.\" Sanjiro turned his eyes on Shorin and Ori and waved his hand in dismissal. They bowed deeply and left." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the youths left Sanjiro and had passed through the rings of bodyguards, Katsumata caught up with them. \"Follow me.\" He led the way through meandering gardens to a side door that was unguarded.\n\n\"Go at once to Kanagawa, to the Inn of the Midnight Blossoms. It is a safe house, other friends will be there. Hurry!\"\n\n\"But, Sensei,\" Ori said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"First we must collect our other swords and armor and money and—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Silence!\" Angrily Katsumata reached into his kimono sleeve and gave them a small purse with a few coins in it. \"Take this, and return double for your insolence. At sunset I will order men to go after you with orders to kill you if you're caught within one ri.\" A ri was about a league, about three miles.\n\n\"Yes, Sensei, I apologize for being so rude.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your apology is not accepted. You are both fools. You should have killed all four barbarians, not just one—particularly the girl, for that would have sent the gai-jin mad with rage! How many times have I told you? They're not civilized like us, and view the world, religion and women differently! You're inept! You're fools! You initiated a good attack then failed to press forward ruthlessly without concern for your own lives. You hesitated! So you lost! Fools!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he said again. \"You forgot everything I've taught you.\" Enraged, he backhanded Shorin in the face, the blow savage.\n\nAt once Shorin bowed, mumbled an abject apology for causing the Sensei to lose wa, to lose inner harmony, keeping his head bowed, desperately trying to contain the pain. Ori stayed ramrod stiff, waiting for the second blow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It left a livid burn in its wake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Immediately he, too, apologized abjectly, and kept his throbbing head bowed, afraid. Once a fellow student, the best swordsman amongst them, had answered Katsumata rudely during a practice fight. Without hesitation, Katsumata had sheathed his sword, attacked barehanded, disarmed him, humiliated him, broke both his arms and expelled him to his village forever.\n\n\"Please excuse me, Sensei,\" Shorin said, meaning it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Go to the Inn of the Midnight Blossoms. When I send a message, obey whatever I require of you at once, there will be no second chance! At once, understand?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, yes, Sensei, please excuse me,\" they mumbled together, tucked up their kimonos and fled, thankful to be out of his reach, more frightened of him than of Sanjiro. Katsumata had been their main teacher for years, in both the arts of war and, in secret, other arts: strategy, past, present and of the future, why the Bakufu had failed in their duty, the Toranagas in theirs, why there must be change and how to bring it about. Katsumata was one of the few clandestine shishi who was hatomoto—an honored retainer with instant access to his lord—a senior samurai with a personal yearly stipend of a thousand koku.\n\n\"Eeee, to be so rich,\" Shorin had whispered to Ori when they had first found out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Money is nothing, nothing. The Sensei says when you have power you don't need money.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree, but think of your family, your father and mine, and grandfather, they could buy some land of their own and not have to work the fields of others—nor would we have to work like that from time to time to earn extra.\"\n\n\"You're right,\" Ori said.\n\nThen Shorin had laughed. \"No need to worry, we'll never get even a hundred koku and if we had it we'd just spend our share on girls and saké and become daimyos of the Floating World. A thousand koku is all the money in the world!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, it's not,\" Ori had said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't forget what the Sensei told us.\"\n\nDuring one of Katsumata's secret sessions for his special group of acolytes he had said: \"The revenue of Satsuma amounts to seven hundred and fifty thousand koku and belongs to our lord, the daimyo, to apportion as he sees fit. That's another custom the new administration will modify. When the great change has happened, a fief's revenue will be portioned out by a Council of State, made up of wise men drawn from any rank of samurai, high or low, of any age, provided the man has the necessary wisdom and has proved himself a man of honor. It will be the same in all fiefs, as the land will be governed by a Supreme Council of State in Yedo or Kyōto, drawn equally from samurai of honor—under the guidance of the Son of Heaven.\"\n\n\"Sensei, you said any? May I ask, will that include the Toranagas?\" Ori had asked.\n\n\"There will be no exception, if the man is worthy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sensei, please, about the Toranagas. Does anyone know their real wealth, the lands they really control?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"After Sekigahara, Toranaga took lands from dead enemies worth yearly about five million koku, about a third of all the wealth of Nippon, for himself and his family. In perpetuity.\"\n\nIn the stunned silence that followed, Ori had said for all of them: \"With that amount of wealth we could have the greatest navy in the world with all the men-of-war and cannon and guns we could ever need, we could have the best legions with the best guns, we could throw out all gai-jin!\"\n\n\"We could even carry war to them and extend our shores,\" Katsumata had added softly, \"and correct previous shame.\"\n\nAt once they had known he was referring to the tairō, General Nakamura, Toranaga's immediate predecessor and liege lord, the great peasant-general who then possessed the Gates and had therefore, in gratitude, been granted by the Emperor the highest possible title a lowborn could aspire to, tairō, meaning Dictator—not that of Shōgun, which he coveted to obsession but could never have." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the dusk the youths were tiring, their headlong flight racking them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But neither wanted to be the first to admit it so they pressed on until they were at the threshold of woods. Ahead now were paddy swamps on either side of the Tokaidō that led to the outskirts of Kanagawa just ahead, and to the roadblock. The shore was to their right.\n\n\"Let's... let's stop a moment,\" Ori said, his wounded arm throbbing, head hurting, chest hurting, but not showing it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right.\" Shorin was panting as hard and hurting as much but he laughed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're weak, like an old woman.\" He picked a dry patch of earth, sat down gratefully. With great care he began to look around, trying to regain his breathing.\n\nThe Tokaidō was almost empty, night travel being generally forbidden by the Bakufu and subject to severe cross-questioning and punishment if not justified." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Several porters and the last of the travellers scurried for the Kanagawa barrier, all others safely bathing or carousing at the Inns of their choice—of which there was a multitude within the post towns." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Throughout the land, trunk road barriers closed at nightfall and were not opened until dawn, and always guarded by local samurai.\n\nAcross the bay Shorin could see the oil lamps along the promenade and in some of the houses of the Settlement, and amongst the ships at anchor. A good moon, half full, was rising from near the horizon.\n\n\"How is your arm, Ori?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fine, Shorin. We are more than a ri from Hodogaya.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, but I won't feel safe until we're at the Inn.\" Shorin began massaging his neck to try to ease the pain there and in his head. Katsumata's blow had stunned him. \"When we were before Lord Sanjiro I thought we were finished, I thought he was going to condemn us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So did I.\" As he spoke Ori felt sick, his arm throbbing like his heaving chest, his face still afire." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With his good hand he waved absently at a swarm of night insects. \"If he... I was ready to go for my sword and send him on before us.\"\n\n\"So was I but the Sensei was watching very closely and he would have killed both of us before we moved.\"\n\n\"Yes, you're right again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The younger man shuddered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His blow almost took my head off. Eeee, to have such strength, unbelievable! I'm glad he's on our side, not against us. He saved us, only him; he bent Lord Sanjiro to his will.\" Ori was suddenly somber. \"Shorin, while I was waiting I... to keep myself strong, I composed my death poem.\"\n\nShorin became equally grave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"May I hear it?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\n\nSonnojoi at sunset,\n\nNothing wasted\n\nInto nothing\n\nI spring.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shorin thought about the poem, savoring it, the balance of the words and the third level of meaning. Then he said solemnly, \"It is wise for a samurai to have composed a death poem. I haven't managed that yet but I should, then all the rest of life is extra.\" He twisted his head from side to side to the limit, the joints or ligaments cracking, and he felt better. \"You know, Ori, the Sensei was right: we did hesitate, therefore we lost.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I hesitated, he's right in that, I could have killed the girl easily but she paralyzed me for a moment. I've never... her outlandish clothes, her face like a strange flower with that huge nose more like a monstrous orchid with two great blue spots and crowned with yellow stamens—those unbelievable eyes, Siamese cat eyes and thatch of straw under that ridiculous hat, so repulsive yet so—so attracting.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori laughed nervously. \"I was bewitched. She is surely a kami from the dark regions.\"\n\n\"Rip her clothes off and she'd be real enough, but how attractive I... I don't know.\"\n\n\"I thought of that too, wondering what it would be like.\" Ori looked up at the moon for a moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I pillowed with her I think... I think I'd become the male spider to her female.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You mean she'd kill you afterwards?\"\n\n\"Yes, if I pillowed her, with or without force, that woman would kill me.\" Ori waved the air, the insects becoming a pestilence. \"I've never seen one like her—nor have you. You noticed too, neh?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, everything happened so fast and I was trying to kill the big ugly one with the pistol and then she had fled.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori stared at the faint lights of Yokohama. \"I wonder what she's called, what she did when she got back there. I've never seen—she was so ugly and yet...\"\n\nShorin was unsettled. Normally Ori hardly noticed women, just used them when he had a need, let them entertain him, serve him. Apart from his adored sister, he could not remember Ori ever discussing one before. \"Karma.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, karma.\" Ori shifted his bandage to be more comfortable, but the throbbing deepened." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood seeped from under it. \"Even so, I do not know if we lost. We must wait, we must be patient and see what will happen. We always planned to go against gai-jin at the first opportunity—I was right to go against them at that moment.\"\n\nShorin got up. \"I'm tired of seriousness, and kami and death. We'll know death soon enough. The Sensei gave us life for sonnojoi. From nothing into nothing—but tonight we've another night to enjoy. A bath, saké, food, then a real Lady of the Night, succulent and sweet-smelling and moist...\" He laughed softly. \"A flower, not an orchid, with a beautiful nose and proper eyes. Let's—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He stopped. Eastwards, from the direction of Yokohama, came the echoing report of a ship's signal cannon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then a signal rocket briefly lit the darkness.\n\n\"Is that usual?\"\n\n\"I don't know.\" Ahead they could just see the lamps at the first barrier. \"Through the paddy is better, then we can skirt the guards.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes. Better we cross the road here and go closer to the shore. They won't expect intruders that way, we can avoid any patrols, and the Inn is nearer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They ran across the road, keeping well down, then up onto one of the paths that transversed the fields recently planted with winter rice. Suddenly they stopped. From the Tokaidō came the clatter of approaching horses and jingling harness. They ducked down, waited a moment, then gasped. Ten uniformed dragoons, armed with carbines and led by an officer, cantered out of the curve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At once the soldiers were spotted by samurai at the barrier, who called out a warning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Others rushed from the huts to join them. Soon there were twenty lined up behind the barrier, an officer at their head.\n\n\"What shall we do, Ori?\" Shorin whispered.\n\n\"Wait.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "As they watched the senior samurai held up his hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop!\" he called out, then nodded slightly instead of a bow, correct etiquette from a superior to an inferior. \"Is your night travel authorized? If so please give me the papers.\"\n\nOri's fury soared as he saw the open insolence of the gai-jin officer who halted about ten paces from the barrier, called out something in his strange language and imperiously motioned to the samurai to open it, neither dismounting nor bowing courteously as custom demanded.\n\n\"How dare you be so rude! Leave!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "the samurai said angrily, not expecting the insult, waving them away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The gai-jin officer barked an order. At once his men unslung their carbines, levelled them at the samurai, then on an abrupt second order, fired a disciplined volley into the air. At once they reloaded and aimed directly at the guards, almost before the sound of the volley had died away, leaving a vast ominous silence throughout the landscape.\n\nShorin and Ori gasped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For all time guns had been muzzle-loaded with powder and shot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Those are breechloading rifles, with the new cartridges,\" Shorin whispered excitedly. Neither had ever seen these recent inventions, had only heard of them. The samurai were equally shocked. \"Eeee, did you notice how fast they reloaded? I heard a soldier can easily fire ten rounds to one of a muzzle loader.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But did you see their discipline, Shorin, and that of the horses? They hardly moved!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once more the gai-jin officer haughtily motioned them to open the barrier, no mistaking the threat that if he was not obeyed quickly, all the samurai were dead.\n\n\"Let them through,\" the senior samurai said.\n\nThe Dragoon officer disdainfully spurred forward, apparently without fear, his grim-faced men following, their guns ready. None of them acknowledged the guards or returned their polite bows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This will be reported at once and an apology demanded!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the samurai said, enraged with their insulting behavior, trying not to show it.\n\nOnce they had passed through, the barrier was replaced and Ori whispered furiously, \"What foul manners! But against those guns what could he do?\"\n\n\"He should have charged and killed them before he died. I could not do what that coward did—I would have charged and died,\" Shorin said, knees trembling with anger.\n\n\"Yes. I think...\" Ori stopped, his own anger evaporating at his sudden thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come on,\" he whispered urgently." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll find out where they're going—perhaps we can steal some of those guns.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The royal Naval longboat came out of the twilight and sped for the Kanagawa jetty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was strongly built of stone and wood, unlike the others that speckled the shore, and boldly signposted in English and Japanese script: Property of H.M. British Legation, Kanagawa—trespassers will be prosecuted. The longboat was rowed briskly by sailors and crammed with armed marines. A thin band of scarlet still rimmed the western horizon. The sea was choppy, the moon rising nicely with a fair wind jostling the clouds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the Legation Grenadiers waited at the end of the wharf." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beside him was a round-faced Chinese wearing a long, high-necked gown, and carrying an oil lamp on a pole.\n\n\"Oars ho!\" the Bosun ordered. At once all oars were shipped, the bowman leaped onto the wharf and tied the boat to a bollard, marines followed rapidly in disciplined order and formed up defensively, guns ready, their Sergeant studying the terrain. In the stern was a naval officer. And Angelique Richaud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He helped her ashore." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"'Evening, sir, Ma'am,\" the Grenadier said, saluting the officer. \"This here's Lun, he's a Legation assistant.\"\n\nLun gawked at the girl. \"Ev'nin, sah, you cumalong plenty quick quick, heya? Missy cumalong never mind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Angelique was nervous and anxious and wore a bonnet and a blue silk hooped dress with a shawl to match that set off her paleness and fair hair to perfection." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mr. Struan, how is he?\"\n\nThe soldier said kindly, \"Don't know, Ma'am, Miss. Doc Babcott, he's the best in these waters, so the poor man will be all right if it's God's will. He'll be proper pleased to see you—been asking for you. We didn't expect you till morning.\"\n\n\"And Mr. Tyrer?\"\n\n\"He's fine, Miss, just a flesh wound. We best be going.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How far is it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lun said irritably, \"Ayeeyah, no far chop chop never mind.\" He lifted the lamp and set off into the night, muttering busily in Cantonese.\n\nInsolent bastard, the officer thought. He was tall, Lieutenant R.N., his name John Marlowe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They began to follow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once the marines moved into a protective screen, scouts ahead. \"Are you all right, Miss Angelique?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes, thank you.\" She pulled the shawl closer around her shoulders, picking her way carefully. \"What an awful smell!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"'Fraid it's the manure they use for fertilizers, that and low tide.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marlowe was twenty-eight, sandy-haired and grey-blue-eyed, normally Captain of H.M.S. Pearl, a 21-gun steam-driven frigate, but now acting Flag Lieutenant to the ranking naval officer, Admiral Ketterer. \"Would you like a litter?\"\n\n\"Thank you, no, I'm fine.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lun was ahead slightly, lighting their way through the narrow, empty village streets." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of Kanagawa was silent, though occasionally they could hear boisterous and drunken laughter of men and women behind high walls that were pierced from time to time by small barred doorways. A multitude of decorative Japanese signs.\n\n\"These are Inns, hotels?\" she asked.\n\n\"I would imagine so,\" Marlowe said delicately." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lun chuckled quietly, hearing this exchange." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His English was fluent-learned in a missionary school in Hong Kong. On instructions he carefully hid the fact and always used pidgin and pretended to be stupid so he knew many secrets that had great value to him, and to his tong superiors, and to their leader, Illustrious Chen, Gordon Chen, compradore of Struan's. A compradore, usually a wellborn Eurasian, was the indispensable go-between betwixt European and Chinese traders, who could speak fluent English and Chinese dialects, and to whose hands at least ten percent of all transactions stuck.\n\nAh, haughty young Missy who feeds on unrequited lust, Lun thought with vast amusement, knowing lots about her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wonder which of these smelly Round Eyes will be the first to spread you wide and enter your equally smelly Jade Gate?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Are you as untouched as you pretend, or has the grandson of Green-eyed Devil Struan already enjoyed the Clouds and the Rain? By all gods great and small, I shall know soon enough because your maid is my sister's third cousin's daughter. I already know your short hairs need plucking, are as fair as your hair and much too abundant to please a civilized person but I suppose all right for a barbarian. Ugh!\n\nAyeeyah, but life is interesting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'll wager this murder attack will cause both foreign devils and the Filth Eaters of these islands much trouble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wonderful! May they all drown in their own feces!\n\nInteresting that the grandson of Green-eyed Devil was wounded badly, and so continues the bad joss of all males of his line, interesting that the news is already rushing secretly to Hong Kong by our fastest courier. How wise I am! But then I am a person of the Middle Kingdom and of course superior." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But a bad wind for one is good for another." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This news will surely depress the share price of the Noble House mightily. With advanced information I and my friends will make a great profit. By all the gods, I will put ten percent of my profit on the next horse at Happy Valley races with the number fourteen, today's date by barbarian counting.\n\n\"Ho!\" he called out, pointing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The central turrets of the temple loomed over the alleys and lanes of the tiny single-story houses, all separate though clustered in honeycombs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two Grenadiers and their Sergeant were on guard at the temple gates, well lit with oil lamps, Babcott beside them. \"Hello, Marlowe,\" he said with a smile. \"This is an unexpected pleasure. Evening, Mademoiselle. What's—\"\n\n\"Pardon, Doctor,\" Angelique interrupted, peering up at him, astounded at his size, \"but Malcolm, Mr. Struan, we heard he was badly wounded.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He has had quite a bad sword cut, but he's been sewn up and now he's fast asleep,\" Babcott said easily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I gave him a sedative. I'll take you to him in a second. What's up, Marlowe, why—\"\n\n\"And Phillip Tyrer?\" she interrupted again. \"Is he, was he badly wounded too?\"\n\n\"Just a flesh wound, Mademoiselle, there's nothing you can do at the moment, both are sedated. Why the marines, Marlowe?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Admiral thought you'd better have some extra protection—in case of an evacuation.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Babcott whistled. \"It's that serious?\"\n\n\"There's a meeting going on right now. The Admiral, the General, Sir William together with the French, German, Russian and American representatives and the, er, the trading fraternity.\" Marlowe added dryly, \"I gather it's rather heated.\" He turned to the Royal Marine Sergeant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Secure the Legation, Sar'nt Crimp, I'll inspect your posts later.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To the Grenadier Sergeant he added, \"Please give Sar'nt Crimp the help he needs, where to billet his men, etc. Your name please?\"\n\n\"Towery, sir.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Sar'nt Towery.\"\n\nBabcott said, \"Perhaps you'd both follow me? A cup of tea?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you, no,\" she said, trying to be polite but consumed with impatience, disliking the way the English brewed tea and offered it at the slightest provocation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But I would like to see Mr. Struan and Mr. Tyrer.\"\n\n\"Of course, right away.\" The doctor had already judged that she was near to tears at any moment, decided she really did need a cup of tea, perhaps laced with a little brandy, a sedative and then to bed. \"Young Phillip, poor chap had quite a shock I'm afraid—must have been dreadful for you too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is he all right?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, quite all right,\" he repeated patiently. \"Come along, see for yourself.\" He led the way through the courtyard. The clatter of hooves and harness stopped them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To their surprise they saw a Dragoon patrol arriving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good God, it's Pallidar,\" Marlowe said. \"What's he doing here?\"\n\nThey watched the Dragoon officer return the salutes of the marines and grenadiers and dismount. \"Carry on,\" Pallidar said, not noticing Marlowe, Babcott and Angelique." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Bloody bastard Japanners tried to bloody bar the road against us, by God! Unfortunately the sons of whores changed their bloody, God-cursed minds or they'd be pushing up bloody daisies and...\" He saw Angelique and stopped, appalled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Jesus Christ! Oh, I say, I am... I am most terrible sorry, Mademoiselle, I, er, I didn't realize there were any ladies... er, hello John, Doctor.\"\n\nMarlowe said, \"Hello, Settry. Mademoiselle Angelique, may I introduce plainspoken Captain Settry Pallidar, of Her Majesty's Eighth Dragoons. Mademoiselle Angelique Richaud.\"\n\nShe nodded coolly and he bowed stiffly. \"I'm, er, most awfully sorry, Mademoiselle. Doc, I was sent to secure the Legation, in case of an evacuation.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Admiral already sent us here to do that,\" Marlowe said crisply. \"With marines.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You can dismiss them, we're here now.\"\n\n\"Get... I suggest you ask for new orders. Tomorrow. Meanwhile I'm senior officer and in command. Senior service. Doctor, perhaps you'd take the lady to see Mr. Struan.\"\n\nBabcott had watched the two young men square up to one another with concern, liking them both. Friendly on the surface, deadly underneath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These two young bulls will have at each other one day—God help them if it's over a woman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"See you both later.\" Taking her arm, he walked off.\n\nThe two men watched them go. Then Pallidar's chin jutted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This isn't a ship's quarterdeck,\" he hissed, \"it's a job for the army, by God.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bullshit.\"\n\n\"Are your brains lost with your manners? Why the hell bring a woman here when Christ knows what may happen?\"\n\n\"Because the important Mr. Struan asked to see her, medically it's a good idea, she persuaded the Admiral to allow her to come tonight against my advice, he ordered me to escort her here and send her back safely. Sar'nt Towery!\"\n\n\"Yessir!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm in overall command until further orders—show the dragoons to quarters and make them comfortable. Can you stable their horses? Do you have enough rations?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yessir, we've plenty of room. Grub's a bit short.\"\n\n\"Has it ever been plentiful in this godforsaken place?\" Marlowe beckoned him closer. \"Spread the word,\" he said dangerously. \"No fighting and if there is, it's a hundred lashes for any bastard involved—whoever he is!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\nfour sentences\n\nStyle:\nJames Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bar of the Yokohama Club, the biggest room in the Settlement and thus the meeting place, was in uproar and packed with almost the entire acceptable population of the Settlement—only those too drunk to stand or the very sick were missing—all shouting in various languages, many armed, many waving their fists and cursing the small group of well-dressed men who sat at a raised table at the far end, most of whom were shouting back, the Admiral and General beside them apoplectic.\n\n\"Say that again, by God, and I'll call you outside...\"\n\n\"Go to hell, you bastard...\"\n\n\"It's war, Wullem's got to...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Turn out the bloody army an' navy and bombard Yedo...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Flatten the fing capital, by God...\"\n\n\"Canterbury's gotta be revenged, Wullum's got to...\"\n\n\"Right! Willum's responsible, John the Cant's me mate...\"\n\n\"Listen, you lot...\" One of the seated men began pounding the tabletop with a gavel for silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This only incensed the crowd further—merchants, tradesmen, innkeepers, gamblers, horse handlers, butchers, jockeys, seamen, remittance men, sail makers, and port riffraff." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Top hats, multicolored waistcoats woolen clothes and underwear, leather boots, from rich to poor, the air hot, stale, smoky and heavy with the odor of unwashed bodies, stale beer, whisky, gin, rum and spilt wine.\n\n\"Quiet, for Christ's sake, let Wullum speak...\"\n\nThe man with the gavel shouted, \"It's William, for God's sake! William, not Wullum or Willum or Willam! William Aylesbury, how many times do I have to tell you? William!\"\n\n\"That's right, let Willum speak, for Christ's sake!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The three barmen serving drinks behind the vast counter laughed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Proper thirsty bloody work this 'ere meeting, i'nit, guv?\" one called out breezily, wiping the counter with a filthy rag. The bar was the pride of the Settlement, deliberately a foot bigger than the one in the Shanghai Jockey Club, previously the biggest in Asia, and twice as big as the Hong Kong Club's. The wall was lined with bottles of spirits, wine and beer kegs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let the bugger speak, for crissake!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William Aylesbury, the man with the gavel, sighed. He was British Minister in Japan, senior member of the Diplomatic Corps. The other men represented France, Russia, Prussia, and America. His temper snapped and he motioned to a young officer standing behind the table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At once, clearly prepared—as were those at the table—the officer took out a revolver and fired into the ceiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Plaster speckled down in the sudden silence.\n\n\"Thank you. Now,\" Sir William began, his voice heavy with sarcasm, \"if you gentlemen will all be quiet for a moment we can proceed.\" He was a tall man in his late forties, with a bent face and prominent ears. \"I repeat, as you will all be affected by what we decide, my colleagues and I wish to discuss how to respond to this incident—in public. If you lot don't want to listen, or if you're asked for an opinion and don't give it with the minimum of expletives—we will ponder the matter in private and then, when we've decided what will happen, we will be glad to inform you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A muttering resentment, but no open hostility." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good. Mr. McFay, you were saying?\"\n\nJamie McFay was near the front, Dmitri beside him. Because he was head of Struan's, the largest house in Asia, McFay was the usual spokesman for the merchant-traders, the most important of whom had their own fleets of armed clippers and merchantmen. \"Well, sir, we know the Satsumas are bedding down at Hodogaya in easy reach north and that their king's with them,\" he said, greatly concerned over Malcolm Struan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"His name's Sajirro, some name like that, and I think we sh—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Someone shouted, \"I vote we surround the bastards tonight and string the bugger up!\" A roar of applause that soon trickled away amidst a few muffled curses and, \"For God's sake, get on with it...\"\n\n\"Please carry on, Mr. McFay,\" Sir William said wearily.\n\n\"The attack was unprovoked, as usual, John Canterbury was foully brutalized, and God only knows how long it will take Mr. Struan to recover. But this is the first time we can identify the murderers—or at least the king can and as sure as God made little apples he has the power to catch the buggers and hand them over and pay damages...\" More applause." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They're within reach, and with the troops we have we can peg them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Strong cheers and cries for vengeance.\n\nHenri Bonaparte Seratard, the French Minister in Japan, said loudly, \"I would like to ask Monsieur the General and Monsieur the Admiral what is their opinion?\"\n\nThe Admiral said at once: \"I have five hundred marines in the fleet—\"\n\nGeneral Thomas Ogilvy interrupted, firmly but politely, \"The question applies to a land operation, my dear Admiral. Mr. Ceraturd...\" The greying, red-faced man of fifty carefully mispronounced the Frenchman's name and used \"Mr.\" to compound the insult, \"we have a thousand British troops in tent encampments, two cavalry units, three batteries of the most modern cannon and artillery, and can call up another eight or nine thousand British and Indian infantrymen with support troops within two months from our Hong Kong bastion.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He toyed with his gold braid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There is no conceivable problem that Her Majesty's forces under my command cannot conclude expeditiously.\"\n\n\"I agree,\" the Admiral said under the roars of approval. When they had died down, Seratard said smoothly, \"Then you advocate a declaration of war?\"\n\n\"No such thing, sir,\" the General said, their dislike mutual." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I merely said we can do what is necessary, when necessary and when we are obliged to do it. I would have thought this 'incident' is a matter for Her Majesty's Minister to decide in conjunction with the Admiral and myself without an unseemly debate.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some shouted approval, most disapproved and someone called out, \"It's our silver and taxes wot pays for all you buggers, we've the right to say wot's wot. Ever heard of Parliament, by God?\"\n\n\"A French national was involved,\" Seratard said heatedly above the noise, \"therefore the honor of France is involved.\" Catcalls and sly remarks about the girl.\n\nAgain Sir William used the gavel and that allowed the acting American Minister, Isaiah Adamson, to say coldly, \"The idea of going to war over this incident is nonsense, and the notion of grabbing or attacking a king in their sovereign country total lunacy—and typical high-handed Imperialist jingoism! First thing to do is inform the Bakufu, then ask them to—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Irritably, Sir William said, \"Dr. Babcott has already informed them in Kanagawa, they've already denied any knowledge of the incident and in all probability will follow their pattern and continue to do so. A British subject has been brutally murdered, another seriously wounded, unforgivably our delightful young foreign guest was almost frightened to death—these acts, I must stress, as Mr. McFay so rightly points out, for the first time have been committed by identifiable criminals. Her Majesty's Government will not let this go unpunished...\" For a moment he was drowned by tumultuous cheers, then he added, \"The only thing to decide is the measure of punishment, how we should proceed and when. Mr. Adamson?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked the American.\n\n\"As we're not involved I've no formal recommendation.\"\n\n\"Count Zergeyev?\"\n\n\"My formal advice,\" the Russian said carefully, \"is that we fall on Hodogaya and tear it and all the Satsumas to pieces.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was in his early thirties, strong, patrician and bearded, leader of Tsar Alexander II's mission." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Force, massive, ferocious and immediate is the only diplomacy Japanners will ever understand. My warship would be honored to lead the attack.\"\n\nThere was a curious silence. I guessed that would be your answer, Sir William thought. I'm not so sure you're wrong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ah, Russia, beautiful extraordinary Russia, what a shame we're enemies." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Best time I ever had was in St. Petersburg. Even so, you're not going to expand into these waters, we stopped your invasion of the Japanese Tsushima islands last year, and this year we'll prevent you from stealing their Sakhalin too. \"Thank you, my dear Count. Herr von Heimrich?\"\n\nThe Prussian was elderly and curt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have no advice in this, Herr Consul General, other than to say formally my government would consider it is a matter for your government alone, and not the affair of minor parties.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seratard flushed. \"I do not consider—\"\n\n\"Thank you for your advice, gentlemen,\" Sir William said firmly, cutting off the row that would have flared between them. Yesterday's Foreign Office dispatches from London said that Britain could soon become embroiled in another of the never-ending European wars, this time belligerent, pride-filled France against belligerent, pride-filled expansionist Prussia, but did not forecast on which side. Why the devil damned foreigners can't behave as civilized fellows I'm damned if I know." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Before making a judgment,\" he said crisply, \"since everyone of note is here and not having had such an opportunity before, I think we should articulate our problem: we have legal treaties with Japan. We're here to trade, not to conquer territory. We have to deal with this bureaucracy, the Bakufu, who're like a sponge—one moment it pretends to be all-powerful, the next helpless against their individual kings. We've never been able to get to the real power, the Tycoon or Shōgun—we don't even know if he really exists.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He must exist,\" von Heimrich said coolly, \"because our famous German traveller and physician, Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer, who lived in Deshima from 1690 to 1693, pretending to be a Dutchman, reported visiting him in Yedo on their annual pilgrimage.\"\n\n\"That doesn't prove one exists now,\" Seratard said caustically. \"How ever, I do agree there is a Shōgun, and France approves of a direct approach.\"\n\n\"An admirable idea, Monsieur.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William reddened. \"And how do we do that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Send the fleet against Yedo,\" the Russian said at once. \"Demand an immediate audience or else you'll destroy the place. If I had such a beautiful fleet as yours, I'd first flatten half the city and then demand the audience... better, I would order this Tycoon-Shōgun native to report aboard my flagship at dawn the next day, and hang him.\" Many shouts of approval.\n\nSir William said, \"That is certainly one way, but Her Majesty's Government would prefer a slightly more diplomatic solution. Next: we've almost no real intelligence about what's going on in the country. I'd appreciate it if all traders would help to get us information that could prove useful. Mr. McFay, of all the traders, you should be the best informed. Can you help?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay said cautiously, \"Well, a few days ago one of our Jappo silk suppliers told our Chinese compradore that some of the kingdoms—he used the word 'fiefs' and called the kings 'daimyos'—were in revolt against the Bakufu, particularly Satsuma, and some parts called Tosa, and Choshu...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William noticed the immediate interest of the other diplomats and wondered if he was wise to have asked the question in public. \"Where are they?\"\n\n\"Satsuma's near Nagasaki in the South Island, Kyūshū,\" Adamson said, \"but what about Choshu and Tosa?\"\n\n\"Well, now, yor Honor,\" an American seaman called out, his Irish accent pleasing. \"Tosa's a part of Shikoku, that's the big island on the inland sea. Choshu's far to the west on the main island, Mr. Adamson, sir, athwart the Straits. We been through the Straits there, many a time, they're not more than a mile across at the narrowest part. As I was saying now, Choshu's the kingdom's athwart the narrows, bare a mile across. It's the best, and closest way from Hong Kong or Shanghai to here. Shimonoseki Straits, the locals call it, and once we traded for fish and water at the town there but we weren't welcome.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Many others called out their agreement and that they too had used the Straits but had never known that the kingdom was called Choshu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William said, \"Your name, if you please?\"\n\n\"Paddy O'Flaherty, Bosun of the American whaler Albatross out of Seattle, yor Honor.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" Sir William said, and made a mental note to send for O'Flaherty, to find out more and if there were charts of the area, and if not to instantly order the Navy to make them. \"Go on, Mr. McFay,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In revolt, you say.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir. This silk trader—how reliable he is I don't know—but he said there was some kind of power struggle going on against the Tycoon that he always called 'Shōgun,' the Bakufu and some king or daimyo called Toranaga.\"\n\nSir William saw the Russian's eyes slit even more in his almost Asian features. \"Yes, my dear Count?\"\n\n\"Nothing, Sir William. But isn't that the name of the ruler mentioned by Kaempfer?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Indeed it is, indeed it is.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I wonder why you never mentioned to me before that you also had read those very rare but illuminating journals that were written in German, which you do not know, therefore they must have been translated into Russian? \"Perhaps 'Toranaga' means 'ruler' in their language. Please continue, Mr. McFay.\"\n\n\"That's all the fellow told my compradore, but I'll make it my business to find out more. Now,\" McFay said politely but firmly, \"do we settle King Satsuma at Hodogaya tonight or not?\"\n\nThe smoke stirred the silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Has anyone anything to add—about this revolt?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Norbert Greyforth, chief of Brock and Sons, Struan's main rival, said, \"We've heard rumors of this revolt too. But I thought it was something to do with their chief priest, this 'Mikado,' who supposedly lives in Kyōto, a city near Osaka. I'll make enquiries as well. In the meantime, about tonight, my vote goes with McFay: the sooner we belt these buggers the sooner we'll have peace.\" He was taller than McFay and clearly hated him.\n\nWhen the cheers died down, like a judge delivering a sentence, Sir William said: \"This is what will happen. First, there will be no attack tonight and—\"\n\nCries of \"Resign!\" \"We'll do it ourselves, by God!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come on, let's go after the bastards...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We can't, not without troops...\"\n\n\"Quiet and listen, by God!\" Sir William shouted. \"If anyone is stupid enough to go against Hodogaya tonight he'll have to answer to our laws as well as Japanners. IT IS FORBIDDEN! Tomorrow I will formally demand—demand—that at once the Bakufu, and Shōgun, tender a formal apology, at once hand over the two murderers for trial and hanging, and at once pay an indemnity of one hundred thousand pounds or accept the consequences.\"\n\nA few cheered, most did not, and the meeting broke up with a surge to the bar, many of the men already near blows as arguments became more drunken and more heated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay and Dmitri shoved their way out into the open air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My God, that's better.\" McFay eased off his hat and mopped his brow.\n\n\"A word, Mr. McFay?\"\n\nHe turned and saw Greyforth. \"Of course.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"In private, if you please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay frowned, then moved over the semideserted promenade along the wharfs and seafront, away from Dmitri, who was not in Struan's but traded through Cooper-Tillman, one of the American companies. \"Yes?\"\n\nNorbert Greyforth dropped his voice. \"What about Hodogaya? You've two ships here, we've three, and between us lots of bully boys, most lads in the merchant fleet'd join us, we've arms enough and we could bring a cannon or two. John Canterbury was a good friend, the Old Man liked him, and I want him revenged. What about it?\"\n\n\"If Hodogaya was a port I wouldn't hesitate, but we can't raid inland. This isn't China.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You afraid of that pipsqueak in there?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm not afraid of anyone,\" McFay said carefully. \"We can't mount a successful raid without regular troops, Norbert, that's not possible. I want revenge more than any.\"\n\nGreyforth made sure no one was listening. \"Since you brought it up tonight and we don't talk too often, we've heard there's going to be bad trouble here soon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The revolt?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. Very bad trouble for us. There's been all sorts of signs. Our silk dealers have been acting right smelly the last month or two, upping the price of bulk raw, delaying deliveries, slow on payments and wanting extra credits. I'll bet it's the same with you.\"\n\n\"Yes.\" It was rare for the two men to talk business.\n\n\"Don't know much more than that, except many of the signs are the same as in America that led to civil war. If that happens here it's going to bugger us proper. Without the fleet and troops we're bitched and we can be wiped out.\"\n\nAfter a pause, McFay said, \"What do you propose?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll have to wait and see what happens. With Wee Willie's plan I don't hope for much, like you. The Russian was right about what should be done. Meanwhile...\" Greyforth nodded out to sea where two of their clippers and merchantmen lay in the roads—clippers still much faster back to England than steamers, paddle-driven or screw-driven... \"We're keeping all our inner ledgers and specie aboard, we've increased our levels of gunpowder, shot, shrapnel and put in an order for two of the brand-new Yankee 10-barrel Gatling machine guns as soon as they are available.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay laughed. \"The hell you have—so did we!\"\n\n\"We heard that too, which is why I made the order, and twice as many of the new rifles than your shipment.\"\n\n\"Who told you, eh? Who's your spy?\"\n\n\"Old Mother Hubbard,\" Greyforth said dryly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Listen, we all know these inventions, along with metal cartridges, have changed the course of war—that's proved already by the casualties at the battles of Bull Run and Fredericksburg.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shocking, yes. Dmitri told me, said the South lost four thousand in one afternoon. Terrible. So?\"\n\n\"We could both sell these weapons to the Japanners by the ton. My thought is we agree to not, and together we make bloody sure no other bugger imports them or smuggles them in. Selling Jappers steamers and the odd cannon's one thing, but not repeaters or machine guns. Agreed?\"\n\nMcFay was surprised by the offer. And suspicious. But he kept it off his face, sure that Norbert would never keep the bargain, and shook the offered hand. \"Agreed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good. What's the latest on young Struan?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When I saw him an hour or so ago he was poorly.\"\n\n\"Is he going to die?\"\n\n\"No, the doctor assured me of that.\"\n\nA cold smile. \"What the hell do they know? But if he did that could wreck the Noble House.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nothing will ever wreck the Noble House. Dirk Struan saw to that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't be too sure. Dirk's been dead more than twenty years, his son Culum's not far from his deathbed and if Malcolm dies who's to take over? Not his young brother who's only ten.\" His eyes glinted strangely. \"Old Man Brock may be seventy-three but he's as tough and clever as he ever was.\"\n\n\"But we're still the Noble House; Culum is still the tai-pan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay added, glad for the barb, \"Old Man Brock's still not a Steward of the Jockey Club at Happy Valley and never will be.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That'll come soon enough, Jamie, that and all the rest. Culum Struan won't control the Jockey Club vote much longer, and if his son and heir kicks the bucket too, well then, counting us and our friends we've the necessary votes.\"\n\n\"It won't happen.\"\n\nGreyforth hardened. \"Mayhaps Old Man Brock will honor us with a visit here soon—along with Sir Morgan.\"\n\n\"Morgan's in Hong Kong?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay tried to stop his astonishment from showing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir Morgan Brock was Old Man Brock's eldest son, who very successfully ran their London office. As far as Jamie knew Morgan had never been to Asia before. If Morgan's suddenly in Hong Kong... what new devilment are those two up to now? he asked himself uneasily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Morgan specialized in merchant banking and had skillfully spread the tentacles of Brock's into Europe, Russia, and North America, always harrying the Struan trade routes and customers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since the American war began last year, McFay, along with other Directors of Struan's, had been getting worrisome reports about failures amongst their extensive American interests, both North and South, where Culum Struan had invested heavily. \"If Old Man Brock and son grace us with their presence, I've no doubt we would be honored to give them supper.\"\n\nGreyforth laughed without humor. \"I doubt they'll have time, except to inspect your books, when we take you over.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dr. Babcott trudged wearily along a corridor in the semi-darkness of the Kanagawa Legation. He carried a small oil lamp and wore a dressing gown over woolen pajamas. From somewhere downstairs a clock chimed two o'clock. Absently he reached into his pocket and checked his fob watch, yawned, then knocked on a door. \"Miss Angelique?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a moment she called out sleepily, \"Yes?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You wanted to know when Mr. Struan woke up.\"\n\n\"Ah, thank you.\" A moment, then the door was unbarred and Angelique came out. Hair a little dishevelled and still drowsy, wearing a robe over her nightdress. \"How is he?\"\n\n\"A little sick, and woozy,\" Babcott said, leading her back along the corridor and downstairs to the surgery where the sickrooms were." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"His temperature and pulse rate are up a little, of course that's to be expected. I've given him a drug for the pain, but he's a fine, strong young man and everything should be all right.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first time she had seen Malcolm she had been shocked by his lack of color, and appalled by the stench. She had never been in a hospital or surgery before, or in a real sickroom. Apart from reading in the Paris newspapers and journals about death and dying and illness and the waves of plague and killing diseases—measles, smallpox, typhus, cholera, pneumonia, meningitis, whooping cough, scarlet fever, childbed fever and the like—that swept Paris and Lyon and other cities and towns from time to time, she had had no close acquaintance with sickness. Her health had always been good, her aunt and uncle and brother equally blessed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shakily she had touched his forehead, moving the sweat-stained hair out of his face, but repelled by the smell that surrounded the bed, hurried out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In a room nearby Tyrer was sleeping comfortably. To her great relief there was no smell here. She thought he had a pleasant sleeping face where Malcolm Struan had been tormented.\n\n\"Phillip saved my life, Doctor,\" she had said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"After Mr.—Mr. Canterbury, I was—I was paralyzed and Phillip he flung his horse in the assassin's path and gave me time to escape. I was—I can't describe how awful...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What was the man like? Could you recognize him?\"\n\n\"I don't know. He was just a native, young I think, but I don't know, it's difficult to tell their ages and he was the—the first I'd seen close. He wore a kimono with a short sword in his belt, and the big one, all bloody and ready again to...\" Her eyes had filled with tears.\n\nBabcott had gentled her and showed her a room, gave her some tea with a touch of laudanum, and promised he would call her the moment Struan awoke.\n\nAnd now he's awake, she thought, her feet leaden, nausea welling up inside her, head aching and filled with vile pictures." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I wish I hadn't come here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Henri Seratard told me to wait until tomorrow, Captain Marlowe was against it, everyone, so why did I plead so ardently with the Admiral? I don't know, we're jus' good friends, not lovers or engaged or...\n\nOr do I begin to love him, or was I only consumed with bravado, playacting, because this whole horrid day has been like a melodrama by Dumas, the nightmare at the road not real, the Settlement inflamed not real, Malcolm's message arriving at sunset not real: \"Please come and see me as soon as you can,\" written by the doctor on his behalf—me not real, just playacting the part of the heroine...\n\nBabcott stopped. \"Here we are. You'll find him rather tired, Mademoiselle. I'll just make sure he's all right, then I'll leave you alone for a minute or two. He may drop off because of the drug, but don't worry, and if you want me I'll be in the surgery next door. Don't tax him, or yourself, or worry about anything—don't forget you've had a rotten time too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She steeled herself, fixed a smile on her face and followed him in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello, Malcolm, mon cher.\"\n\n\"Hello.\" Struan was very pale, and had aged, but his eyes were clear.\n\nThe doctor chattered pleasantly, peered at him, quickly took his pulse, felt his forehead, half nodded to himself, said that the patient was doing fine and left.\n\n\"You're so beautiful,\" Struan said, his robust voice now just a thread, feeling strange, floating yet nailed to the cot and the sweat-sodden straw mattress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She went closer. The smell was still there as much as she tried to pretend it was not." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How do you feel? I'm so sorry you're hurt.\"\n\n\"Joss,\" he said, using a Chinese word that meant fate, luck, the will of the gods. \"You're so beautiful.\"\n\n\"Ah, chéri, oh how I wish all this had never happened, that I'd never asked to go for a ride, never wanted to visit to the Japans.\"\n\n\"Joss. It's... it's the next day, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, the attack was yesterday afternoon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It seemed to be difficult for his brain to translate her words into usable form, and equally difficult to compose words and say them, as she was finding it equally difficult to stay. \"Yesterday? That's a lifetime ago. Have you seen Phillip?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I saw him earlier but he was asleep. I'll see him as soon as I leave you, chéri. In fact I'd better go now, the doctor said not to tire you.\"\n\n\"No, don't go yet, please. Listen, Angelique, I don't know when I'll be—be fit to travel, so...\" Momentarily his eyes closed against a barb of pain but it left him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he focused on her again, he saw her fear and misread it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't worry, McFay will see that you're esc—escorted safely back to Hong Kong, so please don't worry.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Malcolm, yes, I think I should. I'll return tomorrow or the next day.\" She saw the sudden disappointment and added at once, \"Of course you'll be better then, and we can go together and, oh yes, Henri Seratard sent his condolences...\"\n\nShe stopped, aghast, as a great pain took him and his face twisted and he tried to double up but could not, his insides tried to cast out the foul poison of the ether that seemed to permeate every pore and brain cell he possessed but could not—his stomach and bowels already empty of everything possible—each spasm tearing at his wounds, every cough ripping more than the last with only a little putrid liquid coming out for all the torment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In panic she whirled for the doctor and fumbled for the door handle." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's all right, Ange—Angelique,\" said the voice that she hardly recognized now. \"Stay a... moment more.\"\n\nHe saw the horror on her face and again misread it, seeing it as anxiety, a vast depth of compassion, and love. His fear left him and he lay back to gather his strength." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My darling, I'd hoped, I'd hoped so very much... of course you know I've loved you from the first moment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The spasm had sapped his strength but his complete belief that he had seen in her what he had prayed for, gave him great peace. \"I can't seem to think straight but I wanted... to see you to tell you... Christ, Angelique, I was petrified of the operation, petrified of the drugs, petrified of dying and not waking up before I saw you again. I've never been so petrified, never.\"\n\n\"I'd be petrified too—oh, Malcolm, this is all so awful.\" Her skin felt clammy and her head ached even more and she was afraid she would be sick any moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The doctor assured me and everyone that you'll be well soon!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't care now that I know you love me, if I die that's joss and in my family we know we—we can't escape joss. You're my lucky star, my lodestone, I... knew it from the first moment. We'll marry...\" The words trailed off. His ears were ringing and his eyes misted a little, eyelids flickering as the opiate took hold, sliding him into the netherworld where pain existed but was transformed into painlessness. \"Marry in springtime...\"\n\n\"Malcolm, listen,\" she said quickly, \"you're not going to die and I... alors, I must be honest with you...\" Then the words began pouring out, \"I don't want to marry yet, I'm not sure if I love you, I'm just not sure, you'll have to be patient, and if I do or do not, I don't think I can ever live in this awful place, or Hong Kong, in fact I know I can't, I won't, I can't, I know I'd die, the thought of living in Asia horrifies me, the stench and the awful people. I'm going back to Paris where I belong, as soon as I can and I'm never coming back, never, never, never.\"\n\nBut he had heard none of it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of James Clavell.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of James Clavell every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was leaning against the door to the garden, gulping the night air, trying to regain her poise. Mother of God, give me strength and give that man some peace and let me leave this place quickly.\n\nBabcott came up behind her. \"He's all right, not to worry. Here, drink this,\" he said compassionately, giving her the opiate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It'll settle you and help you sleep.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She obeyed. The liquid tasted neither good nor bad.\n\n\"He's sleeping peacefully. Come along. It's bedtime for you too.\" He helped her upstairs, back to her room. At the door he hesitated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sleep well. You will sleep well.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm afraid for him, very afraid.\"\n\n\"Don't be. In the morning he'll be better, you'll see.\"\n\n\"Thank you, I'm all right now. He... I think Malcolm thinks he's going to die. Is he?\"\n\n\"Certainly not, he's a strong young man and I'm sure soon he'll be as right as rain.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Babcott repeated the same platitude he had said a thousand times, and did not tell the truth: I don't know, you never know, now it's up to God." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And yet, most times he knew it was correct to give the loved one hope and take away the burden of increased worry, though not correct or fair to make God responsible if the patient lived or died. Even so, if you're helpless, if you've done your best and are convinced that your best and the best knowledge are not good enough, what else can you do and stay sane? How many young men have you seen like this one and dead in the morning or the next day—or recovered if that was God's will? Was it? I think it's lack of knowledge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And then God's will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If there is a God.\n\nInvoluntarily, he shivered. \"Good night, not to worry.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\" She put the bar in place and went to the window, pushed open the heavy shutters. Tiredness welled over her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The night air was warm and kind, the moon high now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She took off her robe and wearily towelled herself dry, aching for sleep. Her nightdress was damp and clung to her and she would have preferred to change but she had not brought another. Below, the garden was large and shadow-struck, trees here and there and a tiny bridge over a tiny stream. A breeze caressed the treetops." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Many shadows in the moonlight." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some moved, now and then." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two youths saw her the moment she appeared in the garden doorway forty yards away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their ambush was well chosen and gave them a good view of the whole garden as well as the main gate, the guard house and the two sentries they had been watching. At once they crept deeper into the foliage, astonished to see her, even more astonished by the tears coursing down her cheeks.\n\nShorin whispered, \"What's the matt—\"\n\nHe stopped. A wandering patrol of a sergeant and two soldiers, the first to enter their trap, rounded the far corner of the grounds, approaching them on the path that skirted the walls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They readied, then became motionless, their black, nearly skintight clothes covered all of their bodies except their eyes and made them almost invisible." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The patrol passed within five feet and the two shishi could have attacked easily and safely from this ambush. Shorin—the hunter, the fighter and leader in battle where Ori was the thinker and planner—had selected the blind, but Ori decided they would only attack a one-or two-man patrol, unless there was an emergency or they were prevented from breaking into the armory: \"Whatever we do this time must be silent,\" he had said earlier. \"And patient.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"This is their Legation. According to their custom that means it is their land, their territory—it is guarded by real soldiers, so we're encroaching on them. If we succeed, we will frighten them very much. If they catch us we fail.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the ambush they watched the departing patrol, noting the silent, careful way the men moved." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori whispered uneasily, \"We've never seen these sort before—soldiers so well trained and disciplined. In a battle, massed, we would have a hard time against them and their guns.\"\n\nShorin said, \"We'll always win—we'll have guns soon, one way or another, and anyway bushido and our courage will swamp them. We can beat them easily.\" He was very confident. \"We should have killed that patrol and taken their guns.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'm glad we didn't, Ori thought, deeply unsettled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His arm ached badly and though he feigned indifference he knew that he could not sustain a long sword-fight. \"If it wasn't for our clothes they would have seen us.\" His eyes went back to the girl.\n\n\"We could have killed all three easily. Easily. And grabbed their carbines and gone over the wall again.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"These men are very good, Shorin, not ox-headed merchants.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori kept the aggravation out of his voice, as always, not wanting to offend his friend or wound his sensitive pride, needing his qualities as much as Shorin needed his—he had not forgotten Shorin had deflected the bullet that would have killed him on the Tokaidō. \"We've plenty of time. Dawn's still at least two candles away.\" This was approximately four hours. He motioned at the doorway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Anyway, she would have given the alarm.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shorin sucked in his breath, cursing himself. \"Eeee, stupid! I'm stupid, you're right—again. So sorry.\"\n\nOri gave her all of his attention: what is it about that woman that troubles me, fascinates me? he asked himself.\n\nThen they saw the giant appear beside her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From information they had been given at the Inn they knew this was the famous English doctor who achieved miracle healings for any seeking his services, Japanese as well as his own people." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori would have given much to understand what the doctor said to the girl. She dried her tears, obediently drank what he offered her, then he guided her back into the hallway, closing and barring the door.\n\nOri muttered, \"Astounding—the giant, and the woman.\"\n\nShorin glanced at him, hearing undercurrents that further perturbed him, still angry with himself for forgetting the girl when the patrol was nearby." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Earlier when they had reached the Inn of the Midnight Blossoms, they had found to their joy that Hiraga, their friend and the greatly admired leader of all Choshu shishi, was also staying there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "News of their attack had arrived.\n\n\"The attack was perfectly timed, though you could not know it,\" Hiraga had said warmly. He was a handsome man of twenty-two and tall for a Japanese. \"It will be like a stick plunged into the Yokohama hornet's nest. Now gai-jin will swarm, they're bound to go against the Bakufu who won't, cannot, do anything to appease them. If only the gai-jin retaliate against Yedo! If they did that, and smashed it, that would be the signal for us to seize the Palace Gates! Once the Emperor is free all daimyos will rebel against the Shōgunate and destroy it and all Toranagas. Sonnojoi!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had toasted sonnojoi and Katsumata who had saved them, taught most of them and served sonnojoi secretly and wisely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori had whispered their plan to Hiraga to steal arms.\n\n\"Eeee, Ori, it is a good idea and possible,\" Hiraga said thoughtfully, \"if you are patient and choose the perfect moment. Such weapons could be valuable on some operations. Personally, guns disgust me—garrote, sword or knife please me better—safer, silent, and much more frightening, whoever the target—daimyo or barbarian. I'll help. I can give you a plan of the grounds and ninja clothes.\"\n\nOri and Shorin brightened. \"You can get them for us?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course.\" Ninja were a highly secret tong of expertly trained assassins who operated almost exclusively at night, their special black clothes helping to fuel the legend of their invisibility." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At one time we were going to burn the Legation building.\" Hiraga laughed and emptied another flask of saké, the warmed wine making his tongue looser than normal. \"But we decided not to, that it was more valuable to keep it under observation. Often I've gone there disguised as a gardener or at night as a ninja—it's surprising what you can learn, even with simple English.\"\n\n\"Eeee, Hiraga-san, we never knew you could speak English,\" Ori said, astounded by the revelation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where did you learn it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where else can you learn gai-jin qualities if not from gai-jin? He was a Dutchman from Deshima, a linguist who spoke Japanese, Dutch and English. My grandfather wrote a petition to our daimyo suggesting that one such man should be allowed to come to Shimonoseki, at their cost, to teach Dutch and English for an experimental one year, trade would come afterwards. Thank you,\" Hiraga said as Ori politely refilled his cup. \"Gai-jin are all so gullible—but such foul money worshippers. This is the sixth year of the 'experiment' and we still only trade for what we want, when we can afford them—guns, cannon, ammunition, shot and certain books.\"\n\n\"How is your revered grandfather?\"\n\n\"In very good health. Thank you for asking.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiraga bowed in appreciation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their bow in return was lower.\n\nHow wonderful to have such a grandfather, Ori thought, such a protection for all your generations—not like us who have to struggle to survive daily, are hungry daily, and have desperate trouble to pay our taxes. What will Father and Grandfather think of me now: ronin, and my so-needed one koku forfeit? \"I would be honored to meet him,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Our shoya is not like him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For many years Hiraga's grandfather, an important peasant farmer near Shimonoseki and secret supporter of sonnojoi, had been a shoya. A shoya, the appointed, or hereditary, leader of a village or grouping of villages with great influence and magisterial power and responsibility for tax assessments and collection, was at the same time the only buffer and protector of peasants and farmers against any unfair practices of the samurai overlord within whose fief the village or villages lay.\n\nFarmers and some peasants owned and worked the land but by law could not leave it. Samurai owned all the produce and the sole right to carry weapons, but by law could not own land." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So each depended on the other in an inevitable, never-ending spiral of suspicion and distrust—the balance of how much rice or produce to be rendered in tax, year by year, and how much retained, always an incredibly delicate compromise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shoya had to keep the balance. The advice of the best was sometimes sought on matters outside the village by his immediate overlord, or higher, even by the daimyo himself. Hiraga's grandfather was one of these.\n\nSome years ago he had been permitted to purchase goshi samurai status for himself and his descendants in one of the daimyo's offerings—a customary ploy of all daimyos, normally debt ridden, to raise extra revenue from acceptable supplicants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The daimyo of Choshu was no exception." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga laughed, the wine in his head now. \"I was chosen for this Dutchman's school, and many a time I regretted the honor, English is so foul-sounding and difficult.\"\n\n\"Were there many of you at the school?\" Ori asked.\n\nThrough the saké haze a warning sounded and Hiraga realized he was volunteering far too much private information." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How many Choshu students were at the school was Choshu business and secret, and while he liked and admired both Shorin and Ori they were still Satsumas, aliens, who were not always allies, but frequently enemy and always potential enemies." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just three of us to learn English,\" he said softly as though telling a secret, instead of thirty, the real figure. Inwardly alert he added, \"Listen, now that you're ronin, like me and most of my comrades, we must work closer together. I am planning something in three days that you can help us with.\"\n\n\"Thank you, but we must wait for word from Katsumata.\"\n\n\"Of course, he is your Satsuma leader.\" Hiraga added thoughtfully, \"But at the same time, Ori, don't forget you're ronin and will be ronin until we win, don't forget we're the spearhead of sonnojoi, we're the doers, Katsumata risks nothing. We must—must—forget that I am Choshu and you two Satsumas. We've got to help each other. It's a good idea to follow your Tokaidō attack tonight and steal guns. Kill one or two guards inside the Legation, if you can, that will be a huge provocation! If you could do it all silently and leave no trace, even better. Anything to provoke them.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With Hiraga's information it had been easy to infiltrate the temple, to count the dragoons and other soldiers and to find the perfect lair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then the girl had unexpectedly appeared, and the giant, and then they had gone back inside and ever since both shishi had been staring at the garden door, glazed.\n\n\"Ori, now what do we do?\" Shorin asked, his voice edged.\n\n\"We stick to the plan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The minutes passed anxiously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the shutters on the first floor opened and they saw her in the window both knew that a new element had come into their future. Now she was brushing her hair with a silver-handled brush. Listlessly.\n\nShorin said throatily, \"She doesn't look so ugly in moonlight. But with those breasts, eeee, you'd bounce off.\"\n\nOri did not reply, his eyes riveted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Suddenly she hesitated and looked down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Directly at them. Though there was no chance she could have seen or heard them, their hearts picked up a beat. They waited, hardly breathing. Another exhausted yawn. She continued brushing a moment, then put down the brush, seemingly so close that Ori felt he could almost reach out and touch her, seeing in the light from the room details of embroidery on the silk, nipples taut beneath, and the haunted expression he had glimpsed yesterday—was it only yesterday?—that had stopped the blow that would have ended her.\n\nA last strange glance at the moon, another stifled yawn, and she pulled the shutters to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But did not close them completely. Or bar them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shorin broke the silence and said what was in both their minds. \"It would be easy to climb up there.\"\n\n\"Yes. But we came here for guns and to create havoc. We...\" Ori stopped, his mind flowing into the sudden glimmering of a new and wonderful diversion, a second chance, greater than the first.\n\n\"Shorin,\" he whispered, \"if you silenced her, took her but didn't kill her, just left her unconscious to tell of the taking, leaving a sign linking us to the Tokaidō, then together we kill one or two soldiers and vanish with or without their guns—inside their Legation—wouldn't that make them mad with rage?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with 4 sentences, emulating the writing style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Outside the guard house, one of the soldiers said softly, \"Don't look around, Charlie, but I think I saw someone running for the house.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Christ, get the Sergeant, careful now.\"\n\nThe soldier pretended to stretch, then strolled into the guard house. Quickly but cautiously he shook Sergeant Towery awake and repeated what he had seen, or thought he had seen.\n\n\"What did the bugger look like?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I just caught the movement, Sar'nt, 'least I think I did, I'm not sure like, it might've been a bloody shadder.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All right, me lad, let's take a look.\" Sergeant Towery awoke the Corporal and another soldier and posted them. Then he led the other two into the garden.\n\n\"It were about there, Sar'nt.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shorin saw them coming." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was nothing he could do to warn Ori who was almost at the window, still well camouflaged by his clothes and the shadows. He watched him reach the sill, ease one of the shutters wider and vanish inside. The shutter moved slowly back into place. Karma, he thought, and turned to his own plight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sergeant Towery had stopped in the center of the path, and was carefully scanning the surroundings and up at the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many of the shutters on the upper story were open and unbarred, so he was not concerned, one of them creaking in the small wind. The garden door was locked.\n\nAt length he said, \"Charlie, you take that side.\" He pointed near to where the ambush was hidden." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nogger, you go opposite, flush 'em out if any's there. Keep your bloody eyes open. Fix bayonets!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was obeyed instantly.\n\nShorin eased his sword in its scabbard, the blade also blackened for the night foray, then settled himself into attack position, his throat tight." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\n\nLength:\n4 sentences\n\nStyle:\nJames Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moment Ori had slid into the room, he checked the only door and saw that it was barred, that she was still asleep, then he unsheathed his short stabbing sword and darted for the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a four-poster, the first he had ever seen, everything about it strange, its height and heavy permanence, posts, curtains, bedclothes, and for a second he wondered what it would be like to sleep in one, so high off the ground, instead of the way Japanese slept, on futons—light, square mattresses of straw—laid out at night and put away by day.\n\nHis heart was racing and he tried to keep his breathing soft, not wanting to awaken her yet, not knowing she was deeply drugged. The room was dark but moonlight came in through the shutters and he saw her long, fair hair flowing over her shoulders and the swell of her breasts and limbs under the sheet. A perfume surrounded her, intoxicating him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then the click of the bayonets and muttered voices from the garden... For a split second he was petrified." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blindly he poised the knife to end her, but she did not stir. Her breathing remained regular.\n\nHe hesitated, then padded noiselessly to the shutters and peered out. He saw the soldiers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Did they see me, or notice Shorin?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked himself in panic.\n\nIf so then I'm trapped, but that doesn't matter. I can still accomplish what I came to accomplish and perhaps they'll go away—I have two exits, the door and the window. Patience, Katsumata always advised." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Use your head, wait calmly, then strike without hesitation and escape when the moment arrives, as it always will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Surprise is your best weapon!\n\nHis stomach twisted. One of the soldiers was heading for their hiding place. Even though Ori knew exactly where Shorin was he could not pick him out. Breathlessly he waited to see what would happen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Perhaps Shorin will draw them off." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whatever happens, she dies, he promised himself." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like James Clavell and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shorin watched the soldier approaching, hopelessly trying to fathom a way out of the trap and cursing Ori." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They must have spotted him! If I kill this dog there's no way I can reach the others before they shoot me. I can't get to the wall without being seen.\n\nStupid of Ori to change the plan, of course they spotted him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I told him that woman was trouble—he should have killed her at the road... Perhaps this barbarian will miss me and give me enough time to rush for the wall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The moonlight caught the long bayonet in flashes as the soldier quietly probed the foliage, lifting it apart here and there to see better.\n\nCloser and closer. Six feet, five, four, three...\n\nShorin stayed motionless, his face covering now practically masking his eyes, and held his breath. The soldier almost brushed him in passing, then went on again, stopped a moment, on a few more paces, probing again, then on again and Shorin began quietly to breathe once more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could feel the sweat on his back but he knew he was safe now and in a few moments would be safely over the wall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From his position Sergeant Towery could watch both soldiers. He held a cocked rifle loose in his hands, but was as unsure as they were, not wanting to give a false alarm. The night was fine, wind slight, moonlight strong. Easy to imagine shadows to be enemy in this stinking place, he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Christ, wish we were back in good old London town." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Evening, Sergeant Towery, what's up?\"\n\n\"Evening, sir.\" Towery saluted smartly. It was the Dragoon officer, Pallidar. He explained what he had been told." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Might have been a shadow, better safe than sorry.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Better get extra men and we'll make sure that—\"\n\nAt that moment the young soldier nearest the ambush site whirled on guard, his musket levelled. \"Sergeant!\" he called out in excitement and terror, \"the bastard's here!\"\n\nAlready Shorin was rushing to the attack, his killing sword on high but the soldier's training took over for that instant and the bayonet expertly held Shorin off as the others came running, Pallidar jerking out his revolver." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again Shorin pressed the attack but was inhibited by the length of the rifle and bayonet, then slipped, scrambled out of the way of the bayonet lunge and fled through the foliage for the wall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The young soldier charged after him.\n\n\"Watchiiit!\" Towery shouted as the young man crashed into the undergrowth, glands now in total control propelling him to the kill. But the soldier did not hear the warning and went into the bushes and died, the short sword deep in his chest. Shorin jerked it out, quite sure there was no escape, the others almost on him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Namu Amida Butsu\"—In the Name of the Buddha Amida—he gasped through his own fear, commending his spirit to Buddha, and screamed \"Sonnojoi!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "not to warn Ori but to make his last statement. Then, with desperate strength, he buried the knife in his own throat." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori had seen most of this but not the end. The moment the soldier had shouted and charged he had rushed pell-mell for the bed, expecting her to be startled awake, but to his astonishment she had not moved, nor had the calm tempo of her breathing changed, so he stood over her, knees trembling, waiting for her eyes to open, expecting a trick, wanting her to see him and see the knife before he used it. Then there was the wail of \"sonnojoi\" and he knew Shorin had gone onwards, then more noise. But still she did not stir." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His lips came back from his teeth, his breathing strangled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly he could stand the strain no longer so he shook her angrily with his wounded arm, heedless of the pain, put the knife to her throat, ready to obliterate the scream.\n\nStill she did not stir.\n\nTo him it was all dreamlike and he watched himself shake her again and still nothing, then suddenly he remembered that the doctor had given her a drink and he thought, One of those drugs, the new Western drugs Hiraga told us about, and he gasped, trying to assimilate this new knowledge. To make sure, he shook her again, but she only muttered and turned deeper into the pillow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He went back to the window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Men were carrying the soldier's body out of the foliage. Then he saw them drag Shorin into the open by one of his feet like the carcass of an animal. Now the bodies were side by side, both strangely alike in death. Other men were arriving and he heard people calling from some windows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "An officer stood over Shorin's body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the soldiers tore off the black head-covering and face mask. Shorin's eyes were still open, features twisted, the knife hilt protruding. More voices and other men arriving.\n\nMovement within the house now and in the corridor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His tension soared. For the tenth time he made sure the door bar was secure and could not be opened from the outside, then moved into ambush behind the curtains of the four-poster, near enough to reach her whatever happened." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Footsteps and knocking on the door. Splash of light under it from oil or candle lamps. Louder knocking and voices raised. His knife readied.\n\n\"Mademoiselle, are you all right?\" It was Babcott." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mademoiselle!\" Marlowe called out. \"Open the door!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More pounding, much louder.\n\n\"It's my sleeping draft, Captain. She was very upset, poor lady, and needed sleep. I doubt if she'll wake up.\"\n\n\"If she doesn't I'll break the bloody door down to make sure. Her shutters are open, by God!\" More heavy pounding.\n\nAngelique opened her eyes blearily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Que se passe-t-il? What is it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she mumbled, more asleep than awake.\n\n\"Are you all right? Tout va bien?\"\n\n\"Bien? Moi? Bien sûr... Pourquoi? Qu'arrive-t-il?\"\n\n\"Open the door a moment. Ouvrez la porte, s'il vous plaît, c'est moi, Captain Marlowe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grumbling and disoriented, she sat up in the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To his shock, Ori watched himself allowing her to reel out of bed and totter to the door. It took her a little time to pull back the bar and half open the door, holding on to it for balance.\n\nBabcott, Marlowe and a marine held candlelights. The flames flickered in the draft." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They gaped at her wide-eyed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her nightdress was very French, very fine, and diaphanous.\n\n\"We, er, we just wanted to see you were all right, Mademoiselle. We, er, we caught a man in the shrubbery,\" Babcott said hurriedly, \"nothing to worry about.\" He could see that she hardly understood what he was saying.\n\nMarlowe pulled his gaze off of her body and looked beyond into the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle, s'il vous plâit,\" he said, embarrassed, his accent tolerable, and eased past her to inspect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nothing under the bed except a chamber pot. Curtains behind the bed this side revealed nothing—Christ, what a woman! Nowhere else to hide, no doors or cupboards. The shutters creaked in the wind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He opened them wide." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pallidar! Anything more down there?\"\n\n\"No,\" Pallidar called back. \"No sign of anyone else. It's quite possible he was the only one and the soldier saw him moving about. But check all the rooms this side!\"\n\nMarlowe nodded and muttered a curse and, \"What the hell do you think I'm doing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind him the four-poster curtains moved in the slight breeze, uncovering Ori's feet in his black tabi, Japanese shoe-socks." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marlowe's candle guttered and blew out, and when he slid the shutter bar into place and turned back again he did not notice the tabi in the deep shadows beside the bed, or much of anything else, only Angelique silhouetted in the doorway candlelight hardly awake. He could see every part of her and the sight drew his breath away.\n\n\"Everything's fine,\" he said, even more embarrassed because he had scrutinized her, enjoying her when she was defenseless. Pretending to be brisk, he walked back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Please bolt the door and, er, sleep well,\" he said, wanting to stay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even more disoriented, she mumbled and closed the door. They waited until they heard the bar grate home in its slots. Babcott said hesitantly, \"I doubt if she'll even remember opening the door.\" The marine wiped the sweat off, saw Marlowe looking at him and could not resist a leering beam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What the hell're you so happy about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marlowe said, knowing very well.\n\n\"Me, sir? Nuffink, sir,\" the marine said instantly, leer gone, innocence in its wake. Sodding officers is all the same, he thought wearily. Mucker Marlowe's as horny as the rest of us, his eyes popped and he near ate her up, short and curlies, wot's underneath and the best bloody knockers I ever hoped to see!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lads'll never believe about her knockers." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yessir, mum's the word, yessir,\" he said virtuously when Marlowe told him to say nothing about what they had seen. \"Yor right, sir, again, sir, notta word from me lips,\" he assured him, and trailed along to the next room, thinking of hers." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of James Clavell.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of James Clavell every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Angelique was leaning against the door, trying to make sense of what was happening—difficult to put everything in order, a man in the garden, what garden, but Malcolm was in the garden of the Great House, no he's downstairs wounded, no that's a dream and he said something about living in the Great House and marriage... Malcolm, was he the man, the one who touched me? No, he told me he would die. Silly, the doctor said he was fine, everyone said fine, why fine? Why not good or excellent or fair? Why?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She gave up, her craving for sleep overwhelming." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The moon was shining through the slats of the shutters and she stumbled through the bars of light to the bed, gratefully collapsed into the soft down mattress. With a great sigh of contentment she pulled the sheet half over her and turned on her side. In seconds she was deeply asleep.\n\nSilently Ori slid out of his hiding place, astonished that he was still alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Even though he had pressed himself and his swords flat against the wall, any proper search should have disclosed him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw that the door bar was in place, the shutters barred, the girl breathing heavily, one arm under the pillow, the other on the sheet.\n\nGood. She can wait, he thought. First, how to get out of this trap? The window or the door?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not being able to see through the slats, he moved the bar back softly and pushed one side open a fraction, then the other." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soldiers were still milling below. Dawn was almost three hours away. Clouds building up, drifted towards the moon. Shorin's body lay crumpled on the path like a dead animal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment he was surprised they had left his head on, then remembered it was not gai-jin custom to take heads for viewing or for counting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Difficult to escape that way and not be seen. If they don't slacken their vigilance I'll have to open the door and try inside. That means leaving the door open. Better to go by the window if I can." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He craned out carefully and saw a small ledge below the window that led under another window, then around the building—this was a corner room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His excitement mounted. Soon clouds will cover the moon. I'll escape then. I will escape! Sonnojoi! Now her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Making no noise, he rearranged the bar so the shutters were slightly open, then came back to the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His long sword was still sheathed and he put it within easy reach on the rumpled white silk counterpane. White, he thought. White sheet, white flesh, white the color of death. Apt. Perfect to write on. What should it be? His name?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Without haste he pulled the sheet away from her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The nightdress was beyond his ken, alien, designed to hide everything and nothing. Limbs and breasts, so large compared to the few bedmates he had known, legs long and straight with none of the elegant curve he was used to from the women's many years of kneeling-sitting. Again, her perfume. As his eyes explored her he felt himself stirring.\n\nWith the others it had been very different." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Excitement minimal. Much banter and deft professionalism." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quickly consummated, and usually in a saké haze to blur their age. Now there was limitless time. She was young, and out of his world. His ache increased. And the throb." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wind creaked the shutters but there was no danger there, nor was there any in the house." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everything quiet. She lay half on her stomach. A deft, soft push, and another, and obediently she moved onto her back, her head comfortably to one side, hair cascading. Deep sigh, snug in the embrace of the mattress. A small golden cross at her throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He leaned over and put the tip of his razor-sharp sword-knife under the delicate lace at the neck, lifted slightly and settled the blade against the tension of the garment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The material parted willingly and fell away. To her feet.\n\nOri had never seen a woman so revealed. Or been so constricted. The throbbing intensified like never before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The tiny cross shone." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Involuntarily her hand stirred lazily and went between her legs, resting there comfortably. He lifted it away, then moved one ankle from the other. Gently." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just before dawn she awoke. But not completely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The drug was still with her, dreams still with her, strange violent dreams, erotic and crushing and wonderful and hurting and sensuous and awful and never before experienced or so intense. Through the half-opened shutters she saw the eastern horizon blood red, weird suggestive cloud formations there that seemed to match etchings in her mind. As she moved to see them better there was a slight ache in her loins but she paid it no attention, instead letting her eyes dwell on the pictures in the sky and allowing her mind to drift back into the dreams that beckoned irresistibly. On the threshold of sleep she became aware she was naked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Languidly she pulled her nightdress around her and the sheet over her. And slept." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori was standing beside the bed. He had just moved out of the warmth. His ninja clothes were on the floor. And his loincloth. For a moment he looked down at her lying there, considering her a final time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "So sad, he thought, last times are so sad." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he picked up the short knife-sword and unsheathed it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the room downstairs Phillip Tyrer opened his eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His surroundings were unfamiliar, then he realized that he was still in the temple at Kanagawa, that yesterday had been terrible, the operation awful, his part despicable. \"Babcott said I was in shock,\" he muttered, his mouth parched and bad-tasting. \"Christ, does that excuse me?\"\n\nHis shutters were ajar, a wind creaking them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could see the dawn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning.\" Will there be a storm? he wondered, then sat up in the camp bed and checked the bandage on his arm. It was clean, without fresh bloodstains, and he was greatly relieved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Apart from the throb in his head and some soreness he felt whole again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, God, I wish I'd acted better.\" He made an effort to remember the aftermath of the operation but it was hazed. I know I cried. It didn't feel like crying, the tears flooded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With an effort he pushed the gloomy thoughts away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He got out of bed and shoved the shutters open, strong now on his legs and hungry. Nearby there was water in a jug and he splashed some on his face and rinsed out his mouth and spat the water into the garden foliage. After he had a little water, he felt better. The garden was empty, the air smelling of rotting vegetation and low tide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From where he was he could see a section of the temple walls and the garden but little else." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Through a gap in the trees he caught a glimpse of the guard house and two soldiers there.\n\nNow he noticed that he had been put to bed in his shirt and long woolen underpants. His torn, bloodstained coat was over a chair, his trousers and riding boots, filthy from the paddy, beside it.\n\nNever mind, I'm lucky to be alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He began to dress." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What about Struan? And Babcott—soon I'll have to face him.\n\nThere was no razor so he could not shave. Nor was there a comb. Again never mind. He pulled on his boots." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the garden he could hear the sound of birds and movement, a few distant shouts in Japanese, and dogs barking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But no sounds as in a normal town, an English town, no morning cries of \"Hot cross buns-O\" or \"Fresh water-O\" or \"Colchester oysters, morning fresh, for sale, for sale-O\" or \"Direct from the press, the latest chapter by Mr. Dickens, only a penny, only a penny\" or \"The Times, the Times, read all about Mr. Disraeli's great scandal, read all about it...\"\n\nWill I be dismissed? he asked himself, his stomach surging at the thought of returning home in ignominy, a disaster, a failure, no longer a member of Her Illustrious Majesty's Foreign Office, representative of the greatest Empire the world has ever known. What will Sir William think of me?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "And what about her?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Angelique? Thank God she escaped to Yokohama—will she ever talk to me again when she hears?\n\nOh, God, what am I going to do?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Malcolm Struan was also awake." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A few moments before, some sixth sense of danger, a noise from outside, had wakened him, though lying here it felt as though he had been awake for hours. He lay on the camp bed, aware of the day and the operation and that he had been severely wounded and that the chances were that he would die. Every breath caused a sharp, tearing pain. Even the slightest movement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I'm not going to think about pain, only about Angelique and that she loves me and..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But what about the bad dreams? Dreams of her hating me and running away. I hate dreams and being out of control, hate lying here, loathe being weak when I've always been strong, always brought up in the shadow of my hero, the great Dirk Struan, Green-eyed Devil. Oh, how I wish I had green eyes and could be so strong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He's my lodestone and I will be as good as him, I will." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As always, the enemy Tyler Brock is stalking us. Father and Mother try to keep most of the facts from me, but of course I've heard the rumors and know more than they think. Old Ah Tok, more mother to me than Mother—didn't she carry me until I was two and teach me Cantonese and about life and find me my first girl?—she whispers the rumors to me, so does Uncle Gordon Chen, who tells me facts. The Noble House is teetering." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Never mind, we'll deal with them." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will. That's what I'm trained for and have worked for all my life.\n\nHe moved the blanket aside and lifted his legs to stand, but pain stopped him. Again he tried and again failed. Never mind, he told himself weakly. Nothing to worry about, I'll do it later." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"More eggs, Settry?\" Marlowe said, as tall as the Dragoon officer but not as broad in the shoulders. Both were patrician, sons of serving senior officers, well formed in the face, weathered, Marlowe more so.\n\n\"No, thanks,\" Settry Pallidar said. \"Two's my limit. Must confess that I think the cooking here is vile. I told the servants I like my eggs well-done, not phlegmy, but they've sand for brains. Actually, damned if I can eat eggs unless they're on toast, on good English bread. They just don't taste the same. What do you think's going to happen, about Canterbury?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Marlowe hesitated. They were in the Legation dining room at the vast oak table that could seat twenty, brought from England for just this purpose." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The corner room was spacious and pleasing, windows open to the garden and the dawn. Three liveried Chinese servants served the two of them. Places laid for half a dozen. Fried eggs and bacon in silver salvers warmed by candles, roast chicken, cold salt ham and mushroom pie, a side of almost rancid beef, hardtack biscuits, a dried-apple pie." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Beer, porter and tea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Minister should ask for immediate reparations and the murderers to be handed over at once, and when there's the inevitable delay, he should order the fleet against Yedo.\"\n\n\"Better that we land in force—we've troops enough—and occupy the capital, remove their king, what's he called? Ah yes, Shōgun, and appoint our own native ruler and make Japan a protectorate. Even better, for them, make it part of the Empire.\" Pallidar was very tired and had been awake most of the night. His uniform was unbuttoned but he was groomed and had shaved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He motioned to one of the servants. \"Tea, please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The neatly dressed young Chinese understood perfectly but he gaped at him, deliberately, for the amusement of the other servants. \"Heya, Mass'er? Tea-ah? Wat for tea-ah you say, eh? Wancha cha, heya?\"\n\n\"Oh, never mind, for Christ's sake!\" Wearily Pallidar got up and went to the sideboard with his cup and poured his own tea while all the servants guffawed hugely but silently at the insolent foreign devil's loss of face, and then continued listening attentively to what they were saying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's a matter of military might, old boy. And I'll tell you frankly, the General will be bloody upset about losing a grenadier to a poxy assassin dressed like Ali Baba. He'll want—and we'll all want—revenge, by God.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know about a landing—the Navy can certainly blast a path for you but we've no idea how many samurai there are, nor anything about their strength.\"\n\n\"For God's sake, whatever they are, or it is, we can deal with them, they're only a bunch of backward natives. Of course we can deal with them. Just like in China. Can't understand why we don't annex China and have done with it.\"\n\nAll the servants heard this and understood this and all swore that when the Heavenly Kingdom possessed the guns and the ships to equal the barbarian guns and ships, they would help shove barbarian noses in their own dung and teach them a lesson to last a thousand generations. All of them were handpicked by Illustrious Chen, Gordon Chen, the Noble House compradore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You wan'ta one piecee plenty good 'ggs, Mass'er?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the most courageous one said, and beamed toothily, holding more of the deliberately phlegmy eggs under Pallidar's nose. \"Werry good.\"\n\nPallidar shoved the salver away in disgust. \"No, thanks. Listen, Marlowe, I think...\" He stopped as the door opened and Tyrer came in. \"Oh, hello, you must be Phillip Tyrer from the Legation.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He introduced himself, then Marlowe, and went on breezily, \"Very sorry about your bad luck yesterday but I'm proud to shake your hand. Both Mr. Struan and Miss Richaud told Babcott if it wasn't for you they'd both be dead.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They did? Oh!\" Tyrer could hardly believe his ears. \"It—it all happened so fast. One moment everything was normal, the next we were running for our lives. I was frightened to death.\" Now that he had said it aloud he felt better, and even better when they brushed it aside as modesty, held out a chair for him and ordered the servants to bring him food.\n\nMarlowe said, \"When I checked you in the night you were dead to the world, we knew Babcott had sedated you, so I expect you haven't yet heard about our assassin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer's stomach reeled. \"Assassin?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They told him. And about Angelique.\n\n\"She's here?\"\n\n\"Yes, and what a brave lady she is.\" For a moment Marlowe was filled with the thought of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had no favored girl at home or anywhere, just a few eligible cousins but no special lady, and for the first time he was happy about it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps Angelique will stay and then... and then we'll see.\n\nHis excitement picked up. Just before steaming out of his home port of Plymouth a year ago, his father, Captain Richard Marlowe R.N., had said, \"You're twenty-seven, lad, you've your own ship now—albeit a stinkpot—you're the eldest and it's time you were married. When you get back from this Far East cruise you'll be over thirty, with any luck by then I'll be a Vice Admiral and I'll... well, I can allow you a few extra guineas, but for God's sake, don't tell your mother—or your brothers and sisters. It's time you made up your mind! What about your cousin Delphi? Her father's service, though only Indian Army.\"\n\nHe had promised that on his return he would choose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now perhaps he would not have to settle for second or third or fourth best." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Miss Angelique raised the alarm in the Settlement then insisted on coming here last night—Mr. Struan had asked her to see him urgently—seems he's not too good, pretty bad wound in fact, so I brought her. She's quite a lady.\"\n\n\"Yes.\" A curious silence took them, each knowing the other's thoughts. Phillip Tyrer broke it. \"Why should an assassin come here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The other two heard the nervousness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"More devilment, I suppose,\" Pallidar said. \"Nothing to worry about, we caught the bugger. Have you seen Mr. Struan this morning?\"\n\n\"I peeked in but he was asleep, hope he's going to be all right. The op was not so good and...\" Tyrer stopped, hearing an altercation outside. Pallidar went to the window followed by the others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sergeant Towery was shouting at a half-naked Japanese from the far side of the garden, beckoning him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey, you, come 'ere!\"\n\nThe man, apparently a gardener, was well built and young and twenty yards away. He wore only a loincloth and was carrying a bundle of sticks and branches over one shoulder, some half wrapped in a dirty black cloth, while he awkwardly scavenged for others. For a moment he stood erect, then began bobbing up and down, bowing abjectly towards the Sergeant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My God, these buggers have no sense of shame,\" Pallidar said distastefully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Even the Chinese don't dress like that—nor Indians. You can see his privates.\"\n\n\"I'm told they dress like that even in winter, some of them,\" Marlowe said. \"They don't seem to feel the cold.\"\n\nAgain Towery shouted and beckoned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The man kept on bowing, nodding vigorously, but instead of going towards him, seemingly he misinterpreted him and obediently turned away, still half-bowing, and scuttled away, heading for the corner of the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As he passed their window he gazed at them for an instant, then once more bent double in a groveling obeisance and hurried towards the servants' quarters, almost hidden by foliage, and was gone.\n\n\"Curious,\" Marlowe said.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Oh, just that all that bowing and scraping seemed put-on.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Marlowe turned and saw Tyrer's chalky face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Christ Almighty, what's up?\"\n\n\"I—I, that man, I think he, I'm not sure but I think he was one of them, one of the murderers at the Tokaidō, the one Struan shot. Did you see his shoulder, wasn't it bandaged?\"\n\nPallidar was the first to react. He jumped out of the window, closely followed by Marlowe who had grabbed his sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Together they hurtled for the trees." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But they did not find him though they searched everywhere." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now it was high noon. Again the soft knock on her bedroom door, again \"Mademoiselle? Mademoiselle?\" Babcott called out from the corridor, his voice soft, not wanting to awaken her unnecessarily, but she did not reply. She remained standing rock still in the center of the room and stared at the bolted door, hardly breathing, her robe tight around her, her face stark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The trembling began again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mademoiselle?\"\n\nShe waited. After a moment his footsteps died away and she exhaled, desperately trying to stop shaking, then resumed pacing to the shuttered windows and back to the bed and back to the windows once more, pacing as she had been pacing for hours.\n\nI've got to decide, she thought in misery.\n\nWhen she awoke a second time, not remembering the first awakening, her mind was clear and she lay in the crumpled bed linen without moving, glad to be awake, rested, hungry, and thirsty for the first, glorious cup of coffee of the day served with some crusty fresh French bread that her Legation's chef made in Yokohama." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But I'm not in Yokohama, I'm in Kanagawa, and today it will be just a cup of revolting English tea with milk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Malcolm! Poor Malcolm, I do so hope he's better. We'll return to Yokohama today, I'll board the next steamer for Hong Kong, thence to Paris... but oh, what dreams I had, what dreams!\n\nThe fantasies of the night were still vivid and mixed up with other pictures of the Tokaidō and Canterbury's mutilation and Malcolm acting so strangely presuming that they would marry. The imagined smell of the surgery rose in her nostrils but she fought it away, yawned, and reached for her little timepiece which she had left on the bedside table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With the slight movement came a small pain in her loins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment she wondered if it presaged an early period, for she was not completely regular, but dismissed the thought as impossible.\n\nThe timepiece read 10:20. It was inset with lapis lazuli and had been her father's gift on her eighteenth birthday, July 8th, a little over two months ago in Hong Kong. So much has happened since then, she thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'll be so happy to be back in Paris, in civilization, never to return, never never nev—" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly she realized that she was almost naked under the sheet. To her astonishment she found that her nightdress only clung to her arms and shoulders and was totally split down the front and scrambled up behind her. She lifted the two sides in disbelief. Wanting to see better, she slid out of bed to go to the window but again felt the slight soreness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now in the day's light she noticed the telltale smear of blood on the sheet and found a trace between her legs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How can my period...\"\n\nShe began counting days and recounting them but the addition made no sense. Her last period had stopped two weeks ago. Then she noticed that she was slightly moist and could not understand why—then her heart twisted and she almost fainted as her brain shouted that the dreams had not been dreams but real and that she had been violated while asleep." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's not possible! You must be mad—that's not possible,\" she had gasped, fighting for air, fighting for space." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, God, let this be a dream, part of those dreams.\" She groped for the bed, heart pounding. \"You're awake, this isn't a dream, you're awake!\"\n\nShe examined herself again, frantically, and then again but this time with more care." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had enough knowledge to know that there was no mistake about the moisture, or that her hymen was split." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was true. She had been raped.\n\nThe room began to spin. Oh, God, I'm ruined, life ruined, future ruined for no decent man, eligible man will marry me now that I'm soiled, marriage a girl's only way to better herself, have a happy future, any future, no other way...\n\nWhen her senses settled and she could see and think, she found herself lying across the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shakily she tried to reconstruct the night." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I remember bolting the door.\n\nShe peered at it. The bar was still in place.\n\nI remember Malcolm and the foulness of his room and running away from him, Phillip Tyrer sleeping peacefully, Dr. Babcott giving me the drink and going upstair—" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The drink! Oh, God, I was drugged!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If Babcott can operate with these drugs, of course it could happen, of course I would be helpless but that doesn't help me now! It happened! Say I get a child!\n\nAgain panic overwhelmed her. Tears gushed down her cheeks and she almost cried out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stop it!\" she muttered, making a supreme effort for control." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop it! Don't make a sound, don't! You're alone, no one else can help, just you, you've got to think. What are you going to do? Think!\" She took deep breaths, her heart hurting, and tried to slam her jumbled mind into order. Who was the man?\n\nThe bar's still in place so no one could have come through the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wait a minute, I remember vaguely... or was it part of the dream before the..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I seem to remember opening the door to—to Babcott and, and the naval officer Marlowe... then barring it again. Yes, that's right! At least, I think that's right. Didn't he speak French... yes, he did, but badly, then they went away and I barred the door, I'm sure I did. But why did they knock on the door in the night?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She searched and re-searched her mind but could not find an answer, not truly sure this had happened, the night pictures slipping away. Some of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Concentrate!\n\nIf not through the door he came through the window. She squirmed around and saw that the shutter bar was on the floor, below the window, not in its slots.\n\nSo whoever it was got in through the window!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Who? Marlowe, that Pallidar or even the good Doctor, I know they all want me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who knew I was drugged? Babcott. He could have told the others but surely none of them would dare to be so evil, would dare risk the consequences of climbing up from the garden for of course I would shout from the rooftops...\n\nHer whole being screamed a warning: Be careful. Your future depends on being careful and wise. Be careful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Are you sure that this really happened in the night?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What about the dreams? Perhaps... I won't think about them now but only a doctor would know for certain and that would have to be Babcott. Wait, you could, you could have ruptured that tiny piece of skin in your sleep, twisting in the nightmare—it was a nightmare, wasn't it? That has happened to some girls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes, but they'd still be virgin and that doesn't explain the moisture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Remember Jeanette in the convent, poor silly Jeanette who fell in love with one of the tradesmen, and allowed him, and excitedly told us all about it later, all the details. She didn't become pregnant but she was found out and the next day she was gone forever, and later we learned she'd been married off to a village butcher, the only man who would take her.\n\nI didn't allow anything but that won't help me, a doctor would know for certain but that won't help me, and the idea of Babcott or any doctor being so intimate fills me with horror and then Babcott would share the secret. How could I trust him with such a secret?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "If it became known..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I have to keep it secret! But how, how can you, and what then?\n\nI'll answer that later. First, decide who the devil was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No, first clean yourself of this evil and then you will think better." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You've got to think clearly.\n\nWith distaste she shook off the nightdress and threw it aside, then washed carefully and deeply, trying to remember all the contraceptive knowledge she possessed, what Jeanette had done successfully. Then she put on her robe and combed her hair. Using tooth powder, she cleaned her teeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only then did she look in her mirror." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Very carefully she examined her face. It was without blemish. She loosened her robe. So were her limbs and breasts—nipples a little red." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again she looked deep into her mirror." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No change, nothing. And everything.\"\n\nThen she noticed that the little gold cross she had worn forever, sleeping and waking, was gone. She searched the bed carefully, then underneath and all around. It was not buried in the bedclothes or under the pillows or caught in the curtains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Last chance—hiding in the lace of the coverlet." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She picked it off the floor and went through it. Nothing.\n\nThen she saw the three Japanese characters, crudely drawn on its whiteness, in blood." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sunlight sparked off the gold cross." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori was holding it in his fist by the thin chain, mesmerized.\n\n\"Why did you take it?\" Hiraga asked.\n\n\"I don't know.\"\n\n\"Not killing the woman was a mistake. Shorin was right. It was a mistake.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Karma.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were safe in the Inn of the Midnight Blossoms and Ori had bathed and shaved and he looked back at Hiraga with level eyes and thought, You're not my master—I will tell you only what pleases me, nothing more.\n\nHe had told him about Shorin's death and climbing into the room, that she had slept soundly and had not awakened—but no more, only that he had hidden there safely, then had taken off his ninja clothes knowing he would be intercepted and had camouflaged his swords with them, shinned down into the garden with just enough time to gather some fallen branches, to pretend to be a gardener before he was spotted and, even after recognizing the man from the road, had managed to escape. But nothing more about her.\n\nHow can I express in mortal words and tell anyone that because of her I became one with the gods, that when I had spread her wide and saw her I was drunk with craving, that when I entered her, I entered her as a lover and not a rapist—I don't know why but I did, slowly, carefully, and her arms went around me and she shuddered and held on though she never truly awoke and she was so tight and I held back and back and then poured forth in a way inconceivable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I never believed it could be so marvelous, so sensual, so satisfying, so final." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The others were nothing compared to her. She made me reach the stars, but that is not why I left her alive. I thought about killing her very much. Then myself, there in the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But that would have been only selfish, to die at the crest of happiness, so content." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Oh, how I wished to die. But my death belongs to sonnojoi. Only that. Not to me.\n\n\"Not killing her was a mistake,\" Hiraga said again, interrupting Ori's thought pattern." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shorin was right, killing her would have achieved our plan, better than anything.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Then why?\"\n\nI left her alive for the gods, if there are gods, he could have said but did not. They possessed me and made me do what I did and I thank them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now I am complete." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I know life, all that remains to know is death. I was her first and she will remember me forever even though she slept. When she wakes and sees my writing in my own blood, not hers, she will know. I want her to live forever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will die soon. Karma." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately five sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori put the cross into a secret sleeve pocket of his kimono and drank more of the refreshing green tea, feeling utterly fulfilled and so alive. \"You said you had a raid?\"\n\n\"Yes. We are going to burn the British Legation in Yedo.\"\n\n\"Good. Let it be soon.\"\n\n\"It is. Sonnojoi!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At Yokohama, Sir William said angrily, \"Tell them again, for the last time, by God, Her Majesty's Government demands immediate reparations of one hundred thousand pounds sterling in gold for allowing this unprovoked attack and murder of an Englishman—killing Englishmen is kinjiru, by God! And also we demand possession of the Satsuma murderers within three days or we-will-take-definitive-action!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was across the bay in the small, stuffy audience room of the British Legation in Yokohama, flanked by the Prussian, French and Russian Ministers, both Admirals, British and French, the General, all of them equally exasperated.\n\nIn line opposite, seated ceremoniously on chairs, were two local representatives of the Bakufu, the chief samurai of the Settlement Guard, and the Governor of Kanagawa in whose jurisdiction Yokohama lay. They wore wide pantaloons and kimonos, and over them the broad-shouldered, winglike mantle that was belted, and two swords. Clearly all were uncomfortable and inwardly furious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At dawn, armed soldiers had hammered on the door of the Customs Houses, in both Yokohama and Kanagawa, with rifle butts and unprecedented anger, summoning the highest officials and Governor to an immediate conference at noon, the haste also unprecedented." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Between the two sides the interpreters sat on cushions. The Japanese knelt, and the other, a Swiss, Johann Favrod, sat cross-legged, their common language Dutch.\n\nThe meeting had already been in progress for two hours—English translated into Dutch into Japanese, into Dutch into English and back again. All Sir William's questions were misunderstood, or parried or needed repeating several times, delays were \"requested\" in a dozen different ways to \"consult higher authorities to institute examinations and investigations\" and \"Oh, yes, in Japan examinations are quite different from investigations. His Excellency, the Governor of Kanagawa, explains in detail that...\" and \"Oh, His Excellency, the Governor of Kanagawa, wishes to explain in detail that he has no jurisdiction over Satsuma which is a separate kingdom...\" and \"Oh, but His Excellency, the Governor of Kanagawa, understands the accused drew pistols threateningly and are accused and guilty of not obeying Japanese ancient customs...\" and \"How many foreigners did you say were in the foreign party who should have knelt...\" and \"But our customs...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tedious, time-consuming, and complex lectures in Japanese by the Governor, put laboriously into far from fluent Dutch and retranslated into English." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Make it blunt, Johann, exactly as I said it.\"\n\n\"I have, every time, Sir William, but I'm sure this cretin isn't interpreting accurately, either what you say or what the Jappers say.\"\n\n\"We know that, for Christ's sake, has it ever been different? Please get on with it.\"\n\nJohann put the words into an exact translation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Japanese interpreter flushed, asked for an explanation of the word \"immediate,\" then carefully delivered a polite, appropriate, approximate translation he considered would be acceptable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even then the Governor sucked in his breath at the rudeness. The silence increased. His fingers tapped a constant, irritated tattoo on his sword hilt, then he spoke shortly, three or four words. The translation was long.\n\nJohann said cheerfully, \"Without all the merde, the Gov says he'll pass on your 'request' at the appropriate time to the appropriate authorities.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William reddened perceptibly, the Admirals and General more so." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"'Request,' eh? Tell the bugger exactly: It's not a request, it's a demand! And tell him further: We demand an immediate audience with the Shōgun in Yedo in three days! Three days, by God! And I'm bloody arriving by battleship!\"\n\n\"Bravo,\" Count Zergeyev muttered.\n\nJohann was also weary of the game and gave the words a fine-tuned bluntness. The Japanese interpreter gasped and without waiting began a flood of acrimonious Dutch that Johann answered sweetly with two words that precipitated an aghast, sudden silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nan ja?\" What is it, what's been said, the Governor asked angrily, not mistaking the hostility or hiding his own." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once, apologetically, the flustered interpreter gave him a toned-down version, but even so the Governor exploded into a paroxysm of threats and pleading and refusal and more threats that the interpreter translated into words he considered the foreigners wanted to hear, then, still rattled, listened again and translated again.\n\n\"What's he saying, Johann?\" Sir William had to raise his voice above the noise, the interpreter was answering the Governor and Bakufu officials, who were chattering amongst themselves and to him. \"What the devil are they saying?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Johann was happy now—he knew the meeting would terminate in a few moments and he could return to the Long Bar for his lunch and schnapps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know, except the Gov repeats the best he can do is to pass on your request etc. at the appropriate etc. but there's no way the Shōgun will grant you the honor etc. because it's against their customs etc...\"\n\nSir William slammed the flat of his hand onto the table. In the shocked silence, he pointed at the Governor then at himself. \"Watashi... me...\" Then he pointed out of the window towards Yedo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Watashi go Yedo!\" Then he raised three fingers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"three days, in a bloody battleship!\" He got up and stormed out of the room. The others followed.\n\nHe went across the hall to his study, to the bank of cut-glass de canters and poured some whisky. \"Anyone care to join me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he said breezily as the others surrounded him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Automatically he poured Scotch for the Admirals, General and Prussian, claret for Seratard, and a significant vodka for Count Zergeyev. \"I thought that went according to plan. Sorry it was drawn out.\"\n\n\"I thought you were going to burst a blood vessel,\" Zergeyev said, draining his glass and pouring another.\n\n\"Not on your nelly. Had to close the meeting with a certain amount of drama.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So it's Yedo in three days?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, my dear Count. Admiral, have the flagship ready for a dawn departure, spend the next few days getting everything shipshape, ostentatiously clear the decks for action, all cannon primed, drills for the whole fleet, and order them to be ready to join us in battle order if need be. General, five hundred Redcoats should be enough for an honor guard. Monsieur, would the French flagship care to join us?\"\n\nSeratard said, \"Of course. I will accompany you, of course, but suggest the French Legation as Headquarters, and full dress uniform.\"\n\n\"No to the uniforms, this is a punitive mission, not to present credentials—that comes later. And no to the meeting place. It was our national who was murdered and, how shall I put it? Our fleet is the deciding factor.\"\n\nVon Heimrich chuckled. \"It certainly is decisive in these waters, at the present time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He glanced at Seratard." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A pity I don't have a dozen regiments of Prussian cavalry, then we could partition the Japans without a hiccup and have done with all their devious stupidity and time-wasting bad manners.\"\n\n\"Only a dozen?\" Seratard asked witheringly.\n\n\"That would be sufficient, Herr Seratard, for all Japan. Our troops are the best in the world—of course after Her Britannic Majesty's,\" he added smoothly. \"Fortunately Prussia could spare twenty, even thirty regiments for just this small sector and still have more than enough to deal with any problem we might encounter anywhere, particularly in Europe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, well...\" Sir William broke in as Seratard reddened." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He finished his drink. \"I'm off to Kanagawa to make some arrangements. Admiral, General, perhaps a short conference when I return—I'll come aboard the flagship. Oh, Monsieur Seratard, what about Mademoiselle Angelique? Would you like me to escort her back?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She came out of her room in the late afternoon sunlight and walked along the corridor and down the main staircase towards the entrance hallway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now she wore the long, bustled dress of yesterday, elegant again, more ethereal than ever—hair groomed and swept up, eyes enhanced. Perfume and the swish of petticoats.\n\nSentries at the main door saluted her and mumbled an embarrassed greeting, awed by her beauty. She acknowledged them with a distant smile and went towards the surgery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A Chinese houseboy gaped at her and scuttled past." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Just before she reached the door, it opened. Babcott came out and stopped. \"Oh, hello, Miss Angelique. My word, but you look beautiful,\" he said, almost stuttering.\n\n\"Thank you, Doctor.\" Her smile was kind, voice gentle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I wanted to ask... can we talk a moment?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course, come in. Make yourself at home.\" Babcott shut the surgery door, settled her in the best chair and sat behind his desk, swept up by her radiance and the way her coiffure showed off her long neck to perfection. His eyes were red-rimmed and he was very tired. But then that's a way of life, he thought, glorying in the sight of her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That drink you gave me, last night, it was a drug of some kind?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, yes, it was. I made it fairly strong as you were—you were rather upset.\"\n\n\"It's all so vague and mixed up: the Tokaidō, then coming here and, and seeing Malcolm. The sleeping drink was very strong?\"\n\n\"Yes, but not dangerous, anything like that. Sleep's the best cure, it would have been the best kind, deep sleep, and by Jove, you slept well, it's almost four. How do you feel?\"\n\n\"Still a little tired, thank you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Again the shadowed smile and it tore at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How is Monsieur Struan?\"\n\n\"No change. I was just going to see him again, you can come along, if you like. He's doing well, considering. Oh, by the way, they caught that fellow.\"\n\n\"Fellow?\"\n\n\"The one we told you about last night, the intruder.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I don't remember anything about the night.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He told her what had happened at her door and in the garden, how one robber was shot and the other spotted this morning but had escaped, and it took all of her will to keep her face clear and to stop from screaming aloud what she was thinking: you son of Satan with your sleeping drafts and incompetence. Two robbers? The other one must have been in my room when you were there then and you failed to find him and save me, you and that other fool, Marlowe, equally guilty.\n\nBlessed Mother, give me strength, help me to be revenged on both of them. And him, whoever he is!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mother of God, let me be revenged." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But why steal my cross and leave the other jewelry and why the characters and what do they mean? And why in blood, his blood?\n\nShe saw him staring at her. \"Oui?\"\n\n\"I said, Would you like to see Mr. Struan now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh! Yes, yes, please.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She got up too, once more in control. \"Oh, I'm afraid I spilt the jug of water on the sheets—would you ask the maid to deal with them, please?\"\n\nHe laughed. \"We don't have maids here. Against Japper regulations. We've Chinese houseboys. Don't worry, the moment you left the room they'll be tidying...\" He stopped, seeing her go pale. \"What's the matter?\"\n\nFor an instant her restraint had left her and she was back in her room again, scrubbing and cleaning and petrified the marks would not come out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But they had and she remembered she had checked and rechecked so the secret was safe—nothing was left to show, neither moisture nor blood, her secret safe forever so long as she was strong and kept to the plan—must—and must be clever, must." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Babcott was shocked by the sudden pallor, her fingers twisting the material of her skirt. Instantly he was beside her and held her shoulders gently. \"Not to worry, you're quite safe, you really are.\"\n\n\"Yes, sorry,\" she said, frightened, her head against his chest, finding the tears were flowing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was just, I—I was, I was remembering poor Canterbury.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She watched herself, out of herself, allow him to comfort her, utterly sure that her plan was the only one, the wise one: nothing happened. Nothing nothing nothing.\n\nYou will believe it until your next period. And then, if it arrives, you will believe forever.\n\nAnd if it does not arrive?\n\nI don't know I don't know I don't know." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Gai-jin are vermin without manners,\" Nori Anjo said, shaking with rage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was chief of the roju, the Council of Five Elders, a squat, round-faced man, richly dressed. \"They've spurned our polite apology, which should have ended the Tokaidō matter, and now, impertinently, formally request an audience with the Shōgun—the writing is foul, words inept. Here, read it for yourself, it has just arrived.\"\n\nWith barely concealed impatience he handed the scroll to his much younger adversary, Toranaga Yoshi, who sat opposite him. They were alone in one of the audience rooms high up in the central keep of Yedo Castle, all their guards ordered out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A low, scarlet lacquered table separated the two men, a black tea tray on it, delicate cups and teapot eggshell porcelain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Whatever gai-jin say doesn't matter.\" Uneasily Yoshi took the scroll but did not read it. Unlike Anjo his clothes were simple and his swords working, not ceremonial. \"Somehow we must twist them to do what we want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was daimyo of Hisamatsu, a small though important fief nearby and a direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shōgun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the Emperor's recent \"suggestion,\" and over Anjo's flaring opposition, he had just been appointed Guardian of the Heir, the boy Shōgun, and to fill the vacancy in the Council of Elders. Tall, patrician and twenty-six, with fine hands and long fingers. \"Whatever happens, they must not see the Shōgun,\" he said. \"That would confirm the legality of the Treaties, which are not yet properly ratified. We will refuse their insolent request.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I agree it's insolent but we still have to deal with it, and decide about that Satsuma dog, Sanjiro.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both were weary of the gai-jin problem that had disturbed their wa, their harmony, for two days now, both anxious to end this meeting—Yoshi wanting to return to his quarters below where Koiko waited for him, Anjo to a secret meeting with a doctor.\n\nOutside it was sunny and kind, with the smell of sea and rich soil on the slight breeze that came through the opened shutters. No threat of winter yet.\n\nBut winter's coming, Anjo was thinking, the ache in his bowels distracting him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I hate winter, season of death, the sad season, sky sad, sea sad, land sad and ugly and freezing, trees bare, and the cold that twists your joints, reminding you how old you are." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was a greying man of forty-six, daimyo of Mikawa, had been the center of roju power since the dictator tairō Ii had been assassinated four years ago.\n\nWhereas you, puppy, he thought angrily, you're only a two-month appointee to the Council and a four-week Guardian—both dangerous political appointments implemented over our protests. It's time your wings were clipped. \"Of course we all value your advice,\" he said, his voice honeyed, then added, not meaning it, as both knew, \"For two days the gai-jin have been preparing their fleet for battle, troops drilling openly and tomorrow their leader arrives. What's your solution?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The same as yesterday, official scroll or not: we send another apology 'for the regrettable mishap' laced with sarcasm they will never understand, from an official they will never know, and timed to arrive before the leader gai-jin leaves Yokohama, asking for a further delay to 'make enquiries.' If that does not satisfy him and he or they come to Yedo, let them. We send the usual low-level official, nonbinding on us to their Legation to treat with them, giving them a little soup but no fish. We delay, and delay.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Meanwhile it's time to exercise our hereditary Shōgunate right and order Sanjiro to hand over the killers for punishment at once, to pay an indemnity, again through us, at once, and into house arrest and retirement at once. We order him!\" Anjo said harshly, \"You're inexperienced in high Shōgunate matters.\"\n\nKeeping his temper and wishing he could send Anjo into immediate retirement for his stupidity and bad manners, Yoshi said, \"If we order Sanjiro we will be disobeyed, therefore we will be forced to go to war, and Satsuma is too strong with too many allies. There's been no war for two hundred and fifty years. We're not ready for war. War is...\"\n\nThere was a sudden, peculiar silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Involuntarily both men gripped their swords." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The teacups and teapot began to rattle. Far off the earth rumbled, the whole tower shifted slightly, then again, and again. The quake persisted for about thirty seconds. Then it was gone, as suddenly as it had arrived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Impassively they waited, watching the cups." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No aftershock.\n\nStill no aftershock.\n\nMore waiting throughout the castle and Yedo. All living creatures waiting. Nothing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshi sipped some tea, then meticulously centered the cup in its saucer and Anjo envied him his control." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inwardly Yoshi was in turmoil and he thought, Today the gods smiled on me but what about the next shock, or the next, or the one after that—any moment now, or in a candle of time or this afternoon, or later tonight or tomorrow? Karma!\n\nSafe today but soon there will be another bad one, a killer earthquake, like seven years ago when I almost died and a hundred thousand people perished in Yedo alone in the earthquake and in the fires that always follow, not counting the tens of thousands washed out to sea and drowned in the tsunami wave that swept unheralded out of the sea that night—one of them my lovely Yuriko, then the passion of my life.\n\nHe willed himself to dominate his fear. \"War is completely unwise now. Satsuma is too strong, the Tosa and Choshu legions will become his allies openly, we're not strong enough to crush them alone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tosa and Choshu were fiefs, far from Yedo, both historic enemy to the Shōgunate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The most important daimyos will come to our banner, if summoned, and the rest follow.\" Anjo tried to hide the effort it took him to unlock his grip on his sword, still terrified.\n\nYoshi was alert and well trained, and noticed the lapse and docketed it for future use, pleased that he had seen into his enemy. \"They won't, not yet. They'll delay, bluster, whine, and never help us smash Satsuma. They have no balls.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If not now, when?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anjo's fury spilled out, whipped by his fear and loathing of earthquakes. He had been in a bad one as a child, his father becoming a torch, his mother and two brothers cinders before his eyes. Ever since, with even the slightest quake, he relived the day and smelled their burning flesh and heard their screams. \"We have to humble that dog sooner or later. Why not now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because we have to wait until we're better armed. They—Satsuma, Tosa and Choshu—have a few modern weapons, cannon and rifles, we don't know how many. And several steamships.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sold to them by gai-jin against Shōgunate wishes!\"\n\n\"Bought by them because of previous weakness.\"\n\nAnjo's face reddened. \"I'm not responsible for that!\"\n\n\"Nor I!\" Yoshi's fingers on the hilt tightened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Those fiefs are better armed than we are, whatever the reason. So sorry, we have to wait, the Satsuma fruit is not yet rotten enough for us to risk a war that by ourselves we cannot win. We're isolated, Sanjiro is not.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His voice became sharper. \"But I agree that soon there must be a reckoning.\"\n\n\"Tomorrow I will ask the Council to issue the order.\"\n\n\"For the sake of the Shōgunate, you and all Toranaga clans, I hope the others will listen to me!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tomorrow we will see—Sanjiro's head should be put on a spike and exhibited as an example to all traitors.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree Sanjiro must have ordered the Tokaidō killing just to embarrass us,\" Yoshi said. \"That will madden the gai-jin. Our only solution is to delay. Our mission to Europe is due back any day now and then our troubles should be over.\"\n\nEight months before, in January, the Shōgunate had sent the first official deputation from Japan by steamship to America and Europe, with secret orders to renegotiate the Treaties—the roju considered them \"un authorized tentative agreements\"—with British, French and American Governments, and to cancel or delay any further opening of any ports. \"Their orders were clear. By now the Treaties will be voided.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anjo said ominously, \"So, if not war, you agree the time has come to send Sanjiro onwards.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The younger man was too cautious to agree openly, wondering what Anjo was planning, or had already planned. He eased his swords more comfortably and pretended to consider the question, finding his new appointment very much to his liking. Once more I'm in at the center of power. Oh, yes, Sanjiro helped put me here but only for his own vile purpose: to destroy me by making me ever more publicly responsible for all the troubles these cursed gai-jin have brought, therefore setting me up as a prime target for the cursed shishi—and to usurp our hereditary rights, wealth and Shōgunate." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I repeat,\" Sanjiro had said imperiously, \"obey the Emperor's suggestions: Convene a meeting of all senior daimyos at once, humbly ask them to form a permanent Council to advise, reform and run the Shōgunate, quash your infamous and unauthorized gai-jin agreements, order all ports closed to gai-jin, and if they don't go, expel them at once!\"\n\n\"I keep reminding you, it is only the Shōgunate's right to set foreign policy, any policy, not the Emperor's, nor yours! We both know you've deceived him,\" Anjo had told him, hating him for his lineage, his legions, his riches, and obvious, abundant good health. \"The suggestions are ridiculous and unenforceable! We've kept the peace for two and a half cent—\"\n\n\"Yes, for Toranaga aggrandizement. If you refuse to obey our rightful liege lord, the Emperor, then resign or commit seppuku. You chose a boy to be Shōgun, that traitor tairō Ii signed the 'Treaties'—it's Bakufu responsibility gai-jin are here and that is Toranaga responsibility!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anjo had flushed, driven almost mad by the sneering malevolence and baiting that had gone on for months, and he would have gone for his sword if Sanjiro had not been protected by Imperial mandate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If tairō Ii hadn't negotiated the Treaties and had them signed, gai-jin would have bombarded their way ashore and by now we would be humbled like China.\"\n\n\"Surmise—nonsense!\"\n\n\"Have you forgotten Peking's Summer Palace was burned and looted, Sanjiro-dono? Now China is practically dismembered and government out of Chinese control. Have you forgotten the British, the main enemy, were ceded one of their islands, Hong Kong, twenty years ago and now it's an impregnable bastion? Tientsin, Shanghai, Swatow now are permanent, self-contained gai-jin dominated and owned Treaty Ports? Say they took one of our islands in the same way.\"\n\n\"We would prevent them—we're not Chinese.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How? So sorry, but you're blind and deaf, and your head's in the heavens. A year ago, the moment the latest China war was over, if we'd provoked them they would have sent all those fleets and armies against us and overrun us as well. Only Bakufu cleverness stopped them. We could not have stood against those armadas—or their cannon and guns.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree that it's Shōgunate responsibility we're unprepared, Toranaga responsibility. We should have had modern cannon and warships years ago, we have had knowledge of them for years. Didn't the Dutch advise us dozens of times about their new inventions, but you put our heads in the night buckets! You failed the Emperor. At most you could have settled for one port, Deshima—why give the American fiend Townsend Harris, Yokohama, Hirodate, Nagasaki, Kanagawa and allow them access to Yedo for their impertinent Legations! Resign and let others more qualified save the Land of the Gods...\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding four sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Remembering the clash made Anjo sweat, that and the knowledge that much of what Sanjiro said was right." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took a paper handkerchief from his voluminous sleeve and wiped the sweat off his brow and shaved pate and looked back at Yoshi, jealous of his bearing and good looks but mostly of his youth and legendary virility.\n\nNot so long ago it was so easy to be satisfied, normal to be potent, he thought in sudden misery, the ever present ache in his loins reminding him. Not so long ago, easy to become erect without effort and be abundantly charged—now no longer possible even with the most desirable person, their most clever skills, or rarest salves and medicines.\n\n\"Sanjiro may consider himself beyond reach, but he's not,\" he said with finality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Put your mind on it too, Yoshi-dono, our young but oh so wise Councillor, how to remove him, or your own head may be on a spike all too soon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi decided not to take offense, and smiled. \"What do the other Elders advise?\"\n\nAnjo laughed crookedly. \"They will vote as I say.\"\n\n\"If you weren't kinsman, I would suggest you resign or commit seppuku.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What a pity you are not your illustrious namesake and you could actually order it, eh?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anjo got up heavily. \"I'll send a reply now, to delay. Tomorrow we take a formal vote to humble Sanjiro...\" Angrily he spun on guard as the door was jerked open. Yoshi already had his sword half out of its scabbard. \"I gave orders...\"\n\nThe flustered sentry mumbled, \"So sorry, Anjo-sama...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anjo's fury vanished as a youth brushed the sentry aside and hurried into the room, closely followed by a girl, barely five feet tall, both elaborately dressed and bubbling, four armed samurai in their wake and, after them, a matron and lady-in-waiting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once Anjo and Yoshi knelt and bowed their heads to the tatami. The entourage bowed back. The youth, Shōgun Nobusada, did not. Nor did the girl, Imperial Princess Yazu, his wife." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Both were the same age, sixteen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That quake, it knocked over my favorite vase,\" the youth said excitedly, pointedly ignoring Yoshi. \"My favorite vase!\" He waved the door closed. His guards stayed, and his wife's ladies. \"I wanted to tell you I've a wonderful idea.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So sorry about the vase, Sire.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anjo's voice was kind. \"You had an idea?\"\n\n\"We... I've decided we, my wife and I, we, I've decided we'll go to Kyōto to see the Emperor and ask him what to do about the gai-jin and how to throw them out!\" The youth beamed at his wife and she nodded in happy agreement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll go next month—a State Visit!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anjo and Yoshi felt their minds explode, both wanting to leap forward and strangle the boy for his lack of brains. But both kept their tempers, both used to his petulant stupidity and tantrums, and for the thousandth time, both cursed the day the marriage of these two had been proposed and consummated. \"An interesting idea, Sire,\" Anjo said carefully, watching the girl without watching, noting her concentration centered on him now and that, as usual, though her lips smiled her eyes did not. \"I will put the suggestion before the Council of Elders and we will give it our full attention.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good,\" Nobusada said importantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was a small, thin young man, just five and a half feet, who always wore thick geta, sandals, to increase his height. His teeth were dyed fashionably black as Court custom in Kyōto decreed, though not here in Shōgunate circles. \"Three or four weeks should be time to prepare everything.\" Ingenuously he smiled at his wife." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did I forget anything, Yazu-chan?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, Sire,\" she said prettily. \"How could you forget anything?\" Her face was delicate and made up in classic Kyōto Court style: eyebrows plucked and, in their place, high arching eyebrows painted on the whiteness of her makeup, her teeth dyed black, thick raven hair piled high and held in place with ornate pins. Purple kimono decorated with sprays of autumn leaves, her obi, the intricate sash, golden." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Imperial Princess Yazu, stepsister of the Son of Heaven, Nobusada's bride of six months, sought for him since she was twelve, betrothed at fourteen and married at sixteen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course, a decision by you is a decision and not a suggestion.\"\n\n\"Of course, Honored Princess,\" Yoshi said quickly. \"But so sorry, Sire, such important arrangements could not possibly be made in four weeks. May I advise you to consider the implications for such a visit might be misinterpreted.\"\n\nNobusada's smile vanished. \"Implications? Advise? What implications? Misinterpreted by whom? By you?\" he said rudely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, Sire, not by me. I just wanted to point out that no Shōgun has ever gone to Kyōto to ask the Emperor's advice and such a precedent would be disastrous to your rule.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why?\" Nobusada said angrily. \"I don't understand.\"\n\n\"Because, as you remember, the Shōgun has the sole hereditary duty to make decisions for the Emperor, together with his Council of Elders and Shōgunate.\" Yoshi kept his voice gentle. \"This allows the Son of Heaven to spend his time interceding with the gods for all of us, and for the Shōgunate to keep mundane and common happenings from disturbing his wa.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Princess Yazu said sweetly, \"What Toranaga Yoshi-sama says is true, husband. Unfortunately the gai-jin have already disturbed his wa, as we all know, so to ask my brother, the Exalted, for advice would surely be both polite and filial and not interfere with historic rights.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\" The youth puffed up his chest. \"It's decided!\"\n\n\"The Council will at once consider your wishes,\" Yoshi said.\n\nNobusada's face contorted and he shouted, \"Wishes? It's a decision! Put it to them if you wish, but I have decided! I'm Shōgun, you're not! I am! I've decided! I was chosen and they rejected you—all loyal daimyos did. I'm Shōgun, Cousin!\"\n\nEveryone was aghast at the outburst." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Except the girl. She smiled to herself and kept her eyes downcast and thought: At last my revenge begins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True, Sire,\" Yoshi was saying, voice level though the color was out of his face. \"But I am Guardian and I must advise against—\"\n\n\"I don't want your advice! No one asked me if I wanted a Guardian. I don't need a Guardian, Cousin, least of all you.\"\n\nYoshi looked at the youth shaking with rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once I was just like you, he thought coldly, a puppet to be ordered this way or that, to be sent away from my own family to be adopted by another, or to be married, or banished and almost murdered six times and all because the gods decided I would be born the son of my father—as you, pathetic fool, were born the son of your father." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm like you in many ways, but never a fool, always a swordsman, aware of the puppeting, and now hugely different. Now I am no longer a puppet. Sanjiro of Satsuma doesn't know it yet, but he's made me puppeteer.\n\n\"While I am Guardian, I will guard and protect you, Sire,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes flicked to the girl, so tiny and delicate, outwardly. \"And your family.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She did not meet his eyes. No need. Both knew that war was declared. \"We are glad of your protection, Toranaga-sama.\"\n\n\"I'm not!\" Nobusada screeched." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were my rival, now you're nothing! In two years I'm eighteen and then I'll rule alone and you...\" He pointed a shaking finger at Yoshi's impassive face, everyone appalled—except the girl." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Unless you learn to obey I'll... you'll be banished to the North Island forever. We-are-going-to-Kyōto!\"\n\nHe swung around. Hastily a guard flung the door open. All bowed as he hurried out. She followed, then the others, and when they were alone again Anjo wiped the sweat off his neck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She's... she's the source of all his... agitation, and 'brilliance,'\" he said sourly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Since she arrived the fool's become even more stupid than he was and not because he is fornicating himself blind.\"\n\nYoshi hid his astonishment that Anjo would make such an obvious though dangerous comment aloud. \"Tea?\"\n\nAnjo nodded, morosely, jealous again of his elegance and strength. Nobusada's not such a fool in some ways, he was thinking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I agree with him about you, the sooner you're removed the better, you and Sanjiro, you're both trouble." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Could the Council vote to restrict your powers as Guardian or banish you? It's true you send that foolish boy mad every time he sees you—and her. If it were not for you I could manage that bitch, Emperor's stepsister or not. And to think that not only was I in favor of the marriage but I put tairō Ii's stratagem into place, even against the Emperor's opposition to such a match." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Didn't we refuse his reluctant first offer of his thirty-year-old daughter, then his one-year-old baby, until eventually, under pressure, he agreed on his stepsister?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course, the close connection of Nobusada with the Imperial family strengthens us against Sanjiro and the outside lords, against Yoshi and those who wanted him appointed Shōgun instead. The connection will be all-powerful once she has a son—that will mellow her and drain her venom. Her pregnancy is overdue. The boy's doctor will increase the dose of ginseng, or give him some of the special pills to improve the boy's performance, terrible to be so limp at his age." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes, the sooner she's carrying the better." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He finished his tea. \"I will see you at the meeting tomorrow.\" Both bowed perfunctorily.\n\nYoshi left and went out onto the battlements, needing air and time to think. Below he could see the vast stone fortifications with three encircling moats within moats and impregnable strong points and drawbridges, the walls monstrous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Within the castle walls were quarters for fifty thousand samurai and ten thousand horses, along with spacious halls and palaces for chosen, loyal families—but only Toranaga families within the inner moat—and gardens everywhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the central keep, above and below him, were the most secure living areas and inner sanctum of the reigning Shōgun, his family, courtiers and retainers. And the treasure rooms. As Guardian, Yoshi lived here, unwelcome and on the fringe but also secure and with his own guards.\n\nBeyond the outer moat was the first protective circle of daimyo palaces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These were vast, rich, sprawling residences, then circles of lesser ones, then even lesser ones, one such residence for each daimyo in the land." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All had been sited by Shōgun Toranaga personally and ordered constructed to conform with his new law of sankin-kotai, alternative residence.\n\n\"Sankin-kotai,\" he said, \"requires all daimyos to build at once and maintain forever a 'suitable residence' under my castle walls in exact positions I have decided, where he, his family and a few senior retainers are to live permanently—each palace to be lavish, and without defenses. One year in three the daimyo will be allowed, and required, to return to his fief and to stay there with his retainers, but without his wife, consorts, mother, father or children, or children's children, or any member of his immediate family—the order in which daimyos leave or remain is also to be carefully regulated according to the following list and timetable...\"\n\nThe word \"hostage\" was never mentioned, though hostage taking, ordered or offered to ensure compliance, was an ancient custom. Even Toranaga himself had been hostage when a child to the Dictator Goroda; his own family had been hostage to Goroda's successor, Nakamura, his ally and liege lord; and he, the last and greatest, decided merely to extend the custom into sankin-kotai to keep everyone in thrall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"At the same time,\" he wrote in his Legacy, a private document for selected descendants, \"following Shōguns are ordered to encourage all daimyos to build extravagantly, to live elegantly, to dress opulently and entertain lavishly, the quicker to divest them of their fief's yearly revenue of koku which, by correct immutable custom belongs only to the daimyo concerned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In this way all will soon become debt ridden, ever more dependent on us and, more important, without teeth—while we continue to be thrifty and eschew extravagance.\n\n\"Even so, some fiefs—Satsuma, Mori, Tosa, Kii for example—are so rich that even these extravagances will leave too dangerous a surplus. From time to time the ruling Shōgun will therefore invite the daimyo to present him with a few leagues of a new trunk road, or palace, or garden, pleasure place, or temple, such amounts, times, and frequency are laid down in the following document...\"\n\n\"So clever, so far-thinking,\" Yoshi muttered. Every daimyo in a silken net, powerless to rebel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But all ruined by Anjo's stupidity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first of the Emperor's \"requests\" brought by Sanjiro to the Council—before Yoshi had become a member—was to abolish this ancient custom. Anjo and the others had prevaricated, argued and finally agreed. Almost overnight the rings of palaces emptied of all wives, consorts, children, relations and warriors and in days became a wasteland with only a few token retainers.\n\nOur most important curb gone forever, Yoshi thought bitterly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How could Anjo have been so inept?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He let his gaze drift beyond the palaces, to the capital city of a million souls that serviced the castle and fed off it, a city crisscrossed with streams and bridges, most constructed of wood. Now there were many fires—the blossoms of earthquakes—all the way to the sea. One great wooden palace was in flames.\n\nYoshi noticed idly that it belonged to the daimyo of Sai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good. Sai supports Anjo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The families are gone but the Council can order him to rebuild and the cost will crush him forever.\n\nForget him, what's our shield against the gai-jin? There must be one! Everyone says they could burn Yedo but not break into the castle or sustain a long siege." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I do not agree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yesterday Anjo again told the Elders the well-known story of the Siege of Malta some three hundred years ago, how Turk armies could not pry even six hundred brave knights from their castle. Anjo had said, \"We have tens of thousands of samurai all hostile to gai-jin, we must win, they must sail away.\"\n\n\"But neither Turks nor Christians had cannon,\" he had said. \"Don't forget Shōgun Toranaga breeched Osaka Castle with gai-jin cannon—these vermin can do likewise here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Even if they did, we would have withdrawn safely to the hills long since. Meanwhile every samurai, and every man, woman and child in the land—even stinking merchants—would flock to our banner and fall on them like locusts. We have nothing to fear,\" Anjo had said contemptuously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Osaka Castle was different, that was daimyo against daimyo, not an invasion. The enemy cannot sustain a land war. In a land war we must win.\"\n\n\"They would lay waste everything, Anjo-sama. We would be left with nothing to govern. Our only course is to web gai-jin like a spider webs its far bigger prey. We must be a spider, we must find a web.\"\n\nBut they would not listen to him. What's the web?\n\n\"First know the problem,\" Toranaga wrote in his Legacy, \"then, with patience, you can find the solution.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The crux of the problem with the foreigners is simply this: How do we obtain their knowledge, armaments, fleets, wealth and trade on our terms, yet expel them all, cancel the unequal Treaties, and never allow one to set foot ashore without severe restrictions?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Legacy continued: \"The answer to all problems for our land can be found here, or in Sun-tzu's 'The Art of War'—and patience.\"\n\nShōgun Toranaga was the most patient ruler in the world, he thought, awed for the millionth time.\n\nEven though Toranaga was supreme in the land, outside of Osaka Castle, the invincible stronghold built by his predecessor, Dictator Nakamura, he waited twelve years to spring the trap he had baited, and lay siege to it. The castle was in absolute possession of the Lady Ochiba, the Dictator's widow, their seven-year-old son and heir, Yaemon—to whom Toranaga had solemnly sworn allegiance—and eighty thousand fanatically loyal samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two years of siege, three hundred thousand troops, cannon from the Dutch privateer Erasmus of Anjin-san, the Englishman who had sailed the ship to Japan, together with a musket regiment also trained by him, a hundred thousand casualties, all his guile and the vital traitor within, before Lady Ochiba and Yaemon committed seppuku rather than be captured." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Toranaga had secured Osaka Castle, spiked the cannon, destroyed all muskets, disbanded the musket regiment, and forbidden manufacture or the importation of all firearms. He had broken the power of the Portuguese Jesuit priests and Christian daimyos, reallocated fiefs, sent all enemies onwards, instituted the laws of the Legacy, forbidden all wheels, the building of oceangoing ships, and had, regretfully, taken a third of all revenue for himself and his immediate family.\n\n\"He made us strong,\" Yoshi muttered. \"His Legacy gave us power to keep the land pure, and at peace in the way he designed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I must not fail him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eeee, what a man! How wise of his son, Sudara, the second Shōgun, to change the name of the dynasty to Toranaga, instead of the real family name of Yoshi—so that we would never forget the fountainhead.\n\nWhat would he advise me to do?\n\nFirst, to have patience, then he would quote Sun-tzu: Know your enemy as you know yourself and you need not fear a hundred battles; know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat; know neither the enemy nor yourself and you will succumb in every battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I know some things about the enemy, but not enough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I bless my father again for making me understand the value of education, for giving me so many varied and special teachers over the years, foreign as well as Japanese. Sad I did not have the gift of tongues and so had to learn through intermediaries: Dutch merchants for world history, an English seaman to check Dutch truth and to open my eyes—just as Toranaga used the Anjin-san in his time—and all the others.\n\nChinese taught me government, literature and Sun-tzu's \"The Art of War;\" the old renegade French priest from Peking spent half a year teaching me Machiavelli, laboriously translating it into Chinese characters for me as his passport to live in my father's domains and enjoy the Willow World he adored; the American pirate marooned at Izu told me about cannon and about oceans of grass called prairies, their castle called White House and the wars in which they exterminated the natives of that land; the Russian émigré convict from a place called Siberia claimed he was a prince with ten thousand slaves and told fables of places called Moscow and St. Petersburg, and all the others—some teaching for a few days, some for months but never a year, none of them knowing who I was, and I fobidden to tell them, Father so careful and secretive and so terrible when aroused.\n\n\"When these men leave, Father,\" he had asked in the beginning, \"what happens to them? They're all so frightened. Why should that be? You promise them rewards, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're eleven, my son. I will forgive your rudeness in questioning me, once. To remind you of my magnanimity you will go without food for three days, you will climb Mount Fuji alone and you will sleep without covering.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi shuddered. At that time he did not know what magnanimity meant. During those days he had almost died but achieved what was ordered of him. As a reward for his self-discipline his father, daimyo of Mito, had told him he was being adopted by the Hisamatsu family and made heir of that Toranaga branch: \"You are my seventh son. In that way you will have your own inheritance, and be of a slightly higher lineage than your brothers.\"\n\n\"Yes, Father,\" he had said, holding back his tears." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At that time he did not know he was being groomed to be Shōgun, nor was he ever told." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, when Shōgun Iyeyoshi died of the spotted disease four years ago and he was twenty-two and ready and proposed by his father, tairō Ii had opposed him, and won—Ii's personal forces possessed the Palace Gates.\n\nSo his cousin Nobusada was appointed. Yoshi, his family, his father and all their influential supporters were ordered into severe house arrest. Only when Ii was assassinated was he freed and reinstated with his lands and honors, along with the others who survived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His father had died in house confinement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I should have been Shōgun, he thought for the ten millionth time. I was ready, trained and could have stopped the Shōgunate rot, could have formed a new bond between Shōgunate and all daimyos, and could have dealt with the gai-jin. I should have had that Princess as wife, I would never have signed those agreements, or allowed the negotiations to go so badly against us. I would have dealt with Townsend Harris and begun a new era of careful change to accommodate the world outside, at our pace, not theirs!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Meanwhile I am not Shōgun, Nobusada is elected Shōgun correctly, the Treaties exist, Princess Yazu exists, Sanjiro, Anjo and gai-jin are battering at our gates." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He shivered. I had better be even more careful. Poison is an ancient art, an arrow by day or by night, ninja assassins in their hundreds are out there, ready for hire. And then there are the shishi. There must be an answer! What is it?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sea birds circling and cawing over the city and castle interrupted his thought patterns." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He studied the sky. No sign of change, or tempest, though this was the month of change when the big winds came, and with them winter. Winter will be bad this year. Not a famine like three years ago but the harvest is poor, even less than last year..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wait! What was it Anjo said that reminded me of something?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned and beckoned one of his bodyguards, his excitement rising. \"Bring that spy here, the fisherman, what's his name? Ah, yes, Misamoto, bring him to my quarters secretly at once—he's confined in the Eastern Guard House.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like James Clavell and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Precisely at dawn the cannon of the flagship bellowed the eleven-gun salute as Sir William's cutter came alongside the gangway. From the shore came a faint cheer, every sober man there to watch the departure of the fleet for Yedo. The wind was strengthening, sea fair, light overcast. He was formally piped aboard, Phillip Tyrer in attendance—the rest of his staff already aboard accompanying warships." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two men wore frock coats and top hats." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer's arm was in a sling.\n\nThey saw Admiral Ketterer waiting for them on the main deck, John Marlowe beside him, both in dress uniform—cocked hats, gold braided and buttoned blue cutaways, with white shirts, waistcoats, breeches and stockings, buckled shoes and gleaming swords—and, immediately, Phillip Tyrer thought, Damn, how handsome and elegant yet masculine John Marlowe always is, just like Pallidar in his uniform. Damned if I have any dress clothes, or any clothes for that matter to rival them, and poor as a church mouse compared to them and not even a Deputy Secretary yet. Damn! There's nothing like a uniform to flatter a man and give him standing with a girl..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He almost stumbled into Sir William, who had stopped on the top step as the Admiral and Marlowe saluted politely, ignoring him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blast, he thought, concentrate, you're equally on duty, equally at the beck and call of the Mighty! Be careful, become part of the scenery too. Wee Willie Winkie's been like a cat with a hornet in his bum since you reported yesterday.\n\n\"'Morning, Sir William, welcome aboard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you. Good morning to you, Admiral Ketterer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William doffed his hat, followed by Tyrer, their frock coats tugged by the breeze. \"Set sail, if you please. The other Ministers are on the French flagship.\"\n\n\"Good.\" The Admiral motioned to Marlowe. At once Marlowe saluted, went to the Captain who was on the open bridge, just forward of the single funnel and main mast, and saluted again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Admiral's compliments, sir. Make way for Yedo.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The commands went rapidly down the line, the sailors gave three cheers, in moments the anchors were being chanted aboard and in the cramped boiler room three decks below, teams of stokers, stripped to the waist, shoveled more coal into the furnaces to another rhythmic chant, coughing and wheezing in air permanently fouled with coal dust. The other side of the bulkhead in the engine room, the chief Engineer engaged \"half ahead,\" and the huge reciprocating engines began to turn the propeller shaft.\n\nShe was H.M.S. Euryalus, built at Chatham eight years ago, a three-masted, one-funnel, screw-assisted wooden cruiser frigate of 3,200 tons burthen, with 35 guns, a normal complement of 350 officers, seamen and marines—while belowdecks were 90 stokers and engine room staff. Today all sails were sparred and decks cleared for action." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A pleasant day, Admiral,\" Sir William was saying." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were on the quarterdeck; Phillip Tyrer and Marlowe, who had greeted each other silently, hovering close by.\n\n\"For the moment,\" the Admiral agreed testily, always uncomfortable near civilians, particularly someone like Sir William who was his senior in rank. \"My quarters are available to you, if you wish.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\" Sea gulls were dipping and cawing around their wake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William studied them for a moment, trying to throw off his depression." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you, but I'd rather be on deck. You haven't met Mr. Tyrer, I believe? He's our new apprentice interpreter.\"\n\nFor the first time the Admiral acknowledged Tyrer. \"Welcome aboard, Mr. Tyrer, we can certainly use Japanese speakers here. How's your wound?\"\n\n\"Not too bad, sir, thank you,\" Tyrer said, trying to retreat once more into anonymity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good. Rotten business.\" The Admiral's pale blue eyes ranged the sea and his ship, his face florid and weather-beaten, with heavy jowls and a choleric roll of flesh on the back of his neck over his starched collar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment he watched the smoke critically, noting its color and smell, then grunted and brushed some specks of coal dust off his impeccable waistcoat.\n\n\"Something's amiss?\"\n\n\"No, Sir William. The coals we get here don't compare with Shanghai best, or good Welsh or Yorkshire coals. Too much clinker in it. It's cheap enough when we can get it but that's not often. You should insist on an increased supply, it's a major problem for us here, Major.\"\n\nSir William nodded wearily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have but they don't appear to have any locally.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Filthy stuff, wherever it comes from. We can't use sail today, not with this wind against us. Engine assists are perfect for this sort of exercise and close inshore maneuvers, or docking. With the best man-of-war afloat, under sails, even a tea clipper—we'd take five times as long to get to Yedo and not have enough sea room for safety. More's the pity.\"\n\nSir William was out of humor after another sleepless night and reacted instantly to the Admiral's discourtesy and stupidity telling him something that was obvious. \"Really?\" he said thinly. \"Never mind, soon we'll have a completely stinkpot navy, no sail at all and that will be that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer hid a smile as the Admiral flushed, for this was a sore point with naval officers and widely discussed in the London newspapers, who blithely dubbed future fleets as \"Stinkpots of various sizes, commanded by stinkpotters of various sizes, who will be dressed accordingly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That won't happen in the foreseeable future and never for long-haul cruising, blockades or battle fleets.\" The Admiral almost spat the words out. \"There's no way we can carry all the coal we need between ports and still have fighting ships. We must have sails to conserve fuel. Civilians have little understanding of naval matters...\" This reminded him of the present Liberal government's attack on the current Navy estimates and his blood pressure went up another notch. \"Meanwhile to secure our sea lanes and keep the Empire inviolate, as a cornerstone of government policy the Royal Navy must maintain the equation of twice as many ships—wooden or ironclads, steam and sail—as the next two other navies combined, with the biggest and best engines and most modern cannon, shells, and explosives in the world.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"An admirable idea, but now out of date, not practical, and I'm afraid too rich for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and government to stomach.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It better not be, by God.\" The roll of neck flesh went pink. \"Mr. Penny-pinching Gladstone better learn right smartly where his priorities lie. I've said it before: the sooner the Liberals are out and the Tories back in power the better! Not because of them, thank God the Royal Navy still has enough ships and firepower to sink any French, Russian or American fleets in their home waters if need be. But say those three combine against us in the coming conflict?\" Irritably the Admiral turned and bellowed though Marlowe was close by, \"Mr. Marlowe! Signal the Pearl! She's out of station, by God!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye, aye, sir!\" Marlowe left at once." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William glanced astern, seeing nothing amiss with the following ships, then again concentrated on the Admiral. \"Foreign Secretary Russell's too clever to be drawn into it. Prussia will war on France, Russia will stay out, the Americans are too involved with their civil war, Spanish Cuba and Philippines, and sniffing around the Hawaiian islands. By the way, I've proposed we annex one or two of those islands before the Americans do, they'd make perfect coaling stations...\"\n\nMarlowe was sourly heading for the signalman, his eyes on H.M.S. Pearl, his ship, a Jason-class three-masted, single-funneled, 21-gun, screw frigate of 2,100 tons burthen, temporarily in the command of his Number One, Lieutenant Lloyd, wishing he was aboard her and no longer the Admiral's lackey." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He gave the signalman the message, watched him use the signal flags and read the reply before the young man reported, \"He says sorry, sorr.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How long have you been a signalman?\"\n\n\"Three months, sir.\"\n\n\"You'd best look up your codes, right smartly. The message said: 'Captain Lloyd of H.M.S. Pearl apologizes.' Make another mistake and your balls are in the wringer.\"\n\n\"Yessir, sorry, sir,\" the crestfallen youth said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Marlowe went back to the Admiral." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To his relief the potential row between the two men seemed to have simmered down and now they were discussing alternative plans of action at Yedo and the long-term implications of the Tokaidō attack. While he waited for a lull in the conversation, he cautiously cocked an eyebrow at Tyrer—who smiled back—wanting to be dismissed so he could ask him about Kanagawa and Angelique. He had had to leave the same day Sir William had arrived, three days ago, and had no first-hand information on what had occurred since then.\n\n\"Yes, Mr. Marlowe?\" The Admiral listened to the message and at once rasped: \"Send another signal: report aboard my flagship at sunset.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He saw Marlowe wince." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And well you might, Mr. Marlowe. Such an apology is insufficient excuse for slackness in my fleet. Is it?\"\n\n\"No, sir.\"\n\n\"Consider who should take over your ship in his place—not you!\" Admiral Ketterer turned back to Sir William." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were saying? You don't th—\" A gust crackled the rigging." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both officers looked aloft, then at the sky and all around, tasting the wind. No sign of danger yet, though both knew that the weather this month was unpredictable and in these waters storms came suddenly. \"You were saying? You don't think the authorities, this Bakufu, will do what we require?\"\n\n\"No, not without some form of force. At midnight I got another apology from them and a request for a month's delay so they could 'consult higher ups' and more such nonsense—my God, they can prevaricate. I sent the bloody messenger back with a flea in his ear and a curt, rather rude message to give us satisfaction or else.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Quite right.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When we anchor off Yedo, can we fire as many salutes as possible, create an entrance?\"\n\n\"We'll make it 21 guns, a royal salute. I suppose this mission could be constructed as a formal visit to their Royalty.\" Without turning, the Admiral rasped: \"Mr. Marlowe, give the order for the whole fleet and ask the French Admiral if he would do likewise.\"\n\n\"Yessir.\" Again Marlowe saluted and rushed off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The plan for Yedo is still as we agreed?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William nodded. \"Yes. I and my party will go ashore to the Legation—a hundred soldiers as an honor guard should be enough. The Highlanders, their uniforms and bagpipes, will be the most impressive. The rest of the plan remains the same.\"\n\n\"Good.\" Uneasily the Admiral stared ahead. \"We'll be able to see Yedo when we get around that headland.\" His face hardened. \"It's one thing to rattle a few sabres and fire off a few blank cannonades but I don't agree to bombard and burn that city—without a legal state of war.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William said carefully, \"Let's hope I don't have to ask Lord Palmerston to declare one, or for me to legalize one forced on us. A full report's on the way to him. Meanwhile his reply is four months away so we have to do the best we can, as usual. These murders must stop, the Bakufu must be brought to heel, one way or another. Now is the perfect time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Admiralty instructions are to be prudent.\"\n\n\"By the same post I sent an urgent message to the Governor of Hong Kong also advising him what I planned to do and asking what reinforcements in ships and men could be available if necessary, and about Mr. Struan's condition.\"\n\n\"Oh? When was that, Sir William?\"\n\n\"Yesterday. Struan's had a clipper available, and Mr. McFay agreed the matter merited the most immediate haste.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ketterer said caustically, \"This whole incident seems to be a Struan cause célèbre. The fellow who was killed hardly gets a mention—it's nothing but Struan, Struan, Struan.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Governor's a personal friend of the family, and the family is, er, very well connected, very important to Her Majesty's trading interests in Asia and China. Very.\"\n\n\"They've always sounded like a bunch of pirates to me, gunrunning, opium running, anything for a profit.\"\n\n\"Both are legal enterprises, my dear Admiral. Struans are highly respectable, Admiral, with very important connections in Parliament.\"\n\nThe Admiral was unimpressed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A lot of ne'er-do-wells there too, by God, if you don't mind my saying. Bloody idiots most of the time, trying to cut Navy funds and our fleets—stupid when England depends on sea power.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree we need the best Navy with the most competent officers to carry out Imperial policy,\" Sir William said. Marlowe, near the Admiral, heard the thinly veiled barb. A quick glance at the back of his superior's neck confirmed the barb had registered. He braced for the inevitable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Imperial policy? Seems to me,\" the Admiral said sharply, \"the Navy spends most of its time pulling civilian and trader fingers out of their smelly holes when their greed or double-dealing takes them into messes they should never have been in in the first place. As for those bastards there,\" his stubby finger pointed at Yokohama on the port side, \"they're the worst bunch of scallywags I've ever seen.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some are, most not, Admiral.\" Sir William's chin came out. \"Without traders and trade there'd be no money, no Empire and no Navy.\"\n\nThe red neck became purple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Without the Navy there would be no trade and England would not have become the greatest nation in the world, the richest, with the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, by God.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Balls, Sir William wanted to shout, but he knew that if he did, here on the quarterdeck of the flagship, the Admiral would have apoplexy, and Marlowe and every sailor within hearing distance would faint. The thought amused him and removed most of the venom that sleepless nights worrying over the Tokaidō affair had caused, and permitted him to be diplomatic. \"The Navy is the senior service, Admiral. And many share your opinion. I trust we'll be on time?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, we will.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Admiral eased his shoulders, somewhat mollified, his head aching from the bottle of port he had consumed after dinner, on top of the claret." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ship was making about seven knots, into wind, which pleased him. He checked the lie of the fleet. Now H.M.S. Pearl was very carefully astern, with two 10-gun paddle sloops to port. The French flagship, a three-masted, 20-gun ironclad paddle frigate, was carelessly to starboard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Her helmsman should be put in irons! She could do with a new coat of paint, new rigging, fumigating to get rid of the garlic, and a bloody good holy-stoning and their crew keelhauled. Don't you agree, Mr. Marlowe?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir.\"\n\nWhen he was satisfied all was correct, the Admiral then turned back to Sir William. \"This... this Struan family and their so-called Noble House, is it really so important?\"\n\n\"Yes. Their trade is enormous, their influence in Asia, notably in China, without compare, except for Brock and Sons.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've seen their clippers, of course. Beauties, and very well armed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Admiral added bluntly, \"I hope to Christ they don't try to peddle opium or guns here.\"\n\n\"Personally I agree, though it's not against present law.\"\n\n\"It is, according to Chinese law. Or Japan's.\"\n\n\"Yes, but there are mitigating circumstances,\" Sir William said wearily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had been through the same explanation dozens of times." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sure you know China will only accept cash, silver or gold, for the tea we must import, nothing else. The only merchandise they'll pay cash for—gold or silver—is opium, nothing else. It's very unfortunate.\"\n\n\"Then it's up to traders and Parliament and diplomats to pull their fingers out. For the last twenty years the Royal Navy has been enforcing illegal laws in Asia, bombarding China ports and cities, doing all sorts of rotten acts of war, in my opinion just to support opium—a blot on our escutcheon!\"\n\nSir William sighed. His orders from the Permanent Under Secretary had been precise: \"For Christ's sake, dear Willie, this is the first time you'll be Minister in charge so be careful, don't make any precipitous decisions, unless they're necessary. You're astonishingly lucky: the telegraph wire has already reached Baghdad, so we can get and send messages there in an incredible seven days; add another six-odd weeks by steamer to Yokohama through the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean via Singapore and Hong Kong, our instructions will only take an incredible two months to arrive—not the twelve to fifteen months ten-odd years ago. So if you need guidance, which you will all the time if you're wise, you're about four months off our leash, and that's the only thing that protects your neck and our Empire. Clear?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Rule number one: Handle the service Brass with velvet gloves and don't overrule them lightly, because your life and those of all Englishmen in your area depend on them. They're inclined to be boneheaded, which is excellent for obviously we need lots of these sort of fellows to go off and get killed defending our, well, Imperial policy. Do not make waves; Japan is unimportant but in our sphere of influence and we've spent considerable time and money finessing the Russians, Americans and French out. Do not foul up our Japanese nest; we've enough on our Imperial plate with rebellious Indians, Afghans, Arabs, Africans, Persians, Caribbeans, Chinese, to say nothing of the rotten Europeans, Americans, Russians, etc. My dear, dear Willie, be diplomatic and don't fuck up or else!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William sighed again, bottled his temper, and repeated what he had said a dozen times, the truth: \"A lot of what you say is correct, but unfortunately we have to be practical. Without tax revenue on tea the whole British economy will collapse. Let's hope in a few years our Bengal opium fields can be torched. Meanwhile we have to be patient.\"\n\n\"Meanwhile I suggest you embargo all opium here, all modern weapons, all modern warships, and all slavery.\"\n\n\"Of course I agree about slavery, that's been outlawed since '33!\" Sir William's voice edged perceptibly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Americans have been informed long since. As to the rest, unfortunately that's up to London.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Admiral's chin jutted even further. \"Well, sir, I have certain powers in these waters. You can take it I am instituting such an embargo now. I've heard disquieting rumors about Struan's ordering rifles and cannon for sale. They've already sold these natives three or four armed steamers and the Jappers learn too fast for my liking. I will write formally by tomorrow's mail to the Admiralty to ask them to insist my orders are made permanent.\"\n\nThe Minister's face mottled, he planted his feet even more firmly into the deck. \"An admirable idea,\" he said icily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will write by the same mail. Meanwhile you cannot make such an order without my approval and until we have a directive from the Foreign Office the status quo remains the status quo!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both of their aides blanched. The Admiral looked at Sir William, of a height with him. All officers and most men would have quailed but Sir William just stared back. \"I'll... I'll consider what you say, Sir William. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He turned and stomped off for the bridge." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Weakly Marlowe began to follow. \"For Christ's sake, Marlowe, stop following me like a puppy. If I want you I'll shout. Stay within shouting distance!\"\n\n\"Yessir.\" When the man was well away Marlowe exhaled.\n\nSir William had exhaled too and he mopped his brow and muttered, \"Awfully glad I'm not in the Navy.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Me too,\" Tyrer said, amazed by the Minister's courage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marlowe's heart was racing, hating to be bellowed at, even by an Admiral, but he did not forget himself. \"I, er... excuse me, sir, but the fleet's very safe in his hands, sir, and the expedition, and we all believe he's quite right about selling ships, guns, cannon and opium. Japanners are already building ships and making small cannon—this year they sailed their first iron steamship, the 300-ton Kanrin maru to San Francisco, crewed and captained entirely by them. They've mastered the deep. That's remarkable in such a short time.\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, it is.\" Sir William wondered briefly how the Japanese Delegation that went with this ship had fared in Washington, and what mischief President Lincoln would generate against our glorious Empire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Aren't we dependent on Confederate cotton for our Lancashire mills that are being ruined?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the same time aren't we increasingly dependent on abundant Union wheat and corn and meat and other trade? He shuddered. God damn that war! And politicians, and Lincoln. Didn't the man's inaugural speech in March include: \"... this country belongs to the people and whenever they shall grow weary of their government they can exercise their constitutional right to amend it, or revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inflammatory to say the least!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If that idea spread to Europe! My God! Dreadful! We may be at war with them any day, certainly at sea. Must have cotton.\n\nHe was trying to collect himself, heartily relieved that the Admiral had backed down and still cursing himself for losing control. You've got to be more careful, and mustn't worry about Yedo and your stupid, arrogant decision to \"go there, by God, in three days in a battleship and see the Shōgun, by God!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "as though you're Clive of India." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You're not. This is your first tour of the Far East and you're a novice. Madness to put all these men at risk over a few murders, madness to risk a fullscale war. But is it?\n\nSorry, but no.\n\nIf the Bakufu get away with this killing, then there will be no end and we will be forced to withdraw—until allied battle fleets return to enforce Imperial wills bloodily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Your decision is correct, the manner of reaching it wrong." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes, but it's damned difficult with no one to talk to—who you can trust. Thank God Daphne arrives in a couple of months. I never thought I'd miss her and her counsel so much. I can't wait to see her and my boys—ten months is a long time and I know the change from London's stinking pea soup fogs and gloom will make her happy and please her and it will be grand for the boys." }, { "from": "human", "value": "We could use some English ladies in the Settlement, of the right sort." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We'll go on trips and she will make the Legation a home.\n\nHis eyes focused on the approaching headland. Around it was Yedo and the cannonade. Was that wise? he asked himself queasily. I hope so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then the landing and going to the Legation." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You've got to do that—and prepare for the meeting tomorrow. You're alone in this. Henri Seratard's waiting for you to mess up, hoping. And the Russian.\n\nBut you're the one in charge and it's your job, and don't forget you wanted to be \"Minister\" somewhere, anywhere." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Indeed I did, but I never expected Japan!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Damn the Foreign Office. I've never been in a situation like this: all my experience has been at the French or Russian desk in London or at the Court of St. Petersburg, odd postings wangled to glorious Paris and Monaco with never a warship or regiment in sight...\n\nMarlowe was saying stiffly, \"I hope you don't mind, sir, me giving my opinion of the Admiral's position.\"\n\n\"Oh, not at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William made an effort to put his worry aside: I will try to avoid war, but if it is to be, it will be." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're quite right, Mr. Marlowe, and of course I'm honored to have Admiral Ketterer in charge,\" he said, and at once felt better. \"Our difference of opinion was over protocol. Yes, but at the same time we should be encouraging the Japanese to industrialize and to sail ships, one ship or twenty's nothing to be concerned about. We should encourage them—we're not here to colonize, but it is we who should be training them, Mr. Marlowe, not the Dutch or the French. Thank you for reminding me—the more our influence here the better.\" He was feeling lighter. It was rare for him to be able to talk freely to one of the up-and-coming captains and he found Marlowe impressive, both here and at Kanagawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do all officers detest civilians and traders?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, sir. But I don't think many of us understand them. We have different lives, different priorities. It's difficult for us a times.\" Most of Marlowe's attention was on the Admiral, who was talking to the Captain on the bridge, everyone nearby uneasily aware of him. The sun broke through the overcast and all at once the day seemed better. \"To be in the Navy is, well, it's all I ever wanted to do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your family is naval?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once Marlowe said proudly, \"Yes, sir,\" wanting to add, my father's a Captain, presently in the Home Fleet—so was his father, he was Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Lord Collingwood in Royal Sovereign at Trafalgar—and my forebears have been in the Navy since there was one. And before that, so legend goes, they ran privateers out of Dorset where the family comes from—we've lived there, in the same house, for more than four centuries. But he said none of it, his training telling him it would sound like boasting. He just added, \"My family come from Dorset.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mine come from the north of England, Northumberland, for generations,\" Sir William said absently, his eyes on the approaching headland, his mind on the Bakufu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My father died when I was young—he was a Member of Parliament, with business interests in Sunderland and London, and dealt in the Baltic trade and Russian furs. My mother was Russian so I grew up bilingual and that got me on the first rung of the F.O. She was...\" He caught himself just in time, astonished that he had volunteered so much. He had been going to add that she, his mother, was born the Countess Sveva, a cousin to the Romanovs, that she was still alive and once had been a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. I really must concentrate—as if my family and background were any of their business. \"Er, what about you, Tyrer?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"London, sir. Father's a solicitor, like his father.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Phillip Tyrer laughed. \"After I got my degree at London University and told him I wanted to join the Foreign Office he almost had a fit! And when I applied to become an interpreter in Japan he told me I'd gone mad.\"\n\n\"Perhaps he was right, you're damned lucky to be alive and you're hardly here a week. Don't you agree, Marlowe?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir. That's true.\" Marlowe thought the time apt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"By the way, Phillip, how is Mr. Struan?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Neither good nor bad was how George Babcott put it.\"\n\n\"I certainly hope he recovers,\" Sir William said, a sudden ache in his bowels.\n\nWhen he had gone to Kanagawa three days ago, Marlowe had met his cutter and told him what he knew about Struan and Tyrer, about losing the soldier, the suicide of the assassin, and chasing the other one.\n\n\"Pallidar and I charged after the bugger, Sir William, but the man had just vanished. We combed the surrounding houses but nothing. Tyrer thinks they might be the two Tokaidō attackers, sir, the murderers. But he's not sure, most of them look alike, don't they?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But if they were the two, why should they risk going to the Legation?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The best we could come up with was perhaps to prevent identification and to finish the job, sir.\"\n\nThey had left the wharf and hurried through the ominously deserted streets. \"What about the girl, Mr. Marlowe?\"\n\n\"Seems to be fine, sir. Just shaken.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good, thank God for that. The French Minister is wound up as tight as a gnat's bum about the \"vile insult to the honor of France and one of his nationals who is also his ward.\" The sooner she's back in Yokohama the better—oh, by the way, the Admiral asked me to tell you to return to Yokohama at once. There's a lot to do. We, er, we've decided to pay Yedo a formal visit in three days, by flagship...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marlowe had felt his excitement explode. Sea or land engagements were the only real way to quick promotion and to the Admiral's bars he would have at all costs. I'll make the Old Man proud of me, and get Flag Rank long before Charles and Percy—his two younger brothers, both Lieutenants.\n\nAnd now on the deck of the flagship, the sun good, the deck throbbing with the power of the engines, his excitement welled up again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll be off Yedo before you know it, sir. Your entrance will be the biggest that's ever been, you'll get the murderers, indemnity and anything else you want.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both Tyrer and Sir William had heard the excitement, but Sir William only felt chilled. \"Yes, well, I think I'll go below for a minute. No, thank you, Mr. Marlowe, I know the way.\"\n\nWith great relief, the two young men watched him go. Marlowe checked that the Admiral was within sight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What happened at Kanagawa after I left, Phillip?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was, well, extraordinary, she was extraordinary, if that's what you were asking.\"\n\n\"How so?\"\n\n\"About five o'clock she came down and went straight to see Malcolm Struan and stayed with him until dinner—that's when I saw her. She seemed... seemed older, no, that's not quite right either, not older but more serious than before, mechanical. George says she's still in some form of shock. During dinner Sir William said he'd take her back with him to Yokohama but she just thanked him and refused, said she'd first have to make sure Malcolm was all right, and neither he nor George nor any of us could persuade her otherwise. She hardly ate anything and went back to his sickroom, stayed with him and even insisted on having a cot made up there so she could be within call if need be. In fact, for the next two days, until yesterday when I went back to Yokohama, she hardly left his side and we barely spoke a dozen words to her.\"\n\nMarlowe covered a sigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She must love him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's the strange part. Neither Pallidar nor I think that's the reason. It's almost as though she's... well, 'disembodied' is too strong a word. It's more like she's partially in a dream and that being with him is safe.\"\n\n\"Christ! What did Sawbones say?\"\n\n\"He just shrugged and said to be patient, not to worry, and that she was the best tonic Malcolm Struan could have.\"\n\n\"I can imagine. How is he, really?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Drugged most of the time, lot of pain, lot of vomit and loose bowels—don't know how she stands the smell though the window's open all the time.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fear washed over both of them at the thought of being so wounded and so helpless. Tyrer glanced ahead, to hide, still deeply conscious that his own wound had not yet healed, knowing it could still rot, and that his sleep had been nightmared with samurai and bleeding swords and her.\n\n\"Every time I popped by to see Malcolm—and, to be honest, to see her,\" he continued, \"she just answered me with 'yes, no or I don't know,' so after a while I gave up. She's... she's still as attractive as ever.\"\n\nMarlowe wondered: If Struan weren't around, would she be truly out of reach?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How serious a rival could Tyrer be?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pallidar he dismissed as not in the same league—she couldn't like that pompous bugger.\n\n\"My word, look!\" Tyrer said.\n\nThey were rounding the headland and they saw the vast Bay of Yedo before them, open sea to starboard, smoke from cooking fires of the sprawling city shrouding it, the landscape and overlording castle. Astonishingly the bay was almost empty of the multitude of ferries and sampans and fishing boats that normally abounded, with the few there scurrying for shore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer was very uneasy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is it going to be war?\"\n\nAfter a pause, Marlowe said, \"They had their warning. Most of us think no, not a fullscale war, not yet, not this time. There'll be incidents...\" Then, because he liked Tyrer and admired his courage, he opened his mind to him. \"There'll be incidents and skirmishes of various sizes, some of our people will get killed, some will discover they are cowards, some will become heroes, most will be petrified from time to time, some will be decorated but of course we will win.\"\n\nTyrer thought about that, remembering how frightened he had already been but how Babcott had convinced him that the first time was the worst time, how brave Marlowe had been rushing after the assassin, how ravishing Angelique was—and how good it was to be alive, young, with one foot on the ladder to \"Minister.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smiled. Its warmth lit up Marlowe as well." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All's fair in love and war, isn't it?\" he said." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Angelique was sitting in the window of the sickroom at Kanagawa, staring into space, the sun breaking through the powder-puff clouds from time to time, her heavily perfumed handkerchief to her nose. Behind her Struan was half awake, half asleep. In the garden soldiers patrolled constantly. Since the attack security had been redoubled, more troops sent from the Yokohama encampment, with Pallidar temporarily in command." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A tap on the door pulled her from her reverie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes?\" she said, hiding the kerchief in her hand.\n\nIt was Lim. Beside him was a Chinese orderly with a tray. \"Food for Master. Missee wantchee eat, heya?\"\n\n\"Put there!\" she ordered, and pointed at the bedside table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was about to ask for her tray to be brought as usual, then changed her mind, thinking it safe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tonight, tonight Missee food dining room. Unn'erstan, heya?\"\n\n\"Unn'erstan.\" Lim laughed to himself, knowing that when she thought she was alone she used the kerchief. Ayeeyah, is her nose as small and delicate as her other part? Smell? What's the smell they complain of?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "There's no smell of death here yet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Should I tell the taipan's son that news is bad from Hong Kong? Ayeeyah, better he finds out for himself. \"Unn'erstan.\" He beamed and left.\n\n\"Chéri?\" Automatically she offered the chicken soup." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Later, thank you, darling,\" Malcolm Struan said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As expected, his voice was very weak.\n\n\"Try to take some,\" she said as usual. Again he refused.\n\nBack once more to her seat in the window and her daydreams—about being safe at home in Paris again, in the great house of her uncle Michel and her darling Emma, the highborn English aunt who had mothered her and brought her and her brother up when her father had left so many years ago for Hong Kong, all of them surrounded in luxury, Emma planning luncheons and riding in the Bois on her prize stallion, the envy of everyone, charming the massed aristocracy and being fawned on in return, then bowing so gracefully to Emperor Louis Napoléon—Napoléon Bonaparte's nephew—and his Empress, Eugénie, and their smiling recognition.\n\nBoxes at theatres, La Comédie Française, choice tables at Trois Frères Provençaux, her coming of age, seventeen, the talk of the season, Uncle Michel recounting his adventures at the gambling tables and the races, whispering naughty stories about his aristocratic friends, his mistress, the Countess Beaufois, so beautiful and seductive and devoted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All daydreams, of course, for he was only a junior Deputy in the War Ministry, and Emma, English yes but an actress from a travelling group of Shakespearean players, daughter of a clerk, but neither with enough money for the outward display so necessary for Angelique in the capital of the world, for the spectacular horse, or two-in-hand and carriage that she needed so desperately to break into real society, the real upper echelon, to meet those who would marry and not just bed and flaunt and soon pass on to a younger flower." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please please please, Uncle Michel, it's so important!\"\n\n\"I know, my little cabbage,\" he had said sadly on her seventeenth birthday when she had begged for a particular gelding and the riding clothes to match. \"There's nothing more I can do, there are no more favors I can ask, I know no more arms to twist, or other moneylenders to persuade. I possess no State secrets to sell, or princes to promote. There's your young brother and our daughter to consider.\"\n\n\"But please, darling Uncle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have one last idea and enough francs for a modest passage out to join your father. A few clothes, no more.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then the making of the clothes, all perfect, then trying them on and refitting and improving and yes, the green silk gown as well as all the others—Uncle Michel won't mind—then the excitement of the first railway journey to Marseille, steamer to Alexandria in Egypt, overland to Port Said past the first diggings of Monsieur de Lesseps' canal at Suez that all wise, informed people believe was just another stock promotion, that it would never be finished, or if it was, would partially empty the Mediterranean because those seas were higher than the seas below. Onwards, everything begged pleaded beguiled and from the very beginning correctly First Class: \"The difference is really so tiny, dear dear Uncle Michel...\"\n\nSweet winds and new faces, exotic nights and good days, the beginning of the great adventure, at the end of the rainbow a handsome, rich husband like Malcolm now all spoiled because of a filthy native!\n\nWhy can't I just think about the good parts?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she asked herself in sudden anguish." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why is it good thoughts dribble into the bad and then into the awful and then I start thinking about what truly happened and begin to cry?\n\nDon't, she ordered herself, forcing away the tears. Behave. Be strong!\n\nYou decided before you left your room: nothing happened, you will act normally until your next period arrives. When it begins—it will begin—then you are safe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But if... if it doesn't?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You won't think about that. Your future will not be torn asunder, that wouldn't be fair. You will pray and you will stay close to Malcolm, and pray for him too, and act the Florence Nightingale, and then perhaps you will marry him.\n\nShe glanced at him over the handkerchief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To her surprise he was watching her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is the smell still so awful?\" he asked sadly.\n\n\"No, chéri,\" she said, pleased the lie sounded more sincere each time and required less effort. \"Some soup, yes?\"\n\nWearily he nodded, knowing that he must have some nourishment but whatever he consumed would inevitably be retched out of him and tear the stitches, within and without, and the pain that followed would unman him again, much as he tried to contain it. \"Dew neh loh moh,\" he muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The curse was Cantonese, his first language." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She held the cup and he drank and she wiped his chin, and he drank a little more. Half of him wanted to order her away until he was up and about again, the other half terrified she would leave and never return. \"Sorry about all this—I love your being here.\"\n\nFor a reply she just touched his forehead gently, wanting to leave, needing fresh air, not trusting herself to speak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The less you speak the better, she had decided." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then you will not be trapped.\n\nShe watched herself minister to him and settle him and all the while let her mind drift to ordinary happenings, to Hong Kong or to Paris, mostly Paris. Never would she allow herself to dwell on that night's wake-sleep dream. Never during the day, too dangerous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Only at night when the door was safely barred and she was alone and safe in bed could she release the dam and permit her mind to voyage where it would..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A knock. \"Yes?\" Babcott strode in. She flushed under his gaze. Why is it I think he can always read my thoughts?\n\n\"Just wanted to see how both my patients are doing,\" he said jovially." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, Mr. Struan, how are you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"About the same, thank you.\"\n\nDr. Babcott's sharp eyes noticed that half the soup had gone but there was no vomit yet to clear up. Good. He held Struan's wrist. Pulse rate jumpy but better than before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Forehead still clammy, still a temperature, but that's also lower than yesterday." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dare I hope he will actually recover? His mouth was saying how improved the patient was, that it must be the ministrations of the lady, nothing to do with him, the usual. Yes, but so little else to say, so much up to God, if there's a God. Why do I always add that? If." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you continue to improve I think that we should move you back to Yokohama. Perhaps tomorrow.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not wise,\" she said at once, frightened she would lose her haven, her voice harsher than she had wanted.\n\n\"Sorry, but it is,\" Babcott said kindly, wanting at once to calm her, admiring her fortitude and concern over Struan. \"I wouldn't advise it if there was a risk, but it would be wise, really. Mr. Struan would have much more comfort, more help.\"\n\n\"Mon Dieu, what else can I do? He mustn't leave, not yet, not yet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Listen, darling,\" Struan said, trying to sound strong." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If he thinks I can move back, that would be good, really. It would free you and make it easier.\"\n\n\"But I don't want to be free, I want us to stay here, exactly as it is now without... without any fuss.\" She felt her heart pumping and she knew she was sounding hysterical but she had not planned for a move. Stupid, you're stupid. Of course there would have to be a move. Think!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What can you do to prevent it?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But there was no need to prevent anything. Struan was saying that she should not be concerned, it would be better to be back in the Settlement, she would be safer and he would be happier and there were dozens of servants and suites of rooms in the Struan Building, that if she wished she could have the suite next to his and she could stay or leave, just as she wished, with constant access by day or by night. \"Please don't worry, I want you to be content too,\" he assured her. \"You'll be more comfortable, I promise, and when I'm better I'll...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A spasm took him and used him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After Babcott had cleaned up and Struan was once more drugged asleep, he said quietly, \"It really would be better for him there. I've more help, more materials, it's almost impossible to keep everything clean here. He needs... sorry, but he needs stronger aid. You do more than you can imagine for him, but certain functions his Chinese servants can do better for him. Sorry to be blunt.\"\n\n\"You don't have to apologize, Doctor. You're right and I understand.\" Her mind had been racing. The suite next to Malcolm's will be ideal, and servants and fresh clothes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'll find a seamstress and have beautiful dresses made, and be correctly chaperoned and in command—of him and of my future." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I only want what's best for him,\" she said, then added quietly, needing to know, \"How long will he be like this?\"\n\n\"Confined to bed and fairly helpless?\"\n\n\"Yes, please tell me the truth. Please.\"\n\n\"I don't know. At least two or three weeks, perhaps more, and he won't be very mobile for a month or two after that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He glanced at the inert man a moment." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd prefer you didn't say anything to him. It would worry him unnecessarily.\"\n\nShe nodded to herself, content and at ease now, everything in place. \"Don't worry, I won't say a word. I pray he'll get strong quickly and promise to help all I can.\"\n\nAs Dr. Babcott left her he was thinking over and over, My God, what a wonderful woman! If Struan lives or dies, he's a lucky man to be loved so much." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like James Clavell would" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The 21-gun salute from each of the six warships, anchored off Yedo, that had accompanied the flagship echoed and re-echoed, all personnel in the fleet excited and proud of their power and that the time for restitution had come.\n\n\"Thus far and no further, Sir William,\" Phillip Tyrer exulted, standing beside him at the gunnel, the smell of cordite heady. The city was vast. Silent. The castle dominant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll see.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On the bridge of the flagship the Admiral said quietly to the General, \"This should convince you that our Wee Willie's just a little popinjay with delusions of grandeur. Royal salute be damned. We'd better watch our backsides.\"\n\n\"You're right, by Jove! Yes. I'll add it to my monthly report to inform the War Office.\"\n\nOn the deck of the French flagship, Henri Seratard was puffing his pipe and laughing with the Russian Minister. \"Mon Dieu, my dear Count, this is a happy day! The honor of France will be vindicated by normal English arrogance. Sir William is bound to fail. Perfidious Albion is more perfidious than ever.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like James Clavell would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With the cannonade a great fear exploded over Yedo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All remaining skeptics joined the masses clogging every road and bridge and lane, fleeing with the few possessions they could carry—of course no wheels anywhere—everyone expecting that bursting shells and rockets they had heard of but had never witnessed would any moment rain fire and their city would burn, burn, burn and them with it.\n\n\"Death to gai-jin,\" was on every lip.\n\n\"Hurry... Out of the way... Hurry!\" People were shouting, here and there in panic, a few crushed or shoved off bridges or into houses, most stoically plodding onwards—but always away from the sea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Death to gai-jin!\" they said as they fled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The exodus had begun this morning, the moment the fleet had weighed anchor in Yokohama harbor, though three days earlier the more prudent merchants had quietly hired the best porters and removed themselves, their families and valuables when rumors of the unfortunate incident—and the resulting foreign uproar and demands—had flashed through the city.\n\nOnly the samurai in the castle and those manning the outer defenses and strong points were still in place. And, as always and everywhere, the carrion of the streets, animal and human, who slunk and sniffed around the lockless houses, seeking what could be stolen and later sold. Very little was stolen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Looting was considered a particularly hideous crime and, from time immemorial, perpetrators would be pursued relentlessly until caught and then crucified." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Any form of stealing was punished in the same fashion.\n\nWithin the castle keep, Shōgun Nobusada and Princess Yazu were cowering behind a flimsy screen, their arms around each other, their guards, maids and court ready for instant departure, only awaiting the Guardian's permission to leave. Everywhere in the castle proper, men were preparing defenses in depth, others harnessing horses and packing the most valuable possessions of the Elders for evacuation, with their owners, the moment shelling began or word was brought to the Council that enemy troops were disembarking.\n\nIn the Council chamber at the hurriedly convened meeting of the Elders, Yoshi was saying, \"I repeat, I don't believe they'll attack us in force, or sh—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I see no reason to wait. To go is prudent, they will start shelling any moment,\" Anjo said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The first cannonade was their warning.\"\n\n\"I don't think so, I think it was just an arrogant announcement of their presence. There were no shells in the city. The fleet won't shell us and I repeat, I believe the meeting tomorrow will take place as planned. At the meet—\"\n\n\"How can you be so blind? If our positions were reversed and you commanded that fleet and possessed that overwhelming power, would you hesitate for a moment?\" Anjo was stark with rage. \"Well, would you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, of course not! But they are not us and we not them and that's the way to control them.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are beyond understanding!\" In exasperation Anjo turned to the other three Councillors. \"The Shōgun must be taken to a safe place, we must go too to carry on the government. That's all I propose, a temporary absence. Except for our personal retainers, all other samurai will stay, the Bakufu stays.\" Once more he glared at Yoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You stay if you wish. Now we will vote: the temporary absence is approved!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait! If you do that the Shōgunate will lose face forever, we'll never be able to control the daimyos and their opposition—or the Bakufu. Never!\"\n\n\"We are just being prudent! The Bakufu remains in place. So do all warriors. As Chief Councillor it's my right to call for a vote, so vote! I vote Yes!\"\n\n\"I say No!\" Yoshi said.\n\n\"I agree with Yoshi-san,\" Utani said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was a short, thin man with kind eyes and spare visage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I agree, if we leave we lose face forever.\"\n\nYoshi smiled back, liking him—daimyos of the Watasa fief were ancient allies since before Sekigahara. He looked at the other two, both senior members of Toranaga clans. Neither met his eyes. \"Adachi-sama?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Finally, Adachi, daimyo of Mito, a rotund little man, said nervously, \"I agree with Anjo-sama that we should leave, and the Shōgun of course. But I also agree with you that then we may lose even though we gain. Respectfully I vote No!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The last Elder, Toyama, was in his middle fifties, grey-haired with heavy dewlaps and blind in one eye from a hunting accident—an old man as ages went in Japan. He was daimyo of Kii, father of the young Shōgun. \"It bothers me not at all if we live or die, nor the death of my son, this Shōgun—there will always be another. But it bothers me very much to retreat just because gai-jin have anchored off our shore. I vote against retreat and for attack. I vote we go to the coast and if the jackals land we kill them all, their ships, cannon, rifles notwithstanding!\"\n\n\"We don't have enough troops here,\" Anjo said, sick of the old man and his militancy that had never been proved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How many times do I have to say it: we do not have enough troops to hold the castle and stop them landing in strength. How many times do I have to repeat, our spies say they have two thousand soldiers with rifles in the ships and at the Settlement, and ten times that number in Hong Kong an—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi interrupted angrily, \"We would have had more than enough samurai and their daimyos here if you hadn't cancelled sankin-kotai!\"\n\n\"That was at the Emperor's request, given in writing and presented by a Prince of his Court. We had no option but to obey. You would also have obeyed.\"\n\n\"Yes—if I'd taken delivery of the document! But I would never have accepted it, I would have been away, or would have delayed the Prince, any one of a hundred ploys, or bartered with Sanjiro who instigated the 'requests,' or told one of our Court supporters to petition the Emperor to withdraw the requests,\" Yoshi's voice snapped. \"Any petition from the Shōgunate must be approved—that's historic law. We still control the Court's stipend! You betrayed our heritage.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You call me a traitor?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To everyone's shock Anjo's hand tightened on his sword hilt.\n\n\"I say you allowed Sanjiro to puppet you,\" Yoshi replied without moving, calm on the surface of his skin, hoping that Anjo would make the first move and then he could kill him and have done with his stupidity forever. \"There is no precedent to go against the Legacy. It was a betrayal.\"\n\n\"All daimyos other than immediate Toranaga families wanted it! The consensus of Bakufu agreed, the roju agreed, better to agree than to force all daimyos into the camp of the outside lords to challenge us at once as Sanjiro, the Tosas and Choshus would have done. We would have been totally isolated. Isn't that true?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he said to the others. \"Well, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Utani said quietly, \"It's certainly true I agreed—but now I think it was a mistake.\"\n\n\"The mistake we made was not to intercept Sanjiro and kill him,\" Toyama said.\n\n\"He was protected by Imperial Mandate,\" Anjo said.\n\nHis old man's lips curled from his yellow teeth. \"So?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All Satsuma would have risen up against us, rightly; the Tosa and Choshu would join in and we'd have a general civil war we cannot win. Vote! Yes or no?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I vote for attack, only attack,\" the old man said stubbornly, \"today on any landing, tomorrow at Yokohama.\"\n\nFrom far off came the skirl of bagpipes." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Four more cutters were heading for the wharf, three packed with Highland Infantry to join others already formed up there, drums beating and bagpipes wailing impatiently. Kilts, busbies, scarlet tunics, rifles. Sir William, Tyrer, Lun and three of his staff were in the last boat.\n\nAs they came ashore, the captain in charge of the detachment saluted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Everything's ready, sir. We've patrols guarding this wharf and the surrounding areas. Marines will take over from us within the hour.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good. Then let's proceed to the Legation.\"\n\nSir William and his party got into the carriage that had been ferried and manhandled ashore with so much effort. Twenty sailors picked up the traces. The captain gave the order to advance and the cortege marched off, flags waving, soldiers surrounding them, a resplendent, six-foot-eight drum major to the fore, Chinese coolies from Yokohama nervously dragging baggage carts in the rear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The narrow streets between the low, one-story shops and buildings were eerily empty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So was the inevitable guard post at the first wooden bridge over a festering canal. And the next. A dog charged out of an alley, barking and snarling, then picked itself up and scuttled away howling after a kick lifted it into the air and sent it sprawling ten yards. More empty streets and bridges, yet their way to the Legation was tortuous because of the carriage and because all streets were only for foot traffic. Again the carriage stuck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Perhaps we should walk, sir?\" Tyrer asked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, by God, I arrive by carriage!\" Sir William was furious with himself. He had forgotten the narrowness of the streets. At Yokohama he had privately decided on the carriage just because wheels were forbidden, to further ram home his displeasure to the Bakufu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He called out, \"Captain, if you have to knock down a few houses, so be it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But that did not become necessary. The sailors, used to handling cannon in tight places belowdecks, good-naturedly shoved and pushed and cursed and half carried the carriage around the bottlenecks.\n\nThe Legation was on a slight rise in the suburb of Gotenyama, beside a Buddhist temple. It was a two-story, still uncompleted structure of British style and design inside a high fence and gates." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Within three months of the Treaty's signing, work had begun." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Building had been agonizingly slow, partially because of British insistence on using their plans and their normal building materials such as glass for windows and bricks for bearing walls—which had to be brought from London, Hong Kong or Shanghai—constructing foundations and the like, which Japanese houses did not normally possess, being of wood, deliberately light and easy to erect and repair because of earthquakes, and raised off the ground. Most of the delays, however, were due to Bakufu reluctance to have any foreign edifices whatsoever outside Yokohama.\n\nEven though not fully finished, the Legation was occupied and the British flag raised daily on the dominant flagpole, which further incensed the Bakufu and local citizens. Last year occupation was temporarily abandoned by Sir William's predecessor when ronin, at night, killed two guards outside his bedroom door, to British fury and Japanese rejoicing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, so sorry...\" the Bakufu said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the site, leased in perpetuity by the Bakufu—mistakenly, it had been claimed ever since—had been wisely chosen. The view from the forecourt was the best in the neighborhood and they could see the fleet drawn up in battle order, safely offshore, safely at anchor.\n\nThe cortege arrived in martial style to take possession again. Sir William had decided to spend the night in the Legation to prepare for tomorrow's meeting and he bustled about, stopping as the Captain saluted. \"Yes?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Raise the flag, sir? Secure the Legation?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At once. Keep to the plan, lots of noise, drums, pipes and so on. Pipe the retreat at sunset, and have the band march up and down.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\" The Captain walked over to the flagstaff. Ceremoniously, to the heady skirl of more pipes and drums, once more the Union Jack broke out at the masthead. Immediately, by previous agreement, there was an acknowledging broadside from the flagship." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William raised his hat and led three resounding cheers for the Queen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good, that's better. Lun!\"\n\n\"Heya, Mass'er?\"\n\n\"Wait a minute, you're not Lun!\"\n\n\"I Lun Two, Mass'er, Lun One come 'night, chop chop.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"All right, Lun Two. Dinner sunset, you make every Mass'er shipshape never mind.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lun Two nodded sourly, hating to be in such an isolated, indefensible place, surrounded by a thousand hidden, hostile eyes that everyone carelessly dismissed, though nearly all must sense. I'll never understand barbarians, he thought." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That night Phillip Tyrer could not sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He lay on one of the straw mattresses atop a ragged carpet on the floor, wearily changing his position every few minutes, his mind unpleasantly crossed with thoughts of London and Angelique, the attack and the meeting tomorrow, the ache in his arm, and Sir William who had been irritable all day. It was cold with a slight promise of winter on the air, the room small. Windows with glass panes overlooked the spacious, well-planted back gardens. The other mattress bed was for the Captain but he was still making his rounds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Apart from sounds of dogs foraging, a few tomcats, the city was silent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Occasionally he could hear distant ships' bells of the fleet sounding the hours and the throaty laughter of their soldiers and he felt reassured. Those men are superb, he thought. We're safe here.\n\nAt length he got up, yawned and padded over to the window, opened it to lean on the sill. Outside it was black, the cloud cover thick." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No shadows but he saw many Highlanders patrolling with oil lamps." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beyond the fence to one side was the vague shape of the Buddhist temple. At sunset after the bagpipes had beat the retreat and the Union Jack had been ritually pulled down for the night, monks had barred their heavy gate, sounded their bell, then filled the night with their strange chanting: \"Ommm mahnee padmee hummmmm...\" over and over again. Tyrer had been calmed by it, unlike many of the others who shouted catcalls, telling them rudely to shut up.\n\nHe lit a candle that was beside the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His fob watch showed it was 2:30." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yawning again, he rearranged the blanket, propped himself up with the rough pillow and opened his small attaché case, his initials embossed on it—a parting gift from his mother—and took out his notebook. Covering the column of Japanese words and phrases he had written out phonetically, he muttered the English equivalents, then the next page, and the next. Then the same with the English and said aloud the Japanese. It pleased him every one was right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They're so few, I don't know if I'm pronouncing them correctly, I've so little time, and I haven't even begun to learn the writing,\" he muttered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At Kanagawa he had asked Babcott where he could get the best teacher. \"Why not ask the padre?\" Babcott had said.\n\nHe had, yesterday. \"Certainly, my boy. But can't this week, how about next month? Care for another sherry?\"\n\nMy God, can they drink here!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They're sozzled most of the time and certainly by lunch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The padre's useless, and smells to high heaven. But what a stroke of luck about André Poncin!\n\nYesterday afternoon he had accidentally met the Frenchman in one of the Japanese village shops that serviced their needs. These lined the village main street that was behind High Street, away from the sea and adjoined Drunk Town." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All the shops appeared to be the same, selling the same kinds of local merchandise from food to fishing tackle, from cheap swords to curios." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was searching through a rack of Japanese books—the paper of very high quality, many beautifully printed and illustrated from woodblocks—trying to make himself understood to the beaming proprietor.\n\n\"Pardon, Monsieur,\" the stranger had said, \"but you have to name the type of book you want.\" He was in his thirties, clean-shaven, with brown eyes and brown, wavy hair, a fine Gallic nose and well dressed. \"You say: Watashi hoshii hon, Ing'erish Nihongo, dozo—I would like a book that has English and Japanese.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smiled. \"Of course, there aren't any, though this fellow will tell you with abject sincerity, Ah so desu ka, gomen nasai, etc.—Ah, so sorry I have none today, but if you come back tomorrow... Of course he's not telling the truth, only telling you what he thinks you want to know, a fundamental Japanese habit. I'm afraid Japanese are not generous with the truth, even amongst themselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But, Monsieur, may I ask, then how did you learn Japanese—obviously you're fluent.\"\n\nThe man laughed pleasantly. \"You are too kind. Me, I'm not, though I try.\" An amused shrug. \"Patience. And because some of our Holy Fathers speak it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Phillip Tyrer frowned. \"I'm afraid I'm not Catholic, I'm Church of England, and, er, and an apprentice interpreter at the British Legation. My name is Phillip Tyrer and I've just arrived and a bit out of my depth.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, of course, the young Englishman of the Tokaidō. Please excuse me, I should have recognized you. We were all horrified to hear about it. May I present myself, André Poncin, late of Paris. I'm a trader.\"\n\n\"Je suis enchanté de vous voir,\" Tyrer said, speaking French easily and well though with a slight English accent—throughout the world, outside of Britain, French was the language of diplomacy, and lingua franca of most Europeans, therefore essential for a Foreign Office posting—as well as for anyone considering themselves well educated. In French he added, \"Do you think the Fathers would consider teaching me, or allowing me to join their classes?\"\n\n\"I don't believe any actually give classes. I could ask. Are you going with the fleet tomorrow?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, indeed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So am I, with Monsieur Seratard, our Minister. You were at the Legation in Paris before here?\"\n\n\"Unfortunately no, I've only been to Paris for two weeks, Monsieur, on holiday—this is my first posting.\"\n\n\"Oh, but your French is very good, Monsieur.\"\n\n\"Afraid it's not—not really,\" Tyrer said in English again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I presume you are an interpreter too?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, no, just a businessman, but I try to help Monsieur Seratard sometimes when his official Dutch-speaking interpreter is sick—I speak Dutch. So you wish to learn Japanese, as quickly as possible, eh?\" Poncin went over to the rack and selected a book. \"Have you seen one of these yet? It's Hiroshige's Fifty-three Stages on the Tokaidō Road. Don't forget the beginning of the book is at the end for us, their writing right to left. The pictures show the way stations all the way to Kyōto.\" He thumbed through them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Here's Kanagawa, and here Hodogaya.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The four-color woodblock prints were exquisite, better than anything Tyrer had ever seen, the detail extraordinary. \"They're marvelous.\"\n\n\"Yes. He died four years ago, pity, because he was a marvel. Some of their artists are extraordinary, Hokusai, Masanobu, Utamaro and a dozen others.\" André laughed and pulled out another book. \"Here, these are a must, a primer for Japanese humor and calligraphy, as they call their writing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Phillip Tyrer's mouth dropped open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pornography was decorous and completely explicit, page after page, with beautifully gowned men and women, their naked parts monstrously exaggerated and drawn in majestic, hairy detail as they joined vigorously and inventively. \"Oh, my God!\"\n\nPoncin laughed outright. \"Ah, then I have given you a new pleasure. As erotica they're unique, I have a collection I'd be glad to show you. They're called shungae, the others ukiyo-e—pictures from the Willow World or Floating World. Have you visited one of the bordellos yet?\"\n\n\"I... I, no... no, I—I, er, haven't.\"\n\n\"Oh, in that case, may I be a guide?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now in the night, Tyrer remembered their conversation and how secretly embarrassed he had been." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had tried to pretend he was equally a man of the world, but at the same time kept hearing his father's grave and constant advice: \"Listen, Phillip, Frenchmen are all vile and totally untrustworthy, Parisians the dregs of France, and Paris without doubt the sin city of the civilized world—licentious, vulgar, and French!\"\n\nPoor Papa, he thought, he's so wrong about so many things, but then he lived in Napoleonic times and survived the bloodbath of Waterloo. How ever great the victory, it must have been terrible for a ten-year-old drummer boy, no wonder he will never forgive or forget, or accept the new Era. Never mind, Papa has his life and as much as I love him, and admire him for what he did, I have to make my own way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "France is almost an ally now—it's not wrong to listen and learn." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He flushed, remembering how he had hung on André's words—secretly ashamed of his avid fascination.\n\nThe Frenchman explained that here bordellos were places of great beauty, the best of them, and their courtesans, the Ladies of the Floating World, or Willow World as they were called, easily the best he had ever experienced. \"There are degrees, of course, and streetwalkers in most towns. But here we have our own Pleasure Quarter, called Yoshiwara. It's over the bridge outside the fence.\" Again the pleasant laugh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We call it the Bridge to Paradise. Oh, yes, and you should know that... oh, excuse me, I interrupt your shopping.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, but no, not at all,\" he had said at once, aghast that this flow of information and rare opportunity would cease, and added in his most flowery and honeyed French, \"I would consider it an honor if you would care to continue, really, it is so important to learn as much as one can and I'm afraid the people I associate with, and talk to, are... regretfully, not Parisian, mostly stodgy and without French sophistication. To return your kindness perhaps I may offer you some tea or champagne at the English Tea House, or perhaps a drink at the Yokohama Hotel—sorry, but I'm not a member of the Club yet.\"\n\n\"You are too kind. Yes, I would like that.\"\n\nThankfully he beckoned the shopkeeper, with Poncin's help paid for the book, astonished it was so inexpensive. They went into the street." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were saying about the Willow World?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There's nothing sordid about it, as with most of our brothels and almost all those elsewhere in the world. Here, as in Paris, but more so, the act of sex is an art form, as delicate and special as great cuisine, to be considered and practiced and savored and thought of as such, with no... please excuse me, no misguided Anglo-Saxon 'guilt.'\"\n\nInstinctively, Tyrer bridled. For a moment he was tempted to correct him and say that there was a vast difference between guilt and a healthy attitude towards morality and all good Victorian values. And to add that, regretfully, the French had never possessed any distinction with their leaning towards loose living that seduced even such august nobles as the Prince of Wales who openly considered Paris home (\"a source of grave concern in the highest English circles,\" the Times glowered, \"French vulgarity knows no end, their wretched display of wealth and outrageous innovative dances, like the cancan where, it is reliably reported, the dancers deliberately do not and are even required not to wear any undergarments whatsoever\").\n\nBut he said none of it, knowing he would only be parroting more of his father's words." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Poor Papa, he thought again, concentrating on Poncin as they strolled the High Street, the sun pleasing and the air bracing, with the promise of a fine day tomorrow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But here in Nippon, Monsieur Tyrer,\" the Frenchman continued happily, \"there are marvelous rules and regulations, both for clients and the girls. For instance, they're not all on show at one time, except in the very low-class places, and even then you can't just go in and say, 'I want that one.'\"\n\n\"You can't?\"\n\n\"Oh, no, she always has the right to refuse you without any loss of face on her part. There are special protocols—I can explain in detail later if you wish—but each House is run by a madam, called mama-san, the san being a suffix meaning mistress, madam or mister, who prides herself on the elegance of her surroundings and her Ladies. They vary, of course, in price and excellence. In the best, the mama-san vets you, that's the right word, she considers if you are worthy to grace her House and all it contains, in substance whether or not you can pay the bill. Here a good customer can have a great deal of credit, Monsieur Tyrer, but woe betide you if you do not pay or are late once the bill is discreetly presented. Every House in all Japan will then refuse you every kind of entrance.\"\n\nTyrer had guffawed nervously at the pun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How word passes I don't know, but it does, from here to Nagasaki. So, Monsieur, in certain ways this is paradise. A man can fornicate for a year on credit, if he so desires.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Poncin's voice changed imperceptibly. \"But the wise man buys a lady's contract and reserves her for his private pleasure. They are really so—so charming and so inexpensive when you consider the enormous profit we make on the money exchange.\"\n\n\"You, well, that's what you advise?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, I do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They had had tea." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then champagne at the Club where André was clearly a well-known and popular member. Before they parted, André had said, \"The Willow World deserves care and attention. I would be honored to be one of your guides.\"\n\nHe had thanked him, knowing he would never take advantage of the offer. I mean, what about Angelique?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What about, what about catching one of the vile diseases, gonorrhea, or the French disease that the French call the English disease and the doctors call syphilis that George Babcott mentioned pointedly abounds, under any name, in any Asian or Middle Eastern Treaty port, \"... or any port for that matter, Phillip. I see lots of cases here amongst the Japanese, not all European related. If you're that way inclined, wear a sheath, they're not safe, not much good yet. Best you don't, if you know what I mean.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Phillip Tyrer shuddered. He had had only one experience. Two years ago he had become boisterously drunk with some fellow students after their finals, in the Star and Garter public house on Pont Street. \"Now's the time, Phillip, old boy. It's all fixed, she'll do it for tuppence, won't you, Flossy?\" She was a bar girl, a bawdy of about fourteen, and the tumble had taken place hurriedly, sweatily, in a smelly upstairs cubbyhole—a penny for her and a penny for the publican." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For months afterwards he was petrified he was poxed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We have more than fifty Teahouses, as they're called, or Inns, to choose from in our Yoshiwara, all licensed and controlled by the authorities, more going up every day. But take care, go nowhere in Drunk Town.\" This was the unwholesome part of the Settlement, where the low-class bars and rooming houses clustered around the only European brothel: \"It's for soldiers and sailors and seamen, and for the riffraff, ne'er-do-wells, remittance men, gamblers and adventurers who congregate there, on sufferance. Every port acquires them because we have no police yet, no immigration laws. Perhaps Drunk Town's a safety valve but unwise to visit after dark. If you value your pocketbook and your privates don't take them out there. Musuko-san deserves better.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Ah, a very important word. Musuko means son, or my son. Musuko-san literally means Honorable Son, or Mr. My Son, but in the patois, cock or My Honorable Cock, pure and simple. Girls are called musume. Actually the word means daughter, or my daughter, but in the Willow World, vagina. You say to your girl, \"Konbanwa, musume-san.\" Good evening, chérie. But if you say it with the twinkle she knows you mean, How is it? How is your Golden Gully, as Chinese sometimes call man's passage to paradise—they are so wise, the Chinese, because the sides certainly are lined with gold, the whole nourished by gold and only opened with gold, one way or another...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer lay back, his notebook forgotten, brain churning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Almost before he realized it, the little book of ukiyo-e that he had hidden in his briefcase was open and he was studying the pictures. Abruptly he replaced it.\n\nNo future in looking at dirty pictures, he thought, consumed with disgust. The candle was guttering now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He blew out the flame, then lay back, the familiar ache in his loins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What a lucky man André is. Obviously he has a mistress. That must be marvelous, if even half of what he says is true.\n\nI wonder if I could get one too?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Could I buy a contract?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "André said many here do, and rent private little houses in the Yoshiwara that can be secret and discreet if you wish: \"It's rumored all the Ministers possess one, Sir William certainly goes there at least once a week—he thinks no one knows but everyone spies him and laughs—but not the Dutchman who's impotent, according to rumor, and the Russian who openly prefers to sample different Houses...\"\n\nShould I risk it, if I could afford it? After all, André gave me a very special reason: \"To learn Japanese quickly, Monsieur, acquire a sleeping dictionary—it's the only way.\"\n\nBut his last thought before sleep overwhelmed him was: I wonder why André was so kind to me, so voluble." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rare for a Frenchman to be so open with an Englishman." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Very rare. And strange that he never mentioned Angelique once..." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with 4 sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next 4 sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going 4 sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was just before dawn. Ori and Hiraga, again in all-encompassing ninja clothes, came out of their hiding place in the temple grounds overlooking the Legation and ran silently down the hill, across the wooden bridge and into an alley, down it and into another. Hiraga led. A dog saw them, growled, moved into their path and died. The deft short arc of Hiraga's sword was instantaneous and he hurried onwards with the blade unsheathed, hardly missing a step, ever deeper into the city. Ori followed carefully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Today his wound had begun to fester." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the lee of a hut on a protected corner, Hiraga stopped. \"It's safe here, Ori!\" he whispered.\n\nHastily both men slipped out of their ninja clothes and stuffed them into the soft bag Hiraga carried slung on his back, replacing them with nondescript kimonos. With great care Hiraga cleansed his sword using a piece of silk cloth, carried for that purpose by all swordsmen to protect their blades, then sheathed it. \"Ready?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again he led onwards into the maze, surefooted, staying under cover where he could, hesitating at every open space until he was sure they were safe, seeing no one, meeting no one, then pressing on, heading for their safe house.\n\nThey had been watching the Legation since early morning, the bonzes—the Buddhist priests—pretending not to notice them, once they were sure the two men were not thieves and Hiraga had identified himself and their purpose: to spy on the gai-jin. All bonzes were fanatically xenophobic and anti-gai-jin, to them synonymous with Jesuit, still their most hated and feared enemy. \"Ah, you are shishi, then you are both welcome,\" the old monk had said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We have never forgotten Jesuits ruined us, or that the Toranaga Shoguns are our scourge.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the middle of the fifteenth century to the early sixteenth, Portuguese alone knew the way to Japan. Papal edicts had also given them exclusivity to the islands, and Portuguese Jesuits the sole right to proselytize. Within a few years they had converted so many daimyos to Catholicism, therefore naturally their retainers, that Dictator Goroda had used them as an excuse to massacre thousands of Buddhist monks at that time militant, dominant in the land and opposed to him.\n\nThe tairō, Nakamura, who inherited his power, expanded it immensely, and played off bonze against Jesuit with honey, persecution, suffering and killing. Then came Toranaga." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Toranaga, tolerant of all religions, though not of foreign influence, observed that all converted daimyos had initially fought against him at Sekigahara." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Three years later, he became Shōgun and two years after that he resigned in favor of his son, Sudara, but kept actual power—an old established Japanese custom.\n\nDuring his lifetime he lashed Jesuits and Buddhists severely, and eliminated or neutralized the Catholic daimyos. His son, Shōgun Sudara, tightened the curbs and his son, Shōgun Hironaga, finished the plan laid down so carefully in the Legacy where he formally outlawed Christianity from Japan on pain of death. In 1638, Shōgun Hironaga destroyed the last Christian bastion at Shimabara, near Nagasaki, where a few thousand ronin, thirty thousand peasants and their families were in rebellion against him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Those who refused to recant were crucified or put to the sword immediately as common criminals." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All but a handful refused. Then he turned his attention to the Buddhists. Within days he was pleased to accept the gift of all their lands, and so fettered them.\n\n\"You are welcome, Hiraga-san, Ori-san,\" the old monk had said again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are for the shishi, for sonnojoi and against the Shōgunate. You are free to come or go as you please. If you want help, tell us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then keep a tally of the numbers of soldiers, their comings and goings, what rooms are occupied and by whom.\"\n\nThe two men had waited and watched throughout the day. At dusk they put on their ninja clothes. Twice Hiraga moved closer to the Legation, once he scaled the fence to experiment and reconnoiter but quickly retreated unseen when a patrol almost trod on him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll never get in by night, Ori,\" he whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Or by day. Too many troops now.\"\n\n\"How long do you think they'll stay?\"\n\nHiraga smiled. \"Until we drive them out.\"\n\nNow they were almost at their safe house, an Inn that lay to the east of the castle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dawn was near, the sky lighter and cloud cover thinner than yesterday." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ahead the street was deserted. So was the bridge. Confident, Hiraga hurried onto it, skidded to a stop. A Bakufu patrol of ten men stepped out of the shadows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At once both sides went into attack-defense positions, hands on their sword hilts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come forward and give me your identification papers,\" the senior samurai called out.\n\n\"Who are you to challenge anyone?\"\n\n\"You see our badges,\" the man said angrily, stepping onto the wooden slats of the bridge. The remainder of his men spread out behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We are warriors of Mito, 9th Regiment, guardians of the Shōgun. Identify yourselves.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We have been spying on the enemy stockade. Let us pass.\"\n\n\"You look like thieves. What's in that bag on your back, eh? Identification!\"\n\nOri's shoulder was throbbing. He had seen the telltale discoloration but had hidden it from Hiraga, and the pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His head ached but he knew instantly he had nothing to lose and an admirable death to gain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sonnojoi!\" he bellowed suddenly, and hurled himself at the samurai on the bridge. The others backed off to give them room as Ori hacked with all his might, recovered as the blow was deflected and again attacked, feinted, and this time his blow was true. The man was dead on his feet, then crumpled. At once Ori darted for another man who retreated, went for another who also retreated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The ring of men began to close." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sonnojoi!\" Hiraga shouted, and rushed to Ori's side. Together they stood at bay.\n\n\"Identify yourselves!\" a young warrior said, unimpressed. \"I am Hiro Watanabe and do not wish to kill or be killed by an unknown warrior.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I am shishi from Satsuma!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ori said proudly, adding an alias as was their usual custom, \"Riyama Takagaki.\"\n\n\"And I from Choshu, my name Shodan Moto! Sonnojoi,\" Hiraga shouted, and hurled himself at Watanabe, who retreated without fear, as did the others nearby.\n\n\"I've never heard of either of you,\" Watanabe said through his teeth. \"You're not shishi—you are scum.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "His rush was parried." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga, a master swordsman, used his assailant's strength and speed to catch him off balance, sidestepped and cut under the opposing sword into the man's unprotected side, withdrew and in one continuous movement sliced into the man's neck, decapitated him as he toppled to the ground, ending once more in perfect attack position.\n\nThe silence was profound. \"Who did you study under?\" someone asked.\n\n\"Toko Fujita was one of my Sensei,\" Hiraga said, every part of him ready for the next killing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eeeee!\" This was one of Mito's revered sword masters, who had been killed in Yedo's earthquake of '55 when a hundred thousand also perished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They are shishi, and men of Mito do not kill shishi, their own kind,\" one of the men said softly. \"Sonnojoi!\" Warily, this man moved aside a pace, not sure of the others, his sword still ready. They looked at him, then at one another. Opposite him another man moved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now there was an inviting, narrow path between them, but all swords stayed poised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga readied, expecting a trick, but Ori nodded to himself, his pain forgotten, victory or death the same to him. Taking his time, he cleansed his blade and sheathed it. Politely he bowed to both the dead men and strode through the narrow passage, looking neither right nor left nor backwards.\n\nIn a moment Hiraga followed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Equally slowly. Until they turned the corner." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then they both took to their heels and did not stop until they were well away." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of James Clavell spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The five Bakufu representatives came leisurely into the Legation forecourt in their palanquins. They were an hour late and preceded by samurai with banners bearing their official emblems and surrounded by guards. Sir William stood at the top of the wide steps that led to the imposing entrance. Beside him were the French, Russian and Prussian Ministers—their aides, Phillip Tyrer and others of the Legation staff to one side—and an honor guard of Highlanders with some French soldiers Seratard had insisted upon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Admiral Ketterer and the General had remained aboard, in reserve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ceremoniously the Japanese bowed, Sir William and the others raised their hats. Ritually they conducted the Japanese to the large audience hall, trying to restrain their amusement at their outlandish costumes: small black lacquered hats set square on their shaven pates and tied elaborately under their chins, the vast shouldered overgarments, multicolored ceremonial silk kimonos, voluminous pantaloons, thong sandals and shoe socks split between the toes—tabi—fans in their belts and the inevitable two swords. \"Those hats aren't big enough to piss in,\" the Russian said.\n\nSir William sat in the center of one line of chairs with the Ministers, Phillip Tyrer on one end to balance the delegation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Bakufu took the opposite row, interpreters on cushions in between." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After lengthy discussion they agreed on five guards each. These men stood behind their masters and eyed each other suspiciously.\n\nFollowing strict protocol, the adversaries introduced themselves. Toranaga Yoshi was last: \"Tomo Watanabe, junior official, second class,\" he said, pretending a humbleness he did not feel, and took the lowest position at the end of the row, his clothes less elaborate than those of the others who, with all guards, had been commanded on pain of punishment to treat him as the least important official here." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He settled himself, feeling strange." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How ugly these enemies are, he was thinking, how ridiculous and laughable with their tall hats, outlandish boots and ugly, heavy black clothes—no wonder they stink!\n\nSir William said carefully and simply: \"An Englishman has been murdered by Satsuma samurai...\"\n\nBy five o'clock European tempers were frayed, the Japanese still polite, smiling, outwardly imperturbable. In a dozen different ways their spokesman claimed that... so sorry, but they had no jurisdiction over the Satsuma, or knowledge of the murderers or any way to find them, but yes, it was a regrettable affair, but no, they did not know how to obtain reparations, but yes, under some circumstances reparations might be sought, but no, the Shōgun was not available, but yes, the Shōgun would be pleased to grant an audience when he returned, but no, not in the foreseeable future, but yes, we will immediately petition for an exact day, but no, it could not be this month because his present whereabouts are not known for certain, but yes, it would be as soon as possible, but no, the next meeting and all meetings should not take place in Yedo, but yes, in Kanagawa, but so sorry, not this month, perhaps next, but no, so sorry we do not have authority..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Every point had to be translated from English to Dutch to Japanese—as usual to be discussed at length by them—then pedantically resubmitted into Dutch into English with an inevitable homily, and ever polite requests for explanations on the most trivial point." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi found the whole proceeding vastly interesting, never having been near gai-jin en masse or attended a meeting where unequals, astonishingly, discussed policy and did not listen and obey.\n\nThree of the other four were genuine though unimportant Bakufu officials. All had used false names, a normal custom when dealing with aliens. The imposter, who secretly spoke English, sat beside Yoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His name was Misamoto." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi had ordered him to remember everything, to tell him discreetly of anything important not translated accurately, otherwise to keep his mouth shut. He was a felon under sentence of death.\n\nWhen Yoshi had sent for him the day before yesterday, Misamoto had at once prostrated himself, shaking with fear.\n\n\"Get up and sit over there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yoshi pointed with his fan to the edge of the tatami platform on which he sat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Misamoto obeyed instantly. He was a small man with slitted eyes and long, grizzled hair and beard, the sweat running down his face, his clothes coarse and almost rags, hands callused and his skin the color of dark honey.\n\n\"You will tell me the truth: your interrogators report that you speak English?\"\n\n\"Yes, Lord.\"\n\n\"You were born in Anjiro in Izu and have been to the land called America?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, Lord.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How long were you there?\"\n\n\"Almost four years, Lord.\"\n\n\"Where in America?\"\n\n\"San Francisco, Lord.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is San'frensiska?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A big city, Lord.\"\n\n\"Just there?\"\n\n\"Yes, Lord.\"\n\nYoshi studied him, needing information quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He could see that the man was desperate to please but at the same time frightened to death, of him and of the guards who had hustled him in and shoved his head to the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So he decided to try a different approach. He dismissed the guards and got up and leaned on the windowsill, looking at the city. \"Tell me, quickly, in your own words what happened to you.\"\n\n\"I was a fisherman in the village of Anjiro in Izu, Lord, where I was born thirty-three years ago, Lord.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Misamoto began at once—obviously the tale told a hundred times before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nine years ago I was fishing with six others in my boat, a few ri offshore, but we were caught in a sudden storm that quickly became a great one and we were blown before it for thirty days or more, eastwards, out into the great sea, hundreds of ri, perhaps a thousand, Sire. During this time, three of my companions were washed overboard. Then the sea became calm but our sails had been ripped to pieces and there was no food and no water. The three of us fished but caught nothing, there was no water to drink... One of us went mad and jumped into the sea and began to swim to an island he thought he saw and drowned quickly. We saw no land or ship, just water. Many days later the other man, my friend Ishii, died and I was alone. Then one day I thought I had died because I saw this strange ship that went along without sails and seemed to be on fire, but it was just a paddle steamer, American, going from Hong Kong to San Francisco. They rescued me, gave me food and treated me as one of them—I was petrified, Lord, but they shared their food and drink and clothed me...\"\n\n\"This American ship took you to this San place? What happened then?\"\n\nMisamoto told how he had been put with a brother of the Captain of this ship, a ship's chandler, to learn the language and do odd jobs until the authorities decided what to do with him. He lived with this family for about three years, working in their shop and in the port." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One day, he was taken before an important official called Natow who questioned him closely, then told him he was to be sent with the warship Missouri to Shimoda to be an interpreter for Consul Townsend Harris who was already in Japan negotiating a Treaty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "By this time he wore Western clothes and had learned some Western ways.\n\n\"I accepted happily, Sire, certain I could be helpful here, especially helpful to the Bakufu. On the ninth day of the eighth month of the year 1857 by their counting, five years ago, Sire, we hove to off Shimoda in Izu, my home village not far north, Sire. The moment I was ashore I obtained permission to leave for a day and set off at once, Lord, to report to the nearest guard house to find the nearest Bakufu official, believing I would be welcome because of the knowledge I had got... But the barrier guards would not...\" Misamoto's face twisted with anguish. \"But they wouldn't listen to me, Sire, or understand... They bound me and dragged me to Yedo... That was about five years ago, Lord, and ever since I've been treated like a criminal, confined like one though not in prison and I keep explaining and explaining I'm not a spy but a loyal man of Izu and what had happened to me...\"\n\nTo Yoshi's disgust, tears began streaming down the man's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He cut the whimpering short." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop it! Do you or do you not know it is forbidden, by law, to leave Nippon without permission?\"\n\n\"Yes, Lord, but I th—\"\n\n\"And do you know under the same law, if broken, whatever the reason, whoever he or she is, the lawbreaker is forbidden to return on pain of death?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, Sire, yes—yes I did but—but I did not think it would include me, Sire, I thought I'd be welcomed and valuable and I'd been blown out to sea. It was the storm th—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A law is a law. This law is a good law. It prevents contamination. You consider you have been treated unfairly?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, no, Lord,\" Misamoto said hastily, wiping his tears away, with even greater fear, bowing his head to the tatami. \"Please excuse me, I beg your forgiveness, please ex—\"\n\n\"Just answer the questions. How fluent is your English?\"\n\n\"I... I understand and speak some American English, Sire.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is that the same as the gai-jin here speak?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Sire, yes, more or less—\"\n\n\"When you came to see the American Harris were you shaven or unshaven?\"\n\n\"Unshaven, Sire. I had a trimmed beard like most sailors, Sire, and let my hair grow like theirs and tied into a pigtail and knotted with tar.\"\n\n\"Who did you meet with this gai-jin Harris?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just him, Sire, just for an hour or so, and one of his staff, I don't remember his name.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once more Yoshi weighed the dangers of his plan: to go to the meeting disguised, without Council approval, and to use this man as a spy, to overhear the enemy secretly. Perhaps Misamoto is a spy already, for gai-jin, he thought grimly, as all his interrogators believe. Certainly he's a liar, his story far too smooth, his eyes too cunning, and he's like a fox when off guard.\n\n\"Very well. Later I want to know everything you have learned, everything and... do you read and write?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, Lord, but only a little in the English.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good. I have a use for you. If you obey exactly and please me, I will review your case. If you fail me, however slightly, you-will-wish-you-had-not.\"\n\nHe explained what he wanted, assigned him teachers, and when his guards had returned Misamoto yesterday clean-shaven, his hair dressed like a samurai's, and wearing the clothes of an official with two swords though these were false and without blades, he had not recognized him. \"Good. Walk up and down.\"\n\nMisamoto obeyed and Yoshi was impressed how quickly the man had learned an erect posture as the teacher had shown him, not the correct, normal servile attitude of a fisherman." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "expand on the story like James Clavell would" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll stop for ten minutes,\" Sir William said wearily. \"Tell them, Johann.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They ask why.\" Johann Favrod, the Swiss interpreter yawned. \"Pardon. Seems they think they've discussed all the points etc. etc. that they'll carry back your message etc. etc. and meet again at Kanagawa with the reply from on high etc. etc. in about sixty days as suggested earlier etc. etc.\"\n\nThe Russian muttered, \"Let me have the fleet for a day, and I'll solve these matyeryebitz and this whole problem.\"\n\n\"Quite,\" Sir William agreed, adding in fluent Russian, \"Sorry, my dear Count, but we're here for a diplomatic solution, preferably.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then in English, \"Show them where to wait, Johann. Shall we, gentlemen?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He got up, bowed stiffly, and led the way into a waiting room. As he passed Phillip Tyrer he said, \"Stay with them, keep your eyes and ears open.\"\n\nAll the Ministers headed for the tall chamber pot that was in the corner of their anteroom. \"My God,\" Sir William said thankfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thought my bloody bladder would pop.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lun came in leading other servants with trays. \"Heya, Mass'er. Tea-ah, sam'wich-ah!\" He jerked a disdainful thumb towards the other room. \"All same give monkees, heya?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You'd better not let them hear you say that, by God. Perhaps some of them speak pidgin.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lun stared at him. \"Wat say, Mass'er?\"\n\n\"Oh, never mind.\"\n\nLun went out laughing to himself.\n\n\"Well, gentlemen, as expected, progress zero.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seratard was lighting his pipe, André Poncin beside him, carelessly pleased with Sir William's discomfiture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do you propose to do, Sir William?\"\n\n\"What's your advice?\"\n\n\"It is a British problem, only partially French. If it was entirely mine I would have already settled it with French élan—on the day it happened.\"\n\n\"But of course, mein Herr, you would need an equally fine fleet,\" von Heimrich said curtly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course. In Europe we have many, as you know. And if it was Imperial French policy to be here in strength as our British allies, we would have had one or two fleets here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, well...\" Sir William was tired. \"It's clear that your collective advice is to be tough with them?\"\n\n\"Rough and tough,\" Count Zergeyev said.\n\n\"Ja.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course,\" Seratard agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought that's what you had already in mind, Sir William.\"\n\nThe Minister munched on a sandwich and finished his tea. \"All right. I'll close the meeting now, reconvene for ten tomorrow, with an ultimatum: a meeting with the Shōgun within a week, the murderers, the indemnity or else—with, er, of course your joint approval.\"\n\nSeratard said, \"I suggest, Sir William, given it might be difficult for them to deliver a meeting with the Shōgun, why not keep that for later until we have reinforcements—and real cause for a meeting with him. After all, this exercise is a show of force to correct an evil, not to implement Imperial policy, yours or ours.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wise,\" the Prussian said reluctantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William pondered the reasons behind the suggestion but could find no fault or hidden hazard. \"Very well. We'll demand an 'early meeting' with the Shōgun. Agreed?\"\n\nThey nodded. \"Excuse me, Sir William,\" André Poncin said pleasantly, \"may I suggest that I tell them your decision—for you to begin the meeting and then close it at once would be somewhat of a loss of face. Yes?\"\n\n\"Very wise, André,\" Seratard said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As far as the others knew, Poncin was just an occasional trader with some knowledge of Japanese customs, a smattering of Japanese, a personal friend and occasional interpreter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In reality Poncin was a highly regarded spy employed to uncover and neutralize all British, German, and Russian endeavors in the Japans. \"Eh, Sir William?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Sir William said thoughtfully. \"Yes, you're right, André, thank you, I shouldn't do it myself. Lun!\"\n\nThe door opened instantly. \"Heya, Mass'er?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fetch young Mass'er Tyrer quick quick!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately one sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then to the others, \"Tyrer can do it for me. As it's a British problem.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write 4 sentences sentences in the style of James Clavell spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Phillip Tyrer returned to the other reception room overlooking the forecourt, he went up to Johann with as much dignity as he could muster. The Bakufu officials paid no attention and continued chatting, Yoshi slightly apart. Misamoto was beside him—the only one not talking. \"Johann, give them Sir William's compliments and tell them today's unsatisfactory meeting is adjourned and they are to reconvene tomorrow at ten for what he expects will be a satisfactory conclusion to this unwarranted affair: the murderers, the indemnity and a guaranteed early meeting with the Shōgun or else.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Johann blanched. \"Just like that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, exactly like that.\" Tyrer was also tired of the shillyshallying, constantly reminded of John Canterbury's violent death, Malcolm Struan's serious wounds and Angelique's terror. \"Tell them!\"\n\nHe watched Johann deliver the short ultimatum in guttural Dutch. The Japanese interpreter flushed and began the lengthy translation as Tyrer studied the officials carefully without appearing to do so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Four were attentive, the last was not, the small man with narrow eyes and callused hands that he had noticed earlier—all other hands were well groomed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again this man began whispering to the youngest and most handsome official, Watanabe, as he had been doing from time to time all day.\n\nWish to God I could understand what they were saying, Tyrer thought irritably, more determined than ever to do whatever was necessary to learn the language quickly.\n\nAs the shocked and embarrassed interpreter finished there was a silence, broken only by the sucking in of breath though all faces remained impassive. During the translation he had noticed two glance surreptitiously at Watanabe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Why?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they seemed to be waiting. Watanabe dropped his eyes, hid behind his fan and muttered something. At once the narrow-eyed man beside him stood awkwardly, and spoke briefly. Relieved, they all got up and, without bowing, silently trooped out, Watanabe last, except for the interpreter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Johann, they really got the message this time,\" Tyrer said happily." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. And they were very plenty pissed.\"\n\n\"Obviously that's what Sir William wanted.\"\n\nJohann mopped his brow. He was brown-haired and medium height, thin, strong with a hard, lined face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The sooner you're interpreter the better. It's time I went home to my mountains and snows while I've still got my head intact. There're too many of these cretins, they're too unpredictable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As the interpreter, surely you have a privileged position,\" Tyrer said uneasily. \"The first to know.\"\n\n\"And the carrier of bad news! They're all bad news, mon vieux. They hate us and can't wait to throw us out. I made a contract with your Foreign Office for two years, renewable by mutual consent. The contract, she is up in two months and three days and my English is going to hell.\" Johann went to the sideboard near the window and took a deep draft of the beer he had ordered instead of tea." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the forecourt the officials were getting into their palanquins. All gardening activity had stopped, the half dozen gardeners kneeling motionless with heads to the earth. Misamoto was waiting beside Yoshi, conscious that any mistake and he would not be standing erect, desperately hoping he had passed the first test. Somehow or another I'll be useful to this bastard, he was thinking in English, until I can get back aboard an American ship and paradise and tell the Captain how I was kidnapped off Harris's staff by these poxy scum..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He looked up, froze." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yoshi was watching him. \"Lord?\"\n\n\"What were you thinking?\"\n\n\"I was hoping I'd been of value, Sire. I... Look out behind you, Sire!\" he whispered.\n\nAndré Poncin was coming down the steps, heading for Yoshi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instantly his guards were a protective screen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Unafraid, Poncin bowed politely and said in fair though halting Japanese: \"Lord, excuse please, can give message from my Master, French High Lord, please?\"\n\n\"What message?\"\n\n\"He say please perhaps you like see inside steamship, engine, cannons. Asks humbly invite you and officials.\" Poncin waited, saw no reaction, except an imperious wave of the fan in dismissal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you, Lord, please excuse me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He walked away, sure he had been right. On the first step he noticed Tyrer watching him from the audience room window, bit back a curse, and waved. Tyrer waved back.\n\nWhen the last samurai left the forecourt the gardeners carefully resumed their work. One of them shouldered his spade and limped away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiraga, his head swathed with a filthy old cloth, his kimono ragged and dirty, was happy with the success of his spying." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now he knew how and when and where the attack tomorrow should take place." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of James Clavell.Produce 4 sentences using the prose and structure of James Clavell every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once more safe in his palanquin en route back to the castle—with Misamoto, at his orders, sitting at the far end—Yoshi let his mind roam." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was still astonished at their ill-mannered dismissal, not furious like the others, just patient: revenge will be taken in a manner of my own choosing.\n\nAn invitation to see the engines of a warship and to go over one? Eeee, an opportunity not to be missed. Dangerous to accept but it will be done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes focused on Misamoto who was staring out of a slit window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Certainly prisoner Misamoto has been useful so far. Stupid of interpreters not to translate accurately. Stupid of the Russian to threaten us. Stupid for them to be so rude." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Stupid of the Chinese servant to call us monkeys." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Very stupid. Well, I shall deal with them all, some sooner than others.\n\nBut how to deal with the leaders and their fleet?\n\n\"Misamoto, I have decided not to send you back to the guard house. For twenty days you will be housed with my retainers and continue to learn how to behave like a samurai.\"\n\nMisamoto's head was on the floor of the palanquin at once. \"Thank you, Lord.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you please me. Now, what will happen tomorrow?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Misamoto hesitated, petrified: the first rule of survival was never to carry bad news to any samurai, to say nothing, volunteer nothing, but if forced, to tell anyone only what you think he wants to hear. Unlike there, America, paradise on earth.\n\nThe answer's obvious, he wanted to shout, falling back into his habit of thinking in English—the only thing that had kept him sane all the years of his confinement—if you saw how they treat each other in the gai-jin family I lived with, how they treated me, sure a servant, but even so like a man, better than I ever dreamed possible, how every man can walk tall and carry a knife or gun, 'cepting most black men, how impatient they all are to solve a problem to hurry on to the next—if necessary by fist or gun or cannonade—where most everyone's equal under their law, and there are no stinking daimyos or samurai who can kill you when they wish...\n\nYoshi said softly, reading him: \"Answer me truthfully, always, if you value your life.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course, Lord, always.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Petrified, Misamoto did as he was told blindly. \"So sorry, Lord, but unless they get what they want, I think they'll—they will level Yedo.\"\n\nI agree, but only if we're stupid, Yoshi thought. \"Can their cannon do that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, Lord. Not the castle but the city would be fired.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And that would be a stupid waste of Toranaga resources. We would only have to replace them all, peasants, artisans, courtesans and merchants to service us as usual. \"Then how would you give them a little soup but no fish?\" Yoshi asked.\n\n\"Please excuse me, I don't know, Lord, I don't know.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then think. And give me your answer at dawn.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But... yes, Lord.\"\n\nYoshi leaned back on his silk cushions and focused his mind on yesterday's meeting of the Elders. Eventually Anjo had had to withdraw the order to evacuate the castle, for without a clear majority the order would be invalid—so he, as formal Guardian, had forbidden the Shōgun's departure.\n\nI won, this time, but only because that stubborn old fool, Toyama, insisted on voting for his insane attack plan, thus neither for me or against me." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Anjo is right: the other two normally vote with him against me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not because of merit but because I am who I am—the Toranaga who should have been Shōgun, not that stupid boy.\n\nBecause Yoshi was safe in his palanquin, alone but for Misamoto who could not know his inner thoughts, he allowed his mind to open the compartment marked Nobusada, so secret, so volatile, so dangerous, and permanent.\n\nWhat to do about him?\n\nI cannot contain him much longer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He's infantile and now in the most dangerous claws of all, those of the Princess Yazu: Emperor's spy and fanatic against the Shōgunate who broke her engagement to her adored childhood playmate, a handsome and very eligible Prince, the Shōgunate who forced her into permanent exile from Kyōto and all her family and friends and into a marriage to a weakling whose erection is as limp as a banner in summer and may never give her children." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now she has schemed this State visit to Kyōto to kowtow to the Emperor, a masterstroke that will destroy the delicate balance of centuries: Authority to subdue the whole Empire is granted by Imperial Edict to the Shōgun, and his descendants, who is also appointed Lord High Constable. Therefore orders issued by the Shōgun to the country are its laws.\n\nOne consultation must lead to another, Yoshi thought, and then the Emperor rules and we do not. Nobusada will never realize it, his eyes clouded by her guile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What to do?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again Yoshi went down the well-trodden but oh-so-secret path: he is my legal liege lord. I cannot kill him directly. He is too well guarded unless I am prepared to throw away my own life with the deed which, at the moment, I am not. Other means? Poison. But then I would be suspect, correctly, and even if I could escape the bonds that surround me—I'm just as much prisoner as this Misamoto—the land would be plunged into a never-ending civil war, gai-jin will be the only gainers, and worse I would have betrayed my oath of allegiance to the Shōgun, whoever he is, and to the Legacy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have to let others kill him for me." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shishi? I could help them, but to help enemies committed to your own destruction is dangerous. One other possibility. The gods.\n\nHe permitted himself a smile. Good luck and bad luck, wrote Shōgun Toranaga, fortune and misfortune are to be left to Heaven and natural law—they are not things that can be got by praying or worked by some cunning device." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Be patient, he heard Toranaga saying to him. Be patient." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yes, I will be.\n\nYoshi closed that compartment until the next time and again considered the Council. What shall I tell them? Of course by now they will know I met the gai-jin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will insist on one absolute rule in future: we must send only clever men to these meetings." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What else? Certainly about their soldiers, gigantic, with their scarlet uniforms and short skirts and enormous feathered hats, every man with a breechloading gun, shining with care, as cherished as any of our blades.\n\nShall I tell them that these enemies are fools, who have no finesse and can be ruled through their impatience and hatreds—Misamoto told me enough to conclude they are as fractious and hate-ridden as any daimyo? No, this I will keep to myself. But I will tell them tomorrow our Delegation will fail unless we devise a delay gai-jin will be happy to accept." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What should that be?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That messenger, Misamoto,\" he said idly, \"the tall man with the big nose, why did he speak like a woman, using women's words? Was he a half man–half woman?\"\n\n\"I don't know, Sire. Maybe he was—they have many aboard ship, Sire, though they hide it.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Don't know, Sire, difficult to understand them. They don't talk openly about fornication as we do, of the best position or if a boy is better than a woman. But about speaking like a woman: in their language men and women, they all speak the same, I mean they use the same words, Sire, unlike Japanese. The few sailors I met who could speak some words of our language, men who'd been to Nagasaki, they spoke the same as the big nose did, because the only people they speak with are whores, learning our words from our whores. They don't know our women speak different from us, that men, Sire, use different words, as civilized persons should.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "I'll be your writing partner today. I will set the scene, and you will continue the story with four sentences, channeling the voice and techniques of James Clavell.i'll kick things off by writing a bit, then you'll take over and write the next four sentences in the distinctive voice of James Clavell.Ive got a bit of writers block, im gonna send you something then keep it going four sentences at a time, also im going for a James Clavell sorta thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will not order my fleet to bombard Yedo without a formal written order from the Admiralty, or Foreign Office,\" the Admiral said, his face flushed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My instructions are to be circumspect, like yours. We are not on a punitive mission.\"\n\n\"For God's sake, we have had an incident that must be dealt with. Of course it's a punitive mission!\" Sir William was equally angry. The eight bells of midnight sounded, and they were in the Admiral's quarters aboard the flagship at the round table, the General, Thomas Ogilvy, the only other person present." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cabin was low, large and heavy-beamed, and through the stern windows the riding lights of other vessels could be seen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Again, I believe without force they will not budge.\"\n\n\"Get the order, by God, and I'll budge them.\" The Admiral refilled his own glass with port from the almost empty cut-glass decanter. \"Thomas?\"\n\n\"Thanks.\" The General held out his glass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Trying to contain himself, Sir William said, \"Lord Russell has already given us instructions to press the Bakufu for damages, twenty-five thousand pounds, over Legation murders, the Sergeant and Corporal last year-he will be even more incensed over the current incident. I know him, you don't,\" he added, exaggerating for effect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I won't receive his approval for three months. We must obtain satisfaction now or the murders will continue. Without your support I cannot maneuver.\"\n\n\"You have my full support, short of war, by God. Bombarding their capital commits us to war. We're not equipped for that. Thomas? You agree?\"\n\nThe General said carefully, \"To surround a village like Hodogaya and eliminate a few hundred savages and put a minor native potentate into chains is a lot different than trying to secure this vast city and invade the castle.\"\n\nWitheringly, Sir William said, \"Then what about your 'no conceivable operation that the forces under my command cannot conclude expeditiously'!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The General reddened. \"What one says in public, as you well know, bears little relation to practice, as you well know! Yedo is different.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quite right.\" The Admiral drained his glass.\n\n\"Then what do you propose?\" The silence grew. Suddenly the stem of Sir William's glass snapped between his fingers, and the others jumped, unprepared. \"Damn!\" he said, the destruction somehow diminishing his rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Carelessly he used the napkin to mop up the wine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm Minister here. If I find it necessary to make it an order and you refuse to obey, which of course you have a right to do, I will ask for your immediate replacement, of course.\"\n\nThe Admiral's neck went purple. \"I have already put the facts before the Admiralty. But please don't mistake me: I am more than ready to seek vengeance for the killing of Mr. Canterbury and the attack on the others. If it's Yedo, I merely require the written order as I have said. There's no hurry, now or in three months, these savages will pay as we require, with this city or a hundred others.\"\n\n\"Yes, they will, by God.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William got up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One more piece of necessary information before you go: I cannot promise to stay at this anchorage much longer. My fleet is unprotected, the sea bottom dangerously shallow, weather promises to worsen, and we're safer at Yokohama.\"\n\n\"How much longer is safe?\"\n\n\"A day—I don't know, I've no control over weather, which this month is irascible, as you're aware.\"\n\n\"Yes, I'm aware. Well, I'll be off. I require you both at the ten o'clock meeting ashore. Kindly fire a salute at dawn when we break out the colors. Thomas, please land two hundred dragoons to secure the area around the wharf.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"May I ask why two hundred more men?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the General asked quickly. \"I've already put a company ashore.\"\n\n\"Perhaps I may wish to take hostages. Good evening.\" He closed the door quietly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two men stared after him." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Does he mean it?\"\n\n\"I don't know, Thomas. But with the Honorable, impetuous William bloody Aylesbury you never know.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "In deep darkness another detachment of heavily armed samurai came out of the main castle gate, ran silently across the lowered drawbridge, then over the bridge that spanned the wide moat heading for the Legation area." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Other companies were also converging. More than two thousand samurai were in place, with another thousand ready to move in when ordered.\n\nSir William was plodding up from the wharf with his guard, an officer and ten Highlanders, through the deserted streets. He was depressed and tired, his mind on tomorrow, trying to conceive a way out of this impasse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Another corner and another." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the end of this street was the open space that led up to the Legation.\n\n\"My God, sorr, look there!\"\n\nThe space was crammed with silent samurai, motionless and watching them. All heavily armed. Swords, bows, spears, a few muskets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A slight noise and Sir William's party glanced around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The road back was blocked with massed, equally silent warriors.\n\n\"Christ,\" the young officer murmured.\n\n\"Yes.\" Sir William sighed. This could be one solution, but then God help every man jack of them—the fleet would respond instantly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let's go on. Have your men ready to fight if need be, safety catches off.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He led the way forward, not feeling brave, just out of himself somehow, observing himself and the others as if above the street. There was a narrow path between the samurai, an officer at the head. As Sir William came within ten feet, the man bowed politely, equal to equal. Sir William watched himself raise his hat with equal politeness, and walk on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The soldiers followed, rifles in hands, fingers on triggers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the way up the hill. Same silence, same watching. All the way to the gate. Massed samurai, motionless. But none in their forecourt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The forecourt and gardens were filled with Highlanders, armed and ready, others on the roof and at the windows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soldiers opened then locked the gate after him.\n\nTyrer and all the rest of the staff were waiting in the foyer, some in nightclothes, some part dressed, and they crowded around him. \"My God, Sir William,\" Tyrer said for all of them, \"we were petrified they'd captured you.\"\n\n\"How long have they been here?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Since about midnight, sir,\" an officer said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We had sentries at the bottom of the hill. As the enemy arrived, these lads gave us warning and fell back. We'd no way to warn you or signal the fleet. If they wait till dawn we can hold this place until more troops arrive and the fleet opens up.\"\n\n\"Good,\" he said quietly. \"In that case I suggest we all go to bed, leave a few men on guard, and let the rest turn in.\"\n\n\"Sir?\" The officer was perplexed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If they wanted to do us they would have done so already without the silent treatment and ballyhoo.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William saw them all staring at him and he felt better, no longer depressed. He started up the stairs. \"Good night.\"\n\n\"But, sir, don't you think...\" The words trailed off.\n\nSir William sighed wearily." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If you wish to keep the men on duty, please do so—if it will make you happier.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A sergeant hurried into the foyer and called out, \"Sorr, they're all leaving! The wee buggers are scarpering.\"\n\nGlancing out of the landing window, Sir William saw that, sure enough, the samurai were melting into the night.\n\nFor the first time he became afraid. He had not expected them to disappear." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Today you will be acting as a writing assistant, your partner will send something and you will write the next 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Inn of the Forty-seven Ronin was in a dingy alley not far from Yedo castle, set back from the dirt roadway, and almost hidden behind a high, ill-kempt fence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the street the Inn appeared drab and nondescript. Inside it was lush, expensive, the fence solid. Well-groomed gardens surrounded the sprawling single-story building and its many isolated one-room bungalows were set on low pilings and reserved for special guests—and privacy. The Inn's patrons were well-to-do merchants, but also it was a safe house for certain shishi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now, just before dawn, it was peaceful: all patrons, courtesans, mama-san, maids, servants sleeping." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Except the shishi. Quietly they were arming themselves.\n\nOri sat on the veranda of one of the little houses, his kimono down around his waist. With great difficulty, he was replacing the bandage over the wound on his shoulder. The wound was fiery red now and angry and agonizingly sensitive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His whole arm throbbed and he knew a doctor was urgent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even so he had told Hiraga it was too dangerous to fetch one or to go to one: \"I might be followed. We cannot risk it, too many spies and Yedo is Toranaga sanctuary.\"\n\n\"I agree. Go back to Kanagawa.\"\n\n\"When the mission is over.\" His finger slipped and brushed the festering sore and a pain stabbed deep to his innards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There's no hurry, a doctor can lance it and remove the poison, he thought, only half believing it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Karma. And karma if it continues to rot. He was so absorbed that he did not hear the ninja slide over the fence and creep up behind him.\n\nHis heart twisted with fright as the ninja clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent any outcry. \"It is me,\" Hiraga whispered angrily, then released him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I could have killed you twenty times.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\" Ori forced a smile and pointed. Amongst the bushes was another samurai, the arrow in his bow poised. \"But he's on guard, not me.\"\n\n\"Good.\" Hiraga greeted the guard and, mollified, pulled off his face mask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Are the others inside and ready, Ori?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\n\"And your arm?\"\n\n\"Fine.\" Ori gasped and his face twisted in pain as Hiraga's hand snaked out and grabbed his shoulder. Tears seeped from his eyes but he remained silent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're a liability. You cannot go with us today—you will go back to Kanagawa.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga stepped onto the veranda and went inside. Greatly dispirited, Ori followed.\n\nEleven shishi were seated on the fine tatami, armed. Nine were Hiraga's compatriots from Choshu." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two newcomers were from the Mori patrol that had let them pass yesterday, later to desert and beg permission to join them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga sat, tiredly. \"I could not get within two hundred paces of the temple or the Legation, so we cannot fire it and kill Lord Yoshi and the others when they arrive. Impossible. We must ambush him elsewhere.\"\n\n\"Excuse me, Hiraga-san, but are you certain it was Lord Yoshi?\" one of the Mori men asked.\n\n\"Yes, I'm sure.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I still cannot believe he would risk coming out of the castle with a few guards just to meet some stinking gai-jin, even disguised. He is too clever, surely he would know he is the supreme target for shishi, except the Shōgun, bigger even than the traitor Anjo.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He is not clever. I recognized him, I was close to him once in Kyōto,\" Hiraga said, secretly not trusting either of the Mori samurai. \"Whatever his reason, he could risk the Legation once without guards, not twice. Surely that is why the area is awash with Bakufu samurai. But tomorrow he will be outside the castle again. It is an opportunity we cannot miss. Could we mount an ambush somewhere? Anyone?\"\n\n\"Depends on the number of samurai with the cortege,\" a Mori samurai said. \"If a meeting is held as the gai-jin want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If? Would Lord Yoshi try a stratagem?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I would, if I were him. They call him the Fox.\"\n\n\"What would you do?\"\n\nThe man scratched his chin. \"I'd delay, somehow.\"\n\nHiraga frowned. \"But if he goes to the Legation as yesterday where would he be the most vulnerable?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ori said, \"Getting out of his palanquin. The gai-jin forecourt.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We can't get there, even with a suicide rush.\"\n\nThe silence gathered. Then Ori said quietly, \"The nearer to the castle gates the safer his captains would feel, therefore the fewer their immediate guards and the less their vigilance, coming out... or going back in.\"\n\nHiraga nodded, satisfied, and smiled at him and motioned to one of his compatriots. \"When the House wakes, tell the mama-san to fetch Ori a doctor, secretly and quickly.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In first light Phillip Tyrer half ran half walked towards the wharf with two Highlanders, a sergeant and a private in tow. \"Good God, Phillip, two guards are more than enough,\" Sir William had said a moment ago. \"If the Jappers intend mischief our entire garrison won't be sufficient to protect you. The message has to be delivered to Ketterer and you're it. 'Bye!\"\n\nLike Sir William he had had to pass through the hundreds of silent samurai who had returned just before dawn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one molested him or even seemed to acknowledge his presence other than with a quick flick of their eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ahead now was the sea. His pace quickened.\n\n\"Halt, who goes there, or I'll blow yor bloody head off,\" a voice said from the shadows, and he skidded to a stop.\n\n\"For Christ's sake,\" Tyrer said, palpitating with fright. \"Who the hell d'you think it is, it's me with an urgent message for the Admiral and General.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sorry, sir.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quickly Tyrer was in a cutter being rowed briskly towards the flagship. He was so glad to be out of the Legation trap he could almost weep and urged the oarsmen on faster, then went up the gangway two rungs at a time.\n\n\"Hello, Phillip!\" Marlowe was officer of the watch on the main deck. \"What the devil's up?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, John, where's the Admiral? I've an urgent dispatch for him from Sir William. The Legation's surrounded by thousands of the bastards.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Christ!\" Anxiously Marlowe led the way down a gangway, then aft. \"How the hell did you get out?\"\n\n\"Just walked. They let me through their ranks, didn't say a bloody word, not one of them, just let me through. I don't mind telling you I was scared fartless—they're everywhere, except inside our walls and down by our wharf.\"\n\nThe Marine sentry outside the cabin door saluted smartly. \"'Morning, sir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Urgent dispatch for the Admiral.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once the voice slashed through the door: \"Then for God's sake, Marlowe, bring it in! Dispatch from whom?\"\n\nMarlowe sighed, opened the door. \"Sir William, sir.\"\n\n\"What the hell's that idiot done n—\" Admiral Ketterer stopped, seeing Tyrer. \"Oh, you're his aide, aren't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Apprentice interpreter, sir, Phillip Tyrer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He handed him the letter. \"Er, Sir William's compliments, sir.\"\n\nThe Admiral tore the letter open. He was wearing a long flannel nightgown and tasselled sleeping hat and thin-rimmed reading glasses and he pursed his lips as he read:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I consider it best to cancel your appearance at the meeting today, as well as the General and the other Ministers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We are totally surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of heavily armed samurai. Thus far they have done nothing hostile, or prevented anyone from leaving, yet. Certainly they have the right to put their own troops where they wish—perhaps it's just a bluff to unhinge us. For safety, however, I will handle the Bakufu alone, if they appear as demanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "(If this occurs I will run up a blue pennant and will endeavor to keep you advised of developments.)" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If the Bakufu do not appear I will wait another day or two, then may have to order an ignominious withdrawal. In the meantime, if you see the flag hauled down it will mean they have overrun us. You may then take whatever action you see fit. I am, Sir, yr obedient servant..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Carefully the Admiral reread the letter, then said decisively, \"Mr. Marlowe, ask the Captain and General to join me here at once. Send the following message to all ships: 'You will instantly go to action stations. All Captains to report aboard the flagship at noon.' Next, send a signal to the Ministers asking them to be kind enough to join me here as soon as possible. Mr. Tyrer, get yourself some breakfast and be ready to carry back a reply within a few minutes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But, sir, don't you think—\"\n\nThe Admiral was already bellowing at the closed door. \"Johnson!\"\n\nInstantly his orderly opened the door. \"Barber's on his way, sir, your uniform's freshly ironed, breakfast's ready the moment you're at table, the porridge's hot!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ketterer's look fell on Marlowe and Tyrer." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What the devil are you waiting for?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide four sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At Yokohama the Struan cutter—the only steam engine, propeller-driven small boat in the Japans—swung against their wharf, wind brisk with a slight swell to the grey sea under the overcast." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jamie McFay climbed nimbly up the steps, then hurried along its length heading for their two-story building dominating the High Street. It was barely eight o'clock but he had already been out to meet the bimonthly mail ship that had arrived with the dawn, to collect mail, dispatches and the latest newspapers that his Chinese assistant began to load into a cart. Clutched in his hand were two envelopes, one opened the other sealed.\n\n\"'Morning, Jamie.\" Gabriel Nettlesmith intercepted him, stepping out from a small group of sleepy traders waiting for their boats." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was a short, roly-poly, untidy, smelly man, reeking of ink and unwashed clothes and the cigars that he smoked perpetually, editor and publisher of the Yokohama Guardian, the Settlement's newspaper, one of the many in Asia that Struan's owned, openly or secretly. \"What's amiss?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lots—be kind enough to join me for tiffin. Sorry, can't stop.\"\n\nEven without the fleet at anchor the harbor was already busy with cutters plying to and from the half a hundred merchantmen, others clustering around the mail ship, still others heading for her or coming back. Jamie was the first ashore, a matter of principle with him and a business expedient where prices of essential items, always in short supply, could fluctuate wildly depending on the mails. Hong Kong to Yokohama direct by mail steamer took about nine days, via Shanghai, about eleven, weather permitting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mail from home, England, took eight to twelve weeks, weather and piracy permitting, and mail day always an anxious time, joyous, awful or in between but ever welcome, waited for and prayed for nonetheless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Norbert Greyforth of Brock and Sons, Struan's main rival, was still a hundred yards offshore, sitting comfortably amidships, his oarsmen pulling hard, watching him through his telescope. McFay knew he was being observed but it did not bother him today. The bugger will know soon enough if he doesn't know already, he thought, feeling uncommonly frightened. Frightened for Malcolm Struan, the Company, himself, for the future and for his ai-jin—love person—who waited equally patiently in their tiny Yoshiwara house across the canal, outside the fence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He increased his pace." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Three or four drunks lay in the gutter of High Street like old sacks of coal, others scattered here and there down along the seafront. He stepped over one man, avoided a raucous group of inebriated merchant seamen staggering for their boats, ran up his steps into the large foyer of Struan's, up the staircase to the landing and down the corridor that led to suites of rooms the whole length of the godown.\n\nQuietly he opened a door and peered in.\n\n\"Hello, Jamie,\" Malcolm Struan said from the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, hello, Malcolm, 'morning. I wasn't sure if you'd be awake.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He closed the door behind him, noticed that the door to the adjoining suite was ajar, and went over to the huge teak four-poster that, like all the furniture, came from Hong Kong or England. Malcolm Struan was pasty-faced, and drawn, propped on pillows—the boat trip back from Kanagawa yesterday had drained more of his precious strength, even though Dr. Babcott had kept him sedated and they had made the journey as smooth as possible. \"How are you today?\"\n\nStruan just peered up at him, his blue eyes seemingly faded and set deeper into their sockets, shadows underneath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mail from Hong Kong's not good, eh?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The words were flat, and gave McFay no way to break it easily.\n\n\"Yes, sorry. You heard the signal gun?\" Whenever the mail ship came within sight, it was the custom for the Harbor Master to fire a cannon to alert the Settlement—the same procedure all over the world, wherever there were Settlements.\n\n\"Yes, I did,\" Struan said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Before you tell me the bad, close her door and give me the chamber pot.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay obeyed. The other side of the door was a drawing room and beyond that a bedroom, the best apartment in the whole building and normally reserved exclusively for the tai-pan, Malcolm's father. Yesterday at Malcolm's insistence and her happy compliance, Angelique had been installed there. At once the news had rushed around the Settlement, feeding other reports and rumors that their Angelique had become the new Lady of the Lamp, and the betting odds on that she was Struan's in more ways than one, every man wanting to be in his bed.\n\n\"You're mad,\" McFay had told some of them at the Club last night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The poor fellow's in terrible shape.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dr. Babcott interrupted, \"He'll be up and about before you know it.\"\n\n\"It's got to be wedding bells, by God!\" someone said.\n\n\"Drinks on the house,\" another called out expansively, \"Good-oh, we'll have our own wedding, our first wedding.\"\n\n\"We've had lots, Charlie. What about our musumes?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They don't count, for God's sake, I mean a real church wedding—and a right proper christening an—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Jumping Jehovah, are you implying one's in the oven?\"\n\n\"The rumor's they was like stoats on the ship coming here, not that I blame him...\"\n\n\"Angel Tits weren't even feeanced then, by God! Say that agin', impugg'ning 'er 'onor, and I'll do you, by God!\"\n\nMcFay sighed. A few drunken blows and broken bottles, both men had been thrown out to crawl back within the hour to an uproarious welcome." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Last night, when he had peeped in here before going to bed himself, Malcolm was asleep and she was nodding in a chair beside the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He awoke her gently. \"Best get some proper sleep, Miss Angelique, he won't wake now.\"\n\n\"Yes, thank you, Jamie.\"\n\nHe had watched her stretch luxuriously like a contented young feline, half asleep, hair down around her bared shoulders, her gown high waisted and loose, falling in folds that the Empress Josephine had favored fifty years before and some Parisian maisons de couture were trying to reintroduce, all of her pulsating with a male-attracting life force." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His own suite was along the corridor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a long time he had not slept.\n\nSweat soaked Struan. The effort of using the chamber pot was vast with little to show for all the pain, no feces and just a little blood-flecked urine. \"Jamie, now what's the bad?\"\n\n\"Oh, well, you see...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For Christ sake, tell me!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your father passed away nine days ago, same day the mail ship left Hong Kong direct to us, not via Shanghai. His funeral was due three days later. Your mother asks me to arrange your return at once. Our mail ship from here with news of your—your bad luck won't arrive in Hong Kong for another four or five days at the earliest. Sorry,\" he added lamely.\n\nStruan only heard the first sentence. The news was not unexpected and yet it came as violent a slash as the wound in his side. He was very glad and very sad, mixed up, excited that at long last he could really run the company that he had trained for all his life, that for years had been hemorrhaging, for years held together by his mother who quietly persuaded, cajoled, guided and helped his father over the bad times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The bad was constant and mostly due to drink, which was his father's medicine to cushion blinding headaches and attacks of Happy Valley ague, malaria, bad air, the mysterious killing fever that had decimated Hong Kong's early population but now, sometimes, was held in abeyance by a bark extract, quinine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Can't remember a year when Father wasn't laid up at least twice with the shakes, for a month or more, his mind wandering for days on end. Even infusions of the priceless cinchona bark that Grandfather had had brought from Peru had not cured him, though it had stopped the fever from killing him, and most everyone else. But it hadn't saved poor little Mary, four years old then, me seven and forever after aware of death, the meaning of it and its finality.\n\nHe sighed heavily. Thank God nothing touched Mother, neither plague nor ague nor age nor misfortune, still a young woman, not yet thirty-eight, still trim after seven children, a steel support for all of us, able to ride every disaster, every storm, even the bitter, perpetual hatred and enmity between her and her father, godrotting Tyler Brock... even the tragedy last year when the darling twins, Rob and Dunross, were drowned off Shek-O where our summer house is." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And now poor Father. So many deaths." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tai-pan. Now I'm tai-pan of the Noble House.\n\n\"What? What did you say, Jamie?\"\n\n\"I just said I was sorry, Tai-pan, and here—here's a letter from your mother.\"\n\nWith an effort Struan took the envelope." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's the fastest way for me to get back to Hong Kong?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sea Cloud, but she isn't due for two to three weeks. The only merchantmen here at the moment are slow, none due for Hong Kong for a week. Mail ship would be the fastest. We could get her to turn around right smartly but she's going via Shanghai.\"\n\nAfter yesterday, the idea of an eleven-day voyage, more than likely with bad seas, even typhoon, horrified Malcolm. Even so, he said, \"Talk to the captain. Persuade him to go direct to Hong Kong. What else's in the mails?\"\n\n\"I haven't been through them yet, but here...\" Greatly concerned with Struan's sudden pallor, McFay offered the Hong Kong Observer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nothing but bad, I'm afraid: The American civil war's picking up steam, seesawing with tens of thousands of deaths—battles at Shiloh, Fair Oaks, dozens of places, another at Bull Run with the Union army the loser and decimated. War's changed forever now with breechloading rifles and machine guns and rifled cannon. Price of cotton's gone sky high with the Union blockade of the South. Another panic on the London Stock Exchange and Paris—rumors that Prussia will invade France imminently. Since the Prince Consort died in December, Queen Victoria still hasn't appeared in public—it's rumored she's pining to death. Mexico: we've pulled our forces out now it's apparent nutter Napoleon III's determined to make it a French domain. Famine and riots all over Europe.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay hesitated. \"Can I get you anything?\"\n\n\"A new stomach.\" Struan glanced at the envelope clenched in his hand. \"Jamie, leave me the paper, go through the mails, then come back and we'll decide what to do here before I leave...\" A slight noise and they both glanced back at the adjoining door that now was half open. She was standing there, elegant peignoir over her nightdress." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, chéri,\" she said at once." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought I heard voices. How are you today? Good morning, Jamie. Malcolm, you look so much better, can I get you anything?\"\n\n\"No, thank you. Come in. Sit down, you look wonderful. Sleep well?\"\n\n\"Not really, but never mind,\" she said, though she had slept wonderfully. Her perfume surrounding her, she touched him sweetly and sat down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shall we breakfast together?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay dragged his attention off her. \"I'll come back when I've made the arrangements. I'll tell George Babcott.\"\n\nWhen the door had closed, she smoothed Struan's brow, and he caught her hand, loving her. The envelope slipped to the floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She picked it up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A little frown. \"Why so sad?\"\n\n\"Father's dead.\"\n\nHis sadness brought her tears. She had always found it easy to cry, to make tears almost at will, seeing from a very early age their effect on others, her aunt and uncle particularly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All she had to do was to think of her mother who had died bearing her brother." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But Angelique,\" her aunt would always say tearfully, \"poor little Gerard is your only brother, you'll never have another, not a real one, even if that good-for-nothing father of yours remarries.\"\n\n\"I hate him.\"\n\n\"It wasn't his fault, poor lad, his birth was ghastly.\"\n\n\"I don't care, he killed Maman, killed her!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't cry, Angelique...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And now Struan was saying the same words, the tears easy because she was truly sad for him. Poor Malcolm to lose a father—he was a nice man, nice to me. Poor Malcolm trying to be brave. Never mind, soon you'll be well and now it's much easier to stay, now that the smell has gone, most of the smell has gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A sudden spectre of her own father came into her mind: \"Don't forget this Malcolm will inherit everything soon, the ships and power and...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I won't think about that. Or... or about the other.\n\nShe dried her eyes. \"There, now tell me everything.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nothing much to tell. Father's dead. The funeral was days ago and I have to go back to Hong Kong at once.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of course at once—but not until you are well enough.\" She leaned forward and kissed him lightly. \"What will you do when we get there?\"\n\nIn a moment he said firmly, \"I'm heir. I'm tai-pan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tai-pan of the Noble House?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She made her surprise seem genuine, then she added delicately, \"Malcolm, dear, terrible about your father, but... but in a way not unexpected, no? My father told me he had been sick a long time.\"\n\n\"It was expected, yes.\"\n\n\"That is sad but... tai-pan of the Noble House, even so. Please may I be the first to congratulate you.\" She curtseyed to him as elegantly as to a king, and sat back again, pleased with herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His eyes watched her strangely. \"What?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just that you, you make me feel so proud, so wonderful. Will you marry me?\"\n\nHer heart missed a beat, her face flushed. But her mind ordered her to be prudent, not to hurry, and she pondered whether to be as grave as he was grave, or to release the exploding exuberance she felt at his question and her victory and to make him smile. \"La!\" she said brightly, teasing him, fanning herself with a handkerchief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, I will marry you, Monsieur Struan, but only if you...\" A hesitation and she added in a rush, \"Only if you get better quickly, obey me implacable, cherish me hugely, love me to distraction, build us a castle on the Peak in Hong Kong, a palace on the Champs-Elysées, fit out a clipper ship as a bridal bed, a nursery in gold, and find us a country estate of a million hectares!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be serious. Angelique, listen to me, I'm serious!\"\n\nOh, but I am, she thought, delighted that he was smiling now. A gentle kiss but this time on the lips, full of promise. \"There, Monsieur, now don't taunt this defenseless young lady.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not taunting you, I swear to God. Will-you-marry-me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Strong words but he did not have the strength to sit up yet or reach out to bring her closer. \"Please.\"\n\nHer eyes still teased. \"Perhaps, when you're better—and only if you obey me implacable, cherish me—\"\n\n\"Implacably, if that's the word you want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah, yes, pardon. Implacably... etceteras.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again the lovely smile. \"Perhaps yes, Monsieur Struan, but first we must get to know each other, then we must agree to an engagement, and then, Monsieur le tai-pan de la Noble Maison, who knows?\"\n\nJoy possessed all of him. \"Then it's yes?\"\n\nHer eyes watched him, making him wait." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With all the tenderness she could muster, she said, \"I will consider it seriously—but first you must promise to get well quickly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will, I swear it.\"\n\nAgain she dried her eyes. \"Now, Malcolm, please read your mother's letter, and I'll sit with you.\"\n\nHis heart was beating strongly and the elation he felt took away the pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But his fingers were not so obedient and he had trouble breaking the seal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here, Angel, read it to me, will you please?\"\n\nAt once she broke the seal and scanned the singular writing that was on the single page. \"'My beloved son,'\" she read aloud. \"'With great sadness I must tell you your father is dead and now our future rests with you. He died in his sleep, poor man, the funeral will be in three days, the dead must cherish the dead and we, the living, must continue the struggle while we have life. Your father's Will confirms you as heir, and tai-pan, but to be legal the succession has to be done with a ceremony witnessed by me and Compradore Chen in accordance with your beloved grandfather's Legacy. Settle our Japanese interests as we discussed and return as quickly as you can. Yr devoted Mother.'\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tears filled her eyes again because of a sudden fantasy that she was the mother writing to her son." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's all? No postscript?\"\n\n\"No, chéri, nothing more, just 'your devoted mother.' How brave of her. Would that I could be so brave.\"\n\nOblivious to everything except the portent of these happenings, she gave him the letter and went to the window that looked out onto the harbor and, drying her eyes, opened it. The air was fresh and took away the sickroom smell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "What to do now?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Help him to hurry back to Hong Kong away from this foul place. Wait... will his mother favor our marriage? I don't know. Would I if I was her? I know she didn't like me, the few times we met, so tall and distant, though Malcolm said she was that way with everyone outside family." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Wait till you get to know her, Angelique, she's so wonderful and strong...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind her the door opened and Ah Tok came in without knocking, a small tea tray in one hand. \"Neh hoh mah, Mass'er,\" good day, she said with a beam, showing the two gold teeth of which she was very proud. \"Mass'er slepp good, heya?\"\n\nIn fluent Cantonese, Malcolm said, \"Stop speaking gibberish.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ayeeyah!\" Ah Tok was Struan's personal amah who had looked after him since he was born and a law unto herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She hardly acknowledged Angelique, her concentration on Struan. Stout, strong and fifty-six, wearing the traditional white smock and black trousers, the long queue hanging down her back signified that she had chosen amah as her profession and had therefore sworn to remain chaste all her life and so never to have children of her own that might divert her loyalty. Two Cantonese manservants followed with hot towels and water to bathe him. Loudly, she ordered them to close the door. \"Mass'er bar'f, heya?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said pointedly to Angelique." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will come back later, chéri,\" the girl said. Struan did not answer, just nodded and smiled back then stared again at the letter, lost in thought. She left her door ajar. Ah Tok grunted disapprovingly, shut it firmly, told the other two to hurry up with his bed bath, and handed him the tea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you, Mother,\" he said in Cantonese, using the customary honorific for such a special person who had cherished and carried and guarded him when defenseless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bad news, my son,\" Ah Tok said—the tidings had rushed through the Chinese community.\n\n\"Bad news.\" He sipped the tea. It tasted very good.\n\n\"After you have bathed you will feel better and then we can talk. Your Honorable Father was overdue his appointment with the gods. He's there now and you are tai-pan, so the bad has become good. Later this morning I'll bring some extra-special tea I've bought for you that will cure all your ills.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You owe me a tael of silver for the medicine.\"\n\n\"A fiftieth part.\"\n\n\"Ayeeyah, at least half.\"\n\n\"Ayeeyah, a twentieth part, Mother.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With hardly any thought he bargained automatically, but not unkindly, \"And if you argue I'll remind you you owe me six months' wages paid in advance for your grandmother's funeral—her second.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the servants chortled behind her but she feigned not to notice. \"If you say so, Tai-pan.\" She used the title delicately, the first time she had ever said it to him, watching him, missing nothing, then snapped at the two men sponging and cleaning him carefully and efficiently: \"Hurry up with your work. Does my son, the tai-pan, have to endure your clumsy ministrations all day?\"\n\n\"Ayeeyah,\" one of them unwisely muttered back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Take care, you motherless fornicator,\" she said sweetly in a dialect Struan did not understand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just get on with it and if you nick my son while shaving I'll put the Evil Eye on you. Treat my son like Imperial jade or your fruit will be pulverized—and don't listen to your betters!\"\n\n\"Betters? Ayeeyah, old woman, you come from Ning Tok, a turtle-dung village famous only for farts.\"\n\n\"A tael of silver says this civilized person can whip you five out of seven times at mahjong this evening.\"\n\n\"Done!\" the man said truculently even though Ah Tok was an accomplished player." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's all that about?\" Struan said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Servants' talk, nothing important, my son.\"\n\nWhen they had finished they gave him a fresh, crisp night shirt. \"Thank you,\" Struan said to them, greatly refreshed. They bowed politely and were gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah Tok, bolt her door, quietly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She obeyed. Her sharp ears heard the rustle of skirts in the adjoining room and she resolved to increase her vigilance. Nosey, foreign devil toad belly whore with her Jade Gate so hungry for the Master a civilized person can almost hear it salivating...\n\n\"Light the candle for me, please.\"\n\n\"Eh? Are your eyes hurting you, my son?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, nothing like that. There are safety matches in the bureau.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Safety matches, the recent Swedish patent, were usually kept locked away as they were highly sought after, therefore had a ready sale and therefore had a habit of disappearing. Petty theft was endemic in Asia. Uneasily she used one, not understanding why they would not light unless the side of their special box was struck. He had explained why but she only muttered about more foreign devil magic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where do you want the candle, my son?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pointed at the bedside table within easy reach. \"Here. Now leave me for a little while.\"\n\n\"But, ayeeyah, we should talk, there is much to plan.\"\n\n\"I know. Just wait outside the door and keep everyone away until I call.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Grumbling, she walked out." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So much talk and bad news had exhausted him. Nonetheless, painfully he balanced the candle on the side of the bed, then lay back a moment.\n\nFour years ago on his sixteenth birthday his mother had taken him to the Peak to speak privately: \"Now you are old enough to learn some secrets of the Noble House. There will always be secrets. Some your father and I keep from you until you become tai-pan. Some I keep from him, and some from you. Some I will now share with you and not with him, or your brothers and sisters. Under no circumstances are these secrets to be shared with anyone. Anyone. You promise before God.\"\n\n\"Yes, Mother, I swear it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"First: perhaps one day we may need to give each other personal or dangerous information in a private letter—never forget, anything in writing may be read by alien eyes. Whenever I write to you I will always add, p.s. I love you. You will do the same, always, without fail. But if there is no p.s. I love you, then the letter contains important and secret information, from me to you or you to me only. Watch!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shielding the paper she had prepared, she lit some safety matches and held them under the paper, not to fire it but to almost scorch it, line by line. Miraculously, the hidden message appeared: Happy Birthday, under your pillow there's a sight draft for ten thousand pounds. Keep it secretly, spend it wisely.\n\n\"Oh, Mother, there is? There really is, ten thousand?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ayeeyah! But how do you do it? The writing?\"\n\n\"Take a clean quill or pen and write your message carefully in a liquid I will give you, or milk, and let it dry. When you heat the paper as I did, the writing will appear.\" She used another match and gravely lit a corner of the paper. In silence they watched it burn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She ground the ashes to dust under her tiny high-booted foot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When you're tai-pan, trust no one,\" adding strangely, \"even me.\"\n\nNow Struan held her sad letter over the candle's flame. The words came into view, no mistaking her handwriting:\n\nSorry to tell your father died raving, besotted with whisky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He must have bribed a servant to sneak it in again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Much more to tell in person. Thank God he's out of his misery but it was the Brocks, my cursed father and my brother Morgan, who give us no peace and caused his strokes—the final one came just after you left when we discovered details, too late, of their secret Hawaiian coup against us. Jamie has a few details.\n\nFor a moment he stopped reading, sick with rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Soon there'll be a reckoning, he promised himself, then read on:" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beware of our friend Dmitri Syborodin. We discover he's a secret agent for that revolutionary, President Lincoln, not the South as he pretends. Beware of Angelique Richaud...\n\nHis heart twisted with sudden fright: Our Paris agents write that her uncle Michel Richaud went bankrupt shortly after she left and is now in Debtors' Prison." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More facts: her father keeps very poor company, has very substantial gambling debts, and secretly boasts to intimates he'll soon represent all our French interests—received your letter of the 4th recommending this, presume at her instigation—he won't, he's insolvent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another of his \"secrets\": you'll be his son-in-law within a year. Of course, ridiculous, you are far too young for marriage, and I could not conceive of a worse connection. Singly or together they are out to snare you, my son. Be circumspect and beware of feminine guile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the first time in his life he was furious with his mother." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shakily, he shoved the paper into the flame, held it while it burned then pulverized the ash to nothingness, smashed the flame out and sent the candle skittering and lay back nauseated, heart pounding, all the time his mind shouting: How dare she investigate Angelique and her family without asking me! How dare she be so wrong! Whatever sins they committed Angelique is not to blame. Mother of all people should know the sins of the fathers are not to be blamed on the children!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wasn't my beloved grandfather much worse, wasn't he a killer and not much more than a pirate, as her father still is?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She's a bloody hypocrite! It's none of her business who I marry. It's my life and if I want to marry Angelique next year I will. Mother knows nothing about Angelique—and when she knows the truth she'll love her as I do—or else, by God! she...\n\n\"Oh, Christ,\" he gasped as pain ripped him apart." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around four sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Try to mimic the style of James Clavell.Produce four sentences using the prose and structure of James Clavell every time its your turn using what the user wrote as a seed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay looked up from the piles of letters, documents and journals littering his desk." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How is he?\" he asked anxiously as Dr. Babcott came in and closed the door. The office was spacious, facing the High Street and the sea.\n\n\"It was a stomach seizure of some kind, Jamie. To be expected, I'm afraid, poor chap. I dressed his wound—he'd torn a few stitches. I gave him a draft of laudanum.\" Babcott rubbed his eyes, red-rimmed with fatigue, his frock coat heavy and frayed at the sleeves and stained, here and there, with chemicals and dried blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Not much more I can do for him at the moment. What's the latest from the fleet?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Status quo: the fleet's at action stations, Legation's still surrounded, the Bakufu are supposed to appear soon.\"\n\n\"What happens if they don't?\"\n\nMcFay shrugged. \"I've had orders to get Malcolm back to Hong Kong as soon as possible—very important for him. I can get him on the mail sh—\"\n\n\"I absolutely forbid it,\" Babcott said, with more anger than he intended." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That would be stupid and highly dangerous, highly dangerous. If they got into a storm, which is likely this time of the year... well, severe and prolonged vomiting would tear the repairs apart—which would kill him. No!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then when will it be safe?\"\n\nThe doctor glanced out of the windows. Whitecaps out past the headland, none in the bay. Sky overcast. He weighed his helplessness against his knowledge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"At least a week, perhaps a month. God knows, Jamie, I don't.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you were to go on the mail ship, would that help?\"\n\n\"For Christ's sake, no! Didn't you hear me clearly? No. No! He's not to move. Nine days on a ship would kill him.\"\n\nMcFay's face closed. \"What are Malcolm's chances? Really. It's very important I know.\"\n\n\"Still good. His temperature's more or less normal and there's no sign of any festering.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Babcott rubbed his eyes again and yawned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you. Been up since midnight patching the results of a sailor-versus-soldier Drunk Town brawl, and a dawn emergency in the Yoshiwara, had to sew up a young woman who tried to cut herself into the next world.\" He sighed. \"It would help to keep him as calm as possible. I'd say his bad news probably brought on the attack.\"\n\nThe knowledge and implications of Culum Struan's death and therefore Malcolm's new status as tai-pan—of vital and immediate concern to all their rivals—had rushed through the Settlement. In Brock's, Norbert Greyforth had interrupted a meeting to open the first bottle of champagne from the case he had had kept chilled against this day for many weeks–chilled in their new, and highly profitable, ice house next door to their godown." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Best news we've had in years,\" he chortled to Dmitri, \"and I've another twenty cases for the party I'm throwing tonight. A toast, Dmitri!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He raised his cut glass, the best Venetian that money could buy. \"Here's to the tai-pan of the Noble House: out with the Old, out with the New, by God, and may they be bankrupt within the year!\"\n\n\"I'll drink with you, Norbert, but to the success of the new tai-pan, none of the rest,\" Dmitri said.\n\n\"Open your eyes to reality. They're the old, we're the new—once they had guts when Dirk Struan was alive but now they're weak, McFay's weak–why, with his enthusiastic help and a little persuasion on the night of Canterbury's murder we could have roused the whole Settlement, the fleet, the Army, we'd have captured this bugger Satsuma king, hanged him, and be living happily ever after.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I agree. John Canterbury's going to be revenged, one way or another. Poor bastard,\" Dmitri said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know he left me his business?\" Canterbury's was one of the smaller trading houses, specializing in the export of silk cloth, and particularly cocoons and silkworm eggs, a highly lucrative trade to France where the silk industry, once the best in the world, had been decimated by disease. \"John always said he would but I never believed him. I'm his Executor too—Wee Willie gave me the deed before he left.\"\n\n\"Samurai are all bastards, no reason to murder him like that. What about his musume? Old John was besotted with her. She's carrying, isn't she?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, that was a rumor. In his will he asked me to take care of her, give her money to buy her own shack. I went to see her but her mama-san, Raiko, that old bat, she told me the girl had gone back to her village but she'd send on any money. I paid over what John had said, so that was that.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thoughtfully Norbert finished his wine and poured more and felt better. \"You should take care of yourself too,\" he said, keeping his voice down, judging the time ripe. \"You've the future to think of, not a few rolls of cloth and worm eggs. Consider the Great Game, the American game. With our contacts we can buy any amount of British, French or Prussian armaments—we've just signed an exclusive deal to represent Krupp's in the Far East—at better prices than Struan's can give you, have them delivered in Hawaii for transshipment to... to wherever, no questions asked.\"\n\n\"I'll drink to that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Whatever you want, we can get cheaper and faster.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Norbert refilled their glasses. \"I like Dom Pérignon, it's better than Tatt—that old monk knew about color and sugar, and the lack of it. Like Hawaiian sugar,\" he added delicately, \"I hear it's going to be so pricey this year to be almost a national treasure, for North or South.\"\n\nDmitri's glass stopped in midair. \"Meaning?\"\n\n\"Meaning, just between us, Brock and Sons have the lock on this year's crop, meaning that Struan's won't have so much as a hundred-pound sack, so your deal with them won't happen.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Hey can you write like James Clavell and use whatever i write as a jumping off point?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Throughout Yokohama other toasts were being quaffed at the rare tidings of Culum's death and the succession of a new tai-pan, and in boardrooms throughout the Far East, and elsewhere, that traded with Asia. Some toasts were celebratory, some vindictive, some toasted the succession, some cursed all Struan bones to the devil, some prayed for their success, but all men of business considered how the news would affect them, for, like it or not, Struan's was the Noble House.\n\nIn the French Legation Angelique clinked glasses, sipped the champagne warily, her glass cheap and barely adequate, like the wine. \"Yes, I agree, Monsieur Vervene.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pierre Vervene was the Chargé d'Affaires, a tired, balding man in his forties." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The first toast requires a second, Mademoiselle,\" he said, raising his glass again, towering over her, \"not only prosperity and long life to the new tai-pan, but to the tai-pan—your future husband.\"\n\n\"La, Monsieur!\" She put down her glass, pretending to be cross. \"I told you that in confidence because I'm so happy, so proud, but it must not be mentioned out loud, until he, Monsieur Struan, makes it public. You must promise me.\"\n\n\"Of course, of course.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Vervene's tone was reassuring but he had already mentally drafted the dispatch he would rush to Seratard aboard their flagship at Yedo the moment she left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clearly there were innumerable political ramifications and opportunities that such a liaison would create for France and French interests. My God, he was thinking, if we're clever—and we are—we can control the Noble House through this young strumpet with nothing to recommend her except a fairly pretty face, delectable breasts, an overripe maidenhead and buttocks that promise her husband a wanton vigor for a month or two. How the devil did she snare him—if what she says is really true. If it is...\n\nMerde, the poor man must be insane to settle for this baggage, with no dowry and disreputable lineage, to be the mother of his children!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "What incredible luck for that odious swine, Richaud, now he'll be able to redeem his paper." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My sincerest congratulations, Mademoiselle.\"\n\nHis door swung open and the Legation's Number One Boy, an elderly, rotund Chinese dressed in linen coat, black trousers and black skullcap and laden with mail, barged in. \"Heya, Mass'er, all same mailah, never mind!\" He plonked the letters and packages on the ornate desk, gawked at the girl, and belched as he left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My God, these foul-mannered people are enough to drive one mad! A thousand times I've told that cretin to knock first! Excuse me a moment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quickly Vervene leafed through the letters. Two from his wife, one from his mistress, all postmarked two and a half months ago: Both asking for money, I'll wager, he thought sourly. \"Ah, four letters for you, Mademoiselle.\" Many nationals sent their mail in care of their nearest Legation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Three from Paris and one from Hong Kong.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh! Oh, thank you!\" She brightened seeing that two were from Colette, one from her aunt, the last from her father. \"We're such a long way from home, no?\"\n\n\"Paris is the world, yes; yes, it is. Well, I expect you'll want some privacy, you can use the room across the hall. If you'll excuse me...\" Vervene motioned at his heaped desk, his smile self-deprecating. \"Affairs of State.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course, thank you. And thank you for your good wishes, but please, not a word...\" She swept out graciously, knowing that within hours her marvelous secret would be common knowledge, whispered from ear to ear." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is that wise? I think so. Malcolm did ask me, didn't he?\n\nVervene opened his letters, scanned them, quickly saw they both asked for money but no other bad news, at once put them aside to read and enjoy later and began the dispatch for Seratard—with a secret copy for André Poncin—delighted to be the bearer of good tidings. \"Wait a moment,\" he muttered, \"perhaps it's like-father-like-daughter and just the usual exaggeration! Safer to report it as a few minutes ago Mademoiselle Angelique whispered in confidence that... then the Minister can make up his own mind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Across the hall, in a pleasant antechamber that faced the small garden off the High Street, she had settled herself expectantly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Colette's first letter gave her happy news of Paris and fashion and affairs and their mutual friends so delightfully that she raced through it, knowing she would reread it many times, particularly tonight in the comfort of her bed when she could savor everything. She had known and loved Colette most of her life—at the convent they had been inseparable, sharing hopes and dreams and intimacies.\n\nThe second letter gave more exuberant news, ending about her marriage—Colette was her own age, eighteen, already married a year with one son: I am pregnant again, dearest Angelique, my husband is delighted but I am a little fretful. As you know the first was not easy though the Doctor assures me I will be strong enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When will you return? I cannot wait..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Angelique took a deep breath and looked out of the window and waited until the twinge had passed. You must not leave yourself open, she repeated to herself, near tears. Even with Colette. Be strong, Angelique. Be careful. Your life has changed, everything changed—yes, but only for a little while." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Do not be caught unawares." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again a deep breath. The next letter shocked her. Aunt Emma wrote the awful news of her husband's fall and: now we are destitute and my poor poor Michel languishes in Debtors' Prison with no help in sight! We've nowhere to turn, no money." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It's terrible, my child, a nightmare..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Poor darling Uncle Michel, she thought, weeping silently, a shame he was such a bad manager. \"Never mind, dear darling Aunt-Mama,\" she said aloud, filled with a sudden joy. \"Now I can repay all your kindnesses, I'll ask Malcolm to help, he'll certainly...\"\n\nWait! Would that be wise?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "While she pondered that she opened her father's letter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To her surprise the envelope contained only a letter, without the expected sight draft she had asked for, on money brought with her from Paris and deposited in the Victoria Bank, money that her uncle had generously advanced to her—on the solemn promise that she must not tell his wife and that her father would instantly repay the loan the moment she reached Hong Kong, which he told her he had done.\n\nHong Kong, September 10. Hello, my little cabbage, I hope that all is well and your Malcolm idolizes you as I do, as the whole of Hong Kong does. It's rumored his father is at death's door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I will keep you advised." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meanwhile I write in haste as I leave for Macao on the tide. There's a wonderful business opportunity there, so good that I have temporarily pledged the money instruments you left in safekeeping and will invest for you as an equal partner. By the next post I will be able to send you ten times what you wanted and tell you the wonderful profit we have made—after all, we have to think of your dowry, without which... eh?\n\nHer eyes could not read on, her brain in turmoil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oh my God! What business opportunity?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is he gambling all that I have in the world?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was nearly two o'clock and McFay was weary, his stomach empty, his mind filled with gloom. He had written a dozen letters, signed half a hundred chits, paid dozens of bills, checked the previous day's books, which showed trading was down, found that all goods ordered from America were either cancelled, held up or offered at increased prices, all business with Canada and Europe equally affected in some degree by the American civil war. No good news either in any dispatches from Hong Kong—a lot of bad from their branch in Shanghai, though Albert MacStruan, the power there, was doing a sterling job. My God, he thought, it'd be a catastrophe if we have to evacuate Shanghai, with all our investments there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The city was again in turmoil and the three foreign concessions under British, French and American control beset with rumors that armies of rebel irregulars of the immense Tai'ping Rebellion, based in and around Nanking—a major city southwards they had captured nine years ago and used as a capital—were again on the move." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The clipping from the Shanghai Observer read:\n\nTwo years ago when our valiant force of British and French troops, ably assisted by the local mercenary army, organized and paid for by our merchant princes, both European and Chinese, under the command of the gallant American soldier of fortune, Frederick Townsend Ward, drove off the rebels for a thirty-mile radius, we all presumed the threat was put away forever.\n\nNow eyewitnesses report an irresistible army of half a million rebels, with some European officers, have massed to come against us, and another half million will again stab north for Peking. Their opposing Manchu armies are unreliable and helpless, their Chinese levies mutinous, so this time we will not survive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is hoped that Her Majesty's Government will prevail on the Manchu authorities to appoint Captain Charles Gordon to command of Mr. Ward's force, grievously wounded in action, and to the position of overall command of Manchu training." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Your correspondent believes this will be, as usual, too little too late.\n\nWe need a fully equipped British Army stationed in China, permanently—nervousness in India over the recent, dreadful Indian Mutiny of native sepoys notwithstanding. Business continues to be disastrous with the price of silk and tea at an all-time high. Famine conditions exist in most areas within five hundred miles..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "More depressing news from home." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Monumental rains had washed out the harvest and famine was expected in Ireland and other areas—though not like the Great Potato Famine when hundreds of thousands died. Vast unemployment in Scotland. Destitution in Lancashire with most cotton spinning mills silent, including three owned by Struan's, because of the Union embargo on Southern cotton and blockade of all Southern ports. With Southern cotton England had supplied cloth to the world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A Struan clipper ship crammed with teas, silks and lacquer inbound London had been lost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the stock market Struan's was down badly, Brock's up with the successful arrival of the first of the season's teas.\n\nAnother letter from his fiancée of five years, Maureen Ross, more bad:... when am I to arrive? Have you sent the ticket? You promised this Christmas would be the last to be apart..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It can't be this Christmas, lassie,\" he murmured with a scowl, much as he liked her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can't afford it yet, and this isn't the place for a young lady.\"\n\nHow many times had he written and told her, knowing that really Maureen and her parents wanted him to work for Struan's in England or Scotland or better still to leave \"that infamous company and work at home like a normal man,\" knowing that really he wanted her to break off the engagement and to forget him, knowing that most British wives soon hated Asia, loathed Asians, abominated the Pleasure Girls, raged against their ready access, despised the food, moaned for \"home\" and family, making their husbands' lives a permanent misery.\n\nKnowing, too, that he enjoyed Asia, loved his work, adored the freedom, treasured their Yoshiwara and would never happily go home. Well, he thought, not until I retire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The only good in the mail were the books from Hatchard's in Piccadilly: a new illustrated edition of Darwin's explosive On the Origin of Species, some Tennyson poems, a newly translated pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels called The Communist Manifesto, five copies of Punch, but most important of all another edition of All the Year Round." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was the weekly started by Charles Dickens, and contained the fourteenth installment of Great Expectations—to be published in twenty parts.\n\nIn spite of all that he had to do, McFay, like everyone else who had received a copy, locked the door and consumed the installment rapaciously. When he read the last line, \"to be continued next week,\" he sighed. \"What the devil will Miss Havisham do next, evil old bitch? Reminds me of Maureen's mother. Hope to God it all works out for Pip. Somehow or other it has to! Hope to God good old Dickens gives us a happy ending...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment he was bemused, lost in admiration of the man and his marvelous range of stories, from Oliver Twist more than twenty years ago, through Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield and a dozen others to the riveting Tale of Two Cities." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dickens is the greatest writer in the world, no doubt about it.\n\nHe got up and stood at the window, watching the sea and sending good thoughts to the fleet at Yedo and to the mail ship that need not now be diverted but would continue on her regular route to Shanghai instead of direct to Hong Kong with Malcolm Struan, worrying about him and the future that somehow quickly became mixed up with Pip and Miss Havisham, wondering how Pip would extract himself from the mess he was in and would the girl fall in love with him. Hope so, poor lass. What about my lassie, Maureen?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "It's time I had a family..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A knock. \"Mr. McFay. May I see you a moment?\" It was Piero Vargas, his assistant.\n\n\"Just a moment.\" Feeling a little guilty he put the copy under the pile, stretched and opened the door.\n\nPiero Vargas was a handsome, middle-aged Eurasian from Macao, the tiny Portuguese enclave, forty-odd miles west of Hong Kong, set like a pimple on a slip of Mainland China and occupied since 1552." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unlike the British, the Portuguese considered Macao equal to the mother country and not a colony, encouraged their settlers to intermarry with Chinese, and accepted Eurasian offspring as nationals, allowing them permanent access to Portugal." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "British intermarriage was greatly discouraged, though many had families. Their offspring, however, were not accepted in Society. By custom those born in Shanghai took their father's name, in Hong Kong their mother's.\n\nEver since the British came to China, they had contentedly employed the brightest Macaoans as shroffs—money changers—and compradores, who, of necessity, spoke English as well as dialects of Chinese." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Except the Noble House." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Their compradore was the enormously wealthy Gordon Chen, the illegitimate son of their founder, Dirk Struan, by one of his many mistresses, though not the last, the fabled May-may.\n\n\"Yes, Piero?\"\n\n\"Sorry to interrupt, senhor,\" Piero said, his English liquid and sweet-sounding. \"Kinu-san, our silk supplier, asks for a personal interview with you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh, why?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, it's not really for him but for two buyers who arrived with him. From Choshu.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" McFay's interest picked up. Almost two years of tentative probes from the daimyo of Choshu, the fief far to the west on the Straits of Shimonoseki, had produced some very important business last year, authorized by the Head Office in Hong Kong and arranged by them: a 200-ton paddle steamer with a very private cargo—cannon, shot and ammunition. Paid for promptly in gold and silver, half in advance, half on delivery." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Bring them in. Wait, better I see them in the main reception room.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sí, senhor.\"\n\n\"Is one of them the same fellow as last time?\"\n\n\"Senhor?\"\n\n\"The young samurai who spoke a little English?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I did not take part in the discussion, senhor, I was on leave in Portugal.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, yes, now I remember.\"\n\nThe reception room was big, with seating for forty-two at the oak table. Matching sideboards and tallboys for silver plate and glass fronted display cases, gleaming and well kept, some with arms. He opened one of them, took out a belt and holstered pistol attached." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He buckled the belt around his waist, making sure the pistol was loaded and loose in the holster." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was always his custom when meeting samurai to be as armed as they were. \"A matter of face,\" he told his subordinates, \"as well as safety.\" As a further prop he leaned the Spencer rifle against a chair, and stood by the window, facing the door.\n\nVargas came back with three men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One was middle-aged, fat, unctuous and swordless, Kinu, their silk supplier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other two were samurai, one young the other in his forties though it was difficult to tell. Both short, spare, hard-faced and armed, as usual.\n\nThey bowed politely. McFay noted that both men had instantly seen the breechloader. He returned the bow in kind. \"Ohayo,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good morning." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, \"Dozo\"—please—indicating the chairs opposite him, a safe distance away.\n\n\"Goo'd morning,\" the younger said without a smile.\n\n\"Ah, you speak English? Excellent. Please sit down.\"\n\n\"Speak 'ritt're,\" the youth said—the l's sounding like r's because there was no \"l\" sound in Japanese, v's being equally awkward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment he spoke to Vargas in Fukenese, their common Chinese dialect, then the two men introduced themselves, adding they had been sent by Lord Ogama of Choshu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am Jamie McFay, chief of Struan and Company in Nippon, and am honored to see you.\" Again Vargas translated. Patiently Jamie went through the obligatory fifteen minutes of enquiries after their daimyo's health, their own health, his health and that of the Queen, the outlook in Choshu, in England, nothing particular, everything bland. Tea was served and admired. At length the young man came to the point." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With great care Vargas kept the excitement out of his own voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They want to buy a thousand breechloaders with a thousand bronze cartridges per gun. We are to name a fair price and deliver within three months. If within two months, they will pay a bonus—twenty percent.\"\n\nOutwardly, McFay was equally calm. \"Is that all they wish to buy at the moment?\"\n\nVargas asked them. \"Yes, senhor, but they require a thousand rounds per rifle. And a steamship of small size.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay was counting the huge potential profit, but more so he was remembering his conversation with Greyforth, and the well-known hostility of the Admiral and General, supported by Sir William, to any sale of any armaments." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Remembering the various murders. And Canterbury hacked to pieces. And that he himself did not approve of the sale of armaments, not until it was safe. Would it ever be safe with such a warlike people?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Please tell them I can give them an answer in three weeks.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw the pleasant smile vanish from the younger man's face.\n\n\"Answer... now. No three week.\"\n\n\"Not have guns here,\" McFay said slowly, directly to him. \"Must write Hong Kong, Head Office, nine days there, nine days back. Some breechloaders there. All rest in America. Four or five months minimum.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No unner'stand.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vargas interpreted. Then there was a conversation between the two samurai, the merchant answering their questions with fervent humility. More questions to Vargas, politely responded to. \"He says very well, he or a Choshu official will return in twenty-nine days. This transaction is to be secret.\"\n\n\"Of course.\" McFay looked at the youth. \"Secret.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hai! Sek'ret.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ask him how the other samurai, Saito, is.\" He saw them frown, but could read nothing from their faces.\n\n\"They don't know him personally, Senhor.\"\n\nMore bows and then Jamie was alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lost in thought, he put the gun belt back into the case." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If I don't sell them the guns, Norbert will—whatever the morality.\n\nVargas returned, very pleased. \"An excellent possibility, senhor, but a big responsibility.\"\n\n\"Yes. I wonder what Head Office will say this time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Easy to find out, senhor, quickly. You don't have to wait eighteen days, isn't Head Office upstairs?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "McFay stared at him. \"I'll be damned, I'd forgotten! Difficult to think of young Malcolm as tai-pan, our ultimate decider. You're right.\"\n\nRunning feet approached, the door opened. \"Sorry to butt in,\" Nettlesmith said, puffing from his exertion, his grubby top hat askew." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Greatly perturbed, the Admiral again trained his binoculars on the Legation flagpole, the other men on the quarterdeck, his Captains from the rest of the fleet, Marlowe, the General, French Admiral, and von Heimrich equally concerned, Seratard and André Poncin pretending to be. When the lookout had given the alarm half an hour ago, they had all hurried on deck from the lunch table. Except the Russian Minister: \"If you want to wait in the cold, very well, damned if I am. When word comes from the shore, yes, no or war, please wake me. If you start shelling I'll join you...\"\n\nMarlowe was watching the roll over the Admiral's collar, despising him, wishing he were ashore with Tyrer, or aboard his own ship, the Pearl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At noon the Admiral had replaced the temporary captain with a stranger, a Lieutenant Dornfild, disregarding his advice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bloody old bastard, look at the way he fiddles so bloody pompously with his binoculars—\n\nwe all know they are highly expensive and issued to Flag Rank only. Bloody old—\n\n\"Marlowe!\"\n\n\"Yessir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'd better find out what the devil's going on. You go ashore... no, I need you here! Thomas, would you please be good enough to send an officer to the Legation? Marlowe, detail a signalman to go with the detachment.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once the General jerked his thumb at his aide who hurried off, closely followed by Marlowe. Seratard pulled his heavy great coat closer against the chill of the wind. \"I'm afraid Sir William has boxed himself in.\"\n\n\"I remember you giving your opinion this morning,\" the Admiral said curtly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The meeting he had called with the Ministers had been noisy and had brought forth no solution, except Count Zergeyev's: immediate and massive force." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Which, my dear Count,\" he had pointed out sourly at once, \"we don't have now if it's necessary to follow up a simple bombardment to seize the city and surrounds.\"\n\nKetterer pursed his lips and glared at Seratard, the dislike mutual. \"I'm sure Sir William will find an answer, but I tell you frankly, by God, if I see our colors struck, Yedo goes up in smoke!\"\n\n\"I agree,\" Seratard said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A matter of national honor!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Von Heimrich's face hardened. \"Japanners are not stupid—like some people. I cannot believe they will disregard the force we have now.\"\n\nThe wind picked up suddenly, crackling some of the spars aloft, sea greyer, clouds greying. All eyes went to a black squall line on the eastern horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The squall was heading shorewards, threatening their exposed anchorage." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Marlowe, send a... Marlowe!\" the Admiral bellowed.\n\n\"Yessir?\" Marlowe came running.\n\n\"For God's sake, stay within hailing distance! Signal all ships: 'Prepare to stand out to sea. Should conditions deteriorate rapidly, on my command take individual action and rejoin at Kanagawa as soon as conditions permit.' You Captains get back to your ships while you've the weather.\" They rushed off, glad to be away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I will get back to my ship too,\" the French Admiral said. \"Bonjour, messieurs.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll come with you, Monsieur Admiral,\" Seratard said. \"Thank you for your hospitality, Admiral Ketterer.\"\n\n\"What about Count Alexi? He came with you, didn't he?\"\n\n\"Let him sleep. Better for the Russian bear to sleep, n'est-ce pas?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point, and You'll continue with 4 sentences in the style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the Legation audience room Sir William, flanked by a Scots officer, Phillip Tyrer and guards sat coldly facing three Japanese officials who were leisurely seating themselves, their guards behind them: the grey-haired Elder, Adachi, daimyo of Mito, the mock samurai, Misamoto the fisherman, and last, a short, big-bellied, Bakufu official, secretly fluent in Dutch, whose covert assignment was to report in private to Yoshi on the meeting and the behavior of the other two. As usual, none had used their correct names.\n\nFive palanquins had arrived yesterday, with the same ceremony though an increased number of guards. Only three were occupied, which Sir William had found curiously disturbing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This, added to heightened samurai activity during the night around the temple and Legation, prompted him to send a partial alarm signal to the fleet by half-masting the pennant that he hoped Ketterer would understand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Outside in the forecourt, Hiraga, again disguised as a gardener, had been equally perturbed—even more so that Toranaga Yoshi was not amongst the officials. This meant the attack plan so carefully poised to ambush Yoshi near the castle gates on his return had to be called off. At once he had tried to melt away, but samurai irritably ordered him back to work. Seething, he obeyed, waiting his chance to escape." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're two and a half hours late,\" Sir William said icily as an opening salvo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"In civilized countries diplomatic meetings are on time, not late!\"\n\nImmediate and flowery apologies of no consequence. Then the usual obligatory introductions and sugary compliments and aggravating politenesses, and over an hour of back and forth, of demands calmly deflected, ponderous arguments, delays requested, astonishment where none was merited, questions needing to be repeated, facts dismissed, the truth disregarded—alibis, explanations, rationalizations, excuses, all courteously delivered.\n\nSir William was about to explode when, with great formality, the Elder, Adachi, produced a sealed scroll, handed it to their interpreter who handed it to Johann." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Johann's own weariness dropped away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gott im Himmel! It's under the seal of the roju.\"\n\n\"Eh?\"\n\n\"The Council of Elders. I'd recognize the seal anywhere—it's the same as Ambassador Harris got. You better accept it, formally, Sir William, then I'll read it aloud if it's in Dutch, which I doubt.\" He stifled a nervous yawn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Probably just another delaying tactic.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William did as Johann suggested, hating to be so confined and having to rely on foreign mercenary interpreters.\n\nJohann broke the seal and scanned the document. His astonishment was open: \"It's in Dutch, by God! Skipping all the titles, formal language, etc., it says: The Council of Elders, having received what appears to be a just complaint, apologizes for the dereliction of its subjects and wishes to invite the honored Minister of the British, and other accredited Ministers to meet the Council thirty days from now, in Yedo, when the formal complaint will be presented, the matter discussed, acted upon, and an indemnity for said just complaint agreed. Signed... Nori Anjo, Chief Minister.\"\n\nWith a supreme effort, Sir William kept his erupting relief bottled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This unbelievable reprieve gave him the face-saver he desperately needed, and now if he could finesse them just a little further... To his sudden fury, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tyrer smiling broadly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Without looking at him he hissed, \"Stop smiling, you bloody idiot,\" and in the same breath added harshly, \"Johann, tell them they will have my reply in three days. Meanwhile I want an immediate indemnity, in gold, in three days, for ten thousand pounds sterling for the families of the Sergeant and Corporal murdered in this Legation, last year, and already demanded four times!\"\n\nWhen this was translated, he saw consternation on the face of the elderly man. Another lengthy conversation between him and the Bakufu official.\n\nJohann reported wearily, \"The old fellow dismisses this with their usual: that that 'unfortunate occurrence' was by a Legation staff employee who then committed seppuku—suicide. It's not the Bakufu's fault at all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Equally tiredly, Sir William said, \"Give them back the usual, by God: that they appointed him, they insisted we employ him, so they are responsible—and he only committed suicide because he was badly wounded in the murder attempt on my predecessor and liable for immediate capture!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Trying to push away his tiredness, he watched the two officials talking with their interpreter, and the third man listening as he had done all afternoon. Perhaps he's the one with real power. What happened to the other men from yesterday, particularly the younger man—the one André Poncin accosted as he left. What is that devious bastard Seratard up to?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The freshening wind caught a loose shutter and jolted it against the window." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the sentries leaned over the lintel and hooked it back in place. Not far offshore was the fleet, the ocean a deep grey now and white-capped. Sir William noticed the looming squall line. His anxiety for the ships increased." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Johann said, \"The old fellow asks, will you accept three thousand?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir William's face went red. \"Ten thousand in gold!\"\n\nMore talk, then Johann mopped his brow. \"Mein Gott, ten it is, to be paid in two installments at Yokohama, ten days from now, the balance the day before the Yedo meeting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After a deliberately dramatic pause, Sir William said, \"I will give them my answer in three days if it's acceptable.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Much sucking in of breath, a few more wily attempts to change the three days to thirty, to ten, to eight, all of which were stonewalled and refused. \"Three.\"\n\nPolite bows and the Delegation was gone.\n\nOnce they were alone, Johann beamed. \"That's the first time we made any progress, Sir William, the very first time!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, well, we'll see. Just don't understand them at all. Obviously they were trying to wear us down. But why? What's the good of that? They already had the scroll so why the devil didn't they hand it over in the beginning and have done with all their cursed time wasting? Bunch of bloody idiots! And why send two empty palanquins?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Phillip Tyrer said brightly, \"Seems to me, sir, that's just one of their characteristics. To be devious.\"\n\n\"Yes, well, Tyrer, come with me, please.\" He led the way to his private office and when the door was closed he said angrily, \"Didn't the F.O. teach you anything? Are you totally without brains? Don't you have enough sense to have a poker face at diplomatic meetings? Are your brains addled?\"\n\nTyrer was in shock at the venom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sorry, sir, very sorry, sir, I was just so pleased at your victory I cou—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It wasn't a victory, you idiot! It was just a delay, albeit heaven sent!\" Sir William's relief that the meeting was over and had, against his expectations, achieved much more than he could have wished for, fuelled his irritability. \"Are your ears filled with mildew? Didn't you hear the 'what appears to be a just complaint'—that's the biggest hole they could ever leave, by God! We achieved a delay, that's all, but it happens to suit me perfectly and if the Yedo meeting takes place in thirty days I'll be astounded. The next time don't let your feelings show, for God's sake, and if you ever become an interpreter... you just better learn Japanese quickly or you'll be on the next boat home with a note on your record that will get you a posting to Esquimoland for the rest of your life!\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still steaming, Sir William saw the young man staring at him stoically and wondered what was different about him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he noticed his eyes.\n\nWhere have I seen that look before—the same, almost indefinable strangeness that young Struan also had? Ah yes, of course, now I remember! In the eyes of the young soldiers coming back from the Crimea, the untouched as well as the wounded—allied or enemy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "War had torn the youth out of them, torn out their innocence with such obscene speed that forever after they were changed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And it always shows not in their faces but in their eyes. How many times was I told: before the battle a youth, a few minutes or hours later, an adult—British, Russian, German, French, or Turk the same.\n\nI'm the idiot, not this young chap. I'd forgotten he's hardly twenty-one and in six days he's almost been murdered and been through as violent an experience as any man can have." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Or woman, by Heaven!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That's right, there was the same look in the girl's eyes too. Stupid of me not to realize it. Poor girl, isn't she barely eighteen? Terrible to grow up so fast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I've been so lucky." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, Mr. Tyrer,\" he said gruffly, envying him—that he had come through his baptism of fire bravely, \"I'm sure you'll be all right. These meetings are, well, enough to try the patience of Job, eh? I think a sherry is in order.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiraga had had great difficulty escaping from the garden through the circles of samurai, and sneaking back to the Inn of the Forty-seven Ronin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he reached it, long overdue, he was shocked to discover the assassination party had already left for the ambush.\n\nOri said helplessly, \"One of our people reported that the Delegation had come out of the castle exactly as yesterday, banners as yesterday, that there were five palanquins as yesterday, so we presumed Lord Yoshi would be in one.\"\n\n\"Everyone was supposed to wait.\"\n\n\"They did, Hiraga, but if... if they hadn't left when they did they would never be in place in time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rapidly Hiraga changed into a cheap kimono and collected his weapons." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you see the doctor?\"\n\n\"We, the mama-san and I, we thought it too dangerous today. Tomorrow will be fine.\"\n\n\"I'll see you in Kanagawa then.\"\n\n\"Sonnojoi!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Go to Kanagawa! Here you're a hazard!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hiraga slipped over the fence and went by back alleys and little-used paths and bridges, circling for the castle. This time he was lucky and avoided all patrols.\n\nMost of the daimyo palaces outside the castle walls were deserted. Using cover well, he picked his way from garden to garden until he reached the burnt-out wreckage of what had been the daimyo's palace destroyed during the earthquake three days ago." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As planned, his shishi friends were gathered for the ambush near the broken main gate that fronted the main pathway to the castle gate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were nine of them, not eleven.\n\n\"Eeee, Hiraga, we'd given you up!\" the youngest, the most excited, whispered. \"From here we'll kill him easily.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where are the Mori samurai?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dead.\" His cousin, Akimoto, shrugged. He was the oldest amongst them, a burly twenty-four. \"We came by separate ways but I was near them and the three of us ran into a patrol.\" He beamed. \"I fled one way, they another. I saw one take an arrow and go down. I never knew I could run so fast. Forget them, when will Yoshi pass by?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their disappointment was vast when Hiraga told them their prey was not in the cortege." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then what shall we do?\" a tall, very handsome youth of sixteen asked. \"This ambush is perfect—half a dozen important Bakufu palanquins have gone by with hardly a guard around them.\"\n\n\"This place is too good to risk for no special reason,\" Hiraga said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We'll leave one at a time. Akimoto, you firs—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shishi on guard whistled a warning. Instantly, they went deeper into cover, eyes pressed to openings in the broken fences. An ornate, covered palanquin with eight half-naked bearers and a dozen samurai banner guards was thirty-odd yards away, heading leisurely for the castle gate. No one else was in sight, either way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instant recognition of the emblem: Nori Anjo, head of the Council of Elders. Instant decision, \"Sonnojoi!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Hiraga in the lead they rushed as one man to the attack, slaughtered the front two ranks of guards and hurtled for the palanquin. But in their excitement they had misjudged by a few seconds and that allowed the remaining eight guards, handpicked warriors, to recover. In the frantic melee, the bearers squealed with fright, dropped their poles and fled—those who escaped the first violent onslaught—and this gave Anjo the moment he needed to slide the palanquin's far door open and roll out as Hiraga's sword went through the soft wood to impale the cushion where he had been a second before.\n\nCursing, Hiraga jerked the sword out, whirled in defense as he was menaced from the back, killed the man after a searing clash of swords, then leaped over the poles for Anjo who had scrambled to his feet, his sword out and now covered by three guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind Hiraga, five of his friends were duelling with the other four samurai, one shishi was already dead, one helpless on the ground mortally wounded, and another, screaming with bloodlust, misjudging his adversary, slipped on the body of a sobbing bearer, and took a terrible cut in his side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before his assailant could recover, a shishi slashed at the guard with total ferocity and the samurai's head rolled in the dust.\n\nNow it was seven against six.\n\nAt once Akimoto broke off his fight and rushed to support Hiraga who had hurled himself at Anjo and his three guards and was being overwhelmed. Feinting brilliantly, Hiraga forced one of the guards off balance and impaled him, withdrew and darted to one side to draw off the other two, giving Akimoto the opening he needed to dispatch Anjo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At that moment there was a warning shout." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Twenty castle guards had rounded the corner fifty yards away and were charging to Anjo's support. The barest hesitation from Akimoto gave a guard time to parry the ferocious blow that would have killed Anjo, allowing him to scramble and flee towards the reinforcements. Now the shishi were completely out numbered.\n\nNo way to get Anjo!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "No way to overcome!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Retreat!\" Hiraga shouted, and, again as one man, the maneuver rehearsed many times, Akimoto and the remaining four broke off their duels and charged back through the damaged main gate, Hiraga last—the badly wounded youth, Jozan, hobbling after them. Momentarily the guards were thrown into confusion. Then they collected themselves and, heavily reinforced, hurtled in pursuit while others intercepted Jozan, at bay, sword high, reeling, blood pouring from his side.\n\nAkimoto was leading the pell-mell retreat through the damaged castle, their line of pullback already well reconnoitered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hiraga was rearguard, the enemy gaining on him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He waited until he reached the first barricade where Gota waited in ambush to support him, stopped suddenly and the two of them whirled to counterattack, chopping and hacking viciously, mortally wounding one man, forcing the next to fall and bring down another. Instantly they fled again, leading the enemy deeper into the maze.\n\nAlmost stumbling, they rushed through the next narrow gap in the half-burnt wall where Akimoto and another waited in a second ambush. Without hesitation these two cut down the first of the attackers, screaming \"Sonnojoi\" while the remainder, stunned by the suddenness of the assault, halted to regroup." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When they gave their battle cry and jumped over the body of their comrade through the bottleneck, Akimoto, Hiraga, and the others were nowhere to be seen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once the samurai fanned out and began a meticulous search, the sky filled with nimbus clouds and menacing.\n\nIn front of the burnt-out main gate, Anjo was now surrounded by guards. Five of his men had been killed, two were badly wounded. The two dead shishi had already been beheaded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The young shishi was helpless on the ground, one leg almost severed and he was holding on to it in agony, trying to stick it back together." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jozan was huddled against a wall. Rain began.\n\nThe samurai standing over the youth said again, \"Who are you? What's your name, who sent you, who's your leader?\"\n\n\"I've told you, shishi from Choshu, Toma Hojo! I was leader! No one sent me. Sonnojoi!\"\n\n\"He's lying, Sire,\" a panting officer said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course,\" Anjo said, seething. \"Kill him.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Respectfully request he be allowed to commit seppuku.\" \"Kill him!\"\n\nThe officer, a big, bearlike man, shrugged and went over to the youth. With his back to the Elder, he whispered, \"I have the honor to act as your second. Stretch your neck.\" His sword sang in the air as he dealt the single blow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Formally he lifted the head by its topknot, presenting it to Anjo." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have seen it,\" Anjo said, following correct ritual, at the same time choked with rage that these men had dared to attack him, dared to frighten him half to death—him, Chief of the roju! \"Now that one—he's a liar too, kill him!\"\n\n\"Respectfully request he be allowed to commit seppuku.\"\n\nAnjo was about to rave at him to kill the attempted assassin brutally or commit seppuku himself when he sensed the sudden collective antagonism of the samurai around him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The usual fear permeated him: whom do I trust?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only five of these men were his personal guards.\n\nHe pretended to consider the request. When his fury was contained, he nodded, turned and stomped off towards the castle gates in the increasing rain. His men went with him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The remainder circled Jozan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You can rest a moment, shishi,\" the officer said kindly, wiping the rain from his own face. \"Give him some water.\"\n\n\"Thank you.\" Jozan had prepared for this moment ever since, with Ori and Shorin and others four years ago, he had sworn to \"honor the Emperor and expel the foreigners.\" Summoning his waning strength, he groped to his knees, and was horrified to realize he was petrified of dying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The officer had seen the terror, had expected it and quickly came forward and squatted beside him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you have a death poem, shishi? Tell it to me, hold on, do not give way, you are samurai and this is as good a day as any,\" he said softly, encouraging the youth, willing the tears to stop. \"From nothing into nothing, one sword cuts your enemy, one sword cuts you. Shout your battle cry and you will live forever. Say it: Sonnojoi... again...\"\n\nAll the time he had been preparing himself. With a sudden fluid movement, he stood erect and whirled his sword from the sheath—and the youth into eternity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Eeee,\" one of his men said with admiration." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Uraga-san, that was marvelous to see.\"\n\n\"Sensei Katsumata of Satsuma was one of my teachers,\" he said throatily, his heart pounding like never before, but pleased that he had performed his duty as a samurai correctly. One of his men picked up the head by its topknot. The rain became tears, washing away the real ones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Clean the head and take it to Lord Anjo for viewing.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately two sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uraga glanced at the castle gates. \"Cowards disgust me,\" he said, and walked away." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as James Clavell" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night, when it was safe, Hiraga and the others sneaked out of the cellar that had been located in advance. By different routes they slipped away for their safe house.\n\nIt was overcast and black, wind strong with spattering rain. I will not feel cold, I will not show discomfort, I am samurai, Hiraga ordered himself, following the pattern of training in his family ever since he could remember." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Just as I will train my sons and daughters—if my karma is to have sons and daughters, he thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's time you married,\" his father had said a year ago.\n\n\"I agree, Father. I respectfully request you change your mind and allow me to marry my choice.\"\n\n\"First, it is the duty of the son to obey the father; second, it is the father's duty to choose the wives of his sons and husbands of his daughters; third, Sumomo's father does not approve, she is Satsuma and not Choshu, and last, however desirable, she is not suitable. What about the Ito girl?\"\n\n\"Please excuse me, Father, I agree my choice is not perfect but her family is samurai, she is samurai trained and I am possessed by her. I beg you. You have four other sons—I have only one life and we, you and I, we both agree it is to be devoted to sonnojoi and will therefore be short. Grant this to me as a lifetime wish.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "By custom such a wish was a most serious request and meant that, if granted, it precluded asking for any other, ever." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very well,\" his father had said gruffly. \"But not as a lifetime wish. You may be affianced when she is seventeen. I will welcome her into our family.\"\n\nThat was last year. A few days later he had left Shimonoseki, supposedly to join the Choshu regiment in Kyōto, actually to declare for sonnojoi and become ronin—and put his secret four-year adherence and training to use." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now it was Ninth Month." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In three weeks Sumomo became seventeen but now he was so far outside the law there was no chance of safe return. Until yesterday. His father had written: Astonishingly, our Lord Ogama has offered a pardon to all warriors who openly embraced sonnojoi and will restore all stipends if they return at once, renounce the heresy and again swear allegiance to him publicly. You will take advantage of this offer. Many are returning.\n\nThe letter had saddened him, almost destroying his resolve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Sonnojoi is more important than family or even Lord Ogama, even Sumomo,\" he had told himself over and over." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lord Ogama cannot be trusted. As to my stipend...\"\n\nFortunately his father was relatively well off compared with most, and, because of his shoya grandfather, had been promoted to hirazamurai, the third rank of samurai. Above were senior samurai, hatomoto and daimyo. Below hirazamurai were all others—goshi, ashigaru, rural samurai, and foot soldiers, who were of the feudal class but below samurai." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As such his father had had access to lower officials and the education of his sons was the best available." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I owe him everything, Hiraga thought.\n\nYes, and obediently I worked to become the best pupil in the Samurai School, the best swordsman, the best at English. And I have his permission and approval and that of the Sensei, our chief teacher, to embrace sonnojoi, to become ronin, to lead and organize Choshu warriors as a spearhead for change. Yes, but their approval is secret, for if known, surely it would cost my father and the Sensei their heads." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Karma. I am doing my duty." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gai-jin are scum we do not need. Only their weapons to kill them with.\n\nThe rain increased. And the tempest. This pleased him, for it made interception less likely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The beckoning bath and saké and clean clothes kept him warm and strong." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That the attack had failed did not concern him. That was karma.\n\nGround into him by his teachers and heritage, until it was a way of life, was the certainty that enemies and traitors were everywhere. His steps were measured, he made sure he was not being followed, changed direction without logic and, whenever possible, explored ahead before moving.\n\nWhen he reached the alley his strength drained out of him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Inn of the Forty-seven Ronin and its surrounding fence had vanished." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All that remained was emptiness and the reeking smell and smoking ashes. A few bodies, men and women. Some decapitated, some hacked to pieces. He recognized his comrade shishi, Gota, by his kimono." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The mama-san's head was on a spear thrust into the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Attached was a sign: It is against the law to harbor criminals and traitors. The official seal below was of the Bakufu, signed by Nori Anjo, chief of the roju.\n\nHiraga was filled with surging fury but it was icy and merely added more layers to that already within. Those cursed gai-jin, he thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It is their fault." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Because of them this happened. We will be revenged." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Malcolm Struan came out of sleep slowly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His senses probed, testing. He had always known much about mental pain, losing two brothers and a sister; the anguish caused by his father's drunkenness and ever increasing rages; from impatient teachers; from his obsessive need to excel because one day he would be the tai-pan; and from his nagging fear he would be inadequate however much he prepared and trained and hoped and prayed and worked by day and by night, every day and every night of his life—no real childhood or boyhood like others.\n\nBut now as never before he had to test the level of his awakening, to plumb the depth of what physical pain he had to endure today as today's norm, disregarding the sudden, blinding spasms that arrived without warning or logic.\n\nJust a throbbing ache today but better than yesterday." }, { "from": "human", "value": "How many days from the Tokaidō Road? Sixteen. Sixteenth day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He allowed himself to become more awake. Truly better than yesterday. Eyes and ears open now. Room steady in the early light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Clear sky, light wind, no storm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two days ago the storm had ceased. It had blown for eight days at typhoon strength, then vanished as quickly as it had arrived. The fleet standing off Yedo had scattered the first day, seeking safety at sea. Alone of all the warships, the French flagship had disengaged early, just making it back safely to Yokohama." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No other ships had returned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No need to worry yet, but everyone watched the horizon uneasily, hoping and praying.\n\nDuring the gales here at Yokohama a merchantman had been blown ashore, some buildings damaged, many cutters and fishing boats lost, havoc wrought in the village and Yoshiwara, many tents in the military encampment on the bluff blown away but no casualties there, or in the Settlement.\n\nWe were more than lucky, Struan thought, concentrating on the central problem of his universe. Can I sit up?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "A tentative, awkward attempt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ayeeyah! Pain, but not too bad. With both arms he pushed further and now he was erect, his hands braced behind him.\n\nBearable. Better than yesterday. Waiting a moment, then leaning forward, carefully taking his weight off one arm. Still bearable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Weight off both arms. Still bearable." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taking care he pulled the bedclothes off and cautiously tried to swing his legs to the floor. But he could not, the stabbing pain too great. A second try, again failure.\n\nNever mind, I'll try later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He lowered himself as gently as he could." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When his weight was off his waist and on his back he sighed with relief. \"Ayeeyah!\"\n\n\"Patience, Malcolm,\" Babcott had said every day at every visit—three or four times daily.\n\n\"Sod patience!\"\n\n\"Quite right too—but you really are doing fine.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And when can I get up?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now, if you wish—but I wouldn't advise it.\"\n\n\"How long?\"\n\n\"Give it a couple of weeks.\"\n\nHe had cursed openly but in many ways he was glad for the reprieve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It gave him more time to consider how he was going to deal with being tai-pan, with his mother, with Angelique, with McFay and pressing business problems." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about the guns for Choshu?\" McFay had asked a few days ago. \"It'll be a huge, continuing business.\"\n\n\"I've an idea. Leave it with me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Norbert will have sniffed these Choshus out long since and he's bound to make them an undercutting offer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The hell with Norbert and Brock! Their contacts are not as good as ours, and Dmitri, Cooper-Tillman and most of the other American China traders are on our side.\"\n\n\"Except in Hawaii,\" McFay said sourly.\n\nIn the last mail, ten days ago—no further news since then and the bimonthly steamer not expected for another five days—Tess Struan had written:...\n\nThe Victoria Bank has betrayed us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I believe they have been secretly supporting Morgan Brock in London with lavish letters of credit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With these, he has secretly bought out or bribed all our Hawaiian agents, cornering the whole sugar market, excluding us totally. Worse, though I've no proof, it's rumored he has close contacts with the Rebel President Jefferson Davis and his cotton plantation owners, proposing to barter the whole crop against cotton futures for English mills—a deal that would make Tyler and Morgan the richest men in Asia. THIS MUST NOT HAPPEN! I am at my wit's end." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jamie, what do you suggest?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Give this dispatch to my son with the same urgent request for help.\n\n\"What's your suggestion, Jamie?\"\n\n\"I don't have one, Mal... Tai-pan.\"\n\n\"If the deal's done the deal's done and that's the end of it. Say it is, could we intercept the cotton somehow?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "McFay had blinked. \"Pirate it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Struan had said levelly, \"If need be. Old Man Brock would, he has in the past. That's one possibility, the cotton will all go in his ships. Second: our Navy breaks the Union blockade and then we can all get all the cotton we want.\"\n\n\"It could, if we declare war on the Union. Unthinkable!\"\n\n\"I don't agree. For God's sake, we should come in on Davis's side, Southern cotton's our lifeblood. Then they'll win, otherwise they won't.\"\n\n\"Agreed. But we're equally dependent on the North.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How do we take away his ships? There must be a way to break the chain. If he can't move the cargo he's bankrupt.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What would Dirk do?\"\n\n\"Go for the jugular,\" Malcolm had replied at once.\n\n\"Then that's what we have to find...\"\n\nWhere and what is it?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "he asked himself again, lying quietly on the bed, willing his brain to work clearly on this problem and all the others." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Angelique? No, I'll think about her later—but I know I love her more every day.\n\nThank God I can write letters now. Must write to Mother again, if anyone should know the jugular it's her; isn't Tyler Brock her father and Morgan her brother, but how dare she sneer at Angelique's family? Should I write to Angelique's father?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yes, but not yet, there's time enough." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So much other mail to catch up on, books to order from England, Christmas not so far away, the Jockey Club Charity Ball in Hong Kong, Struan's annual Ball to think about, meetings today: Jamie at least twice, Seratard this afternoon—what does he want? What else is planned for today? Phillip's coming to chat again after breakfast... wait a minute, no, not today. Yesterday Sir William ordered him back to Yedo, to prepare the Legation for the meeting with the Council of Elders in twenty days." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will the meeting really take place, Sir William?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he had asked when the Minister had visited him. With the fleet no longer protecting the Legation, and extensive though not overtly hostile samurai activity all around them, after a few face-saving days Sir William had considered it prudent to return to Yokohama, ostensibly to prepare for the delivery of the indemnity money.\n\n\"I think so, Mr. Struan. Perhaps not punctually, but yes, the ceremonial will happen approximately then and we will have taken a real leap forward. If they produce the first payment of 5,000 pounds as promised... well, that will be a very good indication. By the way, I understand you've a steamer due to leave today for Hong Kong, could I prevail upon you to allow one of my staff and some urgent mail to go with her—my wife and two sons are expected soon and I have to make plans.\"\n\n\"Of course, I'll mention it to McFay. If you want a berth on any of our ships to meet them, just say the word.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thank you—I was planning two weeks' vacation when they arrive. One gets hidebound, cooped up here, don't you think? Miss the bustle of Hong Kong, that's quite a city though damned if the people at Whitehall appreciate it! Plenty of good roast beef, some cricket or tennis, the theatre or opera, and several days at the races would be most welcome. When will you return?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When?\n\nNews of our Tokaidō disaster would have arrived almost a week ago, presuming the mail ship weathered the storm. Mother will have had a fit though showing nothing to outsiders. Will she come here on the first available ship?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Possibly, but there's HQ to look after—and Emma, Rose and Duncan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With Father dead, me not there, eighteen days is too long for her to be away. Even if she's already aboard there's at least another three or four days to prepare my defenses. Strange to consider her a possible enemy; if not enemy no longer friend. Perhaps she's friend after all; she always has been, however distant, always attending Father with little time for us." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, my son, how could I ever be your enemy?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was astonished to see her standing by the bed, his father also, and this was strange because he remembered his father was dead but it did not seem to matter—quickly out of bed without hurt and chatting with them happily in the cutter crossing Hong Kong harbor, storm clouds everywhere, both of them listening deferentially and approving his clever plans, Angelique sitting in the stern, her dress diaphanous, breasts beckoning, uncovered now, his hands there and lower, all uncovered now, her body writhing against his, hands caressing his face...\n\n\"Malcolm?\"\n\nHe awoke with a start. Angelique was beside the bed, smiling at him, peignoir blue silk rich and discreet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The dream vanished, except the threat and promise of her body, ever pulsating in his subconscious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I... oh, I was dreaming, my darling, but it was about you.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes? What?\"\n\nHe frowned, trying to recollect. \"I don't remember,\" he said, smiling up at her, \"except that you were beautiful. I love your gown.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pirouetted gaily to show it off." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The tailor you asked Jamie to arrange made it! Mon Dieu, Malcolm—me, I think he is marvelous—I ordered four dresses, I hope that's all right... oh, thank you!\" She bent down to kiss him.\n\n\"Wait, Angelique, wait, just a second. Look!\" Carefully he raised himself, dominating the pain, took both supporting hands away and held them out to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's wonderful, chéri,\" she said, delighted, catching his hands." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, Monsieur Struan, I think I'd better take care to be chaperoned all the time now, and never be alone with you in your bedroom.\"\n\nSmiling, she stepped closer, carefully put her hands on his shoulders, allowed his arms to go around her and kissed him. Her kiss was light, promising and avoided his need for more. Without guile she kissed his ear, then straightened, allowing his head to rest against her breast, the intimacy pleasing her—and him very much." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Soft silk there, with that uncanny, irreplaceable, special warmth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Malcolm, did you really really mean what you said about wanting to marry me?\" She felt his arms tighten and the wince of pain.\n\n\"Of course, I've told you so many times.\"\n\n\"Do you think, do you think your parents, pardon, your mother, she will approve, yes? Oh, I do hope so.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, oh yes, she will, of course she will.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"May I write to Papa? I would like to tell him.\"\n\n\"Of course, write when you wish, I will write too,\" he said throatily, then, swamped by her affection, his need overcoming his discretion, he kissed the silk, then again, harder, and almost cursed aloud as he sensed her retreat before it happened. \"Sorry,\" he muttered.\n\n\"No need for 'sorry' or any Anglo-Saxon guilt, my love, not between us,\" she said gently. \"I want you too.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, following her plan, switched her mood, entirely in control, her happiness infectious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now I will be the nurse Nightingale.\"\n\nShe plumped the pillows and began to make the bed neater. \"Tonight is a French dinner hosted by Monsieur Seratard, tomorrow night he has arranged a soiree. André Poncin is giving a piano recital of Beethoven—I prefer him so much to Mozart—also Chopin and a piece by a young man called Brahms.\" A church bell began, sounding the call to early service, almost immediately to be joined by others, sweeter and more melodious, from the Catholic church." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There,\" she said, helping him lie back comfortably." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now I will go for my toilette and return after Mass when you are toiletted.\"\n\nHe held her hand. \"'Bathed.' You're wonderful. I love y—\" Abruptly their eyes went to the door as someone tried the handle. But the bolt was on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I did it when you were asleep.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She chuckled like a little girl playing a game. Again the handle moved. \"Servants always come in without knocking, they need to be taught lessons!\"\n\n\"Mass'er!\" the servant called out. \"Tea-ah!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tell him to go away and come back in five minutes.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Struan, caught up in her pleasure, shouted the order in Cantonese, and they heard the man go off grumbling.\n\nShe laughed. \"You must teach me Chinese-speaking.\"\n\n\"I'll try.\"\n\n\"What's 'I love you'?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They don't have a word for love, not like us.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A frown went across her face. \"How sad!\"\n\nShe slipped over to the door, unbolted it, blew him a kiss, and vanished into her own suite. Her bolt slid home.\n\nHe watched the door, aching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he heard the bells change, becoming more insistent, reminding him: Mass!" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Now write approximately 5 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His heart twisted. Didn't think about that, that she was Catholic. Mother's diehard Church of England, twice on Sundays, Father as well, us too, in procession, along with every other decent family in Hong Kong.\n\nCatholic?\n\nDoesn't matter, I... I don't mind. I've got to have her, he told himself, his healthy, hungry throbbing ache pushing the pain away. \"I must.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around 4 sentences continuing directly from the user's text.\n\nAuthor style: James Clavell" }, { "from": "human", "value": "That afternoon the four perspiring Japanese porters put down the iron-banded chest, watched by three Bakufu officials of no import, Sir William, interpreters, an officer from the army accounting department, the Legation shroff, a Chinese, and Vargas, to check him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were in the main Legation reception room, the windows open and Sir William was hard put not to beam. Laboriously one of the officials produced an ornate key and unlocked the chest. Within were silver Mexican dollars, a few tael bars of gold—about an ounce and a third in weight—and some of silver.\n\n\"Ask why the indemnity isn't all in gold as agreed?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Official says they could not obtain the gold in time but these are clean Mex and legal currency, and will you please give him a receipt.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Clean\" coins meant those that were unshaved, or unclipped, a common practice, and sloughed off onto the unwary.\n\n\"Begin counting.\"\n\nHappily his shroff tipped the contents onto the carpet. At once he spotted a clipped coin, Vargas another and another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "These were put to one side." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every eye stayed on the carpet, on the neatly stacked, growing piles of coins. Five thousand pounds sterling was an immense sum when the salary of a full-time interpreter was four hundred a year and pay your own lodgings, a shroff a hundred (though a good percentage of everything that passed through his hands would somehow stick there), a servant in London twenty pounds a year and all found, a soldier five pennies a day, a sailor six, an Admiral six hundred pounds a year.\n\nThe counting was quickly done. Both shroffs checked the weight of each small bar of gold twice, then the weight of each of the stacks of chipped coins, then used an abacus to calculate the total against the current rate of exchange." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Vargas said, \"It comes to four thousand and eighty-four pounds, six shillings and seven pence farthing, Sir William, in clean coin, five hundred and twenty pounds in gold, ninety-two pounds sixteen in clipped coins for a grand total of four thousand, six hundred and ninety-seven pounds, two shillings, and seven pence farthing.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, eight pence, Mass'er.\" The Chinese bowed and nodded his head, his pigtail long and thick, making the slight, face-saving adjustment as agreed in advance with Vargas, deciding that the amount that his Portuguese counterpart had deducted for their fee, two and a half percent, or one hundred and seventeen pounds, eight shillings and sixpence between them, was less than what he would have maneuvered, but passable for half an hour's work.\n\nSir William said, \"Vargas, put it back in the chest, give them a receipt with a note that the underpayment will be added to the last installment. Johann, thank them, and say we will expect the full amount, in gold, in nineteen days.\"\n\nJohann obeyed. At once the other interpreter began a long statement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They now ask for an extension, sir, and—\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No extension.\" Sir William sighed, dismissed the others and prepared for another hour, closing his ears until he was astonished to hear Johann say, \"They've suddenly come to the point, sir: it's the Yedo meeting, sir. They ask that this be delayed another thirty days to make it fifty days from now... the exact words are: the Shōgun will return from Kyōto then and he has informed the Council of Elders to advise the Foreign Ministers that he would grant them an audience on that day.\"\n\nTo give himself time to think, Sir William called out, \"Lun!\" Lun appeared instantly. \"Tea!\"\n\nWithin seconds the trays arrived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And cigars, snuff and pipe tobacco." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soon the room was filled with smoke and everyone coughing and all the time Sir William was considering options.\n\nFirst and foremost, I'm probably dealing with low-level officials, so anything agreed will be subject to further negotiation. Next, in any event the fifty days will surely extend into two months, even three, but if we have an audience with the Ultimate Power, of course under British leadership, we will have taken a lasting step forward. Actually, I don't mind if the delay goes to three, even four months." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By then I'll have Lord Russell's approval for war, reinforcements will be en route from India and Hong Kong, the Admiral will have his damned authority, and we'll have the forces to invest, hold and fortify Yedo if we have to." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I could say, let us have the meeting as planned and then the Shōgun meeting. That would be best, but I feel they won't go against the mystical Shōgun's wishes and somehow they'll wheedle and twist and mesh us again.\n\nJohann said, \"The spokesman says, as that's agreed, we will bid you farewell.\"\n\n\"Nothing is agreed. A thirty-day extension is not possible for many reasons. We have already arranged a date for the Council of Elders that will take place as planned and then, ten days later, we will be pleased to meet the Shōgun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After an hour of sucked-in breaths, aghast silences, blunt Anglo-Saxonese, Sir William allowed himself to be whittled down and got his compromise position: The meeting with the Council of Elders to take place as planned, and the meeting with the Shōgun twenty days after that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once alone again with Sir William, Johann said, \"They won't abide by it.\"\n\n\"Yes, I know. Never mind.\"\n\n\"Sir William, my contract's up in a couple of months. I won't renew.\"\n\nSir William said sharply, \"I can't do without your services for at least six months.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's time to go home. This place is going to be a bloodbath soon and I've no want to have my head on a spike.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll increase your salary by fifty pounds a year.\"\n\n\"It's not the money, Sir William. I'm tired. Ninety-eight percent of all the talk is Sheisse. I've no patience now to sift the kernel of wheat from the barrel of dung!\"\n\n\"I need you for these two meetings.\"\n\n\"They'll never take place. Two months odd, then I'm off, the exact day is on the paper. Sorry, Sir William, but that's the end, and now I am going to get drunk.\" He left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sir William went across the hall to his office window and searched the horizon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was nearing sunset now. No sign of any of the fleet. My God, I hope they're safe. Must keep Johann somehow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer won't be ready for a year at least." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who can I get that I can trust? God damn it!\n\nLight from the dying sun illuminated the sparsely furnished room, not enough to see by so he lit an oil lamp, adjusting the wick carefully. On his desk were neat piles of dispatches, his edition of All the Year Round—long since read from cover to cover, with all the newspapers from the last mail ship, several editions of Illustrated London News and Punch. He picked up the advance copy of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons in Russian sent to him by a friend at the Court of St. Petersburg, amongst other English and French books, started to read it, then, distracted, put it aside and began the second letter of the day to the Governor of Hong Kong, giving details of today's meeting, and asking for a replacement for Johann." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lun came in silently, closing the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Lun?\"\n\nLun came up to his desk, hesitated, then dropped his voice. \"Mass'er,\" he said cautiously, \"hear trou'bel, trou'bel soon Yedo Big House, big trou'bel.\"\n\nSir William stared up at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Big House was what the Chinese servants called their Yedo Legation. \"What trouble?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lun shrugged. \"Trou'bel.\"\n\n\"When trouble?\"\n\nAgain Lun shrugged. \"Whisk'y water, heya?\"\n\nSir William nodded thoughtfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From time to time Lun whispered rumors to him with an uncanny knack of being right." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He watched him pad over to the sideboard and make the drink, just as he liked it." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: Cooperative storytelling\nMy role: Provide a brief opening\nYour role: Expand upon my opening with four sentences, emulating the writing style of James Clavell." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Phillip Tyrer and the kilted Captain were watching the same sunset from an upstairs window of the Legation at Yedo, the usual groups of samurai stationed outside the walls and in all approaches up the hill. Dark reds and orange and browns on the empty horizon mixed with a strip of blue above the sea. \"Will the weather be good tomorrow?\"\n\n\"Don't know much about the weather here, Mr. Tyrer. If we were in Scotland I could give you a wee forecast,\" the Captain, a sandy-haired, thirty-year-old ramrod, laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Rain with scattered showers... but, och ay, it's no' so bad.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've never been to Scotland, but I will on my next leave. When do you go home?\"\n\n\"Maybe next year, or the year after. This is only my second year.\" Their attention went back to the square. Four Highlanders and a sergeant plodded up the hill through the samurai and entered the iron gates, returning from a routine patrol to the wharf where a detachment of marines and a cutter were stationed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Samurai were always in attendance, standing around, sometimes chatting, or in clusters near fires that they lit if it was cold, movement constant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one, soldier or Legation employee, had been prevented from leaving or entering, though all had passed through intense, always silent scrutiny.\n\n\"Excuse me, I'll see the Sergeant, make sure our cutter's there, in case, and close down for the night. Dinner at seven as usual?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" When he was alone Tyrer stifled a nervous yawn, stretched and moved his arm to ease the slight ache there. His wound had healed perfectly, no longer any need to use a sling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I'm bloody lucky, he thought, except for Wee Willie." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Damn the man for sending me here, I'm supposed to be training to be an interpreter, not a dogsbody. Damn damn damn. And now I'll miss André's recital that I was so looking forward to. Angelique is certain to be there.\n\nRumors of her secret betrothal had rushed around the Settlement like a foehn wind—unsettling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hints dropped to her or to Struan had brought forth neither denial nor confirmation, nor even a clue." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the Club the betting was two to one that it was a fact, twenty to one that the marriage would never take place: \"Struan's as sick as a dog, she's Catholic and you know his mum, for God's sake, Jamie!\"\n\n\"Taken! He's better every day and you don't know him like I do. Ten guineas against two hundred.\"\n\n\"Charlie, what odds you give me that one's up the spout?\"\n\n\"Oh, for God's sake!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Angel Tits ain't a doxy, for Chris' sake!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A thousand to one?\"\n\n\"Done, by God... a golden guinea!\"\n\nTo Tyrer and Pallidar's disgust, the odds and bets, ever more personal and detailed, changed daily. \"The buggers here are a lot of guttersnipes!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're right, of course, Pallidar. A scummy lot!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With intense speculation going on about Struan and Angelique, there was more about the extent of the storm and the fleet, worse that it might be in dire trouble, and doom generally. Japanese merchants were more nervous than usual too, whispering rumors of insurrections all over Japan against or for the Bakufu, that the mystical Mikado, supposed high priest of all Japanese, who held sway in Kyōto, had ordered all samurai to attack Yokohama.\n\n\"Poppycock, if you ask me,\" the Westerners told one another, but more and more guns were purchased and even the two trader wives slept with a loaded weapon beside their beds. Drunk Town was rumored to be an armed camp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then, a few days ago, an act of war: an American merchantman, storm battered, had limped into Yokohama." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In the Shimonoseki Straits, inbound from Shanghai for Yokohama with a cargo of silver, ammunition and arms, then onwards to the Philippines with opium, tea and general trade goods, she had been fired upon by shore batteries.\n\n\"The devil you were!\" someone called out over the explosion of anger in the Club.\n\n\"You're goddam right we were! And us as peaceful as a buttercup! Those Choshu bastards were mighty accurate—what crazy bastard sold them goddam cannon? Blew off our top t'gallants before we knew what was happening and could take evading action. Sure, we returned their fire but we've only a couple of stinky goddam five-pounders that'd not give a body much cause to hiccup. We counted as many as twenty cannon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My God, twenty cannon and expert gunners could easily close Shimonoseki, and if that happens we're in dead trouble. That's the quickest and only safe way here.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ay! The Inland Waters are a must, by God!\"\n\n\"Where the hell's the fleet? They could go and knock out those batteries! What about our trade?\"\n\n\"Ay, where's the fleet, hope to God she's safe!\"\n\n\"And if she's not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Charlie, we'll just have to send for another...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stupid people, Tyrer thought, all they can think of is send for the fleet, boozing and money.\n\nThank God the French Admiral brought back André with him. Thank God for André even though he's volatile and strange but that's only because he's French. Thanks to him I've already two exercise books crammed with Japanese words and phrases, my daily journal's chockablock with an abundance of folklore, I've a rendezvous with a Jesuit when we're again in Yokohama." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Such marvelous progress and so important for me to learn quickly—and that's without even thinking about the Yoshiwara." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Three visits. The first two guided, the third alone.\n\n\"André, I just can't tell you how much I appreciate all the time you've given me, and all the help. And as to tonight, I can never repay you, never.\"\n\nThat was after the first visit.\n\nNervous, flushed, sweating, almost tongue-tied but pretending to be manly he had followed André out of the Settlement at dusk, joining the jovial crowds of men Yoshiwara bound, passed the samurai guards, politely raising top hats and receiving perfunctory bows in return, across the Bridge to Paradise towards the tall gates in the enclosing wooden fence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yoshiwara means Place of Reeds,\" André said expansively, both of them well lubricated with champagne that in Tyrer's case had only increased his foreboding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It was the name of a district in Yedo, a reclaimed swamp, where the first ever, fenced bordello area was decreed and built by Shōgun Toranaga two and a half centuries ago. Before that, bordellos were scattered everywhere. Since then, so we're told, all cities and towns have similar enclosures, all of them licensed and tightly controlled. By custom, many are called Yoshiwara. See those?\"\n\nAbove the gate, a series of Chinese characters were etched elegantly into the wood. \"They mean, Lust is pressing, something must be done about it.\"\n\nTyrer laughed nervously. Many guards inside and outside the gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Last night when André had volunteered to escort him—they were in the Club then, drinking—he had mentioned a trader had told him the guards were there not just to keep the peace but mostly to keep the whores from escaping, \"So they're really all slaves, aren't they?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To his shock he had seen Poncin flush angrily.\n\n\"Mon Dieu, don't think of them as whores or call them whores as we understand the word. They're not slaves. Some are indentured for a number of years, many sold by their parents at an early age, again for a number of years, but their contracts are Bakufu approved and registered. They're not whores, they're Ladies of the Willow World and don't forget it. Ladies!\"\n\n\"Sorry, I...\"\n\nBut André had paid no attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Some are geishas—Art Persons—those trained to entertain you, sing and dance and play silly games and are not for bedding. The rest, mon Dieu, I've told you, don't think of them as whores, think of them as Pleasure Women, trained to please, trained over many years.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, I didn't know.\"\n\n\"If you treat them properly they'll give you pleasure, almost any kind you want—if they want to—and if the money you give is correct. You give them money, which has no significance, they give you their youth. It's an odd bargain.\" André had looked at him strangely. \"They give you their youth and hide the tears you cause.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He quaffed his wine and stared at the cup, abruptly maudlin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer remembered how he had quietly refilled their glasses, cursing himself for breaking the feeling of easy friendship, to him valuable friendship, swearing to be more cautious in future and wondering why the sudden fury. \"Tears?\"\n\n\"Their life isn't good, but even so it isn't always bad. For some it can be marvelous. The most beautiful and accomplished become famous, they're sought after by even the most important daimyo—kings—in the land, they can marry in high places, marry rich merchants, even samurai. But for our Ladies of the Willow World who are just for us gai-jin,\" André had continued bitterly, \"there's no future but to open another house here, to drink saké and employ other girls. Mon Dieu, treat them all properly, because once they're here they're polluted in the eyes of all other Japanese.\"\n\n\"Sorry. How awful.\"\n\n\"Yes, no one understan—\" A burst of drunken laughter from the men around drowned him out for a moment, the Club filled, raucous and steaming." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I tell you these cretins don't care or give a damn, none of them, except Canterbury, he did.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "André had looked up from the dregs of his drink. \"You're young and unsullied, here for a year or two and seem willing to learn, so I thought... there's so much to learn, so much good,\" he had said suddenly, and left.\n\nThat was last night and now they were within the Yoshiwara gate, André took out his small pistol. \"Phillip, are you armed?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "André gave the pistol to the unctuous attendant who gave him a receipt and put it with many others. \"No weapons are allowed within the fence—the same in all Yoshiwaras, even samurai must give up their swords. On y va!\"\n\nAhead of them now, on either side of the wide street and alleys leading off it, were lines of neat little houses, many for eating or just small bars, all built of wood with verandas and oiled paper shoji screens, and raised off the ground on low pilings. Everywhere color and sprays of flowers, noise and laughter, and lanterns, candles and oil lamps." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fire's a huge hazard, Phillip. This whole place burned down the first year but within the week was booming again.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the Houses bore individual signs. Some had open doors and sliding shoji windows. Many girls were in them, ornately or demurely dressed in kimonos of varying quality, depending on the standing of the House. Other girls were promenading, some with colorful umbrellas, some attended by maids, paying little or no attention to the gawking men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Intermixed were vendors of all kinds, and swarms of maids shouting the virtues of the Houses in versions of pithy, raucous pidgin, and sounding over everything the happy banter of potential customers, most of whom were recognized and had their favored places." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were no Japanese except for guards, servants, porters and masseurs.\n\n\"Never forget, Yoshiwaras are a place for joy, the pleasures of the flesh, eating and drinking as well, and that there's no such thing as sin in Japan, original sin, any kind of sin.\" André laughed and led the way through the typically well-ordered crowd, except for a few brawling drunks who were quickly and good-naturedly pulled apart by huge, expert bouncers, at once to be sat on stools and plied with more saké by the ever attentive maids.\n\n\"Drunks are welcome, Phillip, because they lose count of their money. But don't ever pick a quarrel with a bouncer, they're fantastically good at unarmed combat.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Compared to our Drunk Town this place is as well disciplined as the Regent's Promenade at Brighton.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A boisterous maid caught Tyrer's arm and tried to pull him into a doorway. \"Saké, heya? Jig jig plenty good, Mass'er...\"\n\n\"Iyé, domo, iyé...\" Tyrer burst out—no, thank you, no—and hurriedly caught up with André. \"My God, I had to really tug to get away.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's their job.\" André turned off the main street through a passageway between dwellings, down another, stopped at a seedy door set into a fence, a grubby sign above, and knocked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tyrer recognized the characters that André had written for him earlier: House of the Three Carp. A small grill slid back. Eyes peered out. The door opened and Tyrer stepped into a wonderland.\n\nTiny garden, oil lanterns and candlelight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Glistening grey stepping-stones in green moss, clusters of flowers, many small maples—blood-red leaves against more green—pale orange light coming from the half-obscured shoji." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Little bridge over a miniature stream, waterfall nearby. Kneeling on the veranda was a middle-aged woman, the mama-san, beautifully attired and coiffured. \"Bonsoir, Monsieur Furansu-san,\" she said, put both her hands on the veranda and bowed.\n\nAndré bowed back. \"Raiko-san, konbanwa. Ikaga desu ka?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Good evening, how are you?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kore wa watashi no tomodachi desu, Tyrer-san.\" This is my friend, Mr. Tyrer.\n\n\"Ah so desu ka? Taira-san?\" She bowed gravely. Awkwardly Tyrer bowed, then she beckoned them to follow her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She says Taira is a famous old Japanese name. You're in luck, Phillip, most of us go by nicknames. I'm Furansu-san—the nearest they can get to Frenchman.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taking off their shoes so as not to dirty the very clean and expensive tatami, then sitting awkwardly cross-legged in the room, André Poncin explained the tokonoma, the alcove for a special hanging scroll and flower arrangement, changed daily, guiding him to appreciate the quality of the shoji and woods.\n\nSaké arrived. The maid was young, perhaps ten, not pretty but deft and silent. Raiko poured, first for André and then Tyrer, then herself. She sipped, André drained the tiny cup and held it out for more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer did the same, finding the taste of the warm wine not unpleasant but insipid." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both cups were immediately filled and drained and refilled. More trays and more flasks.\n\nTyrer lost count but soon he was enveloped with a pleasing glow, forgot his nervousness and watched and listened and understood almost nothing the other two said, just a word here and there. Raiko's hair was black and shining and dressed with many ornate combs, her face thick with white powder, neither ugly nor beautiful just different, her kimono pink silk with interweaving green carp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"A carp is koi, usually a sign of good luck,\" André had explained earlier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Townsend Harris's mistress, the Shimoda courtesan the Bakufu arranged to distract him, called herself Koi, but I'm afraid it didn't bring her luck.\"\n\n\"Oh? What happened?\"\n\n\"The story told amongst courtesans here is that he adored her and when he left he gave her money, enough to set herself up—she was with him for about two years. Shortly after he returned to America, she just vanished. Probably drank herself to death or committed suicide.\"\n\n\"She loved him that much?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They say that in the beginning when the Bakufu approached her she adamantly refused to go with a foreigner—an unheard-of aberration, don't forget he was the first ever to be actually allowed to live on Japanese soil. She begged the Bakufu to choose someone else, to allow her to live in peace, said she would become a Buddhist nun, she even swore she would kill herself. But they were equally adamant, begging her to help them solve this problem of gai-jin, pleading with her for weeks to be his consort, wearing her down by what means no one knows. So she agreed and they thanked her. And when Harris left they all turned their backs on her, Bakufu, everyone: Ah, so sorry, but any woman who has gone with a foreigner is tainted forever.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How awful!\"\n\n\"Yes, in our terms, and so sad. But remember, this is the Land of Tears. Now she is legend, honored by her peers and by those who turned their backs, because of her sacrifice.\"\n\n\"I don't understand.\"\n\n\"Nor do I, nor any of us. But they do. Japanese do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "How strange, Tyrer thought again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like this little house and this man and woman, chattering half in Japanese, half in pidgin, laughing one with another, one a madam the other a customer, both pretending they are something else. More and more saké. Then she bowed and got up and left.\n\n\"Saké, Phillip?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Thanks. It's quite nice, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a pause, André said, \"You're the first person I've ever brought here.\"\n\n\"Oh? Why me?\"\n\nThe Frenchman twisted the porcelain cup in his fingers, drained the last drop, poured some more, then began in French, his voice soft and filled with warmth, \"Because you're the first person I've met in Yokohama with... because you speak French, you're cultured, your mind is like a sponge, you're young, not far off half my age, eh? You're twenty-one, and not like the others, you're untainted and you'll be here for a few years.\" He smiled, spinning the web tighter, telling only part of the truth, molding it: \"Truly you're the first person I've met who, alors, even though you're English and actually an enemy of France, you're the only one who somehow seems to merit the knowledge I've acquired.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "An embarrassed smile. \"Difficult to explain. Perhaps because I've always wanted to be a teacher, perhaps because I've never had a son, never married, perhaps because soon I have to move back to Shanghai, perhaps because we've enemies enough and perhaps... perhaps you could be a firm friend.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I would be honored to be your friend,\" Tyrer said at once, enmeshed and under his spell, \"and I really do think, I really have always thought we should be allies, France and Britain, not enemies and—\" The shoji slid back. Raiko, on her knees, beckoned Tyrer. His heart surged.\n\nAndré Poncin smiled. \"Just follow her, and remember what I told you.\"\n\nAs in a dream Phillip Tyrer got up unsteadily and padded after her, down a corridor, into a room, across it and along a veranda, into another empty room where she motioned him in, closed the shoji, and left him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A shaded oil lamp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Charcoal brazier for warmth. Shadows and darkness and patches of light. Futons—small square mattresses—laid out as a bed on the floor, a bed for two. Downy coverlets. Two yukatas, wide-sleeved, patterned cotton gowns for sleeping in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Through a small door a bathhouse, candle-lit, tall wooden tub filled with steaming water. Sweet-smelling soap." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Low, three-legged stool. Diminutive towels. Everything as André had foretold.\n\nHis heart was beating very fast now and he pushed his mind to remember André's instructions through the saké haze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Methodically, he began to undress." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coat, waistcoat, cravat, shirt, woolen vest, each article meticulously folded and nervously placed in a pile. Awkwardly sitting, then pulling off his socks, reluctantly his trousers and standing up once more. Only his woolen long johns remained.\n\nWeaving a little, then an embarrassed shrug and he took them off and folded them, even more carefully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His skin prickled into goose bumps and he walked into the bathhouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There he scooped water from the barrel as he had been told and spilled it over his shoulders, the warmth pleasant. Another and then the sound of the shoji opening and he glanced around. \"Christ Almighty,\" he muttered.\n\nThe woman was beefy with huge forearms, her yukata brief, nothing under except a loincloth and she strode purposefully towards him with a flat smile, motioned him to squat on the stool." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In absolute embarrassment he obeyed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At once she noticed the healing scar on his arm and sucked in her breath, said something that he could not understand.\n\nHe forced a smile. \"Tokaidō.\"\n\n\"Wakarimasu.\" I understand. Then, before he could stop her she poured water over his head—unexpectedly and not part of his forewarning—and began soaping and washing his long hair, then his body, her fingers hard, expert and insistent, but taking care not to hurt his arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Arms legs back front, then offering him the cloth and pointing between his legs." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Still in shock he cleansed those parts, meekly handed the cloth back. \"Thank you,\" he muttered. \"Oh, sorry, domo.\"\n\nMore water took away the last of the soap and she pointed to the tub. \"Dozo!\" Please.\n\nAndré had explained: \"Phillip, just remember that, unlike with us, you have to be washed and clean before you get into the bath, so others can use the same water—which is very sensible, don't forget wood is very expensive and it takes a long time to heat enough—so don't piss in it either, and don't think of her as a woman when you're in the bathhouse, just a helper. She cleans you outside, then inside, no?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer eased himself into the tub." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was hot but not too hot and he closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the woman making the bath tidy. Christ, he thought in misery, I'll never be able to perform with her. André's made a vast mistake.\n\n\"But... well, I, er, don't know how much I, er, pay, or do I give the girl the money first or what?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mon Dieu, you should never actually give money to any girl, anywhere, that's the height of bad manners, though you can barter savagely with the mama-san, sometimes with the girl herself, but only after tea or saké. Before you leave you'd put it discreetly in a place she would see it. In the House of the Three Carp, you give no money, it's a special place—there are others like it—only for special customers, one of which I am. They'll send you a bill, two or three times a year. But listen, before we go there you have to swear by God that you'll pay the bill the moment it's presented, and that you will never, never introduce anyone else there or talk about it.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So he had sworn and promised, wanting to ask how much but not daring to. \"The, er, bill, when does that come?\"\n\n\"When it pleases the mama-san. I told you, Phillip, you can have pleasure the year round on credit, under the correct circumstances—of course, I'm surety for you...\"\n\nThe warmth of the bath water permeated him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hardly heard her bustle out and then, later, bustle back again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Taira-san?\"\n\n\"Hai?\" Yes?\n\nShe was holding up a towel. Curiously lethargic, he climbed out, his muscles drowsed by the water, and let her dry him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Once more the special places he did himself, finding it easier this time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A comb for his hair. Dry starched yukata and she motioned him towards the bed.\n\nAgain panic surged through him. Shakily he forced himself to lie down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She covered him, folded back the other coverlet and again left." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His heart was thundering but lying down felt marvelous, the mattress soft and clean and sweet-smelling, feeling cleaner than he had felt for years. Soon he was calmer and then the shoji opened and closed and he was filled with utter relief but no longer calm. The half-seen girl was tiny, willowy, pale yellow yukata, hair long and cascading. Now she was kneeling beside the bed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Konbanwa, Taira-san. Ikaga desu ka? Watashi wa Ako.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good evening, Mr. Taira. Are you well? I am Ako.\n\n\"Konbanwa, Ako-san. Watashi wa Phillip Tyrer desu.\"\n\nShe frowned. \"F... urri... f.\" She tried to say Phillip several times but could not, then laughed gaily, said something he did not understand, ending with Taira-san." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was sitting up now, watching her, heart pounding, helpless, not attracted by her, and now she was pointing to the other side of the bed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dozo?\" Please, may I?\n\n\"Dozo.\" In the candlelight he could not see her clearly, just enough to think that she was young, he estimated about his own age, that her face was smooth and white with powder, teeth white, lips red, hair shiny, nose almost Roman, eyes narrow ellipses, her smile kind. She got into the bed and settled herself, turned and watched him. Waiting. His shyness and inexperience paralyzed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Christ, how do I tell her I don't want her, don't want anyone now, that I can't, I know I can't and it won't... it won't tonight, it won't and I'll disgrace myself and André... André!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What can I tell him? I'll be a laughingstock. Oh, Christ, why did I agree?\n\nHer hand reached out and touched his cheek. Involuntarily he shivered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ako murmured sweet sounding words of encouragement but inside she was smiling, knowing what to expect from this child of a man, well prepared by Raiko-san: \"Ako, tonight is a rare moment in your life and you must remember every detail to regale us with at first meal. Your client is a friend of Frenchy, and unique in our world—he's virgin. Frenchy says he is so shy you will not believe it, that he will be frightened, will probably weep when his Honorable Weapon fails him, he may even wet the bed in his frustrated excitement, but do not worry, dear Ako, Frenchy assures me you can deal with him in the normal way, and that you've nothing to worry about.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eeee, I'll never understand gai-jin, Raiko-san.\"\n\n\"Nor I. Certainly they are all peculiar, uncivilized, but fortunately most are pleasantly rich, it's our destiny to be here so we must make the most of it. Very important, Frenchy says this one is an important English official, potentially a long-term customer so make him experience the Clouds and the Rain, one way or another, even if... even if you have to use the Ultimate.\"\n\n\"Oh ko!\"\n\n\"The honor of the House is at stake.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh! I understand. In that case... Somehow I will.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have every confidence, Ako-chan, after all you have almost thirty years' experience in our Willow World.\"\n\n\"Is he like Frenchy in his tastes, do you think?\"\n\n\"That he enjoys his back part tickled, and occasionally Pleasure Pearls? Perhaps you should be prepared but I asked Frenchy directly if the youth had leanings towards liking men and he assured me no. Curious that Frenchy chose our House to initiate a friend, instead of the others he now frequents.\"\n\n\"The House was not to blame, never. Please, don't think about it, Raiko-chan. I am honored that you have chosen me, I will do everything necessary.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Of course. Eeee, when you think that the Steaming Stalks of gai-jin are usually much larger than civilized persons, that most gai-jin fornicate satisfactorily though without Japanese vigor, flair and urge to plumb the limits, except for Frenchy, you would think they would be happy fornicators like normal persons. But they are not, they have so many cobwebs in their heads that somehow fornication is not our Most Heavenly Pleasure, but some kind of secret, religious evil. Weird.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Experimenting now, Ako moved closer and caressed his chest, then shifted her hand lower and was hard put not to laugh out loud as the youth jerked with fright. It took her a few moments to compose herself. \"Taira-san?\" she murmured.\n\n\"Yes, er, hai, Ako-san?\"\n\nShe took his hand and placed it inside her yukata on her breast, leaned over and kissed his shoulder, forewarned to be careful of the wound in his arm that a courageous shishi had given him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No reaction. Moving against him closer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whispering how utterly brave, how strong and manly, how fulsome the maid had described him and his fruit. All the while patiently caressing his chest, feeling him shiver but still no passion. Minutes passed. Still nothing. Her concern grew." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fingers soft as butterflies and yet still he lay inert—hands, lips, everything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gently caressing, careful to circle, no real intimacy yet. More minutes. Still nothing. Her dismay mounted. Fear that she might fail overlay her dismay." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Expand the story by adding 4 sentences." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer was idly watching the samurai in the Legation square, the sun touching the horizon, his mind increasingly beset by Ako, then two nights later, Hamako. Then Her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fujiko. The night before last.\n\nHe felt himself hardening and eased that part more comfortably, knowing that now he was inexorably caught in that world, the Floating World where, as André had told him, living was only for the moment, for pleasure, drifting with never a care like a blossom in the current of a calm river.\n\n\"It's not always calm, Phillip. What's she like, Fujiko?\"\n\n\"Oh, er, haven't you seen her, don't you know her?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, I only told Raiko-san the sort of girl you might like, the accent being on 'sleeping dictionary.' How was she?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had laughed to cover his complete embarrassment and disquiet at being asked such a personal question so directly. But André had given him so much that he wanted to be \"French\" and forthright, so he put aside his misgivings that a gentleman should not discuss or disclose such personal information. \"She... she's younger than I am, small, tiny in fact, not—not pretty in our terms, but she's astonishingly attractive. I think I understood her to say that she was new there.\"\n\n\"I meant in bed, how was she? Better than the others?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Oh. Well, there was, er, well, no comparison.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Was she more vigorous? Sensuous? Eh?\"\n\n\"Well, yes, er, dressed or undressed, incredible. Special. Again I can't thank you enough, I owe you so much.\"\n\n\"De rien, mon vieux.\"\n\n\"It's true. Next time... next time you'll meet her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mon Dieu, no, that's a rule. Never introduce your 'special' to anyone, least of all a friend. Don't forget, until you set her up in your own place, with you paying the bills, she's available for anyone with the money—if she wants.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh. I'd forgotten,\" he had said, hiding the truth.\n\n\"Even if she's set up she could still have a lover on the side if she wants. Who's to know?\"\n\n\"I suppose so.\" More anguish.\n\n\"Don't fall in love, my friend, not with a courtesan. Take them for what they are, pleasure persons. Enjoy them, like them but don't love them—and never let them fall in love with you...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer shivered, hating the truth, hating the idea of her being with another, and bedding as they had bedded, hating that it was for money, hating the ache that was in his loins." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My God, she really was so special, lovely, liquid, a sweet chatterbox, gentle, kind, so young and only in the House for such a short time. Should I set her up? Not should, could I? I'm sure André has his own place with his special friend though he's never said, nor would I ever ask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Christ, how much would that cost?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bound to be more than I could afford...\n\nDon't think about that now! Or her.\n\nWith an effort he put his attention on the garden below but the ache remained. Part of the Highland detachment were assembling around the flagstaff, the trumpeter and four kettledrummers already in position for the lowering of the flag." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Routine. The motley group of gardeners were collecting by the gate to be counted and then dismissed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They grovelled their way through the gates and through the samurai and were gone. Routine. Sentries closed and bolted the iron gates. Routine. Drums and trumpet sounding as the Union Jack was slowly lowered—no sun sets on the British flag was British law throughout the world. Routine. Most of the samurai marching away now, leaving only a token force for the night. Routine." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyrer shivered." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your next one should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If everything's routine why am I so nervous?" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Provide 4 sentences as a continuation." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Legation gardeners trooped into their dormitory hovel that adjoined the other side of the Buddhist temple. None of them met Hiraga's gaze. All had been warned that their lives, and the lives of all their generations, depended on his safety.\n\n\"Beware of talking to strangers,\" he had told them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If the Bakufu find you've harbored me your reward will be just the same, except you will be crucified, not killed cleanly.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With all their abject protestations that he was safe, that he could trust them, Hiraga knew that he was never secure. Since the Anjo ambush ten days ago, most of the time he had been at their Kanagawa safe house, the Inn of the Midnight Blossoms. That the attack had failed and all but one of his companions killed was karma, nothing else.\n\nYesterday a letter had arrived from Katsumata, the leading, though clandestine, Satsuma shishi, now in Kyōto: Urgent: in a few weeks, Shōgun Nobusada will create an unheard-of precedent by coming here to pay the Emperor a state visit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "All shishi are advised to gather here at once to plan how to intercept him, to send him onwards, then to take possession of the Palace Gates." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Katsumata had signed his code name: Raven.\n\nHiraga had discussed what to do with Ori, then decided to return here to Yedo, determined to act alone to destroy the British Legation, furious that the Council of Elders seemed to have been bamboozled and neutralized by the gai-jin. \"Kyōto can wait, Ori. We've got to press home our attack on the gai-jin. We must infuriate them until they bombard Yedo. Others can deal with the Shōgun and Kyōto.\" He would have brought Ori but Ori was helpless, his wound worse, with no help from any doctor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What about your arm?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"When it's unbearable, I'll commit seppuku,\" Ori had said, his words slurred from the saké he was using to dampen the pain—the three of them, he, Ori and the mama-san, having a final drink together. \"Don't worry.\"\n\n\"Isn't there another doctor, a safe one?\"\n\n\"No, Hiraga-san,\" the mama-san, Noriko, said. She was a tiny woman of fifty, her voice soft." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I even sent for a Korean acupuncturist and herbalist, both friends, but the poultices have been no value. There's the giant gai-jin...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're stupid,\" Ori shouted. \"How many times must I tell you? This is a bullet wound, one of their bullets, and they saw me at Kanagawa!\"\n\n\"Please excuse me,\" the mama-san said humbly, her head to the tatami, \"please excuse this stupid person.\" She bowed again and left, but in her secret heart she was cursing Ori for failing to be a true shishi and not committing seppuku while Hiraga was here, the most perfect second a man could wish for, and so lessen the awful danger surrounding her and her House." }, { "from": "human", "value": "News of the fate of the Inn of the Forty-seven Ronin had rushed fifty ri and beyond—an outrageous retribution to kill all patrons, courtesans and servants and to spike the head of the mama-san." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Monstrous, she thought, inflamed. How can a House forbid any samurai entrance, shishi or not? In olden days samurai killed much more than today, yes, but that was centuries ago and mostly only when it was merited and not women or children. That was when the law of the land was just, Shōgun Toranaga just, his son and grandson just, before corruption and dissipation became a way of life for descendant Shōguns, daimyo and samurai alike, who for a century and more have spread their rapacious taxations over us like pus!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shishi are our only hope! Sonnojoi!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Anjo must die before we die,\" she said fervently when Hiraga had at length returned safely two days after the attack. \"We've been petrified you'd been caught and burnt with the others. It was all done on Anjo's orders, Hiraga-san, on his orders—in fact he was returning from the Inn when you attacked him near the castle gates, he had personally ordered and witnessed the executions, leaving men there in ambush in case all you shishi returned unawares.\"\n\n\"Who betrayed us, Hiraga?\" Ori had asked.\n\n\"The Mori samurai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But Akimoto said he saw them engulfed and killed.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It must have been one of them. Did anyone else escape?\"\n\n\"Akimoto—he hid out in another Inn for a day and a night.\"\n\n\"Where is he now?\"\n\nNoriko said, \"He's occupied—shall I send for him?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No. Tomorrow I will see him.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 2 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Anjo must pay in blood for the Inn—that's against all custom!\"\n\n\"He will. So will the roju. So will Shōgun Nobusada. And so will Yoshi.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Write four sentences sentences in the style of James Clavell spawning from what the user wrote." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In his private quarters high up in the castle keep, Yoshi was composing a poem. He wore a blue silk kimono and sat at a low table, an oil lamp on it and sheets of rice paper, brushes of different thicknesses, water to soften the block of jet ink that now had a tiny, inviting pool in the hollowed-out center.\n\nTwilight was becoming night. From outside the hum of Yedo's million souls was ever present." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A few houses on fire as usual." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the castle below the comforting, muted noise of soldiers, hooves on cobblestones, an occasional throaty laugh wafting upwards with the smoke and smells of the cooking fires through the decorative, bowman openings in the vast walls, not yet shuttered against the night chill.\n\nThis was his inner sanctum. Spartan. Tatamis, a tokonoma, the shoji door in front of him so positioned and lit that he could see the shape of any figure outside but no one there could look within.\n\nOutside this room was a larger anteroom with corridors leading off it to sleeping quarters, empty at present except for retainers, maids and Koiko, his special favorite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His family—his wife, two sons and a daughter, his consort and her son—were all safe and heavily guarded in his hereditary, fortress castle, Dragon's Tooth, in the mountains some twenty ri northwards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beyond this antechamber were guards and other rooms with other guards, all sworn to his personal service.\n\nHis brush dipped into the ink pool. He poised the point over the delicate rice paper then wrote firmly:\n\nSword of my fathers" }, { "from": "human", "value": "When in my hands" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 1 sentence." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Twists uneasily" } ]