House of Geishas

TRANSLATION House of Geishas Ana María Shua [originally published as Casa degeishas (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1992)] Selections translated by David William Foster "The Recruitment" The first women are apparently recruited at random. Yet once assembled, certain outlines in thegroup can be observed, an organization which, ifemphasized, could become a style. The madam is now looking for the women still needed, not just any women, but only those who fill in the gaps defined by the others. It is now possible to discern the sort ofbrothel in the making and even what kind ofclientele it might attract. Like a book ofstories or poems, or even a novel. Simulacrum Clearly, it is not a real House, and the geishas are not reallyJapanese. During times ofcrises, they can be seen without kimonos working the docks, and although their names might not be Jade or Lotus Flower, Monica and Vanessa are not their real names either. So there is no reason to be scandalized by how the boarders ofthe House who simulate pleasure and at times even love (for more money, ofcourse) might not be women after all, as long as they meet the sanitary code. There is no reason to be concerned by the fact that they might not even be transvestites, so long as they pay their taxes, or that they might not even have a belly button so long as the clients are not bothered by this somewhat brutal absence from bellies that are so smooth, so inhumanly smooth. "Rosaura" Rosaura is the most generous one ofall, the one with the sex that knows how to grip, which she rents to men and lends to women. Thanks to Rosauras sex, any woman can grip and hold fast the man she loves indefinitely, or a client who has not paid her fee. But she has no choice but to release them when called upon to return it to its rightful owner, generous Rosaura. SPRING 1999 * ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * 91 "Being Partial" The looks of men are partial. Consequently, those who hawk their wares from doorways might praise, for example, a pair of turgid, tempting buttocks. Someone so attracted might be surprised to discover the strict truth of the hawker's words: these buttocks exist exactly as described and there waiting for him are just the buttocks, lying solitary and beautiful on the bed, free ofany body to hold them up or any woman attached to them. "Bonds" Many men like to be tied up, and the quality of the bonds varies, as you might expect, in accordance with the wealth ofthe desiring victim, from bonds ofsilk to even bonds ofblood. In the end, nothing binds like the responsibility ofa family, undoubtedly the most expensive ofpleasurable sufferings. "Sophistication" For the most sophisticated (and let us agree that it is a very expensive perversion), Madam is willing to agree to provide even the services of their own wives. "Masochists" An entire wing is dedicated to those melancholic and generous clients, the masochists . There is a series of rooms in which suffering is measured out in accordance with the degree ofpain provided by the stimuli. If the first room contains women who inflict punishment, the sixth room offers copulation with a crocodile , the eighth, with the memory oflost happiness. "She Who Is Not Here" No woman is more successful that She Who Is Not Here. Although still young, many years ofconscious practice have perfected her in the subtlest art ofabsence. Clients who ask for her end up making do with someone else, and they take her distractedly, attempting to imagine that the one in their arms is the best, the only one, She Who Is Not There. Six ringers Those how know her and have tried her call her Six Fingers, but her sixth finger is retractable, and nothingabout that perfectly smooth hand suggests its existence. Rumor has it that only on occasion and only for certain clients does that sixth finger appear, extending itselflike a red, fuzzy worm capable ofmaking the world 92 + ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * SPRING 1999 Translation: House of Geishas explode in rhythmic pleasure, only for the best, like me, everyone says. Would anyone be the first to admit that...