House of Trembling Leaves, The by Julian Lees Page A

worse.’’
    He motioned with his eyes and she got down on her knees. The tip of the blade scraped her chin. His hands went to her breasts.
    â€˜â€˜It is my experience that a terrified victim is more useful than a dead one.’’
    Sum Sum closed her eyes. She understood. She had to do this to protect Lu See.
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    â€˜â€˜You say Buddhism doesn’t share the hallmarks of other faiths; perhaps you could elaborate.’’
    Lu See thought for a minute, her spine rigid as an ironing board. ‘‘Well, to start with Zen Buddhists don’t believe in a transcendent God or Gods. Nor is there a concept of heaven or hell. Instead they focus on reincarnation and the attainment of nirvana.’’
    â€˜â€˜But nirvana is heaven is it not?’’
    â€˜â€˜If you ask a Muslim or a Christian, heaven is a place , somewhere you hope to go when you die. Even for Hindus, in the Mahabharata it is written that the Pandavas go to heaven and the Kauravas descend to hell.’’
    â€˜â€˜So if nirvana is not a place, what would you classify it as …?’’
    â€˜â€˜It’s a state of mind.’’
    Miss Watts-Thynne nodded. ‘‘How strong are you on the Christian teachings?’’
    â€˜â€˜Not terribly. I can’t quote long tracts from the gospels. Should have paid more attention in Church.’’
    They all smiled politely. Dr Brooks took a hit from her pipe and showed off her yellow teeth. Lu See smiled back. This is going quite well , she heard herself think.
    â€˜â€˜The Passion of Christ,’’ Miss Watts-Thynne continued. ‘‘Tell me why in theological terms the word ‘passion’ is significant. Doesn’t passion imply sexual love, or a strong emotion towards something?’’
    Hell! I ought to know this. The Passion always refers to the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Accounts of the Passion are found in all four canonical gospels, but from where do the doctrinal roots to the word originate? She was in a bind here. She racked her brains.
    â€˜â€˜Let me give you nudge. You do know, by the end of year one you’ll be asked to master one of the Scriptural languages, either Hebrew, Sanskrit or Ancient Greek.’’
    Lu See looked down at her hands. The answer must lie in the etymological origins of the word. God, how I wish I had Ah-Ba’s dictionary here. Passion: from the Greek word …? She drew another blank. She tried not to panic. She made another attempt. Passion: from the Latin word ‘passio’ meaning suffering. That’s it! The relationship between holiness and suffering.
    She gave them her answer. There was much nodding of heads all round.
    Next, they talked about the current vogue for cubist painting and atonal music, wanted to know her views on Stalin, the Moscow show trials and the recent Japanese incursions in China. After this, they discussed college life and the syllabus and then Dr Coutts asked Lu See whether she was available to sit a special entrance examination in early September.
    â€˜â€˜Yes, of course, I’d be honoured to.’’
    â€˜â€˜There’ll be a general paper and one on comparative religions.’’ As she stood up to leave Miss Watts-Thynne handed her a long reading list of theological texts as well as a card that allowed her the use of the Divinity School library. ‘‘Do your very best and we hope to see you here at the start of Michaelmas term in October.’’
    Moments later Lu See emerged from the dark study into the bright mid-morning sunlight. Before the interview she might as well have had lead weights clamped to her feet. Now her tread was much lighter, as though wings had been sewn to her ankles. Feeling as if she’d been dismantled and put back together again, she rode her bicycle down Huntington Road with her head abuzz with thoughts: That went well, I think. I hope they liked me. A