Summary

Chiyo asks Auntie what a jorou-ya is, and she is told it is where Hatsumomo will end up if there is any justice. Chiyo begins to plan how she might sneak out and get to Tatsuyo, but she is confined to the okiyo for fifty days as part of her punishment. Meanwhile, she works at making Granny and Hatsumomo pay for their cruelty by adding pigeon droppings to Hatsumomo’s face cream and using her toilet rag on Granny’s sleeping robe. The cook makes Chiyo pay even more by cutting back her bi-monthly rations of fish. To repay her, Chiyo scatters mouse droppings throughout the kitchen. One night the phone rings, and Yoko brings Chiyo Hatsumomo’s shamisen, telling her she must take it to the Mizuki teahouse immediately. Since all of the others are asleep, Chiyo slips out, using the opportunity...