The Diary of Haruti Sugiyama , Pirate , on the Third Day of the Fifth Moon
Harrow International School Hong Kong , Jamison , Philippa – 10
T onight , after 10 days at sea , we finally reached the Chinese city of Shanghai , which lies a half day ’ s sailing up a wide river . We came in under cover of darkness . From the ship , we could see the massive walls of the town , casting a shadow over the many junks anchored in the wide channel .
Our first thought was how we could manage to enter the city through such impressive defences . Ten of our best men and I quietly rowed ashore in our small boat . The quayside was in total darkness , except for a few torches burning by the massive granite gate which was the entry from the riverside to the city . We cautiously approached the gate , we saw it was shut for the night , and a night guard was sitting on a barrel beside it eating a dish of dumplings . We were wondering how we would get past him . One of our crew , conveniently , can speak Chinese and he started a conversation with the guard . The guard was a fat , sleepy man and his head was shaved , so that there was a pigtail of black hair . Luckily , he looked very bored and was only too keen to accept our present of opium . After some minutes he was looking extremely dazed and drowsy . We were able to help ourselves to the man ’ s heavy iron keys . The keys turned and unlocked the gate with a satisfying clunk . We were in !
Beyond the gate lay a warren of narrow lanes , barely wide enough for 2 men to pass . The city is a wealthy one , with well-built houses made of stone , roofed in green tiles . There was no light but for the occasional oil lamp in a window . We crept down the deserted lane , which was evidently a street of carpenters , for there were stalls selling lacquer chests and camphor boxes . We were making for the City God Temple at the heart of the city , for there we knew we would find silver and gold , and other plunder to sell in Japan . We passed other streets now , of shoe makers and butchers , until we turned a corner and saw the beautifully decorated Temple in front of us . It is a 5-storied pagoda , with handsome curved tiled roofs .
We crept slowly inside the temple , just in case someone was expecting us . Nobody was there . It was silent . There was gold and silver , shimmering in the dimly lit building and we gathered all the treasure we could find . As we were raiding the building , we were very cautious , as the City God Temple was a very important place and who knows what would have happened if we were caught raiding it . When we had gathered all we could carry , we slipped quietly out of the building , back down the narrow street towards the river .
The sky showed the first sign of light , and we realised that the morning was not far off . The streets were waking up now . Tradesmen were opening up their stalls for the day . Men carried water in wooden pots hung on a pole , others wheeled barrows of of things to sell noisily over the granite cobbles . People looked at us strangely , because our clothes are different from the Chinese people , but I think they could tell it was not wise to challenge us , and we passed without problems . We walked down a narrow alleyway which seemed to lead to the poorer part of the town . Deciding that there was nothing valuable to take , we wandered back to the gate . We wondered if the guard might try to stop us , but luckily he was still drowsy from the opium . He was lying on a bed , and seemed to be swearing and criticising his daughter who was cleaning the steps outside the guard house . We walked over and for the first time , saw the guard ’ s daughter . She was extremely pretty , although her clothes were poor . Her hair was in a high plait and was pinned down so there was a loop in it . It was obvious that the other pirates found her attractive as well . She was not only beautiful , but very persuasive . I decided on impulse that we would take her with us . I grabbed her by the hand and we ran through the gate and onto the quayside . In a moment we were back on the water . On the quayside we could see a crowd of men gathering , looking angrily at our ship , but they did not dare to follow .
We pulled up our anchor , and the strong current of the river pushed our ship away from the quay , and towards the sea . Within a few minutes the grey walls of the old city disappeared from view , and we hoisted our sails for the open sea and Japan . The elders of our village will be pleased with the treasure we have taken tonight . The girl turned out to be a great asset . She married our captain , Ching Yi and became a famous pirate in her own right . Her name is