'The Wolf of Harbin'

Chapter 23

One of the great herbal systems of the world, Chinese Medicine has unbroken traditions reaching back as far as the third century BC. It's based on the concept of Yin and Yang: two halves like night and day or female and male together forming a complete whole. The healing is a process of observing this balance.

The afternoon of the second day into the third evening of the Jewish festival of Hanukah: Monday, 14 December 1925

When his shift ended at three o'clock it was almost dark. A messenger was waiting for him by the green gates to the rear of the hotel. The messenger carried a note reminding him of his promise to visit an apothecary with Wolf today and there was an address. Yesterday, they'd been so busy the original errand had been quite forgotten. Wolf clearly didn't need him as a bodyguard but for some reason he wanted to introduce him to aspects of Chinese culture. Perhaps, to balance out the things he'd shown him yesterday evening?

He met Wolf standing outside a shop in Apothecary Street, a road just opposite his own home in Caucasus Street. It was certainly much nearer than going over to Fujiadian and, as they went into the shop, the sensation of entering a completely foreign world - where he understood almost nothing, and everything felt new - was enjoyable and exciting.

Inside, behind a long wooden counter, the shop's walls were lined with dark wooden drawers, each labelled with at least twenty Chinese characters. "These drawer," explained Wolf, "contain special root and leaf for help with healing." Seeing Wolf, the old pharmacist beamed and begged his forgiveness for keeping him waiting whilst he finished serving an elderly woman who was seated at a table. Wolf waved the man away; it was no problem, and instead noticed Meyer looking at the drawers some of which were open.

Wolf pointed to a few of the drawers and to some of the blue and white ceramic pots above. He began translating a number of the labels that were ingredients for the Chinese medicine. There was: wheat, buckwheat, fennel, magnolia flower, honey locust fruit, the branches and leaves of the mulberry, hawthorn, malt, lychee, hibiscus and dandelion. Although he'd only translated a fraction of all the many pots and drawers, Wolf paused - something else had taken his fancy. He pointed to a large white sign standing above the drawers behind the counter. He translated the sign as, " 'Try to be good man with warm heart. Say something good and do something right.' This," he began explaining to Meyer, "is kind of principle for live by." And Wolf nodded his head with approval. Was this the guiding principle in Wolf's life wondered Meyer? How the dragonhead viewed his business empire?

Once the old woman left, the pharmacist bowed to Wolf, and smiled in Meyer's direction, before picking up a small and rounded black hat, and placing it delicately on his head. The consultation had begun. The apothecary invited Wolf over to a table and they sat side by side while, Meyer guessed, Wolf told the old man his symptoms. The apothecary removed his round spectacles and listened carefully before producing a small cushion for Wolf's elbow and listening to the pulse of both wrists. There was a rather splendid clock on the table and a vase of dried flowers. It made this corner of the shop like an office.

Wolf seemed to know the old apothecary well. With one wrinkled hand scratching the grey hairs that poked from the base of his hat, the man listened carefully to the dragonhead's complaints. His eyes never left his special customer and when Wolf finished he asked a few short questions. Then, replacing his spectacles, the man produced some paper and started to write a list of ingredients in broad but precise strokes as his pen travelled down the page from the right.

Once he'd done this, the old apothecary stood, bowed to Wolf, and moved back to his counter where he began opening various drawers, all the time closely following what he'd written. As he brought out each ingredient in turn - just as they were laid out in his list with those curious strikes that signified Chinese numbers - he inspected each, peering at them, rubbing them between thumb and forefinger and sniffing them. He examined some through a magnifying glass and once made quick calculations on an abacus. Each part of the prescription was weighed precisely using bronze hand scales that he balanced carefully.