The Heat of the Sun

closer and closer the ship will come, until cannon thunders in the harbour, signalling its arrival; one fine day I’ll wait for the man
who climbs Higashi Hill from the crowded city below; at first a speck, he will grow and grow in my sight, and at the summit of the hill he’ll call my name. One fine day.
    Suzuki does not believe a word of it.
    Enter Sharpless, the consul. He has received a letter from Pinkerton, who is returning after all. Still, Sharpless is grave: Pinkerton has married an American lady and has asked his old friend
to break the news (gently, of course) to Butterfly. Sharpless, for now, has no chance to proceed. Goro the nakodo is here again; Butterfly, the marriage broker insists, must take another husband.
Look at the fine suitor he offers her this time! It is Prince Yamadori, a Japanese nobleman who has lived much abroad. Yamadori is a posturing fool. Absurdly, he pleads his cause. Yes, he has made
other marriages, it is true, but all his other wives he will cast aside for the love of Madame Butterfly.
    Outraged, she refuses to listen. She has a husband! And her husband will return! Sharpless despairs. What, he asks Butterfly, if Pinkerton is not to be trusted? Perhaps, he ventures, she should
accept Yamadori. She turns from him, affronted. She will never give up Pinkerton. And, as if to prove that Pinkerton must be hers again, she runs to fetch the little boy of whose existence neither
Pinkerton nor Sharpless has been apprised before.
    The boy’s name, declares his mother, is Trouble. But on the day of his father’s return, his name shall change to Joy.
    Now comes the sound of cannon from the harbour. A ship! A ship! Butterfly rushes to the terrace. The vessel flies an American flag, and, looking through the telescope she keeps for this purpose,
she sees that its name is the Abraham Lincoln .
    Pinkerton has returned! Deliriously, Butterfly calls to Suzuki. They must celebrate his homecoming! They must strew flowers throughout the house! For hours they work in the garden, cutting every
flower; soon, flowers fill every space; petals carpet the floor; the fragrance is overwhelming as Butterfly arrays herself in her wedding garments and decks out Trouble in his finest clothes.
    Night falls. Oh, when will Pinkerton come? In the shoji screen that is drawn against the darkness, Butterfly, Suzuki, and Trouble make three holes, and through the holes they watch expectantly.
Hours go by. Trouble sleeps. Suzuki sleeps. Butterfly thinks none should sleep. Her vigil can end only when Pinkerton returns. Slowly, a new dawn bleeds into the darkness.
    Waking, Suzuki persuades her mistress to rest at last: is she not to look her best when her husband comes? (Poor Suzuki! She has had the measure of Pinkerton from the first.) Suzuki sends
Trouble out to play in the garden. But look, here comes Sharpless – and Pinkerton is with him! Suzuki is startled: were Pinkerton’s promises true after all? Receiving him warmly, she
tells him how her mistress has prepared for this homecoming: the costumes, the flowers, the vigil. What joy will fill her now!
    Every word is a dagger in Pinkerton’s heart. He had only wanted Suzuki’s advice on how to break the news to Butterfly of his marriage. Suzuki sees that something is wrong and,
turning towards the garden, she becomes aware of a lady standing there: a foreign lady, in a sweeping gown. It is Kate Pinkerton – and perhaps, even now, her gaze lights upon the boy called
Trouble; and Trouble, leaving off his play, looks up at her wonderingly.
    Kate Pinkerton sails into the house as Butterfly, alerted by voices, emerges from her chamber, filled with excitement to greet her husband again. Instead, she stops and stares.
    She sees Kate Pinkerton. And, in a trice, Butterfly knows.
    Despair fills Sharpless. The tragedy, he thinks, is upon them now, but he is precipitate. Butterfly is calm, surprisingly so; it is Pinkerton, bidding farewell to the life he knew in this house
on Higashi Hill, who is overcome with emotion. What a carefree fellow he has been! All that has gone now. Never, he realizes, shall he be free from remorse. Never, he realizes, shall he forget
Butterfly’s eyes, gazing at him in sorrowful reproach. He is ready to curse himself. He is ready to break down. But the women display exemplary calm. Is Kate Pinkerton shocked by her
husband’s past? Not a bit of it! The little Japanese girl is a charming plaything, delightful; as for the child, they