Michelle Yeoh credited as playing...
Mameha
- Mameha: [explaining sex to Sayuri] Every once in a while, a man's "eel" likes to visit a woman's... "cave."
- Sayuri Nitta: Yes, I know.
- Mameha: You do?
- Sayuri Nitta: I live with Hatsumomo.
- Mameha: [in voiceover] Remember, Chiyo, geisha are not courtesans. And we are not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word "geisha" means artist and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art.
- Hatsumomo: [entertaining at the teahouse] Sayuri. A name as sweet as she is. I'm afraid these days even the common chambermaid can call herself a geisha. So, it's nice to see such a sincere young maiko, isn't it?
- Mameha: [to Sayuri] Surely you would like to thank Hatsumomo for her gracious compliments.
- Sayuri Nitta: [serving tea] There is so much I would like to say to Hatsumomo.
- Hatsumomo: [laughing] Sometimes the smartest remark is silence
- Sayuri Nitta: What better advise to follow than your own.
- Mameha: [to Chiyo] Your cave is untouched. Men like that. We call this "mizuage". And to become a full geisha, you must sell it to the highest bidder.
- Mameha: [speaking of Nobu] What is he to think? He safeguarded your life.
- Sayuri Nitta: So now he owns it?
- Mameha: I'm wonder why Mrs. Nitta has not adopted Hatsumomo?
- Sayuri Nitta: That would be like releasing the tiger from its cage.
- Mameha: [while teaching Sayuri] You cannot call yourself a truse geisha until you can stop a man in his tracks with a single look.
- Mameha: [about the Baron losing the bidding] No man would bid so much for a thing he had already taken.
- Narrator (Old Sayuri): The winter I turned fifteen I saw the chairman again, but that wasn't the only surprise fate brought me that season. Along with the snow came a most unexpected visitor.
- Mother: Why is she here? Chiyo, Chiyo, open the gate!
- [motioning for her to open the door and straigtening herself before going to her table]
- Mameha: Now that your beloved granny has gone you have no need for a maid.
- Mother: I would never question the great Mameha, but you could choose anyone in the Hanamachi.
- Mameha: You flatter me, truly.
- [bowering her head in compliment]
- Mother: I would give you my pumpkin if she weren't already tied to Hatsumomo.
- Mameha: Please I would never dream of asking
- Mother: Besides, I can always sell Chiyo to Mrs. Tetsuyo.
- [smoking her cigerette]
- Mameha: With your eye for beauty and nose for talent,surely you can see what a terrible waste that would be.
- Mother: If you were not the kind hearted Geisha I know you to be, then I might think that you werescheming against Hatsumomo.
- [looking towards the door where Chiyo and Pumpkin are listening]
- Mameha: Then I'm grateful Mrs. Nita that you don't have a suspicious mind.
- Mother: Perhaps you can pique my interest with... your offer.
- Mameha: I will cover Chiyo's schooling, all her expenses, until after her debut.
- [proposing as she slides her cup across the table]
- Mother: Now I am confident that you are teasing.
- [pouring more tea]
- Mameha: I could not be more sincere. If Chiyo has not repaid her debt within six months after her debut.
- Mother: [scoffing] Impossible, too little time!
- Mameha: Then I will pay you twice over.
- [uping the offer]
- Mother: What...? No Geisha could ever...
- [pushing the tea towards Mameha]
- Mameha: And I am certain you will not object to one trivial condition.
- Mother: Uh yes...?
- [puts down pipe, listening intently]
- Mameha: If Chiyo erases her debt in the time allowed, You will not have any part in her future earnings.
- Mother: [smirks in acceptance]
- Mameha: We do not become Geisha to pursue our own destinies. We become Geisha because we have no other choice.
- Sayuri Nitta: About your kimono...
- Mameha: There's no need to apoligize. I'm not foolish. Hatsumomo cannot tolerate competition.
- Sayuri Nitta: She is jealous of you?
- Mameha: Not me I'm afraid. Someone closer to home.