Mazai

Mazai, the king’s nephew and a highly accomplished falconer, is introduced as a poised nobleman whose expertise cannot shield him from illness. His later fever and sore throat bring him into the care of Hohsalle, turning a figure associated with royal skill and competition into a patient confronting uncertainty about a new remedy.

Identity and Falconry

Falconry is treated as a noble accomplishment: the royal family’s men learn to raise and train falcons from childhood. Mazai has made that training a field of distinction. He is a prizewinner who regularly vies for first place, and Hohsalle remarks that he appears calm enough to read where the prey is from the hounds’ baying and his falcon’s behavior. His composure before the hunt reflects not merely rank but practiced command of the event.

Family and the Hunt

Mazai’s eldest son is Izam, who stands beside him at the field with Olimu, the son of Yotalu. Olimu is Mazai’s nephew. The boys’ pale, tense faces contrast with Mazai’s calm: the public spectacle of the hunt is charged with anticipation even as its leading falconer appears untroubled.

The contrast shifts after the hunt. When Mazai enters with Izam, the boy is two years older than Olimu and already as tall as his father, though still slender. His ankle is bandaged, a visible injury that draws Makokan’s sympathy. Hohsalle invites Mazai to the window, then attends to Mazai’s own bandaged arm, cleaning his hands before disinfecting and carefully examining the wound.

Illness and Treatment

Later, Mazai’s cheeks are flushed, and he acknowledges that his throat has been sore for a little while. He looks toward the syringe on the bedside table and tells Hohsalle that he asked Doctor Milalle to inject him with the new remedy. She refused. Mazai’s parched lips and shoulders heaving with each breath make the question behind that refusal immediate: he asks Hohsalle why.

The scene follows Hohsalle’s warning that diseases may remain harmless for ages and then suddenly become enemies. Mazai’s symptoms make that warning personal. His falconry depends on reading subtle signs in the field; now he must attend to signs in his own body, while the proposed treatment remains withheld. The evidence establishes his concern and the refusal, but not its explanation or the outcome of his illness.