The Training Grounds at the Onan Circular Rivers

Where the Onan River wound through the steppes were found the weekend houses of the Great Khan’s select and most entertaining. The rivers followed the glacier carved, softly undulating terrain of the steppes, creating a natural wonder there: the confluence of the circular rivers. Here the still youthful William would take to the river and follow its annular paths, sometimes upstream, sometimes down, but most often all three directions at the same time. His junk, captured from a troupe of Nipponese acrobats lost in the Sea of Okhotsk, was his favorite, making the needed turns, tacks, flips and reversals with verve. He, of course, festooned the junk with help from the naturally aesthetic acrobats, now fast friends after the stifling fear of enslavement wore off. They told him tales of the great land of Hokkaido, where the warriors were wonderful and fit, and the onigiri and makizushi were heavenly.