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Renew online by choosing the My Library Account option at: http://www.library.illinois.edu/catalog/ DEL 0 3 2015 | yr wil i8 it 4 1) * va! ‘ 7 } vj 2 i \ \ i} , f yy bend ' + vr a | r] cy: ‘eS i : Pee Lee oe 9 May) gus Ws me's ‘ itl * _ THE LIBRARY OF THE x UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS | a COURT DRESS OF MILITARY OFFICIAL By LADY MURASAKI THE JAPANESE _ ARTHUR WALEY bp BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1 Cambridge Hf gene W f A eT eke Ry CN hg er ey Dae nS (i Tw) ww +e M 33,5 \A) To BERYL DE ZOETE ea 586642 PREFACE EADERS of the Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan, R’ translated by Madame Omori and Professor Doi, will remember that the second of the three diaries is that of a certain Murasaki Shikibu. The little that is known of this lady’s life has been set forth by Miss Amy Lowell in her Intro- duction to that book. A few dates, most of them very insecure, will be found in Appendix I of this volume. It is, however, certain that Murasaki was born in the last quarter of the tenth century, that she lost her husband in 1001, and that a few years later she became lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko. We know that she was chosen for this post on account of her pro- ficiency in Chinese, a subject which the young Empress was anx- ioustostudy. Akiko was then about sixteen, so that Murasaki’s position in the house was what, in our parlance, we should call that of ‘governess’ rather than of lady-in-waiting. Akiko, though officially espoused to the Emperor, was still living at home, and her father soon began to pay somewhat embarrassing attentions to the new governess. From the Diary we know that on one occasion at any rate his solicitations were refused. Was the Tale of Genji or any part of it already written when Murasaki came to Court? We only know that in a passage of the Diary which apparently refers to the year 1008 she speaks of her novel having been read out loud to the Emperor. His majesty’s comment (‘This is a learned lady; she must have been reading the Chronicle of Japan’) shows that what was read to him must have been the opening chapter of the tale. For in the whole work there is only one sentence which could possibly remind any one of the Nzhongi (‘Chronicle of Japan’), and that is the con- clusion of Chapter I. So though we may be certain that the first few books were already written in 1008, it is quite possible that 8 PREFACE the whole fifty-four were not finished till long afterwards. But from the Sarashina Diary, the first of the three contained in the Court Ladies of Old Japan, we know that the Tale of Genji in its complete form was already a classic in the year 1022. The un- known authoress of this diary spent her childhood in a remote province. Her great pleasure was to read romances; but except at the Capital they were hard to come by. She prays fervently to Buddha to bring her quickly to KyGto, and let her read ‘dozens and dozens of stories.’ In 1022 she at last arrives at Court and her wildest dreams are fulfilled. Packed in a big box her aunt sends round ‘the fifty-odd chapters of Genjz’ and a whole library of shorter fairy-tales and romances. ‘Are there really such people as this in the world? Were Genji my lover, though he should come to me but once in the whole year, how happy I should be! Or were I Lady Ukifune in her mountain home, gazing as the months go by at flowers, red autumn leaves, moonlight and snow; happy, despite loneliness and mis- fortune, in the thought that at any moment the wonderful letter might come... .’ Such were the réverzes of one who read the Tale of Genjz more than nine hundred years ago. I think that, could they but read it in the original, few readers would feel that in all those cen- turies the charm of the book had in any way evaporated. The task of translation in such a case is bound to be arduous and discouraging; but I have all the time been spurred by the belief that I am translating by far the greatest novel of the East, and one which, even if compared with the fiction of Europe, takes its place as one of the dozen greatest masterpieces of the world. CONTENTS PREFACE . . ° ° . . ° LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS . GENEALOGICAL TABLES. : ; ; CHAPTER I. KIRITSUBO ; ; ‘ ‘ II. THE BROOM-TREE . Y : ‘ . III. UTSUSEMI. " ; ‘ ; ; ; Wek @UGAO 5. ‘ ; A : : : V. MURASAKI . : . ° VI. THE SAFFRON-FLOWER . . VII. THE FESTIVAL OF RED LEAVES VilI. THE FLOWER FEAST . . . : IX. AOI . ° ° . . = APPENDICES. . ° . PAGE II 13 17 39 81 92 135 180 211 239 250 LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS Aol, PRINCESS ASAGAO, PRINCESS EMPEROR, THE FUJITSUBO. GENJI, PRINCE HyosBuxky6, PRINCE Iyo No SUKE Ki No Kami. KIRITSUBO KOKIDEN KOREMITSU Lert, MINISTER OF THE MoMOZONO, PRINCE MURASAKI (ALPHABETICAL) Genji’s wife. Daughter of Prince Momozono. Courted in vain by Genji from his 17th year onward. Genji’s father. The Emperor’s consort. Loved by Genji. Sister of Prince Hydbuky6 ; aunt of Murasaki. Son of the Emperor and his con- cubine Kiritsubo. Brother of Fujitsubo; father of Murasaki. Husband of Utsusemi. Son of Iyo no Kami, also called lyo no Suke. Concubine of the Emperor; Genji’s mother. The Emperor’s original consort ; later supplanted by Kiritsubo and Fujitsubo successively. Genji’s retainer. Father of Aoi. Father of Princess Asagao. Child of Prince Hyébuky6. Adopted by Genji. Becomes his second wife. 11 12 MyosBu . NOKIBA NO OGI OBOROZUKIYO, PRINCESS OmyoBu . RIGHT, MINISTER OF THE . RokuJjO, PRINCESS SHONAGON SUYETSUMUHANA, PRINCESS TO no CuHtjo UKON : UTSUSEMI YUGaAo THE TALE OF GENJI A young Court lady who introduces Genji to Princess Suyetsumuhana. Kino Kami’s sister. Sister of Kokiden. Fujitsubo’s maid. Father of Kokiden. Widow of the Emperor’s brother, Prince Zemb6. Genji’s mistress from his 17th year onward. Murasaki’s nurse. Daughter of Prince Hitachi. A timid and eccentric lady. Genji’s_ brother-in-law and _ great friend. Yuagao’s maid. Wife of the provincial governor, lyo no Suke. Courted by Genji. Mistress first of T6 no Chij6 then of Genji. Dies bewitched. ‘(aselizew rswr0j © fq) IDO ON WaIHON ‘(osel3zeur Jourzoy e” Aq) INVYT ON IX | | *(TwWesns}Q JO pueqsny) INVSM ON OAI ‘(s,1fuaxy Ayyeor ‘ s,ro1edwuy oy} oq 0} posoddns) aiIH9 “OMNSLI[NT *(ajtMm puodes s,1fu9y) INVSVUNI | ‘QAMNGOAPT AONTYG | | ‘MOUAdWA UVAWMOA V ‘(x0ozq8Nep Y}XIS) OAINNZOANOIO NAGIVOM | | | ‘LHDIM AHL AO UALSINIW “IfNaY NAVY | *IOVMINSV YH ‘TAINO A — “VAIWA ON NVS | Gey ‘ofnHD ON OL ele | "10y— 5* ‘ ‘(oqnszury ~ ‘(UepryoM seM JoyjOUW sty) sem I9qjOUI sty) IfNa4y INDUVddY ATH "qe" 903 ‘OVOVSY SSHONIUG | | JO 1oySTUTW OY “aM | | ‘VAINQ SSHONTUG ‘ONOZONOW FZONIZG MOUMAIWNA AHL tt Lo VANAD mc 5 ag ie ee yg ee Pr sekereds te ST IDVT TV OPIOT (z0}48Nep ysopye) ‘AST JO NIDUIA IVISTA ‘sunod porp pue ‘Ofnuoy Adv] ‘wm ‘OGWAZ AONIUG THE TALE OF GENJI THE TALE OF GENJI CHAPTER I KIRITSUBO: T the Court of an Emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, who though she was not of very high rank was favoured far beyond all the rest; so that the great ladies of the Palace, each of whom had secretly hoped that she herself would be chosen, looked with scorn and hatred upon the upstart who had dispelled their dreams. Still less were her former companions, the minor ladies of the Wardrobe, content to see her raised so far above them. Thus her position at Court, preponderant though it was, exposed her to constant jealousy and ill will; and soon, worn out with petty vexations, she fell into a decline, growing very melancholy and retiring frequently to her home. But the Emperor, so far from wearying of her now that she was no longer well or gay, grew every day more tender, and paid not the smallest heed to those who reproved him, till his conduct became the talk of all the land; and even his own barons and courtiers began to look askance at an attachment so ill-advised. They whispered among themselves that in the Land Beyond the Sea such happenings had led to * This chapter should be read with indulgence. In it Murasaki, still under the influence of her somewhat childish predecessors, writes in a manner which is a blend of the Court chronicle with the conventional fairy-tale. 2 17 18 THE TALE OF GENJI riot and disaster. The people of the country did indeed soon have many grievances to show: and some likened her to Yang Kuei-fei, the mistress of Ming Huang.! Yet, for all this discontent, so great was the sheltering power of her master’s love that none dared openly molest her. Her father, who had been a Councillor, was dead. Her mother, who never forgot that the father was in his day a man of some consequence, managed despite all difficulties to give her as good an upbringing as generally falls to the lot of young ladies whose parents are alive and at the height of fortune. It would have helped matters greatly if there had been some influential guardian to busy himself on the child’s behalf. Unfortunately, the mother was entirely alone in the world and sometimes, when troubles came, she felt wery bitterly the lack of anyone to whom she could turn for comfort and advice. But to return to the daughter. In due time she bore him a little Prince who, perhaps because in some previous life a close bond had joined them, turned out as fine and likely a man-child as well might be in all the land. The Emperor could hardly contain himself during the days of waiting.2 But when, at the earliest possible moment, the child was presented at Court, he saw that rumour had not exaggerated its beauty. His eldest born prince was the son of Lady Kokiden, the daughter of the Minister of the Right, and this child was treated by all with the respect due to an undoubted Heir Apparent. But he was not so fine a child as the new prince; moreover the Emperor’s great affection for the new child’s mother made him feel the boy to be in a peculiar sense his own possession. Unfortunately she was not of the same rank as the courtiers who waited upon him in : Famous Emperor of the T‘ang dynasty in China; lived a.p. 685-762 » The child of an Emperor could not be shown to him for several weeks after its birth. KIRITSUBO 19 the Upper Palace, so that despite his love for her, and though she wore all the airs of a great lady, it was not without considerable qualms that he now made it his practice to have her by him not only when there was to be some entertainment, but even when any business of importance was afoot. Sometimes indeed he would keep her when he woke in the morning, not letting her go back to her lodging, so that willy-nilly she acted the part of a Lady-in-Perpetual-Attendance. Seeing all this, Lady Kokiden began to fear that the new prince, for whom the Emperor seemed to have so marked a preference, would if she did not take care soon be promoted to the Eastern Palace.t But she had, after all, priority over her rival; the Emperor had loved her devotedly and she had born him princes, It was even now chiefly the fear of her reproaches that made him uneasy about his new way of life. Thus, though his mis- tress could be sure of his protection, there were many who sought to humiliate her, and she felt so weak in herself that it seemed to her at last as though all the honours heaped upon her had brought with them terror rather than joy. Her lodging was in the wing called Kiritsubo. It was but natural that the many ladies whose doors she had to pass on her repeated journeys to the Emperor’s room should have grown exasperated; and sometimes, when these comings and goings became frequent beyond measure, it would happen that on bridges and in corridors, here or there along the way that she must go, strange tricks were played to frighten her or unpleasant things were left lying about which spoiled the dresses of the ladies who accom- panied her. Once indeed some one locked the door of a t I.e. be made Heir Apparent. 2 She herself was of course carried in a litter. 20 THE TALE OF GENJI portico, so that the poor thing wandered this way and that for a great while in sore distress. So many were the miseries into which this state of affairs now daily brought © her that the Emperor could no longer endure to witness her vexations and moved her to the Kordden. In order to make room for her he was obliged to shift the Chief Lady of the Wardrobe to lodgings outside. So far from improving matters he had merely procured her a new and most embittered enemy ! The young prince was now three years old. The Putting on of the Trousers was performed with as much ceremony as in the case of the Heir Apparent. Marvellous gifts flowed from the Imperial Treasury and Tribute House. This too incurred the censure of many, but brought no enmity to the child himself; for his growing beauty and the charm of his disposition were a wonder and delight to all who met him. Indeed many persons of ripe experience confessed themselves astounded that such a creature should actually have been born in these latter and degenerate days. In the summer of that year the lady became very downcast. She repeatedly asked for leave to go to her home, but it was not granted. For a year she continued — in the same state. The Emperor to all her entreaties answered only ‘Try for a little while longer.’ But she was getting worse every day, and when for five or six days she had been growing steadily weaker her mother sent to the Palace a tearful plea for her release. Fearing even now that her enemies might contrive to put some unimagin- able shame upon her, the sick lady left her son behind — and prepared to quit the Palace in secret. The Emperor knew that the time had come when, little as he liked it, he must let her go. But that she should slip away without a word of farewell was more than he could bear, and he — KIRITSUBO 21 hastened to her side. He found her still charming and beautiful, but her face very thin and wan. She looked at him tenderly, saying nothing. Was she alive? So faint was the dwindling spark that she scarcely seemed so. Suddenly forgetting all that had happened and all that was to come, he called her by a hundred pretty names and weeping showered upon her a thousand caresses ; but she made no answer. For sounds and sights reached her but faintly, and she seemed dazed, as one that scarcely remembered she lay upon a bed. Seeing her thus he knew not what to do. In great trouble and perplexity he sent for a hand litter. But when they would have laid her in it, he forbad them, saying ‘ There was an oath between us that neither should go alone upon the road that all at last must tread. How can I now let her go from me?’ The lady heard him and ‘ At last!’ she said ; ‘ Though that desired at last be come, because I go alone how gladly would I live!’ Thus with faint voice and failing breath she whispered. But though she had found strength to speak, each word was uttered with great toil and pain. Come what might, the Emperor would have watched by her till the end, but that the priests who were to read the Intercession had already been dispatched to her home. She must be brought there before nightfall, and at last he forced himself to let the bearers carry her away. He tried to sleep but felt stifled and could not close his eyes. All night long messen- gers were coming and going between her home and the Palace. From the first they brought no good news, and soon after midnight announced that this time on arriving at the house they had heard a noise of wailing and lamen- tation, and learned from those within that the lady had just breathed her last. The Emperor lay motionless as though he had not understood. 22 THE TALE OF GENJI Though his father was so fond of his company, it was thought better after this event that the Prince should go away from the Palace. He did not understand what had happened, but seeing the servants all wringing their hands and the Emperor himself continually weeping, he felt that it must have been something very terrible. He knew that even quite ordinary separations made people unhappy ; but here was such a dismal wailing and lamenting as he had never seen before, and he concluded that this must be some very extraordinary kind of parting. When the time came for the funeral to begin, the girl’s mother cried out that the smoke of her own body would be seen rising beside the smoke of her child’s bier. She rode in the same coach with the Court ladies who had come to the funeral. The ceremony took place at Atago and was celebrated with great splendour. ‘So overpowering was the mother’s affection that so long as she looked on the body she still thought of her child as alive. It was only when they lighted the pyre she suddenly realized that what lay upon it was a corpse. Then, though she tried to speak sensibly, she reeled and almost fell from the coach, and those with her turned to one another and said ‘ At last she knows.’ A herald came from the palace and read a proclamation which promoted the dead lady to the Third Rank. The reading of this long proclamation by the bier was a sad business. The Emperor repented bitterly that he had not long ago made her a Lady-in-Waiting, and that was why © he now raised her rank by one degree. There were many who grudged her even this honour ; but some less stubborn began now to recall that she had indeed been a lady of uncommon beauty ; and others, that she had very gentle and pleasing manners; while some went so far as to say it was a shame that anybody should have disliked so sweet — KIRITSUBO — 28 a lady, and that if she had not been singled out unfairly from the rest, no one would have said a word against her. The seven weeks of mourning were, by the Emperor’s order, minutely observed. Time passed, but he still lived in rigid seclusion from the ladies of the Court. The servants who waited upon him had a sad life, for he wept almost without ceasing both day and night. Kokiden and the other great ladies were still relentless, and went about saying ‘it looked as though the Emperor would be no less foolishly obsessed by her memory than he had been by her person.’ He did indeed sometimes see Kokiden’s son, the first-born prince. But this only made him long the more to see the dead lady’s child, and he was always sending trusted servants, such as his own old nurse, to report to him upon the boy’s progress. The time of the autumn equinox had come. Already the touch of the evening air was cold upon the skin. So many memories crowded upon him that he sent a girl, the daughter of his quiver-bearer, with a letter to the dead lady’s house. It was beautiful moonlit weather, and after he had despatched the messenger he lingered for a while gazing out into the night. It was at such times as this that he had been wont to call for music. He remembered how her words, lightly whispered, had blended with those strangely fashioned harmonies, remembered how all was strange, her face, her air, her form. He thought of the poem which says that ‘real things in the darkness seem no realer than dreams,’ and he longed for even so dim a substance as the dream- life of those nights. The messenger had reached the gates of the house. She pushed them back and a strange sight met her eyes. The old lady had for long been a widow and the whole charge of keeping the domain in repair had fallen upon her daughter. But since her death the mother, sunk in age and despair, 24 THE TALE OF GENJI had done nothing to the place, and everywhere the weeds grew high ; and to all this desolation was added the wildness of the autumn gale. Great clumps of mugwort grew so thick that only the moonlight could penetrate them. The messenger alighted at the entrance of the house. At first the mother could find no words with which to greet her, but soon she said: ‘ Alas, I have lingered too long in the world! I cannot bear to think that so fine a messenger as you have pressed your way through the dewy thickets that bar the road to my house,’ and she burst into uncon- trollable weeping. Then the quiver-bearer’s daughter said ‘One of the Palace maids who came here, told his Majesty that her heart had been torn with pity at what she saw. And I, Madam, am in like case.’ Then after a little hesitation she repeated the Emperor’s message: “ For a while I searched in the darkness of my mind, groping for an exit from my dream; but after long pondering I can find no way to wake. There is none here to counsel me. Will you not come to me secretly ? It is not well that the young prince should spend his days in so desolate and sad a place. Let him come too!”’ This he said and much else, but. confusedly and with many sighs; and I, seeing that the struggle to hide his grief from me was costing him dear, hurried away from the Palace without hearing all. But here is a letter that he sent.’ ‘My sight is dim’ said the mother. ‘ Let me’hold His letter to the light.’ The letter said : ‘I had thought that after a while there might be some blurring, some slight effacement. But no. As days and months go by, the more senseless, the more unendurable becomes my life. I am continually thinking of the child, _ wondering how he fares. I had hoped that his mother and I together would watch over his upbringing. Will you not take her place in this, and bring him to me as KIRITSUBO 25 a memory of the past?’ Such was the letter, and many instructions were added to it together with a poem which said ‘ At the sound of the wind that binds the cold dew on Takagi moor, my heart goes out to the tender lilac stems.’ It was of the young prince that he spoke in symbol ; but she did not read the letter to the end. At last the mother said ‘Though 1 know that long life means only bitterness, I have stayed so long in the world that even before the Pine Tree of Takasago I should hide my head in shame. How then should I find courage to go hither and thither in the great Palace of a Hundred Towers ? Though the august summons should call me time and again, myself I could not obey. But the young prince (whether he may have heard the august wish I know not) is impatient to return, and, what is small wonder, seems very downcast in this place. Tell his Majesty this, and whatever else of my thoughts you have here learnt from me. For a little child this house is indeed a sorry place...’ ‘ They say that the child is asleep’ the quiver-bearer’s daughter answered. ‘I should like to have seen him and told the Emperor how he looks; but I am awaited at the Palace and it must be late.’ She was hastening away, but the mother: ‘Since even those who wander in the darkness of their own black thoughts can gain by converse a momentary beam to guide their steps, I pray you sometimes to visit me of your own accord and when you are at leisure. In years past it was at times of joy and triumph that you came to this house, and now this is the news you bring! Foolish are they indeed who trust to fortune! From the time she was born until his death, her father, who knew his own mind, would have it that she must go to Court and charged me again and again not to disappoint his wishes if he were to die. And so, though I thought that the lack of a guardian would bring ~ 26 THE TALE OF GENJI her into many difficulties, I was determined to carry out his desire. At Court she found that favours only too great were to be hers, and all the while must needs endure in secrecy the tokens of inhuman malice; till hatred had heaped upon her so heavy a load of cares that she died as it were murdered. Indeed, the love that in His wisdom He deigned to show her (or so sometimes it seems to me in the uncomprehending darkness of my heart) was crueller than indifference.’ So she spoke, till tears would let her speak no more ; and now the night had come. ‘ All this’ the girl answered ‘ He himself has ay and further: ‘“‘ That thus against My will and judgment I yielded helplessly to a passion so reckless that it caused men’s eyes to blink was perhaps decreed for the very reason that our time was fated to be so short; it was the wild and vehement passion of those who are marked down for instant separation. And though I had vowed that none should suffer because of my love, yet in the end she bore upon her shoulders the heavy hatred of many who thought that for her sake they had been wronged.”’ ‘So again and again have I heard the Emperor speak with tears. But now the night is far spent sn I must carry my message to the Palace before day comes.’ So she, weeping too, spoke as she hurried away. ‘But the sinking moon was shining in a cloudless sky, and in the grass-clumps that shivered in the cold wind, bell-crickets tinkled their compelling cry. It was hard to leave these grass-clumps, and the quiver-bearer’s daughter, loth to ride away, recited the poem which says ‘ Ceaseless as the interminable voices of the bell-cricket, all night till dawn my tears flow.’ The mother answered ‘ Upon the thickets that teem with myriad insect voices falls the dew of a Cloud Dweller’s tears’; for the people of the Court are KIRITSUBO 27 called dwellers above the clouds. Then she gave the messenger a sash, a comb and other things that the dead lady had left in her keeping,—gifts from the Emperor which now, since their use was gone, she sent back to him as mementoes of the past. The nurse-maids who had come with the boy were depressed not so much at their mistress’s death as at being suddenly deprived of the daily sights and sensations of the Palace. They begged to go back at once. But the mother was determined not to go herself, knowing that she would cut too forlorn a figure. On the other hand if she parted with the boy, she would be daily in great anxiety about him. That was why she did not immediately either go with him herself or send him to the Palace. The quiver-bearer’s daughter found the Emperor still awake. He was, upon pretext of visiting the flower-pots in front of the Palace which were then in full bloom, waiting for her out of doors, while four or five trusted ladies conversed with him. At this time it was his wont to examine morning and evening a picture of The Everlasting Wrong, the text written by Teiji no In,? with poems by Ise3 and Tsurayuki,4 both in Yamato speech, and in that of the men beyond the sea, and the story of this poem was the common matter of his talk. Now he turned to the messenger and asked eagerly for all her news. And when she had given him a secret and faithful account of the sad place whence she had come, she handed him the mother’s letter : ‘ His Majesty’s gracious commands [ read with reverence deeper than I can express, but their purport has brought great darkness and confusion t A poem by the Chinese writer Po Chi-i about the death of Yang Kuei-fei, favourite of the Emperor Ming Huang. See Giles, Chinese Literature, p. 169. 2 Name of the Emperor Uda after his retirement in a.D. 897. 3 Poetess, gth century. ¢ Famous poet, 883-946 A.D. 28 THE TALE OF GENJI to my mind.’ All this, together with a poem in which she compared her grandchild to a flower which has lost the tree that sheltered it from the great winds, was so wild and so ill-writ as only to be suffered from the hand of one whose sorrow was as yet unhealed. Again the Emperor strove for self-possession in the presence of his messenger. But as he pictured to himself the time when the dead lady first came to him, a thousand memories pressed thick about him, and recollection linked to recollection carried him onward, till he shuddered to think how utterly unmarked, unheeded all these hours and days had fled. At last he said ‘I too thought much and with delight how with most profit might be fulfilled the wish that her father the Councillor left behind him ; but of that no more. If the young Prince lives occasion may yet be found... It is for his long life that we must pray.’ He looked at the presents she had brought back and ‘Would that like the wizard you had brought a kingfisher- hairpin as token of your visit to the place where her spirit dwells’ he cried, and recited the poem: Oh for a master of magic who might go and seek her, and by a message teach me where her spirit dwells. For the picture of Isuei-fei, skilful though the painter might be, was but the work of a brush, and had no living fragrance. And though the poet tells us that Kuei-fei’s grace was as that of ‘ the hibiscus of the Royal Lake or the willows of the Wei-yang Palace,’ the lady in the picture was all paint and powder and had a simpering Chinesified air. But when he thought of the lost lady’s voice and form, he could find neither in the beauty of flowers nor in the song of birds any fit comparison. Continually he pined that fate should not have allowed them to fulfil the vow which morning and evening was ever talked of between KIRITSUBO 99 them,—the vow that their lives should be as the twin birds that share a wing, the twin trees that share a bough. The rustling of the wind, the chirping of an insect would cast him into the deepest melancholy ; and now Kokiden, who for a long while had not been admitted to his chamber, must needs sit in the moonlight making music far on into the night! This evidently distressed him in the highest degree and those ladies and courtiers who were with him were equally shocked and distressed on his behalf. But the offending lady was one who stood much upon her dignity and she was determined to behave as though nothing of any consequence had taken place in the Palace. And now the moon had set. The Emperor thought of the girl’s mother in the house amid the thickets and won- dered, making a poem of the thought, with what feelings she had watched the sinking of the autumn moon: ‘* for even we Men above the Clouds were weeping when it sank.’ He raised the torches high in their sockets and still sat up. But at last he heard voices coming from the Watch House of the Right and knew that the hour of the Bull! had struck. Then, lest he should be seen, he went into his chamber. He found he could not sleep and was up before daybreak. But, as though he remembered the words “ he knew not the dawn was at his window’ of Ise’s poem,” he showed little attention to the affairs of his Morning Audience, scarcely touched his dried rice and seemed but dimly aware of the viands on the great Table, so that the | carvers and waiting-men groaned to see their Master’s plight ; and all his servants, both men and women kept on whispering to one another ‘ What a senseless occupation has ours become!’ and supposed that he was obeying some extravagant vow. | 1 I a.m. 2 A poem by Lady Ise written on a picture illustrating Po Chii-i’s Everlasting Wrong. 30 THE TALE OF GENJI Regardless of his subjects’ murmurings, he continually allowed his mind to wander from their affairs to his own, so that the scandal of his negligence was now as dangerous to the State as it had been before, and again there began to be whispered references to a certain Emperor of another land. Thus the months and days passed, and in the end the young prince arrived at Court. He had grown up to be a child of unrivalled beauty and the Emperor was delighted with him. In the spring an heir to the Throne was to be proclaimed and the Emperor was sorely tempted to pass over the first-born prince in favour of the young child. But there was no one at Court to support such a choice and it was unlikely that it would be tolerated by the people ; it would indeed bring danger rather than glory to the child. So he carefully concealed from the world that he had any such design, and gained great credit, men saying “ Though he dotes on the boy, there is at least some limit to his folly.’ And even the great ladies of the Palace became a little easier in their minds. The grandmother remained inconsolable, and impatient to set out upon her search for the place where the dead lady’s spirit dwelt, she soon expired. Again the Emperor was in great distress; and this time the boy, being now six years old, understood what had happened and wept bitterly. And often he spoke sadly of what he had seen when he was brought to visit the poor dead lady who had for many years been so kind to him. MHenceforward he lived always at the Palace. When he became seven he began to learn his letters, and his quickness was so unusual that his father was amazed. Thinking that now no one would have the heart to be unkind to the child, the Emperor began to take him to the apartments of Kdkiden and the rest, saying to them ‘ Now that his mother is dead I know that you will be nice to him.’ Thus the boy began to KIRITSUBO 31 penetrate the Royal Curtain. The roughest soldier, the bitterest foeman could not have looked on such a child without a smile, and Kokiden did not send him away. She had two daughters who were indeed not such fine children as the little prince. He also played with the Court Ladies, who, because he was now very pretty and bashful in his ways, found endless amusement, as indeed did everyone else, in sharing his games. As for his serious studies, he soon learnt to send the sounds of zithern and flute flying gaily to the clouds. But if I were to tell you of all his accomplishments, you would think that he was soon going to become a bore. At this time some Koreans came to Court and among them a fortune-teller. Hearing this, the Emperor did not send for them to come to the Palace, because of the law against the admission of foreigners which was made by the Emperor Uda. But in strict secrecy he sent the Prince to the Strangers’ quarters. He went under the escort of the Secretary of the Right, who was to introduce him as his own son. The fortune teller was astonished by the boy’s lineaments and expressed his surprise by continually nodding his head: ‘ He has the marks of one who might become a Father of the State, and if this were his fate, he would not stop short at any lesser degree than that of Mighty King and Emperor of all the land. But when I look again—I see that confusion and sorrow would attend his reign. But should he become a great Officer of State and Counsellor of the Realm I see no happy issue, for he would be defying those kingly signs of which I spoke before.’ The Secretary was a most talented, wise and learned scholar, and now began to conduct an interesting con- versation with the fortune teller. They exchanged essays t Reigned 889-897. The law in question was made in 894. 32 THE TALE OF GENJI and poems, and the fortune-teller made a little speech, saying ‘It has been a great pleasure to me on the eve of my departure to meet with a man of capacities so unusual ; and though I regret my departure I shall now take away most agreeable impressions of my visit.’ The little prince presented him with a very nice verse of poetry, at which he expressed boundless admiration and offered the boy a number of handsome presents. In return the Emperor sent him a large reward from the Imperial Treasury. This was all kept strictly secret. But somehow or other the Heir Apparent’s grandfather, the Minister of the Right, and others of his party got wind of it and became very suspicious. The Emperor then sent for native fortune- tellers and made trial of them, explaining that because of certain signs which he had himself observed he had hitherto refrained from making the boy a prince. With one accord they agreed that he had acted with great prudence and the Emperor determined not to set the child adrift upon the world as a prince without royal standing or influence upon the mother’s side. For he thought ‘My own power is very insecure. I had best set him to watch on my behalf over the great Officers of State.’ Thinking that he had thus agreeably settled the child’s future, he set seriously to work upon his education, and saw to it that he should be made perfect in every branch of art and knowledge. He showed such aptitude in all his studies that it seemed a pity he should remain a commoner and as it had been decided that it would arouse suspicion if he were made a prince, the Emperor consulted with certain doctors wise in the lore of the planets and phases of the moon. And they with one accord recommended that he should be made a Member of the Minamoto (or Gen) Clan. So this was done. As the years went by the Emperor did not forget his lost lady ; and though many women were brought to KIRITSUBO 33 the Palace in the hope that he might take pleasure in them, he turned from them all, believing that there was not in the world any one like her whom he had lost. There was at that time a lady whose beauty was of great repute. She was the fourth daughter of the previous Emperor, and it was said that her mother, the Dowager Empress, had brought her up with unrivalled care. A certain Dame of the Household, who had served the former Emperor, was intimately acquainted with the young Princess, having known her since childhood and still having occasion to observe her from without. ‘I have served in three courts’ said the Dame ‘and in all that time have seen none who could be likened to the departed lady, save the daughter of the Empress Mother. She indeed is a lady of rare beauty.’ So she spoke to the Emperor, and he, much wondering what truth there was in it, listened with great attention. The Empress Mother heard of this with great alarm, for she remembered with what open cruelty the sinister Lady Kokiden had treated her former rival, and though she did not dare speak openly of her fears, she was managing to delay the girl’s presentation, when suddenly she died. The Emperor, hearing that the bereaved Princess was in a very desolate condition, sent word gently telling her that he should henceforward look upon her as though she were one of the Lady Princesses his daughters. Her servants and guardians and her brother, Prince Hydbuky6, thought that life in the Palace might distract her and would at least be better than the gloomy desolation of her home, and so they sent her to the Court. She lived in apartments called Fujitsubo (Wistaria Tub) and was known by this name. The Emperor could not deny that she bore an astonishing resemblance to his beloved. She was however of much higher rank, so that everyone was anxious to please her, and, whatever happened, they were prepared to grant 34 THE TALE OF GENJI her the utmost licence: whereas the dead lady had been imperilled by the Emperor’s favour only because the Court was not willing to accept her. His old love did not now grow dimmer, and though he sometimes found solace and distraction in shifting his thoughts from the lady who had died to the lady who was so much like her, yet life remained for him a sad business. Genji (‘ he of the Minamoto clan ’), as he was now called, was constantly at the Emperor’s side. He was soon quite at his ease with the common run of Ladies in Waiting and Ladies of the Wardrobe, so it was not likely he would be » shy with one who was daily summoned to the Emperor’s apartments. It was but natural that all these ladies should vie eagerly with one another for the first place in Genji’s — affections, and there were many whom in various ways he admired very much. But most of them behaved in too grown-up a fashion; only one, the new princess, was pretty and quite young as well, and though she tried to hide from him, it was inevitable that they should often meet. He could not remember his mother, but the Dame of the Household had told him how very like to her the girl was, and this interested his childish fancy, and he would like to have been her great friend and lived with her always. One day the Emperor said to her “Do not be unkind to him. He is interested because he has heard that you are so like his mother. Do not think him imper- tinent, but behave nicely to him. You are indeed so like him in look and features that you might well be his mother.’ And so, young though he was, fleeting ‘beauty took its © hold upon his thoughts ; he felt his first clear predilection. Kokiden had never loved this lady too well, and now her > old enmity to Genji sprang up again; her own children were reckoned to be of quite uncommon beauty, but in this they were no match for Genji, who was so lovely a KIRITSUBO 35 boy that people called him Hikaru Genji or Genji the Shining One; and Princess Fujitsubo, who also had many admirers, was called Princess Glittering Sunshine. Though it seemed a shame to put so lovely a child into man’s dress, he was now twelve years old and the time for _his Initiation was come. The Emperor directed the pre- parations with tireless zeal and insisted upon a magnificence beyond what was prescribed. The Initiation of the Heir Apparent, which had last year been celebrated in the Southern Hall, was not a whit more splendid in its prepara- tions. The ordering of the banquets that were to be given in various quarters, and the work of the Treasurer and Grain Intendant he supervised in person, fearing lest the officials should be remiss ; and in the end all was perfection. The ceremony took place in the eastern wing of the Emperor's own apartments, and the Throne was placed facing towards the east, with the seats of the Initiate to-be and his Sponsor (the Minister of the Left) in front. Genji arrived at the hour of the Monkey.t He looked very handsome with his long childish locks, and the Sponsor, whose duty it had just been to bind them with the purple _ filet, was sorry to think that all this would soon be changed and even the Clerk of the Treasury seemed loath to sever those lovely tresses with the ritual knife. The Emperor, as he watched, remembered for a moment what pride the mother would have taken in the ceremony, but soon drove the weak thought from his mind. Duly crowned, Genji went to his chamber and changing ‘into man’s dress went down into the courtyard and per- formed the Dance of Homage, which he did with such grace that tears stood in every eye. And now the Emperor, whose grief had of late grown somewhat less insistent, was again overwhelmed by memories of the past. 13pm, 36 THE TALE OF GENJI It had been feared that his delicate features would show to less advantage when he had put aside his childish dress ; but on the contrary he looked handsomer than ever. His sponsor, the Minister of the Left, had an only daughter whose beauty the Heir Apparent had noticed. But now the father began to think he would not encourage that match, but would offer her to Genji. He sounded the Emperor upon this, and found that he would be very glad to obtain for the boy the advantage of so powerful a connection. When the courtiers assembled to drink the Love Cup, Genji came and took his place among the other princes. The Minister of the Left came up and whispered something in his ear; but the boy blushed and could think of no reply. A chamberlain now came over to the Minister and brought him a summons to wait upon His Majesty immediately. When he arrived before the Throne, a Lady of the Wardrobe handed to him the Great White Inner Garment and the Maid’s Skirt,! which were his ritual due as Sponsor to the Prince. Then, when he had made him drink out of the Royal Cup, the Emperor recited a poem in which he prayed that the binding of the purple filet might symbolize the union of their two houses; and the Minister answered him that nothing should sever this union save the fading of the purple band. Then he descended the long stairs and from the courtyard performed the Grand Obeisance.? Here too were shown the horses from the Royal Stables and the hawks from the Royal Falconry, that had been decreed as presents for Genji. At the foot of the stairs the Princes and Courtiers were lined up to receive their bounties, and gifts of every kind were showered upon them. That day the hampers and fruit baskets were distributed in accordance with the Emperor’s directions by the learned Secretary of t These symbolized the unmanly life of childhood which Genji had now put behind him. 2 The butd, a form of kowtow so elaborate as to be practically a dance. KIRITSUBO 37 the Right, and boxes of cake and presents lay about so thick that one could scarcely move. Such profusion had not been seen even at the Heir Apparent’s Initiation. That night Genji went to the Minister’s house, where his betrothal was celebrated with great splendour. It was thought that the little Prince looked somewhat childish and delicate, but his beauty astonished everyone. Only the bride, who was four years older, regarded him as-a mere baby and was rather ashamed of him. The Emperor still demanded Genji’s attendance at the Palace, so he did not set up a house of his own. In his inmost heart he was always thinking how much nicer she* was than anyone else, and only wanted to be with people who were like her, but alas no one was the least like her. Everyone seemed to make a great deal of fuss about Princess Aoi, his betrothed ; but he could see nothing nice about her. The girl at the Palace now filled all his childish thoughts and this obsession became a misery to him. Now that he was a ‘man’ he could no longer frequent the women’s quarters as he had been wont to do. But sometimes when an entertainment was a-foot he found comfort in hearing her voice dimly blending with the sound of zithern or flute and felt his grown-up existence to be -unendurable. After an absence of five or six days he would occasionally spend two or three at his betrothed’s house. His father-in-law attributing this negligence to his extreme youth was not at all perturbed and always received him warmly. Whenever he came the most interesting and agreeable of the young people of the day | were asked to meet him and endless trouble was taken in arranging games to amuse him. The Shigeisa, one of the rooms which had belonged to his mother, was allotted to him as his official quarters in t Fujitsubo. 38 THE TALE OF GENJI the Palace, and the servants who had waited on her were now gathered together again and formed his suite. His grandmother’s house was falling into decay. The Imperial Office of Works was ordered to repair it. The grouping of the trees and disposition of the surrounding hills had always made the place delightful. Now the basin of the lake was widened and many other improvements were carried out. ‘If only I were going to live here with someone whom I liked,’ thought Genji sadly. Some say that the name of Hikaru the Shining One was given to him in admiration by the Korean fortune-teller.* 1 This touch is reminiscent of early chronicles such as the Nihongi, which delight in alternative explanations. In the subsequent chapters such archaisms entirely disappear. oe — = CHAPTER Ii THE BROOM-TREE ENJI the Shining One...He knew that the bearer of such a name could not escape much scrutiny and jealous censure and that his lightest dallyings would be proclaimed to posterity. Fearing then lest he should appear to after ages as a mere good-for- nothing and trifler, and knowing that (so accursed is the blabbing of gossips’ tongues) his most secret acts might come to light, he was obliged always to act with great prudence and to preserve at least the outward appear- ance of respectability. Thus nothing really romantic ever happened to him and Katano no Shdshé: would have scoffed at his story. While he was still a Captain of the Guard and was spending most of his time at the Palace, his infrequent visits to the Great Hall? were taken as a sign that some secret passion had made its imprint on his heart. But in reality the frivolous, commonplace, straight-ahead amours of his companions did not in the least interest him, and it was a curious trait in his character that when on rare occasions, despite all resistance, love did gain a hold upon him, it was always in the most improbable and hopeless entangle- ment that he became involved. 1 The hero of a lost popular romance. It is also referred to by Murasaki’s contemporary Sei Shénagon in Chapter 145 of her Makura no Soshi. 4 His father-in-law’s house, where his wife Princess Aoi still continued to live. 39 40 THE TALE OF GENJI It was the season of the long rains. For many days there had not been a fine moment and the Court was keeping a strict fast. The people at the Great Hall were becoming very impatient of Genji’s long residence at the Palace, but the young lords, who were Court pages, liked waiting upon Genji better than upon anyone else, always managing to put out his clothes and decorations in some marvellous . new way. Among these brothers his greatest friend was the Equerry, T6 no Chij6, with whom above all other companions of his playtime he found himself familiar and at ease. This lord too found the house which his father- in-law, the Minister of the Right, had been at pains to build for him, somewhat oppressive, while at his father’s, house he, like Genji, found the splendours somewhat dazzling, so that he ended by becoming Genji’s constant companion at Court. They shared both studies and play and were inseparable companions on every sort of occasion, so that soon all formalities were dispensed with between them and the inmost secrets of their hearts freely exchanged. It was on a night when the rain never ceased its dismal downpour. There were not many people about in the palace and Genji’s rooms seemed even quieter than usual. He was sitting by the lamp, looking at various books and papers. Suddenly he began pulling some letters out of — the drawers of a desk which stood near by. This aroused To no Chijo’s curiosity. ‘Some of them I can show to you’ said Genji, ‘ but there are others which I had rather * “Tt is just those which I want to see. Ordinary, commonplace letters are very much alike and I do not suppose that yours differ much from mine. What I want to see are passionate letters written in moments of resent- ment, letters hinting consent, letters written at dusk... ’ He begged so eagerly that Genji let him examine the drawers. It was not indeed likely that he had put any % F * THE BROOM-TREE 4) very important or secret documents in the ordinary desk ; he would have hidden them away much further from sight. So he felt sure that the letters in these drawers would be nothing to worry about. After turning over a few of them, ‘What an astonishing variety!’ To no Chijo exclaimed and began guessing at the writers’ names, and made one _or two good hits. More often he was wrong and Genji, amused by his puzzled air, said very little but generally managed to lead him astray. At last he took the letters back, saying ‘ But you too must have a large collection. Show me some of yours, and my desk will open to you with better will.’ ‘I have none that you would care to see,’ _ said T6 no Chij6, and he continued: ‘I have at last dis- covered that there exists no woman of whom one can say ““ Here is perfection. This is indeed she.”” There are many who have the superficial art of writing a good running hand, or if occasion requires of making a quick repartee. But there are few who will stand the ordeal of any further test. Usually their minds are entirely occupied by admiration for their own accomplishments, and their abuse of all rivals creates a most unpleasant impression. Some again are adored by over-fond parents. These have been since childhood guarded behind lattice windows? and no know- ledge of them is allowed to reach the outer-world, save that _ of their excellence in some accomplishment or art ; and this may indeed sometimes arouse our interest. J She is pretty and graceful and has not yet mixed at all with the world. Such a girl by closely copying some model and applying herself with great industry will often succeed in really mastering one of the minor and ephemeral arts. Her 1 Japanese houses were arranged somewhat differently from ours and for many of the terms which constantly recur in this book (kiché, sudare, sunoko, etc.) no exact English equivalents can be found. In such cases I have tried to use expressions which without being too awkward or unfamiliar will give an adequate general idea of what is meant, 42 THE TALE OF GENJI friends are careful to say nothing of her defects and to exaggerate her accomplishments, and while we cannot altogether trust their praise we cannot believe that their judgment is entirely astray. But when we take steps to test their statements we are invariably disappointed.’ He paused, seeming to be slightly ashamed of the cynical tone which he had adopted, and added ‘ I know my exper- ience is not large, but that is the conclusion I have come to so far.” Then Genji, smiling: ‘ And are there any who lack even one accomplishment ?’ ‘ No doubt, but in such a case it is unlikely that anyone would be successfully decoyed. The number of those who have nothing to recommend them and of those in whom nothing but good can be found is probably equal. I divide women into three _» Classes. Those of high rank and birth are made such a | fuss of and their weak points are so completely concealed that we are certain to be told that they are paragons. About those of the middle class everyone is allowed to | express his own opinion, and we shall have much conflicting _ evidence to sift. As for the lower classes, they do not | concern us.’ , The completeness with which T6 no Chij6 disposed of the question amused Genji, who said ‘ It will not always be so easy to know into which of the three classes a woman ought to be put. For sometimes people of high rank sink to the most abject positions; while others of common birth rise to be high officers, wear self-important faces, redecorate the inside of their houses and think themselves as good as anyone. How are we to deal with such cases ?’ _ At this moment they were joined by Hidari no Uma no Kami and To Shikibu no Jé, who said they had also come to the Palace to keep the fast. As both of them were great lovers and good talkers, T6 no Chij6 handed over to them the decision of Genji’s question, and in the discussion ¢ THE BROOM-TREE 43 which followed many unflattering things were said. Uma no Kami spoke first. ‘ However high a lady may rise, if she does not come of an adequate stock, the world will think very differently of her from what it would of one born to such honours; but if through adverse fortune a lady of highest rank finds herself in friendless misery, the noble breeding of her mind is soon forgotten and she becomes an object of contempt. I think then that taking all things into account, we must put such ladies too into the “‘ middle class.” But when we come to classify the daughters of Zury6o,' who are sent to labour at the affairs of distant provinces,—they have such ups and downs that we may reasonably put them too into the middle class. ‘Then there are Ministers of the third and fourth classes without Cabinet rank. These are generally thought less of even than the humdrum, ordinary officials. They are usually of quite good birth, but have much less respon- sibility than Ministers of State and consequently much greater peace of mind. Girls born into such households are brought up in complete security from want or depriva- tion of any kind, and indeed often amid surroundings of the utmost luxury and splendour. Many of them grow up into women whom it would be folly to despise ; some have been admitted at Court, where they have enjoyed a quite unexpected success. And of this I could cite many, many instances.’ “Their success has generally been due to their having a lot of money,’ said Genji smiling. ‘ You should have - known better than to say that,’ said T6 no Chijo, reproving him, and Uma no Kami went on: ‘ There are some whose lineage and reputation are so high that it never occurs to one that their education could possibly be at fault; yet when we meet them, we find ourselves exclaiming in t Provincial officials. Murasaki herself came of this class. ee oe eS Q es re Aha e° > “3 Tt ae f Nee, w { 4 \ ; f j 44 THE TALE OF GENJI despair ‘‘ How can they have contrived to grow up like this ?”’ ‘No doubt the perfect woman in whom none of those essentials is lacking must somewhere exist and it would not startle me to find her. But she would certainly be beyond the reach of a humble person like myself, and for that reason I should like to put her in a category of her own and not to count her in our present classification. ‘But suppose that behind some gateway overgrown with vine-weed, in a place where no one knows there is a house at all, there should be locked away some creature of unimagined beauty—with what excitement should we discover her! The complete surprise of it, the upsetting of all our wise theories and classifications, would be likely, I think, to lay a strange and sudden enchantment upon us. I imagine her father rather large and gruff; her brother, a surly, ill-looking fellow. Locked away in an utterly blank and uninteresting bed-room she will be subject to odd flights of fancy, so that in her hands the arts that others learn as trivial accomplishments will seem strangely full of meaning and importance ; or perhaps in some par- ticular art she will thrill us by her delightful and unexpected mastery. Such a one may perhaps be beneath the attention of those of you who are of flawless lineage. But for my part I find it hard to banish her . . . ’ and here he looked at Shikibu no J6, who wondered whether the description had been meant to apply to his own sisters, but said nothing. ‘If it is difficult to choose even out of the top class... ’ thought Genji, and began to doze. He was dressed in a suit of soft white silk, with’ a rough cloak carelessly slung over his shoulders, with belt and fastenings untied. In the light of the lamp against which _ he was leaning he looked so lovely that one might have ‘wished he were a girl; and they thought that even Uma THE BROOM-TREE 45 no Kami’s ‘ perfect woman,’ whom he had placed in a » category of her own, would not be worthy of such a prince as Genji. The conversation went on. Many persons and things were discussed. Uma no Kami contended that perfection is equally difficult to find in other spheres. The sovereign is hard put to it to choose his ministers. But he at least has an easier task than the husband, for he does not entrust the affairs of his kingdom to one, two or three persons alone, but sets up a whole system of superiors and sub- ordinates. But when the mistress of a house is to be selected, a single individual must be found who will combine in her person many diverse qualities. It will not do to be too exacting. Let us be sure that the lady of our choice possesses certain tangible qualities which we admire; and if in other ways she falls short of our ideal, we must be patient and call to mind those qualities which first induced us to begin our courting. But even here we must beware; for there are some who in the selfishness of youth and flawless beauty are deter- mined that not a dust-flick shall fall upon them. In their letters they choose the most harmless topics, but yet contrive . to colour the very texture of the written signs with a tenderness that vaguely disquiets us. But such a one, | when we have at last secured a meeting, will speak so low a that she can scarcely be heard, and the few faint sentences that she murmurs beneath her breath serve only to make her more mysterious than before. All this may seem to be the pretty shrinking of girlish modesty ; but we may later find that what held her back was the very violence of her passions. 4 Or again, where all seems plain sailing, the Sarat com- panion will turn out to be too impressionable and will _ 46 THE TALE OF GENJI upon the most inappropriate occasions display her affections. in so ludicrous a way that we begin to wish ourselves rid of her. Then there is the zealous house-wife, who regardless of | her appearance twists her hair behind her ears and devotes herself entirely to the details of our domestic welfare. The husband, in his comings and goings about the world, is certain to see and hear many things which he cannot discuss with strangers, but would gladly talk over with an intimate who could listen with sympathy and under- standing, someone who could laugh with him or weep if need be. It often happens too that some political event will greatly perturb or amuse him, and he sits apart longing to tell someone about it. He suddenly laughs at some secret recollection or sighs audibly. But the wife only _ says lightly ‘ What is the matter ? ’ and shows no interest. . This is apt to be very trying. “. Uma no Kami considered several other cases. But he reached no definite conclusion and sighing deeply he con- tinued: ‘ We will then, as I have suggested, let birth and beauty go by the board. Let her be the simplest and most guileless of creatures so long as she is honest and of a peaceable disposition, that in the end we may not lack a place of trust. And if some other virtue chances to be hers we shall treasure it as a godsend. But if we discover in her some small defect, it shall not be too closely scrutinized. And we may be sure that if she is strong in the virtues of tolerance and amiability her outward appearance will not be beyond measure harsh. “There are those who carry forbearance too far, and affecting not to notice wrongs which cry out for redress seem to be paragons of misused fidelity. But suddenly a time comes when such a one can restrain herself no longer, and leaving behind her a poem couched in pitiful language THE BROOM-TREE 47 and calculated to rouse the most painful sentiments of remorse, she flies to some remote village in the mountains or some desolate seashore, and for a long while all trace ~ of her is lost. ‘When I was a boy the ladies-in-waiting used to tell me sad tales of this kind. I never doubted that the sentiments expressed in them were real, and I wept profusely. But now I am beginning to suspect that such sorrows are for the most part affectation. She has left behind her (this lady whom we are imagining) a husband who is probably still fond of her; she is making herself very unhappy, and by disappearing in this way is causing him unspeakable anxiety, perhaps only for the ridiculous purpose of putting his affection to the test. Then comes along some admiring friend crying ‘‘ What a heart! What depth of feeling!” She becomes more lugubrious than ever, and finally enters a nunnery. When she decided on this step she was per- fectly sincere and had not the slightest intention of ever returning to the world. Then some female friend hears of it and “‘ Poor thing” she cries; ‘‘in what an agony of mind must she have been to do this!” and visits her in her cell. When the husband, who has never ceased to mourn for her, hears what she has become, he bursts into tears, and some servant or old nurse, seeing this, bustles off to the nunnery with tales of the husband’s despair, and “Oh Madam, what a shame, what a shame!” Then the nun, forgetting where and what she is, raises her hand to her head to straighten her hair, and finds that it has been shorn away. In helpless misery she sinks to the floor, and do what she will, the tears begin to flow. Now all is lost ; for since she cannot at every moment be praying for strength, there creeps into her mind the sinful thought that she did ill to become a nun and so often does she commit this sin that even Buddha must think her wickeder now than she 48 THE TALE OF GENJI was before she took her vows; and she feels certain that these terrible thoughts are leading her soul to the blackest Hell. But if the karma of their past lives should chance to be strongly weighted against a parting, she will be found and captured before she has taken her final vows. In such a case their life will be beyond endurance unless she be fully determined, come good or ill, this time to close her eyes to all that goes amiss. ‘ Again there are others who must needs be forever mount- ing guard over their own and their husband’s affections. Such a one, if she sees in him not a fault indeed but even the slightest inclination to stray, makes a foolish scene, declaring with indignation that she will have no more to do with him. ‘ But even if a man’s fancy should chance indeed to have gone somewhat astray, yet his earlier affection may still be strong and in the end will return to its old haunts. Now by her tantrums she has made a rift that cannot be joined. Whereas she who when some small wrong calls for silent rebuke, shows by a glance that she is not unaware ; but when some large offence demands admonishment knows how to hint without severity, will end by standing in her master’s affections better than ever she stood before. For often the sight of our own forbearance will give our neighbour strength to rule his mutinous affections. ‘ But she whose tolerance and forgiveness know no bounds, though this may seem to proceed from the beauty and amiability of her disposition, is in fact displaying the shallowness of her feeling : ‘‘ The unmoored boat must needs drift with the stream.’’ Are you not of this mind ? ’ T6 no Chujo nodded. ‘Some’ he said ‘ have imagined that by arousing a baseless suspicion in the mind of the beloved we can revive a waning devotion. But this experi- ment is very dangerous. Those who recommend it are THE BROOM-TREE 49 confident that so long as resentment is groundless one need only suffer it in silence and all will soon be well. I have observed however that this is by no means the case. “But when all is said and done, there can be no greater virtue in woman than this: that she should with gentleness and forbearance meet every wrong whatsoever that falls to her share.’ He thought as he said this of his own sister, Princess Aoi ; but was disappointed and piqued to discover that Genji, whose comments he awaited, was fast asleep. Uma no Kami was an expert in such discussions and now stood preening his feathers. T6 no Chiijo was disposed to hear what more he had to say and was now at pains to humour and encourage him. | “It is with women’ said Uma no Kami ‘as it is with the works of craftsmen. The wood-carver can fashion whatever he will. Yet his products are but toys of the moment, to be glanced at in jest, not fashioned according to any precept or law. When times change, the carver too. will change his style and make new trifles to hit the fancy of the passing day. But there is another kind of artist, who sets more soberly about his work, striving to give real | beauty to,the things which men actually use and to give to them the shapes which tradition has ordained. This. maker of real things must not for a moment be confused | with the carver of.idle toys. ‘In the Painters’ Workshop too there are many excellent artists chosen for their proficiency in ink-drawing; and indeed they are all so clever it is hard to set one above the other. But all of them are at work on subjects intended to impress and surprise. One paints the Mountain of Horai; another a raging sea-monster riding a storm; another, ferocious animals from the Land beyond the sea, or faces of imaginary demons. Letting their fancy run wildly riot they have no thought of beauty, but only of 4 50 THE TALE OF GENJI how best they may astonish the beholder’s eye. And though nothing in their pictures is real, all is probable. But ordinary hills and rivers, just as they are, houses such as you may see anywhere, with all their real beauty and harmony of form—quietly to draw such scenes as this, or to show what lies behind some intimate hedge that is folded away far from the world, and thick trees upon some unheroic hill, and all this with befitting care for composition, proportion, and the like,—such works demand the highest master’s utmost skill and must needs draw the common craftsman into a thousand blunders. So too in handwriting, we see some who aimlessly prolong their cursive strokes this way or that, and hope their flourishes will be mistaken for genius. But true penmanship preserves in every letter its balance and form, and though at first some letters may seem but half-formed, yet when we compare them with the copy-books we find that there is nothing at all amiss. “So it is in these trifling matters. And how much the more in judging of the human heart should we distrust all fashionable airs and graces, all tricks and smartness, learnt only to please the outward gaze! This I first understood some while ago, and if you will have patience with me I will tell you the story.’ So saying, he came and sat a little closer to them, and Genji woke up. Té6 no Chij6, in wrapt attention, was sitting with his cheek propped upon his hand. Uma no Kami’s whole speech that night was indeed very much like a chaplain’s sermon about the ways of the world, and was rather absurd. But upon such occasions as this we are easily led on into discussing our own ideas and most private secrets without the least reserve. “It happened when I was young, and in an even more humble position than I am to-day’ Uma no Kami continued. ‘I was in love with a girl who (like the drudging, faithful THE BROOM-TREE 51 wife of whom I spoke a little while ago) was not a full-sail beauty ; and I in my youthful vanity thought she was all very well for the moment, but would never do for the wife of so fine a fellow as I. She made an excellent companion in times when I was at a loose end; but she was of a dis- position so violently jealous, that I could have put up with a little less devotion if only she had been somewhat less fiercely ardent and exacting. | “Thus I kept thinking, vexed by her unrelenting sus- picions. But then I would remember her ceaseless devotion to the interests of one who was after all a person of no account, and full of remorse I made sure that with a little patience on my part she would one day learn to school her jealousy. ‘It was her habit to minister to my smallest wants even before I was myself aware of them; whatever she felt was lacking in her she strove to acquire, and where she knew that in some quality of mind she still fell behind my desires, she was at pains never to show her deficiency in such a way as might vex me. Thus in one way or another she was always busy in forwarding my affairs, and she hoped that if all down to the last dew drop (as they say) were conducted as I should wish, this would be set down _to her credit and help to balance the defects in her person : which meek and obliging as she might be could not (she fondly imagined) fail to offend me; and at this time she even hid herself from strangers lest their poor opinion of her looks should put me out of countenance. “TI meanwhile, becoming used to her homely looks, was | well content with her character, save for this one article | of jealousy ; and here she showed no amendment. Then I. began to think to myself “‘ Surely, since she seems so anxious to please, so timid, there must be some way of giving her a fright which will teach her a lesson, so that for a while 52 THE TALE OF GENJI at least we may have a respite from this accursed business.”’ And though I knew it would cost me dear, I determined to make a pretence of giving her up, thinking that since she was so fond of me this would be the best way to teach her a lesson. Accordingly I behaved with the greatest coldness to her, and she as usual began her jealous fit and behaved with such folly that in the end I said to her, “ If you want to be rid for ever of one who loves you dearly, you are going the right way about it by all these endless poutings over nothing at all. But if you want to go on with me, you must give up suspecting some deep intrigue each time you fancy that I am treating you unkindly. Do this, and you may be sure I shall continue to love you dearly. It may well be that as time goes on, I shall rise a little higher in the world and then... ” ‘TI thought I had managed matters very cleverly, though perhaps in the heat of the moment I might have spoken somewhat too roughly. She smiled faintly and answered that if it were only a matter of bearing for a while with my failures and disappointments, that did not trouble her at all, and she would gladly wait till I became a person of consequence. ‘‘ But it is a hard task” she said “to go on year after year enduring your coldness and waiting the time when you will at last learn to behave to me with some decency; and therefore I agree with you that the time has come when we had better go each his own way.”’ Then in a fit of wild and uncontrollable jealousy she began to pour upon me a torrent of bitter reproaches, and with a woman’s savagery she suddenly seized my little finger and bit deep into it. The unexpected pain was difficult to bear, but composing myself I said tragically ‘‘ Now you have put this mark upon me I shall get on worse than ever in polite society ; as for promotion, I shall be considered a disgrace to the meanest public office and unable to cut a THE BROOM-TREE 53 genteel figure in any capacity I shall be obliged to withdraw myself completely from the world. You and I at any rate shall certainly not meet again,’ and bending my injured finger as I turned to go, I recited the verse ‘‘ As on bent hand I count the times that we have met, it is not one finger only that bears witness to my pain.”’ And she, all of a sudden bursting into tears .. . “ If still in your heart only you look for pains to count, then were our hands best employed in parting.”” After a few more words I left her, not for a moment thinking that all was over. ‘Days went by, and no news. I began to be restless. One night when I had been at the Palace for the rehearsal of the Festival music, heavy sleet was falling ; and I stood at the spot where those of us who came from the Palace had dispersed, unable to make up my mind which way to go. For in no direction had I anything which could properly be called a home. I might of course take a room in the Palace precincts; but I shivered to think of the cheerless grandeur that would surround me. Suddenly I began to wonder what she was thinking, how she was looking ; and brushing the snow off my shoulders, I set out for her house. I own I felt uneasy; but I thought that after so long a time her anger must surely have some- what abated. Inside the room a lamp showed dimly, turned to the wall. Some undergarments were hung out upon a large, warmly-quilted couch, the bed-hangings were drawn up, and I made sure that she was for some reason actually expecting me. I was priding myself on having made so lucky a hit, when suddenly, ‘ Not at home!”’; and on questioning the maid I learnt that she had but that very night gone to her parents’ home, leaving only a few necessary servants behind. The fact that she had till now sent no poem or conciliatory message seemed to show some hardening of heart, and had already disquieted me. 54 THE TALE OF GENJI Now I began to fear that her accursed suspiciousness and jealousy had but been a stratagem to make me grow weary of her, and though I could recall no further proof of this I fell into great despair. And to show her that, though we no longer met, I still thought of her and planned for her, I got her some stuff for a dress, choosing a most delightful and unusual shade of colour, and a material that I knew she would be glad to have. ‘“ For after all’’ I thought “she cannot want to put me altogether out of her head.” When I informed her of this purchase she did not rebuff me nor make any attempt to hide from me, but to all my questions she answered quietly and composedly, without any sign that she was ashamed of herself. ‘ At last she told me that if I went on as before, she could never forgive me; but if I would promise to live more quietly she would take me back again. Seeing that she still hankered after me I determined to school her a little further yet, and said that I could make no conditions and must be free to live as I chose. So the tug of war went on ; but it seems that it hurt her far more than I knew, for in a little while she fell into a decline and died, leaving me aghast at the upshot of my wanton game. And now I felt that, whatever faults she might have had, her devotion alone would have made her a fit wife forme. I remembered how both in trivial talk and in consideration of important matters she had never once shown herself at a loss, how in the dyeing of brocades she rivalled the Goddess of Tatsuta who tints the autumn leaves, and how in needlework and the like she was not less skilful than Tanabata, the Weaving- lady of the sky.’ | Here he stopped, greatly distressed at the recollection of the lady’s many talents and virtues. ‘The Weaving-lady and the Herd boy’ said T6 no Chijé “enjoy a love that is eternal. Had she but resembled the THE BROOM-TREE 55 Divine Sempstress in this, you would not, I think, have minded her being a little less skilful with her needle. I wonder that with this rare creature in mind you pronounce the world to be so blank a place.’ ‘Listen’ replied Uma no Kami ‘ About the same time there was another lady whom I used to visit. She was of higher birth than the first; her skill in poetry, cursive writing, and lute-playing, her readiness of hand and tongue were all marked enough to show that she was not a woman of trivial nature; and this indeed was allowed by those who knew her. To add to this she was not ill-looking and sometimes, when I needed a rest from my unhappy per- secutress, I used to visit her secretly. In the end I found that I had fallen completely in love with her. After the death of the other I was in great distress. But it was no use brooding over the past and I began to visit my new lady more and more often. I soon came to the conclusion that she was frivolous and I had no confidence that I should have liked what went on when I was not there to see. I now visited her only at long intervals and at last decided that she had another lover. _ ‘It was during the Godless Month,! on a beautiful moon- light night. As I was leaving the Palace I met a certain young courtier, who, when I told him that I was driving out to spend the night at the Dainagon’s, said that my way was his and joined me. The road passed my lady’s house and here it was that he alighted, saying that he had an engagement which he should have been very sorry not to fulfil. The wall was half in ruins and through its gaps I saw the shadowy waters of the lake. . It would not have been easy (for even the moonbeams seemed to loiter here !) to hasten past so lovely a place, and when he left his coach I too left mine. t The tenth month. 56 THE TALE OF GENJI ‘ At once this man (whom I now knew to be that other lover whose existence I had guessed) went and sat uncon- cernedly on the bamboo skirting of the portico and began to gaze at the moon. The chrysanthemums were just in full bloom, the bright fallen leaves were tumbling and tussling in the wind. It was indeed a scene of wonderful beauty that met our eyes. Presently he took a flute out of the folds of his dress and began to play upon it. Then putting the flute aside, he began to murmur “ Sweet is the shade ’’? and other catches. Soon a pleasant-sounding native zithern? began to tune up somewhere within the house and an ingenious accompaniment was fitted to his careless warblings. Her zithern was tuned to the autumn- mode, and she played with so much tenderness and feeling that though the music came from behind closed shutters it sounded quite modern and passionate,3 and well accorded with the soft beauty of the moonlight. The courtier was ravished, and as he stepped forward to place himself right under her window he turned to me and remarked in a self- satisfied way that among the fallen leaves no other footstep had left its mark. Then plucking a chrysanthemum, he sang : . Strange that the music of your lute, These matchless flowers and all the beauty of the night, Have lured no other feet to linger at your door! and then, beseeching her pardon for his halting verses, he begged her to play again while one was still near who longed so passionately to hear her. When he had paid her many t From the saibara ballad, The Well of Asuka: ‘ Sweet is the shade, the lapping waters cool, and good the pasture for our weary steeds. By the Well of Asuka, here let us stay.’ 2 The ‘ Japanese zithern’; also called wagon. A species of koto. 3 As opposed to the formal and traditional music imported from China. THE BROOM-TREE 57 other compliments, the lady answered in an affected voice with the verse : Would that I had some song that might detain The flute that blends its note With the low rustling of the autumn leaves. and after these blandishments, still unsuspecting, she took up the thirteen-stringed lute, and tuning it to the Banjiki mode? she clattered at the strings with all the frenzy that fashion now demands. It was a fine performance no doubt, but I cannot say that it made a very agreeable impression upon me. | ‘A man may amuse himself well enough by trifling from time to time with some lady at the Court; will get what pleasure he can out of it while he is with her and not trouble his head about what goes on when he is not there. This lady too I only saw from time to time, but such was her situation that I had once fondly imagined myself the only occupant of her thoughts. However that night’s work dissolved the last shred of my confidence, and I never saw her again. “These two experiences, falling to my lot while I was still so young, early deprived me of any hope from women. And since that time my view of them has but grown the blacker. No doubt to you at your age they seem very entrancing, these ‘‘ dew-drops on the grass that fall if they are touched,” these “ glittering hailstones that melt if gathered in the hand.”’ But when you are a little older you will think as I do. Take my advice in this at least ; beware of caressing manners and soft, entangling ways. For if you are so rash as to let them lead you astray, you t See Encyclopédie de la Musique, p. 247. Under the name Nan-li this mode was frequently used in the Chinese love-dramas of the four- teenth century. It was considered very wild and moving. 58 THE TALE OF GENJI will soon find yourselves cutting a very silly figure in the world.’ To no Chijo as usual nodded his assent, and Genji’s smile seemed such as to show that he too accepted Uma no Kami’s advice. ‘ Your two stories were certainly very dismal’ he said, laughing. And here T6 no Chitjo inter- posed: ‘I will tell you a story about myself. There was a lady whose acquaintance I was obliged to make with great secrecy. But her beauty well rewarded my pains, and though I had no thought of making her my wife I grew so fond of her that I soon found I could not put her out of my head and she seemed to have complete confidence in me. Such confidence indeed that when from time to time I was obliged to behave in such a way as might well have aroused her resentment, she seemed not to notice that anything was amiss, and even when I neglected her for many weeks, she treated me as though I were still coming every day. In the end indeed I found this readiness to receive me whenever and however I came very painful, and determined for the future to merit her strange confidence. ‘Her parents were dead and this was perhaps why, since I was all she had in the world, she treated me with such loving meekness, despite the many wrongs I did her. I must own that my resolution did not last long, and I was soon neglecting her worse than before. During this time (I did not hear of it till afterwards) someone who had discovered our friendship began to send her veiled messages which cruelly frightened and distressed her. Knowing nothing of the trouble she was in, although I often thought of her I neither came nor wrote to her for a long while. Just when she was in her worst despair a child was born, and at last in her distress she plucked a blossom of the flower that is called ‘‘ Child of my Heart’ and sent it to me.’ And here To no Chijé’s eyes filled with tears. — THE BROOM-TREE 59 ‘Well’ said Genji ‘and did she write a message’ to go with it?’ ‘Oh nothing very out-of-the-ordinary’ said T6 no Chijo. ‘She wrote: ‘‘ Though tattered be the hillman’s hedge, deign sometimes to look with kindness upon the Child-flower that grows so sweetly there.’’ This brought me to her side. As usual she did not reproach me, but she looked sad enough, and when I considered the dreary desolation of this home where every object wore an aspect no less depressing than the wailing voices of the crickets in the grass, she seemed to me like some unhappy princess in an ancient story, and wishing her to feel that it was for the mother’s sake and not the child’s that I had come, I answered with a poem in which I called the Child-flower by its other name ‘“ Bed-flower,” and she replied with a poem that darkly hinted at the cruel tempest which had attended this Bed-flower’s birth. She spoke lightly and did not seem to be downright angry with me; and when a few tears fell she was at great pains to hide them, and seemed_more distressed at the thought that I might imagine her to be unhappy than actually resentful of my conduct towards her. So I went away with an easy mind and it was some while before I came again. When at last I returned she had utterly disappeared, and if she is alive she must be living a wretched vagrant jife. If while I still loved her she had but shown some outward sign of her resentment, she would not have ended thus as an outcast and wanderer ; for I should never have dared to leave her so long neglected, and might in the end have acknowledged her and made her mine forever. The child too was a sweet creature, and I have spent much time in searching for them, but still without success. “It is, I fear, as sorrowful a tale as that which Uma no Kami has told you. I, unfaithful, thought that I was not missed ; and she, still loved, was in no better case than 60 THE TALE OF GENJI one whose love is not returned. I indeed am fast forgetting her; but she, it may be, cannot put me out of her mind and I fear there may be nights when thoughts that she would gladly banish burn fiercely in her breast ; for now I fancy she must be living a comfortless and unprotected life.’ ‘When all is said and done’ said Uma no Kami ‘ my friend, though I pine for her now that she is gone, was a sad plague to me while I had her, and we must own that such a one will in the end be sure to make us wish ourselves well rid of her. The zithern-player had much talent to her credit, but was a great deal too light-headed. And your diffident lady, T6 no Chuj6, seems to me to be a very suspicious case. The world appears to be so constructed that we shall in the end be always at a loss to make a reasoned choice; despite all our picking, sifting and com- paring we shall never succeed in finding this in all ways and to all lengths adorable and impeccable female.’ ‘I can only suggest the Goddess Kichij6’1 said Té no Chij6 ‘and I fear that intimacy with so holy and majestic a being might prove to be impracticable.’ At this they all laughed and T6 no Chijé continued : ‘But now it is Shikibu’s turn and he is sure to give us something entertaining. Come Shikibu, keep the ball rolling!’ ‘Nothing of interest ever happens to humble folk like myself’ said Shikibu; but T6 no Chijé scolded him for keeping them waiting and after reflecting for a while which anecdote would best suit the company, he began: ‘ While I was still a student at the University, I came across a woman who was truly a prodigy of intelli- gence. One of Uma no Kami’s demands she certainly fulfilled, for it was possible to discuss with her to advantage both public matters and the proper handling of one’s private affairs. But not only was her mind capable of grappling t Goddess of Beauty. THE BROOM-TREE 61 with any problems of this kind; she was also so learned that ordinary scholars found themselves, to their humiliation, quite unable to hold their own against her. ‘I was taking lessons from her father, who was a Professor. I had heard that he had several daughters, and some accidental circumstance made it necessary for me to exchange a word or two with one of them who turned out to be the learned prodigy of whom I have spoken. The father, hearing that we had been seen together, came up to me with a wine-cup in his hand and made an allusion to the poem of The Two Wives.: Unfortunately I did not feel the least inclination towards the lady. However I was very civil to her; upon which she began to take an affec- tionate interest in me and lost no opportunity of displaying her talents by giving me the most elaborate advice how best I might advance my position in the world. She sent me marvellous letters written in a very far-fetched epistolary style and entirely in Chinese characters; in return for which I felt bound to visit her, and by making her my teacher I managed to learn how to write Chinese poems. They were wretched, knock-kneed affairs, but I am still grateful to her for it. She was not however at all the sort of woman whom I should have cared to have as a wife, . _ for though there may be certain disadvantages in marrying a complete dolt, it is even worse to marry a blue-stocking. Still less do princes like you and Genji, require so huge a stock of intellect and erudition for your support! Let her but be one to whom the karma of our past lives draws us in natural sympathy, what matter if now and again her ignorance distresses us? Come to that, even men seem to me to get along very well without much learning.’ Here he stopped, but Genji and the rest, wishing to hear * A poem by Po Cht-i pointing out the advantages of marrying a poor wife. 62 THE TALE OF GENJI the end of the story, cried out that for their part they found her a most interesting woman. Shikibu protested that he did not wish to go on with the story, but at last after much coaxing, pulling a comical wry face he con- tinued: ‘I had not seen her for a long time. When at last some accident took me to the house, she did not receive me with her usual informality but spoke to me from behind a tiresome screen. Ha, Ha, thought I foolishly, she is sulking ; now is the time to have a scene and break with her. I might have known that she was not so little of a philosopher as to sulk about trifles; she prided herself on knowing the ways of the world and my inconstancy did not in the least disturb her. ‘ She told me (speaking without the slightest tremor) that having had a bad cold for some weeks she had taken a strong garlic-cordial, which had made her breath smell rather unpleasant and that for this reason she could not come very close to me. But if I had any matter of special importance to discuss with her she was quite prepared to give me her attention. All this she had expressed with solemn literary perfection. I could think of no suitable reply, and with an “ at your service’ I rose to go. Then, feeling that the interview had not been quite a success, she added, raising her voice ‘‘ Please come again when my breath has lost its smell.”’ I could not pretend I had not heard. I had however no intention of prolonging my visit, particularly as the odour was now becoming definitely unpleasant, and looking cross I recited the acrostic “ On this night marked by the strange behaviour of the spider, how foolish to bid me come back to-morrow ’”’! and calling 1 There is a reference to an old poem which says: ‘I know that to-night my lover will come to me. The spider’s antics prove it clearly.’ Omens were drawn from the behaviour of spiders. There is also a pun on hivu ‘day’ and hiru ‘ garlic,’ so that an ordinary person would require a few moments’ reflection before understanding the poem. THE BROOM-TREE 63 over my shoulder “‘ There is no excuse for you’’! I ran out of the room. But she, following me “ If night by night and every night we met, in daytime too I should grow bold to meet you face to face.’? Here in the second sentence she had cleverly concealed the meaning “‘ If I had had any reason to expect you, I should not have eaten garlic.” ’ ‘What a revolting story’ cried the young princes, and then, laughing, ‘ He must have invented it.’ ‘Such a woman is quite incredible ; it must have been some sort of ogress. You have shocked us, Shikibu!’ and they looked at him with disapproval. ‘ You must try to tell us a better story than that.’ ‘I do not see how any story could be better ’ said Shikibu, and left the room. “There is a tendency among men as well as women’ said Uma no Kami ‘so soon as they have acquired a little knowledge of some kind, to want to display it to the best advantage. To have mastered all the difficulties in the Three Histories and Five Classics is no road to amiability. But even a woman cannot afford to lack all knowledge of public and private affairs. Her best way will be without regular study to pick up a little here and a little there, merely by keeping her eyes and ears open. Then, if she has her wits at all about her, she will soon find that she has amassed a surprising store of information. Let her be content with this and not insist upon cramming her letters with Chinese characters which do not at all accord with her feminine style of composition, and will make the recipient exclaim in despair ‘‘ If only she could contrive to be a little less mannish!’’ And many of these characters, to which she intended the colloquial pronunciation to be given, are certain to be read as Chinese, and this will give the whole composition an even more pedantic sound than it deserves. Even among our ladies of rank and fashion there are many of this sort, and there are others who, wishing to master me Pm mor 64 THE TALE OF GENJI the art of verse-making, in the end allow it to master them, and, slaves to poetry, cannot resist the temptation, however urgent the business they are about or however inappropriate the time, to make use of some happy allusion which has occurred to them, but must needs fly to their desks and work it up into a poem. On festival days such a woman is very troublesome. For example on the morning of the Iris Festival, when everyone is busy making ready to go to the temple, she will worry them by stringing together all the old tags about the ‘‘ matchless root ”’ !; or on the gth day of the gth month, when everyone is busy thinking out some difficult Chinese poem to fit the rhymes which have been prescribed, she begins making metaphors about the ‘“‘ dew on the chrysanthemums,”’ thus diverting our attention from the far more important business which is in hand. At another time we might have found these compositions quite delightful; but by thrusting them upon our notice at inconvenient moments, when we cannot give them proper attention, she makes them seem worse than they really are. For in all matters we shall best commend ourselves if we study men’s faces to read in them the “ Why so?” or the “‘ As you will” and do not, regardless of times and circumstances, demand an interest and sympathy that they have not leisure to give. ‘Sometimes indeed a woman should even pretend to know less than she knows, or say only a part of what she would like tosay...’ All this while Genji, though he had sometimes joined in the conversation, had in his heart of hearts been thinking of one person only, and the more he thought the less could he find a single trace of those shortcomings and excesses which, so his friends had declared, were common to all 1 The irises used for the Tango festival (5th day of 5th month) had to have nine flowers growing on a root. THE BROOM-TREE 65 women. ‘ There is no one like her’ he thought, and his heart was very full. The conversation indeed had not brought them to a definite conclusion, but it had led to many curious anecdotes and reflections. So they passed the night, and at last, for a wonder, the weather had im- proved. After this long residence at the Palace Genji knew he would be expected at the Great Hall and set out atonce. There was in Princess Aoi’s air and dress a dignified _ precision which had something in it even of stiffness; and in the very act of reflecting that she, above all women, was the type of that single-hearted and devoted wife whom (as his friends had said last night) no sensible man would lightly offend, he found himself oppressed by the very perfection of her beauty, which seemed only to make all intimacy with her the more impossible. He turned to Lady Chinagon, to Nakatsukasa and other attendants of the common sort who were standing near and began to jest with them. The day was now very hot, but they thought that flushed cheeks became Prince Genji very well. Aoi’s father came, and standing behind the curtain, began to converse very amiably. Genji, who considered the weather too hot for visits, frowned, at which the ladies-in-waiting tittered. Genji, making furious signs at them to be quiet, flung himself on to a divan. In fact, he behaved far from well. _ It was now growing dark. Someone said that the position of the Earth Star! would make it unlucky for the Prince to go back to the Palace that night; and another: ‘ You are right. It is now set dead against him.’ ‘ But my own palace isin the same direction !’ cried Genji. “How vexing! where then shall I go?’ and promptly fell asleep. The ladies-in-waiting however, agreed that it was a very serious matter and began discussing what could be done. ‘ There t The ‘ Lord of the Centre,’ i.e. the planet Saturn, 5 66 THE TALE OF GENJI is Ki no Kami’s house’ said one. This Ki no Kami was one of Genji’s gentlemen in waiting. ‘It is in the Middle River’ she went on; ‘and delightfully cool and shady, for they have lately dammed the river and made it flow right through the garden.’ ‘That sounds very pleasant’ said Genji, waking up, ‘ besides they are the sort of people who would not mind one’s driving right in at the front gate, if one had a mind to.’ ? He had many friends whose houses lay out of the unlucky direction. But he feared that if he went to one of them, Aoi would think that, after absenting himself so long, he was now merely using the Earth Star as an excuse for returning to more congenial company. He _ therefore broached the matter to Ki no Kami, who accepted the proposal, but stepping aside whispered to his companions that his father Iyo no Kami, who was absent on service, had asked him to look after his young wife.2 ‘ 1 am afraid we have not sufficient room in the house to entertain him as I could wish.’ Genji overhearing this, strove to reassure him, saying ‘It will be a pleasure to me to be near the lady. A visit is much more agreeable when there is a hostess to welcome us. Find me some corner behind her parti- tion ...!’ ‘Even then, I fear you may not find... 7 but breaking off Ki no Kami sent a runner to-his house, with orders to make ready an apartment for the Prince. Treating a visit to so humble a house as a matter of no importance, he started at once, without even informing the Minister, and taking with him only a few trusted body- servants. Ki no Kami protested against the precipi ncn but in vain. The servants dusted and aired the eastern side-chamber of the Central Hall and here made temporary quarters for tLe, people with whom one can be quite at ease. It was usual to unharness one’s bulls at the gate. 2 Ki no Kami’s step-mother. THE BROOM-TREE 67 ‘the Prince. They were at pains to improve the view from his windows, for example by altering the course of certain rivulets. They set up a rustic wattled hedge and filled the borders with the choicest plants. The low humming of insects floated on the cool breeze; numberless fireflies wove inextricable mazes in the air. The whole party settled down near where the moat flowed under the covered bridge and began to drink wine. Ki no Kami went off in a great bustle, saying that he must find them something to eat. Genji, quietly surveying the scene, decided this was one of those middle-class families which in last night’s conversation had been so highly commended. He remembered that he had heard the lady who was staying in the house well spoken of and was curious to see her. He listened and thought that there seemed to be people in the western wing. There was a soft rustling of skirts, and from time to time the sound of young and by no means disagreeable voices. They did not seem to be much in earnest in their efforts to make their whispering and laughter unheard, for soon one of them opened the sliding window. But Ki no Kami crying ‘ What are you thinking of ?’ crossly closed it again. The light of a candle in the room filtered through a crack in the paper-window. _ Genji edged slightly closer to the window in the hope of _ being able to see through the crack, but found that he could see nothing. He listened for a while, and. came to the conclusion that they were sitting in the main women’s apartments, out of which the little front room opened. They were speaking very low, but he could catch enough of it to make out that they were talking about him. ‘What a shame that a fine young Prince should be taken so young and settled down for ever with a lady that was none of his choosing ! ’ ‘I understand that marriage does not weigh very heavily 68 THE TALE OF GENJI upon him’ said another. This probably meant nothing in particular, but Genji, who imagined they were talking about what was uppermost in his own mind, was appalled at the idea that his relations with Lady Fujitsubo were about to be discussed. How could they have found out ? But the subsequent conversation of the ladies soon showed that they knew nothing of the matter at all, and’ Genji stopped listening. Presently he heard them trying to ‘repeat the poem which he had sent with a nose-gay of morning-glory to Princess Asagao, daughter of Prince Momozono.t But they got the lines rather mixed up, and Genji began to wonder whether the lady’s appearance would turn out to be on a level with her knowledge of prosody. At this moment Ki no Kami came in with a lamp which he hung on the wall. Having carefully trimmed it, he offered Genji a tray of fruit. This was all rather dull and Genji by a quotation from an old folk-song hinted that he would like to meet Ki no Kami’s other guests. The hint was not taken. Genji began to doze, and his attendants sat silent and motionless. There were in the room several charming boys, sons of Ki no Kami, some of whom Genji already knew as pages at the Palace. There were also numerous sons of Iyo no Kami; with them was a boy of twelve or thirteen who particularly caught Genji’s fancy. He began asking whose sons the boys were, and when he came to this one Ki no Kami replied ‘ he is the youngest son of the late Chiinagon, who loved him dearly, but died while this boy was still a child. His sister married my father and that is why he is living here. He is quick at his books, and we hope t We learn later that Genji courted this lady in vain from his seventeenth year onward. Though she has never been mentioned before, Murasaki speaks of her as though the reader already knew all about her. This device is also employed by Marcel Proust. THE BROOM-TREE 69 one day to send him to Court, but I fear that his lack of influence . “Poor child!’ said Genji. ‘ His sister, then, is your step-mother, is that not so? How strange that you should stand in this relationship with so young a girl! And now I come to think of it there was some talk once of her being presented at Court, and I once heard the Emperor asking what had become of her. How changeable are the fortunes of the world.’ He was trying to talk in a very grown-up way. “Indeed, Sir’ answered Ki no Kami, ‘ her subsequent state was humbler than she had reason to expect. But such is our mortal life. Yes, yes, and such has it always been. We have our ups and downs—and the women even more than the men.’ } Genji : ‘ But your father no doubt makes much of her ? ’ Kino Kami: ‘Makes much cf her indeed! You may well say so, She rules his house, and he dotes on her in so wholesale and extravagant a fashion that all of us (and I among the foremost) have had occasion before now to call him to order, but he does not listen.’ Genji : “ How comes it then that he has left her behind in the house of a fashionable young Courtier? For he _ looks like a man of prudence and good sense. But pray, where is she now ?’ Ki no Kami: ‘ The ladies have been ordered to retire to the common room, but they have not yet finished all their preparations.’ Genji’s followers, who had drunk heavily, were now all lying fast asleep on the verandah. He was alone in his room, but could not get to sleep. Having at last dozed for a moment, he woke suddenly and noticed that someone was moving behind the paper-window of the back wall. This, he thought, must be where she is hiding, and faintly 70 THE TALE OF GENJI curious he sauntered in that direction and stood listening. ‘Where are you?’ I say ‘ Where are you?’ whispered someone in a quaint, hoarse voice, which seemed to be that of the boy whom Genji had noticed earlier in the evening. ‘T am lying over here’ another voice answered. ‘ Has the stranger gone to sleep yet ? His room must be quite close to this; but all the same how far off he seems!’ Her sleepy voice was so like the boy’s, that Genji concluded this must be his sister. ‘He is sleeping in the wing, I saw him to-night. All that we have heard of him is true enough. He is as hand- some as can be’ whispered the boy. ‘I wish it were to- morrow ; I want to see him properly ’ she answered drowsily, her voice seeming. to come from under the bed clothes. Genji was rather disappointed that she did not ask more questions about him. Presently he heard the boy saying ‘I am going to sleep over in the corner-room. How bad the light is’ and he seemed to be trimming the lamp. His sister’s bed appeared to be in the corner opposite the paper-window. ‘Where is Chijd?’ she called. ‘I am frightened, I like to have someone close to me.’ ‘ Madam’ answered several voices from the servants’ room, ‘she is taking her bath in the lower house. She will be back presently.’ When all was quiet again, Genji slipped back the bolt and tried the door. It was not fastened on the other side. He found himself in an ante-room with a screen at the end, beyond which a light glimmered. In the half-darkness he could see clothes boxes and trunks strewn about in great disorder. Quietly threading his way among them, he entered the inner room from which the voices had proceeded. One very minute figure was couched there who, to Genji’s slight embarrassment, on hearing his approach pushed aside the cloak which covered her, thinking that he was the maid for whom she had sent. ‘ Madam,» THE BROOM-TREE 71 hearing you call for Chijo! I thought that I might now put at your service the esteem in which I have long secretly held you.’ The lady could make nothing of all this, and terrified out of her wits tried hard to scream. But no sound came, for she had buried her face in the bed clothes. * Please listen’ said Genji. ‘ This sudden intrusion must of course seem to you very impertinent. You do not know that for years I have waited for an occasion to tell you how much [| like and admire you, and if to-night I could not resist the temptation of paying this secret visit, pray take the strangeness of my behaviour as proof of my impatience to pay a homage that has long been due.’ He spoke so courteously and gently and looked so kind that not the devil himself would have taken umbrage at his presence. But feeling that the situation was not at all a proper one for a married lady she said (without much conviction) ‘I think you have made a mistake.’ She spoke very low. Her bewildered air made her all the more attractive, and Genji, enchanted by her appearance, hastened to answer: ‘ Indeed I have made no mistake; rather, with no guide but a long-felt deference and esteem, I have found my way unerringly to your side. But I see that the suddenness of my visit has made you distrust my purpose. Let me tell you then that I have no evil intentions and seek only for someone to talk with me for a while about a matter which perplexes me.’ So saying he took her up in his arms (for she was very small) and was carrying her through the ante-room when suddenly Chijo, the servant for whom she had sent before, entered the bedroom. Genji gave an astonished cry and the maid, wondering who could have entered the ante-room, began groping her way towards them. But coming closer she recognized by the rich perfume of his dress that this could be none other * Chiij6 means ‘ Captain,’ which was Genji’s rank at the time. 72 THE TALE OF GENJI ~ than the Prince. And though she was sorely puzzled to know what was afoot, she dared not say a word. Had he been an ordinary person, she would soon have had him by the ears. ‘Nay’ she thought ‘even if he were not a Prince I should do best to keep my hands off him; for the more stir one makes, the more tongues wag. But if I should touch this fine gentleman . . . ,’ and all in a flutter she found herself obediently following Genji to his room. Here he calmly closed the door upon her, saying as he did so ‘ You will come back to fetch your mistress in the morning.’ Utsusemi herself was vexed beyond measure at being thus disposed of in the presence of her own waiting- maid, who could indeed draw but one conclusion from what she had seen. But to all her misgivings and anxieties Genji, who had the art of improvising a convincing reply to almost any question, answered with such a wealth of ingenuity and tender concern, that for awhile she was content. But soon becoming again uneasy, ‘ This must all be a dream—that you, so great a Prince, should stoop to consider so humble a creature as I, and I am overwhelmed by so much kindness. But I think you have forgotten what I am. A Zury6d’s wife! there is no altering that, and you. ..!’ Genji now began to realize how deeply he had distressed and disquieted her by his wild behaviour, and feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself he answered : “fam afraid I know very little about these questions of rank and precedence. Such things are too confusing to carry in one’s head. And whatever you may have heard of me I want to tell you for some reason or other I have till this day cared nothing for gallantry nor ever practised it, and that even you cannot be more astonished at what I have done to-night than I myself am.’ With this and a score of other speeches he sought to win her confidence. But she, knowing that if once their talk became a jot less THE BROOM-TREE 73 formal, she would be hard put to it to withstand his singular charm, was determined, even at the risk of seeming stiff and awkward, to show him that in trying so hard to put her at her ease he was only wasting his time, with the result that she behaved very boorishly indeed. She was by nature singularly gentle and yielding, so that the effort of steeling her heart and despite her feelings, playing all the while the part of the young bamboo-shoot which though so green and tender cannot be broken, was very painful to her; and finding that she could not longer think of arguments with which to withstand his importunity, she burst into tears; and though he was very sorry for her, it occurred to him that he would not gladly have missed that sight. He longed however to console her, but could not think of a way to do so, and said at last, ‘ Why do you treat me so unkindly ? It is true that the manner of our meeting was strange, yet I think that Fate meant us to meet. Itis harsh that you should shrink from me as though the World and you had never met.’ So he chided her, and she: ‘ If this had happened long ago before my troubles, before my lot was cast, perhaps I should have been glad to take your kindness while it lasted, knowing that you would soon think better of your strange condescension. But now that my course is fixed, what can such meetings bring me save misery and regret? Tell none that you have seen mvy home’ she ended, quoting the old song.! ‘ Small wonder that she is sad’ thought Genji, and he found many a tender way to comfort her. And now the cock began to crow. Out in the courtyard Genji’s men were staggering to their feet, one crying drowsily ‘ How I should like to go to sleep again,’ and another ‘ Make haste there, bring out his Honour’s coach,’ Ki no Kami came out into the yard, “What’s all this hurry ? It is only when there are women t Kokinshé 811, an anonymous love-poem. 74 THE TALE OF GENJI in his party that a man need hasten from a refuge to which the Earth star has sent him. Why is his Highness setting off in the middle of the night ? ’ Genji was wondering whether such an opportunity would ever occur again. How would he be able even to send her letters ? And thinking of all the difficulties that awaited him, he became very despondent. Chijo arrived to fetch her mistress. For a long while he would not let her go, and when at last he handed her over, he drew her back to him saying ‘ How can I send news to you? For, Madam,’ he said raising his voice that the maid Chij6 might hear “such love as mine, and such pitiless cruelty as yours have never been seen in the world before.’ Already the birds were singing in good earnest. She could not forget that she was no one and he a Prince. And even now, while he was tenderly entreating her, there came unbidden to her mind the image of her husband Iyo no Suke, about whom she generally thought either not at all or with disdain. To think that even in a dream he might see her now, filled her with shame and terror. It was daylight. Genji went with her to the partition door. Indoors and out there was a bustle of feet. As he closed the door upon her, it seemed to him a barrier that shut him out from all happiness. He dressed, and went out on to the balcony. A blind in the western wing was hastily raised. There seemed to be people behind who were looking at him. They could only see him indistinctly across the top of a partition in the verandah. Among them was one, perhaps, whose heart beat wildly as she LOOKER hanncne The moon had not set, and though with dwindled light still shone crisp and clear in the dawn. It was a daybreak of marvellous beauty. But in the passionless visage of the sky men read only their own comfort or despair; and THE BROOM-TREE 75 Genji, as with many backward glances he went upon his way, paid little heed to the beauty of the dawn. He would send her a message ? No, even that was utterly impossible. And so, in great unhappiness he returned to his wife’s house. He would gladly have slept a little, but could not stop trying to invent some way of seeing her again; or when that seemed hopeless, imagining to himself all that must now be going on in her mind. She was no great beauty, Genji reflected, and yet one could not say that she was ugly. Yes, she was in every sense a member of that Middle Class upon which Uma no Kami had given them so complete a dissertation. . He stayed for some while at the Great Hall, and finding that, try as he might, he could not stop thinking about her and longing for her, at last in despair he sent for Ki no Kami and said to him ‘ Why do you not let me have that boy in my service,—the Chitinagon’s son, whom I saw at your house? He is a likely looking boy, and I might make him my body-servant, or even recommend him to the Emperor.’ ‘I am sensible of your kindness’ said Ki no Kami, ‘I will mention what you have said to the boy’s sister.’ This answer irritated Genji, but he con- tinued: ‘And has this lady given you step-brothers my lord?’ ‘Sir, she has been married these two years, but has had no child. It seems that in making this marriage she disobeyed her father’s last injunctions, and this has set her against her husband.’ Genji: ‘ That is sad indeed: I am told that she is not ill-looking. Is that so?’ Ki no Kami: ‘I believe she is considered quite passable. But I have had very little to do with her. Intimacy between step-children and step-parents is indeed proverbially difficult.’ 76 THE TALE OF GENJI Five or six days afterwards Ki no Kami brought the boy. He was not exactly handsome, but he had great charm and (thought Genji) an air of distinction. The Prince spoke very kindly to him and soon completely won his heart. To Genji’s many questions about his sister he made such answers as he could, and when he seemed embarrassed or tongue-tied Genji found some less direct way of finding out what he wanted to know, and soon put the boy at his ease. For though he vaguely realized what was going on and thought it rather odd, he was so young that he made no effort to understand it, and without further question carried back a letter from Genji to his sister. She was so much agitated by the sight of it that she burst into tears and, lest her brother should perceive them, held the letter in front of her face while she read it. It was very long. Among much else it contained the verse ‘Would that I might dream that dream again! Alas, since first this wish was mine, not once have my eye-lids closed in sleep.’ She had never seen such beautiful writing, and as she read, a haze clouded her eyes. What incomprehensible fate had first dragged her down to be the wife of a Zury6, and then for a moment raised her so high? Still pondering, she went to her room. Next day, Genji again sent for the boy, who went to his sister saying ‘I am going to Prince Genji. Where is your answer to his letter?’ ‘Tell him’ she answered ‘that there is no one here who reads such letters.’ The boy burst out laughing. ‘ Why, you silly, how could I say such a thing to him. He told me himself to be sure to bring an answer.’ It infuriated her to think that Genji should have thus taken the boy into his confidence and she answered angrily, “He has no business to talk to you THE BROOM-TREE 77 about such things at your age. If that is what you talk about you had better not go to him any more.’ ‘ But he sent for me’ said the boy, and started off. “I was waiting for you all yesterday’ said Genji when the boy returned. ‘ Did you forget to bring the answer ? Did you forget to come?’ The child blushed and made no reply. ‘And now?’ ‘She said there is no one at home who reads such letters.’ ‘ How silly, what can be the use of saying such things?’, and he wrote another letter and gave it to the boy, saying: ‘I expect you do not know that I used to meet your sister before her marriage. She treats me in this scornful fashion because she looks upon me as a poor-spirited, defenceless creature. Whereas she has now a mighty Deputy Governor to look after her. But I hope that you will promise to be my child not his. For he is very old, and will not be able to take care of you for long.’ The boy was quite content with this explanation, and admired Genji more than ever. The prince kept him always at his side, even taking him to the Palace. And he ordered his Chamberlain to see to it that he was provided with a little Court suit. Indeed he treated him just as though he were his own child. Genji continued to send letters ; but she, thinking that the boy, young as he was, might easily allow a message to fall into the wrong hands and that then she would lose her fair name to no purpose, feeling too (that however much he desired it) between persons so far removed in rank there could be no lasting union, she answered his letters only in the most formal terms. Dark though it had been during most of the time they were together, she yet had a clear recollection of his appearance, and could not deny to herself that she thought him uncommonly handsome. But she very much doubted 78 THE TALE OF GENJI if he on his side really knew what she was like; indeed she felt sure that the next time they met he would think her very plain and all would be over. Genji meanwhile thought about her continually. He was for ever calling back to memory each incident of that one meeting, and every recollection filled him with longing and despair. He remembered how sad she had looked when she spoke to him of herself, and he longed to make her happier. He thought of visiting her in secret. But the risk of discovery was too great, and the consequences likely to be more fatal to her even than to himself. He had been many days at the Palace, when at last the Earth Star again barred the road to his home. He set out at once, but on the way pretended that he had just remembered the unfavourable posture of the. stars. There was nothing to do but seek shelter again in the house on the Middle River. Ki no Kami was surprised but by no means ill-pleased, for he attributed Genji’s visit to the amenity of the little pools and fountains which he had constructed in his garden. Genji had told the boy in the morning that he intended to visit the Middle River, and since he had now become the Prince’s constant companion, he was sent for at once to wait upon him in his room. He had already given a message to his sister, in which Genji told her of his plan. She could not but feel flattered at the knowledge that it was on her account he had contrived this ingenious excuse for coming to the house. Yet she had, as we have seen, for some reason got it into her head that at a leisurely meeting she would not please him as she had done at that first fleeting and dreamlike encounter, and she dreaded adding a new sorrow to the burden of her thwarted and unhappy existence. Too proud to let him think that she had posted herself in waiting for him, she said to her THE BROOM-TREE 79 servants (while the boy was busy in Genji’s room) ‘I do not care to be at such close quarters with our guest, besides I am stiff, and would like to be massaged; I must go where there is more room,’ and so saying she made them carry her things to the maid Chwtj6’s bedroom in the cross- wing. Genji had purposely sent his attendants early to bed, and now that all was quiet, he hastened to send her a message. But the boy could not find her. At last when he had looked in every corner of the house, he tried the cross-wing, and succeeded in tracking her down to Chijo’s room. It was too bad of her to hide like this, and half in tears he gasped out ‘Oh how can you be so horrid? What will he think of you?’ ‘ You have no business to run after me like this’ she answered angrily, ‘It is very wicked for children to carry such messages. But’ she added, ‘ you may tell him I am not well, that my ladies are with me, and I am going to be massaged...’ So she dismissed him; but in her heart of hearts she was thinking that if such an adventure had happened to her while she was still a person of consequence, before her ' father died and left her to shift for herself in the world, she would have known how to enjoy it. But now she must force herself to look askance at all his kindness. How tiresome he must think her! And she fretted so much at not being free to fall in love with him, that in the end she was more in love than ever. But then she remembered suddenly that her lot had long ago been cast. She was a wife. There was no sense in thinking of such —. things, and she made up her mind once and for all never again to let foolish ideas enter her head. Genji lay on his bed, anxiously waiting to see with what success so young a messenger would execute his delicate mission. When at last the answer came, astonished at 80 THE TALE OF GENJI this sudden exhibition of coldness, he exclaimed in deep mortification ‘ This is a disgrace, a hideous disgrace,’ and he looked very rueful indeed. For a while he said no more, but lay sighing deeply, in great distress. At last he recited the poem ‘I knew not the nature of the strange tree! that stands on Sono plain, and when I sought the comfort of its shade, I did but lose my road,’ and sent it to her. She was still awake, and answered with the poem ‘ Too like am I in these my outcast years to the dim tree that dwindles from the traveller’s approaching gaze.’ The boy was terribly sorry for Genji and did not feel sleepy at all, but he was afraid people would think his continual excursions very strange. By this time, however, everyone else in the house was sound asleep. Genji alone lay plunged in the blackest melancholy. But even while he was raging at the inhuman stubbornness of her new-found and incom- ¢ prehensible resolve, he found that he could not but admire ' ? her the more for this invincible tenacity. At last he grew ‘tired of lying awake; there was no more to be done. A moment later he had changed his mind again, and suddenly whispered to the boy ‘ Take me to where she is hiding!’ ‘It is too difficult’ he said, ‘she is locked in and there are so many people there. I am afraid to go with you.’ ; ‘So be it’ said Genji, ‘ but you at least must not abandon . me’ and he laid the boy beside him on his bed. He was well content to find himself lying by this handsome young Prince’s side, and Genji, we must record, found the boy no bad substitute for his ungracious sister. t The hahakigi or ‘ broom-tree’ when seen in the distance appears to offer ample shade ; but when approached turns out to be a skimpy bush. CHAPTER III UTSUSEMI me before’ he whispered to the boy. ‘It is more than I can bear. Iam sick of myself and of the world, and do not want to go on living any more.’ This sounded so tragic that the boy began to weep. The smallness and delicacy of his build, even the way in which his hair was cropped, gave him an astonishing resemblance to his sister, thought Genji, who found his sympathy very endearing. At times he had half thought of creeping away from the ‘boy’s side and searching on his own account for the lady’s hiding-place ; but soon abandoned a project which would only have involved him in the most appalling scandal. So he lay, waiting for the dawn. At last, while it was still dark, so full of his own thoughts that he quite forgot to make his usual parting speech to his young page, he left the house. The boy’s feelings were very much hurt, and all that day he felt lonely andinjured. The lady, when no answer came from Genji, thought that he had changed his mind, and though she would have been very angry if he had persisted in his suit, she was not quite prepared to lose him with so little ado. But this was a good opportunity once and for all to lock up her heart against him. She thought that she had done so successfully, but found to her surprise that he still occupied an uncommonly large share of her thoughts. 6 81 Bas b was still sleepless. ‘ No one has ever disliked 82 THE TALE OF GENJI Genji, though he felt it would have been much better to put the whole business out of his head, knew that he had not the strength of mind to do so and at last, unable to bear his wretchedness any longer he said to the boy ‘ I am feeling very unhappy. I keep on trying to think of other things, but my thoughts will not obey me. I can struggle no longer. You must watch for a suitable occasion, and then contrive some way of bringing me into the presence of your sister.’ This worried the boy, but he was inwardly flattered at the confidence which Genji placed in him. And an opportunity soon presented itself. Ki no Kami had been called away to the provinces, and there were only women in the house. One evening when dusk had settled upon the quiet streets the boy brought a carriage to fetch him. He knew that the lad would do his best, but not feeling quite safe in the hands of so young an accomplice, he put on a disguise, and then in his impatience, not waiting even to see the gates closed behind him, he drove off at top speed. They entered unobserved at a side-gate, and here he bade Genji descend. The brother knew that as he was only a boy, the watchman and gardeners would not pay any particular attention to his movements, and so he was not at all uneasy. Hiding Genji in the porch of the double-door of the eastern wing, he purposely banged against the sliding partition which separated this wing from the main part of the house, and that the maids might have the impression he did not mind who heard him enter he called out crossly “Why is the door shut on a hot night like this?’ ‘ “‘ My lady of the West”: has been here since this morning, and she is playing go with my other lady.’ Longing to catch sight of her, even though she were with a companion, Genji stole from his hiding-place, and crept through a gap in the curtains. The partition door through t Ki no Kami’s sister, referred to later in the story as Nokiba no Ogi. UTSUSEMI | 83 which the boy had passed was still open, and he could see through it, right along the corridor into the room on the other side. The screen which protected the entrance of this room was partly folded, and the curtains which usually concealed the divan had, owing to the great heat, been hooked up out of the way, so that he had an excellent view. The lady sitting near the lamp, half-leaning against the middle pillar must, he supposed, be his beloved. He looked closely at her. She seemed to be wearing an unlined, dark purple dress, with some kind of scarf thrown over her shoulders. The poise of her head was graceful, but her extreme smallness had the effect of making her seem some- what insignificant. She seemed to be trying all the while to hide her face from her companion, and there was something furtive about the movements of her slender hands, which she seemed never to show for more than a moment. Her companion was sitting right opposite him, and he could see her perfectly. She wore an underdress of thin white stuff, and thrown carelessly over it a cloak embroidered with red and blue flowers. The dress was not fastened in front, showing a bare neck and breast, showing even the little red sash which held up her drawers. She had indeed an engagingly free and easy air. Her skin was very white and delicate, she was rather plump, but tall and well built. The poise of her head and angle of her brow were faultless, the expression of her mouth and eyes was very pleasing and her appearance altogether most delightful. Her hair grew very thick, but was cut short so as to hang on a level with her shoulders. It was very fine and smooth. How exciting it must be to have such a girl for one’s daughter ! Small wonder if Iyo no Kami was proud of her. If she was a little less restless, he thought, she would be quite perfect. The game was nearly over, she was clearing away the unwanted pieces. She seemed to be very excitable and 84 THE TALE OF GENJI was making a quite unnecessary commotion about the business. ‘ Wait a little’ said her companion very quietly, ‘here there is a stalemate. My only move is to counter- attack over there...’ ‘It is all over’ said the other impatiently ‘ I am beaten, let us count the score;’ and she began counting, ‘ ten, twenty, thirty, forty’ on her fingers. Genji could not help remembering the old song about the wash-house at lyo (‘ eight tubs to the left, nine tubs to the right’) and as this lady of Iyo, determined that nothing should be left unsettled, went on stolidly counting her losses and gains, he thought her for the moment slightly common. It was strange to contrast her with Utsusemi,! who sat silent, her face half-covered, so that he could scarcely discern her features. But when he looked at her fixedly, she, as though uneasy under this gaze of which she was not actually aware, shifted in her seat, and showed him her full profile. Her eyelids gave the impression of being a little swollen, and there was at places a certain lack of delicacy in the lines of her features, while her good points were not visible. But when she began to speak, it was as though she were determined to make amends for the deficiencies of her appearance and show that she had, if not so much beauty, at any rate more sense than her companion. The latter was now flaunting her charms with more and more careless abandonment. Her continual laughter and high spirits were certainly rather engaging, and she seemed in her way to be a most entertaining person. He did not imagine that she was very virtuous, but that was far from being altogether a disadvantage. It amused him very much to see people behaving quite naturally together. He had lived in an atmosphere of : This name means ‘ cicada’ and is given to her later in the story in . reference to the scarf which she ‘ discarded as a cicada sheds its husk.’ But at this point it becomes grammatically important that she should have a name and I therefore anticipate. -* UTSUSEMI 85 ceremony and reserve. This peep at everyday life was a most exciting novelty, and though he felt slightly uneasy at spying in this deliberate way upon two persons who had no notion that they were observed, he would gladly have gone on looking, when suddenly the boy, who had been sitting by his sister’s side, got up, and Genji slipped back again into his proper hiding-place. The boy was full of apologies at having left him waiting for so long: ‘ But I am afraid nothing can be done to-day ; there is still a visitor in her room.’ ‘And am I now to go home again?’ said Genji; ‘that is really too much to ask.’ ‘No, no, stay here, I will try what can be done, when the visitor has gone.’ Genji felt quite sure that the boy would manage to find some way of cajoling his sister, for he had noticed that though a mere child, he had a way of quietly observing situations and characters, and making use of his knowledge. The game of go must now be over. A rustling of skirts and pattering of feet showed that the household was not retiring to rest. ‘ Where is the young master?’ Genji heard a servant saying, ‘I am going to fasten this partition door,’ and there was the sound of bolts being slipped. ‘ They have all gone to bed’ said Genji, ‘ now is the time to think of a plan.’ The boy knew that it would be no use arguing with his sister or trying beforehand in any way to bend her obstinate resolution. The best thing to be done under the circumstances was to wait till no one was about, and then lead Genji straight to her. ‘Is Ki no Kami’s sister still here ?’ asked Genji, ‘I should like just to catch a glimpse of her.’ ‘But that is impossible’ said the boy ‘She is in my sister’sroom.’ ‘ Indeed ’ said Genji, affecting surprise. For though he knew very well where she was he did not wish to show that he had already seen her. Becoming very impatient of all these delays, he pointed out that it was growing very late, and there was no time to be lost. 86 THE TALE OF GENJI The boy nodded, and tapping on the main door of the women’s quarters, he entered. Everyone was sound asleep. ‘I am going to sleep in the ante-room’ the boy said out loud; ‘ Ishall leave the door open so as to make a draught ;’ _ and so saying he spread his mattress on the ground, and for a while pretended to be asleep. Soon however, he got up and spread a screen as though to protect him from the light, and under its shadow Genji slipped softly into the room. Not knowing what was to happen next, and much doubting whether any good would come of the venture, with great trepidation he followed the boy to the curtain that screened the main bedroom, and pulling it aside entered on tip-toe. But even in the drab garments which he had chosen for his disguise, he seemed to the boy to cut a terribly conspicuous figure as he passed through the midnight quietness of the house. Utsusemi meanwhile had persuaded herself that she was very glad Genji had forgotten to pay his threatened visit. But she was still haunted by the memory of their one strange and dreamlike meeting, and was in no mood for sleep. But near her, as she lay tossing, the lady of the go party, delighted by her visit and all the opportunities it had afforded for chattering to her heart’s content, was already asleep. And as she was young and had no troubles she slept very soundly. The princely scent which still clung to Genji’s person reached the bed. Utsusemi raised her head, and fancied that she saw something move behind a part of the curtain that was only of one thickness. Though it was very dark she recognized Genji’s figure. Filled with a sudden terror and utter bewilderment, she sprang from the bed, threw a fragile gauze mantle over her shoulders, and fled silently from the room. A moment later Genji entered. He saw with delight that UTSUSEMI 87 there was only one person in the room, and that the bed was arranged for two. He threw off his cloak, and advanced towards the sleeping figure. She seemed a more imposing figure than he had expected, but this did not trouble him. It did indeed seem rather strange that she should be so sound asleep. Gradually he realized with horror that it was not © she at all. ‘It is no use’ thought Genji ‘ saying that I have come to the wrong room, for I have no business anywhere here. Nor is it worth while pursuing my real lady, for she would not have vanished like this if she cared a straw about me.’ What if it were the lady he had seen by the lamp- light ? She might not after all prove a bad exchange! But no sooner had he thought this than he was horrified at his own frivolity. She opened her eyes. She was naturally somewhat startled, but did not seem to be at all seriously put out. She was a thoughtless creature in whose life no very strong emotion had ever played a part. Hers was the flippancy that goes with inexperience, and even this sudden visitation did not seem very much to perturb her. He meant at first to explain that it was not to see her that he had come. But to do so would have been to give away the secret which Utsusemi so jealously guarded from the world. There was nothing for it, but to pretend that his repeated visits to the house, of which the lady was well aware, had been made in the hope of meeting her! This was a story which would not have withstood the most cursory examination; but, outrageous as it was, the girl accepted it without hesitation. _ He did not by any means dislike her, but at that moment all his thoughts were busy with the lady who had so mysteri- ously vanished. No doubt she was congratulating herself in some safe hiding-place upon the absurd situation in which she had left him. Really, she was the most obstinate 88 THE TALE OF GENJI creature in the world! What was the use of running after her? But all the same she continued to obsess him. But the girl in front of him was young and gay and charming. They were soon getting on very well together. ‘Ts not this kind of thing much more amusing than what happens with people whom one knows?’ asked Genji a little later. ‘ Do not think unkindly of me. Our meeting must for the present remain a secret. JI am in a position which does not always allow me to act as I please. Your people too would no doubt interfere if they should hear of it, which would be very tiresome. Wait patiently, and do not forget me.’ These rather tee did not strike her as at all unsatisfactory, and she ‘answered very seriously ‘I am afraid it will not be very easy for me even to write to you. People would think it very odd.’ ‘Of course we must not let ordinary people into our secret ’ he answered, ‘ but there is no reason why this little page should not sometimes carry a message. Meanwhile not a word to anyone!’ And with that he left her, taking as he did so Utsusemi’s thin scarf which had slipped from her shoulders when she fled fromsthe room. He went to wake his page who was lying not far away. The boy sprang instantly to his feet, for he was sleeping very lightly, not knowing when his help might be required. He opened the door as quietly as he could. ‘ Whois that ?’ someone called out in great alarm. It was the voice of an old woman who worked in the house. ‘It is I’ answered the boy uneasily. ‘What are you walking about here for at this time of night ?’ and scolding as she came, she began to advance towards the door. ‘ Bother her’ thought the boy, but he answered hastily ‘It’s all right, I am only going outside for a minute;’ but just as Genji passed through the door, the moon of dawn suddenly emerged in all her bright- ness. Seeing a grown man’s figure appear in the doorway UTSUSEMI 89 ‘Whom have you got with you ?’ the old lady asked, and then answering her own question ‘ Why it is Mimbu! what an outrageous height that girl has grown to! ’ and continuing to imagine that the boy was walking with Mimbu, a maid- servant whose lankiness was a standing joke in the house, “and you will soon be as big as she is, little Master!’ she cried, and so saying came out through the door that they had just passed through. Genji felt very uncomfortable, and making no answer on the supposed Mimbu’s behalf, he stood in the shadow at the end of the corridor, hiding himself as best he could. ‘ You have been on duty, haven’t you dear?’ said the old lady as she came towards them. “I have been terribly bad with the colic since yesterday and was lying up, but they were shorthanded last night, and I had to go and help, though I did feel very queer all the while.’ And then, without waiting for them to answer, ‘Oh, my pain, my poor pain’ she muttered ‘I can’t stop here talking like this’ and she hobbled past them without looking up. So narrow an escape made Genji wonder more than ever whether the whole thing was worth while. He drove back to his house, with the boy riding as his postillion. Here he told him the story of his evening’s adventure. _ “A pretty mess you made of it!’ And when he had finished scolding the boy for his incompetence, he began to rail at the sister’s irritating prudishness. The poor child felt very unhappy, but could think of nothing to say in his own or _ his sister’s defence. “I am utterly wretched’ said Genji. ‘ It is obvious that she would not have behaved as she did last night unless she absolutely detested me. But she might at least have the decency to send civil answers to my letters. Oh, well, I suppose Iyo no Kami is the better man . . .”. So he spoke, thinking that she desired only to be rid of him. Yet when 90 THE TALE OF GENJI at last he lay down to rest, he was wearing her scarf hidden under his dress. He had put the boy by his side, and after giving much vent to his exasperation, he said at last ‘I am very fond of you, but I am afraid in future I shall always think of you in connection with this hateful business, and that will put an end to our friendship.’ He said it with such conviction that the boy felt quite forlorn. For a while they rested, but Genji could not sleep, and at dawn he sent in haste for his ink-stone. He did not write a proper letter, but scribbled on a piece of folded paper, in the manner of a writing exercise, a poem in which he com- pared the scarf which she had dropped in her flight to the dainty husk which the cicada sheds on some bank beneath a tree. The boy picked the paper up, and thrust it into the folds of his dress. Genji was very much distressed at the thought of what the other lady’s feelings must be; but after some reflection he decided that it would be better not to send any message. The scarf, to which still clung the delicate perfume of its owner, he wore for long afterwards beneath his dress. When the boy got home he found his sister waiting for him in very ill-humour. ‘It was not your doing that I escaped from the odious quandary in which you landed me! And even so pray what explanation can I offer to my friend?’ ‘A fine little clown the Prince must think you now. I hope you are ashamed of yourself.’ Despite the fact that both parties were using him so ill, the boy drew the rescued verses from out the folds of his dress and handed them to her. She could not forbear to read them. What of this discarded mantle ? Why should he speak of it? The coat that the fishers of Iseo left lying upon the shore . . .t those were the words that came into t Allusion to the old poem, ‘ Does he know that since he left me my eyes are wet as the coat that the fishers . . . left lying upon the shore ? ’ UTSUSEMI 91 her mind, but they were not the clue. She was sorely puzzled. Meanwhile the Lady of the West! was feeling very ill at ease. She was longing to talk about what had happened, but must not do so, and had to bear the burden of her impatience all alone. The arrival of Utsusemi’s brother put her into a great state of excitement. No letter for her ? she could not understand it at all, and for the first time a cloud settled upon her gay confiding heart. Utsusemi, though she had so fiercely steeled herself against his love, seeing such tenderness hidden under the words of his message, again fell to longing that she were free, and though there was no undoing what was done she found it so hard to go without him that she took up the folded paper and wrote in the margin a poem in which she said that her sleeve, so often wet with tears, was like the cicada’s dew-drenched wing. 1 The visitor. CHAPTER IV YUGAO T was at the time when he was secretly visiting the lady of the Sixth Ward.t One day on his way back from the Palace he thought that he would call upon his foster-mother who, having for a long while been very ill, had become a nun. She lived in the Fifth Ward. After many enquiries he managed to find the house; but the front gate was locked and he could not drive in. He sent one of his servants for Koremitsu, his foster-nurse’s son, and while he was waiting began to examine the rather wretched looking by-street. The house next door was fenced with a new paling, above which at one place were four or five panels of open trellis-work, screened by blinds which were very white and bare. Through chinks in these blinds a number of foreheads could be seen. They seemed to belong to a group of ladies who must be peeping with interest into the street below. At first he thought they had merely peeped out as they passed ; but he soon realized that if they were standing on the floor they must be giants. No, evidently they had taken the trouble to climb on to some table or bed ; which was surely rather odd ! He had come in a plain coach with no outriders. No one could possibly guess who he was, and feeling quite at his t Lady Rokujd. Who she was gradually becomes apparent in the course of the story. 92 YUGAO 93 ease he leant forward and deliberately examined the house. The gate, also made of a kind of trellis-work, stood ajar, and he could see enough of the interior to realize that it was a very humble and poorly furnished dwelling. For a moment he pitied those who lived in such a place, but then he remembered the song ‘ Seek not in the wide world to find a home ; but where you chance to rest, call that your house’; and again, ‘ Monarchs may keep their palaces of jade, for in a leafy cottage two can sleep.’ There was a wattled fence over which some ivy-like creeper spread its cool green leaves, and among the leaves were white flowers with petals half unfolded like the lips of people smiling at their own thoughts. ‘ They are called Yiigao, ‘“‘ Evening Faces,’”’’ one of his servants told him ; ‘how strange to find so lovely a crowd clustering on this deserted wall!’ And indeed it was a most strange and delightful thing to see how on the narrow tenement in a poor quarter of the town they had clambered over rickety eaves and gables and spread wherever there was room for them to grow. He sent one of his servants to pick some. The man entered at the half-opened doorg and had begun to pluck the flowers, when a little girl in a long yellow tunic came through a quite genteel sliding door, and holding out towards Genji’s servant a white fan heavily perfumed with incense, she said to him ‘ Would you like something to put them on? I am afraid you have chosen a wretched- looking bunch,’ and she handed him the fan. Just as he was opening the gate on his way back, the old nurse’s son Koremitsu came out of the other house full of apologies for having kept Genji waiting so long—‘I could not find the key of the gate’ he said. ‘ Fortunately the people of this humble quarter were not likely to recognize you and press or stare; but I am afraid you must have been very much bored waiting in this hugger-mugger back street,’ J 94 THE TALE OF GENJI and he conducted Genji into the house. Koremitsu’s brother, the deacon, his brother-in-law Mikawa no Kami © and his sister all assembled to greet the Prince, delighted by a visit with which they had not thought he was ever likely to honour them again. The nun too rose from her couch: ‘ For a long time I had been waiting to give up the world, but one thing held me back: I wanted you to see your old nurse just once again as you used to know her. You never came to see me, and at last I gave up waiting and took my vows. Now, in reward for the penances which my Order enjoins, I have got back a little of my health, and having seen my dear young master again, I can wait with a quiet mind for the Lord Amida’s Light,’ and in her weakness she shed a few tears. “I heard some days ago ’ said Genji ‘ that you were very dangerously ill, and was in great anxiety. It is sad now | to find you in this penitential garb. You must live longer yet, and see me rise in the world, that you may be born again high in the ninth sphere of Amida’s Paradise. For they say that those who died with longings unfulfilled are burdened with an evil Karma in their life to come.’ People such as old nurses regard even the most black- guardly and ill-favoured foster-children as prodigies of beauty and virtue. Small wonder then if Genji’s nurse, who had played so great a part in his early life, always regarded her office as immensely honourable and important, and tears of pride came into her eyes while he spoke to her. The old lady’s children thought it very improper that their mother, having taken holy orders, should show so lively an interest in a human career. Certain that Genji himself would be very much shocked, they exchanged uneasy glances. He was on the contrary deeply touched. ‘ When I was a child’ he said ‘ those who were dearest to me were early taken away, and although there were many who gave YUOGAO 95 a hand to my upbringing, it was to you only, dear nurse, that I was deeply and tenderly attached. When I grew up I could not any longer be often in your company. I have not even been able to come here and see you as often as I wanted to. But in all the long time which has passed since I was last here, I have thought a great deal about you and wished that life did not force so many bitter partings upon us.’ So he spoke tenderly. The princely scent of the sleeve which he had raised to brush away his tears filled the low and narrow room, and even the young people, who had till now been irritated by their mother’s obvious pride at having been the nurse of so splendid a prince, found themselves in tears. Having arranged for continual masses to be said on the sick woman’s behalf, he took his leave, ordering Koremitsu to light him with a candle. As they left the house he looked at the fan upon which the white flowers had been laid. He now saw that there was writing on it, a poem carelessly but elegantly scribbled: ‘ The flower that puzzled you was but the Y#gao, strange beyond knowing in its dress of shining dew.’ It was written with a deliberate negligence which seemed to aim at concealing the writer’s status and identity. But for all that the hand showed a breeding and distinction which agreeably surprised him. ‘ Who lives in the house on the left ?’ he asked. Koremitsu, who did not at all want to act as a go-between, replied that he had only been at his mother’s for five or six days and had been so much occupied by her illness that he had not asked any questions about » the neighbours. ‘I want to know for a quite harmless reason’ said Gengi. ‘ There is something about this fan which raises a rather important point. I positively must settle it. You would oblige me by making enquiries from someone who knows the neighbourhood.’ JKoremitsu al 96 THE TALE OF GENJI went at once to the house next door and sent for the steward. ‘This house’ the man said ‘ belongs to a certain Titular- Prefect. He is living in the country, but my lady is still here; and as she is young and loves company, her brothers who are in service at the Court often come here to visit her.’ ‘ And that is about all one can expect a servant to know’ said Koremitsu when he repeated this information. It occurred at once to Genji that it was one of these Courtiers who had written the poem. Yes, there was certainly a self-confident air in the writing. It was by someone whose rank entitled him to have a good opinion of himself. But he was romantically disposed ; it was too painful to dismiss altogether the idea that, after all, the verses might really have been meant for him, and on a folded paper he wrote : “Could I but get a closer view, no longer would they puzzle me—the flowers that all too dimly in the gathering dusk I saw.’ This he wrote in a disguised hand and gave to his servant. The man reflected that though the senders of the fan had never seen Genji before, yet so well known were his features, that even the glimpse they had got from the window might easily have revealed to them his identity. He could imagine the excitement with which the fan had been despatched and the disappointment when for so long a time no answer came. His somewhat rudely belated arrival would seem to them to have been purposely contrived. They would all be agog to know what was in the reply, and he felt very nervous as he approached the house. Meanwhile, lighted only by a dina torch, Genji quietly left his nufse’s home. The blinds of a house were now drawn and only the fire-fly glimmer of a candle shone through the gap between them. . When he reached his destination ! a very different scene met his eyes. A handsome park, a well-kept eagen how * Lady Rokujé’s house, YUGAO 97 spacious and comfortable it all was! And soon the mag- nificent owner of these splendours had driven from his head all thought of the wooden paling, the shutters and the flowers. He stayed longer than he intended, and the sun was already up when he set out for home. Again he passed the house with the shutters. He had driven through the quarter countless times without taking the slightest interest in it; but that one small episode of the fan had sud- denly made his daily passage through these streets an event of great importance. He looked about him eagerly, and would have liked to know who lived in all the houses. For several days Koremitsu did not present himself at Genji’s palace. When at last he came, he explained that his mother was growing much weaker and it was very difficult for him to get away. Then drawing nearer, he said in a low voice ‘I made some further enquiries, but could not find out much. It seems that someone came very secretly in June and has been living there ever since ; but who she really is not even her owa servants know. I have once or twice peeped through a hole in the hedge and caught a - glimpse of some young women ; but their skirts were rolled _ back and tucked in at their belts, so I think they must have been waiting-maids. Yesterday some while after sunset ‘I saw a lady writing a letter. Her face was calm, but she looked very unhappy, and I noticed that some of her women were secretly weeping.’ Genji was more curious than ever ~ : Though: his matt was of a rank which brought with it great responsibilities, Koremitsu knew that in view of his youth and popularity the young prince would be thought to be positively neglecting his duty if he did not indulge in a feW escapades, and that everyone would regard his 98 THE TALE OF GENJI conduct as perfectly natural and proper even when it was such as they would not have dreamed of permitting to ordinary people. ‘Hoping to get a little further information,’ he said, ‘I found an excuse for communicating with her, and received in reply a very well-worded answer in a cultivated hand. She must be a girl of quite good position.’ ‘ You must find out more’ said Genji; ‘I shall not be happy till I know all about her.’ Here perhaps was just such a case as they had imagined on that rainy night: a lady whose outward circumstances seemed to place her in that ‘ Lowest Class’ which they had agreed to dismiss as of no interest; but who in her own person showed qualities by no means despicable. But to return fora moment to Utsusemi. Her unkindness had not affected him as it would have affected most people. If she had encouraged him he would soon have regarded the affair as an appalling indiscretion which he must put an end to at all costs; whereas now he brooded continually upon his defeat and was forever plotting new ways to shake her resolution. He had never, till the day of his visit to the foster-nurse, been interested in anyone of quite the common classes, But now, since that rainy night’s conversation, he had explored (so it seemed to him) every corner of society, including in his survey even those categories which his friends had passed over as utterly remote and improbable. He thought of the lady who had, so to speak, been thrown into his life as an extra. With how confiding an air she had promised that she would wait! He was very sorry about her, but he was afraid that if he wrote to her Utsusemi might find out and that would prejudice his chances. He would write to her afterwards... . Suddenly at this point Iyo no Suke himself was announced. YUGAO 99 He had just returned from his province, and had lost no time in paying his respects to the prince. The long journey by boat had made him look rather swarthy and haggard. ‘ Really ’ thought Genji ‘ he is not at all an attractive man ! ’ Still it was possible to talk to him ; for if a man is of decent birth and breeding, however broken he may be by age or misfortune, he will always retain a certain refinement of mind and manners which prevent him from becoming merely repulsive. They were beginning to discuss the affairs of Iyo’s province and Genji was even joking with him, when a sudden feeling of embarrassment came over him. Why should those recollections make him feel so awkward ? Iyo no Suke was quite an old man, it had done him no harm. ‘These scruples are absurd’ thought Genji. However, she was right in thinking it was too queer, too ill-assorted a match; and remembering Uma no Kami’s warnings, he felt that he had behaved badly. Though her unkindness still deeply wounded him, he was almost glad for Iyo’s sake that she had not relented. ‘My daughter is to be married’ Iyo was saying ‘ And I am going to take my wife back with me to my province.’ Here was a double surprise. At all costs he must see Utsu- semi once again. He spoke with her brother and the boy _ discussed the matter with her. It would have been difficult enough for anyone to have carried on an intrigue with the prince under such circumstances as these. But for her, so far below him in rank and beset by new restrictions, it had now become unthinkable. She could not however bear to lose all contact with him, and not only did she answer his letters much more kindly than before, but took pains, though they were written with apparent negligence, to add little touches that would give him pleasure and make him see that she still cared for him. All this he noticed, and though he was vexed that she would 100 THE TALE OF GENJI not relent towards him, he found it impossible to put her out of his mind. As for the other girl, he did not think that she was at all the kind of person to go on pining for him once she was properly settled with a husband; and he now felt quite happy about her. It was autumn. Genji had brought so many compli- cations into his life that he had for some while been very irregular in his visits to the Great Hall, and was in great disgrace there. The lady! in the grand mansion was very difficult to get on with; but he had surmounted so many obstacles in his courtship of her that to give her up the moment he had won her seemed absurd. Yet he could not deny that the blind intoxicating passion which possessed him while she was still unattainable, had almost disappeared. To begin with, she was far too sensitive ; then there was the disparity of their ages,2 and the constant dread of discovery which haunted him during those painful partings at small hours of the morning. In fact, there were too many disadvantages. It was a morning when mist lay heavy over the garden. After being many times roused Genji at last came out of Rokuj6’s room, looking very cross and sleepy. One of the maids lifted part of the folding-shutter, seeming to invite her mistress to watch the prince’s departure. Rokujé pulled aside the bed-curtains and tossing her hair back over her shoulders looked out into the garden. So many lovely flowers were growing in the borders that Genji halted for a while to enjoy them. How beautiful he looked standing there, she thought. As he was nearing the portico the maid who had opened the shutters came and walked by his side. She wore a light green skirt exquisitely matched to the season and place; it was so hung as to show to great advantage t Rokujé. 2 Genji was now seventeen ; Rokuj6 twenty-four. YUGAO 101 the grace and suppleness of her stride. Genji looked round at her. ‘ Let us sit down for a minute on the railing here in the corner,’ he said. ‘She seems very shy’ he thought, “but how charmingly her hair falls about her shoulders,’ and he recited the poem: ‘ Though I would not be thought to wander heedlessly from flower to flower, yet this morning’s pale convolvulus I fain would pluck!’ As he said the lines he took her hand and she answered with practised ease: “You hasten, I observe, to admire the morning flowers while the mist still lies about them,’ thus parrying the compliment by a verse which might be understood either in a personal or general sense. At this moment a very elegant page wearing the most bewitching baggy trousers came among the flowers brushing the dew as he walked, and began to pick a bunch of the convolvuli. Genji longed to paint the scene. No one could see him without pleasure. He was like the flowering tree under whose shade even the rude mountain peasant delights to rest. And so great was the fascination he exercised that those who knew him longed to offer him whatever was dearest to them. One who had a favourite daughter would ask for nothing better than to make her Genji’s handmaiden. Another who had an exquisite sister was ready for her to serve in his household, though it were at the most menial tasks. Still less could these ladies who on such occasions as this were privileged to converse with him and stare at him as much as they pleased, and were moreover young people of much sensibility—how could they fail to delight in his company and note with much uneasi- ness that his visits were becoming far less frequent than before ? But where have I got to? Ah, yes. Koremitsu had patiently continued the enquiry with which Genji entrusted him. ‘ Who the mistress is’ he said, ‘ I have not been able 102 THE TALE OF GENJI to discover ; and for the most part she is at great pains not to show herself. But more than once in the general confusion, when there was the sound of a carriage coming along past that great row of tenement houses, and all the maid-servants were peering out into the road, the young lady whom I suppose to be the mistress of the house slipped out along with them. I could not see her clearly, but she seemed to be very pretty. “One day, seeing a carriage with outriders coming towards the house, one of the maids rushed off calling out “‘ Ukon, Ukon, come quickly and look. The Captain’s carriage is coming this way.’’ At once a pleasant-faced lady no longer young, came bustling out. ‘‘ Quietly, quietly ’’ she said holding up a warning finger; ‘‘ how do you know it is the Captain? I shall have to go and look,” and she slipped out.