to stay away. His doubts came back, and his resentment.
The chrysanthemums had not yet taken on their last color, for the
more carefully cultivated the chrysanthemum, the slower it is to change.
Yet a single blossom, for whatever reason, had changed to that most
beautiful of colors. The prince had it brought to him.
"'I do not love, among flowers, the chrysanthemum only,'" he whis-
pered. "One evening long ago, a certain prince was admiring chrysanthe-
mums, and a spirit came down from the heavens to help him at his
lute. We must resign ourselves to doing without such services in this
inferior age of ours."
"We may not be as imaginative as they were," said Nakanokimi, not
wanting him to put the instrument down, and always eager to add to her
own repertoire, "but that hardly means that we are not up to playing what
has been given to us."
"I get lonesome, all by myself. You must join me." He had a koto
brought out for her.
But she quite refused to touch it. "I did once have a few lessons, but
I'm afraid I wasn't as diligent as I might have been."
"How difficult you are, my dear, even with these little trifles. The lady
at Rokujo~ is still almost a stranger, but she does not try to hide her
weaknesses from me. Our good friend Kaoru gives it as his view that
women should be docile and straightforward. No doubt you are more open
with him."
And so, finally, he had said it. She sighed and played a brief melody.
The strings being somewhat slack, she tuned her koto to the _banjiki_
mode. Even the few notes she plucked by way of tuning made it clear
that her touch was excellent. Niou sang "The Sea of Ise" in very good
voice, and Nakanokimi's women, wreathed in smiles, came up close behind
the curtains.
<P 924>
"Yes, it would be nice if he could make do with only our lady, but
fine gentlemen are what they are. We have to live with it, and I say she's
been lucky. Can she really think of running back to those awful moun-
tains? Why, years could go by without anything half as interesting as
this."
The younger women would have preferred just to listen.
With music and other diversions to break the monotony, he stayed at
Nijo~ for some days. He sent word to Rokujo~ that a defilement had made
a period of abstinence necessary. The lady there thought the excuse al-
together too transparent.
One day Yu~giri himself stopped by, on his way home from court.
"He always makes such a parade of it," grumbled Niou, going to the
main hall.
"What fond memories this place does call up. I ought to come
often, I suppose, but, not having much by way of excuse-- " Yu~giri talked
of the old days for a time, and when he left he took Niou with him.
It was indeed a parade, row upon row of sons and courtiers. Nak-
anokimi's women looked out and sighed, having before them evidence that
their mistress faced impossible competition. "But what a _really_ handsome
gentleman he is," said one of them. "What a really handsome gentleman.
He has that platoon of sons, each as good as the rest, and all of them so
young and healthy; but he outshines them all."
Others were less pleased. "I don't think it's in very good taste, really,
making such a show of things. Our poor lady has troubles enough al-
ready."
Nakanokimi had her own thoughts. What she had seen over the years
had been sufficient to convince her that she was not meant to mingle with
these grand people. She was an insignificant little thing, as the world could
plainly see. It would be better to return quietly to her mountains.
And so, like other years, this one came to an end.
She was in great discomfort from late in the First Month. Niou, for
whom this was a new experience, was beside himself. He had services
performed at this temple and that, and went on commissioning new ones.
When Nakanokimi's distress was greatest, there came an inquiry from the
empress. The marriage was now in its second year. Though aware of the
fact that such steadfastness on Niou's part was worth noting, the world
had not paid a great deal of attention to Nakanokimi. Now courtiers high
and low began sending expressions of concern.
Kaoru was no less apprehensive than Niou. He made discreet inquiries
and commissioned services of his own, but his visits could not be as
frequent as he would have wished.
The court was astir during these same weeks with preparations for the
Second Princess's initiation. The emperor gave them his personal attention
and found it rather a relief that she had no maternal relatives. The princess
of course had her mother's treasures, to which were added rich stores from
<P 925>
the palace and from appropriate provincial offices as well. Kaoru was to
become her bridegroom immediately after the ceremonies. He too should
have been busy with preparations, but he could think only of Nakanokimi.
At an extraordinary levee toward the end of the Second Month, he
was appointed General of the Right and given a supernumerary seat on the
council. (A vacancy had been created when the Minister of the Right,
who had also been General of the Left, resigned the latter position.) He
went about making the courtesy calls which this happy event demanded,
and in the course of them visited the Nijo~ mansion. Knowing that
Nakanokimi would have Niou with her in this difficult time, he went
directly to her apartments. In some confusion, Niou informed him that the
place was swarming with priests and that the main hall might be more
appropriate. Changing to court dress slightly less formal than Kaoru's, he
received his caller at the foot of the stairs, and the scene the two presented
was dignity itself. Kaoru was giving a banquet that evening for officers of
the guard, he said, and would be most honored if Niou might be present.
Because of Nakanokimi's condition, Niou did not commit himself.
<P 926>
The banquet took place at Rokujo~, where everything had been done
to insure an affair no less grand than a similar one on the occasion of
Yu~giri's becoming a minister. Princes of the blood and high courtiers were
present in numbers no fewer than at the earlier banquet. Some, indeed,
might have argued for less display. Niou did put in an appearance, but
hurried back to Nijo~ before the festivities were over. Yu~giri and his family
were not pleased. The princess at Nijo~ was of as high a rank as Yu~giri's
Rokunokimi, but nearness to the sources of power sometimes has a heady
effect on people.
At dawn a prince was born. Niou was delighted--they had endured
great uncertainty, and been rewarded. For Kaoru, preferment was joined
by a second cause for rejoicing. He paid a brief call of congratulation and
of thanks for Niou's presence at the banquet the evening before. No one
of rank would have dreamed of missing a visit to Nijo~, the prince being
in residence there.
As is the custom, the celebration on the third night was private. On
the fifth night Kaoru sent fifty servings of ceremonial rice, prizes for the
Go matches, and other stores of food, as custom demanded. To
Nakanokimi he sent thirty trays on stands, five sets of swaddling clothes,
and diapers and the like. There was nothing grand or obtrusive about these
various gifts, but close inspection revealed uncommonly fine taste. To
Niou went twelve trays of aloeswood, and, on stands, steamed cakes of the
five-colored cereals. The women in attendance upon Nakanokimi received
trays on stands, of course, and thirty cypress boxes. Everything was in the
best taste, in nothing was there even a hint of wanton display. On the
seventh day the festivities were sponsored by the empress. The crowds
were even larger. Courtiers of medium and high rank were numberless, and
at their head was Her Majesty's own chamberlain. The emperor sent a
sword--was he not to show his delight, he said, at Niou's having become
a father? On the ninth day it was Yu~giri's turn. The occasion was for him
a somewhat distasteful one, but he did not want to risk offending Niou.
All of his sons were in attendance, and the greatest care was taken that
there be no suggestion of hostility. No doubt Nakanokimi, whose physical
discomfort had not been helped by worries about her rival, found all these
attentions cheering.
Kaoru's feelings were mixed. She would be even more aloof and
inaccessible now that she had become a mother, and she would be show-
ered with affection; and on the other hand he could scarcely object to the
fact that his original plans had worked out so well.
Toward the end of the month, following the initiation ceremonies,
Kaoru took the Second Princess for his bride. There were private evening
rites at the palace.
<P 927>
Some complained. "Everyone has been talking about what a fuss he
makes over her--and now he gives her to a commoner! She must have
expected something better. It would have been all right, perhaps, to give
his august permission _eventually_--but why did he have to rush things so?"
But the emperor, once he had made a decision, was a man to carry it
out with alacrity. Provision would eventually have to be made for the
princess, and he was prepared to go against precedent in making it now.
Yet it must be said that though princesses are always marrying, few daugh-
ters of emperors so young and vigorous can have been rushed so precipi-
tously into marriage with commoners.
"What a singular esteem for him our sovereign shows, and how singu-
larly lucky he is," said Yu~giri to his own Second Princess. "Your late father
bestowed your sister upon my father only when he was in his last years
and about to retire from the world. And just look at me, if you will, picking
up a princess without a by-your-leave."
It was true, she thought, flushing. She did not answer.
On the third night after the wedding, the emperor had gifts presented
to all those who had been of service to his daughter, her maternal uncles
and the rest. Quietly and without display, he took notice too of Kaoru's
guards, outrunners, grooms, and footmen. The stiffness of court etiquette
was avoided in all these attentions. Kaoru regularly and dutifully waited
on his bride, but his heart was still in the past. The daytime hours he spent
at home in brooding despondency. He would set out to visit her early in
the evening, all the while telling himself that he must move her to Sanjo~.
Delighted, his mother offered to let him have the main hall. Al-
together too much, he replied. He had a gallery extended to the chapel,
with the apparent intention of moving his mother to the west side of the
main hall. The east wing had been beautifully rebuilt after the fire, and
still greater care was now taken to see that it was perfect in every detail.
The emperor heard of these plans, and was uneasy. Was it wise for his
daughter to give herself up so soon after marriage to life in her husband's
house? In their concern for their children monarchs are no different from
ordinary men. He wrote to his sister, Kaoru's mother, of his worries. She
had been committed to his special care by their father, the late Suzaku
emperor, and his concern had not diminished when she became a nun.
Whatever she asked was granted, with great care that no detail be over-
looked.
Kaoru was thus favored by the fondest attentions that two people of
the very highest station had to offer; and still he was not happy. One could
come upon him sunk in thought, intent only upon hurrying his plans for
the Uji monastery.
Counting off the days, he was also immersed in preparations for the
<P 928>
infant prince's fiftieth-day ceremonies. He saw to the details of baskets
and cypress boxes for rice cakes and the like. Determined that the celebra-
tion be no ordinary one, he brought together troops of aloeswood and
sandalwood carvers and workers of gold and silver, and each sought to
outdo all the others.
He visited the Nijo~ mansion, choosing as usual a time when Niou
would not be at home. Perhaps it was her imagination, but to Nakanokimi
he seemed to have taken on a maturer dignity. She received him confi-
dently--he would surely have left behind those troublesome ways of his.
But no. He choked with tears, and pity for himself was undisguised.
"The world seems a darker place than ever. I have gone against the de-
mands of my own heart."
"Please, you must not say so. What if someone were to catch even a
whisper of it?" But in fact she was deeply moved, the tenacity of his
affection for her sister being quite evident. He was unable to forget, and
not even the enviable match he had made for himself seemed to help. If
only her sister had lived! But then of course she would be in the same
predicament as Nakanokimi herself; neither would have cause to envy the
other. Their origins simply were not such as to command the respect of the
world. Her sister's decision not to give herself to Kaoru seemed more than
ever the wise one.
Kaoru begged to see the child. She had reservations, but told herself
that it would be cruel to refuse him. There was the one unpleasant matter
in which his resentment was a fact she must be resigned to living with, but
in everything else she would follow his wishes. Not giving a direct answer,
she sent the child out with its nurse. One would have expected a child of
such parents to be beautiful, but in fact it had a skin so fair as almost to
arouse forebodings, and it babbled and laughed in high, sweet tones. If
only it were his, thought Kaoru--not, it would seem, having entirely given
up thoughts of this world. If the one for whom he longed had followed
the way of the world and left behind a child, he might find consolation.
And such were the workings of his intractable heart that he had had no
