dreadfully, but with these women so intent on exaggerating everything she
could not write. An older boy would have found devices, but he was even
younger than she, and could only nurse his wounds in solitude.
There had been no more visits from the minister, who was still very
displeased with his mother. He said nothing to his wife. Looking vaguely
worried, he did speak to her of his other daughter.
"I am very sad for her indeed. She must feel uncertain and very much
out of things, what with all these preparations to proclaim the new em-
press. I think I will ask if we may bring her home for a while. She is with
the emperor constantly in spite of everything, and some of her women
have told me what a strain it is on all of them." And very abruptly she was
brought home.
The emperor was reluctant to let her go, but To~ no Chu~jo~ insisted.
"I fear you will be bored," he said to her. "Suppose we ask your sister
to come and keep you company. I know that her grandmother is taking fine
care of her, but there is that boy, growing up too fast for his own good.
They are at a dangerous age." And with equal abruptness he sent for
Kumoinokari.
Omiya was naturally upset. "I did not know what to do with myself
when your sister died, and I couldn't have been happier when you let me
have the girl. I thought that I would always have her with me, a comfort
in my declining years. I would not have thought you capable of such
cruelty."
He answered most politely. "I have informed you of certain matters
that have been troubling me. I do not think I have done anything that
might be described as cruel. The other girl is understandably upset at what
is happening at court and so she came home a few days ago. And now that
she is there I am afraid she finds precious little to keep her entertained. I
thought the two of them might think of things, music and the like. That
is all. I mean to have her with me for only a very short time. I certainly
do not wish to minimize your services in taking care of her all these years
and making her into the fine young lady she is."
Seeing that his mind was made up and that nothing she said was likely
to change it, she shed tears of sorrow and chagrin. "People can be cruel.
In this way and that the young people have not been good to me. But one
expects such things of the young. You ought to be more understanding,
but you go blaming me for everything, and now you are taking her away
from me. Well, we will see whether she is safer under your watchful eye."
Yu~giri picked this unfortunate time to come calling. He called fre-
quently these days, hoping for a few words with Kumoinokari. He saw To~
no Chu~jo~'s carriage and slipped guiltily off to his own room.
To~ no Chu~jo~ had several of his sons with him, but they were not
permitted access to the women's quarters. The late chancellor's sons by
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other ladies continued to be attentive, and various grandsons were also
frequent callers. None of them rivaled Yu~giri in looks. He was her favorite
grandchild. Now that he had been taken away Kumoinokari was the one
she kept beside her. And Kumoinokari too was being taken away. The
loneliness would be too much.
"I must look in at the palace," said To~ no Chu~jo~. "I will come for her
in the evening."
He was beginning to think that he must act with forbearance and
presently let the two have their way. But he was angry. When the boy had
advanced somewhat in rank and presented a somewhat more imposing
figure, he might see whether they were still as fond of each other. Then,
if he chose to give his permission, he would arrange a proper wedding. In
the meantime he could not be sure--for children were not to be trusted--
that his orders would be obeyed, and he had no confidence in his mother.
So, with the other daughter his main material, he put together a case which
he argued before his wife and his mother, and brought Kumoinokari home.
Omiya sent a note to her granddaughter: "Your father may be angry
with me, but you will understand my feelings. Do let me have another look
at you."
Beautifully dressed, she came to her grandmother's apartments. She
was fourteen, still a child but already endowed with a most pleasing calm
and poise.
"You have been my little plaything all these mornings and nights. I
have scarcely let you out of my sight. I Will be very lonely without you."
She was weeping. "I have thought a great deal about what is to come and
who will see you through it all. I am sorry for you. Who will you have now
that they are taking you away?"
Also in tears and much embarrassed, the girl was unable to look at her
grandmother.
Saisho~, the boy's nurse, came in. "I had thought of myself as serving
both of you," she said softly. "I am very sorry indeed that you are leaving.
Whatever plans your esteemed father may have for marrying you to some-
one else, do not let him have his way."
Yet more acutely embarrassed, Kumoinokari looked at the floor.
"We must not speak of such difficult things," said Omiya. "Life is
uncertain for all of us."
"That is not the point, my lady," replied Saisho~ indignantly. "His
Lordship dismisses the young master as beneath his contempt. Well, let
him go asking whether anyone is thought better."
Yu~giri was observing what he could from behind curtains. Usually he
would have been afraid of being apprehended, but today sorrow had
overcome caution. He dabbed at his eyes.
It was all too sad, thought Saisho~. With Omiya's connivance, she took
advantage of the evening confusion to arrange one last meeting.
They sat for a time in silent tears, suddenly shy before each other.
"Your father is being very strict. I will do as he wishes. But I know
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I will be lonely without you. Why did you not let me see more of you when
it was possible?"
"I only wish I had."
"Will you think of me?" There was an engaging boyishness in the
gently bowed figure.
Lamps were lighted. A great shouting in the distance proclaimed that
the minister was on his way back from court. Women darted here and
there preparing to receive him. The girl was trembling.
If they wanted to be so noisy, thought the boy, let them; but he would
defend her.
Her nurse found him in this defiant attitude. Outrageous--and Prin-
cess Omiya had without a doubt known of it.
"It will not do, my lady," she said firmly. "Your father will be furious.
Your young friend here may have many excellent qualities. Of them I do
not know. I do know that you were meant for someone better than a page
boy dressed in blue."
A page boy in blue! Anger drove away a part of the sorrow.
"You heard that?
"These sleeves are crimson, dyed with tears of blood.
How can she say that they are lowly blue?
It was very unkind."
"My life is dyed with sorrows of several hues.
Pray tell me which is the hue of the part we share."
She had scarcely finished when her father came to take her away.
Yu~giri was very angry and very unhappy. He went to his own room
and lay down. Three carriages hurried off into the distance, the shouting
somewhat more deferential than before. He was unable to sleep, but when
his grandmother sent for him he sent back that he had retired for the night.
It was a tearful night. Early in the morning, while the ground was still
white with frost, he hurried back to Nijo~. He did not want anyone to see
his red eyes, and he was sure that his grandmother would be after him
again. He wanted to be alone. All the way home his thoughts were of the
troubles he had brought upon himself. It was not yet full daylight. The sky
had clouded over.
"It is a world made grim by frost and ice,
And now come tears to darken darkened skies."
Genji was this year to provide a dancer for the Gosechi dances. It was
a task of no very great magnitude, but as the day approached, his women
were busy with robes for the little flower girls and the like. The women
in the east lodge were making clothes for the presentation at court. More
general preparations were left to the main house, and the empress was very
kind in seeing to the needs of the retinue. Indeed it seemed, so lavish
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were the preparations, that Genji might be trying to make up for the fact
that there had been no dances the year before. The patrons of the dancers,
among them a brother of To~ no Chu~jo~, the Lord Inspector, and, on a
somewhat less exalted level, Yoshikiyo, now governor of Omi and a Mod-
erator of the Left, so vied with one another that their endeavors were the
talk of the whole court. The emperor had deigned to give orders that the
dancers this year be taken into the court service. As his own dancer Genji
had chosen one of Koremitsu's daughters, said to be among the prettiest
and most talented girls in the city. Koremitsu, now governor of Settsu and
of the western ward of the city as well, was somewhat abashed at the
proposal, but people pointed out that the Lord Inspector was offering a
daughter by an unimportant wife and so there was no need at all to feel
reticent. Meaning to send the girl to court in any case, he concluded that
she might as well make her debut through the Gosechi dances. She prac-
ticed diligently at home, her retinue was chosen with great care, and on
the appointed day he escorted her to Nijo~.
The retinue came from the households of Genji's various ladies, and
to be selected was thought a considerable honor. Genji ordered a final
rehearsal for the presentation at court. He said he could not possibly rank
them one against the others, they were all so pretty and so well dressed.
The pity was, he laughed, that he did not have more than one dancer to
patronize. Gentleness of nature and delicacy of manner had had a part in
the selection.
Yu~giri had quite lost his appetite. He lay brooding in his room and the
classics were neglected. Wanting a change of air, he slipped out and wan-
dered quietly through the house. He was well dressed and very good-
looking, and calm and self-possessed for his age. The young women who
saw him were entranced. He went to Murasaki's wing of the house but was
not permitted near her blinds. Remembering his own past behavior, Genji
was taking precautions. Yu~giri lived in the east lodge and was not on
intimate terms with Murasaki's women; but today he took advantage of
the excitement to slip into her part of the house, where he stood watching
from behind a screen or blind of some sort.
The Gosechi dancer was helped from her carriage to an enclosure of
screens that had been put up near the veranda. Yu~giri made his way behind
a screen. Apparently tired, she was leaning against an armrest. She was
about the same height as Kumoinokari, or perhaps just a little taller. She
may have been just a little prettier. He could not say, for the light was not
good; but she did so remind him of his love that, though it would have
been an exaggeration to say that he transferred his affections on the spot,
he found himself strongly drawn to her. He reached forward and tugged
at a sleeve. She was startled, by the tugging and by the poem which
followed:
"The lady who serves Toyooka in the heavens
Is not to forget that someone thinks of her here.
<P 376>
"I have long been looking through the sacred fence."
It was a pleasant young voice, but she could not identify it. She was
frightened. just then her women came in to retouch her face, and he
reluctantly withdrew.
Ashamed of his blue robes and in general feeling rather out of things,
he had been staying away from court. For the festivities, however, regula-
tions assigning colors to ranks had been relaxed. He was mature for his
years, and as he strolled around the palace in his bright robes he was
perhaps the most remarked-upon lad present. Even the emperor noticed
him.
The dancers were at their best for the formal presentation, but every-
one said that Genji's dancer and the Lord Inspector's were the prettiest and
the best dressed. It was very difficult to choose between the two of them,
though perhaps a certain dignity gave the nod to Koremitsu's daughter.
She was so lavishly and stylishly dressed that one would have been hard
put to guess her origins. The dancers being older than in most years, the
festival seemed somehow grander.
Genji remembered a Gosechi dancer to whom he had once been at-
tracted. After the dances he got off a note to her. The reader will perhaps
<P 377>
guess its contents, which included this poem:
"What will the years have done to the maiden, when he
Who saw her heavenly sleeves is so much older?"
It was a passing thought as he counted over the years, but she was
touched that he should have felt constrained to write.
This was her reply:
"Garlands in my hair, warm sun to melt the frost,
So very long ago. It seems like yesterday."
The blue paper was the blue of the dancers' dress, and the hand,
subtly shaded in a cursive style to conceal the identity of the writer, was
better than one would have expected from so modest a rank.
That glimpse of Koremitsu's daughter had excited Yu~giri. He wan-
dered about with certain thoughts in his mind, but was not permitted near.
Still too young to devise stratagems for breaching the blockade, he felt
very sorry for himself. She was pretty indeed and could be a consolation
for the loss of Kumoinokari.
It has already been said that the dancers were to stay on in court
service. Today, however, they went back to their families. In the reces-
sional the competition was also intense. Yoshikiyo's daughter went off to
