fact that a lady was born a princess is no guarantee that things will go well
for her. You cannot imagine how I have worried.
"When a lady has put herself in the hands of those who ought to
know best, then she can resign herself to what must be, and if it is not
happy then at least she does not have herself to blame. Or if she is not that
sort of lady, affairs may shape themselves so that in the end she may
congratulate herself upon her independence. Even then the initial secrecy
and the affront to her parents and advisers are not good. They do injury
to her name from which it is not easy to recover. What a silly, heedless
girl, People say, even of a commoner. Or if a lady's wishes should have
been consulted but she finds herself joined to a man who does not please
her, and people are heard to say that it is just as they thought it would be
--then her advisers may be taxed with carelessness. I have reason to
believe that the Third Princess is not at all reliable in these matters, and
that you people are reaching out and taking her affairs into your own
hands. If it were to become known that that is the case, the results could
easily be disastrous."
These troubled meditations, as he prepared to leave the world, did not
make things easier for the princess's women.
"I think I have been rather patient," continued the Suzaku emperor,
"waiting for her to grow up and become just a little more aware of things,
but now I begin to fear that my deepest wish may be denied me. I can wait
no longer.
"It is true that Genji has other ladies, but he is a sober and intelligent
man, indeed a tower of strength. Let us not worry about the others. She
must make a place for herself. It would be hard to think of a more dependa-
ble man.
"But let us consider the other possibilities.
"There is my brother, Prince Hotaru. He is a thoroughly decent man
<P 544>
and certainly no stranger, nor is he someone we may consider we have any
right to look down upon. But I sometimes think that his preoccupation
with deportment rather diminishes his stature and even makes him seem
less than completely serious. I doubt that we can depend on him in such
an important matter.
"I have heard that the Fujiwara councillor would like to manage her
affairs. I have no doubt that he would be a very loyal servant, and yet--
might one not hope for a less ordinary sort of man? The precedents all
suggest that true eminence is what matters, and that an eagerness to be of
service is not quite enough.
"There is Kashiwagi. Oborozukiyo tells me that he suffers from
secret longings. Perhaps he might someday do, but he is still very young
and rather obscure. I am told that he has remained single because he wants
the very best. No one else has been so dedicated to such high ambitions.
He has studied hard, and I have no doubt that he will one day be among
the most useful of public servants. But I doubt that he is quite what we
want at the moment."
No one troubled him with the affairs of his other daughters, who
worried him much less. It was strange how reports of his secret anxiety had
so spread that it had become a matter of public concern.
<N 7>
It came to the attention of To~ no Chu~jo~, who presented his addresses
through Oborozukiyo, his sister-in-law. "Kashiwagi is still single because
he is determined to marry a princess and no one else. You might point this
fact out to the Suzaku emperor when he is making final plans for his
daughters. If Kashiwagi were to be noticed I would feel greatly honored
myself."
Oborozukiyo did what she could to advance her nephew's cause.
Prince Hotaru, having been rejected by Tamakazura, was determined
to show her that he could do even better. It was not likely that the affairs
of the Third Princess had escaped his notice. Indeed, he was very restless.
The Fujiwara councillor was very close to the Suzaku emperor, whose
chief steward he had been for many years. With his master's retirement
from the world his prospects were bleak. It would seem that he was trying
to call the Suzaku emperor's attention to his claims as the man most
competent to manage the princess's affairs.
Yu~giri had of course been taken into the royal confidence. It excited
him, apparently, to think that the Suzaku emperor, having said so much,
could not shrug off a proposal from him. But Kumoinokari had joined her
destinies to his. He had been steadfast through all the unfriendly years and
could not admit the possibility of making her unhappy now. And of course
marriage to the chancellor's daughter limited his options. Action on
two fronts, so to speak, could be very exacting and very unpleasant.
Always the most prudent of young men, he kept his own
<P 545>
counsel. Yet he watched each new development with great interest, and
he was not at all sure that he would not be disappointed when a husband
was finally chosen for the princess.
The crown prince too was well informed. He offered it as his view that
one must be very careful about setting precedents. "You must deliberate
on every facet of the case. However excellent a man may be, a commoner
is still a commoner. But if Genji is to be your choice, then I think he should
be asked to look after her as a father looks after a daughter."
"I quite agree. I can see that you have thought the matter over care-
fully."
Increasingly enthusiastic about Genji's candidacy, the Suzaku em-
peror summoned the moderator, brother of the Third Princess's nurse, and
asked that Genji be made aware of his thoughts.
<N 8>
Genji was of course very much aware of them already. "I am sorry to
hear it. He may fear that he has not much longer to live, but how can he
be sure that I will outlive him? If we could be sure to die in the order in
which we were born, then of course I might expect to be around for a little
while yet. But I can look after her without marrying her. I could hardly
be indifferent towards any of his children. If he is especially concerned
about the Third Princess, then I will want to respect his wishes. Though
of course nothing in this world is certain.
"I am overwhelmed by these evidences of trust and affection. But
supposing I were to follow her father's example and retire to a hermitage
myself--would that not be sad for her? And she would be a strong bond
tying me to a world I wish to leave.
"What of Yu~giri? He is still young and not very important, I know,
but he will someday be one of the grand ministers. He has all the qualifica-
tions. If the Suzaku emperor is so inclined, I am not being frivolous, I most
emphatically assure you, when I commend Yu~giri to his attention. Perhaps
he has held back because he knows that the boy is a monogamous sort and
that he already has his wife."
Genji seemed to be withdrawing his candidacy. Knowing that the
Suzaku emperor's decision had not been hasty, the moderator was much
distressed. He described all the deliberations in great detail.
Genji smiled. "Yes, he is very fond of her, and I can imagine how he
must worry. But there is one unassailable way to end his worries: make
her one of the emperor's ladies. He has numbers of fine ladies already, I
know, but they need not be a crucial consideration. It is by no means a firm
rule that ladies who come to court later are at a disadvantage. He has only
to look back to the days of our late father. The dowager empress was his
first wife. She came to court when he was still crown prince and she seemed
to have everything her way, and yet there were the years when she was
quite overshadowed by Fujitsubo, the very last of his ladies. Your prin-
cess's mother was, I believe, Fujitsubo's sister, only less well endowed,
people tell me, than she. With such fine looks on both sides of the family
it cannot be doubted that your princess is very lovely."
<P 546>
The Suzaku emperor took the last remark as evidence that Genji was
himself not uninterested.
<N 9>
The year drew to an end. The Suzaku emperor made haste to get his
affairs in order. The plans for the Third Princess's initiation were so grand
that it seemed likely to oust all other such affairs from the history books.
The west room of the Oak Pavilion was fitted out for the ceremonies. Only
the most resplendent imported brocades were used for hangings and cush-
ions, and the results would have pleased a Chinese empress.
Suzaku had long before asked To~ no Chu~jo~ to bestow the ceremonial
train. He was such a busy man that one was reluctant to make demands
upon his time, but he had never turned away a request from Suzaku. The
other two ministers and all the high courtiers were also present, even some
who had had previous engagements. Indeed the whole court was present,
including the whole of the emperor's private household and that of the
crown prince. Eight royal princes were among the guests. For the emperor
and the crown prince and many others too there was sadness mingled with
the joy. It would be the last such affair arranged by the Suzaku emperor.
The warehouses and supply rooms were searched for the most splendid of
imported gifts. A large array of equally splendid gifts came from Rokujo~,
some in Genji's own name and some in that of the Suzaku emperor. It was
Genji who saw that To~ no Chu~jo~ was properly rewarded for his services.
From Akikonomu came robes and combs and the like, all of them
selected with the greatest care. She got out combs and bodkins from long
ago and made sure that the necessary repairs did not obscure their iden-
tity. On the evening of the ceremony she dispatched them by her assistant
chamberlain, who also served in the Suzaku Palace, with instructions that
they be delivered directly to the Third Princess. With them was a poem:
"I fear these little combs are scarred and worn.
I have used them to summon back an ancient day."
The Suzaku emperor chanced to be with the princess when the gift
was delivered. The memories were poignant. Perhaps Akikonomu meant
to share some of her own good fortune with the princess. It was a beautiful
gift in any case. He got off a note of thanks from which he tried to exclude
his own feelings:
"I only hope that she may be as you,
All through the myriad years of the boxwood comb."
It was with a considerable effort of the will that he was present at the
ceremonies, for he was in great pain. Three days later he took the tonsure.
Even an ordinary man leaves grief and regret behind him, and in his case
the regret was boundless.
Oborozukiyo refused to leave his side.
<P 547>
"My worries about my daughters may come to an end," he said, "but
how can I stop worrying about you?"
He forced himself to sit up. The grand abbot of Hiei shaved his head
and there were three eminent clerics to administer the vows. The final
renunciation, symbolized by the change to somber religious habit, was
very sad indeed. Even the priests, who should long ago have left sorrow
behind them, were unable to hold back their tears. As for the Suzaku
emperor's daughters and ladies and attendants high and low, the halls and
galleries echoed with their laments. And even now, he sighed, he could not
have the peace he longed for. The Third Princess was still too much on his
mind.
He was of course showered with messages, from the emperor and
from the whole court.
Hearing that he was a little better, Genji paid a visit. Genji's allow-
ances were now those of a retired emperor, but he was determined to avoid
equivalent ceremony. He rode in a plain carriage and kept his retinue to
a minimum, and preferred a carriage escort to the more ostentatious
mounted guard. Delighted at the visit, the Suzaku emperor braved very
great discomfort to receive him. He shared Genji's wishes that the visit be
<P 548>
informal and had places set out in his private parlor. Genji was shocked
and saddened at the change in his brother. A shadow seemed to sweep over
the past and on into the future, and he was in tears.
"Father's death more than anything made me aware of impermanence
and change. I resolved that I must leave the world. But I have never had
much will power, and I have delayed, and so you see me unable to raise
my head before you who have done the great thing first. I have known how
much easier it should be for me than for you and I have made the resolve
over and over again, and somehow regret for the world has always been
stronger."
The Suzaku emperor was also weeping. In an uncertain voice he talked
of old and recent happenings. "For years I have had a persistent feeling that
I would not last the night, and still the years have gone by. Fearing that
I might die without accomplishing the first of my resolves, I have finally
taken the step. Now that I have changed to these dark robes I know more
than ever how little time I have ahead of me. I fear that I shall not go far
down the way I have chosen. I must be satisfied with the easier route. I
shall calm my thoughts for a time and invoke the holy name, and that will
be all. I am not a man of very grand and rare substance, and I cannot think
that I was meant for anything different. I must reprove myself for the years
of lazy indecision."
He described his plans and hopes and managed to touch upon the
matter that worried him most. "I am sad for all of my daughters, but most
of all for the most inadequately protected of them."
Genji was sad for his brother, and in spite of everything rather inter-
ested in the Third Princess. "Yes, the higher a lady's standing, the sadder
it is for her to be without adequate defenses. I am very much aware that
our crown prince is among our greatest blessings. The whole world looks
