Ōmi, Lady of Bastard of Tō no Chūjō, reclaimed by him in error while searching for Tamakatsura. Ōmiya, Princess Mother of Aoi and Tō no Chūjō. Sister of the Old Emperor. Rokujō Widow of a brother of the Old Emperor. Ryōzen, The Emperor Reputed son of the Old Emperor, but really son of Genji and Fujitsubo. Sanjō Yūgao’s maid. Shōni Husband of Tamakatsura’s nurse. Father of Ateki and Bugo no Suke. Sochi, Prince Genji’s step-brother. Suyetsumu Fantastic lady with red nose, daughter of Prince Hitachi. Suzaku, The Ex-Emperor Genji’s step-brother; son of Kōkiden. Tamakatsura Child of Tō no Chūjō by Yūgao. Tayū Swashbuckler in Tsukushi. Utsusemi Wife of a provincial governor; loved by Genji. Yoshikiyo Faithful retainer of Genji; followed him into exile. Yūgao Loved first by Tō no Chūjō, then by Genji. Dies in a deserted mansion. Yūgiri Genji’s son by Aoi. SUMMARY OF VOLUMES I AND II Genji is an illegitimate son of the Emperor. At the age of twelve he is affianced to Lady Aoi, daughter of the Minister of the Left; but she is older than he is, and looks down upon him as a mere schoolboy. Genji falls in love with Rokujō, a widow eight years older than himself. She is passionately jealous of his wife, and relations with her become very difficult. Genji turns for consolation to Utsusemi, wife of a provincial governor: to Yūgao, a discarded mistress of his friend Tō no Chūjō: to the fantastic Suyetsumu, the ‘lady with the red nose.’ Utsusemi is carried off to the provinces by her husband; Yūgao dies, withered by the virulence of Rokujō’s jealousy. Meanwhile Genji succeeds in establishing better relations with his wife, Aoi, only to lose her through the operation of the same baleful force that had destroyed Yūgao. Since his childhood he has passionately admired Fujitsubo, his father’s second wife. He has a son by her, who is believed by the public to be the Emperor’s child. Genji’s enemies, in particular Kōkiden, who had been his mother’s rival, are striving to get rid of him. He simplifies matters for them by starting an intrigue with Oborozuki, a much younger sister of Kōkiden. At the end of Vol. I Genji marries Lady Murasaki, a niece of Fujitsubo; some years before he had taken her into his house and adopted her.