Japanese Literature: Including Selections from Genji Monogatari and Classical Poetry and Drama of Japan
General
Japanese Literature: Including Selections from Genji Monogatari and Classical Poetry and Drama of Japan
Japan -- Literary collections; Japanese literature -- Translations into English
On the following day the final arrangements necessary for his
household affairs were made at his residence. The management of the
mansion was intrusted to a few confidential friends; while that of his
lands and pasture, and the charge of his documents, were intrusted to
the care of Violet, to whom he gave every instruction what she should
do. Besides, he enjoined Shionagon, in whom he placed his confidence,
to give her every assistance. He told all the inmates who wished to
remain in the mansion, in order to await his return, that they might
do so. He also made an appropriate present to the nurse of his boy,
and to the ladies of the "Villa of Falling Flowers." When all these
things were accomplished, he occupied himself in writing farewell
letters to his intimate friends, such as the young daughter of Udaijin
and others, to none of whom he had paid a visit.
On the evening prior to his departure he went on horseback to visit
the tomb of his father. On his way he called on the Princess Wistaria,
and thence proceeded to the mountain where the remains reposed. The
tomb was placed among tall growing grass, under thick and gloomy
foliage. Genji advanced to the tomb, and, half kneeling down before
it, and half sobbing, uttered many words of remembrance and sorrow. Of
course no reply came forth. The moon by this time was hidden behind
dark clouds, and the winds blew keen and nipping, when suddenly a
shadowy phantom of the dead stood before Genji's eyes.
"How would his image look on me,
Knew he the secret of the past;
As yonder moon in clouded sky,
Looks o'er the scene mysteriously."
He returned to his mansion late in the night.
Early in the morning he sent a letter to O Miobu, the nurse of the
Heir-apparent, in which he said: "I at last leave the capital, to-day.
I know not when I may come and see the Prince again. On him my
thoughts and anxieties are concentrated, above all else. Realize these
feelings in your own mind, and tell them to him." He also sent the
following, fastened to a bough of cherry flowers, already becoming
thin:--
"When shall I see these scenes again,
And view the flowers of spring in bloom,
Like rustic from his mountain home,
A mere spectator shall I come?"
These were carefully read by O Miobu to the Prince, and when he was
asked what she should write in answer, he said: "Write that I said
that since I feel every longing to see him, when I do not see him for
a long time, how shall I feel when he goes away altogether?" Thereupon
she wrote an answer, in which she indefinitely stated that she had
shown the letter to the Prince, whose answer was simple, yet very
affectionate, and so on, with the following:--
"'Tis sad that fair blossoms so soon fade away,
In the darkness of winter no flower remains,
But let spring return with its sunshiny ray,
Then once more the flowers we look on again."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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