Yet, at the bottom of her heart, different feelings might have been struggling from those which her words seemed to express, and some such thoughts as these shaped themselves to her mind: "Were I still a maiden in the home of my beloved parents, and occasionally received his visits there, how happy might I not be? How trying to act as if no romantic sentiment belonged to my heart!" Genji, who was anxiously waiting to know how the boy would succeed in persuading his sister, was soon told that all his efforts were in vain. Upon hearing this he remained for some moments silent, and then relieved his feelings with a long-drawn sigh, and hummed:-- "The Hahaki-gi[50] distant tree Spreads broom-like o'er the silent waste; Approach, how changed its shape we see, In vain we try its shade to taste." The lady was unable to sleep, and her thoughts also took the following poetic shape:-- Too like the Hahaki-gi tree, Lonely and humble, I must dwell, Nor dare to give a thought to thee, But only sigh a long farewell. All the other inmates of the house were now in a sound slumber, but sleep came not to Genji's eyes. He did, indeed, admire her immovable and chaste nature, but this only drew his heart more towards her. He was agitated. At one moment he cried, "Well, then!" at another, "However!" "Still!" At last, turning to the boy, he passionately exclaimed, "Lead me to her at once!" Kokimi calmly replied, "It is impossible, too many eyes are around us!" Genji with a sigh then threw himself back on the cushion, saying to Kokimi, "You, at least, will be my friend, and shall share my apartment!" FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 22: A hero of an older fiction, who is represented as the perfect ideal of a gallant.] [Footnote 23: A fast observed when some remarkable or supernatural event took place, or on the anniversary of days of domestic misfortune.] [Footnote 24: A general of the Imperial Guards.] [Footnote 25: Love letters generally are not signed or are signed with a fancy name.] [Footnote 26: Left Master of the Horse.] [Footnote 27: Secretary to the Master of Ceremonies.] [Footnote 28: Deputy-governors of provinces. In those days these functionaries were greatly looked down upon by the Court nobles, and this became one of the causes of the feudal system.] [Footnote 29: The naoshi is an outer attire. It formed part of a loose and unceremonious Court dress.] [Footnote 30: This alludes to a common habit of women, who push back their hair before commencing any task.] [Footnote 31: Some kinds of nuns did not shave their heads, and this remark seems to allude to the common practice of women who often involuntarily smooth their hair before they see people, which practice comes, no doubt, from the idea that the beauty of women often depends on the tidiness of their hair.] [Footnote 32: This means that her soul, which was sinful, would not go at once to its final resting-place, but wander about in unknown paths.]