Part 11

It seemed to be too dazzling in their presence, so I softly slid away into an inner room. The nurse, Madam Nakadaka, holding the young Prince in her arms, came out towards the south between the canopied King and Queen. She is short in stature, but of dignified demeanour. She was perfectly tranquil and grave and a good example for the young Prince [then not two months old!]. She wore grape-coloured uchigi and patternless karaginu of white and old rose. That day all did their utmost to adorn themselves. One had a little fault in the colour combination at the wrist opening. When she went before the Royal presence to fetch something, the nobles and high officials noticed it. Afterwards, Lady Saisho regretted it deeply. It was not so bad; only one colour was a little too pale. Lady Kotaiyu wore a crimson unlined dress and over it an uchigi of deep and pale plum colour bordered with folds. Her karaginu was white and old rose. Lady Gen Shikibu appears to have been wearing a red and purple figured silk. Some said it was unsuitable because it was not brocade. That judgment is too conventional. There may be criticism where want of taste is too apparent, but it were better to criticize manners. Dress is rather unimportant in comparison.

The ceremony of giving mochi to the Prince is ended and the table is taken away. The misu of the anteroom was rolled up, and we saw ladies sitting crowded at the west side of the dais. There were Lady Tachibana of the third rank, and Naishi Nosuké, the younger attendant of the August Princes sitting in the doorway. In the east anteroom near the shioji[104] there were ladies of high rank. I went to seek Lady Dainagon and Lady Koshosho, who were sitting east of the dais. His August Majesty sat on the dais with his dining-table before him. The ornaments of it were exquisitely beautiful. On the south balcony there sat the Minister of the Right and Left and the Chamberlain, the first officials of the Crown Prince and of the Queen and the Great Adviser Shijo, facing towards the North, the West being the more honourable seat. There were no officials of low rank. Afterwards they begun to amuse themselves. Courtiers sat on the southeast corridor of the side building. The four lower officials took their usual places [on the steps below Royalty] to perform some music. They were Kagemasa, Korekazé, Yukiyoshi, Tonomasa. From the upper seat the Great Adviser Shijo conducted the music. To no Ben played the lute, Tsunetaka played the harp [koto]. The Lieutenant-General of the Left Bodyguard and State Councillor played the flute. Some outsiders joined in the music. One made a mistake in the notes and was hissed. The Minister of the Right praised the six-stringed koto. He became too merry, and made a great mistake, which sent a chill even to the onlookers.

The Prime Minister's gift was flutes put into two boxes.

[1] This diary seems to have been jotted down in disconnected paragraphs and the editors have preserved that form.

[2] Tsuchimikado: the residence of Prime Minister Fujiwara, the father of the Queen.

[3] Priests are praying for the easy delivery of the Queen, who has gone to her parents' house before the birth, in accordance with old Japanese custom.

[4] The writer of this diary lost her husband in 1001.

[5] Altars before Fudo, Gosansé, Gunsari, Daiitoku, Kongoyasha.

[6] See the plan of a great house of those days.

[7] Yorimichi, the Prime Minister Fujiwara Michinaga's son, who was then sixteen years old.

[8] Misu: a thin finely woven bamboo curtain, behind which one may see but not be seen, hung before great personages and women's apartments.

[9] Tonearasoi: at present not known.

[10] Imayo, or "new style," a kind of song in vogue in those days. The verse consists of eight or ten alternating seven-and five-syllable lines.

[11] This perfume was composed of purified Borneo camphor, aloe wood and musk, and was used to perfume clothing, etc.

[12] Hagi: violet-coloured dress with blue lining, the violet dye taken from sapan-wood; Shion: pale purple dress with blue lining.

[13] A face covering used while sleeping.

[14] Floss silk was used to protect chrysanthemum flowers from frost. The flower itself was believed to have the virtue of lengthening life. The Imperial garden party undoubtedly originated from a belief in this virtue in the flower.

[15] Ladies were crowded close behind the misu looking at the moon.

[16] Hangings, screens, and clothes of attendants were all white at the time of a birth.

[17] Which would otherwise have attacked the Queen. Some of the ladies-in-waiting undertook this duty. There is a difference of opinion between the translators as to whether this was done with the intention of deceiving the evil spirits into attacking the wrong person (by introducing into her neighbourhood other women surrounded with screens and attendants) or by transmitting the supposed evil spirits out of the Queen into her ladies by a sort of mesmerization.

[18] Fudo: a terrible-looking Buddhist idol who was thought to have the power to subdue all evil spirits.

[19] For good luck.

[20] So that she might be ordained as a priestess and insured a good reception in the next world, only done when the sick person is in great danger.

[21] This was contrary to etiquette and shows the extreme excitement of the moment. Ladies and gentlemen of the court remained in separate rooms on social occasions.

[22] Kurodo = secretary (in charge of court manuscripts).

[23] Everybody was still wearing white, colour of purification.

[24] See frontispiece.

[25] Every Japanese family does this to-day, for almost all gardens have artificial brooks or ponds.

[26] Imperial shrine at Isé: the oldest shrine, built 5 B.C., dedicated to the Heaven Shining Goddess, ancestor of the Imperial family. This shrine is rebuilt every twenty years on the same model. It is the most sacred spot in Japan, and all serious events pertaining to the Empire or Imperial Household are announced there to the Goddess-Ancestor by Imperial Messenger.

[27] Nusa: rolls of silk or paper offered by a worshipper.

[28] Because a birth in a house was defilement, while a messenger to or from a god was holy.

[29] Saishi: a kind of gold ornament with five radiating points worn on the forehead and tied on around the head. (See frontispiece.)

[30] This was to frighten away evil spirits.

[31] Rice-scattering; for good luck.

[32] Here occurs an untranslatable sentence. Literally it would seem to be: _It seems hair growing in good monochromatic picture_. That might mean that the Queen seemed like a beauty in a picture drawn with ink and brush (see some illustrations in this book).

[33] Purple and scarlet.

[34] Karaginu: a short garment with long sleeves and worn of a different colour from the uchigi. (See frontispiece.)

[35] Uchigi: long unconfined flowing robe put on over the dress. It was made of elegant material and lined with another colour and was the distinctive and beautiful part of the court dress of that day. Under it were worn two or more other silk robes of different colours, one often intended to show through and modify the colour of the other. They were fastened in front by a belt like the present-day kimono, and over them was hung at the back the long and elaborate train of heavy white silk on which the last word of elegance in embroidery or painting was placed. In the presence of Royalty the ladies knelt in rows one behind the other, and doubtless these trains made a great display spread out before those sitting behind. (See frontispiece.)

[36] See frontispiece.

[37] Unemé: beautiful women, selected from various provinces for their beauty, especially to wait on the Royal table.

[38] Mohitori: officials who had charge of wells, shoyu (Japanese sauce) and ice-houses.

[39] Migusiagé: attendants whose hair was done up with hairpins.

[40] King's housekeepers.

[41] Cleaners.

[42] Da: a gambling game now not known. It was played with dice.

[43] (The following poem, then composed, is made with words of two meanings. It is impossible to arrange it in poetic form in English, but we present the two meanings in separate phrases, which the reader may combine for himself.)

Japanese words with their meanings:

Mezurashiki hikari = uncommon light.

Sashi sou = { added. { pour more saké into.

Sakazuki wa = { waxing moon. { a cup.

Chiyomo = four a tousand ages.

{ circulate, O moon never waning! Megurame = circulate { circulate the cup to all persons { countless times.

Poem.

First meaning:

_We pray that the waxing moon_ [i. e, the young Prince] _may never wane, but shine for a thousand ages without change!_

Second meaning:

_May this cup_ [of joy] _be full as soon as emptied and circulate freely to all!_

[44] A pleated divided skirt worn by both men and women.

[45] In Kioto it used to be the custom to cover the earth of the gardens with very white fine sand.

[46] A school created in 825 A.D. by the Prime Minister Fujiwara Fuyutsugu to educate the younger members of the Fujiwara family.

[47] This "court fashion" of sending rolls of silk as presents from the Emperor or Empress prevails to-day, one thousand years later.

[48] This person was the second son of the Prime Minister; therefore the Queen's brother or half-brother and uncle of the Crown Prince.

[49] The island of Horai; Japanese Elysium, a crystal island of eternal youth and felicity, supposed to exist in mid-ocean. A miniature presentation of this island is used on festal occasions as the emblem of eternity, or unchangeableness.

[50] The Prime Minister wished to arrange a marriage between his eldest son and the Prince's daughter. The authoress's cousin had adopted the Prince's son.

[51] This incident has for some reason become very famous and artists have used it as a subject for pictures. One of these is now hanging in the Imperial Museum in Tokyo.

[52] Poems were written on oblongs of crimson, yellow, gold, or other paper according to the feeling of the writer. Nowadays oblong poem papers can be bought anywhere, but they are generally white or gray with gold decoration.

[53] The King's visit was made October 16, 1008.

[54] It was _de rigueur_ for ladies to conceal their faces with fans.

[55] The left side is the more honourable position, but this time the King sat at the right side because perhaps they could not move the Queen's dais.

[56] A special effect of brilliant shining produced by beating the silk.

[57] A special effect of brilliant shining produced by beating the silk.

[58] These garments were evidently made of very thin material, colours underneath being intended to modify the outer ones, hence the art of dressing became very subtle.

[59] Doubtless this office was highly important and held in honour. In those days poison and inferior foods were to be guarded against. Throughout the journal it may be noticed that all directly serving the King and Queen in any way are persons of high rank.

[60] In this curiously delicate operation the actual leaf or flower from which the colour was obtained was rubbed onto the silk to make the desired pattern.

[61] Light blue and some kinds of yellow are colours relegated to the elderly in Japan. Babies and young people are dressed in bright colours and showy patterns. The old wear plain stuffs and pale or dull colours.

[62] This dance was performed by court nobles at the coronation of the present Emperor at Kioto, 1915.

[63] Artificial hills in Japanese gardens are intended to bring mountain scenery to mind, whether large or small. They are sometimes of considerable size.

[64] Reigned 970 to 984. This lady may have been his mistress or had interesting reminiscences to relate.

[65] The feuds of the Fujiwara family. Fujiwara Fuhito had four sons who became the founders of the four great Fujiwara families--Minami, Kyo, Kita, and Shiki. They were all aspiring to the King's favour and at enmity with each other, the present Prime Minister Michinaga far outstripping the others in power.

[66] Mochi: a cake made of beaten rice flour paste.

[67] These dainty white wooden boxes of food arranged in a way pleasing to the eye are still a feature of Japanese life. They are distributed, with varying contents, at weddings and funerals, sold at railway stations, and carried on picnics.

[68] At banquets a great cup was used which could contain one or two quarts of liquor. When this was circulated among the guests each was expected to empty the cup, and it was the pride of the drinker to toss it off in one draught.

[69] The hero of Genji Monogatari.

[70] The Queen desired a literary Court to rival that of the first Queen. See note on p. 131.

[71] A special kind of wild duck called oshidori which is always seen in couples.

[72] Kokiden: residence of the first Queen.

[73] The World; i.e. matrimonial affairs.

[74] Three anthologies, of Ancient and Modern Poems, Later Selections of Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, respectively.

[75] These men were famous calligraphers.

[76] This famous dance, whose origin is given below, was performed at the present Emperor's coronation at Kioto in 1915, by five daughters of ancient noble families selected for their beauty. It is said that these young ladies immediately thereafter received a great many offers of marriage.

Gosetchi was a great holiday succeeded by two days of feasting. The dancing girls (of the diary) were all daughters of persons of high rank, three being daughters of courtiers and two daughters of province governors. Tradition says that when King Tenmu was at his palace of Yoshino, heavenly maidens came down and danced before him fluttering the long celestial sleeves of their feathery dresses five times. This was the origin of the dance.

[77] Each dancer was attended by helpers who were sometimes persons of degree. Their duties were to arrange trains and costumes in the postures of the dance.

[78] Her father was Keeper of the Seal. Her aunt was one of the queens.

[79] See signs of the zodiac, of Old Japan.

[80] The name of a detached hall in the Imperial Palace.

[81] Like the knights' tents in the tournaments each girl's apartment was distinguished by special devices of cloths or banners hung before it.

[82] Horai: an island of eternal life and felicity supposed to exist in the eastern ocean. Horai symbolizes changelessness, and it must have been intended as a hint at the impropriety of Sakyō's changed position.

[83] Festival of the ancient gods, for which preparation was made the day before by fasting.

[84] This incident was very well known and is mentioned in several of the writings of the period. The mirror is the symbol of the soul of a Japanese woman. With the mirror Sakyō sent a poem:

_Alas! the waving moss deceived your vision._ _The clear mirror is never tarnished:_ _Therefore look deep._

[85] Mochi: it is still the custom in Japan to serve a cake made of beaten rice on New Year's Day, the great festival of the year. The sound of this beating is heard from house to house throughout the country, and gives everybody a holiday feeling. The ceremonies last three days.

[86] These colour combinations were very subtle because the effect was produced by the play of one or perhaps two colours showing through one another.

[87] One of the young women who had danced the Gosetchi.

[88] Fujiwara Michitaka, the Prime Minister's brother.

[89] This lady was one of the greatest poets Japan has ever produced. See her diary, which is the record of her liaison with a young prince.

[90] A daughter of the famous court lady, poet, and historian Akazomé Emon, to whom the court history of the time is traditionally ascribed.

[91] Seishonagon. A lady famous for her learning and wit and with a little reputation for daring. Pretty and vivacious, learned and witty, she was allowed liberties unrebuked--one may call her the New Woman of the day. She served in the court of the first Queen Sadako, daughter of the Prime Minister's brother. The two Queens were in rivalry. Seishonagon was the literary light of that court, as Murasaki Shikibu and Izumi Shikibu were of this.

[92] Because one may be bewitched; ancient belief dating from long before her day.

[93] A koto is called a horizontal harp, but it consists of a number of strings stretched the length of the instrument, the scale made by an arrangement of bridges placed under the strings, and played upon by four ivory keys worn on the four fingers of the right hand.

[94] Her husband who was a scholar in Chinese literature. He died in 1001. It is now 1008.

95 : Large and learned volumes by the Chinese scholar Seŭ-ma Ch'ien.

[96] The Merciful Buddha of the West Paradise.

[97] It is believed that this Buddha comes to welcome the departing soul of the believer mounted on a rainbow-coloured cloud.

[98] The great Enryakuji on Mount Hiyé, northeast of Kioto.

[99] A line from an old Chinese poem about Jofuku and Bunsei, seekers of the herb of eternal life. When they entered the boat they were young men, but were very old when they returned.

[100] The Japanese New Year ceremonies extend over three days.

[101] Both these little princes, grandsons of the Prime Minister, eventually came to the throne.

[102] Toso: New Year's drink of spiced saké supposed to prolong life.

[103] The names of these colours are translated in modern terms. The Japanese names of colours for dresses were all of colours in combination, which often were called after flowers or plants. These names could not convey the right idea. For instance, what is here translated _old rose and white_, would be in those days called _cherry_, intended to convey to the mind the thought of the cherry-tree in bloom.

[104] Paper doors.

III

THE DIARY OF IZUMI SHIKIBU

A.D. 1002-1003

Many months had passed in lamenting the World,[1] more shadowy than a dream. Already the tenth day of the Deutzia month was over. A deeper shade lay under the trees and the grass on the embankment was greener.[2] These changes, unnoticed by any, seemed beautiful to her, and while musing upon them a man stepped lightly along behind the hedge. She was idly curious, but when he came towards her she recognized the page of the late prince.[3] He came at a sorrowful moment, so she said, "Is your coming not long delayed? To talk over the past was inclined." "Would it not have been presuming?--Forgive me--In mountain temples have been worshipping. To be without ties is sad, so wishing to take service again I went to Prince Sochino-miya."

"Excellent! that Prince is very elegant and is known to me. He cannot be as of yore?" [i.e. unmarried.] So she said, and he replied, "No, but he is very gracious. He asked me whether I ever visit you nowadays--'Yes, I do,' said I; then, breaking off this branch of tachibana[4] flowers, His Highness replied, 'Give this to her, [see] how she will take it.' The Prince had in mind the old poem:

_The scent of tachibana flowers in May_ _Recalls the perfumed sleeves of him who is no longer here._

So I have come--what shall I say to him?"

It was embarrassing to return an oral message through the page, and the Prince had not written; discontented, yet wishing to make some response, she wrote a poem and gave it to the page:

_That scent, indeed, brings memories_ _But rather, to be reminded of that other,_ _Would hear the cuckoo's[5] voice._

The Prince was on the veranda of his palace, and as the page approached him with important face, he led him into an inner room saying, "What is it?" The page presented the poem.

The Prince read it and wrote this answer:

_The cuckoo sings on the same branch_ _With voice unchanged,_ _That shall you know._

His Highness gave this to the page and walked away, saying, "Tell it to no one, I might be thought amorous." The page brought the poem to the lady. Lovely it was, but it seemed wiser not to write too often [so did not answer].

On the day following his first letter this poem was sent:

_To you I betrayed my heart--_ _Alas! Confessing_ _Brings deeper grief,_ _Lamenting days._

Feeling was rootless, but being unlearned in loneliness, and attracted, she wrote an answer:

_If you lament to-day_ _At this moment your heart_ _May feel for mine--_ _For in sorrow_ _Months and days have worn away._

He wrote often and she answered--sometimes--and felt her loneliness a little assuaged. Again she received a letter. After expressing feelings of great delicacy:

_[I would] solace [you] with consoling words_ _If spoken in vain_ _No longer could be exchanged._

To talk with you about the departed one; how would it be [for you] to come in the evening unobtrusively?

Her answer:

As I hear of comfort I wish to talk with you, but being an uprooted person there is no hope of my standing upright. I am footless [meaning, I cannot go to you].

Thus she wrote, and His Highness decided to come as a private person.

It was still daylight, and he secretly called his servant Ukon-no-zo, who had usually been the medium by which the letters had reached the Prince, and said,

"I am going somewhere," The man understood and made preparations.

His Highness came in an humble palanquin and made his page announce him. It was embarrassing. She did not know what to do; she could not pretend to be absent after having written him an answer that very day. It seemed too heartless to make him go back at once without entering. Thinking, "I will only talk to him," she placed a cushion by the west door on the veranda, and invited the Prince there. Was it because he was so much admired by the world that he seemed to her unusually fascinating? But this only increased her caution. While they were talking the moon shone out and it became uncomfortably bright.

He: "As I have been out of society and living in the shade, I am not used to such a bright place as this "--It was too embarrassing!--"Let me come in where you are sitting; I will not be rude as others are. You are not one to receive me often, are you?" "No indeed! What a strange idea! Only to-night we shall talk together I think; never again!" Thus lightly talking, the night advanced--"Shall we spend the night in this way?" he asked:

_The night passes,_ _We dream no faintest dream--_ _What shall remain to me of this summer night?_

She:

_Thinking of the world_ _Sleeves wet with tears are my bed-fellows._ _Calmly to dream sweet dreams--_ _There is no night for that._

He: "I am not a person who can leave my house easily. You may think me rude, but my feeling for you grows ardent." And he crept into the room. Felt horribly embarrassed, but conversed together and at daybreak he returned.

Next day's letter:

In what way are you thinking about me? I feel anxiety--

_To you it may be a commonplace to speak of love,_ _But my feeling this morning--_ _To nothing can it be compared!_

She answered:

_Whether commonplace or not--_ _Thoughts do not dwell upon it_ _For the first time [I] am caught in the toils._

O what a person! What has she done! So tenderly the late Prince spoke to her! She felt regret and her mind was not tranquil. Just then the page came. Awaited a letter, but there was none. It disappointed her; how much in love! When the page returned, a letter was given.

The letter:

_Were my heart permitted even to feel the pain of waiting!_ _It may be to wait is lesser pain--_ _To-night--not even to wait for--_