The tale of Genji

THE TALE OF GENJIBy LADY MURASAKI Translated from the Japanese by ARTHUR WALEY Boston and New York

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANYThe Riverside Press Cambridge 1925 To BERYL DE ZOETE

PREFACEReaders of the Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan, translated by Madame Omori and Professor Doi, will remember that the second of the three diaries is that of a certain Murasaki Shikibu. The little that is known of this lady's life has been set forth by Miss Amy Lowell in her Introduction to that book. A few dates, most of them very insecure, will be found in Appendix I of this volume. It is, however, certain that Murasaki was born in the last quarter of the tenth century, that she lost her husband in 1001, and that a few years later she became lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko. We know that she was chosen for this post on account of her proficiency in Chinese, a subject which the young Empress was anxious to study. Akiko was then about sixteen, so that Murasaki's position in the house was what, in our parlance, we should call that of 'governess' rather than of lady-in-waiting. Akiko, though officially espoused to the Emperor, was still living at home, and her father soon began to pay somewhat embarrassing attentions to the new governess. From the Diary we know that on one occasion at any rate his solicitations were refused. Was the Tale of Genji or any part of it already written when Murasaki came to Court? We only know that in a passage of the Diary which apparently refers to the year 1008 she speaks of her novel having been read out loud to the Emperor. His majesty's comment ('This is a learned lady; she must have been reading the Chronicle of Japan') shows that what was read to him must have been the opening chapter of the tale. For in the whole work there is only one sentence which could possibly remind any one of the Nihongi ('Chronicle of Japan'), and that is the conclusion of Chapter I. So though we may be certain that the first few books were already written in 1008, it is quite possible that the whole fifty-four were not finished till long afterwards. But from the Sarashina Diary, the first of the three contained in the Court Ladies of Old Japan, we know that the Tale of Genji in its complete form was already a classic in the year 1022. The unknown authoress of this diary spent her childhood in a remote province. Her great pleasure was to read romances; but except at the Capital they were hard to come by. She prays fervently to Buddha to bring her quickly to Kyoto, and let her read 'dozens and dozens of stories.' In 1022 she at last arrives at Court and her wildest dreams are fulfilled. Packed in a big box her aunt sends round 'the fifty-odd chapters of Genji' and a whole library of shorter fairy-tales and romances. 'Are there really such people as this in the world? Were Genji my lover, though he should come to me but once in the whole year, how happy I should be! Or were I Lady Ukifune in her mountain home, gazing as the months go by at flowers, red autumn leaves, moonlight and snow; happy, despite loneliness and misfortune, in the thought that at any moment the wonderful letter might come....' Such were the rêveries of one who read the Tale of Genji more than nine hundred years ago. I think that, could they but read it in the original, few readers would feel that in all those centuries the charm of the book had in any way evaporated. The task of translation in such a case is bound to be arduous and discouraging; but I have all the time been spurred by the belief that I am translating by far the greatest novel of the East, and one which, even if compared with the fiction of Europe, takes its place as one of the dozen greatest masterpieces of the world.

CONTENTS

PAGEPREFACE 7 LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS 11 GENEALOGICAL TABLES 13

CHAPTERI. KIRITSUBO 17 II. THE BROOM-TREE 39 III. UTSUSEMI 81 IV. YŪGAO 92 V. MURASAKI 135 VI. THE SAFFRON-FLOWER 180 VII. THE FESTIVAL OF RED LEAVES 211 VIII. THE FLOWER FEAST 239 IX. AOI 250 APPENDICES 297

LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS

(ALPHABETICAL) Aoi, Princess Genji's wife. Asagao, Princess Daughter of Prince Momozono. Courted in vain by Genji from his 17th year onward. Emperor, The Genji's father. Fujitsubo The Emperor's consort. Loved by Genji. Sister of Prince Hyōbukyō; aunt of Murasaki. Genji, Prince Son of the Emperor and his concubine Kiritsubo. Hyōbukyō, Prince Brother of Fujitsubo; father of Murasaki. Iyo no Suke Husband of Utsusemi. Ki no Kami Son of Iyo no Kami, also called Iyo no Suke. Kiritsubo Concubine of the Emperor; Genji's mother. Kōkiden The Emperor's original consort; later supplanted by Kiritsubo and Fujitsubo successively. Koremitsu Genji's retainer. Left, Minister of the Father of Aoi. Momozono, Prince Father of Princess Asagao. Murasaki Child of Prince Hyōbukyō. Adopted by Genji. Becomes his second wife. Myōbu A young Court lady who introduces Genji to Princess Suyetsumuhana. Nokiba no Ogi Ki no Kami's sister. Oborozukiyo, Princess Sister of Kōkiden. Ōmyōbu Fujitsubo's maid. Right, Minister of the Father of Kōkiden. Rokujō, Princess Widow of the Emperor's brother, Prince Zembō. Genji's mistress from his 17th year onward. Shōnagon Murasaki's nurse. Suyetsumuhana, Princess Daughter of Prince Hitachi. A timid and eccentric lady. Tō no Chūjō Genji's brother-in-law and great friend. Ukon Yūgao's maid. Utsusemi Wife of the provincial governor, Iyo no Suke. Courted by Genji. Yūgao Mistress first of Tō no Chūjō then of Genji. Dies bewitched.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES┌ Prince Zembō, m. Lady Rokujō, and died young. │ │ │ └ Vestal Virgin of Ise. │ │ ├ THE EMPEROR. │ │ │ └ Heir Apparent (his mother was Kōkiden). │ │ │ ├ San no Miya. │ │ │ │ │ └ Kaoru Genji. │ │ │ └ Genji (his mother was Kiritsubo). │ │ ├ Prince Momozono. │ │ │ └ Princess Asagao. │ └ Princess Ōmiya, m. the Minister of the Left. │ ├ Aoi. │ │ │ └ Yūgiri. │ └ Tō no Chūjō. │ └ Kashiwagi.

MINISTER OF THE RIGHT│ ├ Kōkiden (eldest daughter). │ └ Oborozukiyo (sixth daughter).

A FORMER EMPEROR│ ├ Prince Hyōbukyō. │ │ │ └ Murasaki (Genji's second wife). │ └ Fujitsubo. │ └ Child (supposed to be the Emperor's, really Genji's). IYO NO KAMI (husband of Utsusemi). │ ├ Ki no Kami (by a former marriage). │ └ Nokiba no Ogi (by a former marriage).

CHAPTER IKIRITSUBO[1]

At the Court of an Emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, who though she was not of very high rank was favoured far beyond all the rest; so that the great ladies of the Palace, each of whom had secretly hoped that she herself would be chosen, looked with scorn and hatred on the upstart who had dispelled their dreams. Still less were her former companions, the minor ladies of the Wardrobe, content to see her raised so far above them. Thus her position at Court, preponderant though it was, exposed her to constant jealousy and ill will; and soon, worn out with petty vexations, she fell into a decline, growing very melancholy and retiring frequently to her home. But the Emperor, so far from wearying of her now that she was no longer well or gay, grew every day more tender, and paid not the smallest heed to those who reproved him, till his conduct became the talk of all the land; and even his own barons and courtiers began to look askance at an attachment so ill-advised. They whispered among themselves that in the Land Beyond the Sea such happenings had led to riot and disaster. The people of the country did indeed soon have many grievances to show: and some likened her to Yang Kuei-fei, the mistress of Ming Huang.[2] Yet, for all this discontent, so great was the sheltering power of her master's love that none dared openly molest her.

Her father, who had been a Councillor, was dead. Her mother, who never forgot that the father was in his day a man of some consequence, managed despite all difficulties to give her as good an upbringing as generally falls to the lot of young ladies whose parents are alive and at the height of fortune. It would have helped matters greatly if there had been some influential guardian to busy himself on the child's behalf. Unfortunately, the mother was entirely alone in the world and sometimes, when troubles came, she felt very bitterly the lack of anyone to whom she could turn for comfort and advice. But to return to the daughter. In due time she bore him a little Prince who, perhaps because in some previous life a close bond had joined them, turned out as fine and likely a man-child as well might be in all the land. The Emperor could hardly contain himself during the days of waiting.[3] But when, at the earliest possible moment, the child was presented at Court, he saw that rumour had not exaggerated its beauty. His eldest born prince was the son of Lady Kōkiden, the daughter of the Minister of the Right, and this child was treated by all with the respect due to an undoubted Heir Apparent. But he was not so fine a child as the new prince; moreover the Emperor's great affection for the new child's mother made him feel the boy to be in a peculiar sense his own possession. Unfortunately she was not of the same rank as the courtiers who waited on him in the Upper Palace, so that despite his love for her, and though she wore all the airs of a great lady, it was not without considerable qualms that he now made it his practice to have her by him not only when there was to be some entertainment, but even when any business of importance was afoot. Sometimes indeed he would keep her when he woke in the morning, not letting her go back to her lodging, so that willy-nilly she acted the part of a Lady-in-Perpetual-Attendance.

Seeing all this, Lady Kōkiden began to fear that the new prince, for whom the Emperor seemed to have so marked a preference, would if she did not take care soon be promoted to the Eastern Palace.[4] But she had, after all, priority over her rival; the Emperor had loved her devotedly and she had born him princes. It was even now chiefly the fear of her reproaches that made him uneasy about his new way of life. Thus, though his mistress could be sure of his protection, there were many who sought to humiliate her, and she felt so weak in herself that it seemed to her at last as though all the honours heaped on her had brought with them terror rather than joy.

Her lodging was in the wing called Kiritsubo. It was but natural that the many ladies whose doors she had to pass on her repeated journeys to the Emperor's room should have grown exasperated; and sometimes, when these comings and goings became frequent beyond measure, it would happen that on bridges and in corridors, here or there along the way that she must go, strange tricks were played to frighten her or unpleasant things were left lying about which spoiled the dresses of the ladies who accompanied her.[5] Once indeed some one locked the door of a portico, so that the poor thing wandered this way and that for a great while in sore distress. So many were the miseries into which this state of affairs now daily brought her that the Emperor could no longer endure to witness her vexations and moved her to the Kōrōden. In order to make room for her he was obliged to shift the Chief Lady of the Wardrobe to lodgings outside. So far from improving matters he had merely procured her a new and most embittered enemy!

The young prince was now three years old. The Putting on of the Trousers was performed with as much ceremony as in the case of the Heir Apparent. Marvellous gifts flowed from the Imperial Treasury and Tribute House. This too incurred the censure of many, but brought no enmity to the child himself; for his growing beauty and the charm of his disposition were a wonder and delight to all who met him. Indeed many persons of ripe experience confessed themselves astounded that such a creature should actually have been born in these latter and degenerate days.