The Tale of Genji . Murasaki Shikibu

The Orange Blossoms

      12  Suma

      13  Akashi

      14  Channel Buoys

      15  The Wormwood Patch

      16  The Gatehouse

      17  A Picture Contest

      18  The Wind in the Pines

      19  A Rack of Cloud

      20  The Morning Glory

      21  The Maiden

      22  The Jeweled Chaplet

      23  The First Warbler

      24  Butterflies

      25  Fireflies

      26  Wild Carnations

      27  Flares

      28  The Typhoon

      29  The Royal Outing

      30  Purple Trousers

      31  The Cypress Pillar

      32  A Branch of Plum

      33  Wisteria Leaves

      34  New Herbs

      35  New Herbs

      36  The Oak Tree

      37  The Flute

      38  The Bell Cricket

      39  Evening Mist

      40  The Rites

      41  The Wizard

      42  His Perfumed Highness

      43  The Rose Plum

      44  Bamboo River

      45  The Lady at the Bridge

      46  Beneath the Oak

      47  Trefoil Knots

      48  Early Ferns

      49  The Ivy

      50  The Eastern Cottage

      51  A Boat upon the Waters

      52  The Drake Fly

      53  The Writing Practice

      54  The Floating Bridge of Dreams

       Murasaki Shikibu at Ishiyama-dera. Suzuki Harunobu, 1767. Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

      The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

      Chapter 1

      The Paulownia Court

       In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The grand ladies with high ambitions thought her a presumptuous upstart, and lesser ladies were still more resentful. Everything she did offended someone. Probably aware of what was happening, she fell seriously ill and came to spend more time at home than at court. The emperor’s pity and affection quite passed bounds. No longer caring what his ladies and courtiers might say, he behaved as if intent upon stirring gossip.

      His court looked with very great misgiving upon what seemed a reckless infatuation. In China just such an unreasoning passion had been the undoing of an emperor and had spread turmoil through the land. As the resentment grew, the example of Yang Kuei-fei was the one most frequently cited against the lady.

      She survived despite her troubles, with the help of an unprecedented bounty of love. Her father, a grand councillor, was no longer living. Her mother, an old-fashioned lady of good lineage, was determined that matters be no different for her than for ladies who with paternal support were making careers at court. The mother was attentive to the smallest detail of etiquette and deportment. Yet there was a limit to what she could do. The sad fact was that the girl was without strong backing, and each time a new incident arose she was next to defenseless.

      It may have been because of a bond in a former life that she bore the emperor a beautiful son, a jewel beyond compare. The emperor was in a fever of impatience to see the child, still with the mother’s family; and when, on the earliest day possible, he was brought to court, he did indeed prove to be a most marvelous babe. The emperor’s eldest son was the grandson of the Minister of the Right. The world assumed that with this powerful support he would one day be named crown prince; but the new child was far more beautiful. On public occasions the emperor continued to favor his eldest son. The