Blue trousers

Footnotes

[1] A religious ceremony which took place in the twelfth month. The Ōharano shrine was situated in the hills to the west of Kyōto.
[2] Genji’s palace.
[3] 5 a.m.
[4] Murasaki’s father.
[5] Perhaps the anniversary of Lady Rokujō’s death?
[6] This Royal Visit is so much more splendid than any previous one that precedents do not count. There is a play of words: mi-yuki means ‘deep snow,’ but also ‘Royal Visit.’
[7] Again there is a play on the two senses of mi-yuki.
[8] Lady Chūjō, Tō no Chūjō’s eldest daughter.
[9] Clan god of the Fujiwaras, the family to which Tō no Chūjō and consequently Tamakatsura belonged.
[10] The sponsor was usually the father; but also sometimes an uncle, brother-in-law or the like. The Initiation, frequently mentioned in the Tale, was a religious ceremony corresponding to our Confirmation.
[11] Genji is of course referring to his sequestration of Tamakatsura.
[12] See vol. i, p. 40 seq.
[13] See above, p. 19.
[14] In Sanskrit, Pāramitā. The festival is held in autumn and spring, apparently in Japan only.
[15] She had taken Buddhist orders, and this was a Shintō occasion.
[16] An ingenious poem in which every word has some allusion to the ceremony in hand. For example futa = ‘both’ and ‘cover of the box’; hakago = ‘hidden child’ and ‘nest of boxes, fitting one into the other.’
[17] 9 p.m.
[18] When the God Susano-o returned from the Nether World, his sister the Sun Goddess was enraged at his presumption and ‘stamped on the stones of her courtyard till the chips flew like snow.’ Later on she was so much upset by her brother’s conduct that she retired to a cavern and the Earth was plunged in darkness.
[19] For the old Princess, Tō no Chūjō’s mother, and consequently her grandmother, whose death is here assumed, though not actually referred to till three chapters later. The blue trousers, after which the chapter is named, were worn in sign of mourning.
[20] The ninth month, in which no marriages could be celebrated.
[21] Kashiwagi, Kōbai, and Tō no Chūjō’s other sons.
[22] Not named in the book. But in English she needs a name. Makibashira is the name of her little girl, who appears so seldom as not to need one, so I have used this name for the mother.
[23] The ninth month, during which no such step as the affiancement of Tamakatsura or her presentation at Court could take place. See above, p. 41.
[24] One of Tamakatsura’s maids.
[25] Prince Higekuro.
[26] The soul of a woman is helped across the Stream of Death by the spectre of her first lover.
[27] While Makibashira, Higekuro’s mad wife, was still there.
[28] In order to drive the ‘possession’ out of her.
[29] For this woman’s character see vol. i, p. 145. She had pursued her rival, Murasaki’s mother, ‘with constant vexations and affronts; day in and day out this obstinate persecution continued, till at last she died of heart-break.’
[30] See vol. iii, p. 139.
[31] See vol. iii, p. 24.
[32] He must by now be about eleven, having been born shortly before Genji’s exile.
[33] See vol. iii, p. 215.
[34] ‘Mizu-umaya,’ or water-stabling, as it was technically called by the dancers. The regular banquet was called ‘ii-umaya,’ or rice-stabling.
[35] Tamakatsura.
[36] Promoted her to the Third Rank.
[37] In the 9th century Fujiwara no Tokihira carried off a lady who had for some time been admired by Taira no Sadabumi. When reproached by Sadabumi for her fickleness, the lady replied: ‘What in waking hours I may have promised I know not; but now I wander in the mazes of a dream; or some one wanders, for I scarce think it can be I.’
[38] Ka bakari means ‘so much,’ and also ‘only the scent.’
[39] Allusion to a poem by Yamabe no Akahito (8th century).
[40] I.e. write to me sometimes.
[41] Vol. ii, p. 54.
[42] ‘The water-weeds that grow in the pool on the plain of Oshitaka where wild doves feed—do not cut them at the root, for they will not grow again. Do not cut them at the root.’
[43] ‘Outdoors I think, at home I think of how she looked that day as she went by trailing the skirts of her crimson gown.’ Manyōshū 2550. A very rough, primitive poem.
[44] Tamakatsura’s former apartments.
[45] Iwa—‘rock’ and ‘silent.’
[46] But there is a hint that Tamakatsura is shut away in Higekuro’s palace like a tame bird in a cage. The bird mentioned is really a kind of duck, but much smaller. ‘Duck’s eggs’ would give a wholly wrong visual impression.
[47] If you can’t have Kumoi, why not marry me?
[48] At the time of Genji’s birth. See vol. i, p. 38.
[49] Instead of using them for the ceremony.
[50] The ingredients of the perfumes were pounded in metal mortars.
[51] 9th century.
[52] Grandson of the Emperor Uda. A famous poet and æsthete.
[53] A.D. 889–897.
[54] So called because it could be smelt a hundred feet away.
[55] Japanese zithern.
[56] 7 p.m.
[57] 11 p.m.
[58] Tō no Chūjō. Reference to a passage in the Ise Monogatari.
[59] Princess Omiya.
[60] The mausoleum of the Fujiwara family.
[61] Purple, a presage of high rank.
[62] Confucius.
[63] ‘If like the leaf of the wistaria through which the sun darts his rays transparently you give your heart to me, I will no more mistrust you.’
[64] The usual pun: matsu = ‘pine-tree,’ and ‘wait.’
[65] ‘About that broken place in the reed-hedge, in the front hedge, some one has told my mother. I think it was that chatterbox my younger brother’s wife. For she saw you climbing over, and she it must have been who told.’
[66] From another old song.
[67] 8th day of the fourth month. Images of the Infant Buddha (four inches high, with right hand raised towards the sky) are carried in procession and sprinkled with water. The festival commemorates the occasion when the Rain Dragons sprinkled the head of the Infant Buddha.
[68] There is a proverb ‘It is no use pouring water into a basket.’ Augo means ‘union,’ and also ‘basket,’ ‘wicker panier.’
[69] A princess with whom Tō no Chūjō had had an intrigue in early days. Subsequently she morganatically married a Provincial Inspector.
[70] The place at the Kamo Shrine where the Goddess Tamayorihime gave birth to Wake-ikazuchi, the Thunder God. It is this event which the Kamo Festival commemorates.
[71] Fourth month.
[72] Each of the Palace departments was officially represented at the Kamo Festival.
[73] Genji’s palace.
[74] Wreath of hollyhock, ao-hi; also means ‘Day of meeting.’
[75] Katsu, once; katsura, ‘laurel’, also used for festival wreaths.
[76] He speaks of himself as though he were an old man.
[77] 9 a.m.
[78] Of the Imperial Dais.
[79] ‘Thanking for the Prince’s Favour,’ a Chinese dance.
[80] A form of obeisance so elaborate as to be almost a dance.
[81] Name of a famous Japanese zithern.
[82] The Shining One.
[83] See vol. ii, p. 125.
[84] I.e. not a member of the Imperial Family.
[85] One of Genji’s retainers.
[86] Kōkiden.
[87] Since Aoi’s death Genji had no wife, Murasaki being technically only a chief concubine, her mother’s low rank making it impossible for her to be a kita no kata or ‘legitimate consort.’
[88] A Chinese custom, imitated by the Japanese Court.
[89] They must have been about four and three years old.
[90] On the third day after the arrival of a bride the husband notified the bride’s father that the marriage had been consummated and was likely to prove a success.
[91] ‘Though black this night of spring, what guide need we save the scent of their blossoms to guide us whither the plum-trees bloom?’
[92] That Murasaki might not see.
[93] Barely fourteen.
[94] Aki means ‘autumn,’ but also ‘to be tired of,’ and there is the secondary meaning: ‘Is the day when Genji will grow tired of me near at hand?’
[95] Aoi’s death in childbirth.
[96] The second month.
[97] Not to be born in the City was regarded as a severe social disqualification, whoever the parents might be. In the narrative she is called the Princess from Akashi; but it must not be supposed that she was ever so addressed.
[98] ‘The heart’s darkness,’ kokoro no yami, is the love of parent for child.
[99] By sending this representative the Crown Prince acknowledged paternity of the child.
[100] The original object of dolls is to divert evil influences from the child.
[101] Kōbai was now a member of the Grand Council.
[102] The four goal-posts were a pine-tree, a maple, a willow and a cherry-tree, growing in tubs.
[103] Fujiwara no Yoshikaze, 9th century.
[104] Always served to footballers.
[105] In section 99 of the Tales of Isé the poet ‘sees, yet does not see,’ a lady in her carriage at the summer race-meeting.
[106] About three and a half years. This jump, which may read as though it were a ‘cut’ made by the translator, exists in the original.
[107] He was really Genji’s son, not the old Emperor’s. In sacrificing at the Imperial tomb, etc., he was committing an outrage upon the dead.
[108] The soothsayers taught that there were several ‘dangerous ages’ in the lives both of men and women. A few centuries later thirty-three was commonly regarded as a woman’s most dangerous age. Nowhere else is thirty-seven mentioned; but it is to be noted Fujitsubo died at the age of thirty-seven.
[109] See vol. i, chap. v.
[110] His intrigue with Fujitsubo.
[111] She was now Consort of the Emperor; but had not been proclaimed Empress.
[112] By spirits, demons or the like.
[113] Dreaming of a cat signifies that a child will be born.
[114] Fudō.
[115] See above, p. 186.
[116] As it was a Shintō shrine, the rival religion (Buddhism) could not be mentioned there.
[117] Partly with the idea of securing Murasaki’s safety; partly lest the words spoken by Rokujō through the boy’s mouth should be overheard.
[118] A pun on Genji’s name Hikaru, ‘The Shining One.’
[119] ‘If it were in our power to keep the cherry-blossom on the tree, we should cease so much to admire it.’
[120] A Buddhist doctrine.
[121] Cf. vol. ii, p. 91.
[122] Suzaku.
[123] In Sanskrit, Mahā-vairocana; in Japanese, Dainichi. The chief Buddha of the Mystical (Tantric) Sect.
[124] Younger brother of Kashiwagi.
[125] Mountain ascetics.
[126] His relations with his father’s mistress, Fujitsubo.
[127] Sets of boxes fitting one into the other.
[128] Those who die in childbirth are much handicapped in spiritual progress beyond the grave.
[129] Suggest that he was meditating a coup d’état.
[130] Karma.
[131] In sign of mourning.
[132] Kashiwagi’s widow (Princess Ochiba) and her mother.
[133] A bitter root.
[134] Tokoro also means ‘place, destination.’ ‘Seek out the same Tokoro as I have done,’ i.e. leave the City and take refuge in a mountain retreat.
[135] The little daughter of the Akashi Princess.
[136] ‘Though Spring comes back each year and fresh flowers bloom, we shall be there to see them only so long as Fate gives us leave.’
[137] The male and female wild goose were supposed to fly wing interlocked with wing.
[138] In sign of dislike for him.
[139] Where Kashiwagi had presumably been buried.
[140] That the flute should be given to Kashiwagi’s son Kaoru.
[141] See above, p. 229.
[142] The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers.
[143] With his father, Genji.
[144] ‘If ever before I had received unkindness at your hands, this sudden dereliction would be less hard to bear.’
[145] The Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers. Yūgiri is pretending that it was from her the letter came.
[146] Ochiba’s house in the mountains.
[147] According to the astrologers.
[148] See above, p. 281.
[149] Those who die with anything on their minds cannot enter Paradise.
[150] A rattle used by peasants to scare away birds from the crops.
[151] Suzaku.
[152] Otonashi no Taki.
[153] A Buddhist story. The prince, being endowed with knowledge of good and evil, and memory of his past existences, remembered that in the last but one he had spoken an angry word, and consequently spent his next existence in Hell. Having now been born as a prince, he determined to be on the safe side, and did not speak at all. When he was thirteen, the King lost patience with him and gave orders that he was to be buried alive. Upon which the Silent Prince at last spoke. For a version of the story see Chavannes, Cinq Cent Contes et Apologues, i, 126.
[154] I.e. to become a nun.
[155] The formal betrothal.
[156] The copper pheasant; the male and female are supposed to sleep one on each side of the valley.
[157] Genji’s retainer. See vol. i, passim. Yūgiri had fallen in love with her when she was at the Palace as a Gosechi dancer. See vol. iii, p. 130.
[158] She had married off her adopted child, the Akashi Princess, to the Emperor.
[159] Utsusemi, Fujitsubo, Nyosan, etc.
[160] The service consisted of the reading of the Lotus Scripture; this required eight sittings. There was also the drama of the Woodman, one priest playing the part of Shākyamuni when he was a woodman, and the rest walking round him in circle and chanting the Woodman’s Song: ‘Had I not cut firewood and drawn water for the rishi, would you now possess the Scripture of the Lotus Flower?’

This refers to a legend that in a previous incarnation Buddha obtained the doctrine of the Lotus Scripture from a rishi whom he served as henchman.
[161] The Ranryō-o. Prince Ling had a face of womanish beauty and found that in battle his enemies were not afraid of him. He therefore took to wearing a ferocious mask. But some say he wore it to protect his complexion.
[162] Play on oku, ‘to settle’ (of dew) and oku, ‘to rise from bed.’
[163] Administer the tonsure; this was often done to the dying, and occasionally to the dead.
[164] From inside the curtains.
[165] At the time of Aoi’s death. See vol. i, p. 275. Full mourning was worn for a parent, but not for a wife.
[166] Genji’s old palace (where Murasaki died) and the New Palace in the Sixth Ward, where the child now was.
[167] ‘Would that my sleeve were wide enough to cover the spaces of the sky; then should the wind no longer at his pleasure scatter the flowers in Spring.’—Anon.
[168] The Kamo Festival in the fourth month.
[169] Worn by worshippers at the Kamo Festival. Its name also means ‘day of meeting,’ and there is a play on this in both poems.
[170] The cuckoo.
[171] The cuckoo is called Headman of the Hill of Death.
[172] In the eleventh month.
[173] Younger sons of Tō no Chūjō.
[174] Ato means ‘tracks’ and also ‘handwriting.’
[175] On the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of the twelfth month.
[176] The long, priest’s begging-staff, with metal rings attached to the top.
[177] Genji’s father.
[178] The next chapter begins with the words: ‘After Prince Genji’s death....’

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Footnotes