Usugumo - Wisp of Clouds |
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When the snow had melted in the Twelfth Month, Genji paid his next visit to take the little princess to Kyoto. The Akashi lady resumed the struggle to control herself, which was not entirely successful. As the little girl tried to jump innocently into the carriage, the lady approached as far as the veranda to which it had been drawn up. Only the nurse and a young woman called Shosho got into the carriage, taking with them the sword and a sacred guardian doll. Genji could imagine the lady's anguish at sending her child off to a distant foster mother. She wrote a poem asking when she could see her daughter next.
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Kunichika, 1884 |
Taking more than usual care, Genji chose robes for the visit to the Akashi lady in Oi. His trousers were beautifully dyed and scented, and over them he had thrown an informal court robe of white lined with red. Looking after him as he came to say goodbye, his radiance competed with the evening sunlight. The little girl clung to his trousers and begged to go with him. Looking fondly down at her, Genji sad "I'll be back tomorrow". Murasaki felt vaguely apprehensive. Fujitsubo had passed away in the Third Month at the age of thirty-six. As she had offered her faith and devotion to everybody, grief descended on the court. Not wanting to be seen weeping, Genji withdrew to the chapel, and spent the day there in tears. Wisps of cloud at the crest of the mountains in the clear evening light were colored in gray, which resembled his mourning weeds. |
Kunichika, 1884 |
Resumed by Mary Nagase. Published by UNESCO.© UNESCO 2000