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Fuji
no Uraba - Wisteria Dreams
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Kuniyoshi,
1845/46 |
Early in the Fourth Month, the
Minister of the Interior (To-no-Chujo)
arranged a banquet of wisteria, which was full in bloom. He invited Yugiri.
The Minister had begun to grow restless when finally Yugiri
arrived. When the moon came out, the wine was served. Pretending to be very
drunk, the Minister admired Yugiri
who had waited long and well to obtain permission to marry his daughter, Kumoinokari.
The long-standing ill feeling between them disappeared. Kashiwagi
broke off an unusually long and rich spray of wisteria and presented it to Yugiri
with a cup of wine. That was a romantic happy ending for Yugiri
and Kumoinokari who had been
separated for six years.
Yugiri
was promoted to middle counselor. He moved into his grandmother's Sanjo house,
which was filled with many good memories. One beautiful evening sitting near the
veranda, Yugiri and Kumoinokari
exchanged poems recalling the grandmother who had always protected them. Having
heard that the garden was in its autumn glory, To-no-Chujo
stopped by on his way from court. As the house was where he had lived in his
young days, the Minister of the Interior was moved finding that the couple now
lived there happily.
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| The present emperor Reizei and
former emperor Suzaku paid a state visit to Rokujo, which was an extraordinary
event. Genji’s preparations were brilliant. The royal party went first to the
equestrian ring where the ritual of review was performed in finery. Then the
party moved to the southeast quarter for the banquet. The lieutenants of the
inner guards of east and west advanced and knelt before the royal seats, one
presenting the take from the pond and the other a brace of fowl caught by the
royal falcons in the northern hills. The emperor ordered Genji to move up to sit
at the same level, which showed Genji off in utmost glory.
The Suzaku emperor had been ill
since his visit to Rokujo. It had been his wish to take holy orders and retire
from the world. But he worried about whom his daughter, the Third
Princess could look to for support when he finally withdrew from the world.
Her mother, a sister of Fujitsubo,
had died in disappointment. Yugiri
came to see him. Intending to marry Kumoinokari
soon, he was in the full bloom of youth. The emperor looked at him wondering
whether he might not offer a solution to the problem of the Third Princess. The
emperor asked Yugiri to take his
message that he would like to see his father Genji ardently. |

Kunichika,
1884 |
Resumed by Mary Nagase.
Published by UNESCO.© UNESCO 2000
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