In the summer, when the lotuses were at their best, the Third Princess dedicated to the chapel a holy image of Buddha made of sandalwood. The sight of the chapel moved Genji to tears. "And so here we sit side by side at a ceremony like this. Who would have expected it?" He wrote a poem that the separate drops of dew on the leaf of the lotus would share a lodging in the next world. She answered coldly: "Together, you say, in the lotus dwelling to come. But may you not have certain reservations?"

Genji tried to comfort the Third Princess who was leading the lonely life of a nun. But in his depths, he could not give her up. Autumn insects were released to convey the atmosphere of an autumn field. On the night of the fifteenth of Eight Month, Genji called for a koto and treated her to a rare concert. Prince Hotaru, Yugiri and other courtiers came seeking the enjoyment of a moon-viewing fete.

Resumed by Mary Nagase. Published by UNESCO.© UNESCO 2000