Genji Monogatari - The Tale of Genji: Hana-No-Yen (Flower Feast)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section nine of Genji Monagotari by Murasaki Shikibu. This librivop's
recording is in the public domain. Section nine Hannah no
Yen flower Feast. Towards the end of February, the cherry
flowers at the front of the Southern Palace were coming
into blossom, and a feast was given to celebrate the occasion.

(00:24):
The weather was most lovely, and the merry birds were
singing their melody to the charms of the scene. All
the royal prince nobles and literati were assembled, and among
them the Emperor made his appearance, accompanied by the Princess
Wistaria now Empress, on the one side, and the Yogo
of Kokhaiden, the mother of the heir apparent, on the other,

(00:48):
the latter having constrained herself to take part with her rival,
in effect in spite of her uneasiness at the recent
promotion of that rival. When all the seats were taken,
the compo of poems, as was the custom, commenced, and
they began picking up the rhymes. The turn came in
due course to Genji, who picked up the word spring.

(01:11):
Next to Genji, ton Tchiojo took his Many more followed them,
including several aged professors who had often been present on
similar occasions, with faces wrinkled by time and figures bowed
by the weight of years. The movements and announcements both
of Genji and his brother in law were elegant and graceful,

(01:32):
as might be expected, but among those who followed there
were not a few who showed awkwardness, this being more
the case with scholars of ordinary accomplishments, since this was
an epoch when the Emperor, the Heir Apparent, and others
of high distinction were more or less accomplished in these arts. Meanwhile,

(01:52):
they all partook of the feast. The selected musicians joyfully
played their parts, and as the sun was setting, the
spring larks King's name of a dance was danced. This
reminded those present of Genji's dance at the Maple Fete,
and the Air Apparent pressed him to dance at the
same moment, putting on his head a wreath of flowers.

(02:14):
Upon this, Genji stood up and, waving his sleeves, danced
a little to no Chyojo was next requested by the
Emperor to do the same thing, and he danced the
willow flower gardens. Most elaborately, and was honored by the
Emperor with a present of a roll of silk. After
then many young nobles danced indiscriminately, one after another, but

(02:37):
we cannot give an opinion about them. As the darkness
was already gathering round. Lamps were at length brought when
the reading of the poems took place, and late in
the evening all present dispersed. The palace grounds now became
quite tranquil, and over them the moon shone with her
soft light. Genji, his temper mello by Saki, was tempted

(03:02):
to take a stroll to see what he could see.
He first sauntered round Fuji Tsubo, the chamber of Wistaria,
and came up by the side of the corridor of Kokaiden.
He noticed a small private door standing open. It seems
that the Yogo was in her upper chamber at the
empress quarters, having gone there after she retired from the feast.

(03:25):
The inner sliding door was also left open, and no
human voice was heard from within. Such are occasions on
which one often compromises one's self, thought he, and yet
slowly approached the entrance. Just at that moment he heard
a tender voice coming toward him, humming nothing so sweet
as the Oboro moonlight. Genji waited her approach and caught

(03:50):
her by the sleeve. It made her start. Who are you,
she exclaimed. Don't be alarmed, he replied, and gently led
her back to the corridor. He then added, let us
look out on the moonlight together. She was, of course
nervous and would fain have cried out. Hush, said he
know that I am one with whom no one will interfere.

(04:12):
Be gentle and let us talk a little while. These
words convinced her that it was Prince Genji and calmed
her fears. It appears that he had taken more saky
than usual, and this made him rather reckless. The girl,
on the other hand, was still very young, but she
was witty and pleasantly disposed, and spent some time in

(04:35):
conversing with him. He did not yet know who she was,
and asked, can't you let me know your name? Suppose
I wished to write to you hereafter, But she gave
no decided answer, so Genji, after exchanging his fan with hers,
left her and quietly returned to his apartments. Genji's thoughts

(04:57):
were now directed to his new acquaintance. He was convinced
that she was one of the younger sisters of the Nyogo.
He knew that one of them was marriage to a
prince one of his own relations, and another to his
brother in law Tonchiojo. He was perfectly sure that his
new acquaintance was not either of these, and he presumed

(05:17):
how to be the fifth or sixth of them, but
was not sure which of these too. How can I
ascertain this, he thought, If I compromise myself and her
father becomes troublesome, that won't do. But yetan must know.
The fan which he had just acquired was of treble
of cherry. On it was a picture representing the pale

(05:39):
moon coming out of a purple cloud, throwing a dim
light upon the water. To Genji, this was precious. He
wrote on one side the following, and kept it carefully,
with the longing for the chance of making it useful.
The moon I love has left the sky, and where
tis hid I cannot tell, I said in vain, In vain,

(06:01):
I try to find the spot where it may dwell.
Now it so happened that on a certain day at
the end of March, an archery meeting was to be
held at Udaijin's in which numerous noble youths were to
be present, and which was to be succeeded by the
Wistaria flower feast. The height of the flower season was passed,

(06:24):
but there were two cherry trees besides the wisteria in
the gardens, which blossomed later. A new building in the ground,
which had been decorated for the occasion of the Mogi
of the two princesses, was being beautifully arranged for this occasion.
Genji also had been told one day at court by
Ujaijin that he might join the meeting. When the day came,

(06:47):
Genji did not arrive. Early, Udaijin sent by one of
his sons the following haughty message to Genji, who was
at the time with the emperor. If the flowers of
my home were of every day, hugh, why should they
so long a time have tarried for you. Genji at
once showed this to the Emperor, asking whether he had

(07:08):
better go, Ah, said the latter, smiling, this is from
a great personage. You had better go, I should think, besides,
there are the princesses there. Thereupon, he prepared to go
and made his appearance late in the afternoon. The party
was very pleasant, although the archery match was almost finished,

(07:29):
and several hours were spent in different amusements. As twilight
fell around, Genji, affected to be influenced by the saki
he had taken, let the party and went to that
part of the palace where the princesses lived. The wistaria
flowers in the garden could also be seen from this spot,
and several ladies were looking out on them. I have

(07:50):
been too much pressed. Let me take a little quiet
shelter here, said Genji as he joined them. The room
was nicely scented with burning perfume. There he saw his
two half sisters and some others with whom he was
not acquainted. He was certain that the one he wished
to ascertain about was among them, but from the darkness
of the advancing evening he was unable to distinguish her.

(08:14):
He adopted a device for doing so. He hummed as
he looked vacantly around the Ishikawa, but instead of the
original line, my belt, being taken artfully and in an
arched tone, substituted the word fan for belt. Some were
surprised at this change, while others even said, what a

(08:34):
strange Ishikawa. Only one said nothing but looked down, and
thus betrayed herself as the one whom he was seeking,
and Genji was soon at her side. End of Section nine.