The tale of Genji
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THE TALE OF GENJI
By
LADY MURASAKI
Translated from the Japanese by
ARTHUR WALEY
Boston and New York
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1925
To
BERYL DE ZOETE
PREFACE
Readers of the _Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan_, translated by
Madame Omori and Professor Doi, will remember that the second of the
three diaries is that of a certain Murasaki Shikibu. The little that
is known of this lady’s life has been set forth by Miss Amy Lowell
in her Introduction to that book. A few dates, most of them very
insecure, will be found in Appendix I of this volume. It is, however,
certain that Murasaki was born in the last quarter of the tenth
century, that she lost her husband in 1001, and that a few years later
she became lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko. We know that she was
chosen for this post on account of her proficiency in Chinese, a
subject which the young Empress was anxious to study. Akiko was then
about sixteen, so that Murasaki’s position in the house was what,
in our parlance, we should call that of ‘governess’ rather than of
lady-in-waiting. Akiko, though officially espoused to the Emperor,
was still living at home, and her father soon began to pay somewhat
embarrassing attentions to the new governess. From the Diary we know
that on one occasion at any rate his solicitations were refused. Was
the _Tale of Genji_ or any part of it already written when Murasaki
came to Court? We only know that in a passage of the Diary which
apparently refers to the year 1008 she speaks of her novel having
been read out loud to the Emperor. His majesty’s comment (‘This is
a learned lady; she must have been reading the Chronicle of Japan’)
shows that what was read to him must have been the opening chapter of
the tale. For in the whole work there is only one sentence which could
possibly remind any one of the _Nihongi_ (‘Chronicle of Japan’), and
that is the conclusion of Chapter I. So though we may be certain that
the first few books were already written in 1008, it is quite possible
that the whole fifty-four were not finished till long afterwards.
But from the _Sarashina Diary_, the first of the three contained in
the _Court Ladies of Old Japan_, we know that the _Tale of Genji_ in
its complete form was already a classic in the year 1022. The unknown
authoress of this diary spent her childhood in a remote province. Her
great pleasure was to read romances; but except at the Capital they
were hard to come by. She prays fervently to Buddha to bring her
quickly to Kyoto, and let her read ‘dozens and dozens of stories.’
In 1022 she at last arrives at Court and her wildest dreams are
fulfilled. Packed in a big box her aunt sends round ‘the fifty-odd
chapters of _Genji_’ and a whole library of shorter fairy-tales and
romances. ‘Are there really such people as this in the world? Were
Genji my lover, though he should come to me but once in the whole
year, how happy I should be! Or were I Lady Ukifune in her mountain
home, gazing as the months go by at flowers, red autumn leaves,
moonlight and snow; happy, despite loneliness and misfortune, in the
thought that at any moment the wonderful letter might come....’
Such were the _rêveries_ of one who read the _Tale of Genji_ more than
nine hundred years ago. I think that, could they but read it in the
original, few readers would feel that in all those centuries the charm
of the book had in any way evaporated. The task of translation in
such a case is bound to be arduous and discouraging; but I have all
the time been spurred by the belief that I am translating by far the
greatest novel of the East, and one which, even if compared with
the fiction of Europe, takes its place as one of the dozen greatest
masterpieces of the world.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 7
LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS 11
GENEALOGICAL TABLES 13
CHAPTER
I. KIRITSUBO 17
II. THE BROOM-TREE 39
III. UTSUSEMI 81
IV. YŪGAO 92
V. MURASAKI 135
VI. THE SAFFRON-FLOWER 180
VII. THE FESTIVAL OF RED LEAVES 211
VIII. THE FLOWER FEAST 239
IX. AOI 250
APPENDICES 297
LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS
(ALPHABETICAL)
Aoi, Princess Genji’s wife.
Asagao, Princess Daughter of Prince Momozono. Courted in
vain by Genji from his 17th year onward.
Emperor, The Genji’s father.
Fujitsubo The Emperor’s consort. Loved by Genji.
Sister of Prince Hyōbukyō; aunt of
Murasaki.
Genji, Prince Son of the Emperor and his concubine
Kiritsubo.
Hyōbukyō, Prince Brother of Fujitsubo; father of Murasaki.
Iyo no Suke Husband of Utsusemi.
Ki no Kami Son of Iyo no Kami, also called Iyo no
Suke.
Kiritsubo Concubine of the Emperor; Genji’s mother.
Kōkiden The Emperor’s original consort; later
supplanted by Kiritsubo and Fujitsubo
successively.
Koremitsu Genji’s retainer.
Left, Minister of the Father of Aoi.
Momozono, Prince Father of Princess Asagao.
Murasaki Child of Prince Hyōbukyō. Adopted by
Genji. Becomes his second wife.
Myōbu A young Court lady who introduces Genji
to Princess Suyetsumuhana.
Nokiba no Ogi Ki no Kami’s sister.
Oborozukiyo, Princess Sister of Kōkiden.
Ōmyōbu Fujitsubo’s maid.
Right, Minister of the Father of Kōkiden.
Rokujō, Princess Widow of the Emperor’s brother,
Prince Zembō. Genji’s mistress from his
17th year onward.
Shōnagon Murasaki’s nurse.
Suyetsumuhana, Princess Daughter of Prince Hitachi. A timid and
eccentric lady.
Tō no Chūjō Genji’s brother-in-law and great friend.
Ukon Yūgao’s maid.
Utsusemi Wife of the provincial governor, Iyo no
Suke. Courted by Genji.
Yūgao Mistress first of Tō no Chūjō then of
Genji. Dies bewitched.
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
┌ Prince Zembō, _m_. Lady Rokujō, and died young.
│ │
│ └ Vestal Virgin of Ise.
│
│
├ THE EMPEROR.
│ │
│ └ Heir Apparent (his mother was Kōkiden).
│ │
│ ├ San no Miya.
│ │ │
│ │ └ Kaoru Genji.
│ │
│ └ Genji (his mother was Kiritsubo).
│
│
├ Prince Momozono.
│ │
│ └ Princess Asagao.
│
└ Princess Ōmiya, _m_. the Minister of the Left.
│
├ Aoi.
│ │
│ └ Yūgiri.
│
└ Tō no Chūjō.
│
└ Kashiwagi.
MINISTER OF THE RIGHT.
│
├ Kōkiden (eldest daughter).
│
└ Oborozukiyo (sixth daughter).
A FORMER EMPEROR.
│
├ Prince Hyōbukyō.
│ │
│ └ Murasaki (Genji’s second wife).
│
└ Fujitsubo.
│
└ Child (supposed to be the Emperor’s, really Genji’s).
IYO NO KAMI (husband of Utsusemi).
│
├ Ki no Kami (by a former marriage).
│
└ Nokiba no Ogi (by a former marriage).
CHAPTER I
KIRITSUBO[1]
At the Court of an Emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was
among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, who though
she was not of very high rank was favoured far beyond all the rest; so
that the great ladies of the Palace, each of whom had secretly hoped
that she herself would be chosen, looked with scorn and hatred upon
the upstart who had dispelled their dreams. Still less were her former
companions, the minor ladies of the Wardrobe, content to see her
raised so far above them. Thus her position at Court, preponderant
though it was, exposed her to constant jealousy and ill will; and
soon, worn out with petty vexations, she fell into a decline, growing
very melancholy and retiring frequently to her home. But the Emperor,
so far from wearying of her now that she was no longer well or gay,
grew every day more tender, and paid not the smallest heed to those
who reproved him, till his conduct became the talk of all the land;
and even his own barons and courtiers began to look askance at an
attachment so ill-advised. They whispered among themselves that in the
Land Beyond the Sea such happenings had led to riot and disaster.
The people of the country did indeed soon have many grievances to
show: and some likened her to Yang Kuei-fei, the mistress of Ming
Huang.[2] Yet, for all this discontent, so great was the sheltering
power of her master’s love that none dared openly molest her.
Her father, who had been a Councillor, was dead. Her mother, who never
forgot that the father was in his day a man of some consequence,
managed despite all difficulties to give her as good an upbringing as
generally falls to the lot of young ladies whose parents are alive and
at the height of fortune. It would have helped matters greatly if
there had been some influential guardian to busy himself on the
child’s behalf. Unfortunately, the mother was entirely alone in the
world and sometimes, when troubles came, she felt very bitterly the
lack of anyone to whom she could turn for comfort and advice. But to
return to the daughter. In due time she bore him a little Prince who,
perhaps because in some previous life a close bond had joined them,
turned out as fine and likely a man-child as well might be in all the
land. The Emperor could hardly contain himself during the days of
waiting.[3] But when, at the earliest possible moment, the child was
presented at Court, he saw that rumour had not exaggerated its beauty.
His eldest born prince was the son of Lady Kōkiden, the daughter of
the Minister of the Right, and this child was treated by all with the
respect due to an undoubted Heir Apparent. But he was not so fine a
child as the new prince; moreover the Emperor’s great affection for
the new child’s mother made him feel the boy to be in a peculiar sense
his own possession. Unfortunately she was not of the same rank as the
courtiers who waited upon him in the Upper Palace, so that despite
his love for her, and though she wore all the airs of a great lady, it
was not without considerable qualms that he now made it his practice
to have her by him not only when there was to be some entertainment,
but even when any business of importance was afoot. Sometimes indeed
he would keep her when he woke in the morning, not letting her go back
to her lodging, so that willy-nilly she acted the part of a