Murasaki Shikibu - The Tale of Genji

Table of Contents

The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

The Paulownia Court

Chapter 2

The Broom Tree

Chapter 3

The Shell of the Locust

Chapter 4

Evening Faces

Chapter 5

Lavender

Chapter 6

The Safflower

Chapter 7

An Autumn Exersion

Chapter 8

The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 9

Heartvine

Chapter 10

The Sacred Tree

Chapter 11

The Orange Blossoms

Chapter 12

Suma

Chapter 13

Akashi

Chapter 14

Channel Buoys

Chapter 15

The Wormwood Patch

Chapter 16

The Gatehouse

Chapter 17

a Picture Contest

Chapter 18

The Wind in the Pines

Chapter 19

a Rack of Cloud

Chapter 20

The Morning Glory

Chapter 21

The Maiden

Chapter 22

The Jeweled Chaplet

Chapter 23

The First Warbler

Chapter 24

Butterflies

Chapter 25

Fireflies

Chapter 26

Wild Carnations

Chapter 27

Flares

Chapter 28

The Typhoon

Chapter 29

The Royal Outing

Chapter 30

Purple Trousers

Chapter 31

The Cypress Pillar

Chapter 32

a Branch of Plum

Chapter 33

Wisteria Leaves

Chapter 34

New Herbs

Chapter 35

New Herbs

Chapter 36

The Oak Tree

Chapter 37

The Flute

Chapter 38

The Bell Cricket

Chapter 39

Evening Mist

Chapter 40

The Rites

Chapter 41

The Wizard

Chapter 42

His Perfumed Highness

Chapter 43

The Rose Plum

Chapter 44

Bamboo River

Chapter 45

The Lady at the Bridge

Chapter 46

Beneath the Oak

Chapter 47

Trefoil Knots

Chapter 48

Early Ferns

Chapter 49

The Ivy

Chapter 50

The Eastern Cottage

Chapter 51

a Boat upon the Waters

Chapter 52

The Drake Fly

Chapter 53

The Writing Practice

Chapter 54

The Floating Bridge of Dreams

1 The Paulownia Court

2 The Broom Tree

3 The Shell of the Locust

4 Evening Faces

5 Lavender

6 The Safflower

7 An Autumn Exersion

8 The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms

9 Heartvine

10 The Sacred Tree

11 The Orange Blossoms

12 Suma

13 Akashi

14 Channel Buoys

15 The Wormwood Patch

16 The Gatehouse

17 A Picture Contest

18 The Wind in the Pines

19 A Rack of Cloud

20 The Morning Glory

21 The Maiden

22 The Jeweled Chaplet

23 The First Warbler

24 Butterflies

25 Fireflies

26 Wild Carnations

27 Flares

28 The Typhoon

29 The Royal Outing

30 Purple Trousers

31 The Cypress Pillar

32 A Branch of Plum

33 Wisteria Leaves

34 New Herbs

35 New Herbs

36 The Oak Tree

37 The Flute

38 The Bell Cricket

39 Evening Mist

40 The Rites

41 The Wizard

42 His Perfumed Highness

43 The Rose Plum

44 Bamboo River

45 The Lady at the Bridge

46 Beneath the Oak

47 Trefoil Knots

48 Early Ferns

49 The Ivy

50 The Eastern Cottage

51 A Boat upon the Waters

52 The Drake Fly

53 The Writing Practice

54 The Floating Bridge of Dreams

Murasaki Shikibu at Ishiyama-dera. Suzuki Harunobu, 1767. Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others. The grand ladies with high ambitions thought her a presumptuous upstart, and lesser ladies were still more resentful. Everything she did offended someone. Probably aware of what was happening, she fell seriously ill and came to spend more time at home than at court. The emperor’s pity and affection quite passed bounds. No longer caring what his ladies and courtiers might say, he behaved as if intent upon stirring gossip.

His court looked with very great misgiving upon what seemed a reckless infatuation. In China just such an unreasoning passion had been the undoing of an emperor and had spread turmoil through the land. As the resentment grew, the example of Yang Kuei-fei was the one most frequently cited against the lady.

She survived despite her troubles, with the help of an unprecedented bounty of love. Her father, a grand councillor, was no longer living. Her mother, an old-fashioned lady of good lineage, was determined that matters be no different for her than for ladies who with paternal support were making careers at court. The mother was attentive to the smallest detail of etiquette and deportment. Yet there was a limit to what she could do. The sad fact was that the girl was without strong backing, and each time a new incident arose she was next to defenseless.

It may have been because of a bond in a former life that she bore the emperor a beautiful son, a jewel beyond compare. The emperor was in a fever of impatience to see the child, still with the mother’s family; and when, on the earliest day possible, he was brought to court, he did indeed prove to be a most marvelous babe. The emperor’s eldest son was the grandson of the Minister of the Right. The world assumed that with this powerful support he would one day be named crown prince; but the new child was far more beautiful. On public occasions the emperor continued to favor his eldest son. The new child was a private treasure, so to speak, on which to lavish uninhibited affection.

The mother was not of such a low rank as to attend upon the emperor’s personal needs. In the general view she belonged to the upper classes. He insisted on having her always beside him, however, and on nights when there was music or other entertainment he would require that she be present. Sometimes the two of them would sleep late, and even after they had risen he would not let her go. Because of his unreasonable demands she was widely held to have fallen into immoderate habits out of keeping with her rank.

With the birth of the son, it became yet clearer that she was the emperor’s favorite. The mother of the eldest son began to feel uneasy. If she did not manage carefully, she might see the new son designated crown prince. She had come to court before the emperor’s other ladies, she had once been favored over the others, and she had borne several of his children. However much her complaining might trouble and annoy him, she was one lady whom he could not ignore.

Though the mother of the new son had the emperor’s love, her detractors were numerous and alert to the slightest inadvertency. She was in continuous torment, feeling that she had nowhere to turn. She lived in the paulownia Court. The emperor had to pass the apartments of other ladies to reach hers, and it must be admitted that their resentment at his constant comings and goings was not unreasonable. Her visits to the royal chambers were equally frequent. The robes of her women were in a scandalous state from trash strewn along bridges and galleries. Once some women conspired to have both doors of a gallery she must pass bolted shut, and so she found herself unable to advance or retreat. Her anguish over the mounting list of insults was presently more than the emperor could bear. He moved a lady out of rooms adjacent to his own and assigned them to the lady of the paulownia Court and so, of course, aroused new resentment.