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. Her father, who had been a Councillor, was dead. Yet, for all this discontent, so great was the sheltering power of her master’s love that none dared openly molest her.Īristocratic residents of Heian ride in a carriage, perhaps on their way to a day in the countryside. 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. They whispered among themselves that in the Land Beyond the Sea such happenings had led to riot and disaster. 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. 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. Still less were her former companions, the minor ladies of the Wardrobe, content to see her raised so far above them.

By Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Royall TylerĪt the court of the 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 favored 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.

The tale of genji tyler