getting steadily worse.” He then signaled the priests to resume their prayers, which they had stopped while the emperor was present.
Among the ladies-in-waiting caring for the empress dowager was one who suddenly began to shake as if she had been doused Chapter Three c 63
with cold water. In an instant she bent her body like a bow and began to writhe, and then stood up and went toward the emperor.
Michinaga was startled and, restraining her with his wooden scepter against her skirt, sharply rebuked her: “Look here!
Where do you think you are? Don’t you know you’re in the presence of the sovereign of the land? What kind of fox deity has possessed you to commit such an outrage?” Michinaga’s air was all the more imposing because he was ordinarily indulgent and calm. On this occasion, his mien was such that even gods and demons would likely shrink from it. Nevertheless, the young lady-in-waiting, dressed in a scarlet skirt with a blue outer garment, seemed to have no fear of the regent’s authority. She smiled and said, “That’s not for you to say, uncle. I am dearer to his majesty even than his own mother. He always says that rather than part with me, he would give up the throne. What, then, is wrong with my going to his side?” Then, managing her graceful train, she lightly straightened the skirt Michinaga had been restraining, and smoothly drew up to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, have you forgotten me? Just last night, when you came to the Kiritsubo Pavilion, didn’t you recite ‘The grasses of love / Piled up high in seven carts / In seven great carts . . . ’?*” It was an unusual spectacle to see the lady-in-waiting place her hand on the emperor’s knee and gaze at him with gentle reproach. It was nevertheless exactly like the empress’ solicitous and consoling manner, and left the emperor dumbfounded.
*From a poem by Princess Hirokawa in the Man’yòshû: Koigusa o
The grasses of love
Chikaraguruma ni
Piled up high in seven carts,
Nanakuruma
In seven great carts—
Tsumite kouraku
This surfeit of love
Waga kokoro kara.
Comes from my heart.
IV: 694
64 c A Tale of False Fortunes This young lady-in-waiting was none other than Ayame of Miwa, who barely a month before had come to serve in the palace of the empress dowager.
His majesty had never actually witnessed a spirit possession, much less by a spirit appearing to be the “living ghost” of his beloved empress, who seemed to be cursing his mother. He so lost his composure that he was covered with gooseflesh and was a pathetic sight: hopelessly transfixed, the color draining from his face, and perspiration oozing around the edges of his hair as he bit his colorless lips.
“Your majesty is unaware that the empress dowager is envi-ous of your affection for me. That is why you did not grant the regency to Palace Minister Korechika, and that is also why you do not intend to give the throne to the prince who is now in my womb. Because your majesty’s filial devotion is deep, you will not contravene what your mother says. As long as the empress dowager remains alive, not a single ray of light will dispel the gloom of my life. Even as your mother curses me, so do I curse her. No one knows about the imprecations now being performed by my grandfather, but when those rites are consummated, the empress dowager’s life will vanish like morning dew.
This shall be your mother’s recompense for her having despised me.”
With that, Ayame of Miwa buried her face in her sleeve and laughed in an uncanny voice. To his majesty’s ears it was none other than the coquettish laugh of the empress when she tried to stifle all sound from escaping their bedchamber. Though the wan, twitching face bore no resemblance whatsoever, he could not help feeling that the empress herself was lying prostrate before him. At that very moment the empress dowager began to tear at her own breast and bent herself backward as if someone were strangling her. The emperor
Among the ladies-in-waiting caring for the empress dowager was one who suddenly began to shake as if she had been doused Chapter Three c 63
with cold water. In an instant she bent her body like a bow and began to writhe, and then stood up and went toward the emperor.
Michinaga was startled and, restraining her with his wooden scepter against her skirt, sharply rebuked her: “Look here!
Where do you think you are? Don’t you know you’re in the presence of the sovereign of the land? What kind of fox deity has possessed you to commit such an outrage?” Michinaga’s air was all the more imposing because he was ordinarily indulgent and calm. On this occasion, his mien was such that even gods and demons would likely shrink from it. Nevertheless, the young lady-in-waiting, dressed in a scarlet skirt with a blue outer garment, seemed to have no fear of the regent’s authority. She smiled and said, “That’s not for you to say, uncle. I am dearer to his majesty even than his own mother. He always says that rather than part with me, he would give up the throne. What, then, is wrong with my going to his side?” Then, managing her graceful train, she lightly straightened the skirt Michinaga had been restraining, and smoothly drew up to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, have you forgotten me? Just last night, when you came to the Kiritsubo Pavilion, didn’t you recite ‘The grasses of love / Piled up high in seven carts / In seven great carts . . . ’?*” It was an unusual spectacle to see the lady-in-waiting place her hand on the emperor’s knee and gaze at him with gentle reproach. It was nevertheless exactly like the empress’ solicitous and consoling manner, and left the emperor dumbfounded.
*From a poem by Princess Hirokawa in the Man’yòshû: Koigusa o
The grasses of love
Chikaraguruma ni
Piled up high in seven carts,
Nanakuruma
In seven great carts—
Tsumite kouraku
This surfeit of love
Waga kokoro kara.
Comes from my heart.
IV: 694
64 c A Tale of False Fortunes This young lady-in-waiting was none other than Ayame of Miwa, who barely a month before had come to serve in the palace of the empress dowager.
His majesty had never actually witnessed a spirit possession, much less by a spirit appearing to be the “living ghost” of his beloved empress, who seemed to be cursing his mother. He so lost his composure that he was covered with gooseflesh and was a pathetic sight: hopelessly transfixed, the color draining from his face, and perspiration oozing around the edges of his hair as he bit his colorless lips.
“Your majesty is unaware that the empress dowager is envi-ous of your affection for me. That is why you did not grant the regency to Palace Minister Korechika, and that is also why you do not intend to give the throne to the prince who is now in my womb. Because your majesty’s filial devotion is deep, you will not contravene what your mother says. As long as the empress dowager remains alive, not a single ray of light will dispel the gloom of my life. Even as your mother curses me, so do I curse her. No one knows about the imprecations now being performed by my grandfather, but when those rites are consummated, the empress dowager’s life will vanish like morning dew.
This shall be your mother’s recompense for her having despised me.”
With that, Ayame of Miwa buried her face in her sleeve and laughed in an uncanny voice. To his majesty’s ears it was none other than the coquettish laugh of the empress when she tried to stifle all sound from escaping their bedchamber. Though the wan, twitching face bore no resemblance whatsoever, he could not help feeling that the empress herself was lying prostrate before him. At that very moment the empress dowager began to tear at her own breast and bent herself backward as if someone were strangling her. The emperor
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