"When I behold the summer wings
Cicada like, I cast aside;
Back to my heart fond memory springs,
And on my eyes, a rising tide."
The day of the departure happened to be the commencement of the winter season. An October shower fell lightly, and the sky looked gloomy.
Genji stood gazing upon it and hummed:—
"Sad and weary Autumn hours,
Summer joys now past away,
Both departing, dark the hours,
Whither speeding, who can say?"
All these intrigues were safely kept in strict privacy, and to have boldly written all particulars concerning them is to me a matter of pain. So at first I intended to omit them, but had I done so my history would have become like a fiction, and the censure I should expect would be that I had done so intentionally, because my hero was the son of an Emperor; but, on the other hand, if I am accused of too much loquacity, I cannot help it.
FOOTNOTES:
[52] Name of an ecclesiastical office.
[53] Sasinuki is a sort of loose trousers, and properly worn by men only, hence some commentators conclude, the attendant here mentioned to mean a boy, others contend, this garment was worn by females also when they rode.
[54] A mythological repulsive deity who took part in the building of a bridge at the command of a powerful magician.
[55] A popular superstition in China and Japan believes foxes to have mysterious powers over men.