Of Old Japan
they were chattering the page was asked if he had brought a letter, he answered: "No; one day my Lord came here, but he found a palanquin at the gate. From that time he does not write letters. Moreover, he has heard that others visit here." When the boy was gone this was told. She was deeply humiliated. No presumptuous thoughts nor desire for material dependence had been hers. Only while she was loved and respected had she wished for intercourse. Estrangement of any other kind would have been bearable, but her heart was torn asunder to think that he should suspect her of so shameful a thing. In the midst of mourning over her unfortunate situation, a letter was brought her:
I am ill and much troubled these days. Of late I visited your dwelling, but alas! at an unlucky time. I feel that I am unmanly.
Let it be—
I will not look toward the beach—
The seaman's little boat has rowed away.
Her answer:
You have heard unmentionable things about me. I am humiliated and it is painful for me to write any more. Perhaps this will be the last letter.
| Off the shore of | aimlessness Sodé |
||
| With burning heart and dripping sleeves, I am he who drifts in the seaman's boat. | |||
It was already the Seventh month. On the seventh day she received many letters from elegant persons in deference to the celestial lovers,[1] but her heart was
- ↑ For the Festival of the stars on the seventh day of the Seventh month see the notes on pages 23, 24 of the Sarashina Diary. On this
