2

The garden of Murasaki's southeast quarter was now the most beauti-ful. The scent of plum blossoms, wafting in on the breeze and blending with the perfumes inside, made one think that paradise had come down to earth. Murasaki may have had her small worries, but she lived in peace and security. She had assigned the prettier of her young women to the service of Genji's little daughter, and kept in her own service older women whose beauty was in fact of a statelier sort and who were extremely particular about their dress and grooming. They were gathered in little groups, helping the New Year with its “teething,” * taking New Year's cakes, and otherwise welcoming another year of the thousand which they laughingly appropriated for themselves. Genji came in. They had been caught with their ribbons undone, so to speak, and they quickly brought themselves to order.

“And are all these congratulations for me?” He smiled. “But you must have little wishes of your own. Tell me what they are, and I will then think of some that you forgot.” He seemed the very incarnation of New Year gladness.

Chu~jo~ thought herself privileged to speak. “Assured by the mirror cake* that ten centuries are in store for your august lordship, how should I think of anything for myself?”

All morning, callers streamed in and out of the Rokujo~ mansion. Genji dressed with great care for a round of calls upon his ladies. One would not have easily wearied of looking at him when his preparations were finished. “Your women were having such a good time that they made me envious?” he said to Murasaki. “Let us now have a congratulatory note for ourselves.

“The mirror of this lake, now freed from ice,

Offers an image of utter peace and calm.”

And indeed it did reflect an image of very great beauty and felicity.

“Upon the cloudless mirror of this lake,

Clear is the image, for ten thousand years.”

Everything about the scene seemed to make manifest a bond that was meant to last a thousand years—and New Year's Day this year fell on the Day of the Rat.+