7

The Ninth Month came. On that magically beautiful morning of the first frost the usual notes were brought in by the usual women, messengers for her several suitors. She had them read to her.

This one was from Higekuro:

“Hateful the Long Month* to those who are sure of themselves.

I hang, as if for my life, on each fleeting day.

“The days upon which I had fastened my hopes pass in empty futility and the autumn skies bring the most intense anxiety.”

He thus made it clear that he was keeping himself well informed.

Anasthis from Prince Hotaru: “There is no point in questioning a firm and final decision, and yet,

“Warm though it be in the radiant morning sun,

Let the jeweled bamboo not forget the frost beneath.*

“A word of reassurance and understanding would suffice to quiet the turmoil of my thoughts.”

It was attached to a sprig of bamboo curled by the frost which still lay upon it. The choice of a messenger had been as careful.+

Murasaki had a brother who held a guards commission. On friendly terms with the Rokujo~ house, he too had informed himself well of Tamakazura's affairs and was much disappointed by the turn they were taking. Among his rather lengthy complaints was this poem:

“Difficult it is to try to forget.

What shall I do about you, about myself?”

Each of these several notes was superior in all of its details, the color of the paper, the perfume that had been burned into it, the modulations of the ink. Such gentlemen, said her women, must be kept interested. ck Whatever she may have had in mind, Tamakazura replied briefly to Prince Hotaru's letter only.

“Not the sunflower, choosing to follow the sun,

Forgets so soon the morning frost beneath.”

The faint, delicate hand quite fascinated him. Though as fragile as the dew, it was at least favorable notice.

There is nothing further to record, save that the complaining went on.

And, one is told, both ministers, her real father and her foster father, thought her behavior a model which other ladies would do well to imitate.

{The Cypress Pillar}