13

Already at the beginning of the Eighth Month the autumn winds were lonely. Genji was busy with preparations for the memorial services. How swiftly the months had gone by! Everyone went through fasting and penance and the Paradise Mandala was dedicated. Chu~jo~ as usual brought holy water for Genji's vesper devotions. He took up her fan, on which she had written a poem:

“This day, we are told, announces an end to mourning.

How can it be, when there is no end to tears?”

He wrote beside it:

“The days are numbered for him who yet must mourn.

And are they numbered, the tears that yet remain?”