BEING THE SECOND PART
OF ‘THE TALE OF GENJI’
By
LADY MURASAKI
Translated from the Japanese by
Arthur Waley
Boston and New York
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1926
To
MARY MacCARTHY
Several critics have asked to be told more about the writer of the
Tale of Genji. Unfortunately little is known of Murasaki’s life save
the bare facts recorded in the first appendix of Volume I. What other
knowledge we possess is derived from her _Diary_, which will be
discussed in a later volume and is meanwhile available in Mr. Doi’s
translation. Reviewers have also asked for information concerning
the state of literature in Japan at the time when the _Tale_ was
written. This I have supplied; and I have further ventured upon a short
discussion of Murasaki’s art and its relation to the fiction of the
West.
I have been blamed for using Catholic terms to describe heathen
rituals. My reason for doing so is that the outward forms of medieval
Buddhism stand much nearer to Catholicism than to the paler ceremonies
of the Protestant Church, and if one avoids words with specifically
Catholic associations one finds oneself driven back upon the still
less appropriate terminology of Anglicanism. Thus ‘Vespers’ is a less
misleading translation than ‘Evening Service’ though the latter is far
more literal.
Finally, I have thought it might be of interest to give a few notes
concerning the transmission of the text.
Volume III is finished and will appear shortly.
_Note on Pronunciation_.—The G in ‘Genji’ is hard, as in ‘gun.’ Vowels,
as in Italian.
PAGE
PREFACE 5
LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS 9
GENEALOGICAL TABLES 11
SUMMARY OF VOL. 1 13
INTRODUCTION:
FICTION IN JAPAN PREVIOUS TO THE _Tale of Genji_ 15
THE ART OF MURASAKI 30
NOTE ON THE TEXT 35
CHAPTER
X. THE SACRED TREE 39
XI. THE VILLAGE OF FALLING FLOWERS 94
XII. EXILE AT SUMA 99
XIII. AKASHI 141
XIV. THE FLOOD GAUGE 188
XV. THE PALACE IN THE TANGLED WOODS 225
XVI. A MEETING AT THE FRONTIER 252
XVII. THE PICTURE COMPETITION 258
XVIII. THE WIND IN THE PINE-TREES 282
Akashi, Lady of Daughter of the old recluse of Akashi.
Akikonomu, Lady Vestal Virgin at Ise; daughter of Rokujō.
Aoi, Princess Genji’s first wife.
Asagao, Princess Genji’s first-cousin; courted by him in
vain.
Chūjō Short for ‘Tō no Chūjō.’
Chūjō, Lady Tō no Chūjō’s daughter by his legitimate
wife.
Chūnagon Maid to Oborozuki.
Emperor, The Old Genji’s father.
Fujitsubo The Old Emperor’s consort; loved by Genji.
Genji, Prince The Old Emperor’s son by a concubine.
Gosechi, Lady Dancer at the winter festival; admired by
Genji.
Hyōbukyō, Prince Fujitsubo’s brother; Murasaki’s father.
Iyo no Suke Husband of Utsusemi.