So there I was, trying to get through the soul crushing monotony of my work day... just kinda mindlessly perusing my feed whenever the opportunity arose when of all of a sudden I spot a retweeted quote from @GenjiMonoBot
Now, I'm not going to name any names but the person responsible for this retweet has an IQ that makes me look like I pretty much eat paint chips for breakfast in comparison...
And I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn they have read The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu in Japanese.
This is faaaar beyond my range of ability as I am obviously an intellectual peasant.
But I do have a beautifully English translated, hard copy, double volume set that I picked up at a second hand bookstore a few weeks ago.
And I have absolutely no one I can talk to about this book...
Thing is, it's so enchanting I figure...why not share a little with you guys? I mean, it's just too cool to keep to myself.
Here are the illustrations and some select quotes from Chapter One
*quotes are edited for length
Chapter One
The Paulownia Court
"We vowed that we would go together down the road we all must go. You must not leave me behind."
She looked sadly up at him.
"If I had suspected that it would be so-
I leave you, to go to the road we must all go. The road I would choose, if only I could is the other."
"The autumn night is too short to contain my tears
Though songs of bell cricket weary, fall into silence."
This was her farewell poem.
The old lady sent a reply:
"Sad are the insect songs among the reeds.
More sadly yet falls the dew from above the clouds."
The moon set. The wicks in the lamps had been trimmed more than once and presently the oil was gone. His mind on the boy and the old lady, he jotted down a verse:
"Tears dim the moon, even here among the clouds.
Dim must it be in that lodging among the reeds."
As he poured wine for his minister, the emperor recited a poem which was in fact a deeply felt admonition:
"The boyish locks are now bound up, a man's.
And do we tie a lasting bond for his future?"
This was the minister's reply:
"Fast the knot which the honest heart has tied.
* throughout the tale, lavender (murasaki) suggests affinity
Thus concludes this little peek into my very first ever reading of
The Tale of Genji.
To be reminded of it sitting there on the shelf all these weeks later by a retweeted bot was a pretty weird coincidence but whatever🤷🏻
Never look a gift tweet in the mouth I guess.
🖤
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