When she still made no reply, he implored her, ‘Even if you reject me! Anything! My lady!’
否せともいひはなたれずうきものは身を心ともせぬよなりけり
| inase tomo iFiFanatarezu uki mono Fa mi wo kokoro tomo senu yo narikeri |
Yea or nay I cannot clearly say; ‘Tis cruel that To my heart true I cannot be, in this world. |
was all she said, and finished with him.
What’s more, though she did not think very much of it, there was a man who loved her deeply and approached and spoke to her. He sent her letters, and when she made no reply, composed:
山がつはいへどもかゐもなかりけり山びこそらに我こたへせよ
| yamagatu Fa iFedomo kawi mo nakarikeri yamabiko sora ni waga kotaFe seyo |
A mountain woodsman I may be, yet I have no way Through the passes; Even in an echo Respond to me! |
Her reply:
わたつうみとあれにし床をいまさらに拂はば袖や泡と消えなむ
| watatu umi to arenisi toko wo imasara ni FaraFaba sode ya aFa to kienamu |
A boundless main, Storm tossed, you distant from my bed, Now, Were I to sweep it, my sleeve Might float as does the sea-foam! |
When she said this, the assembled ladies thought it most moving.
Her reply:
わたつうみとあれにし床をいまさらに拂はば袖や泡と消えなむ
| watatu umi to arenisi toko wo imasara ni FaraFaba sode ya aFa to kienamu |
A boundless main, Storm tossed, you distant from my bed, Now, Were I to sweep it, my sleeve Might float as does the sea-foam! |
When she said this, the assembled ladies thought it most moving.
There was a woman who served at court with whom he had had a long relationship, and when she agreed to talk privately with him, but came very late, he composed…
宵のまにはやなぐさめよいその神ふりにし床もうち拂ふべく
| yoFi no ma ni Faya nagusameyo iso no kami furinisi toko mo utiFaraFubeku |
Within the night Hurry and console me! Age old dust Has fallen on our bed? We should sweep it clean! |
Ise is referring to a poem which occurs in some texts of the Shūishū:
うしとおもふ心をしばしなぐさめむ後に世人をあはれと思はむ
| usi to omoFu kokoro wo sibasi nagusamemu noti ni yobito wo aFare to omoFamu |
To a suffering Spirit will I for a while Give my care; Only after for a mundane man Will I have sympathy! |
Applied to Nakahira, she means, ‘I can’t be bothered with you when I have Her Majesty to worry about!’
At around this time, the Consort who had borne His Majesty Princes became ill and all her ladies remained close by to serve her. The first man, using a woman called Ki Kuraudo, sent a message asking her to come out of the anteroom and when she sent back, ‘To a suffering/Spirit will I for a while‘, he composed:
宵のまにはやなぐさめよいその神ふりにし床もうち拂ふべく
| yoFi no ma ni Faya nagusameyo iso no kami furinisi toko mo utiFaraFubeku |
Within the night Hurry and console me! Age old dust Has fallen on our bed? We should sweep it clean! |
The Yuimae （維摩会） ceremony was carried out on the 16th day of the Tenth Month on the anniversary of the death of Fujiwara no Kamatari （藤原鎌足）(614-669) the founder of the clan. It took place in the clan’s family temple, the Kōfukuji （興福寺）, in Nara, and involved the recitation of the Yuima-kyō, the Vimlakirti-nirdesa-sutra.