His Excellency’s magnificence, as he plucked a maidenflower…and tossed it to me over the curtain, made me only too aware of my morning bed hair and face.

‘A slow response would be terrible,’ he said, so I moved over to my inkstone.

をみなへしさかりの色をみるからにつゆのわきける身こそしらるれ

ominaeshi sakari no iro o miru kara ni tsuyu no wakikeru mi koso shirarure

This maidenflower’s Vibrant hues I see, and That the dew cares not— How well I know it!

Murasaki Shikibu

‘How quick you are!’ he said with a smile and asked for my inkstone.

しら露はわきてもおかじをみなへし心からにや色のそむらむ

shiratsuyu wa wakite mo okaji ominaeshi kokoro kara ni ya iro no somuramu

Silver dewdrops Fall where they will, so Surely, ’tis the maidenflower’s Own heart that Stains her with such hues?

Michinaga