Fox Footprints/From the Pillow Sketches
Through the open door of the Mikado's apartments we could see the pictures of the sea-creatures,
Some long-armed and some with long legs.
We laughed about them as we set the great flower-pots of green porcelain by the balustrade of the verandah,
Filling them with five-foot cherry-branches, whose blossoms over-flowed to the edge of the railing.
The brother of the empress drew near, in a cherry-colored tunic,
His trousers were purple and his undergarments patterned in deep crimson:
He sat before the door and made report to the emperor.
In front of the screen stood the waiting women.
Their jackets were sleeveless and the color of cherries,
Some were dressed in wistaria and some in kerria.
It was the serene noon-time.
In my heart I wished that so it might continue for a thousand years.
Alas.
A delightful animal is the Cat-in-Waiting on the Mikado.
She is a favorite with His Highness and has many titles:
He has conferred upon her the fifth rank of nobility,
And has ordered her called Miyobu-no-Otodo,
Chief Superintendent of the Female Attendants of the Palace.
For all that, she will go out on the bridge and sleep in full view in the sunlight,
However loudly the attendant in charge of her may call:
"Oh, improper! Come in at once!"
Scenes From the Makura no Shoshi and the Geni Monogatari.—Two of the Classics of Japan written by Ladies of the court in the early eleventh century.
From the prose of W. G. Aston and Suyematz Kenchio
From the Pillow Sketches
I
Through the open door of the Mikado's apartments we could see the pictures of the sea-creatures,
Some long-armed and some with long legs.
We laughed about them as we set the great flower-pots of green porcelain by the balustrade of the verandah,
Filling them with five-foot cherry-branches, whose blossoms over-flowed to the edge of the railing.
The brother of the empress drew near, in a cherry-colored tunic,
His trousers were purple and his undergarments patterned in deep crimson:
He sat before the door and made report to the emperor.
In front of the screen stood the waiting women.
Their jackets were sleeveless and the color of cherries,
Some were dressed in wistaria and some in kerria.
It was the serene noon-time.
In my heart I wished that so it might continue for a thousand years.
Alas.
II
A delightful animal is the Cat-in-Waiting on the Mikado.
She is a favorite with His Highness and has many titles:
He has conferred upon her the fifth rank of nobility,
And has ordered her called Miyobu-no-Otodo,
Chief Superintendent of the Female Attendants of the Palace.
For all that, she will go out on the bridge and sleep in full view in the sunlight,
However loudly the attendant in charge of her may call:
"Oh, improper! Come in at once!"