Page:Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan.djvu/192

Diaries of Court Ladies

Being notorious for	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	love sourness
I think none pass by without breaking a branch!

[Her answer]

No one in passing has ever broken the plum tree
Who then can know if it be sour?

Oh, regrettable! to be spoken of in such a way! One night I slept in a room near the corridor. Some one came knocking at the door. I was afraid and passed the night without making a sound. The next morning the following poem was sent me [from the Prime Minister]:

All the night through, knocking louder than a water-rail,
I stood in vain at the door of hinoki wood weary and lamenting.

I wrote back:

A cause of deep regret, indeed,
Had the door opened at the knocking of the water-rail!

[Here a space of nearly one year elapses.]

Third day of First month [1010]. The August Princes have presented themselves before the King for three days^[1] to receive gifts of mochi. Ladies of high rank accompanied them. Saémon-no-Kami held the Prince, and the mochi was brought to His Majesty by the Lord Prime Minister. The King, facing towards the east door, gave it to the August Princes.^[2] It was a beautiful sight to see the young Princes com-

1. The Japanese New Year ceremonies extend over three days.
2. Both these little princes, grandsons of the Prime Minister, eventually came to the throne.