The Tale of Genji

One evening, when Genji is coming home from a visit at Rokujō, he stops to see his old nurse, Koremitsu's mother. Genji finds the old woman's gate locked, so he waits in the street. He notices a house behind Koremitsu's mother's that appears to be full of intriguingly tall women. Genji also notices some beautiful white flowers climbing the wall and asks an attendant to pick one of the "evening faces" for him. As the attendant enters the gate, a young girl comes out of the house, hands the attendant a scented fan, and tells him to put the flower on it. Koremitsu comes outside, passes the fan to Genji, and explains that his mother lost the key to her gate.

Genji enters Koremitsu's mother's home, where she has two other children and their spouses visiting. The old woman greets Genji, explains that she wouldn't mind dying except for that she wouldn't be able to see him again, and then collapses crying. Genji comforts her and tells her that she needs to live so she can see him develop his career. Her children are ashamed of her emotionality, but Genji is touched. He apologizes for not being able to visit due to restrictions on his activities. His kindness brings her children to tears.

After Genji leaves, he examines the fan that holds the flower. He's intrigued by the poem on the fan, which is written in a cursive that implies "breeding and taste." He asks Koremitsu about the residents of the house. Though Koremitsu is annoyed, he asks around and discovers that an honorary vice-governor owns the house, and the woman is likely a sister of the vice-governor's wife. Genji thinks the woman could possibly be vulgar, but he's intrigued nonetheless. He disguises his handwriting and sends her a poem, asking her to come out and see who he is. The Lady of the Evening Faces had thought Genji was someone else but is nevertheless excited to receive his special poem. The messenger leaves, however, before the lady and her attendants can come up with an appropriate reply.

Though Genji is sad, he stops thinking about the Lady of the Evening Faces as soon as he reaches the house of the Rokujō Lady. In the morning, though, he passes by the house of the Lady of the Evening Faces again, burning with curiosity. Several days later, Koremitsu tells Genji that he figured out that a few months ago, someone came to live in the house mysteriously and without revealing her identity. He caught a glimpse of the lady and tells Genji that she's very beautiful. Genji instructs Koremitsu to investigate further and busies himself with problems he's having with two of his other lovers, the Governor of Iyo's daughter and his wife, the Lady of the Locust Shell.

The Governor of Iyo returns to the city and immediately visits Genji. Though Genji tries to maintain his composure, he feels bad for the governor. He's upset to learn that the governor wants to find his daughter a husband and take the Lady of the Locust Shell away, so he attempts to quietly arrange a meeting with them. The Lady of the Locust Shell refuses, though her daughter receives him happily. Genji spends little time with Aoi, which angers her, and after pushing through the Rokujō Lady's resistance, he stops seeing her so often. The lady herself is somewhat distraught and often waits up for him. She fears that others will discover their affair and gossip about their age difference.

One morning, as the Rokujō Lady hastily sends Genji away, he asks her serving lady to sit with him for a moment to admire the flowers on the veranda. In verse, he asks her why he feels compelled to return when he's also "seeking fresher blooms." She replies that regardless of his reasons, he seems to have little time for the "blossoms" at the Rokujō Lady's house.

Koremitsu is unable to identify the Lady of the Evening Faces, though he does discover that she has some sort of connection to Tō no Chūjō, Genji's brother-in-law. Genji wonders if the lady is one of his former lovers. Koremitsu arranges for Genji to stop in at the lady's house the next time he visits Koremitsu's mother. For the visit, Genji disguises himself as a lower-class person and goes on foot, taking only Koremitsu and a page with him. After the visit, the lady attempts to have Genji followed to figure out who he is, but she's unsuccessful.

Genji decides he must continue seeing the Lady of the Evening Faces. He becomes almost obsessed with her, which surprises him—even though she's pleasantly childlike and quiet, her family isn't very good. He continues to disguise himself, which both scares her and makes her suspect that Genji is actually Koremitsu. Genji spends his days fretting about what he'll do if she decides to move without telling him, and he considers moving her himself so that he can see her more easily. As their relationship progresses, Genji thinks often about whether she is indeed Tō no Chūjō's former lover but doesn't question her.

In the fall, Genji wakes in the house of the Lady of the Evening Faces to the voices of common people. The women of her house are extremely embarrassed by Genji hearing this, though the lady herself isn't as perturbed. Simultaneously entranced by and annoyed with the noise, Genji admires his lover, who is wearing a cloak of lavender, and suggests that they go away to enjoy the rest of the night. The lady protests and doesn't want to go, so Genji simply lifts her into the carriage and takes her to a nearby villa with Ukon, her maid.

The villa is in disrepair, but Genji tries to speak of it as though it's all a grand adventure. The Lady of the Evening Faces is afraid. Ukon watches the caretaker energetically prepare the villa, which makes her suspect that her lady's lover might be Genji. Finally, around daybreak, the couple is shown to the prepared room. Genji dismisses the caretaker's suggestion to find women to serve them, as he doesn't want to be discovered. He tells the lady that he's going to show her a love that's dependable as that of river loons.

Genji wakes up around noon and looks around the grounds, which are neglected and overgrown. He and the Lady of the Evening Faces exchange poems telling each other they're beautiful, and Genji attempts to get the lady to tell him her real name. She refuses, but they continue to talk all day. Koremitsu discovers them but leaves them alone as the day goes on. In the evening, the lady becomes scared of the dark and the shadows, so Genji lies with her and has the caretaker bring lights. He thinks about the panic that must be gripping the palace with his absence and how upset the Rokujō Lady must be that he didn't visit last night. Compared to the Rokujō lady, who is jealous and demanding, Genji finds the Lady of the Evening Faces delightfully easy to be with.

Past midnight, Genji falls asleep and sees a beautiful woman suddenly appear by his pillow. The woman reprimands Genji for not visiting her and for spending time with a lady who is so poorly positioned in society. He wakes up to discover that the lights have gone out, and feels as though an evil being is in the room. He wakes Ukon and attempts to send her to fetch a light, but she's too afraid. He and Ukon notice the Lady of the Evening Faces bathed in sweat and trembling, so Genji sends a guard to find fire.

When Genji returns to the room, he takes the Lady of the Evening Faces in his arms but discovers that she's dead. A man arrives with a torch, and Genji moves screens to hide her body. As Genji motions the man to come forward, he fleetingly sees the woman from his dream by the lady's pillow. Genji asks the torchbearer to go find Koremitsu and a holy man. In the following silent hours, Genji listens to the wind and a strange birdcall. He wonders if Ukon is going to die of grief. Finally, when he hears a rooster crow, Genji feels as though he's being punished for a "guilty love" and he'll be known forever as a fool.

Koremitsu finally arrives and Genji explains what happened. Koremitsu almost cries but composes himself and insists that what happened must be kept secret. He decides that they should send the body of the Lady of the Evening Faces to a temple on the mountain. At daylight, Koremitsu wraps up the body and puts it in the carriage, forbidding Genji from accompanying it to the temple. Genji barely makes it back to the palace and sits alone in his chambers, feeling as though he should've gone with the lady's body and wondering if he's going to die.

The only person Genji allows to visit him is Tō no Chūjō. Genji lies that he went to his old nurse's deathbed and then became sick. Tō no Chūjō tells Genji he doesn't believe it, and Genji says that he experienced an "unexpected defilement." This means that Genji is unable to receive visitors, though he receives Koremitsu immediately when he arrives later. He explains that the Lady of the Evening Faces is definitely dead and will have her funeral tomorrow, while Ukon is alive but distraught. He promises to keep what happened a secret and comforts Genji.

Genji insists that he must see the Lady of the Evening Faces one more time. Against his better judgment, Koremitsu takes Genji on horseback. The moon lights their way to the desolate temple, and upon arriving Genji takes the lady's hand and cries uncontrollably. The priests don't know who he is, but they sense he's someone remarkable and find themselves moved to tears. Genji attempts to convince Ukon to come back to the palace with him, but she refuses. On the ride home, Genji is so overcome with grief he falls off and is unable to get back on. Koremitsu prays and finally, Genji is able to complete the journey.

Genji spends the next three days sick in bed. The Emperor orders continuous prayers in various shrines and temples and fears that Genji might not live long. After a few days, Genji summons Ukon to the palace, and he and Koremitsu get her settled in. After twenty days, Genji's period of cleansing from his defilement is up and he's feeling better, so he returns to court. He's back to his old self by the end of the next month, though he still cries for seemingly no reason.

Some evenings, Genji summons Ukon to talk. He asks her once why the Lady of the Evening Faces insisted on keeping her name a secret, and Ukon explains that the lady figured out who Genji was and felt that he was belittling her by not sharing his name. Genji insists he couldn't tell her his name or the Emperor would find out and reprimand him for seeing her. Eventually, Ukon shares that the lady was indeed Tō no Chūjō's lover, but she ran away after his family scared her. She gave birth to his daughter, and Genji asks to have the girl brought to court. As Genji and Ukon admire the evening sky, Genji admits that he loves quiet, withdrawn, and obedient women, and Ukon cries that the lady was just that. Genji softly recites a poem about the lady's death.