前の世にも御契りや深かりけむ、世になく清らなる玉の男御子さへ生まれたまひぬ。「いつしか」と心もとながらせたまひて、急ぎ参らせて御覧ずるに、めづらかなる稚児の御容貌なり。
Perhaps because their bond was strong even in a previous life, even a male child like a jewel was born, beautiful like no others. “When?” thought [the Emperor], showing impatience, and he had [the child] hurriedly brought to him, and he looked at [the child], who had a splendid childish form.
語釈
- 前の世
- This refers to the Buddhist notion of the “bonds” (契り) of a past life affecting your current one — in the Genji both positive and negative events are credited to these “bonds.” Here, the strength of the Emperor and Kiritsubo’s relationship is thought to depend on a strong bond in a past life. The suggestion (emphasized by さへ) is that a male child, who can in theory become Emperor, is especially fortunate.
- 清らなる
- According to the 日本国語大辞典, this term for splendid beauty is a level up from 清げ. The adjective attaches to the whole noun phrase 玉のをのこみこ.
- 玉の男御子
- A number of commenters link 玉 with the word 魂, and explain that this indicates not just beauty, but a kind of sacred aura. みこ is the word for a prince, a son of the Emperor.
- 「いつしか」
- The し here is emphatic. This is a fragment that represents the Emperor’s thoughts. Births took place away from the palace due to the ritual pollution, therefore Kiritsubo is at her 里 (mother’s home) and the Emperor is eagerly waiting for the child to come to the palace.
- 参らせて
- 参る is used as a verb for anyone going to the palace from outside. The せ here is an actual causative.
評
The birth of a son was the ultimate goal of any family who put their daughter into palace service. The description suggests we have reached the introduction of our main character, although coming off the heels of the description of Kiritsubo’s unfortunate family situation, we do not forget the dangerous position he is born into. The image of the Emperor expectantly waiting in the palace to see the new child is a touching image of a new father, but also is the first of many examples of custom and ritual blocking the Emperor from doing what he wants with regard to the child.
Precedents for the description of Genji’s childhood form are found in other previous tales. In the 宇津保物語, Toshikage’s son is described as 玉光り輝く男 (see 新全集 edition, page 67). Shimazu (『講話』) adds the example of Princess Kaguya in a shining stalk of bamboo, but provides an analysis that shows Murasaki Shikibu was working off of these previous fairy-tale like stories but developing beyond those. The 14th century 河海抄 records that Prince Atsuyoshi (敦慶親王) was described as 玉光宮, so there may be historical examples as well.
Another parallel that Shimazu points out is the birth of Prince Atsuhira (敦成親王) to Empress Shoshi in 1008. The events surrounding this birth take up a large part of the 紫式部日記, and the birth of a son was a momentous event that cemented Fujiwara no Michinaga’s position of power over his rival Korechika. The original readers certainly would have remembered that event, and realized that Genji has no Michinaga to protect him against his political rivals.