その年の夏、御息所みやすどころ、はかなき心地ここちにわづらひて、まかでなむとしたまふを、暇いとまさらに許させたまはず。年ごろ、常の篤あづしさになりたまへれば、御目馴めなれて、「なほしばしこころみよ」とのみのたまはするに、日々に重おもりたまひて、ただ五六日のほどにいと弱よはうなれば、母君泣く泣く奏そうして、まかでさせたてまつりたまふ。かかる折にも、あるまじき恥もこそと心づかひして、御子をば留めたてまつりて、忍びてぞ出でたまふ。

The summer of that year, the Haven suffered from a weak feeling, and attempted to leave, but [the Emperor] would not permit her even a little rest. Throughout the years, she had regularly become ill, and so he was used to it and only said “Anyway, wait and see a little while,” and [the illness] grew worse day by day, and in only five or six days she became very weak, so the mother petitioned in tears, and [the Emperor?] let [Kiritsubo] leave. In this sort of occasion, too, she worried that there would be an impermissible disgrace, and she left the child and departed in secret.

• とのみのたまはするに　　とのたまはするに（大系）

語釈

御息所

In Genji this term refers solely to a woman who has borne a child to an Emperor or Heir Apparent (although outside the Genji it seems to have a wider application). Here it refers to the Kiritsubo Intimate, the mother of Genji.

はかなき心地

“An impermanent feeling,” that is, an illness. The previous section has already described Kiritsubo’s weakness and frequent illnesses, in particular her 物はかなき有様.

まかでなむとしたまふを

まかづ (RY) is a verb that indicates movement away from a high status location. A particularly common use of the verb is to leave the palace. なむとす is like modern ～ようとする, indicating that she attempts to do this (leave the palace to go home). The を marks the following clause as a response to the situation.

さらに

Paired with a negative, this means “..at all” (modern 決して、少しも).

常の篤しさになりたまへれば

Regarding this phrasing, Oda (『解読』) says that it is essentially the same as 常にあづしくなりたまへれば.

とのみのたまはするに

The function of the “only” (のみ) seems to be that Kiritsubo has asked multiple times to go back to her mother’s residence but the Emperor repeatedly tells her to wait and see how things develop.

ただ五六日

The editions that do provide a reading for this mostly say いつかむゆか, with 『鑑賞』offering いつかむいか.

母君

This is Kiritsubo’s mother. Since Kiritsubo herself is identified as 御息所 there is no potential confusion.

まかでさせたてまつりたまふ

This series of suffixes is somewhat unclear. The さす is a causative, but if it refers to the Emperor “allowing” Kiritsubo to return, then たてまつる becomes a suffix that lowers the Emperor in relation to Kiritsubo. This may be why a number of editions interpret さす as applying to the mother “causing” Kiritsubo to return home, in which case たてまつる humbles the mother in relation to her daughter (who is now 御息所).

あるまじき恥もこそ

もこそ is a particle sequence that indicates someone fears that as a potential bad outcome. The 恥 is generally interpreted to mean more dirty tricks played on her by the woman, but 『新全集』thinks that it is the fear of ritual pollution of the palace if she were to die. This seems less likely because it would have nothing to do with whether she left Genji behind or not.

忍びてぞ出でたまふ

Despite this statement, the story continues with a scene between Kiritsubo and the Emperor before her departure. This is not the only place in the Genji that contains this kind of narrative technique.

評

This is the beginning of Kiritsubo’s decline and eventual death — despite now being a 御息所, that will not save her from her fate. The Emperor wants to keep Kiritsubo with him, but he eventually bows to the entreaties of her mother (and perhaps his own knowledge of acceptable behavior) to reluctantly let her leave. Autumn would be a more poetically appropriate time for the scene, but putting Kiritsubo’s death in the summer allows the later scenes of mourning and regret to be in the fall. There is also some indication that this scene may be based on the death of Fujiwara no Takushi, who died in the summer (I will discuss this in a later post).

The reason why she has to leave Genji in the palace seems to be that it having him depart as well would cause too much ceremony and commotion and leave her vulnerable to further attacks (see 『岷江入楚』). Tamagami Takuya (『玉上』) notes that any such attacks could shame the child as well. As it is, this is a significant victory to her enemies in the palace, to be forced to leave the palace without her child. 『新大系』also offers the intriguing possibility that readers would have suspected a curse from one of the other woman caused her deepening illness.