限りあれば、例れいの作法さほうに修をさめたてまつるを、母北きたの方かた、同じ煙けぶりにのぼりなむと、泣きこがれたまひて、御送りの女房にょぼうの車に慕したひ乗りたまひて、愛宕おたぎといふ所にいといかめしうその作法したるに、おはし着きたる心地、いかばかりかはありけむ。「むなしき御骸からを見る見る、なほおはするものと思ふが、いとかひなければ、灰になりたまはむを見たてまつりて、今は亡き人と、ひたぶるに思ひなりなむ」と、さかしうのたまひつれど、車よりも落ちぬべうまろびたまへば、さは思ひつかしと、人々もてわづらひきこゆ。

There were rules, so they dealt with [the corpse] following the normal rites — her mother, the principal wife, wishing to rise on the same smoke, smoldered with tears, and she followed, riding in the cart of the accompanying gentlewomen; when she arrived at the place called Otagi, where those very solemn rites were underway, what must her feelings have been? “As I look at this shell without a spirit, I cannot help but thinking that she is alive even now, so I will watch her become ash, and earnestly know that she is now dead,” she said composedly, but since she stumbled and almost fell from the cart, people said “I thought so!” in pain.

• 同じ煙に　　　　　同じ煙にも（大系）
• のたまひつれど　　のたまひへれど（新大系）
• 車よりも　　　　　車より（大系）
• まろびたまへば　　まどひたまへば（大系）

語釈

限り

This time the 限り keyword refers to the regulations surrounding death. Although this whole section seems to be focused largely on Kiritsubo’s mother, virtually all the commentaries (perhaps because of the resonance of the word 限り) label this as yet another barrier to the Emperor being able to do what he wanted to do. If that is the case, the label of the 作法 (funeral rites) as 例の may be a pointed indication that the Emperor was not able to do anything more than the “usual” for someone of her rank.

母北の方

This identification of Kiritsubo’s mother reminds us again of the potential that Kiritsubo could have had if her father had lived.

同じ煙

This refers to the smoke from the cremation rites. The idea of rising smoke bearing the soul of the dead person is a conceit found in poetry, and elsewhere in the Genji: for instance, after the deaths of both Yugao and Aoi, Genji looks to the clouds in the sky as if they were the smoke rising from the bodies. In addition, the 7-5 rhythm of 同じ煙にも　のぼりなん and the use of 焦がれ (an 縁語 with 煙) lend a poetic resonance to the scene.

御送りの女房

These are women (possibly relatives) accompanying the body. Mothers would normally not attend the funeral rite (『玉上』).

慕ひ

This indicates following after someone due to love or longing.

愛宕

This is the cremation ground, referred to twice later in the tale. Its exact location is uncertain, despite a number of theories.

作法したるに

Both this に and the 愛宕といふ所に from earlier are connecting to おはし着きたる (『解読』). That is, the RT したる indicates the same place as 愛宕. 『解読』gives several other examples of this construction from elsewhere in the Genji. The たる here seems to represent an action in progress rather than a completed action, since the mother’s quotation below seems to indicate the funeral rites are still ongoing.

いか　ばかり　か　は　あり　けむ

いかばかりか = どれほどか, then ～はありけむ is “What might that be?” The implication, of course, is that we cannot understand what her feeling might have been (this has extra resonance if it is true that the mothers rarely observed the funeral rites for their children).

見る見る

This seems to be a repetition for emphasis. It is part of the clause that ends in 思ふ.

なほおはする…

The phrasing of this first section is another XがY “X and Y are the same”. She will watch (見奉り) the むなしき御骸を見る見る、なほおはするものと思ふ that is also 灰になりたまはむ — the body that she still can’t believe is dead but at the same time will soon ascend as smoke.

ひたぶるに　思ひなりなむ

Both the ひたぶるに and the なり serve essentially the same emphatic function, the idea of making herself believe that her daughter is gone.

のたまひつれど

The つ here indicates that this is how the mother was acting up to now, but (ど)…

さ　は　思ひ　つ　かし

The つ indicates this is what the gentlewomen had thought would happen.

人々　もてわづらひ　きこゆ

These 人々 are the other women riding to the funeral. もてわづらふ indicates their sympathy for the mother, and the humble きこゆ suffix is because of their lower rank with respect to her.

評

The focus of this section is on Kiritsubo’s mother. This is her first appearance in the story as an actual character, and her grief is immediately apparent — prior to this she begged the Emperor “in tears” to allow her daughter to go home, and now her tears are for the loss of that same daughter. Her grief and sorrow are the main focus of the next section.

拾遺集 929 (よみ人しらず、題しらず) also connects death and love using the funeral smoke imagery:

燃えはてて　灰となりなん　時にこそ　人を思ひの　やまむ期にせめ

When my corpse is burned completely and I become ash, is that when my longing for that person will cease?

This poem is about one’s own death rather than the death of the beloved, but perhaps the mother’s desire to join her daughter’s funeral smoke is a similar sentiment. Another possible poetic relationship is 古今集 831, read by the priest Shouen 勝延 on the death of Fujiwara no Mototsune in 891, and his funeral rites at Fukakusa:

空蝉は　殻を見つつも　なぐさめつ　深草の　山煙だにたて

When I saw the shell as something of this world I was soothed. I wish at least that the smoke would rise from Fukakusa.

In other words, when the poet could see the body they could pretend he was still part of this world, but now that the corpse is gone, he longs to see the smoke so that he can (in a sense) “see” Mototsune again.