人より先さきに参りたまひて、やむごとなき御思ひなべてならず、御子みこたちなどもおはしませば、この御方の御諌いさめをのみぞ、なほわづらはしう心苦しう思ひきこえさせたまひける。

Since [the Kokiden Consort] had come to the palace before the others, and the peerless thoughts [of the Emperor] were not normal, and there were several children, he indeed found only this person’s admonitions annoying and oppressive.

御いさめ　　いさめ（新大系）

語釈

人より先

The subject is the Kokiden Consort, who came (参る) to the palace earlier than the other women in the Emperor’s service (the 人 here).

やむごとなき御思ひなべてならず

やむごとなき again seems to be associated with a kind of public, “proper” association with rank. なべてならず is generally used in a positive sense, to mean “splendid.”

御子たち

In addition to the Heir Apparent (the later Suzaku Emperor), this chapter mentions two daughters.

諫め

The character 諫 occurs in the Confucian classics many times, usually to refer to a subordinate criticizing a superior’s immoral or wrong behavior. The term いさめin the Genji does not always have this meaning, but it may indicate here that Kokiden is making arguments to the Emperor based on politics or propriety rather than simply her own desires.

わづらはしく心苦しう

わづらし here seems to indicate the pressure the Emperor feels to respect the rank and status of Kokiden. 心ぐるし indicates the Emperor’s sorrow or suffering.

思ひきこえさせたまひけり

The non-honorific 思ひ followed by the humble 聞ゆ shows the Emperor’s the Emperor’s position towards Kokiden, and suggests the extreme political power that she and her father hold over the Emperor, and emphasizes that her admonishments held weight for the Emperor. However, the narrator still preserves honorific language towards the Emperor by employing the usual double honorific combination させ給ふ. The けり is a use of this suffix that is commonly seen in the narration of the Genji, to close a scene or signal a shift in narration. The next sentence moves from the Emperor and Kokiden back to Kiritsubo.

評

This section explains more about the position of the Kokiden Consort. Typically the first woman to enter the Emperor’s service would be the daughter of a powerful noble. She may very well be older than him. This emphasizes even more the strong position she holds. However, the description of the Emperor’s thoughts of her as なべてならず indicate that he cares for her more than simply his political concern.

Since the period of ancient commentary, the Emperor-Kokiden-Kiritsubo triangle has been compared with the Chinese example of Empress Lu. In the “Sakaki” chapter, Fujitsubo explicitly compares herself to Concubine Qi (who would be the Kiritsubo figure in the Genji analogy). However, the Empress Lu story is far more violent and carries more political consequences than we see here.

Other commentaries (such as Shimazu’s 『講話』) have pointed to Japanese parallels, especially Fujiwara no Toshi 藤原登子 and Anshi 安子, both in Emperor Murakami’s service. However, the passages from the 栄花物語 and 大鏡 that are often drawn on may be inspired by the Genji rather than the reverse.