かしこき御蔭かげをば頼みきこえながら、落としめ疵きずを求めたまふ人は多く、わが身はか弱くものはかなきありさまにて、なかなかなるもの思ひをぞしたまふ。御局みつぼねは桐壺きりつぼなり。あまたの御方がたを過ぎさせたまひて、ひまなき御前渡りに、人の御心を尽くしたまふも、げにことわりと見えたり。参う上りたまふにも、あまりうちしきる折々は、打橋うちはし・渡殿わたどののここかしこの道に、あやしきわざをしつつ、御送り迎への人の衣ころもの裾すそ、堪へがたく、まさなきこともあり。またある時には、え避らぬ馬道めだうの戸を鎖しこめ、こなたかなた心を合はせて、はしたなめわづらはせたまふ時も多かり。事にふれて数知らず苦しきことのみまされば、いといたう思ひわびたるを、いとどあはれと御覧じて、後涼殿こうらうでんにもとよりさぶらひたまふ更衣の曹司ざうしを他に移させたまひて、上局うへつぼねに賜はす。その恨みましてやらむ方なし。

Although [Kiritsubo] relied on [the Emperor’s] august protection, there were many people who looked down on her and sought out her faults, and her body had a weak and somehow ephemeral appearance, so on the other hand she suffered. Her palace residence was the Kiritsubo. [The Emperor] passed many people, and visited her endlessly, so the fact that the people were seething can indeed be seen as natural. Also in the many occasions when she visited him, there were too many times when here and there on the paths along the crossbridges and bridgeways [people] repeatedly did strange things, and the bottoms of the clothing of the people who accompanied her were intolerably shameful. Also, at certain times, they would lock the doors on a passageway she could not avoid, and this person and that person combined their spirits, and there were many occasions where they caused her distress and she suffered. [The Emperor] looked with even greater pity on her exceptional, horrible distress, and he had the Intimate who had originally served in the Koroden moved elsewhere, and gave it to [Kiritsubo] as an upper residence. That grudge was even more unstoppable.

• 御蔭をば　　　　　御蔭は（新大系）
• 過ぎさせたまひて　過ぎさせ給ひつつ（大系）
• まさなきことも　　まさなきことども（大系）
• 又ある時には　　　又ある時は（大系)

語釈

御蔭をば頼みきこえながら

をば emphasizes the 御蔭 as the only thing Kiritsubo has to rely on. The ながら here is contrastive.

疵を求め

This phrase has its origin in the Chinese classics, but it is also used in Japanese sources (such as 後撰集 1155), so it may have been simply a proverbial expression by this time.

わが身

In the Genji, 我 and 我が more often mean “oneself” or “one’s own” rather than the later first-person use.

なかなか

In CJ this often means 却って (“on the other hand,” “contrary to what was expected”). Oda (『解読』) notes the use of a RT form (なかなかなる) to essentially serve an adverbial role.

もの思ひをぞしたまふ

もの思ひ (worries) を (object particle) ぞ (emphatic) し (RY of す), 給ふ (Honorific)

御局は桐壺なり

This indicates that the woman’s living quarters in the palace are the Kiritsubo (“Paulownia Pavilion”), another name for the 淑景舎しげいしゃ As can be seen from the following picture, this area of the palace was far away from the Emperor’s quarters, the 清涼殿.

過ぎさせたひて

Older commentaries labeled this subject as Kiritsubo, who the Emperor was causing (させ) to visit him. However, modern editions all agree that this is the Emperor visiting Kiritsubo, with させ給ふ representing a double honorific. There has been some doubt as to whether the Emperor visited the women in their quarters rather than the reverse, but this passage seems to be describing both (first the Emperor visiting Kiritsubo, then the other way around)

心を尽くしたまふ

This indicates the “full” use of the spirit; it can be used in positive or negative ways but here it means the women that the Emperor is passing on his way to Kiritsubo are seething with rage.

げにことわりと見えたり

This is the narrator’s judgment of the situation.

参う上りたまふ

The subject here is Kiritsubo, as indicated by the humble 参る verb.

打橋・渡殿

打橋 are (possibly temporary) bridges that connect one building to another, while 渡殿 are more permanent hallways connecting rooms.

あやしきわざ

A わざ is something that is done with thought and planning. Exactly what was done is left vague; one possibility raised by a number of commentaries is that feces and urine were strewn along the corridor. Would people have dared to actually do that within the Imperial Palace? Possibly, but doubt about that may explain the alternate theory offered by 『集成』that it was some sort of trap set to tear holes in the women’s clothing.

まさなき

正無き: exactly what this entails depends on your interpretation of what the あやしきわざ were.

え避らぬ馬道

え + negative verb indicates “cannot”. There is some doubt on exactly what a 馬道 is — it is clearly some kind of hallway or passageway within the palace. But it is not clear whether these are 切馬道 (parts of the passageways that can be removed to allow carriages or horses to pass), or whether 馬道 is simply a word that came to refer to some other type of passage. In this case the important aspect of the term is that Kiritsubo cannot avoid going down these passageways on her visits to the Emperor.

はしたなめわづらはせたまふ

はしたなむ indicates causing discomfort, and わづらはせ (with the causative suffix) causing suffering. Both are being done by other women in the palace (thus the 給ふ honorific).

事にふれて

This phrase means that things happened from time to time.

いとどあはれ

In an earlier passage, the Emperor also found Kiritsubo to be あはれ — here even more so.

後涼殿

As you can see from the image above, the Koroden is right next to the Emperor’s residence. Apparently there was another Intimate living there as her main residence, but the Emperor gives this to Kiritsubo as a secondary place (上局). Old commentaries tell us that there is no precedent for an Intimate to be given a secondary residence in the palace.

その恨み

That is, the grudge of the Intimate who was moved out of the Koroden (this person does not appear elsewhere in the story).

評

After showing the power and rank of the Kokiden Consort, we learn more about exactly what Kiritsubo herself was experiencing. The Emperor continues to try to extend her protection, but this only furthers the hatred of the other women, showing that without the 後ろ見 support, the Emperor alone could not stop the bullying.

『新全集』suggests a parallel with Empress Jingyin, also known as 宋貴人 (see p 435 of 『新全集』, as well as the article on Empress Zhangde). The parallel does not seem to be especially close, but apparently Jingyin was moved to the room closest to the Emperor, like Kiritsubo.