Since it is a sash
that you have gone and drawn off
from me in this way,
I shall lay the blame on you
that the bond is broken now
- Meaning
-
Since this is a sash you have taken off me in such a fashion, I shall lay it to your charge that the bond is broken.
- Commentary
-
Part One: Momiji no Ga
To no Chujo sent this back the moment the sash arrived. In mock reproach he says that it is because Genji took the sash that his connection with the lady is at an end. At the foot of the letter he added that there would be no talking his way out of it. Later in the day both men attended court, went through the business of state with straight faces, and had to hold back their laughter whenever their eyes met.
"Drawn off from me" answers his "have not even picked it up," and "the broken bond" ties to the sash through the shared word for breaking. "Kakotsu," to complain, shares its root with the "kagoto" of the other poem, so the exchange carries its words forward exactly. Neither gives an inch, and beneath it all lies an entirely easy friendship.
- Author
-
Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
-
Genji Monogatari
- Other
-