A Chinese robe, and
again a Chinese robe, a
Chinese robe—over
and over, turn it as you
will, a Chinese robe again
- Meaning
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A Chinese robe, and again a Chinese robe, a Chinese robe—over and over, turn it as you will, it is a Chinese robe again.
- Commentary
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Part One: Miyuki
Genji told Tamakazura that an answer must be sent, since the lady would feel slighted; then, thinking better of it, he said that busy as he was he would write it himself. Remarking sourly that no one else would ever think of such attentions and that she might as well spare herself, he wrote this poem, and said that since the phrase was the one she particularly favored he had used it too. When he showed it to Tamakazura she laughed brightly and said, with some distress, that it was too bad of him—it looked like mockery. A great deal of nonsense set down here, the narrator concludes.
Four times in thirty-one syllables the words "Chinese robe" return—hardly a poem at all. It is open mockery of Suetsumuhana, who has worked the phrase into her verses ever since her own chapter. "Kaesugaesu," over and over, plays on turning a robe inside out and so belongs to the same imagery. It is said to draw on an old poem in which, as the day of the Chinese robe turns to evening, one longs again and again for someone. As a piece of teasing it is merciless; and yet he does answer, and does not scorn the gift—which shows at once how hard this lady is to deal with and how his feeling for her has not changed.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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