Of the eggs that came
out of one nest together,
one is nowhere seen—
and in whose hand, I wonder,
is it being held so close?

Meaning

Of the eggs that hatched together in one nest, one is nowhere to be seen; in whose hand, I wonder, is it held so close?

Commentary

Part One: Makibashira

　Finding a great many wild duck eggs, Genji had them dressed up to look like oranges and citrons and sent over, as if it were nothing out of the way. His letter, kept plain lest it draw notice, said that the months of not seeing her had mounted up; that he must complain of a treatment he had not looked for, though he understood it was not of her choosing; and that without some occasion a meeting would be hard, which he regretted—all in a father's manner. With it came this poem, and the words, "and it vexes me that it should be so." The Commander read it too, and laughed: even with a true parent a woman cannot come and go as she pleases, so why should this Chancellor, who is no parent at all, keep up his reproaches? Tamakazura listened, and found him hateful.

　"Kahi" is the poetic word for an egg, and plays on "kai," worth or use: of the eggs hatched in one nest—the girl he raised in his own house—one has gone, and all his care has come to nothing. "Held in the hand" is at once holding an egg and keeping a person to oneself. The gift itself supplies the poem's matter, so that thing and words are one—the last instance of a pattern that runs from the pink of Tokonatsu to the bamboo shoot of Kocho. It is a complaint with something comic in it; and that the Commander should read it openly shows how far past mending this has gone.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Of the eggs that came out of one nest together, one is nowhere seen— and in whose hand, I wonder, is it being held so close?

Of the eggs that came
out of one nest together,
one is nowhere seen—
and in whose hand, I wonder,
is it being held so close?