This egg of the wild
duck, hidden away in the nest
and of no account—
who would take such a thing and
hide it anywhere at all?
- Meaning
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This egg of no account, hidden away in the nest—who would take such a thing and hide it anywhere?
- Commentary
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Part One: Makibashira
When Tamakazura said she could not bring herself to answer, the Commander offered to do it for her, and wrote this—to her great discomfort. He added that he was alarmed to find Genji out of humor, and that his own reply was perhaps too gallant. Genji read it and laughed: he had never before heard this man attempt anything of the sort, and it was a novelty. Inwardly, though, he found it very hard that she should be kept so entirely to another.
"Hidden in the nest" is staying out of sight. "Kari no ko" is a wild duck's egg, playing on "kari no ko," a child in name only—a foster child. "Of no account" is a term of self-deprecation. He answers Genji's "in whose hand is it held?" head on: no one is hiding her—while the retort underneath is that it was Genji who kept her hidden all those years. That so plain a man should manage the egg imagery and even a pivot word is unexpected, and that is why Genji laughed. But the exchange was won by the man who actually has her, and under the laughter lies Genji's bitterness.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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