30
A Wreath of Cloud
was carried on slowly after Murasaki's arrival at Court, during her holidays and in spare time at the Palace, and not completed till, say, 1015 or even 1020. The middle and latter parts certainly give the impression of having been written by some one of comparatively mature age. In 1022 the book was undoubtedly complete, for the Sarashina Diary refers to the 'fifty-odd chapters of The Tale of Genji.' In 1031 Murasaki's name is absent from a list where one might expect to find it, and it is possible that she was then no longer alive.[1]
The Empress Akiko lived on till 1074, reaching an even riper age than Queen Victoria, whom in certain ways she so much resembled.
- ↑ Murasaki was outlived by her father, so that it is improbable that she reached any great age.
