Of Old Japan
After two or three days, towards evening, he came unexpectedly and made his palanquin draw into the courtyard. As she had not yet seen him in the daylight, he was abashed, he said, but there was no help for it. He went away soon and did not write for so long that anxiety began to fill her heart, so at last she sent:
Wearily the Autumn days drag by—
From him no message—
Boding silence!
Sweet are man's promises, but how different is the heart!
Then he wrote that, though he never forgot her, of late he could not leave the palace.
Though days pass
And others may forget
I can never lose the thought
That meeting in the evening
Of an Autumn day.
The lady was pitiable, having no one to depend on, and tried to sustain herself with the uncertain consolations of a life of sentiment. Reflection increased her wretchedness, and when the eighth month came she went to Ishiyama Temple [1] to revive her doleful spirit intending to remain there for seven days.
One day the Prince said to his page: "It is a long time since I wrote; here is a letter for her." The page replied: "I went to her house the other day and heard that she had lately gone to Ishiyama Temple." "Then
- ↑ Ishiyama Temple is some five miles to the east of Kioto. To reach there one must rise over the ascent of Osaka, and the barrier of Seki at the foot of Mount Seki, where travellers were stopped and examined. The temple commands a fine view of Lake Biwa, still more distant.
