tanzaku[1] inscribed with one of Tadanori's masterpieces which read:
"Deep under weeds in ruin piled,
Shiga's imperial towers decay;
The lake's shores washed by wavelets mild
With saddening murmur, night and day;
But the wild cherry-trees of yore,
That decked the royal pleasance fair,
And witnessed grandeur seen no more,
Still bloom in dazzling beauty rare."
The hero was struck with admiration at the poem. He said to Kikuno-Mayé:
"I have no objection to inserting such an excellent poem in the Senzai-Shū, my young lady. But there is a little matter I must think over before I can give any definite answer. Kindly leave this tanzaku with me. I will send my answer to both of you and Sir Tadanori, before long."
Taira-no-Atsumori was an extremely handsome and refined young nobleman, sixteen years of age. His mother Fuji-no-Kata had been an inmate of the ex-Emperor Go-Shirakawa's harem. While she was in his service, her health had become deli-
- ↑ A tansaku is an artistically prepared strip of moderately heavy paper, about two inches wide and twelve inches long, designed for the inditing of a short poem.
