THE GENJI MONOGATARI
Chapter I
THE CHAMBER OF KIRI
In the reign of a certain Emperor, whose name is unknown to us, there was, among the Niogo and Kôyi[1] of the Imperial Court, one who, though she was not of high birth, enjoyed the full tide of royal favor. Hence her superiors, each one of whom had always been thinking—"I shall be the one," gazed upon her disdainfully with malignant eyes, and her equals and inferiors were more indignant still.
Such being the state of affairs, the anxiety which she had to endure was great and constant, and this was probably the reason why her health was at last so much affected that she was often compelled to absent herself from Court, and to retire to the residence of her mother.
Her father, who was a Dainagon,[2] was dead; but her mother, being a woman of good sense, gave her every possible guidance in the due performance of Court ceremony, so that in this respect she seemed but little different from those whose fathers and mothers were still alive to bring them before public notice, yet, nevertheless, her friendlessness made her oftentimes feel very diffident from the want of any patron of influence.
These circumstances, however, only tended to make the favor shown to her by the Emperor wax warmer and warmer, and it was ever shown to such an extent as to become a warning to after-generations. There had been instances in China in which favoritism such as this had caused national disturbances and disaster; and thus the matter became a subject of public animadversion, and it seemed not improbable that
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