I remember one interesting and affecting incident from that reign [of Emperor Murakami]. A plum tree in front of the Seiryōden had died, and His Majesty was looking for a replacement. He entrusted the matter to a certain gentleman who was serving as a Chamberlain at the time. “Young people can't recognize a good tree,” the Chamberlain said to me. “You find one for us.” After walking all over the capital without success, I located a beautiful specimen, covered with deep red blossoms, at a house in the western sector. As I was digging it up, the owner sent someone out with a message. “Attach this to it before you carry it away·“ I supposed there was some reason behind it, so I took the paper along. The Emperor saw it and said, “What's that?” It was a poem in a woman's hand:
Choku nareba | I tremble and obey |
Ito mo kashikoshi | The Imperial command— |
Uguisu no | Yet how shall I answer |
Yado wa to towaba | If the warbler, asks, |
Ikaga kotaen. | “Where is my home?” |
Somewhat taken aback, the Emperor had inquiries made about the owner, and she turned out to be Tsurayuki's daughter.
－ The Great Mirror (大鏡 Ōkagami)
Chapter 6 “Tales of the Past” (昔物語 Mukashi monogatari)
Translated by Helen Craig McCullough in Ōkagami, The Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027) and His Times.
Notes, by author of the blog
- Emperor Murakami (村上天皇 Murakami tennō; 924–967), reigned from 946 to 967. It was during his reign that the Tentoku yo’nen dairi uta-awase (Poetry Matches at the Inner Palace in Tentoku 4) of 960 took place.
- Seiryōden 清涼殿 was Emperor's Residence within the imperial palace.
- “Tsurayuki’s daughter” refers to poetess known by sobriquet Ki no Naishi 紀内侍 (dates uncertain). She was daughter of Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (866?–945?; Hyakunin Isshu 35), one of the compilers of Kokinshū 古今集 (Collection of Early and Modern Japanese Poetry; 905). Her sobriquet translates as “Handmaid Ki” or “Handmaid from the Ki family”. Because of the incident with the plum tree, she is also sometimes referred to as Kōbai no Naishi 紅梅の内侍 (Handmaid of Red Plum Blossoms).