Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/565

‘It was about the tenth of February, and the face of Nature began to smile with the approach of spring, making the hearts and tempers of people more calm and cheerful; besides, it was just the time when the Court was unoccupied with the keeping of any festival. There could be no better chance than this for such an exhibition of pictures to attract the attention of people enjoying leisure. Genji, therefore, sent his collection of pictures to the Palace in behalf of the lady of the Plum chamber.

‘This soon created a sensation in the Palace. Most of the pictures that were in the possession of the lady of the Plum chamber were from old romances, and the pictures themselves were of ancient date, being rare, while those of Kokiden were more modern subjects and by living artists. Thus each of them had their special merits, so that it became difficult to say which were more excellent. Talking of these pictures became quite a fashionable subject of conversation of the courtiers of the day. The Imperial mother happened to be at Court, and when she saw these pictures and heard different persons at Court discussing their relative merits, she suggested that they should divide themselves into two parties, right and left, and regularly to give their judgment. This was accordingly done: Hei Naishi-no-suke, Jijiu-no-Naishi, and Shioshio-no-Meifu took the left, on the side of the lady of the Plum chamber; while Daini-no-Naishi-no-suke, Chiujio-no-Meifu, and Hioye-no-Meifu took the right, on the side of the Kokiden.

‘The first picture selected was the illustration of the “Bamboo Cutter,” by the left, as it was the most appropriate to come first for the discussion of its merits, as being the parent of romance. To compete with this, that of “Toshikagè,” from “The Hollow Wood,” was selected by the right. The left now stated their case, saying: “The bamboo—indeed, its story too—may be an old and commonly known thing, but the maiden Kakuya, in keeping her purity unsullied in this world, is highly admirable; besides, it was an occurrence that belongs to a pre-historical period. No ordinary woman could ever be equal to her, and so this picture has an excellence.” Thereupon the right argued in opposition to this, saying: “The sky, where the maiden Kakuya has gone away, may indeed be high, but it is beyond human reach, so we may put it aside. When she made her appearance in this world she was, after all, a creature of bamboo; and, indeed, we may consider her even lower than ourselves. It may also be true that she threw a bright radiance over the inside of a cottage, but she never shone in the august society of a palace. Abe-no-oshi’s spending millions of money in order to get the so-called fire-proof rat, which, when obtained, was consumed in the flames in a moment, is simply ridiculous. Prince Kuramochi’s pretended jewel branch was merely a delu-