Fujitsubo was most eager that Akikonomu, the former high priestess of Ise, be received at court. —
藤壶最渴望高岗朝委托前任伊势高女秋子窥蹄于朝。 —

Genji knew that Akikonomu had no strong and reliable backer but, not wanting to alienate the Suzaku emperor, had decided not to bring her to Nijō. Making every effort to appear withdrawn and impartial, he took general responsibility for the proceedings and stood in the place of the girl’s father.
源氏知道秋子并无强有力的支持者，但为了不得罪朱雀帝，决定不将她带到二条。他竭尽全力显得疏离和中立，承担了整个程序的一般责任，并代表姑娘的父亲。

The Suzaku emperor knew of course that it would not do to write to her of his disappointment. —
当然，朱雀帝明白写信表达对她的失望是不妥的。 —

On the day of her presentation at court he sent magnificent robes and other gifts as well, wonderfully wrought cases and vanity chests and incense coffers, and incomparable incenses and sachets, so remarkable that they could be detected even beyond the legendary hundred paces. —
在她在朝廷上献礼的那天，他送了华美的衣袍和其他礼物，还有精美的妆匣和梳妆盒、香盒，以及无与伦比的香料和袋香，特别是那些传说中臭百步的难以置信的。 —

It may have been that the very special attention he gave to his gifts had to do with the fact that Genji would see them.
或许他对礼物特别用心，是因为源氏会看到。

Akikonomu’s lady of honor showed them to Genji. He took up a comb box of the most remarkable workmanship, endlessly fascinating in its detail. —
秋子的侍女把它们给源氏看。他拿起一个工艺精湛、细节无穷的梳子盒，让人着迷。 —

Among the rosettes on the box of decorative combs was a poem in the Suzaku emperor’s own hand:
在梳子盒上的花饰上是一首朱雀帝亲笔的诗：

“I gave you combs and sent you far away.
“我送你梳子使你远去。

The god now sends me far away from you?”
神是否也使我远离你？”

Genji almost felt as if he were guilty of sacrilege and blasphemy. —
源氏几乎觉得自己有亵渎和亵渎之罪。 —

From his own way of letting his emotions run wild, he could imagine Suzaku’s feelings when the priestess had departed for Ise, and his disappointment when, after years of waiting, she had returned to the city and everything had seemed in order, and this new obstacle had intervened. —
从他自己让情感失控的方式来看，他可以想象朱雀的感受，当高女离开去伊势时，以及他等待多年后，她回到城里，一切似乎很顺利，而这个新的障碍插了进来。 —

Would bitterness and resentment mar the serenity of his retirement? —
苦涩和怨恨会破坏他的退隐吗？ —

Genji knew that he himself would have been very much upset indeed. —
源氏知道自己如果是他会非常沮丧。 —

And it was he who had brought Akikonomu to the new emperor at the cost of hurting the retired emperor. —
而正是他以伤害已退位皇帝的代价将秋子带给了新皇帝。 —

There had been a time, of course, when he had felt bitter and angry at Suzaku; —
当然，有时候他也会对朱雀感到痛苦和愤怒。 —

but he had known through it all that his brother was of a gentle, sensitive nature. —
但他深知他的兄弟本质温和敏感。 —

He sat lost in thought.
他陷入沉思。

“And how does she mean to answer? Have there been other letters? What have they said?”
“她打算如何回复？是否有其他信函？他们写了些什么？”

But the lady of honor showed no disposition to let him see them.
但贵夫人并不打算让他看到它们。

Akikonomu was not feeling well and would have preferred not to answer.
秋好所以身体不适，宁愿不回答。

“But you must, my lady.” Genji could hear the discussion through blinds and curtains. —
“但是你必须回答，我夫人。” 源氏透过帘子听到了他们的讨论。 —

“You know that you owe him a little respect.”
“你知道你欠他一点尊敬。”

“They are quite right,” said Genji. “It will not do at all. —
“他们说得对，” 源氏说。“这样不好。 —

You must let him have something, if only a line or two.”
你必须给他点什么，即使只是一两句话。”

Though the inclination not to answer was very strong, Akikonomu remembered her departure for Ise. Gently, softly handsome, the emperor had wept that she must leave. —
尽管不回答的倾向非常强烈，秋好想起了她去伊势的出发。 皇帝坐着，英俊而悲伤，流泪怜惜她必须离开。 —

Though only a child, she had been deeply touched. —
虽然只是一个孩子，她深受感动。 —

And she remembered her dead mother, then and on other occasions. —
她记得自己已故的母亲，当时和其他时候。 —

This (and only this?) was the poem which she nally set down:
这（只有这？）是她最终写下的诗句：

“Long ago, one word you said: Away!
“很久以前，你说过一个字：再见！

Sorry now am I that I paid no heed.”
很抱歉我没有当时留意。”

She rewarded Suzaku’s messenger lavishly. —
她慷慨地奖赏了朱雀的使者。 —

Genji would have liked to see her reply, but could hardly say so. He was genuinely troubled. —
源氏很想看到她的回答，但又很难说出口。他真的很困扰。 —

Suzaku was so handsome a man that one could imagine falling in love with him were he a woman, and Akikonomu was by no means an ill match for him. —
若朱雀是个女人的话，他是如此英俊，让人可以幻想会爱上他，而秋松公主与他也并非不相配。 —

Indeed they would have been a perfect couple. And the present emperor was still a boy. —
事实上他们本来是天作之合。而现在的天子还是个小孩。 —

Genji wondered whether Akikonomu herself might not feel uneasy at so incongruous a match. —
源氏想知道秋松公主本人是否觉得这样的配偶不太合适。 —

But it was too late now to halt the proceedings.
但现在已经来不及停止这一切。

He gave careful instructions to the superintendent of palace repairs. —
他仔细地向宫廷修缮督导下了指示。 —

Not wishing the Suzaku emperor to think that he was managing the girl’s affairs, he paid only a brief courtesy call upon her arrival at court. —
为了不让朱雀天子认为自己在处理女孩的事务，他只简短地在女孩到宫廷时拜访了她。 —

She had always been surrounded by gifted and accomplished women, and now that the ones who had gone home were back with her she had easily the finest retinue at court. —
她一直被才华横溢的女性包围着，在那些已经回家的女性回来后，她在宫廷拥有了最好的侍从。 —

Genji thought of the Rokujō lady, her dead mother. —
源氏想起了六条夫人，她已经去世的母亲。 —

With what feelings of pride would she now be overseeing her daughter’s affairs! —
她现在会怎样自豪地监视着她女儿的事务啊！ —

He would have thought her death a great loss even if he had not loved her. She had had few rivals. —
即使他不爱她，他也会认为她的死是个巨大的损失。她几乎没有敌手。 —

Her tastes had been genuinely superior, and she was much in his thoughts these days.
她的品味真的很高，这些日子她一直在他心中。

Fujitsubo was also at court. The emperor had heard that a fine new lady had arrived, and his eagerness was most charming.
深静帝也在宫廷上。他听说有位出色的新夫人来了，他的渴望是非常迷人的。

“Yes, she is splendid,” said his mother. —
“是的，她很出色，”他的母亲说。 —

“You must be on your best behavior when you meet her.”
“在见到她时，你必须举止得体。”

He feared that a lady of such advanced years might not be easy to talk to. —
他担心一个年纪这么大的女士可能会难以交谈。 —

It was late in the night when she made her appearance. —
她在深夜出现。 —

She was small and delicately molded, and she seemed quiet and very much in control of herself, and in general made a very good impression on the emperor. —
她身材娇小，精致玲珑，看起来沉静自持，对自己非常有掌控力，总体给皇帝留下了很好的印象。 —

His favorite companion was Tō no Chūjō‘s little daughter, who occupied the Kokiden apartments. —
他最喜欢的伴侣是藤壬子的小女儿，她住在后宫的阁殿。 —

The new arrival, so calm and self-possessed, did make him feel on the defensive, and then Genji behaved towards her with such solemnity that the emperor was lured into rather solemn devoirs. —
这位沉静自持的新来者让他感到有些紧张，于是源氏对她表现出一种庄严，皇帝也被引诱进入一种相当庄严的态度。 —

Though he distributed his nights impartially between the two ladies, he preferred the Kokiden apartments for diurnal amusements. —
尽管他公平地在两位女性之间度过了夜晚，但他更喜欢后宫的阁殿在白天的欢娱。 —

Tō no Chūjō had ambitious plans for his daughter and was worried about this new competitor.
藤壬子为女儿打算了雄心勃勃的计划，对这位新竞争者感到担忧。

The Suzaku emperor had difficulty resigning himself to what had happened. —
苏章皇帝很难接受发生的事情。 —

Genji came calling one day and they had a long and affectionate talk. —
有一天源氏前来拜访，他们进行了一次长时间而充满爱意的对话。 —

The Suzaku emperor, who had more than once spoken to Genji of the priestess’s departure for Ise, mentioned it again, though somewhat circum- spectly. —
苏章皇帝曾多次向源氏提及女尼去伊势的事情，尽管有些隐晦。 —

Genji gave no open indication that he knew what had happened, but he did discuss it in a manner which he hoped would elicit further remarks from his brother. —
源氏没有公开表示他知道发生了什么事，但他以一种希望能引出他兄弟更多言论的方式讨论了这件事。 —

It was clear that the Suzaku emperor had not ceased to love the girl, and Genji was very sorry for him indeed. —
显然苏章皇帝仍然爱着那个女孩，源氏对他感到非常遗憾。 —

He knew and regretted that he could not see for himself the beauty which seemed to have such a powerful effect upon everyone who did see it. —
他知道并遗憾自己无法亲眼看到那个貌美如花却令所有看过的人都为之倾倒的女子。 —

Akikonomu permitted not the briefest glimpse. And so of course he was fascinated. —
秋鹿之女绝不让他见上一眼。所以他自然而然地被吸引了。 —

He saw enough to convince him that she must be very near perfection.
他看到足够的证据让他相信她几乎是完美无缺的。

The emperor had two ladies and there was no room for a third. —
皇帝已经有两位贵妃了，再容不下第三位。 —

Prince Hyōbu’s plans for sending his daughter to court had foundered. —
兵部卿派遣女儿进京的计划已经失败。 —

He could only hope that as the emperor grew older he would be in a more receptive mood.
他只能希望随着皇帝年龄的增长，他会变得更加乐于倾听。

The emperor loved art more than anything else. —
皇帝最喜欢的是艺术。 —

He loved to look at paintings and he painted beautifully. —
他喜欢看画，而且自己也画得很漂亮。 —

Akikonomu was also an accomplished artist. —
秋杜小姐也是一位出色的艺术家。 —

He went more and more frequently to her apartments, where the two of them would paint for each other. —
他越来越频繁地去她的宫殿，他们会相互为对方画画。 —

His favorites among the young courtiers were painters and students of painting. —
他最喜欢的年轻宫廷侍从是画家和学生们。 —

It delighted him to watch this new lady, so beautiful and so elegant, casually sketching a scene, now and again pulling back to think the matter over. —
看着这位新来的美丽而优雅的女子，随意地描绘一幅场景，不时地停下来思考，让他欣喜不已。 —

He liked her much better now.
他现在更喜欢她了。

Tō no Chūjō kept himself well informed. —
兵部中将使自己保持着充分了解。 —

A man of affairs who had strong competitive instincts, he was determined not to lose this competition. —
作为一个具有强烈竞争意识的事务型人才，他决心不输掉这场竞争。 —

He assembled master painters and he told them exactly what he wanted, and gave them the best materials to work with. —
他召集了大师级画家，告诉他们他想要的，并提供最好的材料供他们使用。 —

Of the opinion that illustrations for the works of established authors could always be counted on, he chose his favorites and set his painters to illustrating them. —
他认为，为著名作家作品配图总是能够取得好效果，于是他挑选了自己喜爱的作家，让画家们为他们的作品配图。 —

He also commissioned paintings of the seasons and showed considerable flair with the captions. —
他还委托画了描绘四季的画作，并在标题上展现出相当的才华。 —

The emperor liked them all and wanted to share his pleasure with Akikonomu; —
皇帝喜欢所有这些画作，希望与秋纪惠共享自己的快乐； —

but Tō no Chūjō objected. The paintings were not to leave the Kokiden apartments.
但当时的头中将提出了异议。这些画作不得离开谷壬町的住宅。

Genji smiled. “He was that way when he was a boy, and in many ways he still is a boy. —
源氏微笑着说：“他小时候就是那样，很多方面他现在还是个孩子。 —

I do not think it a very deft way to manage His Majesty. —
我认为这并不是管理陛下的一种巧妙方式。 —

I’ll send off my whole collection and let him do with it as he pleases.”
我会寄出我的整个收藏，并让他按照自己的意愿使用。”

All the chests and bookcases at Nijō were ransacked for old paintings and new, and Genji and Murasaki sorted out the ones that best suited current fancies. —
二条的所有柜子和书柜都被搜刮出来，找出了适合当前兴致的那些画作。 —

There were interesting and moving pictures of those sad Chinese ladies Yang Kuei-fei and Wang Chao-chü —
这里有许多关于那些悲伤的中国女人杨贵妃和王昭君的有趣而动人的画作。 —

n. Genji feared, however, that the subjects were inauspicious.
不过源氏担心，这些主题可能不吉利。

Thinking this a good occasion to show them to Murasaki, he took out the sketchbooks and journals of his exile. —
想着这是一个展示给紫的好机会，他拿出了自己流放时的素描本和日记。 —

Any moderately sensitive lady would have found tears coming to her eyes. —
任何稍有感情的女子都会不禁流泪。 —

For Murasaki those days had been unrelieved pain, not easily forgotten. —
对于紫来说，那些日子是无尽的痛苦，不容易忘记。 —

Why, she asked, had he not let her see them before?
她问，为什么以前他没有让她看到这些？

“Better to see these strands where the fishermen dwell
“宁可看着渔家傍晚何处，也不愿远去独自哭泣。

Than far away to weep, all, all alone.
朝哭暮哀，不如和你同泣。”

“I think the uncertainty might have been less cruel.”
“我觉得那种不确定性可能会更少残酷。”

It was true.
这是真的。

“Now more than in those painful days I weep
“如今比那些痛苦的日子更令我哭泣

As tracings of them bring them back to me.”
当它们的痕迹把它们带回到我面前。”

He must let Fujitsubo see them. Choosing the more presentable scrolls, the ones in which life upon those shores came forward most vividly, he could almost feel that he was back at Akashi once more.
他必须让藤壶看到它们。挑选出那些更为整洁的卷轴，其中那些沿着海岸的生活最为生动，他几乎感到自己又回到了明石。

Hearing of Genji’s activities, Tō no Chūjō redoubled his own efforts. —
听到源氏的动态，等闲中将军加倍努力。 —

He quite outdid himself with all the accessories, spindles and mountings and cords and the like. —
他在各种配件上下了功夫，包括轴和装裱和绳索之类。 —

It was now the middle of the Third Month, a time of soft, delicious air, when everyone somehow seemed happy and at peace. —
此刻是三月中旬，这是一个空气温馨宜人的时节，每个人似乎都很快乐安宁。 —

It was also a quiet time at court, when people had leisure for these avocations. —
这也是朝廷里的一个宁静时刻，人们有时间享受这些娱乐。 —

Tō no Chūjō saw a chance to bring the young emperor to new raptures. —
等闲中将军看到了让年轻皇帝新鲜感受的机会。 —

He would offer his collection for the royal review.
他要为皇室的点评献上他的收藏品。

Both in the Kokiden apartments and in Akikonomu’s Plum Pavilion there were paintings in endless variety. —
在九条和秋子居的梅亭里有各种各样的绘画。 —

Illustrations for old romances seemed to interest both painter and viewer. —
为古老的爱情故事配插图似乎引起了画家和观者的兴趣。 —

Akikonomu rather preferred secure and established classics, while the Kokiden girl chose the romances that were the rage of the day. —
秋子居更倾向于固定和传统的经典，而九条女则选择当今流行的爱情故事。 —

To the casual observer it might have seemed perhaps that her collection was the brighter and the more stylish. —
对于匆匆一瞥的人来说，也许看起来九条女的收藏更加明亮和时尚。 —

Connoisseurs among the court ladies had made the appraisal of art their principal work.
宫廷女士中的行家已经把鉴赏艺术作为他们的主要工作。

Fujitsubo was among them. She had had no trouble giving up most pleasures, but a fondness for art had refused to be shaken off. —
藤壶也是其中之一。她很容易放弃大多数娱乐，但对艺术的喜爱却无法摆脱。 —

Listening to the aesthetic debates, she hit upon an idea: —
听着审美之争，她得到了一个主意： —

the ladies must divide into two sides.
女士们必须分成两派。

On the left was the Plum Pavilion or Akikonomu faction, led by Heinaishinosuke, Jijū no Naishi, and Shōshō no Myōbu; —
左派是梅宫阿忌小夫人的派系，由平内少将、侍中侍、少将命令等领导； —

and in the right or Kokiden faction, Daini no Naishinosuke, Chūjō no Myōbu, and Hyōe no Myōbu. —
右派是淳内少将、中将命令、兵衛命令的派系。 —

Fujitsubo listened with great interest as each gave forth with her opinions.
藤壶很感兴趣地听着她们每个人的意见。

The first match was between an illustration for The Bamboo Cutter, the ancestor of all romances, and a scene centering upon Toshikage from The Tale of the Hollow Tree.
第一场比赛是关于《竹取物语》插图和围绕《空中都市记》的年景的一场较量。

From the left came this view: “The story has been with us for a very long time, as familiar as the bamboo growing before us, joint upon joint. —
左派声称：“这个故事已经和我们在一起很长时间了，像我们面前生长的竹子一样，关节相连。 —

There is not much in it that is likely to take us by surprise. —
在这个故事里没有太多能让我们感到惊讶的地方。 —

Yet the moon princess did avoid sullying herself with the affairs of this world, and her proud fate took her back to the far heavens; —
然而，月亮公主确实避免了沾染俗世琐事，她骄傲的命运将她带回了远处的天堂； —

and so perhaps we must accept something august and godly in it, far beyond the reach of silly, superficial women.”
也许我们必须接受其中某种崇高而神圣的东西，远超越愚蠢肤浅的女性所能理解的范围。”

And this from the right: “It may be as you say, that she returned to a realm beyond our sight and so beyond our understanding. —
右派说道：“也许如你所说，她回到了我们看不见、因此无法理解的领域。 —

But this too must be said: that in our world she lived in a stalk of bamboo, which fact suggests rather dubious lineage. —
但也必须说：在我们的世界里，她曾居于一株竹子之中，这一事实似乎暗示了她可疑的血统。 —

She exuded a radiance, we are told, which flooded her stepfather’s house with light; —
我们听说她四处散发着辉煌，将继父之家照亮； —

but what is that to the light which suffuses these many-fenced halls and pavilions? —
然而，这光芒洒满这些围栏和亭台，对于它来说又算得了什么呢？ —

Lord Abe threw away a thousand pieces of gold and another thousand in a desperate at mpt to purchase the fire rat’s skin, and in an instant it was up in flames — a rather disappointing conclusion. —
安倍公废弃了一千金币，又在绝望之际又拿出了另外一千金币来试图购买火鼠的皮毛，但它却在瞬间燃烧了 — 这个结局实在是令人失望。 —

Nor is it very edifying, really, that Prince Kuramochi, who should have known how well informed the princess was in these matters, should have forged a jeweled branch and so made of himself a forgery too.”
实在没有什么有教育意义的，当公王出动王子胧充耳不闻，知道公主在这些事情上是多么得心应手，却还是伪造了一枝宝石树，如同伪造了自己一样。

The Bamboo Cutter illustration, by Kose no Omi with a caption by Ki no Tsurayuki, was mounted on cerise and had a spindle of sandalwood — rather uninteresring, ill in all.
竹取草图由巨勢无蔵制，有着木乃伊橡树的题外话 — 总的来说，这幅画并不令人感兴趣。

“Now let us look at the other. Toshikage was battered by tempests and waves and swept off to foreign parts, but he finally came home, whence his musical activities sent his fame back across the waters and down through the centuries. —
“现在让我们来看看另一个故事。年影被风暴和海浪袭击，并被冲到了异国他乡，但最终他回到了家里，他的音乐活动向他的名声传遍了海外，并通过世纪.” —

This painting successfully blends the Chinese and the Japanese and the new and the old, and I say that it is without rival.”
这幅画成功地融合了中式和日式，新旧之间，我说它是无与伦比的。”

On stiff white paper with a blue mounting and a spindle of yellow jade, it was the work of Tsunenori and bore a caption by Michikaze. —
这幅画是由常宁制作的，用蓝色的背景和黄色翡翠镶边，题字是由道字。 —

The effect was dazzlingly modern. The left had to admit defeat.
效果令人眼花缭乱地现代化。左方不得不承认失败。

The Tales of Ise was pitted against The Tale of Jōsammi. No decision was forthcoming. —
伊势物语与《浄三味》相比。没有仲裁结果。 —

The picture offered by the right was again a bright, lively painting of contemporary life with much, including details of the palace itself, to recommend it.
右方提供的画作再次是一幅明亮、生动描绘当代生活的画作，包括宫殿本身的细节，这些都很值得推荐。

“Shall we forget how deep is the sea of Ise
“我们是否应该忘记伊势的海洋有多么深

Because the waves have washed away old tracks?”
因为浪涛冲走了旧的痕迹？”

It was Heinaishinosuke, pleading the cause of the left, though without great fire or eloquence. —
是平准亲助诉左边的事业，虽然缺乏激情或雄辩。 —

“Are the grand accomplishments of Lord Narihira to be dwarfed by a little love story done with a certain cleverness and plausibility?”
“难道成就卓绝的楚山霞之同伴只会被一段有点灵动和可信性的爱情故事所掩盖吗？”

“To this Jōsammi, high above august clouds,
“到这位高高在上的浄三味，超越了尊贵的云层，

The thousand-fathomed sea seems very shallow.”
千尋の海はとても浅いように思えます。

It was Daini, speaking for the right.
ダイニは正義を代弁していました。

Fujitsubo offered an opinion. “However one may admire the proud spirit of Lady Hyōe, one certainly would not wish to malign Lord Narihira.
藤壺が意見を述べました。「兵衛の貴方由来の高慢な精神も尊敬できますが、なんとしても成衣節の責めを望む者ではありません。

“At first the strands of sea grass may seem old,
最初は海草の繊維も年をとったように見えますが、

But the fisherfolk of Ise are with us yet.”
でも伊勢の漁師はまだ私たちと一緒です。

And so poem answered poem in an endless feminine dispute. —
そして詩が女性同士の果てしない論争で詩に答えていった。 —

The younger and less practiced women hung upon the debate as if for their very lives; —
若く未熟な女性たちは、その論争に命の次いでもののように興味を持っていた。 —

but security precautions had been elaborate, and they were permitted to see only the smallest part of the riches.
しかし、警備は厳重であり、彼らには富のほんの一部しか見せられなかった。

Genji stopped by and was much diverted. If it was all the same, he said, why not make the final judgments in the emperor’s presence? —
源氏は立ち寄ってとても楽しんだ。それであれば、彼は言った、なぜ最終判定を天皇の前で行わないのでしょうか? —

He had had a royal inspection in mind from the start, and so had taken very great pains with his selections, which included a scroll of his own Suma and of his Akashi paintings. —
彼は最初から皇帝の査定を意識しており、そのために彼の選択には非常な努力を払った。それには彼自身の須磨と明石の絵も含まれていた。 —

Nor was Tō no Chūjō to be given low marks for effort. —
藤壺が努力を評価されるべきではありません。 —

The thief business at court these days had become the collecting of evocative paintings.
最近の宮廷での盗人の仕事は感動的な絵画の収集になっていた。

“I think it spoils the fun to have them painted specially,” said Genji. “I think we should limit ourselves to the ones we have had all along.”
「特別に描かれた絵で楽しむのはつまらないと思います」と源氏は言った。「私たちは以前から持っていたものに限定すべきだと思います。」

He was of course referring to Tō no Chūjō and his secret studio.
彼はもちろん藤壺と彼の秘密のスタジオを指していました。

The Suzaku emperor heard of the stir and gave Akikonomu paintings of his own, among them representations of court festivals for which the emperor Daigo had done the captions; —
朱雀帝はその騒ぎを聞き、彬子のために自分の絵画を提供した。その中には醍醐帝がキャプションをつけた宮中祭礼を描いたものも含まれていた。 —

and on a scroll depicting events from his own reign was the scene, for him unforgettable, of Akikonomu’s departure for Ise. He himself had carefully gone over the sketches, and the finished painting, by Kose no Kimmochi, quite lived up to his hopes. —
他亲自仔细审阅了这些草图，并由小狭山君通胤所绘的成品画作，并对其满怀期待。 —

It was in a box, completely modern, of pierced aloeswood with rosettes that quietly enhanced its beauty. —
它装在一个完全现代的盒子里，用透雕沉香木制成，上面点缀着静静地增添了其美感的玫瑰花。 —

He sent a verbal message through a guards captain on special assignment to Suzaku, setting down only this verse, beside a painting of the solemn arrival at the Grand Hall:
他通过一名所派专职卫队队长向朱雀派送了一句口头信息，只在庄严抵达大殿的画作旁写下了这首诗。

“Though now I dwell beyond the sacred confines,
“虽今志身在圣境外，

My heart is there committing you to the gods.”
衷心祝福祭我神明。”

It required an answer. Bending a corner of one of the sacred combs, she tied a poem to it and wrapped it in azure Chinese paper:
这需要一个回应。她在一把神圣的梳子的一角藏了一首诗，用蓝绿色的纸包好。

“Within these sacred precincts all has changed.
“圣地内外已变迁，

Fondly I think of the days when I served the gods.”
念念往日事奉神灵。”

She rewarded the messenger very elegantly.
她对使者奖赏得非常体面。

The Suzaku emperor was deeply moved and longed to return to his days on the throne. —
朱雀皇帝深感动，渴望重返王位之日。 —

He was annoyed at Genji, and perhaps was now having a gentle sort of revenge. —
他对源氏很生气，也许正在温和地报复。 —

It would seem that he sent large numbers of pictures through his mother to the Kokiden lady. —
似乎他通过母亲向小君一直送去大量画作。 —

Oborozukiyo, another fancier of painting, had also put together a distinguished collection.
俳句卤莽也精于收藏名画。

The day was appointed. The careful casualness of all the details would have done justice to far more leisurely preparations. —
日期已定。所有细节的慎重随意性都足以应对更多从容的准备。 —

The royal seat was put out in the ladies’ withdrawing rooms, and the ladies were ranged to the north and south. —
皇家座位摆在女官房，众女们在南北两侧排列。 —

The seats of the courtiers faced them on the west. —
朝臣的座位朝向他们的西面。 —

The paintings of the left were in boxes of red sandalwood on sappanwood stands with flaring legs. —
左边的画作放在红檀木盒子上，盒子放在有倒钩腿的赭色木架上。 —

Purple Chinese brocades were spread under the stands, which were covered with delicate lavender Chinese embroidery. —
紫色的中国绫罗摊在木架下面，木架上覆盖着精致的淡紫色中国刺绣。 —

Six little girls sat behind them, their robes of red and their jackets of white lined with red, from under which peeped red and lavender. —
六个小女孩坐在他们的后面，她们的长袍是红色的，上衣是白色的，里衬是红色和淡紫色。 —

As for the right or Kokiden side, the boxes were of heavy aloes and the stands of lighter aloes. —
至于右边或者是宫廷的那一边，盒子是重沉的沉香木，木架是轻盈的沉香木。 —

Green Korean brocades covered the stands, and the streamers and the flaring legs were all in the latest style. —
绿色的朝鲜绫罗遮盖着木架，流苏和倒钩腿都是最新的样式。 —

The little page girls wore green robes and over them white jackets with green linings, and their singlets were of a grayish green lined with yellow. —
小宫女们穿着绿色的长袍，外面套着白色的夹克，夹克里面有绿色的衬里，贴身衣是灰绿色的，里面有黄色的衬里。 —

Most solemnly they lined up their treasures. —
他们庄严地摆列着自己的宝物。 —

The emperor’s own women were in the uniforms of the two sides.
皇帝的女官们穿着两边的制服。

Genji and Tō no Chūjō were present, upon royal invitation. —
源氏和当贵则乘举办，应皇家邀请。 —

Prince Hotaru, a man of taste and cultivation and especially a connoisseur of painting, had taken an inconspicuous place among the courtiers. —
秋灯亲王，一个品位高雅、博学多才，尤其是绘画鉴赏专家，悄悄地坐在臣子之中。 —

Perhaps Genji had suggested inviting him. It was the emperor’s wish that he act as umpire. —
或许是源氏建议邀请他。皇帝希望他担任裁判。 —

He found it almost impossible to hand down decisions. —
他觉得很难下定论。 —

Old masters had painted cycles of the four seasons with uncommon power, fluency, and grace, and a rather wonderful sense of unity; —
老师傅用非凡的力量、流畅和优雅绘制了四季循环的作品，还有一种奇妙的统一感； —

but they sometimes seemed to run out of space, so that the observer was left to imagine the grandeur of nature for himself. —
但有时似乎在篇幅上有所不足，于是观者只能自行想象大自然的壮丽。 —

Some of the more superficial pictures of our own day, their telling points in the dexterity and ingenuity of the strokes and in a certain impressionism, did not seem markedly their inferior, and sometimes indeed seemed ahead of them in brightness and good spirits. —
在我们这个时代，一些更为表面的画作，它们在笔法的灵巧和独创性上有着显著的特点，以及一种印象主义，似乎并不明显地逊色于它们，有时甚至在明亮和愉快的精神上领先它们。 —

Several interesting points were made in favor of both.
关于这两者，都有几点有趣的观点支持。

The doors to the breakfast suite, north of the ladies’ withdrawing rooms, had been slid open so that Fujitsubo might observe the proceedings. —
早餐厅的门北侧是女伴们的休息室，它们已经被打开，以便藤壶能观看活动。 —

Having long admired her taste in painting, Genji was hoping that she might be persuaded to give her views. —
一直欣赏她在绘画方面的品味，源氏希望她能被说服发表意见。 —

When, though infrequently, he was not entirely satisfied with something Prince Hotaru said and offered an opinion of his own, he had a way of sweeping everything before him.
偶尔，当帝碧不完全满意某些事情并提出自己的看法时，他总是有一种能横扫一切的方式。

Evening came, and still Prince Hotaru had not reached a final decision. —
傍晚来临了，但帝碧仍未做出最后决定。 —

As its very last offering Akikonomu’s side brought out a scroll depicting life at Suma. Tō no Chūjō was startled. —
最后，彬子一方拿出了一幅描绘住在住吸膜的生活画卷。等闲太郎感到吃惊。 —

Knowing that the final inning had come, the Kokiden faction too brought out a very remarkable scroll, but there was no describing the sure delicacy with which Genji had quietly set down the moods of those years. —
知道最后一局即将到来，己方庆显出色地拿出了一幅卓越的画卷，但没人能形容源氏如何静静地记录那些年的心情。 —

The assembly, Prince Hotaru and the rest, fell silent, trying to hold back tears. —
大家庆显和其他人都安静下来，试图忍住眼泪。 —

They had pitied him and thought of themselves as suffering with him; —
他们曾可怜他，以为自己与他同受其苦； —

and now they saw how it had really been. —
现在他们看到了真相。 —

They had before their eyes the bleakness of those nameless strands and inlets. —
他们眼前出现了那些无名海滩和小海湾的荒凉景象。 —

Here and there, not so much open description as poetic impressions, were captions in cursive Chinese and Japanese. —
有时很少有开放的描述，更多是诗意印象，有中文和日语草书体的标题。 —

There was no point now in turning to the painting offered by the right. —
现在没有转向右侧提供的绘画的意义了。 —

The Suma scroll had blocked everything else from view. —
住吸膜的画卷挡住了一切。 —

The triumph of the left was complete.
左派的胜利是完全的。

Dawn approached and Genji was vaguely melancholy. —
黎明来临，源氏感到隐隐的忧郁。 —

As the wine flagons went the rounds he fell into reminiscence.
随着酒坛传递，他开始回忆往事。

“I worked very hard at my Chinese studies when I was a boy, so hard that Father seemed to fear I might become a scholar. —
“小时候我非常努力地学习汉语，甚至让父亲担心我可能会成为一名学者。 —

He thought it might be because scholarship seldom attracts wide acclaim, he said, that he had rarely seen it succeed in combining happiness with long life. —
他说，他很少见到学者在融合幸福和长寿时取得成功，可能是因为学者们很少受到广泛的赞誉。 —

In any event, he thought it rather pointless in my case, because people would notice me whether I knew anything or not. —
不管怎样，他认为这在我这种情况下有点无聊，因为无论我懂得什么都会受到人们的关注。 —

He himself undertook to tutor me in pursuits not related to the classics. —
他自己承担起了教导我非古典学科的责任。 —

I don’t suppose I would have been called remarkably inept in any of them, but I did not really excel in any of them either. —
我想我在这些学科中并不是特别笨拙，但也并没有真正擅长任何一项。 —

But there was painting. I was the merest dabbler, and yet there were times when I felt a strange urge to do something really good. —
但有绘画。我只是个涂涂抹抹的人，但有时我会有一种奇怪的冲动，想做一些真正出色的事情。 —

Then came my years in the provinces and leisure to examine that remarkable seacoast. —
然后是我在各省的岁月，有时间去仔细研究那个令人惊叹的海岸线。 —

All that was wanting was the power to express what I saw and felt, and that is why I have kept my inadequate efforts from you until now. —
我所缺的只是表达我所看到和感受到的东西的能力，这就是为什么我一直没有让你看到我不足的努力。 —

I wonder,” he said, turning to Prince Hotaru, “if my presuming to bring them out might set some sort of precedent for impertinence and conceit.”
“我在想，”他转向火虫王子说，“我带出来这些作品是否会被视为一种冒犯和自负的先例。”

“It is true of every art,” said the prince, “that real mastery requires concentrated effort, and it is true too that in every art worth mastering (though of course that word ‘mastering’ contains all manner of degrees and stages) the evidences of effort are apparent in the results. —
“每一种艺术都是如此，”王子说，“真正的精湛需要集中努力，同样，在每一种值得精益求精的艺术中（尽管‘精益求精’这个词包含了各种程度和阶段），努力的痕迹都会在结果中显现。 —

There are two mysterious exceptions, painting and the game of Go, in which natural ability seems to be the only thing that really counts. —
有两种神秘的例外，绘画和围棋，其中自然的能力似乎是唯一重要的事情。 —

Modest ability can of course be put to modest use. —
适度的能力当然可以用适度地方式来利用。 —

A rather ordinary person who has neither worked nor studied so very hard can paint a decent picture or play a decent game of Go. Sometimes the best families will suddenly produce someone who seems to do everything well. —
即使一个普通的人并没有努力工作或学习，也能画一幅不错的画或下一盘不错的围棋。有时最好的家族会突然出现一个似乎什么都做得很好的人。 —

” He was now speaking to Genji. “Father was tutor for all of us, but I thought he took himself seriously only when you were his pupil. —
“他现在正在和源氏说话。父亲教导我们所有人，但我觉得他只在你是他的学生时才认真对待。” —

There was poetry, of course, and there was music, the flute and the koto. —
当然也有诗歌，还有音乐，笛子和箏。 —

Painting seemed less study than play, something you let your brush have its way with when poetry had worn you out. —
画画似乎不需要太用心学习，就像是一种游戏，当诗歌让你疲惫的时候，你就让笔触随心所欲。 —

And now see the results. See all of our professionals running off and hiding their faces.”
看看结果吧。看看我们所有的专家都跑去躲藏吧。

The prince may have been in his cups. In any event, the thought of the old emperor brought a new flood of tears.
王子可能已经喝多了。不管怎样，一想到老皇帝，泪水又涌了出来。

A quarter moon having risen, the western sky was silver. —
月牙升起，西天是银白色的。 —

Musical instruments were ordered from the royal collection. Tō no Chūjō chose a Japanese koto. —
从皇家收藏中调来了乐器。等选了一把日本箏。 —

Genji was generally thought the finest musician in court, but Tō no Chūjō was well above the ordinary. —
源氏普遍被认为是宫廷最优秀的音乐家，但等是高出寻常的。 —

Genji chose a Chinese koto, as did Prince Hotaru, and Shōshō no Myōbu took up a lute Courtiers with a good sense of rhythm were set to marking time, and all in all it was a very good concert indeed. —
源氏选了一把中国箏，螢王子也是，而菖蒲之命妙部则拿起一把琵琶。具有良好节奏感的朝臣们被设定为打拍子，总的来说，这是一场非常好的音乐会。 —

Faces and flowers emerged dimly in the morning twilight, and birds were singing in a clear sky. —
在晨曦中，脸和花朵隐隐浮现，鸟儿在晴朗的天空中歌唱。 —

Gifts were brought from Fujitsubo’s apartments. —
从藤壶的住所送来礼物。 —

The emperor himself bestowed a robe on Prince Hotaru.
皇帝亲自赐给螢王子一件袍服。

Examination and criticism of Genji’s journals had become the main business of the court. —
题为源氏日记的审查和批评已成为宫廷的主要业务。 —

He asked that his paintings of the seacoast be given to Fujitsubo. —
他请求将他对海岸的画赠送给藤壶。 —

She longed to see what went before and came after, but he said only that he would in due course show her everything. —
她渴望看到前后发生的事情，但他只是说他会按时向她展示一切。 —

The pleasure which he had given the emperor was pleasure for Genji himself. —
给皇帝带来的快乐也是源于源氏自身的快乐。 —

It worried Tō no Chūjō that Genji should so favor Akikonomu. Was her triumph to be complete? —
源氏如此偏心秋好三令东宫中将感到担忧。她的胜利会是完全的吗？ —

He comforted himself with the thought that the emperor would not have forgotten his own early partiality for the Kokiden girl. —
他安慰自己，认为皇帝不会忘记自己早年对九条女孩的偏爱。 —

Surely she would not be cast aside.
她一定不会被抛弃。

Genji had a strong sense of history and wanted this to be one of the ages when things begin. —
源氏有浓厚的历史感，希望这是一个开始的时代。 —

Very great care therefore went into all the fetes and observances. —
所有的节日和仪式都经过了非常慎重的筹备。 —

It was an exciting time.
这是令人兴奋的时刻。

But he was also obsessed with evanescence. —
但他也无法摆脱对消逝的执念。 —

He was determined to withdraw from public affairs when the emperor was a little older. —
他决定在皇帝稍大一点的时候退出公共事务。 —

Every precedent told him that men who rise to rank and power beyond their years cannot expect long lives. —
每一个先例告诉他，超越年龄而升迁到权力之中的人不能指望拥有长寿。 —

Now, in this benign reign, perhaps by way of compensation for the years of sorrow and disgrace, Genji had an abun- dance, indeed a plethora, of rank and honor. —
现在，在这个仁慈的时代里，或许为了弥补多年的悲伤和耻辱，源氏拥有了丰富的爵位和荣耀。 —

Further glory could only bring uncertainty. —
更多的荣耀只会带来不确定性。 —

He wanted to withdraw quietly and make preparations for the next life, and so add to his years in this one. —
他希望悄悄地退出并为下一世做准备，以此延长今生的岁月。 —

He had purchased a quiet tract off in a mountain village and was putting up a chapel and collecting images and scriptures. —
他在一个山村购买了一个宁静的土地，正在建造一座小教堂并收集佛像和经典。 —

But first he must see that no mistake was made in educating his children. —
但是他必须首先确保在教育孩子方面没有错误。 —

So it was that his intentions remained in some doubt.
因此，他的意图还存在一些疑问。