Kojijū‘s answer was not unreasonable, and yet it seemed rather brusque. —
Kojijū的答复并不算不合理，但似乎有点唐突。 —

Was there to be nothing more? Might he not hope for some word from the princess herself? —
那里难道什么都没有吗？他难道不能希望从公主那里听到一句话吗？ —

He seemed in danger of doing grave disservice to Genji, whom he so liked and admired.
他似乎在危害到他非常喜欢并崇拜的源氏。

On the last day of the Third Month there was a large gathering at the Rokujō mansion. —
三月最后一天，鹿苑寺府上聚集了一大批人。 —

Kashiwagi did not want to attend, but presently decided that he might feel a little less gloomy under the blossoms where the Third Princess lived. —
柏木本不想去，但最终决定在第三王女的住处花前下，他可能会感到稍微不那么忧郁。 —

There was to have been an archery meet in the Second Month, but it had been canceled, and in the Third Month the court was in retreat. —
本应在二月举行射箭比赛，但被取消了，而在三月皇室正在退坐。 —

Everyone was always delighted to hear that something was happening at Rokujō. —
每当听说鹿苑寺府有什么活动，大家总是非常高兴。 —

The two generals, Higekuro and Yūgiri, were of course present, both of them being very close to the Rokujō house, and all their subordinates were to be present as well. —
两位将军檜黑和弓桐当然也在场，他们都与鹿苑寺府关系密切，所有部属也会到场。 —

It had been announced as a competition at kneeling archery, but events in standing archery were also included, so that several masters of the sport who were to be among the competitors might show their skills. —
这次活动被宣布为跪箭比赛，但也包括了站立射箭活动，这样一来，几位将会参加比赛的运动大师能够展示他们的技艺。 —

The bowmen were assigned by lot to the fore and after sides. —
弓手们通过抽签分配到前后两侧。 —

Evening came, and the last of the spring mists seemed somehow to resent it. —
傍晚来临，春雾的最后一缕似乎对此不胜唏嘘。 —

A pleasant breeze made the guests even more reluctant to leave the shade of the blossoms. —
一阵轻风使客人们更不愿离开花荫。 —

It may have been that a few of them had had too much to drink.
也许有一些人已经喝得有点多了。

“Very fine prizes,” said someone. “They show so nicely the tastes of the ladies who chose them. And who really wants to see a soldier battering a willow branch with a hundred arrows in a row? —
“非常丰厚的奖品，”有人说，“它们很好地展示了那些选择它们的女士们的品味。谁真的想看到一个士兵用一百支箭连续击打柳条呢？ —

We much prefer a mannerly meet of the sort we are here being treated to.”
我们更喜欢这种我们这里所享受的有礼貌的比赛。”

The two generals, Higekuro and Yūgiri, joined the other officers in the archery court. —
两位将军檜黑和幽斋加入其他官员在箭场中。 —

Kashiwagi seemed very thoughtful as he took up his bow. Yūgiri noticed and was worried. —
柏木看起来很思索，拿起他的弓。 幽斋注意到了并感到担忧。 —

He could not, he feared, tell himself that the matter did not concern him. —
他担心自己不能告诉自己这件事与他无关。 —

He and Kashiwagi were close friends, alive to each other’s moods as friends seldom are. —
他和柏木是亲密的朋友，对彼此的情绪极为敏感，如同朋友很少能做到的。 —

One of them knew immediately when the smallest shadow had crossed the other’s spirits.
他们两人之中，一个会立刻意识到当对方的精神受到最轻微阴影。

Kashiwagi was afraid to look at Genji. He knew that he was thinking forbidden thoughts. —
柏木害怕看源氏。 他知道自己在想着禁忌的念头。 —

He was always concerned to behave with complete correctness and much worried about appearances. —
他总是很注重以完全正确的方式行事，并对外表非常担忧。 —

What then was he to make of so monstrous a thing as this? —
那么这样一件怪诞的事，他该怎么办？ —

He thought of the princess’s cat and suddenly longed to have it for himself. —
他想起了公主的猫，忽然渴望拥有它为己。 —

He could not share his unhappiness with it, perhaps, but he might be less lonely The thought became an obsession. —
也许他无法与它分享自己的不幸，但或许可以减少孤独。 这个念头变成了一种困扰。 —

Perhaps he could steal it — but that would not be easy
也许他可以偷走它 — 但这不会容易。

He visited his sister at court, hoping that she would help him forget his woes. —
他去朝廷拜访他的姐姐，希望她帮助他忘却烦恼。 —

She was an extremely prudent lady who allowed him no glimpse of her. —
她是一个非常谨慎的女士，不让他看到她的一丝一毫。 —

It did seem odd that his own sister should be so careful to keep up the barriers when the Third Princess had let him see her; —
他的妹妹如此小心地保持界限似乎很奇怪，尤其是三公主让他看到她； —

but his feelings did not permit him to charge her with loose conduct.
但他的感受让他无法指责她有放荡的行为。

He next called on the crown prince, the Third Princess’s brother. —
接着他拜访了王储，也就是第三位公主的哥哥。 —

There must, he was sure, be a family resemblance. —
他确定会有家族的相似之处。 —

No one could have called the crown prince devastatingly handsome, but such eminence does bestow a certain air and bearing. —
没有人会把王储称作毁灭性帅气，但这样的高贵地位确实赋予了一种特殊的气质和举止。 —

The royal cat had had a large litter of kittens, which had been put out here and there. —
皇家的猫生了一窝小猫，分散放养在各处。 —

One of them, a very pretty little creature, was scampering about the crown prince’s rooms. —
其中一个非常漂亮的小动物在王储的房间里蹦蹦跳跳。 —

Kashiwagi was of course reminded of the Rokujō cat.
柏木当然想起了六条的猫。

“The Third Princess has a really fine cat. —
“第三位公主真有一只好猫。 —

You would have to go a very long way to find its rival. —
你得走很远才找得到它的对手。 —

I only had the briefest glimpse, but it made a deep impression on me.”
我只看了一眼，但给我留下了深刻印象。”

Very fond of cats, the crown prince asked for all the details. —
王储非常喜欢猫，通过明石公主打听了所有细节。 —

Kashiwagi perhaps made the Rokujō cat seem more desirable than it was.
柏木也许让六条的猫看起来比实际更令人向往。

“It is a Chinese cat, and Chinese cats are different. —
“它是中国猫，中国猫不同。 —

All cats have very much the same disposition, I suppose, but it does seem a little more affectionate than most. —
所有猫大概有着相似的脾气，但这只看起来比大多数更亲人。 —

A perfectly charming little thing.”
一个非常可爱的小家伙。”

The crown prince made overtures through the Akashi princess and presently the cat was delivered. —
王储通过明石公主传递了示好之意，很快这只猫就被送来了。 —

Everyone was agreed that it was a very superior cat. —
大家都一致认为这是一只非常优秀的猫。 —

Guessing that the crown prince meant to keep it, Kashiwagi waited a few days and paid a visit. —
猜测皇太子想要留下这只猫，柏木等了几天并前去拜访。 —

He had been a favorite of the Suzaku emperor’s and now he was close to the crown prince, to whom he gave lessons on the koto and other instruments.
他曾是苏璋皇帝的宠臣，现在与皇太子关系密切，还给皇太子教授箏等乐器的课程。

“Such numbers of cats as you do seem to have. Where is my own special favorite?”
“你们家养了这么多猫。我的那只心爱的猫在哪里？”

The Chinese cat was apprehended and brought in. He took it in his arms.
那只中国猫被捉住并带了进来。他抱起了这只猫。

“Yes, it is a handsome beast,” said the crown prince, “but it does not seem terribly friendly. —
“是的，它是一只漂亮的动物，”皇太子说，“但它好像不太友好。 —

Maybe it is not used to us. Do you really think it so superior to our own cats?”
或许它还不习惯我们。你真的觉得它比我们自家的猫优越吗？”

“Cats do not on the whole distinguish among people, though perhaps the more intelligent ones do have the beginnings of a rational faculty. —
“猫通常不会区分人，尽管也许更聪明的猫确实具备一定程度的理性。 —

But just look at them all, such swarms of cats and all of them such fine ones. —
但你看这些猫，这么多猫，而且都是那么优秀。 —

Might I have the loan of it for a few days?”
我可以借用它几天吗？”

He was afraid that he was being rather silly. But he had his cat. —
他担心自己有些傻。但他有了自己的猫。 —

He kept it with him at night, and in the morning would see to its toilet and pet it and feed it. —
他晚上与它在一起，早上帮它梳洗、抚摸和喂食。 —

Once the initial shyness had passed it proved to be a most affectionate animal. —
一旦初期的害羞过去，它证明是一只非常亲人的动物。 —

He loved its way of sporting with the hem of his robe or entwining itself around a leg. —
他喜欢它玩弄他长袍的下摆或盘旋在他的腿上的方式。 —

Sometimes when he was sitting at the veranda lost in thought it would come up and speak to him.
有时当他坐在阳台上陷入沉思时，它会走过来和他交谈。

“What an insistent little beast you are.” He smiled and stroked its back. —
“你真是一个执着的小家伙。”他微笑着，抚摸着它的背。 —

“You are here to remind me of someone I long for, and what is it you long for yourself? —
“你在这里提醒我那个我思念的人，那么你自己又在追寻着什么呢？ —

We must have been together in an earlier life, you and I.”
“你我在前世一定有过交集。”

He looked into its eyes and it returned the gaze and mewed more emphatically. Taking it in his arms, he resumed his sad thoughts.
他凝视着它的眼睛，它也回以更加强烈的呼喊声。把它抱起来后，他继续沉思。

“Now why should a cat all of a sudden dominate his life? —
“现在为什么一只猫突然占据了他的生活？” —

” said one of the women. “He never paid much attention to cats before.”
“他以前从来不怎么关注猫，”其中一位女士说。

The crown prince asked to have the cat back, but in vain. —
太子要求把猫还给他，但没有成功。 —

It had become Kashiwagi’s constant and principal companion.
猫已经成为柏木的忠实伴侣。

Tamakazura still felt closer to Yūgiri than to her brothers and sisters. —
玉藻觉得自己与弓切比与自己的兄弟姐妹更亲近。 —

She was a sensitive and affectionate lady and when he came calling she received him without formality. —
她是一个敏感和亲切的女士，每次他来访，她都毫无拘束地接待。 —

He particularly enjoyed her company because his sister, the crown princess, rather put him off. —
他特别喜欢和她在一起，因为他的妹妹，太子妃，有点让他感到不舒服。 —

Higekuro was devoted to his new wife and no longer saw his old wife, Prince Hyōbu’s daughter. —
烏库黑把心全给了他的新妻子，再也不见他的旧妻子，凤壁长公主的女儿。 —

Since Tamakazura had no daughters, he would have liked to bring Makibashira into the house, but Prince Hyōbu would not hear of it. —
由于玉藻没有女儿，他想把巻柱带进家里，但凤壁长公主却不答应。 —

Makibashira at least must not become a laughingstock. —
巻柱至少也不该成为笑柄。 —

Prince Hyōbu was a highly respected man, one of the emperor’s nearest advisers, and no request of his was refused. —
凤壁长公主是一位备受尊敬的人，是皇帝身边的重要顾问之一，他的任何请求都不会被拒绝。 —

A vigorous man with lively modern tastes, he stood so high in the general esteem that he was only less in demand than Genji and Tō no Chūjō. —
一个精力充沛、具有活泼现代品味的男子，在整体尊重中享有很高的声望，只比源氏和藤壽更不受欢迎。 —

It was commonly thought that Higekuro would be equally important one day. —
一般认为檜黑以后也会变得同样重要。 —

People were of course much interested in his daughter, who had many suitors. —
人们当然对他的女儿很感兴趣，她有很多追求者。 —

The choice among them would be Prince Hyōbu’s to make. —
在他们中间的选择将由兵部卿来决定。 —

He was interested in Kashiwagi and thought it a pity that Kashiwagi should be less interested in Makibashira than in his cat. —
他对柏木很感兴趣，认为柏木对柱天不如对他的猫感兴趣是一件遗憾。 —

She was a bright, modern sort of girl. Because her mother was still very much at odds with the world, she turned more and more to Tamakazura, her stepmother.
她是一个聪明、现代化的女孩。因为她的母亲仍然与世隔绝，她越来越依赖于玉葛，她的继母。

Prince Hotaru was still single. The ladies he had so energetically courted had gone elsewhere. —
螢亲王仍然是单身。他曾那样积极追求的女士们早已他处。 —

He had lost interest in romantic affairs and did not want to invite further ridicule. —
他对浪漫的事情失去了兴趣，不想再招致更多的嘲笑。 —

Yet bachelorhood was too much of a luxury. —
然而单身生活太奢侈了。 —

He let it be known that he was not uninterested in Makibashira.
他让人们知道他对柱天并不无兴趣。

“I think he would do nicely,” said Prince Hyōbu. —
“我认为他会很适合，”兵部卿说。 —

“People generally say that the next-best thing after sending a daughter to court is finding a prince for her. —
“人们通常说送女儿去宫廷之后最好的事情是为她找到一位王子。 —

I think it rather common and vulgar, the rush these days to marry daughters off to mediocrities who have chiefly their seriousness to recommend them. —
我认为这种急于把女儿嫁给主要靠他们的认真来推荐的平庸之人的现象相当普遍和庸俗。 —

” He accepted Prince Hotaru’s proposal without further ado.
”他毫不迟疑地接受了螢亲王的提议。

Prince Hotaru was somewhat disappointed. He had expected more of a challenge. —
螢亲王有些失望。他原以为会有更多挑战。 —

Makibashira was not a lady to be spurned, however, and it was much too late to withdraw his proposal. —
麻柱并非一个可以轻易拒绝的女性，然而，现在撤回求婚的提议已经为时已晚。 —

He visited her and was received with great ceremony by Prince Hyōbu’s household.
他去拜访她，受到了贵宅平傍家的隆重接待。

“I have many daughters,” said Prince Hyōbu, “and they have caused me nothing but trouble. —
“我有很多女儿，”平傍国子说道，“她们给我带来的只有麻烦。 —

You might think that by now I would have had enough. —
你可能会认为现在我已经受够了。 —

But Makibashira at least I must do something for. Her mother is very odd and only gets odder. —
但至少我必须为麻柱做些什么。她的母亲非常古怪，而且越来越古怪。 —

Her father has not been allowed to manage her affairs and seems to want no part of them. —
她的父亲没有被允许管理她的事务，似乎也不想参与其中。 —

It is all very sad for her.”
这对她来说都是非常悲哀的事情。”

He supervised the decorations and went to altogether more trouble than most princes would have thought necessary.
他监督布置，并为此付出了比大多数王子认为必要的更多努力。

Prince Hotaru had not ceased to grieve for his dead wife. —
凤明王一直为他已故妻子悲伤不已。 —

He had hoped for a new wife who looked exactly like her. —
他希望有一个新妻子看起来与她一模一样。 —

Makibashira was not unattractive, but she did not resemble the other lady. —
麻柱并不丑，但她与那位女士并不相似。 —

Perhaps it was because of disappointment that he so seldom visited her.
也许正是因为失望，所以他很少去探望她。

Prince Hyōbu was surprised and unhappy. In her lucid moments, the girl’s mother could see what was happening, and sigh over their sad fate, hers and her daughter’s. —
平傍天人感到惊讶和不快。在女孩母亲头脑清醒时，她能看到正在发生的一切，为她们的悲惨命运叹息。 —

Higekuro, who had been opposed to the match from the outset, was of course very displeased. —
从一开始就反对这场婚事的檀黑郎，当然感到非常不满。 —

It was as he had feared and half expected. —
这正是他担心和预料到的。 —

Prince Hotaru had long been known for a certain looseness and inconstancy. —
以名声颇差的光烛王子一贯松懈散漫。 —

Now that she had evidence so near at hand, Tamakazura looked back to her maiden days with a mixture of sadness and amusement, and wondered what sort of troubles Genji and Tō no Chūjō would now be facing if she had accepted Hotaru’s suit. —
如今有证据在近处，玉葬凝视着回忆少女时代，心中充满了悲伤和好笑，想象着如果当初接受了光烛的求婚，源氏和藤壬将会面临什么样的麻烦。 —

Not that she had had much intention of doing so. —
不过她当时并没有真心打算接受。 —

She had seemed to encourage him only because of his very considerable ardor, and it much shamed her to think that she might have seemed even a little eager. —
她似乎只是因为光烛的热情才有些鼓励他，回想起来感到很羞愧，觉得自己可能显得有点急迫。 —

And now her stepdaughter was his wife. What sort of things would he be telling her? —
而如今她的继女成了他的妻子。他会对她说些什么呢？ —

But she did what she could for the girl, whose brothers were in attendance on her as if nothing had gone wrong.
但她尽力帮助这位姑娘，她的兄弟们像什么事都没有发生一样侍奉她。

Prince Hotaru for his part had no intention of abandoning her, and he did not at all like what her sharp-tongued grandmother was saying.
光烛王子毫不打算放弃她，也不喜欢她尖刻的祖母说的话。

“One marries a daughter to a prince in the expectation that he will give her his undivided attention. —
“将女儿嫁给王子，就是希望他会全心全意地关心她。 —

What else is there to make up for the fact that he does not amount to much?”
除此之外，还有什么可以弥补他不太起眼的个性呢？”

“This seems a bit extreme,” said Prince Hotaru, missing his first wife more than ever. —
“这似乎有点过分，”光烛王子说，比以往任何时候都更思念他的第一任妻子。 —

“I loved her dearly, and yet I permitted myself an occasional flirtation on the side, and I do not remember that I ever had to listen to this sort of thing.”
“我深爱着她，但偶尔会在一边打情骂俏，我不记得有人会对我说这种话。”

He withdrew more and more to the seclusion of his own house, where he lived with memories.
他越来越多地退隐自己的住所，与回忆为伴。

A year passed, and two years. Makibashira was reconciled to her new life. —
一年过去了，又是两年。牧柱已经适应了新生活。 —

It was the marriage she had made for herself, and she did not complain.
这是她自愿选择的婚姻，她没有怨言。

And more years went by, on the whole uneventfully. The reign was now in its eighteenth year.
年复一年，总体上平静无事。现在是在位的第十八年。

The emperor had no sons. He had long wanted to abdicate and had not kept the wish a secret. —
皇帝没有儿子。他早就想退位，也没有隐瞒这个愿望。 —

“A man never knows how many years he has ahead of him. —
“人永远不知道自己还有多少年可活。” —

I would like to live my own life, see the people I want to see and do what I want to do.”
我想过上自己的生活，见我想见的人，做我想做的事。

After some days of a rather painful indisposition he suddenly abdicated. —
几天来，他一直感到相当不舒服，突然退位了。 —

It was a great Pity, everyone said, that he should have taken the step while he was still in the prime of life; —
大家都说，他在壮年时就采取这一步骤真是令人惋惜； —

but the crown prince was now a grown man and affairs of state passed smoothly into his hands.
但是皇太子如今已经是成年人，国家事务顺利转移到了他手中。

Tō no Chūjō submitted his resignation as chancellor and withdrew to the privacy of his own house. —
都中将辞去了总管之职，退居到自己的家中。 —

“Nothing in this world lasts forever,” he said, “and when so wise an emperor retires no one need have any regrets at seeing an old graybeard turn in his badge and keys.”
“这个世界上没有什么是永恒不变的，所以当一位如此明智的皇帝退位时，没有人会感到遗憾看着一位老头子交出徽章和钥匙。”

Higekuro became Minister of the Right, in effective charge of the government. —
桧黑成为了右大臣，实际掌握政府大权。 —

His sister would now be the empress-mother if she had lived long enough. —
如果她活得够长的话，现在她的妹儿将成为太皇太后。 —

She had not been named empress and she had been over-shadowed by certain of her rivals. —
她并未被封为皇后，并且被某些竞争对手遮掩。 —

The eldest son of the Akashi princess was named crown prince. —
明石公主的长子被命名为皇太子。 —

The designation was cause for great rejoicing, though no one was much surprised. —
这一任命是值得庆祝的，虽然没有人感到很惊讶。 —

Yūgiri was named a councillor of the first order. —
弓切被任命为一等官，他和新任大臣是最亲密的同事、最好的朋友。 —

He and the new minister were the closest of colleagues and the best of friends.
他和新任大臣是最亲密的同事、最好的朋友。

Genji lamented in secret that the abdicated emperor, who now moved into the Reizei Palace, had no sons. —
源氏私下悲叹道，逊位的皇帝如今搬进了礼仪院，却没有儿子。 —

Genji’s worries had passed and his great sin had gone undetected, and he stood in the same relationship to the crown prince as he would have stood to a Reizei son. —
源氏的担忧已经过去，他的大罪没有被发觉，他与太子的关系与若是礼仪儿子一样。 —

Yet he would have been happier if the succession had gone through the Reizei emperor. —
然而，如果继承权交给了礼仪皇帝，他会更加快乐。 —

These regrets were of course private. He shared them with no one.
这些遗憾当然是私人之事。他没有与任何人分享。

The Akashi princess had several children and was without rivals for the emperor’s affection. —
明石公主有几个孩子，并且没有其他对手争夺皇帝的宠爱。 —

There was a certain dissatisfaction abroad that yet another Genji lady seemed likely to be named empress.
一些人对又有一位源氏的女子可能被封为皇后感到不满。

Akikonomu was more grateful to Genji as the years went by, for she knew that without him she would have been nothing. —
阿吉小姐随着年岁的增长对源氏更加感激，因为她知道没有他她就什么都不是。 —

It was now much easier for the Reizei emperor to see Genji, and he was far happier than when he had occupied the throne.
对于让源氏来说，现在礼仪皇帝更容易见到他，他比担任天子时更加快乐。

The new emperor was most solicitous of the Third Princess, his sister. —
新皇帝非常关心他的妹妹，第三皇女。 —

Genji paid her due honor, but his love was reserved for Murasaki, in whom he could see no flaw. —
源氏对她表示应有的尊敬，但他的爱却是留给了紫的，他在她身上找不到任何瑕疵。 —

It was an ideally happy marriage, closer and fonder as the years went by.
这是一段理想中幸福的婚姻，随着时间的推移变得更加亲密和慈爱。

Yet Murasaki had been asking most earnestly that he let her become a nun. —
然而，随着年岁增长，紫却越发急切要求他让她出家。 —

“My life is a succession of trivialities. —
“我的生活是一连串无足轻重的琐事。 —

I long to be done with them and turn to things that really matter. —
我渴望结束这一切，投入到真正重要的事情中去。 —

I am old enough to know what life should be about. —
我已经到了知道生活应该追求的阶段。” —

Do please let me have my way.”
请让我按照我的方式行事。

“I would not have thought you heartless enough to suggest such a thing. —
“我真没想到你会那么无情地提出这样的建议。 —

For years now I have longed to do just that, but I have held back because I have hated to think what the change would mean to you. —
多年来，我一直渴望做这件事，但我一直抑制自己，因为我不忍心想象这种改变会对你意味着什么。 —

Do try to imagine how things would be for you if I were to have my way.”
试着想象一下，如果我按照我的方式行事，对你来说会是什么样子。

The Akashi princess was fonder of Murasaki than of her real mother, but the latter did not complain. —
赤壁的公主更喜欢紫的陪伴，而不是她的亲生母亲，但后者从不抱怨。 —

She was an undemanding woman and she knew that her future would be peaceful and secure in quiet service to her daughter. —
她是一个不挑剔的女人，她知道自己的未来将在安静地侍奉女儿中过上平静而安稳的生活。 —

The old Akashi nun needed no encouragement to weep new tears of joy. —
老赤壁尼无需鼓励就泪如雨下，这是新的幸福泪水。 —

Red from pleasant weeping, her eyes proclaimed that a long life could be a happy one.
红红的因为愉快的哭泣，她的眼睛宣告着长寿也可以是幸福的。

The time had come, thought Genji, to thank the god of Sumiyoshi. —
源氏心想，是时候感谢住在住吉神了。 —

The Akashi princess too had been contemplating a pilgrimage. —
赤壁的公主也一直在考虑进行一次朝拜。 —

Genji opened the box that had come those years before from Akashi. —
源氏打开了多年前从赤壁寄来的盒子。 —

It was stuffed with very grand vows indeed. —
里面塞满了非常宏伟的愿望。 —

Towards the prosperity of the old monk’s line the god was to be entertained every spring and autumn with music and dancing. —
为了老和尚一脉的繁荣，每年春秋都要用音乐和舞蹈招待神明。 —

Only someone with Genji’s resources could have seen to fulfilling them all. —
只有源氏这样的资源才能兑现所有承诺。 —

They were written in a flowing hand which told of great talent and earnest study, and the style was so strong and bold that the gods native and foreign must certainly have taken notice. —
这些字迹流畅，显示出很大的天赋和认真的研究，风格坚定大胆到位，本地和外来的神明肯定都会注意到。 —

But how could a rustic hermit have been so imaginative? —
但一个淳朴的隐士怎么能如此富有想象力呢？ —

Genji was filled with admiration, even while thinking that the old man had somewhat over-reached himself. —
源氏充满了钦佩之情，尽管他觉得这位老人有些自不量力。 —

Perhaps a saint from a higher world had been fated to descend for a time to this one. —
或许一个来自更高世界的圣人注定要在这个世界停留一段时间。 —

He could not find it in him to laugh at the old man.
他无法忍住笑老人一顿。

The vows were not made public. The pilgrimage was announced as Genji’s own. —
这些誓言并未公之于众。朝觐被宣布为源氏的私事。 —

He had already fulfilled his vows from those unsettled days on the seacoast, but the glory of the years since had not caused him to forget divine blessings. —
他早已完成了那些在海滨无定日子里的誓约，但这些年来的荣耀并未让他忘记神圣的庇佑。 —

This time he would take Murasaki with him. —
这次他打算带着紫去。 —

He was determined that the arrangements be as simple as possible and that no one be inconvenienced. —
他决定安排尽可能简单，让没有人感到不方便。 —

There were limits, however, to the simplicity permitted one of his rank, and in the end it proved to be a very grand progress. —
然而，高贵身份限制了他所能追求的简朴，最终这次巡游变得非常盛大。 —

All the high-ranking courtiers save only the ministers were in attendance. —
所有高官大员都在场，只有大臣们不在。 —

Guards officers of fine appearance and generally uniform height were selected for the dance troupe. —
选取了身形匀称、形象优美的护卫官兵组成了舞蹈团。 —

Among those who did not qualify were some who thought themselves very badly used. —
有些人觉得自己被很不公平地对待了。 —

The most skilled of the musicians for the special Kamo and Iwashimizu festivals were invited to join the orchestra. —
最擅长于资浪和岩清神社祭典音乐的音乐家们被邀请加入乐队。 —

There were two famed performers from among the guards musicians as well, and there was a large troupe of Kagura dancers. —
这次还有两位护卫团音乐家中的著名表演者，还有一大批神乐舞者。 —

The emperor, the crown prince, and the Reizei emperor all sent aides to be in special attendance on Genji. The horses of the grandees were caparisoned in infinite variety and all the grooms and footmen and pages and miscellaneous functionaries were in livery more splendid than anyone could remember.
皇帝、太子和冷泉帝都派出幕僚专程侍候源氏。大臣们的马都穿着各式装饰，所有的马夫、仆役、小随员和其他杂工都穿着比过去任何时候都豪华的制服。

The Akashi princess and Murasaki rode in the same carriage. —
明石公主和紫都坐在同一辆马车里。 —

The next carriage was assigned to the Akashi lady, and her mother was quietly shown to the place beside her. —
随后的马车分配给了明石女士，她的母亲被安静地安排在她身旁。 —

With them was the nurse of the Akashi days. —
在他们身边是明石日子的护士。 —

The retinues were very grand, five carriages each for Murasaki and the Akashi princess and three for the Akashi lady.
随行人员非常庞大，紫的马车有五辆，明石公主有五辆，明石女士有三辆。

“If your mother is to come with us,” said Genji, “then it must be with full honors. —
“如果您母亲要和我们一起前往，”源氏说，“那么必须要全副装备。 —

We shall see to smoothing her wrinkles.”
我们会帮她消除皱纹。”

“Are you quite sure you should be showing yourself on such a public occasion? —
“您确定自己应该在这样公开的场合露面吗？ —

” the lady asked her mother. “Perhaps when the very last of our prayers has been answered.”
“女士问她的母亲。“也许是当我们的每一个祈祷都得到了回应的时候。”

But they could not be sure how long she would live, and she did so want to see everything. —
但他们无法确定她会活多久，她非常希望看到一切。 —

One might have said that she was the happiest of them all, the one most favored by fortune. —
有人可能会说她是他们所有人中最幸福、最受幸运眷顾的人。 —

For her the joy was complete.
对她来说，这种喜悦是完整的。

It was late in the Tenth Month. The vines on the shrine fence were red and there were red leaves beneath the pine trees as well, so that the services of the wind were not needed to tell of the advent of autumn. —
现在是十月下旬。神社篱笆上的葡萄藤是红色的，松树下也有红叶，所以风声告知秋天的到来并不需要什么仪式。 —

The familiar eastern music seemed friendlier than the more subtle Chinese and Korean music. —
熟悉的东方音乐似乎比更微妙的中国和韩国音乐更友好。 —

Against the sea winds and waves, flutes joined the breeze through the high pines of the famous grove with a grandeur that could only belong to Sumiyoshi. —
在远离海风和巨浪之地，长笛和蛤蜊树高松合奏的宏伟气势无疑只属于住吉。 —

The quiet clapping that went with the koto was more moving than the solemn beat of the drums. —
伴随箏的轻拍比庄严的鼓点更具感染力。 —

The bamboo of the flutes had been stained to a deeper green, to blend with the green of the pines. —
长笛的竹子染成深绿色，以与松树的绿色融为一体。 —

The ingeniously fabricated flowers in all the caps seemed to make a single carpet with the flowers of the autumn fields.
所有帽子上那些巧妙制作的花似乎与秋天田野的花构成一幅地毯。

“The One I Seek” came to an end and the young courtiers of the higher ranks all pulled their robes down over their shoulders as they descended into the courtyard, and suddenly a dark field seemed to burst into a bloom of pink and lavender. —
“我寻求之人”结束了，高阶朝廷侍从们将长袍拉到肩膀上下到庭院，突然间一片黑暗的领土似乎开出了粉紫色的花朵。 —

The crimson sleeves beneath, moistened very slightly by a passing shower, made it seem for a moment that the pine groves had become a grove of maples and that autumn leaves were showering down. —
稍微被一个短暂的阵雨打湿的深红袍袖使得眼前的松林仿佛成了一片枫树林，秋叶纷纷扬扬。 —

Great reeds that had bleached to a pure white swayed over the dancing figures, and the waves of white seemed to linger on when the brief dance was over and they had returned to their places.
变得雪白的高大芦苇在跳舞的人群上方摆动，一波波的白色似乎在短暂的舞蹈结束后仍然挥之不去，而他们又回到原地。

For Genji, the memory of his time of troubles was so vivid that it might have been yesterday. —
对于源氏来说，过去的艰难时期的记忆如此生动，以至于就好像就发生在昨天一样。 —

He wished that Tō no Chūjō had come with him. —
他希望当时的藤原中将能跟他一起来。 —

There was no one else with whom he could exchange memories. —
他没有其他人可以交换记忆。 —

Going inside, he took out a bit of paper and quietly got off a note to the old nun in the second carriage.
进去后，他拿出一张纸悄悄地给第二节车厢里的老尼姑写了张便条。

“You and I remember — and who else?
“只有你和我记得 — 还有谁呢？

Only we can address these godly pines.”
只有我们能够赞美这些神圣的松树。”

Remembering that day, the old lady was in tears. That day: —
老太太想起那一天，热泪盈眶。那天： —

Genji had said goodbye to the lady who was carrying his daughter, and they had thought that they would not see him again. —
源氏告别抱着他女儿的女士，他们以为再也见不到他了。 —

And the old lady had lived for this day of splendor! —
老太太盼望这一天辉煌的到来！ —

She wished that her husband could be here to share it, but would not have wanted to suggest that anything was lacking.
她希望她的丈夫能够在这里与她分享，但不会想要暗示有何不足。

“The aged fisherwife knows as not before
“老渔妇以前未曾知

That Sumiyoshi is a place of joy.”
观世音神是欢喜园。”

It was a quick and spontaneous answer, for it would not do on such an occasion to seem sluggish. —
这是一个快速而自发的回答，因为在这样的场合显得迟钝是不合适的。 —

And this was the poem that formed in her heart:
这是她心中涌现的诗歌：

“It is a day I never shall forget.
“这是一天我永远不会忘记。

This god of Sumiyoshi brings me joy.”
观世音神给予我快乐。”

The music went on through the night. A third-quarter moon shone clear above and the sea lay calm below; —
音乐持续了整夜。三分之一的月亮在上空清晰闪烁，海面则平静无波。 —

and in a heavy frost the pine groves too were white. It was a weirdly, coldly beautiful scene. —
松林也被白霜覆盖。这是一幅古怪、寒冷而美丽的景象。 —

Though Murasaki was of course familiar enough with the music and dance of the several seasons, she rarely left the house and she had never before been so far from the city. —
紫上真熟悉各季节的音乐和舞蹈，但她很少离开家，从未离开过城市。 —

Everything was new and exciting.
一切都是新奇和令人兴奋的。

“So white these pines with frost in the dead of night.
“在深夜里，这些松树被霜覆盖得如此白。

Bedecked with sacred strands by the god himself?”
神灵亲自用神圣的线条装饰？

She thought of Takamura musing upon the possibility that the great white expanse of Mount Hira had been hung out with sacred mulberry strands. —
她想起了高松考虑过的可能性，即比良山的广大白色区域是否挂满了神圣的桑树线。 —

Was the frost a sign that the god had acknowledged their presence and accepted their offerings?
霜是否是神明承认他们的存在并接受他们的供品的标志？

This was the princess’s poem:
这是公主的诗：

“Deep in the night the frost has added strands
“深夜里霜凝结成线，

To the sacred branches with which we make obeisance.”
神圣的枝条前施礼。”

And Nakatsukasa’s:
而中勅的诗句：

“So white the frost, one takes it for sacred strands
“霜白如丝被视为圣物，

And sees in it a sign of the holy blessing.”
神圣的祝福映现其中。”

There were countless others, but what purpose would be served by setting them all down? —
还有无数其他诗句，但是否有必要一一记录呢？ —

Each courtier thinks on such occasions that he has outdone all his rivals — but is it so? —
每位侍臣都以为在这种场合中他胜过了所有对手——但真的是这样吗？ —

One poem celebrating the thousand years of the pine is very much like another.
一首赞颂松树千年的诗和另一首如出一辙。

There were traces of dawn and the frost was heavier. —
天色已显出黎明，霜更为浓厚。 —

The Kagura musicians had had such a good time that response was coming before challenge. —
神乐音乐家玩得很开心，应答超过挑战。 —

They were perhaps even funnier than they thought they were. —
他们或许比自己想象的还要有趣。 —

The fires in the shrine courtyard were burning low. —
神庙庭院的火已经燃尽。 —

“A thousand years” came the Kagura refrain, and “Ten thousand years,” and the sacred branches waved to summon limitless prosperity for Genji’s house. —
“千年”传来神乐的叠句，再加上“万年”，神圣的枝条摇动着为源氏家带来无限繁荣。 —

And so a night which they longed to stretch into ten thousand nights came to an end. —
于是他们渴望将这一夜延伸成一万夜的夜晚终于结束了。 —

It seemed a pity to all the young men that the waves must now fall back towards home. —
所有年轻人都觉得很遗憾，浪潮现在必须朝着家的方向退去。 —

All along the line of carriages curtains fluttered in the breeze and the sleeves beneath were like a flowered tapestry spread against the evergreen pines. —
沿着车厢的一排，窗帘在微风中飘荡，下面的袖子犹如花朵般的挂毯铺在常青的松树上。 —

There were numberless colors for the stations and tastes of all the ladies. —
车站处有无数种颜色和所有女士的口味。 —

The footmen who set out refreshments on all the elegant stands were fascinated and dazzled. —
所有摆放精美点心的御者都被迷惑和眼花缭乱。 —

For the old nun there was ascetic fare on a tray of light aloeswood spread with olive drab. —
对于老尼姑来说，浓淡适中的食物摆在一张点缀着橄榄绿色的轻檀木托盘上。 —

People were heard to whisper that she had been born under happy stars indeed.
人们听到有人低声议论说，她的出生确实很幸运。

The progress to Sumiyoshi had been laden with offerings, but the return trip could be leisurely and meandering. —
前往住吉的旅途充满了供品，但回程可以慢慢绕道。 —

It would be very tiresome to recount all the details. —
要详细叙述所有细节会非常枯燥乏味。 —

Only the fact that the old Akashi monk was far away detracted from the pleasure. —
唯一让人不愉快的是老明石僧人离得很远。 —

He had braved great difficulties and everyone admired him, but it is probable that he would have felt sadly out of place. —
他克服了重重困难，所有人都钦佩他，但很可能他会感到很不舒服。 —

His name had become synonymous with high ambitions, and his wife’s with good fortune. —
他的名字已经成为高尚抱负的代名词，而他的妻子则代表着好运。 —

It was she whom the Omi lady called upon for good luck in her gaming. “Akashi nun! —
大津的女士在游戏中都会拜托她带来好运。“明石尼姑！ —

” she would squeal as she shook her dice. “Akashi nun!”
”她喊着摇晃着骰子。“明石尼姑！”

The Suzaku emperor had given himself up most admirably to the religious vocation. —
苏洲皇帝非常出色地专注于宗教事业。 —

He had dismissed public affairs and gossip from his life, and it was only when the emperor, his son, came visiting in the spring and autumn that memories of the old days returned. —
他不再琐事纷扰，除了春秋季皇子来访时才会回忆起旧日的往事。 —

Yet he did still think of his third daughter. —
然而他仍然在想念他的第三个女儿。 —

Genji had taken charge of her affairs, but the Suzaku emperor had asked his son to help with the more intimate details. —
源氏已经开始处理她的事务，但是朱雀天皇却请求他的儿子帮忙处理更私密的事情。 —

The emperor had named her a Princess of the Second Rank and increased her emoluments accordingly, and so life was for her ever more cheerful.
天皇封她为二品公主，相应增加了她的俸禄，她的生活也因此变得更加愉快。

Murasaki looked about her and saw how everyone seemed to be moving ahead, and asked herself whether she would always have a monopoly on Genji’s affections. —
紫上看着四周，看到所有人似乎都在向前进，她心里想着自己是否会一直独占源氏的宠爱。 —

No, she would grow old and he would weary of her. —
不，她会变老，而他会厌倦她。 —

She wanted to anticipate the inevitable by leaving the world. —
她想要提前离开这个世界，预料到必然的结局。 —

She kept these thoughts to herself, not wanting to nag or seem insistent. —
她把这些想法都留在心里，不想显得唠叨或坚持。 —

She did not resent the fact that Genji divided his time evenly between her and the Third Princess. —
她并没有因为源氏把时间均匀分配给她和第三皇女而抱怨。 —

The emperor himself worried about his sister and would have been upset by any suggestion that she was being neglected. —
天皇自己也担心他的妹妹，如果有人提到她被忽视了，他会很不高兴。 —

Yet Murasaki could not help thinking that her worst fears were coming true. —
然而紫还是忍不住觉得她最担心的事情正在变成现实。 —

These thoughts too she kept to herself. She had been given charge of the emperor’s daughter, his second child after the crown prince. —
她把这些想法也留在心里。她已经受命照顾天皇的女儿，是继皇太子之后的第二个孩子。 —

The little princess was her great comfort on nights when Genji was away, and she was equally fond of the emperor’s other children.
当源氏不在时，这位小公主是她极大的安慰，她对天皇的其他孩子也一样喜爱。

The lady of the orange blossoms looked on with gentle envy and was given a child of her own, one of Yūgiri’s sons, by the daughter of Koremitsu. —
橙花氏羡慕地看着，后来也得到了一个孩子，是由夕霧和是兼的女儿所生的。 —

He was a pretty little boy, advanced for his age and a favorite of Genji’s. —
他是一个漂亮的小男孩，心灵比他的年龄更加成熟，是源氏最宠爱的。 —

It had been Genji’s chief lament that he had so few children, and now in the third generation his house was growing and spreading. —
源氏曾经悲伤地表示他孩子太少，而现在到了第三代，他的家族正在成长和壮大。 —

With so many grandchildren to play with he had no excuse to be bored.
有这么多孙子孙女可以玩，他无法找借口说自己无聊。

Genji and Higekuro were better friends now, and Higekuro came calling more frequently. —
现在源氏和檜黑更好地成为了朋友，檜黑更频繁地来拜访。 —

Tamakazura had become a sober matron. No longer suspicious of Genji’s intentions, she too came calling from time to time. —
玉鬘已经成为一个成熟的夫人。不再怀疑源氏的用意，她也会不时来访。 —

She and Murasaki were very good friends.
她和紫鹪枝是非常好的朋友。

The Third Princess was the one who refused to grow up. She was still a little child. —
三公主是那个拒绝长大的人。她依然是个小孩。 —

Genji’s own daughter was now with the emperor. —
源氏的女儿现在在皇帝身边。 —

He had a new daughter to worry about.
他还有一个新女儿需要关心。

“I feel that I have very little time left,” said the Suzaku emperor. —
“我感觉我没有多少时间了，”朱雀帝说。 —

“It is sad to think about dying, of course, but I am determined not to care. —
“想到死亡当然是件悲伤的事，但我决定不去在意。 —

My only unsatisfied wish is to see her at least once more. —
我唯一的遗憾就是想再见她一面。 —

If I do not I shall continue to have regrets. —
如果我没有这样做，我会一直后悔。 —

Perhaps I might ask that without making a great show of it she come and see me?”
也许我可以要求她不要大张旗鼓地，过来看我一次？”

Genji thought the request most reasonable and set about preparations. —
源氏认为这个要求是非常合理的，于是开始准备。 —

“We really should have sent you without waiting for him to ask. —
“我们真应该在他提出要求之前就把你送去。 —

It seems very sad that he should have you so on his mind even now.”
他现在还这样牵挂你，看起来很悲伤。”

But they had to have a good reason — a casual visit would not do. What would it be? —
但他们必须有充分的理由——普通的拜访是不行的。那会是什么呢？ —

He remembered that the Suzaku emperor would soon be entering his fiftieth year, and an offering of new herbs seemed appropriate. —
他想起朱雀皇帝即将迎来五十岁寿辰，赠送新草药似乎很合适。 —

He gave orders for dark robes and other things a hermit might need and asked the advice of others on how to arrange something worthy of the occasion. —
他下令准备黑袍和其他隐士所需的东西，并征求他人意见，如何安排一场值得这个场合的盛宴。 —

The Suzaku emperor had always been fond of music and so Genji began selecting dancers and musicians. Two of Higekuro’s sons and three of Yūgiri’s, including one by Koremitsu’s daughter, had passed the age of seven and gone to court. —
朱雀皇帝一直喜欢音乐，因此源氏开始挑选舞者和音乐家。桧黑的两个儿子和有五岁以上的遗悔的三个，包括是是光的女儿所生的一个，已经到了去宫中侍奉的年龄。 —

There were young people too in Prince Hotaru’s house and other eminent houses, princely and common, and there were young courtiers distinguished for good looks and graceful carriage. —
王子螢的家里还有年轻人，以及其他高贵的家庭和庶族之家，还有一些因容貌好看、举止优雅而备受尊敬的年轻宫廷人。 —

Everyone was happy to make an extra effort for so festive an event. —
为了这么热闹的活动，每个人都乐意多做一些努力。 —

All the masters of music and dance were kept busy.
所有的音乐和舞蹈大师们都忙个不停。

The Suzaku emperor had given the Third Princess lessons on the seven-stringed Chinese koto. —
朱雀皇帝曾教过第三皇女弹奏七弦琴。 —

She was still very young when she left him, however, and he wondered what progress she might have made.
然而她离开他时还很年幼，他不知道她在这方面是否有了进步。

“How good if she could play for me. Perhaps in that regard at least she has grown up a little.”
“要是她能为我演奏多好啊。也许至少在这方面她已经长大了一点。”

He quietly let these thoughts be known and the emperor heard of them. —
他悄悄透露了这些想法，皇帝也听说了。 —

“Yes, I should think that with the koto at least she should have made progress. —
“是的，我认为至少在琴上她应该有所进步了。 —

How I wish I might be there.”
我多么希望我能在那里。”

Genji too heard of them. “I have done what I can to teach her,” he said. —
源氏也听说了。“我已经尽力教她了，”他说。 —

“She has improved a great deal, but I wonder whether her playing is really quite good enough yet to delight the royal ear. —
“她确实进步很多，但我想知道她的演奏是否真的已经足够好，能够让王室的耳朵陶醉。” —

If she goes unprepared and has to play for him, she might have a very uncomfortable time of it.”
如果她毫无准备就去为他演奏，她可能会感到非常不舒服。

Turning his attention now to music lessons, he kept back none of his secrets, none of the rare strains, complex medleys, and seasonal variations and tunings. —
现在他把注意力转向音乐课，他没有保留任何秘密，包括那些稀有的曲调，复杂的乐曲以及季节性的变奏和音律。 —

She seemed uncertain at first but presently gathered confidence.
她起初似乎有些不确定，但很快就获得了信心。

“There are always such crowds of people around in the daytime,” he said. —
“在白天总是围着那么多人，”他说。 —

“You have your left hand poised over the koto and are wondering what to do with it, and along comes someone with a problem. —
“你的左手悬在琴上，不知道该怎么办，突然有人带来了问题。 —

The evening is the time. I will come in the evening when it is quiet and teach you everything I know.”
这是一个晚上。我会在安静的夜晚来教你我所知道的一切。”

He had given neither Murasaki nor the Akashi princess lessons on the seven-stringed koto. —
他既没有给紫凉子也没有给明石公主教授过七弦琴。 —

They were most anxious to hear what must certainly be unusual playing. —
他们都非常焦急地想听到肯定非同寻常的演奏。 —

The emperor was always reluctant to let the Akashi princess leave court, but he did finally give permission for a visit, which must, he said, be a brief one. —
皇帝总是不愿意让明石公主离开宫廷，但最终他同意了一个短暂的拜访，他说这次访问必须是短暂的。 —

She would soon have another child — she had two sons and was five months pregnant — and the danger of defiling any one of the many Shinto observances was her excuse for leaving. —
她很快将有另一个孩子 - 她已经有两个儿子，并且怀孕五个月了 - 对于离开来说，玷污了许多神道仪式的危险是她的借口。 —

In the Twelfth Month there were repeated messages from the emperor urging her return. —
十二月里，皇帝多次催促她回来。 —

The nightly lessons in the Third Princess’s rooms fascinated her and aroused a certain envy. —
第三皇女房间里的夜间课程让她着迷，也引起了某种羡慕。 —

Why, she asked Genji, had he not taken similar troubles with her?
她问源氏，为什么他没有同样地费心教导她？

Unlike most people, Genji loved the cold moonlit nights of winter. —
与大多数人不同，源氏喜欢冬季寒冷的月光之夜。 —

With deep feeling he played several songs that went well with the snowy moonlight. —
他充满深情地演奏了几首与雪夜月色相配的曲子。 —

Adepts among his men joined him on lute and koto. —
他的手下中有几个精通琵琶和箏的。 —

In Murasaki’s wing of the house preparations were afoot for the New Year. She made them her own personal concern.
紫的院里正在为新年做准备。她将这些事情看作自己的个人责任。

“When it is warmer,” she said more than once, “you really must let me hear the princess’s koto.”
“天暖和些的时候，”她不止一次地说道，“你真的得让我听听公主的箏。”

The New Year came.
新年到了。

The emperor was determined that his father’s jubilee year begin with the most solemn and dignified ceremony. —
皇帝决定他父亲的庆典年应该以最庄严和尊严的仪式开始。 —

A visit from the Third Princess would complicate matters, and so a date towards the middle of the Second Month was chosen. —
三皇女的到访会使事情更加复杂，于是在二月中旬选定了一个日期。 —

All the musicians and dancers assembled for rehearsals at Rokujō, which went on and on.
所有的音乐家和舞者都在六条府集合排练，排练进行了很长时间。

“The lady in the east wing has long been after me to let her hear your koto,” said Genji to the Third Princess. —
源氏对三皇女说：“东厢的那位女士一直在跟我要求让她听听你的箏。” —

“I think a feminine concert on strings is what we want. —
“我想一个女性的弦乐会是我们需要的。 —

We have some of the finest players of our day right here in this house. —
在这个宅院里有一些当今最杰出的演奏家。 —

They can hold their own, I am sure of it, with the professionals. —
我相信他们一定没问题，可以与专业演奏家相媲美。 —

My own formal training was neglected, but when I was a boy I was eager to learn what was to be learned. —
我自己的正统训练被忽视了，但小时候我很渴望学习所能学到的。 —

I had lessons from the famous masters and looked into the secret traditions of all the great houses. I came upon no one who exactly struck me dumb with admiration. —
我向名家请教过，并探究过所有大家族的传统。我没遇到过令我感到惊叹的人。 —

It is even worse today. Young people dabble at music and pick up mannerisms, and what passes for music is very shallow stuff indeed. —
今天情况更糟。年轻人玩弄音乐，模仿风格，所谓音乐的东西实在是肤浅的。 —

You are almost alone in your attention to this seven-stringed koto. —
你几乎是唯一关注这个七弦琴的人。 —

I doubt that we could find your equal all through the court”
我怀疑我们在整个宫廷中找不到你的对手

She smiled happily at the compliment. Though she was in her early twenties and very pretty, she was tiny and fragile and still very much a child. —
她开心地笑了。尽管她只有二十出头，长得漂亮，但她个子娇小，身体纤弱，仍像个孩子。 —

He wished that she might at least look a little more grown-up.
他希望她至少看起来再成熟一些。

“Your royal father has not seen you in years,” he would say. —
“你的皇家父亲已经多年未见你了，”他会说。 —

“You must show him what a fine young lady you have become.”
“你必须让他看到你已经长成了一位优雅的少女。”

Her women silently thanked him. That she had grown up at all was because of the trouble he had taken with her.
她的侍女们默默感谢他。她已经长大，都是因为他对她的悉心培养。

Late in the First Month the sky was clear and the breeze was warm, and the plums near the veranda were in full bloom. —
初月晚起，天空晴朗，微风暖洋洋，庭院附近的李子花盛开着。 —

In delicate mists, the other flowering trees were coming into bud.
其他花树花苞渐渐吐蕊，在淡淡薄雾间若隐若现。

“From the first of the month we will be caught up in our final rehearsals,” said Genji, inviting Murasaki to the Third Princess’s rooms. —
“下月初我们将陷入最后彩排，”玉真子说着，邀请紫式部去三宫的房间。 —

“The confusion will be enormous, and we would not want it to seem that you are getting ready to go with us on the royal visit. —
“场面会混乱不堪，我们不想让人觉得你在准备和我们一起前往皇宫参观。 —

Suppose we have our concert now, while it is still fairly quiet.”
倒不如现在就开一场音乐会，趁着还算平静。”

All her women wanted to come with her, but she selected only those, including some of rather advanced years, whose aptitude for music had been shaped by serious study. —
所有的侍女都想跟她一起去，但她只挑选了那些曾经认真学习音乐的人，其中还包括一些年纪较大的。 —

Four of her prettiest little girls were also with her, all of them in red robes, cloaks of white lined with red, jackets of figured lavender, and damask trousers. —
她带着她最漂亮的四个小女孩，她们穿着红色长袍，里面是白色衣领，红色里衬，紫色花纹上衣和丝绸裤子。 —

Their chemises were also red, fulled to a high sheen. —
她们的衬衣也是红色，光亮发亮。 —

They were as pretty and stylish as little girls can be. —
她们像小公主一样漂亮而时髦。 —

The apartments of the Akashi princess were more festive than usual, bright with new spring decorations. —
王女的公寓比平常更加热闹，装饰着新的春季装饰品。 —

Her women quite outdid themselves. Her little girls too were in uniform dress, green robes, cloaks of pink lined with crimson, trousers of figured Chinese satin, and jackets of a yellow Chinese brocade. —
她的婢女们超乎寻常地用心。她的小女孩们也穿着统一的服装，绿色长袍，粉红色披风衬着深红色，花纹中国绸裤子和黄色中国锦缎夹克。 —

The Akashi lady had her little girls dressed in quiet but unexceptionable taste: —
明贞王女把她的小女孩们打扮得端庄而不起眼： —

two wore rose plum and two were in white robes lined with red, and all four had on celadon-green cloaks and purple jackets and chemises aglow with the marks of the fulling blocks.
两个穿着玫瑰梅子色，另外两个穿着白色长袍，里面衬着红色，所有四个都穿着青翠色披风和紫色夹克，衬衫上还有满满的织锦纹路。

The Third Princess, upon being informed that she was to be hostess to such a gathering, put her little girls into robes of a rich yellowish green, white cloaks lined with green, and jackets of magenta. —
在得知自己要招待这样一个聚会时，第三王女把她的小女孩们打扮成富丽的黄绿色长袍，白色衣衫上衬着绿色，绯红色夹克。 —

Though there was nothing overdone about this finery, the effect was of remarkable richness and elegance.
虽然这些服饰并不过分，但效果却异常丰富而优雅。

The sliding doors were removed and the several groups separated from one another by curtains. —
掀开滑动门，通过帘子将不同的团体隔开。 —

A cushion had been set out for Genji himself at the very center of the assembly. —
铺设了一个坐垫，放在聚会的正中央给亲王。 —

Out near the veranda were two little boys charged with setting the pitch, Tamakazura’s elder son on the shō pipes and Yūgiri’s eldest on the flute. —
在阳台外放着两个小男孩，负责演奏曲调，玉勒的长子吹笙，幽霁的长子吹笛。 —

Genji’s ladies were behind blinds with their much-prized instruments set out before them in fine indigo covers, a lute for the Akashi lady, a Japanese koto for Murasaki, a thirteen-stringed Chinese koto for the Akashi princess. —
亲王的妇女们在百叶窗后面，他们珍爱的乐器放在他们面前，用织物包裹着，第三王女用的是琵琶，紫薇用的是日本琴，玉勒王女用的是13弦古琴。 —

Worried lest the Third Princess seem inadequate, Genji himself tuned her seven-stringed koto for her.
为了避免第三王女显得不足，亲王亲自帮她调了七弦琴。

“The thirteen-stringed koto holds its pitch on the whole well enough,” he said, “but the bridges have a way of slipping in the middle of a concert. —
“13弦琴整体保持得不错，”他说，“但琴桥似乎在演奏中会移位。 —

Ladies do not always get the strings as tight as they should. Maybe we should summon Yūgiri. —
女士们有时没有把琴弦调得够紧。也许我们应该召唤幽霁来。 —

Our pipers are rather young, and they may not be quite firm enough about bringing things to order.”
我们的吹笛的还年幼，可能还不足以使事情井井有条。”

Yūgiri’s arrival put the ladies on their mettle. —
幽霁的到来让妇女们振奋起来。 —

With the single exception of the Akashi lady they were all Genji’s own treasured pupils. —
除了明石的贵人，他们都是源氏珍视的学生。 —

He hoped that they would not shame him before his son. —
他希望他们不会在他儿子面前使他丢脸。 —

He had no fears about the Akashi princess, whose koto had often enough joined others in His Majesty’s own presence. —
他对明石的公主没有担心，她的琴曾经多次在陛下面前演奏过。 —

It was the Japanese koto that was most likely to cause trouble. —
日本的琴最有可能引起麻烦。 —

He felt for Murasaki, whose responsibility it would be. —
他为紫感到难过，因为责任将落在她身上。 —

Though it is a rather simple instrument, everything about it is fluid and indefinite, and there are no clear guides. —
尽管它是一个相当简单的乐器，但一切都是流动和不确定的，没有明确的指引。 —

All the instruments of spring were here assembled. —
所有春天的乐器都在这里聚集了。 —

It would be a great pity if any of them struck a sour note.
如果其中任何一种发出了不和谐的音符，那将是很遗憾的。

Yūgiri was in dashingly informal court dress, the singlets and most especially the sleeves very nicely perfumed. —
隐瞒穿着俊朗的宫廷服，背心和尤其是袖子上面非常好闻的香水味。 —

It was evening when he arrived, looking a little nervous. —
他在傍晚抵达，看起来有点紧张。 —

The plums were so heavy with blossom in the evening light that one might almost have thought that a winter snow had refused to melt. —
在傍晚的光线中，梅花压得树枝低垂，几乎可以认为冬季的雪拒绝融化。 —

Their fragrance mixed on the breeze with the wonderfully delicate perfumes inside the house to such enchanting effect that the spring warbler might have been expected to respond immediately.
他们的芳香在微风中与屋内精致的香味混合在一起，效果如此迷人，以至于春天的鸟儿几乎可以立刻回应。

“I know I should let you catch your breath,” said Genji, pushing a thirteen-stringed koto towards his son, “but would you be so kind as to try this out and see that it is in tune? —
“我知道我应该让你喘口气，”源氏递给儿子一个十三弦琴，说，“但你能否试一下这个，看看它是否调好了？ —

There are no strangers here before whom you need feel shy.”
这里没有陌生人在你面前需要感到害羞。”

Bowing deeply (his manners were always perfect), Yūgiri tuned the instrument in the ichikotsu mode and waited politely for further instructions.
隐瞒深深鞠躬(他的礼节总是完美)，调好了一种易调琴，有礼貌地等待进一步的指示。

“You must get things started for us,” said Genji. “No false notes, if you please.”
“你必须为我们开始演奏了，”王子说。“请不要有任何失误。”

“I fear I do not have the qualifications to join you.”
“我恐怕没有资格加入您。”

“I suppose not,” smiled Genji. “But would you wish to have it said that a band of ladies drove you away?”
“我想是的，”王子微笑道。“但你不想让人说是被一群女子赶走了吧？”

Yūgiri played just enough to make quite sure the instrument was in tune and pushed it back under the blinds.
弓切拉了一会儿，确保乐器调好了，然后把它推回到帘子下面。

The little boys were very pretty in casual court dress. —
那些小男孩穿着便服宫廷服装看起来非常漂亮。 —

Their playing was of course immature, but it showed great promise.
他们的演奏当然还不够成熟，但显示出了巨大的潜力。

The stringed instruments were all in tune and the concert began. —
弦乐器都调好音，音乐会开始了。 —

Each of the ladies did beautifully, but the lute somehow stood out from the other instruments, sedately and venerably quiet and yet with great authority. —
每位女士都表现得很美妙，但琵琶似乎在其他乐器中脱颖而出，庄重而仪静，却又有着极大的力量。 —

Yūgiri was listening especially for the japanese koto. —
弓切尤其在聆听那七弦琴。 —

The tone was softly alluring and the plectrum caught at the strings with a vivacity which seemed to him very novel. —
琴音柔美动人，拨片落在琴弦上的活力让他觉得很新奇。 —

None of the professed masters could have done better. —
没有一个专业琴师能做得比这更好。 —

He would not have thought that the Japanese koto had such life in it. —
他从未想过七弦琴会有如此生命力。 —

Clearly Murasaki had worked hard, and Genji was pleased and satisfied.
显然紫纱用功了，王子感到高兴和满意。

The thirteen-stringed Chinese koto, a gentle, feminine sort of instrument, takes its place hesitantly and deferentially among the other instruments. —
那种十三弦的中国琴，一种温柔、女性化的乐器，谦卑地站在其他器乐中。 —

As for the seven-stringed koto, the Third Princess was not quite a complete master yet, but her playing had an assurance that did justice to her recent labors. —
至于那七弦琴，三皇女还不是完全的行家，但她的演奏表现出了一种自信，充分显现了她最近的努力。 —

Her koto took its place very comfortably among the other instruments. —
她的箜篌在其他乐器中非常舒适地占据了自己的位置。 —

Yes, thought Yūgiri, who beat time and sang the lyrics, she had acquired a most admirable touch. —
“是啊，”御息所想，一边拍着节拍，一边唱着歌词，她的技艺确实是令人钦佩的。 —

Sometimes Genji too would beat time with his fan and sing a brief passage. —
有时候，源氏也会拿着扇子跟着节拍，唱起简短的段落。 —

His voice had improved with the years, filled out and taken on a dignity it had not had before. —
随着岁月的流逝，他的声音变得更加优美，更加丰满，也增添了一种之前没有的尊严感。 —

Yūgiri’s voice was almost as good. I would be very hard put indeed to describe the pleasures of the night, which was somehow quieter as it filled with music.
御息的嗓音几乎和源氏一样好。很难形容这个夜晚带来的乐趣，伴随着音乐，夜晚总是变得更加宁静。

It was the time of the month when the moon rises late. —
这是月落晚风时分。 —

The flares at the eaves were just right, neither too dim nor too strong. —
屋檐上的灯火恰到好处，不太昏暗也不太刺眼。 —

Genji glanced at the Third Princess. She was smaller than the others, so tiny indeed that she seemed to be all clothes. —
源氏看了一眼第三王女。她比其他人都要小，甚至可以说她似乎全身都是衣服。 —

Hers was not a striking sort of beauty, but it was marked by very great refinement and delicacy. —
她并不是那种惊艳的美，但却带着极大的优雅和精致。 —

One thought of a willow sending forth its first shoots toward the end of the Second Month, so delicate that the breeze from the warbler’s wing seems enough to disarrange them. —
让人想起二月末初生嫩枝的柳树，那么娇嫩，似乎战栗的鸲鹆翅膀的微风就足以摧毁。 —

The hair flowing over a white robe lined with red also suggested the trailing strands of a willow. —
白色衣袍上披着红边的发丝也让人联想到柳树垂落的细枝。 —

One knew that she was the most wellborn of ladies. —
人们知道她是最贵族化的贵妇。 —

Beside her the Akashi princess seemed gentle and delicate in a livelier, brighter way, and somehow deeper and subtler too, trained to greater diversity. —
在她身旁，明熹公主看起来更加温柔、精致，也更加深邃细致，被训练得更加多才多艺。 —

One might have likened her to a wisteria in early morning, blooming from spring into summer with no other blossoms to rival it. —
她怀着孩子，看起来不舒服。 —

She was heavy with child and seemed uncomfortable. —
一位晨间花开的紫藤，从春季一直绽放到夏季，没有其他花朵可以与之匹敌，可以形容她。 —

She pushed her koto away and leaned forward on an armrest which, though the usual size, seemed too large for her. —
她推开她的琴，向前倾侧在扶手上，尽管是正常尺寸，但似乎对她来说太大了。 —

Genji would have liked to send for a smaller one. Her hair fell thick and full over rose plum. —
源氏本想派人去找一个更小的。她浓密的头发铺满了深玫瑰色。 —

She had a most winning charm in the soft, wavering light from the eaves.
她在悬垂的屋檐光线下展现出极具魅力的风采。

Over a robe of pink Murasaki wore a robe of a rich, deep hue, a sort of magenta, perhaps. —
紫的粉红色长袍之上，她穿着一袭色彩浓郁、深沉的长袍，也许是品红色。 —

Her hair fell in a wide, graceful cascade. —
她的头发宽阔而优雅地倾泻而下。 —

She was of just the right height, so beautiful in every one of her features that they added up to more than perfection. —
她恰到好处的身高，每一个面部特征都如此美丽，足以超越完美。 —

A cherry in full bloom — but not even that seemed an adequate simile.
樱花盛开——但即使那似乎也不能形容她。

One would have expected the Akashi lady to be quite overwhelmed by such company, but she was not. —
人们本以为明石女士会被这样的伴侣淹没，但她并没有。 —

Careful, conservative taste was evident in her grooming and dress. —
它的装饰和服饰中体现了一种慎重、保守的品味。 —

One sensed quiet depths, and an ineffable elegance which was all her own. —
人们感受到了她内心的深度和无法言喻的优雅，这是她独有的一切。 —

She had on a figured “willow” robe, white lined with green, and a cloak of a yellowish green, and as a mark of respect for the other ladies, a train of a most delicate and yielding gossamer. —
她穿着一件绿色里面衬有白色的柳树花纹长袍，外面披着一件黄绿色的披风，为了尊敬其他女士们，她还穿着一条极为精致柔软的纺纱长裙。 —

Everything about her emphasized her essential modesty and unassertiveness, but there was much that suggested depth and subtlety as well. —
她的一切都凸显出她固有的谦逊和不张扬，但也透露出深度和微妙。 —

Again as a mark of respect, she knelt turned somewhat away from the others with her lute before her and only her knees on the green Korean brocade with which the matting was fringed. —
再次为了表示尊敬，她跪着稍微转身面向其他人，放着一把琵琶，只有她的膝盖触及垫边镶有绿色朝鲜锦的长席。 —

She guided her plectrum with such graceful assurance through a quiet melody that it was almost more of a pleasure to the eye than to the ear. —
她用优雅而自信的手法引领她的拨片穿越静谧的旋律，几乎是一种对眼睛而不是耳朵的快慰。 —

One thought of fruit and flowers on the same orange branch, “awaiting the Fifth Month.”
人们会联想到同一橙树枝上的水果和花朵，“等待第五个月”。

Everything he heard and saw told Yūgiri of a most decorous and Formal assembly. —
他所听到和看到的一切告诉宇宙霁，这是一个最庄重和正式的集会。 —

He would have liked to look inside the blinds, most especially at Murasaki, who would doubtless have taken on a calmer and more mature beauty since he had had that one glimpse of her. —
他很想掀开帘子看看里面，尤其是紫，自从他看到她后，她无疑会变得更加平静和成熟。 —

As for the Third Princess, only a slight shift of fate and she might have been his rather than his father’s. —
至于第三皇女，稍稍改变命运，她本应该是他的，而不是他父亲的。 —

The Suzaku emperor had more than once hinted at something of the sort to Yūgiri himself and mentioned the possibility to others. —
苏主的皇帝曾多次对宇宙霁暗示了这种可能，并向其他人提及了这种可能。 —

Yūgiri should have been a little bolder. —
宇宙霁应该更加大胆一些。 —

Yet it was not as if he had lost his senses over the princess. —
但他并不是因为公主而失去理智。 —

Certain evidences of immaturity had had the effect not exactly of cheapening her in his eyes but certainly of cooling his ardor. —
某些不成熟的迹象并没有让他看轻她，但的确减退了他的热情。 —

He could have no possible designs on Murasaki. —
他绝对不能对紫有任何企图。 —

She had through the years been a remote and lofty symbol of all that was admirable. —
这些年来，她一直是一种高雅而崇高的象征。 —

He only wished that he had some way of showing, some disinterested, gentlemanly way, how very high was his regard for her. —
他只希望能以某种方式表达，一种无私的，绅士般的方式，表达他对她的极高敬意。 —

He was a model of prudence and sobriety and would not have dreamed of doing anything unseemly.
他是谨慎和冷静的典范，绝不会想做什么不体面的事情。

It was late and rather chilly when the first rays of “the moon for which one lies in wait” came forth.
当“等待月亮”初现时，天色已晚且有些阴冷。

“The misty moon of spring is not the best, really,” said Genji. “In the autumn the singing of the insects weaves a fabric with the music. —
“春日的雾月其实不是最好的,”源氏说道，“秋天蝉鸣伴随着音乐编织成织物，这种结合是非常美妙的。” —

The combination is rather wonderful.”
宇宙霁回答道：“没错，在秋天的夜晚，有时月亮上甚至没有一丝阴影，而琴或笛的声音可以像夜空一样高而清晰。”

“It is true,” replied Yūgiri, “that on an autumn night there is sometimes not a trace of a shadow over the moon and the sound of a koto or a flute can seem as high and clear as the night itself. —
“这是真的,”宇宙霁说道。 —

But the sky can have a sort of put-on look about it, like an artificial setting for a concert, and the autumn flowers insist on being gazed at. —
但是天空可能看起来有一种假装的感觉，就像为音乐会而布置的舞台，秋天的花卉却坚持要被凝视着。 —

It is all too pat, too perfect. But in the spring — the moon comes through a haze and a quiet sound of flute joins it in a way that is not possible in the autumn. —
这一切都太过完美，太过刻意。但在春天——月亮透过薄雾，一阵安静的笛音加入其中，这在秋天是不可能的。 —

No, a flute is not really its purest on an autumn night. —
不，笛音在秋夜并不真实纯粹。 —

It has long been said that it is the spring night to which the lady is susceptible, and I am inclined to accept the statement. —
长久以来，有人说女子较易受春夜吸引，我倾向于接受这种说法。 —

The spring night is the one that brings out the quiet harmonies.”
春夜带来了宁静的和谐音乐。

“The ancients were unable to resolve the dispute, and I think it would be presumptuous of their inferior descendants to seek to do so. —
“古人未能解决这一争议，我认为我们这些下人也不该自不量力地试图解决。 —

It is a fact that the major modes of spring are commonly given precedence over the minor modes of autumn, and so you may be right.
春天常常被赋予优先权利于秋天的秋季调式，所以你可能是对的。

“His Majesty from time to time has the famous masters in to play for him, and the conclusion seems to be that the ones who deserve the name are fewer and fewer. —
“陛下偶尔请来著名的大师为他演奏，结论似乎是值得尊敬的人越来越少。 —

Am I wrong in suspecting that a person has less to learn from them? —
我是否错怀疑一个人从他们身上学到的越来越少？ —

Our ladies here may not be on the established list of masters, but I doubt that they would seem hopelessly out of place. —
我们这里的女子可能不在大师名单上，但我怀疑她们不会显得太过格格不入。 —

Of course, it may be that I have been away from things for so long that I no longer have a very good ear. —
当然，可能是我离事物太久了，我的鉴赏力已经大不如前。 —

That would be a pity. Yet I do sometimes find myself marveling that a little practice in this house brings out such talents. —
那将是遗憾。然而，我有时候不禁惊讶于，在这里稍加练习，就能展现如此才华。 —

How does what you have heard tonight compare with what is chosen for His Majesty to hear?”
你今晚听到的和陛下听到的相比起来怎么样？

“I am very badly informed,” said Yūgiri, “but I do have a thought or two in the matter. —
“我消息很不灵通，”弓切说，“但我在这件事上有一两个想法。 —

It may be a confession of ignorance of the great tradition to say that Kashiwagi on the Japanese koto and Prince Hotaru on the lute are to be ranked among the masters. —
坦白地承认对伟大传统的无知，可以说日本箜篌上的柏木和琵琶王子应该被列为大师之一。 —

I had thought them quite without rivals, but this evening I have been forced to change my mind. —
我之前认为他们无可匹敌，但今晚我不得不改变看法。 —

I am filled with astonishment at what I have heard. —
我听到的话让我感到震惊。 —

Might it be that I had been prepared for something more casual, more easygoing? —
或许我本来期待更随意、更轻松的氛围？ —

You have asked me to be voice and percussion, and I have felt very inadequate indeed. —
你让我担任音响和打击乐手，我感到非常不足。 —

Lord Tō no Chūjō is said to be the best of them all on the japanese koto, the one who has the widest and subtlest variety of touches to go with the seasons. —
东宫卫是传说中最擅长日本箜篌的人，他在弹奏时有着最广泛、最精妙的触摸，与四季相得益彰。 —

It is true that one rarely hears anything like his koto, but I confess that tonight I have been treated to skills that seem to me every bit as remarkable.”
他的箜篌的确很少有人能比，但我要承认，今晚我听到的技艺对我来说同样令人惊叹。

“Oh, surely you exaggerate.” Genji was smiling proudly. “But I do
“哦，你一定在夸大其词。” 源氏得意地笑着说。

have a fine set of pupils, do I not? I cannot claim credit for the lute, but even there I think residence in this house has made a difference. —
“我确实有一批优秀的学生，是吗？我不能为琵琶声乐，但即使在那里，我认为住在这间屋子里已经产生了影响。 —

I thought it most extraordinary off in the hinterlands and I think it has improved since it came to the city.”
我觉得在内地很不寻常，现在我认为琵琶在来到城里后已经变得更好了。”

The women were exchanging amused glances that he should be claiming credit even for the Akashi lady.
女士们相互交换着惊讶的眼神，听他竟然还为明石的女士辩护。

“It is very difficult indeed to master any instrument,” he continued. —
“要精通任何一种乐器都非常困难，” 他继续说道。 —

“The possibilities seem infinite and nothing seems complete and finished. —
“可能性似乎无穷无尽，没有东西似乎是完整的和已完成的。 —

But there are few these days who even try, and I suppose it should be cause for satisfaction when someone masters any one small aspect. —
但如今很少有人愿意去尝试，我想当有人掌握到任何一小部分时，应该感到满足。 —

The seven-stringed koto is the unmanageable one. —
七弦琵琶是难以驾驭的。 —

We are told that in ancient times there were many who mastered the whole tradition of the instrument, and made heaven and earth their own, and softened the hearts of demons and gods. —
据说在古代，有许多人掌握了整个乐器的传统，让天地为之倾倒，并温和了魔鬼和神灵的心。” —

Taking into this one instrument all the tones and overtones of all the others, they found joy in the depths of sorrow and transformed the base and mean into the fine and proud, and gained wealth and universal fame. —
将所有乐器的音调和泛音都融入这一乐器，他们从悲伤的深处找到了快乐，将卑贱之物变得高贵，获得了财富和普世名望。 —

There was a time, before the tradition had been established in japan, when the most enormous trouble was required of anyone who sought to learn the art. —
在日本建立传统之前，有一段时间就读这门艺术需要付出极大的努力。 —

He must spend years in strange lands and give up everything, and even then only a few came back with what they had gone out to seek. —
他必须在陌生的土地上度过数年，并放弃一切，甚至那样，只有少数人带着他们所寻求的东西回来。 —

In the old chronicles there are stories of musicians who moved the moon and the stars and brought unseasonal snows and frosts and conjured up tempests and thunders. —
在古代编年史中，有关于音乐家移动月亮和星星、引发来时不合时令的雪雹，召唤风暴和雷电的故事。 —

In our day there is scarcely anyone who has even mastered the whole of the written lore, and the full possibilities are enormous. —
在我们这个时代，几乎没有人甚至掌握整个书面知识，而全部可能性是巨大的。 —

So little these days seems to make even a beginning — because the Good Law is in its decline, I suppose.
现在似乎很少有事情能引发一个开始 — 因为我想善法正在衰落。

“It may be that people are intimidated. —
“也许人们会感到害怕。” —

The seven-stringed koto was the instrument that moved demons and gods, and inadequate mastery had correspondingly unhappy results. —
七弦琴是移动恶魔和神灵的乐器，不够熟练的技艺必然带来不幸的结果。 —

What other instrument is to be at the center of things, setting the tone for all the others? —
还有哪个乐器将处在中心位置，为其他所有乐器设定基调呢？ —

Ours is a day of very sad decline. Only a madman, we say, would be so obsessed with an art as to abandon parents and children and go wandering off over Korea and China. But we need not make quite such extreme sacrifices. —
我们生活在一个非常悲伤的衰落时代。我们会说，只有一个疯子才会如此痴迷于一门艺术，以至于放弃父母和子女，漫步在朝鲜和中国。但我们并不需要做出如此极端的牺牲。 —

Keeping within reasonable bounds, why should we not try to make the b inning that seems at least possible? —
保持在合理范围内，为什么我们不试着做一些至少似乎可能的开始呢？ —

The difficulties in mastering a single mode are indescribable, and there are so many modes and so many complicated melodies. —
掌握单一模式的困难无法形容，而且还有如此多的模式和如此复杂的旋律。 —

Back in the days when I was a rather enthusiastic student of music, I went through the scores that have been preserved in this country, and presently there was no one to teach me. —
在我还是一名相当热衷于音乐的学生时，我阅读了这个国家保留的乐谱，不久后找不到人教我了。 —

Yet I know that I am infinitely less competent than the old masters; —
然而我知道我比起古代大师们要差得多； —

and it is sad to think that no one is prepared to learn from me even the little that I know, and so the decline must continue.”
并且想到没人愿意向我学习即使是我所知道的一点点，所以衰退必将继续下去。

It was true, thought Yūgiri, feeling very inadequate.
湫権覺自己實在是太不夠格了。

“If one or another of my princely grandchildren should live up to the promise he shows now and I myself still have a few years before me, then perhaps by the time he is grown I can pass on what I know. —
“如果我的一個王孫成就得如今所顯現的樣子，而我自己還有幾年光陰，也許等他成年時我能把我的一點小知識傳授給他。 —

It is very little, I am afraid. I think that the Second Prince shows very considerable promise.”
我怕是心有餘而力不足。我覺得第二王子顯然有相當大的潛質。”

It pleased the Akashi lady to think that she had had a part in this glory.
河內的淑女想到自己對這榮耀有所貢獻，心裡就很高興。

As she lay down to rest, the Akashi princess pushed her koto towards Murasaki, who relinquished hers to Genji. They played an intimate sort of duet, the Saibara “Katsuragi,” very light and happy. —
河內的公主在休憩時將她的琴推到紫式部身邊，紫式部也將她的琴讓給了源氏。他們演奏了一種私密的二重奏，演奏的曲目是「桂木」，輕盈而愉悅。 —

In better voice than ever, Genji sang the lyrics over a second time. —
比以往更加美妙的嗓音，讓源氏將歌詞重唱了一遍。 —

The moon rose higher and the color and scent of the plum blossoms seemed to be higher and brighter too. —
月亮漸高，梅花的色澤和香氣似乎也變得更加澄澈明亮。 —

The Akashi princess had a most engagingly girlish touch on the thirteen-stringed koto. —
河內的公主彈奏十三絃琴時，有一種非常討人喜歡的少女感。 —

The tremolo, bright and clear, had in it something of her mother’s style. —
那明亮澄澈的三弦滾調中，帶有她母親獨特的風格。 —

Murasaki’s touch, strangely affecting, seemed quiet and solemn by comparison, and her cadenzas were superb. —
比起她，紫式部的彈奏卻以一種奇異而感人的方式變得安靜庄重，她的獨奏更是出色。 —

For the envoi there was a shift to a minor mode, somehow friendlier and more approachable. —
最後插曲轉入一種小調，莫名地讓人感到友好親切。 —

In “The Five Airs” the touch of the plectrum against the fifth and sixth strings of the seven-stringed koto is thought to present the supreme challenge, but the Third Princess had a fine sureness and lucidity. —
在「五聲」中，對於七弦琴的第五弦和第六弦的撥弦，被認為是至高無上的挑戰，但第三王女有著極佳的清晰和明晰。 —

One looked in vain for signs of immaturity. —
沒有看到任何不成熟的跡象。 —

The mode an appropriate one for all the strains of spring and autumn, she did not let her attention waver and she gave evidence of real understanding. —
這種曲調適合春秋兩季的所有曲調，她從容不迫，表現出對音樂的真正理解。 —

Genji felt that he had won new honors as a teacher.
源氏感到自己身為一名老師贏得了新的榮譽。

The little pipers had been charming, most solemnly attentive to their responsibilities.
小笛手们一直迷人，庄严认真地履行着自己的责任。

“You must be sleepy,” said Genji. “It seemed as if we had only begun and I wanted to hear more and more. —
“你一定很困了，”源氏说道。“感觉好像我们才刚刚开始，我想要听更多。” —

It was silly of me to think of picking the best when everything was so good, and so the night went by. —
我想挑选最好的想法是愚蠢的，一切都如此美好，于是夜晚就这样过去了。 —

You must forgive me.”
请原谅我。

He urged a sip of wine on the little shō piper and rewarded him with a singlet, one of his own favorites. —
他递给小笙手一口酒，并赏赐了他一件背心，是他自己的心爱之物。 —

A lady had something for the little flutist, a pair of trousers and a lady’s robe cut from an unassuming fabric. —
有一位女士给小笛手准备了一条裤子和一件用不起眼的面料裁制的女子长袍。 —

The Third Princess offered a cup to Yūgiri and presented him with a set of her own robes.
三公主递了一杯酒给有栖，并赠送了他一套自己的礼服。

“Now this seems very strange and unfair,” said Genji. “If there are to be such grand rewards, then surely the teacher should come first. —
“这现在看起来很奇怪和不公平，”源氏说。“如果要有如此豪华的奖赏，那么老师当然应该在第一位。 —

You are all very rude and thoughtless.”
你们都很粗鲁，考虑不周。”

A flute, a very fine Korean one, was pushed towards him from beneath the Third Princess’s curtains. He smiled as he played a few notes. —
一支非常精致的朝鲜笛子被从三公主的帘幕下推向他。他微笑着吹了几个音符。 —

The guests were beginning to leave, but Yūgiri took up his son’s flute and played a strain marvelous in its clean strength. —
宾客们开始离开，但有栖拿起儿子的笛子，吹奏出一段惊人的乐曲，其纯净的力量令人惊叹。 —

They were all his very own pupils, thought Genji, to whom he had taught his very own secrets, and they were all accomplished musicians. —
源氏想，他们都是他的学生，他传授了自己的秘密，他们都是技艺纯熟的音乐家。 —

He knew of course that he had had superior material to work with.
他当然知道他有更好的材料可以利用。

The moon was high and bright as Yūgiri set off with his sons. —
月亮高高挂起，有栖带着儿子们启程而去。 —

The extraordinary sound of Murasaki’s koto was still with him. —
紫的琴声依然在他心中回荡，令人难忘。 —

Kumoinokari, his wife, had had lessons from their late grandmother, but had been taken away before she had learned a great deal. —
Kumoinokari和他的妻子曾接受过已故祖母的教训，但在她学到很多之前就被带走了。 —

She quite refused to let him hear her play. —
她完全不愿让他听她演奏。 —

She was a sober, reliable sort of lady whose family duties took all her time. —
她是一个稳重可靠的女士，家庭责任占据了她所有的时间。 —

To Yūgiri she seemed somewhat backward in the accomplishments. —
对于弓切来说，她在才艺方面似乎有些落后。 —

She was her most interesting when, as did sometimes happen, she allowed herself a fit of temper or jealousy.
有时候，她允许自己发脾气或嫉妒时是最有趣的。

Genji returned to the east wing. Murasaki stayed behind to talk with the Third Princess and it was daylight when she too returned. They slept late.
弓切回到了东厢房，紫在殿中和三凤对谈，直到天亮才回到了房间。他们睡得很迟。

“Our princess has developed into a rather good musician, I think. How did she seem to you?”
“我们的公主似乎是个相当好的音乐家，我想。你觉得她怎么样？”

“I must confess that I had very serious doubts when I caught the first notes. —
“当我听到起初的音符时，我必须承认我心中有很大的疑虑。 —

But now she is very good indeed, so good that I can scarcely believe it is the same person. —
但现在她确实非常出色，出乎我意料之外。 —

Of course I needn’t be surprised, seeing how much of your time it has taken.”
当然，我不应该感到惊讶，毕竟这花费了你很多时间。”

“It has indeed. I am a serious teacher and I have led her every step of the way. —
“的确是如此。我是一个认真的老师，我引导她每一步。 —

The seven-stringed koto is such a bother that I would not try to teach it to just anyone, but her father and brother seemed to be saying that I owed her at least that much. —
七弦琴实在太烦人了，我不会试图教给任何人，但她的父亲和兄弟似乎在说我应该至少做到这一点。 —

I was feeling a little undutiful at the time, and I thought I should do something to seem worthy of the trust.
当时我感到有点不尽职责，我觉得我应该做一些事情来显得值得信任。

“Back in the days when you were still a child I was busy with other things and I am afraid I neglected your lessons. —
“在你仍是个孩子的时候，我忙于其他事情，我怕我忽略了你的课程。 —

Nor have I done much better in recent years. —
近年来我也没有做得更好。 —

I have frittered my time away and gone on neglecting you. —
我已经虚度时光，忽略了对你的关心。 —

You did me great honor last night. It was beautiful. —
昨晚你给了我极大的荣耀。真是美好。 —

I loved the effect it had on Yūgiri. ”
我喜欢它对弓木的影响。

Murasaki was now busy being grandmother to the royal children. —
紫凝现在忙着做皇子们的祖母。 —

She did nothing that might have left her open to charges of bad judgment. —
她没有做任何可能导致人们指责她判断不当的事情。 —

Hers was a perfection, indeed, that was somehow ominous. It aroused forebodings. —
她的完美，的确有着一种不祥的预兆。激起了预感。 —

The evidence is that such people are not meant to have long lives. —
证据表明，这样的人并不会活得很久。 —

Genji had known many women and he knew what a rarity she was. —
源氏知道很多女子，他知道她是多么珍贵。 —

She was thirty-seven this year..
今年她三十七岁了。

He was thinking over the years they had been together. “You must be especially careful this year. —
他在回忆两人在一起的岁月。“今年你必须特别小心。 —

You must overlook none of the prayers and services. —
你不能忽略任何祈祷和仪式。 —

I am very busy and sometimes careless, and I must rely on you to keep track of things. —
我很忙，有时候粗心大意，我得依靠你记着这些事情。 —

If there is something that calls for special arrangements I can give the orders. —
如果有需要做特别安排的事情，我会下令。 —

It is a pity that your uncle, the bishop, is no longer living. —
真遗憾，你的叔叔，主教，已经不在人世了。 —

He was the one who really knew about these things.
他才是真正了解这些事情的人。

“I have always been rather spoiled and there can be few precedents for the honors I enjoy. —
“我一直被宠坏了，享受的荣誉几乎是前所未有的。” —

The other side of the story is that I have had more than my share of sorrow. —
“另一方面，我经历了比我应该承受的更多的悲伤。” —

The people who have been fond of me have left me behind one after another, and there have been events in more recent years that I think almost anyone would call very sad. —
“那些曾经疼爱我的人一个接一个离我而去，近年发生的一些事件几乎让任何人都会觉得很悲伤。” —

As for nagging little worries, it almost seems as if I were a collector of them. —
“至于不断纠缠的小烦恼，我似乎几乎成了它们的收藏家。” —

I sometimes wonder if it might be by way of compensation that I have lived a longer life than I would have expected to. —
“我有时想，也许长寿是一种补偿。” —

You, on the other hand — I think that except for our years apart you have been spared real worries. —
“而你呢——我觉得除了那些年我们分开以外，你并没有经历过真正的忧虑。” —

There are the troubles that go with the glory of being an empress or one of His Majesty’s other ladies. —
“担任皇后或皇上其他女眷所带来的荣耀，同时也伴随着困扰。” —

They are always being hurt by the proud people they must be with and they are engaged in a competition that makes a terrible demand on their nerves. —
“他们总是在自负的人身边受到伤害，而且参加的竞争对他们的神经造成了巨大的压力。” —

You have lived the life of a cloistered maiden, and there is none more comfortable and secure. —
“你过着修女般的生活，再没有比这更舒适安全的了。” —

It is as if you had never left your parents. —
“你好像从来没有离开父母一样。” —

Have you been aware, my dear, that you have been luckier than most? —
“亲爱的，你是否意识到自己比大多数人都幸运？” —

I know that it has not been easy for you to have the princess move in on us all of a sudden. —
“我知道，公主突然闯入我们的生活对你来说并不容易。” —

We sometimes do not notice the things that are nearest to us, and you may not have noticed that her presence has made me fonder of you. —
“我们有时候会忽视最近的事物，而你可能没有注意到她的存在让我更加喜欢你。” —

But you are quick to see these things, and perhaps I do you an injustice.”
“不过你总是敏锐地察觉这些事情，也许我对你有了误解。”

“You are right, of course. I do not much matter, and it must seem to most people that I have been more fortunate than I deserve. —
“当然，你是对的。我并不那么重要，对大多数人来说，我似乎比我应得的要幸运。” —

And that my unhappiness should sometimes have seemed almost too much for me — perhaps that is the prayer that has sustained me. —
我的不快乐有时似乎让我难以承受 — 或许正是这种祈祷支撑着我。 —

” She seemed to be debating whether to go on. He thought her splendid. —
“她似乎在考虑是否继续说下去。他觉得她很了不起。” —

“I doubt that I have much longer to live. —
“我觉得我可能活不了多久了。” —

Indeed, I have my doubts about getting through this year if I pretend that no changes are needed. —
实际上，我对于假装不需要改变来度过这一年表示怀疑。 —

It would make me very happy if you would let me do what I have so long wanted to do.”
如果你能让我做我长久以来想做的事，我会很开心的。”

“Quite out of the question. Do you think I could go on without you? —
“根本不可能。你难道以为我能在没有你的情况下继续下去吗？” —

Not very much has happened these last years, I suppose, but knowing that you are here has been the most important thing. —
这些年似乎发生的事情不多，但知道你在这里是最重要的事情。 —

You must see to the end how very much I have loved you.”
你必须明白我有多么爱你才行。”

It was the usual thing, all over again.
这都是老一套了。

A very little more and she would be in tears, he could see. He changed the subject.
他看得出她很快就要哭了。他改变了话题。

“I have not known enormous numbers of women, but I have concluded that they all have their good points, and that the genuinely calm and equable ones are very rare indeed.
“我并不认识很多女人，但我得出的结论是她们都有吸引人之处，而真正冷静平和的人是非常罕见的。”

“There was Yūgiri’s mother. I was a mere boy when we were married and she was one of the eminences in my life, someone I could not think of dismissing. —
“曾是弓八的母亲。当我们结婚时，我还只是个年轻小伙子，她成为了我生命中的一位杰出人物，我无法想象把她赶走。” —

But things never went well. To the end she seemed very remote. —
但事情从来没有进展顺利。直到最后，她都显得很遥远。 —

It was sad for her, but I cannot convince myself that the fault was entirely mine. —
对她来说很难过，但我无法说服自己错误完全在我。 —

She was an earnest lady with no faults that one would have wished to single out, but it might be said that she was the cold intellectual, the sort you might turn to for advice and find yourself uncomfortable with.
她是一位认真的淑女，没有明显的缺点，但可以说她是冷漠的知识分子，你会去寻求建议，却感到不自在。

“There was the Rokujō lady, Akikonomu’s mother. —
六条院的女士、秋好物的母亲就是其中一个。 —

I remember her most of all for her extraordinary subtlety and cultivation, but she was a difficult lady too, indeed almost impossible to be with. —
我最记得她那种非凡的细腻和修养，但和她在一起却很难，几乎无法相处。 —

Even when her anger seemed justified it lasted too long, and her jealousy was more than a man could be asked to endure. —
即使她的愤怒似乎是正当的，也会持续太久，她的嫉妒远超过一个男人所能承受的范围。 —

The tensions went on with no relief, and the reservations on both sides made easy companionship quite impossible. —
紧张局势持续下去，双方的保留使得轻松的伴侣生活变得不可能。 —

I stood too much on my dignity, I suppose. I thought that if I gave in she would gloat and exult. —
我想我过分地坚守自己的尊严。我觉得如果让步的话，她会沾沾自喜。 —

And so it ended. I could see how the gossip hurt her and how she condemned herself for conduct which she thought unworthy of her position, and I could see that difficult though she might be I was at fault myself. —
最后一切结束了。我看到谣言对她造成的伤害，她为自己的行为感到不配担任之位而自责，我也看到虽然她很难相处，但问题出在我。 —

It is because I have so regretted what finally happened that I have gone to such trouble for her daughter. —
正是因为我如此后悔最终发生的事情，我为她的女儿付出了如此大的努力。 —

I do not claim all the credit, of course. —
当然我并不是要全权接受赞誉。 —

It is obvious that she was meant all along for important things. —
很明显，她一直都是注定要做重要的事情。 —

But I made enemies for myself because of what I did for her, and I like to think that her mother, wherever she is, has forgiven me. —
但我因为我为她所做的事情而招致了敌人，我希望她的母亲不管在何方都已原谅我。 —

I have on the impulse of the moment done many things I have come to regret. —
我本能地做了许多事情后来后悔了。 —

It was true long ago and it is true now. —
很久以前是真的，现在也是真的。 —

” By fits and starts, he spoke of his several ladies.
他断断续续地谈论起他的几位女士。

“There is the Akashi lady. I looked down upon her and thought her no more than a plaything. —
有个明石女士。我曾瞧不起她，认为她只不过是一个玩物。 —

But she has depths. She may seem docile and uncomplicated, but there is a firm core underneath it all. —
但她深不可测。她看起来温顺且简单，但底下有坚实的核心。 —

She is not easily slighted.”
她不容易受到轻视。

“I was not introduced to the other ladies and can say nothing about them,” replied Murasaki. —
“我并没有和其他女士见面，对她们一无所知，” 紫式部回答道。 —

“I cannot pretend to know very much about the Akashi lady either, but I have had a glimpse of her from time to time, and would agree with you that she has very great pride and dignity. —
“我虽然不太了解明石的女士，但偶尔见过她，我同意你的看法，她非常自豪和高贵。 —

I often wonder if she does not think me a bit of a simpleton. —
我常常在想她是否认为我有点傻。 —

As for your daughter, I should imagine that she forgives me my faults.”
至于你的女儿，我想她会原谅我我的过错。”

It was affection for the Akashi princess, thought Genji, that had made such good friends of Murasaki and a lady she had once so resented. —
源氏想，这是对明石公主的深情，让紫式部与她曾经如此反感的女士成为了如此要好的朋友。 —

Yes, she was splendid indeed.
是的，她真的很出色。

“You may have your little blank spots,” he said, “but on the whole you manage things as the people and the circumstances demand. —
“你可能有一些小瑕疵，” 他说，“但总的来说你还是按照人们和情况的需要在处理事情。 —

I have as I have said known numbers of ladies and not one of them has been quite like you. —
我既然已经见过很多女士，却没有一个像你这样的。 —

Not” — he smiled — “that you always keep your feelings to yourself.”
不是 — 他笑了 — 你总是把自己的感情藏在心里。”

In the evening he went off to the main hall. —
傍晚他走进了大厅。 —

“I must commend the princess for having carried out her instructions so faithfully.”
“我必须称赞公主如此忠实地执行她的指示。”

Immersed in her music, she was as youthful as ever. —
沉浸在音乐中，她依然如此年轻。 —

It did not seem to occur to her that anyone might be less than happy with her presence.
她似乎没有意识到可能有人对她的存在感到不快。

“Let me have a few days off,” said Genji, “and you take a few off too. —
“让我休息几天，” 源氏说，“你也休息几天。” —

You have quite satisfied your teacher. You worked hard and the results were worthy of the effort. —
你已经相当让你的老师满意了。你努力工作，结果也是值得的努力。 —

I have no doubts now about your qualifications. —
现在我对你的资格毫无疑问。 —

” He pushed the koto aside and lay down.
他把琴推到一边躺了下来。

As always when he was away, Murasaki had her women read stones to her. —
就像他不在的时候一样，紫的女官们替她抽签算命。 —

In the old stories that were supposed to tell what went on in the world, there were men with amorous ways and women who had affairs with them, but it seemed to be the rule that in the end the man settled down with one woman. —
在那些据说描绘世间事的古老故事中，总有放荡不羁的男人和跟他们有染的女人，但似乎规则是，最终男人都会与一个女人安定下来。 —

Why should Murasaki herself live in such uncertainty? —
为什么紫自己要生活在这样的不确定中呢？ —

No doubt, as Genji had said, she had been unusually fortunate. —
毫无疑问，正如源氏所说的，她一直非常幸运。 —

But were the ache and the scarcely endurable sense of deprivation to be with her to the end? —
但是痛苦和难以忍受的剥夺感会一直伴随着她到最后吗？ —

She had much to think about and went to bed very late, and towards daylight she was seized with violent chest pains. —
她要考虑的事情很多，因此很晚才上床睡觉，天亮前她突然被剧烈的胸痛折磨。 —

Her women were immediately at her side. Should they call Genji? —
她的女官们立刻围在她身边。他们是否应该去叫源氏呢？ —

Quite out of the question, she replied. Presently it was daylight. —
完全不可能，她回答说。不久就天亮了。 —

She was running a high fever and still in very great pain. —
她发高烧仍然痛苦不堪。 —

No one had gone for Genji. Then a message came from the Akashi princess and she was informed of Murasaki’s illness, and in great trepidation sent word to Genji. He immediately returned to Murasaki’s wing of the house, to find her still in great pain.
没有人去找源氏。然后来了一封来自明石公主的消息，她被告知了紫的病情，非常紧张地向源氏发送了消息。他立刻返回到紫居住的房间，发现她仍然剧烈疼痛。

“And what would seem to be the matter?” He felt her forehead. It was flaming hot.
“发生了什么事？”他摸了摸她的额头。它发烫。

He was in tenor, remembering that only the day before he had warned her of the dangerous year ahead. —
他感到恐惧，记得仅在前一天他曾警告她危险的来临。 —

Breakfast was brought but he sent it back. —
早饭送来了，但他退回了。 —

He was at her side all that day, seeing to her needs. —
那一天，他一直在她身边，照顾她的需要。 —

She was unable to sit up and refused even the smallest morsel of fruit.
她无法坐起来，甚至拒绝吃上一点水果。

The days went by. All manner of prayers and services were commissioned. —
日子一天天过去。各种祈祷和仪式都被委托。 —

Priests were summoned to perform esoteric rites. —
牧师们被召唤来进行秘密的仪式。 —

Though the pain was constant, it would at times be of a vague and generalized sort, and then, almost unbearable, the chest pains would return. —
虽然疼痛持续不断，有时是模糊而泛泛的痛感，但有时，胸口的疼痛几乎让人无法忍受。 —

An endless list of abstinences was drawn up by the soothsayers, but it did no good. —
占卜者列出了无尽的节制措施，但无济于事。 —

Beside her all the while, Genji was in anguish, looking for the smallest hopeful sign, the barely perceptible change that can brighten the prospects in even the most serious illness. —
源氏一直在她身边，忧心忡忡，寻找着最微小的希望之兆，那种即便是在最严重的疾病中也能照亮前景的微弱变化。 —

She occupied the whole of his attention. —
她占据了他全部的注意力。 —

Preparations for the visit to the Suzaku emperor, who sent frequent and courteous inquiries, had been put aside.
正准备去探访频频送来问候的朱雀帝。

The Second Month was over and there was no improvement. —
二月过去了，病情没有好转。 —

Thinking that a change of air might help, Genji moved her to his Nijō mansion. —
源氏认为换个环境可能有所帮助，便将她搬到了自己的二条府邸。 —

Anxious crowds gathered there and the confusion was enormous. —
担心的人群聚集在那里，混乱异常。 —

The Reizei emperor was much troubled and Yūgiri even more so. —
令仁孝天皇十分忧虑，而悠斋更是担心不已。 —

There were others who were in very great disquiet. —
还有其他许多人也非常担心不安。 —

Were Murasaki to die, then Genji would almost certainly follow through with his wish to retire from the world. —
如果紫一旦过世，那么源氏几乎肯定会实现他退隐世俗的愿望。 —

Yūgiri saw to the usual sort of prayers and rites, of course, and extraordinary ones as well.
隐吉丽为她举行了通常的祈祷和仪式，当然也有特别的。

“Do you remember what I asked for?” Murasaki would say when she was feeling a little more herself. —
“你还记得我要求过什么吗？” 紫在感觉好一点的时候会说。 —

“May I not have it even now?”
“我现在就不能实现吗？”

“I have longed for many years to do exactly that,” Genji would reply, thinking that to see her even briefly in nun’s habit would be as painful as to know that the final time had come. —
“我多年来一直渴望这样做，” 源氏回答道，认为即使短暂地看到她穿着尼姑服也会很痛苦，就像知道最后时刻即将来临一样。 —

“I have been held back by the thought of what it would mean to you if I were to insist on having my way. —
“我一直在考虑如果我坚持自己的方式会对你意味着什么。” —

Can you now think of deserting me?”
现在你能想象丢下我吗？

But it did indeed seem that the end might be near. —
但的确似乎临近终局。 —

There were repeated crises, each of which could have been the last. —
出现了一次次危机，每一次都可能是最后一次。 —

Genji no longer saw the Third Princess. Music had lost all interest and koto and flute were put away. —
源氏再也没有见到三王后。音乐完全失去了兴趣，琴箫都被收起来了。 —

Most of the Rokujō household moved to Nijō. At Rokujō, where only women remained, it was as if the fires had gone out. —
六条家的大部分人搬到了二条。在六条，只有女人们留下，就像火已经熄灭了一样。 —

One saw how much of the old life had depended on a single lady.
人们看到多少旧生活依赖于一个女士。

The Akashi princess was at Genji’s side.
明石的公主一直在源氏身边。

“But whatever I have might take advantage of your condition,” said Murasaki, weak though she was. —
“但我拥有的任何东西可能会利用你的情况，” 尽管紫虽虚弱但这样说。 —

“Please go back immediately.”
“请立刻回去。”

The princess’s little children were with them, the prettiest children imaginable. —
公主的孩子们跟着他们，想象中最漂亮的孩子。 —

Murasaki looked at them and wept. “I doubt that I shall be here to see you grow up. —
紫看着他们哭泣。“我怀疑我是否能活到看到你们长大。 —

I suppose you will forget all about me?”
我想你们会忘记我吧？”

The princess too was weeping.
公主也在哭泣。

“You must not even think of it,” said Genji. “Everything will be all right if only we manage to think so. —
“你们甚至不要想这个，”玄慈说。“只要我们设法这样想，一切都会好起来的。 —

When we take the broad, easy view we are happy. —
当我们从宏观视角看待问题时我们会快乐。 —

It may be the destiny of the meaner sort to rise to the top, but the fretful and demanding ones do not stay there very long. —
也许较为卑贱的命运是要上升到顶峰，但是易怒和索取的人并不会长久地停留在那里。 —

It is the calm ones who survive. I could give you any number of instances.”
是冷静的人才能生存下来。我可以给你举很多例子。”

He described her virtues to all the native and foreign gods and told them how very little she had to atone for. —
他向所有本土和外国的神灵描述了她的美德，并告诉他们她需要补偿的很少。 —

The venerable sages entrusted with the grander services and the priests in immediate attendance as well, including the ones on night duty, were sorry that they seemed to be accomplishing so little. —
负责更大祭祀的庄严圣贤们，以及直接侍奉的僧侣们，包括值夜勤的人，都很遗憾自己似乎没能完成多少。 —

They turned to their endeavors with new vigor and intensity. —
他们更加有活力和激情地投入工作。 —

For five and six days there would be some improvement and then she would be worse again, and so time passed. —
播种之后五六天会有所好转，然后她会再次恶化，如此时光流逝。 —

How would it all end? The malign force that had taken possession of her refused to come forth. —
这一切将如何结局？占据她的邪恶力量拒绝离去。 —

She was wasting away from one could not have said precisely what ailment, and there was no relief from the worry and sorrow.
她日渐消瘦，病情不明，忧愁和悲伤无法解除。

I have been neglecting Kashiwagi. Now a councill
我一直忽视樱木了。现在，读议会议。