A Tale of False Fortunes by Fumiko Enchi Read Free Book Online

hale and youthful appearance bespoke a nature completely different from that of Ayame, and Michinaga was somewhat disappointed. He nevertheless posed two or three casual questions, to which her answers were lucid, indicating a quickness of mind.
    The sisters thought it a somewhat strange audience. Michinaga soon summoned Ayame and told her that for the time being he would maintain Kureha at the hermitage of the nun. He told Ayame to leave everything concerning her sister’s future service up to him, and also strictly forbade her to tell anyone that Kureha was nearby.
    Having thus taken care of matters, Michinaga one day paid a call at the palace of the empress. There he used the occasion Chapter One c 29

    to visit an old lover of his in the women’s apartments, a lady-in-waiting named Shòshò no Kimi.
    Shòshò had just finished helping wash the empress’ hair. She had pulled out a screen and was lying down, but when she realized that Michinaga had come she hurriedly got up.
    “Napping in the middle of the day! You’re quite the proper young lady, aren’t you?” said Michinaga jokingly as he sat down beside her, dispensing with formalities.
    “Well, how sarcastic your lordship is! I just finished helping wash the empress’ hair, and so I’m quite exhausted. Her hair, you know, is quite unlike anyone else’s. It’s utterly amazing that so much long hair could grow out of that little head.”
    “Really? It’s such splendid hair, is it? . . . I’m sure it must be a lot of trouble to wash, then.”
    “It’s really awful, I tell you. . . . Even with two or three of us working at it, it takes a long time before we’re completely finished. . . . And then today, his majesty paid a visit in the middle of all that, and we were quite at a loss as to what to do.” To Michinaga, what Shòshò had mentioned innocently was more than of passing interest; these were all things that must be remembered.
    “So, then, what did his majesty do? Did he wait patiently until you were finished washing the empress’ hair?”
    “No, he . . .” With a somewhat affected gesture, Shòshò put her cypress-ribbed fan to her mouth and smiled.
    “He’s still so young, and he just couldn’t be patient. What’s more, he insisted on seeing the empress today, so he had us bring a lot of old picture scrolls for him to look at while he passed the time.”
    His majesty, unable to wait any longer, finally just went right in after they had finished washing the empress’ hair and were drying it.
    It was summer, and the empress was sitting near a pillar in the main building where the blinds had been raised. She had three or four women fanning her newly washed, luxuriant black hair in order to dry it. Her skin, so white it looked as if it might melt like snow, was visible under the pale violet hue of her thin 30 c A Tale of False Fortunes robe. That, combined with the luster of her hair spread out to cover her entire back, gave her an exotic mermaid-like beauty.
    “Oh, your majesty . . . you mustn’t come in here!” remonstrated an elderly lady-in-waiting. But the emperor appeared to pay no heed; he approached the empress and gently stroked her hair.
    “Your hair is cold. I think I’ll make it my bedding and go to sleep,” he said in the tone of a spoiled child, snuggling his cheek against the empress’ back. There was no way anyone could reprove the youthful emperor, but the ladies-in-waiting were worried lest the empress feel distressed. She turned, her countenance as serene as ever, and said: “If you make this your bedding, my coldness will penetrate you, and you’ll end up as the frozen emperor.”
    With that she gathered the ends of her hair and pulled it up over the emperor with his cheek pressed against her, concealing his slight build behind a glossy, raven-black curtain.
    The emperor laughed euphorically and remained motionless for a long time, buried in the empress’ black hair.
    Michinaga roared with openhearted laughter