Sanuki no Suke's Diary (2)

 

And so, from July 6th, the Emperor's illness became increasingly serious, and — of course, we had never thought the Emperor had been in good health before, but he had never appeared in such pain before, and now that he had suddenly fallen ill — we all felt heartbroken and wondered what would happen next.

Unfortunately, at that time, the upper-class ladies-in-waiting were busy with other commitments and were unable to attend the Emperor's side.  One was giving birth, one was mourning for her mother, and another had withdrawn from the outside world to her home for some time and had not visited the Palace for 2 or 3 years.  As for the Emperor’s wet nurses; my elder sister, Fujiwara Kenshi (1150-1133), had a persistent fever and could not attend the Palace; and Fujiwara Mitsuko (1060-1121), taking care of the Crown Prince who had grown up with his mother died in her puerperal period, was unable to attend the Emperor's side as she wished, and she herself caught fevers in cycles recently.  Only 3 people were by the Emperor's side, including Fujiwara Ieko, Minamoto Shishi (1070-1149), and myself.  As the Emperor is ill, we need more help and more people to take care of him personally.  Even people of low status would need more when they were to fall ill.