Sanuki no Suke’s Diary (12)

 

     At dawn on the 17th, Fujiwara Ieko said to me,

"Please allow me a moment.  My chest is extremely painful, so I will drink some decoction and return as soon as I can."

     She then left.  As soon as the sun set, she returned and saw the Emperor.

"Oh, how terrible.  Since I didn’t come to see him during the day, he has swelled up and become completely swollen."

     Hearing her say such things, the Emperor suspected,

"What are you murmuring?"  Ieko respomded,

"I'm telling her that you swelled up and became completely swollen during the day."

     The Emperor then replied,

"I can no longer hear clearly,"

and he appeared to have become even weaker.

     After a while,

     he said,

"I think this will be the end."  I hesitatingly said to him,

"Why do you think so?"

     He replied,

"The Bishop prayed with such single-minded intent, with black smoke rising from his head, but it's not working, and I don't feel any better.  In fact, I seem to be getting worse."

     I can't describe how I felt to hear that.