Sanuki no Suke’s Diary: Days of Imperial Mourning (3)

 

     It was the first monthly memorial of the new year since the late Emperor’s passing. Thinking that the turn of the year should be no reason to neglect my duty, I set out for the Horikawa-in Palace.

     The ladies remaining there welcomed me with surprise, saying, "Look who's here. We heard you were now serving at the Imperial Palace, so we assumed you wouldn't come this month."

     "How could I not come?" I replied. "I intend to serve His late Majesty to the very end. No matter how occupied I might be, I will never fail to visit."

     They murmured to one another, "How deeply moving it is that she never misses a single month." Then, they turned to me and said, "Just to keep ourselves busy in our obscurity, we offer flowers to the Lotus Sutra copied by Her Majesty."

     As each of them shuffled off to fetch their flowers, it was a rather pathetic sight.