A Tale of False Fortunes (11 page)

on the previous day, couching her account in vague terms.

Actually, Ukon, too, had plainly seen through a bamboo blind the dreadful mien of Ayame possessed by the spirit of the empress, appearing noble and at the same time alluring.

“That’s impossible! I know her highness’ thoughts very well.

She is not the kind of person who could ever do so shameless a thing as curse or despise someone. If she were really so strong-minded, she would have done everything in her power to prevent his majesty from appointing the minister of the left to be regent, and things would not have turned out this way. The palace minister and the middle counselor are chagrined that she didn’t try harder. But as you well know, the empress has slept with his majesty ever since he was just a boy and has taken care of him as if he were a younger brother. Because of that, his majesty has been all the more attached to the empress. Their love is a beautiful thing that has nothing to do with matters of government. To say that she turned into a living ghost and placed a curse on the empress dowager. . . . It’s just too awful. . . .” Nurse Chûshò, overcome by emotion, broke off in the middle of her sentence and sobbed, pressing her face into her sleeve.

Ukon no Naishi herself was well acquainted with the empress’

usual cool temperament and, even having seen the spectacle of the medium the previous day, did not want to believe it was true. But the sight of Ayame possessed by an evil spirit had simply been too vivid, and Ukon could not rule out the possibility that even in so refined a person as the empress there lay hidden, like a coiled serpent, vindictive feelings as can only be found in a woman’s heart.

Within a day or two the rumor had spread like fire through the women’s quarters surrounding the emperor’s palace, each messenger speaking in hushed tones with knitted brows and nervously batting eyes.

Korechika was surprised to hear the news from the senior assistant minister and hurried to the palace, but when he saw the calmly smiling face of the empress, who was unaware of the matter, he was unable to say anything about it and, after making some conversation on social matters, left her presence. He could not imagine that she, of all people, could harbor such
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malicious resentment. On the other hand, he accepted the reality of spirit possession and could not dismiss as groundless the possibility that the rancor and chagrin they felt at the adverse political situation should possess the empress also, or even that such subliminal enmity should eventually be directed against the life of the empress dowager. Takashina no Naritada, the grandfather of Korechika and the empress, was, in fact, continually performing secret prayers prohibited outside the court in order to place a curse on the empress dowager and Michinaga.

Now that the empress’ pregnancy had been confirmed, there was a strong possibility that the regency could return to her clan should anything happen to the empress dowager and Michinaga.

It never occurred to Korechika that the emperor’s heart might move away from the empress because of this incident.

On the contrary, it seemed to him that, since the emperor had until now always presumed upon the empress’ tenderness, there might rather grow in him a sense of awe that would cause him to take his consort more seriously. It is, certainly, typical of a person whose fortunes are declining to entertain only a hopeful view of matters and to indulge in wishful thinking, but Korechika was far more optimistic than Takaie in his estimation of human nature.

It was Takaie who candidly reported the matter to the empress. Unlike his elder brother, Takaie gave absolutely no credence to the news that his sister’s living ghost had menaced the empress dowager. As he spoke, the empress’ face—usually radiant as crystal water on a clear day—was overcast with shadows of fear and sadness. Her right arm quivered as she drew an armrest close to her, creating faint waves at the sleeve opening of her many-layered garment. After hearing him out, she sighed heavily. “Our older brother, Chûshò, and Ukon no Naishi all know of this, and yet they didn’t say anything to me, did they? Everyone is secretly thinking that maybe I really am cursing the empress dowager, aren’t they? It’s never apparent, after all, what is in people’s hearts. And besides, given the empress dowager’s low estimation of me, well, I myself could not say that I adore her either.”

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As she spoke, the empress flipped back the hair hanging over her cheeks as if annoyed by it. It was a slight gesture, but clearly the usual gracefulness of the empress was weakened, and it was pitiful to Takaie to see that she had been hurt so deeply by this.

“You’re the only one who believes me, aren’t you? You surely understand that I’m not such a vindictive woman that I would turn into a living ghost. You’ll go see his majesty and tell him that, won’t you? I think the reason he did not come to see me last night or the night before was because the dreadful evil spirit he saw at the Ichijò Palace gave him a fright. I feel sorry for his majesty that he is troubled by all this. Tell him to come to me tonight no matter what. If only he can see my face, then the troublesome suspicions will melt like ice before the morning sun. . . . ”

Watching the unusually animated keenness of the empress’

eyes and the movement of her lips on her flushed face, Takaie believed that if the emperor really met with her, his suspicions would easily be dispelled.

“I’m not worried about his majesty’s feelings. It’s just that, through this event, it’s plain to see that our uncle is anxious to dampen the emperor’s passions for you. Most likely, the lady-in-waiting who was the medium picked up your mannerisms and way of speaking from someone who is familiar with your daily deportment. You were just being imitated. Times being what they are, you must be careful about the kind of people serving at your side. Sei Shònagon, especially, has her eyes on you. From the time he was steward of the empress’ household, our uncle took delight in Shònagon’s wit and was always making conversation with her. What’s more, they say Shòshò no Kimi has become very withdrawn lately, but people know she is one of the regent’s lovers. Both Shònagon and Shòshò are clever women, and it doesn’t seem likely that either would do something reckless. But, just as a master may be bitten by his dog if he is not careful, you cannot be too certain about what those two might do. I plan to say this to his majesty as well, but you must be cautious, too.”

After stressing this point to the empress, Takaie went to see
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the emperor. His majesty seemed somehow pensive and dispirited. Takaie attributed it to the fact that it was a day of absti-nence, and proceeded with an animated account of a hunting trip to Òharano two or three days earlier. Only after that did he mention that the matter of the empress’ living ghost appearing in the palace seemed some kind of fraud.

The emperor himself was approaching such a conclusion after reflecting on the matter from various angles and having considered the empress’ usual behavior. He thus felt relieved when he listened to Takaie, as if a burden were being lifted from his shoulders. At the same time, he felt all the more ashamed that he had doubted even for a moment the purity of the empress’ heart.

From that evening on, the emperor once again began to frequent the empress’ quarters. Just as she had predicted, when they met face-to-face and talked intimately, holding one another’s hands, and when he felt her skin and become entangled in her black hair, all suspicion of her vanished like a dream.

Fortunately, the evil spirit did not reappear and the empress dowager improved somewhat. After a month had passed she returned to full health, and the dark rumors that had spread about the empress also faded away for a time.

In the meantime, there were other episodes: of Sei Shònagon’s being so chagrined at the failure of her collusion with Michinaga that for a while she did not appear for service; and of Shòshò no Kimi’s returning to her parents’ home on the pretext of illness. During this time, however, Kureha continued her dutiful service as before at the empress’ side, unsuspected by anyone. She had grown so tall and her body had so filled out that the empress remarked laughingly to the emperor: “Kureha has suddenly grown tall, hasn’t she? When I was inside the main building and saw her walking on the other side of the bamboo blinds, I mistook her for one of those tall boys who attend you.” Although no one took note of her reaction, when Kureha heard about the crazed behavior of the empress’ living ghost at the palace of the empress dowager, a fear stabbed her and for a while she was dumbfounded. It was all too plain to her that the
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medium had been her elder sister, Ayame, to whom she herself had described the details of the empress’ voice, choice of words, and every aspect of her deportment.

Michinaga was a farsighted schemer, and in using the two sisters as false mediums, he had employed as intermediary Kureha’s lover, the secretary of the imperial police, Tachibana no Yukikuni, rather than go directly through his nurse, the elderly nun. It had no doubt been painful for both Ayame and Kureha not being able to contact one another for two or three years, though they were both in court service in the same city.

Yukikuni, who from time to time had heard Kureha express longing for her sister, called for Ayame to come to his house once when he had brought Kureha there, and thus arranged for the two sisters to meet secretly. The text of
A Tale of False Fortunes
relates the particulars of this meeting as follows.

Yukikuni arranged for the two sisters to meet, whereupon
their regret at years of not having been allowed to see one
another vanished instantly. They set aside all formalities,
weeping and laughing as they talked. Kureha presumed
upon the affection of the elder sister whom she had not
seen for a long time, looking up at her from her yet-juvenile face. When they had finished talking about various things, including their late mother and their home-town of Nara, Ayame said that his lordship (Michinaga)
had heard from Shòshò no Kimi that the empress’ appearance was without equal, and that in order to educate his
eldest daughter as a candidate for imperial consort, he
was anxious to have her study the features and manners
of the empress. Shòshò no Kimi mentioned that whenever
he met with her, he hinted at his pleasure in hearing all of
the smallest details of the empress’ appearance and behavior. Yukikuni, who was sitting to the side of the two sisters,
commented, “That’s rendering good service to your lord.

Nobles with daughters aspiring to become imperial consorts don’t have a moment’s rest.” Kureha didn’t have the
slightest doubt about her older sister’s intentions, and
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after that, every time they had occasion to meet, she
taught her to imitate the empress’ mannerisms and voice.

Yukikuni himself had no idea that it was a plot on the part
of Michinaga. For Ayame, it was difficult to refuse her
lord’s command to play the part of a medium at the
appointed time, and she undertook the assignment. Since
his majesty was to visit the empress dowager on the morrow, Ayame wrote a letter asking if there had been no old
poems exchanged among last night’s intimate bed talk to
which others would not be privy. Kureha, thinking nothing of it, had written back telling of the poem on “The
grasses of love.” Later, when she recalled it and put two
and two together, she realized she had been duped, that
her elder sister had become a false medium and had
shamelessly used the imitations she had learned from her
to play the part of the empress’ living ghost before his
majesty. Fear seized Kureha’s heart. She felt as if she had
caught a terrifying glimpse of the bottom of the regent’s
heart, like a murky abyss where a great serpent lived.

When it occurred to her that his having been their
guardian these several years, looking after their every
need, was only part of a plot to create a rift between the
empress and his majesty, she realized they had made vain
her dead mother’s earnest entreaty to Kaneie that he not
use her two daughters as mediums, that she had seen with
her own eyes the evil that could come of it and had
learned a bitter lesson from it. Her sorrow was boundless
as she thought that now her sister, and even she herself,
had been turned into pathetic false mediums.

Kureha’s conscience was further seared to see that even after that, the empress did not appear to harbor the slightest suspicion of her. She even thought of quitting court service but soon abandoned the idea, realizing that if she left the empress’ side another intermediary would simply take her place. Rather than allow that to happen, she resolved instead to protect the empress from that point on, whereby she could atone for her sin of uninten-Chapter Three c
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tional betrayal and perhaps even merit a little of the empress’

benevolence. Kureha was somewhat relieved to hear later that Yukikuni had not taken part in Michinaga’s nefarious plot. After that, she received a letter from Ayame filled with apologies and excuses, but she felt no inclination ever to meet her sister again.

Notwithstanding the fact that she had grown up under Michinaga’s protection, before she knew it she found herself in the thick of a political battle. She was entangled by the cords of power and interests and was being made to dance according to them, and she felt wretched in the extreme.

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Chapter Four
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On the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month of Chòtoku 2

(996), an imperial edict was issued banishing Palace Minister Korechika to Tsukushi [Kyushu] and Middle Counselor Takaie to Izumo. One year after the death of Michitaka, it was obvious the sun had set on the declining fortunes of the former regent’s household. The barrier that had existed between Michinaga and Korechika was related to the rivalry between the empress dowager and the empress for the affections of the emperor, and all parties concerned realized that the barrier was growing wider by the day. Impressed indelibly in the empress dowager’s heart was the vivid image of the empress’ cursings delivered by Ayame of Miwa on the day of the imperial visit. Of course, she would have thought it vulgar to speak of such things to his majesty or to Michinaga, but when she heard that Korechika was having rites of imprecation performed against her, she appeared convinced that all of the former regent’s household, beginning with the empress, were hoping for her demise.