The Pillow Book

The following year, Empress Teishi moves to another part of the palace complex. Sei temporarily stays behind in the old quarters. After receiving several messages from Tadanobu, she meets with him, feeling sorry that despite the beautiful scene—Tadanobu is dressed magnificently, and the plum trees are in bloom—Sei is merely an “aging woman well past her prime,” dressed in drab mourning clothes.

That night, Sei goes to attend Empress Teishi. The other ladies are arguing, weighing the relative merits of various fictional heroes and eager for Sei to weigh in. Their conversation shifts to curiosity about Sei’s encounter with Tadanobu—everyone wants to hear the details. They tease Sei about the fact that only she would notice “the very threads and stitches” of Tadanobu’s outfit.

When someone returns home on a visit, there’s often gossip and criticism. Sei isn’t usually bothered by this, since she’s “not exactly renowned for [her] modesty and prudence.” One day, Norimitsu comes visiting and says that the Captain Consultant has been demanding to know Sei’s whereabouts, but that Norimitsu refrained from telling him by stuffing seaweed in his mouth. Days later, Sei receives a desperate note from Norimitsu, who’s still under pressure to reveal Sei’s whereabouts and wants to know what he should do. Sei sends back a piece of seaweed. Later, Norimitsu comes back, not having understood the message. In disgust, Sei writes a poem explaining it, which Norimitsu refuses to read. At this point, their friendly relationship begins to sour.

One day, during a Continuous Sutra Reading, Sei hears a strange voice asking if there are offerings available. When she goes to look, she sees an aging nun in dirty clothes. The nun has a surprisingly elegant voice. Sei pities the woman’s reduced circumstances, yet dislikes her apparent pretension. She puts together a bundle of rice cakes and snacks for the nun, at which point the nun becomes cheerful and chatty.

A group of gentlewomen sits around and questions the nun, who replies with jokes and suggestive songs. The Empress finds the nun off-putting, so the ladies shoo the poor woman away with a new gown. But from now on, the nun begins frequenting the palace grounds, still wearing her old, filthy gown. Around the same time, a “more refined beggar nun” appears at the palace, who abases herself respectfully and weeps with gratitude when given gifts. The other nun stops showing up so often.

That winter, there is a huge snowfall. The ladies order the servants and groundsmen to create a massive snow mountain in the garden. After it’s completed, the Empress has everyone guess how long the snow mountain will last. Most guess that it won’t last for more than a week or two, but Sei guesses that it will remain until the middle of the following month, and she stubbornly stands by this. She even prays fervently to the Kannon of White Mountain that the snow won’t melt.

The snow mountain lingers into the following month, but to Sei’s disappointment, the Empress retires to the imperial palace, so the household won’t be around to see what becomes of it. Before they leave, Sei bribes a gardener with food and promises of gifts, charging him to watch over the snow mountain in their absence. While away, Sei continues to obsess over the snow mountain’s survival. It lasts until the day before mid-month, and Sei eagerly anticipates composing a celebratory poem for Her Majesty. But when she sends a servant to gather a box of snow from the mountain, she learns that it has been demolished on the Empress’s orders. The Empress nevertheless thinks Sei is very clever and asks to hear the poem she’s been composing, but Sei sulkily refuses.