Chapter 23, "The First Warbler"
I'd like to think that I'm getting better at keeping to a schedule, but really, this chapter is just pretty short.
Chapter 23, "The First Warbler" (text, wiki): In which the New Year is celebrated elegantly.
On the New Year, Genji visits each of the residents of the Rokujo mansion in turn. The Akashi lady sends a poem to her daughter and is pleased to hear back from her, since they have been separated for so long (though her daughter remains with Murasaki). Genji spends the night with the Akashi lady, to Murasaki's mild annoyance.
When Genji visits Tamakazura, the narration suggests a change to come with regard to her, but I'm not quite sure what:
And what might have happened to her if he had not brought her here? (The question may have suggested that he was already thinking of certain changes.)
After New Year's, Genji visits Nijo where the safflower princess and-to my surprise-the lady of the locust shell reside. Genji quasi-scolds the safflower princess for letting herself get cold:
He was concerned. "Who is in charge of your wardrobe? You live a rather informal life here, and I should think that informal dress might be called for. Quilted garments, for instance, have much to recommend them. You worry too much about appearances."
She managed a short laugh. "I have my brother to look after, the priest at Daigo, and I have no time to think about my own clothes. I do get a little chilly. I let him have my sable."
Yes, she had a sable. And a brother, also the possessor of a safflower nose. She was an honest lady but not a very practical one. He felt very honest himself when he was with her, away from the niceties and deceptions of the elegant life.
"I think you did well to let him have your sable. It rains a great deal off in the mountains, and I am sure he needs a raincoat. But what of yourself? You need some underclothing, really you do. Pile it on, seven and eight layers of it. I am sometimes forgetful in these matters, and you must keep reminding me. You must not put up with my obtuseness."
I am reluctantly amused.
I think this is the first time we'd heard of the lady of the locust shell since she became a nun; I was surprised, as I said, to see her mentioned here. G=P for giving her a place to live, however, in contrition for his past wrongs.
There's also a comment that "He was seeing to the needs of others in this same matter-of-fact way. He looked in on all of them," and I'm not sure who else lives there. No-one else is named.
Finally, there's a funny bit when carolers (including Yugiri) come around:
The sleeves emerging from the blinds as each of the ladies sought to outdo all the others made one think of a tapestry spread out in a spring haze. It was all quite magical, if in a very slightly unsettling way, the high caps [on the singers] so far from the ordinary and the noisy congratulations and all the trappings and appurtenances.
Two general impressions: one, this chapter had very little that annoyed me; and two, this really felt like a wrapping-up or summary chapter, perhaps before we move on to something else?