A Tale of False Fortunes

Chapter Two

Chapter Two c 39 Chapter Two c Emperor Ichijò’s mother, Senshi, was Michitaka’s and Michinaga ’s sister by the same mother. She was known as the Higashisanj ò Empress, and later, after taking the tonsure, as the empress dowager. It was through her influence that her father Kaneie became head of the Fujiwara clan and had the way open to hold sway over the entire country as regent; thus neither of her brothers would be outdone by the other in carefully attending to her wishes. From her childhood, however, Senshi had had a particular fondness for the youngest, Michinaga, believing that he possessed talents superior to those of his elder brothers. She secretly hoped, therefore, that Michinaga might be an advisor to her own son, Emperor Ichijò, but she was only too well aware through the history of her own ancestors that, blood relationships notwithstanding, struggles for political power could give rise to vicious feuds. For that reason, she was careful to betray no partiality toward Michinaga now that Michitaka had assumed the regency. There was no doubt in Michitaka’s mind that his political position was Senshi’s sole stay of support, but in reality she harbored a constant and deepening anxiety of which only her youngest brother Michinaga was actually aware. The emperor was of course her dearest son, but he had been at a tender age when he was elevated from crown prince to the throne, and the empress dowager could not help feeling that, as he increasingly assumed a public persona, the loyal affection he ought to have had for his mother alone was being diluted by his love for the new empress. Empress Teishi was a niece to the empress dowager. According to the customs of that time, there was nothing exceptional 40 c A Tale of False Fortunes about a wife’s being older than her husband, and if Teishi were a submissive young woman who had simply been raised in a somewhat liberal manner, the empress dowager would certainly not have grown so anxious. And yet, as an aristocrat’s daughter who had been brought up with the utmost care, Teishi was endowed with scintillating talent, and the fact that the emperor appeared to find this very refreshing invited his mother’s jealousy . In fact, as mentioned previously, a fashionably new salon was beginning to take shape around the emperor under the influence of such talented young nobles as Korechika and Takaie, with their sister Teishi as a binding force. That so peculiar a lady-inwaiting as Sei Shònagon was able without restraint to display her brilliant talent to the astonishment of the courtiers actually owed to the bright and free atmosphere that had grown up around Teishi. And, to the extent that the young emperor’s tastes were cultivated as a member of that salon, the empress dowager was saddened by the thought that he was gradually becoming estranged from her. The empress dowager hinted at those feelings in oblique terms to Michitaka, who, being a good-natured sort and fond of drink, did not listen sympathetically, but rather made a joke of her pensiveness and evaded discussion of the matter. It was in the fourth month of Chòtoku 1 (995)—the year after the services at Sakuzen Temple—that Michitaka passed away. From the first month, he had lost his appetite and would drink only water, and thus had grown quite gaunt. Within two or three months there was little hope for his condition. From spring of that year an epidemic spread in the capital; countless people died every day, and there were not a few well-known nobles and courtiers who succumbed to this malady. However, that was not Michitaka’s illness. In all likelihood, his digestive system was damaged by alcohol poisoning. By the third month, he himself no longer seemed confident that his illness could be easily cured and, upon secretly seeking an audience with the emperor, petitioned that during his illness his eldest son, Palace Minister Korechika, be appointed as acting regent. Chapter Two c 41 The emperor was sixteen years old at the time and had developed sufficient discretion in matters to render a decision. He thus approved the petition, and on the eighth day of the third month a proclamation was issued to Korechika that during the regent’s illness he should “execute government over the entire realm and all...