Page:The Sacred Tree (Waley 1926).pdf/275

 heroine was found, has in the course of ages become a little loose in the joints. But the character of Lady Kaguya herself, so free from all stain of worldly impurity, so nobly elevated both in thought and conduct, carries us back to the Age of the Gods, and if such a tale fails to win your applause, this can only be because it deals with matters far beyond the reach of your frivolous feminine comprehensions. To this the other side replied: 'The Sky Land to which Lady Kaguya was removed is indeed beyond our comprehensions, and we venture to doubt whether any such place exists. But if we regard merely the mundane part of your story, we find that the heroine emanated from a bamboo joint. This gives to the story from the start an atmosphere of low life which we for our part consider very disagreeable. We are told that from the lady's person there emanated a radiance which lit up every corner of her foster-father's house. But these fireworks, if we remember aright, cut a very poor figure when submitted to the august light of his Majesty's Palace. Moreover the episode of the fireproof ratskin ends very tamely, for after Abe no Ūshi had spent thousands of gold pieces in order to obtain it, no sooner was it put to the test than it disappeared in a blaze of flame. Still more lamentable was the failure of Prince Kuramochi who, knowing that the journey to Fairyland was somewhat difficult, did not attempt to go there but had a branch of the Jewel Tree fabricated by his goldsmith; a deception which was exposed at the first scratch.'

The picture was painted by Kose no Ōmi and the text was in the hand of Ki no Tsurayki. It was on Kanya