exclaimed. But she had heard that someone was living with him and had at once made up her mind that she herself had been utterly supplanted and put aside. Hence she was more sullen than ever; but he pretended not to notice it and by his gaiety and gentleness at last induced her to answer when he spoke. Was it her being four years older than him that made her seem so unapproachable, so exasperatingly well-regulated? But that was not fair. What fault could he possibly find in her? She was perfect in every respect and he realized that if she was sometimes out of humour this was solely the result of his own irregularities. She was after all the daughter of a Minister, and of the Minister who above all others enjoyed the greatest influence and esteem. She was the only child of the Emperor’s sister and had been brought up with a full sense of her own dignity and importance. The least slight, the merest hint of disrespect came to her as a complete surprise. To Genji all these pretensions naturally seemed somewhat exaggerated and his failure to make allowances for them increased her
El padre de Aoi estaba irritado por la aparente inconstancia de Genji, pero tan pronto como estaba con él olvidaba todos sus resentimientos y se mostraba siempre sumamente amable con él. Cuando Genji se marchaba al día siguiente, su suegro fue a su habitación y lo ayudó a vestirse, trayendo en sus propias manos un cinturón que era una reliquia famosa por doquier. Alisó la espalda de la túnica de Genji, que se había arrugado un poco, y, vaya, poco faltó para que le llevara los zapatos, pues le prestó de la manera más amistosa cualquier servicio menor posible. > —Esto —dijo Genji devolviendo el cinturón— es para banquetes imperiales u otras grandes ocasiones de esa