‘I was taking lessons from her father, who was a Professor. I had heard that he had several daughters, and some accidental circumstance made it necessary for me to exchange a word or two with one of them who turned out to be the learned prodigy of whom I have spoken.
The father, hearing that we had been seen together, came up to me with a wine-cup in his hand and made an allusion to the poem of The Two Wives.28
Unfortunately I did not feel the least inclination towards the lady. However I was very civil to her; upon which she began to take an affectionate interest in me and lost no opportunity of displaying her talents by giving me the most elaborate advice how best I might advance my position in the world.
She sent me marvellous letters written in a very far-fetched epistolary style and entirely in Chinese characters; in return for which I felt bound to visit her, and by making her my teacher I managed to learn how to write Chinese poems. They were wretched, knock-kneed affairs, but I am still grateful to her for it.
Sin embargo, no era en absoluto la clase de mujer que me habría importado tener como esposa, pues aunque puede haber ciertas desventajas en casarse con una perfecta imbécil, es aún peor casarse con una marisabidilla. ¡Menos aún necesitan príncipes como tú y Genji un caudal tan enorme de intelecto y erudición para vuestro sustento! Con tal de que sea alguien a quien el karma de nuestras vidas pasadas nos atraiga en simpatía natural, ¿qué importa si de vez en cuando su ignorancia nos entristece? A decir verdad, incluso los hombres me parece que se las arreglan muy bien sin gran instrucción.
Aquí se detuvo, pero Genji y los demás, deseosos de escuchar el final de la historia, exclamaron que, por su parte, les parecía una mujer sumamente interesante. Shikibu protestó diciendo que no deseaba continuar con el