31
The ‘Lord of the Centre,’ i.e. the planet Saturn.
32
I.e. people with whom one can be quite at ease. It was usual to unharness one’s bulls at the gate.
33
Ki no Kami’s step-mother.
34
We learn later that Genji courted this lady in vain from his seventeenth year onward. Though she has never been mentioned before, Murasaki speaks of her as though the reader already knew all about her. This device is also employed by Marcel Proust.
35
Chūjō means ‘Captain,’ which was Genji’s rank at the time.