1Suyetsumuhana. See vol. i, ch. vi. I shall henceforward call her Suyetsumu.
2Such a term must only be taken as a rough equivalent.
3Of these three romances the first is quite unknown; the second must have been a Taoist fairy story, for ‘Hakoya’ is the ‘Miao-ku-shē’ of Chuang Tzŭ, Chapter I,—a divine mountain inhabited by mysterious sages. The third is either identical with theTaketori Monogatari(‘The Bamboo-cutter’s Story’) or at any rate treated the same theme.
4Kanya River (‘Paper-makers’ River’) is between Hirano and Kitano, near Kyōto. Michinoku paper, from the province of that name, was made of spindle-wood. These stout Japanese papers become thick and fluffy with age.
5TheSaddharmapundarika Sūtra.
6The sovereign divinity of the Chinese Taoists.
7Eleventh month.
8‘I knew it not, but an old man must I be indeed; the pine-tree that with my hands I planted spreads its boughs so high.’