Chapter 5: 5

That night, three people gathered together in front of Shishinden Hall, beneath the cherry tree. [1] Seimei arrived a little late. He wore a soft white kariginu [2], carrying a jug which was tied by a string to his left hand. Although he carried a lantern in his right hand, he seemed to have left it unlit, walking in the dark. On his feet, he wore pale black lacquered shoes.

 

Hiromasa was already standing beneath the cherry tree, looking as if he were ready to go to war, dressed in traditional sokutai [3], with a bandage and chinstrap attaching the kanmuri to his head. On his left hip was his long curved sword, in his right hand he held his bow, and on his back he carried a single arrow.

 

Seimei called out, "Hi," and Hiromasa replied, "Hey." [4]

 

Next to Hiromasa stood a petite man who was dressed as a Buddhist priest, with a bamboo biwa tied to his back.

 

"This one is Semimaru-dono -" [5] Hiromasa introduced him to Seimei. Semimaru bent his knees slightly and gave a quick bow of his head.

 

"You are Seimei-dono?"

 

"Yes. I am Abe no Seimei, from the office of the Onmyodo." Seimei's tone was courteous, the scene quiet. "I've heard of Priest Semimaru from Hiromasa." He spoke in a far more elegant style than he would have were it only he and Hiromasa chatting together.

 

"I've listened to Hiromasa-dono speak of you as well, Seimei-dono." The petite priest bowed his head. The curve of his neck was slender, like a crane.

 

"After hearing the tale of the biwa which plays in the dead of night, certainly you'd want to hear it for yourself." Hiromasa said.

 

Seimei gazed at him, that Hiromasa, and asked, "Do you go out like this every night?"

 

"No, no, but tonight there are others here. I can't do this alone." Once Hiromasa had spoken, a low, masculine voice could be heard, from near Seiryo-den Hall. A quiet voice, choral, dark and gloomy, calling, "My love..." A miserable voice.

 

The voice drew closer, and a white figure appeared in the darkness from the western end of Shishinden Hall, floating dazedly. [6] In the cool evening air, rain thin as silk faded into mist. Raindrops hovered midair, failing to fall to the ground around its shadowed form.

 

"My reputation remains," He walked beneath the orange tree. [7] His face wasn't pale, and he wore the white robes of a civil official. Atop his head sat his cap, his sword lowered at his side, the hem of his robes trailing the ground.

 

"Tadami-dono -" Seimei murmured.

 

"Seimei," Hiromasa kept an eye on Seimei.

 

"It has appeared for a reason. Let's leave it be -"

 

There is no law that dictates what must be done with the powers of yin and yang.

 

"I don't know, I've only just started thinking - " The ghost vanished, then reappeared in front of Shishinden Hall. It was as if it was melting into the shimmering, hazy atmosphere, disappearing along with its screaming voice.

 

"It's such a somber tone," Semimaru muttered.

 

"It's also a demon." Seimei said.

 

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It wasn't long before they heard the sound of the biwa.

 

Pop!, Seimei gave a little tap with his hand.

 

Then, from the other side of the shadows, a woman's form quietly appeared. Clearly seen was her outfit, the karaginu and the mo - in other words, she was a beautiful woman dressed in full ceremonial robes. [8] With the skirt trailing behind her, she stepped into the light of the lantern Hiromasa held in his hands. The outfit fully revealed was a wisteria colored, full bodied kimono.

 

She came to a halt before Seimei. Small, white eyelids lay closed.

 

"This Mitsumushi, she shall lead the way," Seimei said. The woman took a lantern from Seimei into her white hand. The lamp lit up.

 

"Mitsumushi?" Hiromasa said. "Isn't that what you named that aged wisteria?"

 

Hiromasa remembered, from just this morning, the mauve color and sweet scent of the wisteria in the garden of Seimei's estate. No, he didn't just remember. The scent, if he was not mistaken, was coming unwound from the body of the woman before him, floating to his nostrils on the chilly night air.

 

"A Shikigami?" Hiromasa said, and Seimei gave a small, enticing smile.

 

"A curse," He murmured. Hiromasa was watching that face.

 

"You're a truly mysterious man." Hiromasa said with a sigh. Seeing the clear light Seimei had passed to the woman, he looked to the lantern in his own hand. Semimaru had no light either, only Hiromasa did. "Am I the only one who needs a lantern?"

 

"I am blind - the morning and evening are all the same to me." [9] Semimaru said in a low tone.

 

Mitsumushi turned back, her wisteria colored robes trailing behind her, walking through the hazy rain that hung in the air like mist. [10]

 

The sound of the biwa rang out.

 

"Let's go." Seimei said.

 

Chapter Five Notes 

[1] Shishinden Hall's Cherry Tree - there are two trees in front of Shishinden Hall, a cherry tree, or sakura tree, called Sakon-no-Sakura, and an orange tree (tachibana) called Ukon-no-Tachibana. They are sacred trees; while the same tree hasn't always stood in these spots, as they've died over the years, there has been a tree in those two spots since the palace was created. 

[2] Kariginu - informal clothing for nobles from the Heian period. 

[3] Sokutai - incredibly formal wear for nobles; the Kanmuri is a hat worn with it. The juxtaposition here shows that Seimei is very relaxed and informal, while Hiromasa is taking it very seriously and is perhaps overdressed. 

[4] Hi, Hey - the greetings used here are really friendly and informal. Seimei says 'やあ' or 'Yā' which is like saying 'hi', and Hiromasa says 'おう' or 'ō', which is a little more ambiguous but as a greeting it means something like 'hey'. It can also mean 'oh', or an affirmative agreement, but I went with hey.

[5] Dono - a suffix which is best translated as 'lord' or 'master' but does not imply nobility. It's used with someone who is of equal social status as yourself, whom you greatly respect. Still not as respectful as 'sama'.

[6] There's a word used here, '夜 眼', which translates to 'night eyes'. The line basically says she appeared in the night eyes, which sounds like it might be some kind of phrase with special meaning but literally all I can find is My Hero Academia articles when I google it. So I changed it to appearing in darkness. 

[7] 我が 名 は まだき 立ち に けり - 'My name/reputation is still standing.' I think it's implying that the ghost is recognizing that someone remembers it.

[8] A few pieces of clothing are mentioned here, and they're all part of the 12 layered ceremonial kimonos noblewomen would have worn at the time, the junihitoe. The mo was the apron that trailed behind them, the karaginu was a short Chinese style coat.

[9] Semimaru, as a historical figure whose life is as much myth as it is fact, has often been interpreted as a blind person. Blindness was heavily associated with the musical tradition in Japan [read on the biwa hoshi or the goze]

[10] I had to cut a line here because I was unable to translate it. It was a single symbol, 嫋, which I could not find in any dictionary and without any other words to give it context, I couldn't puzzle it out. It's possibly some kind of sound effect. 

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