“The Tale of the Beautiful Otikubo” in brief
Once upon a time there used to be an average adviser named Minamoto no Tadaeri, and he had many beautiful daughters whom he loved and cherished in luxurious rooms. And he had another daughter, unloved, her mother he once visited, but she died a long time. And his main wife had a cruel heart, she disliked her stepdaughter and placed her in a small room – oticubo, hence the name of the girl – Otikibo, who in her family always felt lonely and defenseless. She had only one friend – a very young servant Akagi. Otikubo played beautifully on the zither and had a good needle, and so her stepmother always forced her to sheathe the whole house, which was beyond the strength of a fragile young lady. She was even deprived of the company of her beloved servant, but she managed to find a spouse – the sword-bearer Korenari. And he had a friend-the younger commander of the Left Guard, Mitieri. Hearing about the misfortunes of Otikubo, he set out to reduce her acquaintance and
But her voice was so gentle that Mitieri finally fell in love. It was morning, and he had to retire. Otikibo alone cried in her miserable little room, and Akogi began to decorate her poor room than she could, because there was no screen, no curtains, no beautiful dresses. But the maid smoked fragrant wands, took clothes from her aunt, got hold of the curtain, and when Mitieri left the house in the morning – there was a beautiful wash basin and delicious things for breakfast. But in the morning Mitieri retired, and yet there was still a third wedding night, which should be held
Real “treat the third night.” But that night it was raining heavily, and Mitieri hesitated: to go or not to go, and then they brought a message from the young lady: “Ah, often in the old days / I dashed down dewdrops of tears / And death called to myself in vain, / But the rain of that night’s sadness / Stronger will wet the sleeves. “
After reading it, Mitieri threw off a rich dress, dressed in worse clothes, and with only a sword-bearer set off on foot under a huge umbrella. Long and with adventure they reached in complete darkness. Otikibo, thinking that she was already so soon abandoned, sobbed into the pillows. Then Mitieri appeared, but in what form! All wet, dirty. But when he saw the rice balls, which the old couple always treated in the old days, he was moved. In the morning there was a noise in the estate – gentlemen and servants returned. Otikubo and Akogi did not remember themselves from fright. My stepmother, of course, peeped to Otikubo and immediately realized that something had changed: there was a pleasant smell in the closet, a curtain hung in front of the bed, the girl was dressed up. Mitieri looked at the crack and saw a lady of rather pleasant appearance, if not for his thick, frowning brows. Stepmother pozaras on a beautiful mirror Otikibo, got it from her mother, and, grabbing him, retired with the words: “And I’ll buy you another.” Mitieri thought: “How extremely nice and kind Oticubo.” Returning home, he wrote her a gentle letter, and she answered with a wonderful poem, and the swordwoman undertook to deliver it to the address, but accidentally dropped in the chambers of the sister Otikubo. She read with curiosity the love effusions and recognized the elegant handwriting of the orphan. The stepmother immediately looked at the letter and was frightened: we must prevent the marriage of Otikubo, or you will lose an excellent free seamstress. And even more she began to hate the poor young lady, throwing her work, and Mitieri, learning how she treated Otikubo, was very angry: “How do you tolerate?” Otikubo answered the words from the song that she was “a flower of a wild pear and that the mountain would not hide her from grief.” And in the house a terrible rush began, it was necessary to sew a smart suit for the son-in-law more quickly, and everyone, and stepmother and father, drove the daughter: rather, rather. And they scolded what the light cost, and all this Mitieri heard, lying behind the curtain, and Otikubo’s heart was bursting with grief. She began sewing, and Mitieri began to help her stretch the fabric, they exchanged gentle speeches. And the wicked stepmother, thick as a ball, with hair rare, like rat tails, overheard under the door and saw a beautiful young man in a white silk dress in a slit, and under the upper dress in a bright scarlet undergarment of polished silk and from below a train the color of a tea rose, was kindled by a terrible malignity and conceived the lime of Otikubo. She was talked to her father and locked in a tight pantry, left without food. And to top it off, the wicked stepmother decided to give the young lady an old uncle, still hungry for young girls. Mitieri languished in anguish, through Akogi they could secretly only exchange sad messages. Here is what Mitieri wrote to her: “Until life is quenched, / Hope will not fade away in me / We’ll see you again!” But you say: I will die! / Alas! A cruel word! “
Night fell, and the ruthless stepmother led her uncle into the pantry, blazing with love languor. Otikubo could only cry from such a love affliction, but Akogi told her to be seriously ill. Mitieri suffered and did not know what to do, the gates of the manor were on constipation. The Swordfighter began to think about going to the monks. The next night, Akogi managed to jam the door of the pantry so that the crappy old man could not get inside, and he fought and beat, but his feet froze on the bare floor, and besides, he grabbed his diarrhea, and he hurriedly retired. In the morning he sent a letter: “People laugh at me / I’m called a” dead tree “. / But do not believe in empty words. / Will warm in spring, tender warmth, / Beautiful color again bloom.”
In the morning the whole family, with their father and stepmother in the lead, with servants and household members, went to the festival to the sanctuaries of Kamo, and Mitieri did not wait a single minute. He harnessed the crew, windows in them curtained with simple curtains of fallen leaves and hurried along under the protection of numerous servants. Sword-bearer rode ahead on horseback. Arriving at the stepmother’s house, Mitieri rushed to the storeroom, the sword-maker helped break the door, Otikubo found herself in the arms of Mitieri, Akogi grabbed her aunt’s things, the casket for the crests, and the crew flew out of the gate on the wings of joy. Akogi did not want her stepmother to think that Otikubo was in Uncle’s hands, and she left his love message on the table. Arriving at the house of Mitieri, the lovers could not talk, and laughed to tears over the unlucky old man, who at the crucial moment had grabbed diarrhea. Father with his stepmother, returning home and finding the closet empty, came in a terrible fury. Only the youngest son of Saburo said that Otikubo had acted badly. Where Otikubo disappeared, no one knew.
Stepmother, conceived to marry one daughter, sent a matchmaker to Mitieri, and he, wishing to take revenge on the evil witch, decided for the species to agree, and then to marry another person to inflict a terrible insult on her. Mitieri had a cousin named Belomordy Konek, a fool of which is not enough, his face was horsey, incomprehensible whiteness, and his nose acted in some surprising way. On his wedding day with his stepmother’s daughter, although he felt sorry for the innocent girl, hatred of her stepmother prevailed, he instead sent his brother, whose ugliness and stupidity in an elegant outfit did not immediately catch sight, and the glory of Mitieri as a brilliant secular gentleman helped the cause. But very soon everything turned out, and my stepmother seemed to lose her grief because of grief: the very son-in-law was a fool of himself, a frail one, and his nose looks high into the sky with two huge holes.
In the house of Mitieri, life continued to flow more and more happily and carefree, Akogi became a housekeeper, and her delicate figure returned throughout the house, she even got a new name – Emon. Mitieri enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, he gave him purple-colored dresses, wrapped in fragrances, from his shoulder. And Otikubo could show her art, she sewed ceremonial dresses for Mitieri’s mother, an elegant lady, and for his sister, the Emperor’s wife. Everyone was delighted with the cut, the selection of flowers. Mother Mitieri invited Otikubo-and she already wore a child in the womb-to a gallery covered with cypress crust, to admire the festival of the Kamo sanctuary, and Otikubo, having appeared, eclipsed everyone with her beauty, childlike innocence, a wonderful outfit of purple silk, woven with patterns, and on top of it – another, colored juice of red and blue flowers.
Finally, Otikubo was discharged from the burden by her firstborn son, and a year later she brought another son. Father Mitieri and he himself received high posts at court, and believed that Otikubo brought them happiness. Father Otikubo grew old, lost influence at the court, his brother-in-law, with whom he was proud, left him, and the White-boned Horse only shamed him. He thought Otikubo disappeared or died. Father and stepmother decided to change the house, which brought them misfortune, and restored and shine in the old house, which once belonged to the late mother Otikubo. The house was cleaned more carefully and was about to move, but then Mitieri knew about it, and it became clear to him that this house belongs to Otikubo, her letters are all right. He decided that his wicked stepmother and his daughters would not let him into the house and solemnly moved himself. Mitieri rejoiced, and in the house of his stepmother, everything was discouraged, Akogi also rejoiced, Only Otikubo wept bitterly and pitied the old father, begging him to return the house to him. Then Mitieri took pity on him and innocent sisters and younger Saburo and invited them to him. The old man was overjoyed to see his daughter, and even more – a happy change in her fate, he was terrified of recalling his former cruelty to his daughter and was surprised by his blindness. The old man was awarded with fine gifts – real treasures – and began to take care of him so much that words can not be described. They arranged in his honor the reading of the Lotus sutra, invited many distinguished guests, eight days the monks read the scrolls, gatherings became more populous day by day, the Emperor’s wife herself sent precious beads to the altar of the Buddha. The screens in the banquet hall were decorated with twelve wonderful paintings according to the number of moons per year.
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