luck alone

A natural beauty. Today, we are in luck.
----------------------------------------------------

"To remember me by," said Tono Chujo, giving in return what was recognized to be a very fine flute. The situation demanded a certain reticence in the giving of gifts.

The sun was high, and Tono Chujo's men were becoming restive. He looked back and looked back, and Genji almost felt that no visit at all would have been better than such a brief one.

"And when will we meet again? It is impossible to believe that you will be here forever."

"Look down upon me, cranes who skim the clouds,
And see me unsullied as this cloudless day."

"Yes, I do hope to go back, someday. But when I think how difficult it has been for even the most remarkable men to pick up their old lives, I am no longer sure that I want to see the city again."

"Lonely the voice of the crane among the clouds.
Gone the comrade that once flew at its side."

[The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu. Ch. 12]



[Kinkakuji Gardens, Kyoto]