A Tale of False Fortunes Read Free

to give an accounting of what is unavoidably lost in translation. Most regrettably in the present case, the distinction between Enchi’s prose in modern Japanese and her unusually adept rendering of Heian-style language is here nec-essarily leveled into undifferentiated modern English, and this detracts in no small measure from its effectiveness in maintaining the balance between verisimilitude and unbelievability that is so essential to the working of the narrative. The possibility of rendering the “ancient” passages into archaic English was considered, but since a pre-Chaucerian style would be necessary in order to approximate the degree of difference in the original, I felt the result might be uninviting to readers. In an attempt to compensate visually and psychologically for what has been lost stylistically, a contrasting typeface has been used for the passages from Enchi’s “source” document. I have also endeavored to employ a perceptibly dissimilar style in translating these sections. Further, the rendition of the complex system of honorifics found in the speech of Heian courtiers into English—that most democratic of tongues—inevitably results in an effect palpably different from the original, and I can only hope that my attempts sound neither stilted nor too demotic.
    For translations of ranks and titles, I am indebted to William 6 c Introduction

    H. and Helen Craig McCullough’s usages in their translation of A Tale of Flowering Fortunes, the historical source to which Enchi’s work is intended to provide an alternative perspective.
    To emphasize the intended parallelism between the two works, I have rendered the title as A Tale of False Fortunes, although
    “A Tale of False Oracles” or “A Tale of a False Shaman” would have been more literal. I wish to take this occasion to thank the two anonymous readers of the University of Hawai‘i Press for their thoughtful criticism and constructive suggestions.
    R. K. T.
    Sources
    Bargen, Doris G. A Woman’s Weapon: Spirit Possession in the The Tale of Genji. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1997.
    Enchi Fumiko. The Waiting Years. Trans. John Bester. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1971.
    Enchi Fumiko. Uen no hitobito to: Taidanshû. Tokyo: Bungei Shunjû, 1986.
    Gessel, Van. “The ‘Medium’ of Fiction: Fumiko Enchi as Narrator.” World Literature Today (1988): 380–385.
    Hulvey, S. Yumiko. “The Intertextual Fabric of Narratives by Enchi Fumiko.” In Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives. Ed. Charles Wei-hsun Fu and Steven Heine. Albany: State University Press of New York, 1995, 169–224.
    Kamei Hideo and Ogasawara Yoshiko. Enchi Fumiko no sekai.
    Tokyo: Sòrinsha, 1981.
    McCullough, William H., and Helen Craig McCullough, trans.
    A Tale of Flowering Fortunes: Annals of Japanese Aristocratic Life in the Heian Period. 2 vols. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980.
    Rimer, J. Thomas. “Japanese Literature: Four Polarities.” Japanese Aesthetics and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Nancy G. Hume.
    Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995, 1–25.
    Takenishi Hiroko. “Namamiko monogatari ron.” Tenbò (Jan.
    1976): 162–171.
    “Teidan: kyûtei saijo no miryoku.” Kyûtei o irodoru saijo.
    Ed. Tsubota Itsuo. Nihon hakken jinbutsu shiriizu 12.
    Tokyo: Akatsuki Kyòiku Tosho, 1983, 29–36.
    Introduction c 7

    Historical Figures in A Tale of False Fortunes L Morosuke
    (908–960)
    L (Takashina no) Naritada
    (926–998)
    L Kaneie - - - -G Tokihime
    (929–990)
    (d. 980)
    L Michitaka - - -G Kishi
    L Michikane L Michinaga- - - G Rinshi
    G Senshi---- L Emperor
    (953–995)
    (d. 996?)
    (961–995)
    (966–1028) (964–1053) (962–1002)
    En’yû
    (959–991)
    G Shòshi------------ L Emperor Ichijò
    L Korechika
    G Teishi
    L Takaie
    (988–1074)
    (980–1011)
    (973–1010) (976–1001) (979–1044)
    G Shûshi
    L
    G
    Atsuyasu
    Bishi
    (997–1050)
    (999–1018) (1001–1008)
    L Emperor Go-Ichijò
    L Emperor