82 pages • 2 hours read
Murasaki ShikibuThe Tale Of Genji
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Prologue-Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary: “Genji on the Art of Fiction”
In the Royall Tyler abridged translation of The Tale of Genji, the edition begins with a Prologue excerpt, taken from the twenty-fifth chapter of the text (which is a chapter not included in this edition). The excerpt features a conversation between Genji and Tamakazura, Yugao’s daughter, as she is copying a tale during the rainy season.
When Genji discovers the girl’s activity and love of the illustrated tales, he jokes with her about how easily fooled she is to believe the stories are real: “There is hardly a word of truth in all this, as you know perfectly well, but you are caught up in fables, taking them quite seriously and writing away […]” (1).
Tamakazura retorts that since Genji is a liar, he will see lies in all places. Realizing he has been misunderstood, and now rather amused, Genji clarifies he has been “very rude to speak ill to you of tales!” (2), and continues to specify his deeper thoughts on the value of fictional stories: “Not that tales accurately describe any particular person; rather, the telling begins when all those things the teller longs to have pass on to future generations […] it is wrong always to dismiss what one finds in tales is false […]” (2).
