Dvorjani na obisku pri gospodu iz Fušimija

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Dvorjani na obisku pri gospodu iz Fušimija

This too is a tale of long ago. Some twenty court gentlemen descended unannounced upon the residence of the Lord of Fushimi, Master of Palace Repairs, throwing the household into a sudden bustle. Dishes to accompany the wine were brought out at once and set on gold-flecked lacquer tables; one may well imagine the variety of seasonal delicacies laid before them. As the cups went round again and again, the guests grew merry and began to jest. Now, in the stables stood twenty black horses, each with a little white on its forehead, and twenty ceremonial saddles hung on the saddle racks. When the court gentlemen were thoroughly drunk, their host had these saddles put on the horses and sent each guest home mounted on one. The next morning they said to one another, “What a splendid reception he gave us yesterday! Come, let us descend upon him again.” So the twenty of them went back. This time, though their visit was just as sudden, there was none of the previous day’s bustle, and the furnishings had been splendidly arranged. When they looked into the stables, they found twenty dark chestnut horses standing there. These too had white foreheads. Indeed, there was scarcely another man like him. He was a son of the Lord of Uji, but since that lord had many children, he had him adopted by Tachibana no Toshitō, a wealthy man of the day, and so, they say, enabled him to live in such style.