1 Kado-ide 門出 Departure

あづま路の道の果てよりも、なほ奥つ方生ひ出たる人、いかばかりかあやしかりけむを、いかに思ひ始めける事にか、世の中に物語といふ者のあんなるを、いかに見ばやと思ひつつ、つれづれなる昼間、宵ゐなどに、姉継母などやうの人々の、その物語、かの物語、光る源氏のあるやうなど、ところどころ語るを聞くに、いとどゆかしさまされど、我が思ふままに、そらに、いかでか覚え語らむ。

What a sight I must have been, born and raised beyond even the far end of the eastern highroad like I was! How did it all start? Let me see... I had always wanted to read the things called "tales". On the long, boring days and nights I would hear my sister and stepmother talking about this tale and that tale, about Shining Prince Genji, what he was like and so on--various bits and pieces--and I would feel such curiosity, but they could never remember and tell the stories the way I wanted, with each and every last detail.

いみじく心もとなきままに、等身に薬師仏を作りて、手洗いなどして、人間に密（みそか）に入りつつ、「京に疾（と）く上げ給ひて、物語の多く候ふなる、ある限り見せ給へ」と、身を捨てて額（ぬか）をつき、祈り申すほどに、十三になる年、上らむとて、九月三日門出して、いまたちといふ所に移る。

Filled with a painful longing, I had a Healing Buddha made equal to me in height, and when no one was around I would cleanse my hands and secretly enter the family shrine and pray: "Please let me go up to the capital soon! They say there are so many tales there-- please let me read them all!" I prostrated myself, forehead to the floor. And as I had prayed, in my thirteenth year, the word came: we were to go. We set out on September 3rd, and came to a place called Imatachi.

To be continued...

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