春、夕霧の宇治山荘で薫、匂宮ら宴遊。対岸の八の宮より薫に文届く。

In spring at Yugiri's Uji villa, Kaoru and Prince Niou feast and amuse themselves; a letter from the Eighth Prince on the opposite shore reaches Kaoru.

招かれた公達ら船で八の宮の山荘に向かう。 船中で管弦。

The invited noblemen go by boat to the Eighth Prince's villa, making music aboard.

月の明るい秋の夜、訪ねてきた薫に、自らの死を予感した八の宮、姫君たちのことを託す。

On a moonlit autumn night the Eighth Prince, sensing his own death, entrusts his daughters to the visiting Kaoru.

歳の暮れ近く、宇治の姫君たちのもとに山の阿闍梨より炭などが届けられる。 姫君たちは綿、絹を贈る。

Near year's end, charcoal and such arrive from the mountain acarya for the Uji princesses; they give cotton and silk in return.

薫、故八の宮の仏間に入り宮の生前を回想して柱にもたれ歌を詠む。女房ら、その姿を覗き見る。

Kaoru enters the late Eighth Prince's Buddha room, recalls the prince's life, leans on a pillar and composes a poem; the ladies peek at him.

薫に宇治の話を聞いた匂宮は興味を抱き、春の宇治を訪れて次女・中君と和歌を贈答する。秋、自らの死期を悟った八の宮は薫を呼び、姫君たちの後見を懇願してこの世を去る。薫は大君に求愛するが、大君は父の遺言を守って独身を通そうとし、むしろ薫には妹・中君と結ばれることを望む。薫の純粋で不器用な恋情は拒絶の中で深まっていく。

Intrigued by Kaoru's accounts, Niou visits Uji and exchanges poetic verses with Naka no Kimi. In autumn, the Eighth Prince passes away after entrusting his orphaned daughters to Kaoru. While Kaoru presses his courtship upon Oigimi, she resolutely refuses marriage, wishing instead that Kaoru would take her younger sister Naka no Kimi as his wife.

shihigamoto

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