Genji Ki Kahaani [The Tale of Genji] is the Urdu translation of the Japanese classic Genji Monogatari by Murasaki Shikibu. The original was written — according to the book’s foreword — circa 1000-1012 CE during the times of the Heian empire (794-1185 CE) and reputed to be the first novel ever written.

Eminent scholar Baqar Naqvi and, after his sad demise, Khurram Sohail, undertook the task — given to them by the Pakistan Japan Literature Forum (PJLF) — of translating the story into Urdu. Their source material were the English versions by Arthur Waley and Edward Seidensticker. The result of this collaboration is a hefty tome, spanning 1,100 pages and very worth reading.

The Tale of Genji, as it is known in English, has been translated into almost all the major languages of the world, including modern Japanese. In Japan, the story has been presented in theatre, radio, television, film, cartoons and paintings. An image of the author and main character graces the 2,000 yen Japanese currency note and an entire museum in Kyoto is devoted to the book. Excerpts from the book are featured in school and college curricula, and there is almost no one in Japan who is unfamiliar with the story.

Author Shikibu (978-1014 AD), came from mid-level nobility and was chosen as a lady-in-waiting to the Heian empress Shoshi — probably because of her writing abilities. The real name of the author is unknown and she has been given names from her famous novel. She put her years in court to good use by penning the story of her fictitious hero — Genji — and of the Japanese Heian empire at its peak.

The story is quite simple, but entertainingly narrated. Genji is the son of the king, but his mother is of a lowly position. The king loves Genji because of his extraordinary beauty and intelligence. However, the king is aware that the court will not accept the youngster as a crown prince because of the inferior status of his mother. So he demotes Genji to commoner status, but takes care to endow him with great wealth.

An Urdu translation of a 1,100-year-old Japanese novel by a woman courtier, considered the first novel ever written, is a tale not to be missed

In the manner of the typical rich and noble young men of his age, Genji leads a life of luxury and falls into one amorous adventure after another. Being a master of all the arts of seduction, he becomes a popular lover, adept at finding the best couplet to grace every situation and woo even a reluctant object of desire.

In the Heian era, all communication — from love notes to thank you notes — was couched in poetry and Genji has a great talent for selecting the most romantic couplets to send to his paramours. He chooses just the right paper, executes flawless calligraphy and then attaches the whole to a blossom or autumnal leaf that complements the couplet.

The recipient is required to answer similarly. If she is opposed to responding, her ladies remind her that ignoring a correctly couched and decorated epistle from a nobleman is a social solecism.

Despite the virtual purdah of noble ladies, Genji needs but one glimpse of a pretty woman through a fluttering curtain to be smitten. It is in this way that he sees and falls for Fujitsobu, the very young wife of his father. Fujitsobu succumbs to his charm, but then comes to her senses soon enough. However, the son she bears, and who later ascends the throne, is actually Genji’s child.

At the peak of his rakish lifestyle, Genji gets married. It is not a happy marriage for obvious reasons, and the lady dies soon after their son is born.

Genji’s real love and soulmate is Murasaki, his second wife. Unfortunately, even her love does not stop him from his libertine pursuits and, at one point, he is exiled from the court after having been caught in a compromising position. In exile, he has another meaningless dalliance that results in a daughter. Murasaki dies quite young and her death shatters Genji. He retires from public life and passes away a few years later. This effectively ends the story of Genji and the last 12 chapters of the book are about his descendants.

The real beauty of The Tale of Genji lies in the virtuoso depiction of the busy Heian court. The author effortlessly keeps track of the hundreds of characters in the novel and countless convoluted situations. Her writing also conveys the supreme importance of aesthetics in ancient Japan: cherry and plum blossoms are viewed for their beauty and fragrance, the colours of apparel change with the seasons, the beauty of people is highly regarded and everything is performed with grace and artistry.

Shikibu gives us a woman’s perspective of the court life around her. There is no war or politics in the book; rather, emotions and feelings play a big part in the novel. The interactions between men and women in the Heian court are laid bare. Women have a lowly position and are kept in seclusion, not talking or meeting men except from behind curtains and screens. Men, meanwhile, have a much easier time. They can marry multiple wives and have any number of casual liaisons as well. Females, on the other hand, are not supposed to remarry even if they have been widowed.

Women are taught only those arts which add to their value on the marriage mart. They can write in the newly emerging Japanese script, but not in Chinese. Familiar with the poetry of the age, they can compose couplets themselves. Playing the Koto — a stringed musical instrument — is deemed an accomplishment.

Heian ladies also know how to take part in elaborate ritualistic ceremonies, and to design clothes with finesse to suit every occasion and every season. Hair — which is ideally long, thick and glossy — is a very large part of their beauty and they are proficient at displaying it to their best advantage. Finally, they are expert at choosing gifts for every occasion and lavish gifts are constantly exchanged.

Genji Ki Kahaani is a romantic novel written by a woman more than 1,100 years ago, yet it has never been dismissed as women’s jottings or a frivolous romance. On the contrary, it has enjoyed steady popularity almost from the beginning.

It is also interesting that Shikibu was known as a writer by her female name; contrast this to Victorian England more than 700 years later, where female authors were compelled to write under male pseudonyms — Mary Ann Cross, for instance, published her work under the name George Eliot, in order to be taken ‘seriously’.

What is most engaging about the novel is its human side. Human nature remains the same over time and space and that is why Genji Ki Kahaani retains its freshness and immediacy. The reader discovers that parents were as anxious to make good matches for their daughters in the Heian court as they are now, and that they agonise over the fate of their defenceless dependents as people still do. The attraction of beauty, music and manners is also universal and eternal.

It is indeed a service to Pakistan that this work has been translated into Urdu. The reader is brought close to Japan as never before because of the similarity of sentiments evinced by the characters. We find that, however different Japan may be from us, we are alike on a human level.

Kudos to the translators, Baqar Naqvi and Khurram Sohail, who have accomplished a mammoth task and presented us with a very readable book. It could not have been easy, since not only prose has been translated, but literally hundreds of couplets have been rendered into Urdu as well.

The translation could have benefitted from closer editing, though mistakes in a book of this size are to be forgiven. However, sometimes it is not clear to whom the pronoun is alluding because the verb genders are mixed up. English words such as ‘lady’, ‘control’ and ‘master’ — which have easy Urdu equivalents — have unnecessarily crept into the translation. But these are minor flaws in a work that brings a classic Japanese story to Urdu readers for the first time.

It would be a shame if the size of the book deters people from reading it. Genji Ki Kahaani is a tale not to be missed. Of course, in an ideal world, translations can be abridged to make them more approachable; perhaps the PJLF can take that up as its next project.

The reviewer is a freelance writer, author of the novel The Tea Trolley and translator of Toofan Se Pehlay: Safar-i-Europe Ki Diary

Genji Ki Kahaani
By Murasaki Shikibu
Translated by Baqar Naqvi and
Khurram Sohail
Raheel Publishers, Karachi
ISBN: 978-9699927102
1,128pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, February 20th, 2022