Beauty on Veranda 縁先美人図えんさきびじんず

Description

A lady stands on the edge of a veranda gazing into the distance. She wears a gorgeous formal kimono decorated with gold foil. This is believed to be a parody of a scene from The Tales of Ise, an ancient classic of Japanese literature. In the scene, a woman stands on a veranda and recites a poem as she frets about her husband, who has set out at night to travel across the mountain to another woman.

Roughly translated, the poem reads When the fierce wind blows and white waves appear at sea, you cross Mt. Tatsuta alone at night. The winds are represented here by the pinwheels near the woman's chest, while the white waves appear in the golden wave patterns at the kimono's hem.

In the story, it is actually the husband who suspects his wife of having an affair. He has only pretended to leave and has in fact hidden away in the garden to spy on her. What he actually sees is his wife sending him off without resentment. When he hears his wife recite the poem with kind words of concern, he soon returns to her side.