As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams
Recollections of a Woman in Eleventh-Century Japan

Lady Sarashina, Trans. Ivan Morris

New York: Penguin, 1989 (reprint edition); Pages: 153

Review © 2001 Branislav L. Slantchev

One can, of course read Sarashina Nikki as a diary, or a random collection of notes written by an anonymous Heian middle-class woman (b. 1008) in the twilight of hear life. Certainly, Lady Sarashina (as she has come to be known, for no good reason, from an obscure reference in one of her poems) had seen her share of misfortune and grief. Retiring and shy, she preferred to dwell in the fantasy world of fiction, which she read with religious zeal, and thus was never a success in polite society or at Court, where she served intermittently as a lady-in-waiting. She lived through the deaths of her sister, her father, and her husband, and seems to have come to the belief that her bad karma was due to her dereliction of prayer in favor of frivolous reading of Tales.

Thus, her "diary" is more of a literary account of this conviction than a record of events in her life. Clearly, the selection of things to depict is not accidental, for happenings are included when they have bearing on the conclusions. Thus, there are frequent references to the obsession with Tales, and tons of dreams, whose edification purpose the young Lady dismisses to her peril. Apart from the several journeys described in the book, and which serve as the trite old metaphor for this life, the rest of the narrative comprises various sad experiences that involve people leaving, dying, or otherwise forsaking Lady Sarashina.

The tone of the work, in marked contrast with the ebullient and somewhat conceited style of Sei Shonagon, may appear whining and dreamy to an unreal extent. Lady Sarashina is overly sensitive, even by Heian standards, for she cries often and at the slightest provocation. However, two observations should curb such interpretations. First, during her youth, her seemingly profound grief (e.g. at the death of her nurse and a lady she did not even know) could be easily dispelled by providing her with a fresh doze of romances, which almost immediately improved her spirits. Second, there is a noticeable decline in her weeping during the later years, especially following her marriage (which, we are told, was not without problems).

This accords well with the idea that Lady Sarashina was intent on describing her failures in aristocratic society and ascribing those to her neglect of prayer and to her pursuit of inappropriate goals born of indulging in too many Tales. It is then easy to see the role of dreams that populate the narrative: all of them are interpreted as divine warnings of the gods who were trying to direct the Lady's life. She ignored them and, as she came to believe, paid for it with her fortunes.

Dr. Ivan Morris' translation is a masterpiece of its own. The narrative flows effortlessly, suggesting the grace of the classical Japanese text that he warns us is so difficult to reconstruct in English. Even the poetry, which, according to Arthur Waley, is impossible to translate without damaging it beyond recognition, is subtle and soft, much like the character of its author. There are copious notes to the text (although not nearly as many and as detailed as in Morris' translation of Sei Shonagon's pillow book) but I would suggest that a straight reading gives more pleasure without the frequent interruptions to leaf to the back of the book. Perhaps footnotes would have been a more propitious choice. In any case, if one is familiar with Heian culture (for an excellent reference, read THE WORLD OF THE SHINING PRICE, also by Ivan Morris), then the notes are largely superfluous and can be ignored with the exception of the cases that relate directly to the text, as in explication of certain poems.

A pleasurable read, AS I CROSSED A BRIDGE OF DREAMS is a rare look into the shady and dreamy world of a sensitive Heian woman, who differs much from her illustrious contemporaries.

August 24, 2001.

---

@BOOK{sarashina:bridge,
    TITLE     = {As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams},
    AUTHOR    = {Lady Sarashina},
    YEAR      = {1989},
    PUBLISHER = {Penguin Books},
    ADDRESS   = {New York},
    ISBN      = {0-14-044282-0},
    NOTES     = {Translated by Ivan Morris; notes, index; Pp. 153}
}