The Tales of Ise
One evening, Mieko attends to Harume’s toilette and implores her to faithfully execute her “plan," as of yet unknown to the reader. Mieko rereads an old letter sent to her by her soldier lover, who expresses his delight at having fathered Akio and Harume and his firm conviction that he shall return to Japan, given his status as a non-combatant. Ibuki visits Yasuko at the Togano household, continuing their series of illicit rendez-vous. In the middle of the night he is perturbed to see before him the face of Harume, apparition-like and resembling the Masugami mask of the young madwoman. In the morning, he relates his suspicions to Yasuko, who dismisses them offhand, likening his confused perception of reality to an episode of the Heian era uta monogatari, The Tales of Ise.