"Oh, all ye eight millions of gods,[116] hear my cry,
Oh, give me your sympathy, aid me, I pray,
For when I look over my life, ne'er did I
Commit any wrong, or my fellows betray."

Suddenly, as he spoke these words, the wind arose and began to blow
fiercely. The sky became dark, and torrents of rain soon followed.
This caused great confusion to all present, and each ran back to the
house without finishing the ceremony of prayers. None of them were
prepared for the storm, and all got drenched with the rain. From this
the rain continued to pour down, and the surface of the sea became as
it were tapestried with white, over which the lightning darted and the
thunder rolled. It seemed as if thunderbolts were crashing overhead,
and the force of the rain appeared to penetrate the earth. Everyone
was frightened, for they thought the end of the world was near.

Genji occupied his time in quietly reading his Buddhist Bible. In the
evening, the thunder became less loud, though the wind still blew not
less violently than in the daytime. Everyone in the residence said
that they had heard of what is termed a flood-tide, which often caused
a great deal of damage, but they had never witnessed such a scene as
they had that day. Genji dropped off into a slumber, when indistinctly
the resemblance of a human figure came to him and said, "You are
requested to come to the palace, why don't you come?"

Genji was startled by the words, and awoke. He thought that the king
of the dragon palace[117] might have admired him, and was perhaps the
author of this strange dream. These thoughts made him weary of
remaining at Suma.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 106: When a person was exiled, he was generally deprived of
his own title, or was degraded. Genji appears to have been deprived of
his.]

[Footnote 107: A favorite phrase in Chinese poems describing the
journey of exile.]

[Footnote 108: Suma is about sixty miles from Kioto, the then
capital.]

[Footnote 109: A musical instrument--often called a _koto._]

[Footnote 110: When Sugawara, before referred to, arrived at Akashi,
on his way to exile, the village postmaster expressed his surprise.
Thereupon Sugawara gave him a stanza, which he composed:

"Oh, master, be not surprised to see
This change in my estate, for so
Once to bloom, and once to fade
Is spring and autumn's usual lot."
]

[Footnote 111: In Chinese history it is recounted that a certain
artf