Read this excerpt from The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, a noblewoman at the court of Empress Akiko. Shikibu wrote this Japanese novel in 1021, at the height of the Heian “golden age.” It describes the life of the main character, Genji, the son of a Japanese emperor. When Genji improved, the bishop prepared a breakfast of unfamiliar fruit and wine. Genji, the bishop and the sage composed some poems regretting his departure. The bishop gave farewell presents: a rosary of carved ebony which Prince Shōtoku had obtained in Korea, still in the original Chinese box, wrapped and attached to a branch of cinquefoil pine; and several medical bottles of indigo decorated with spray of cherry and wisteria. The sage offered him a sacred mace that had special protective powers. As a large party from Kyoto, including To-no-Chujo, arrived, they had another party.