Genji Monegatari. Translated by Suyematz Kenchio. (Triibner and Co.)—It is,
perhaps, as well that Western readers should have the -opportunity of seeing what the translator, doubtless with truth, de- scribes as "the most celebrated of the classical Japanese romances." It is probable, however, that they will be satisfied with a slight acquaintance. To speak the plain truth, the story, if story it may be called, when there is not a vestige of anything like a plot, is exceed- ingly tedious. Genji is the son of a Japanese Emperor by an inferior marriage; ho gets into disgrace (why, we cannot exactly make out), and is restored to favour for reasons equally obscure. The story of his life is very little more than the record of his intrigues. There is little or no impropriety in the narrative, but the general im- pression left is that intrigues were the whole business of life in the aristocratic circles of Japanese life. The manners described are Wholly conventional, and, excepting a few words here and there of de- ecription of scenery, there is not a glimpse of nature from beginning to end. The best things in the book are the scraps of verse, which are sometimes really pretty. The translation does credit to the skill and English scholarship of Mr. Kenai°, who is an attach6 to the Japanese Legation in this country.
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