Genji Monogatari XXIV: The Flute

Comes a point when
the juice no longer
runs through the jelly-
bag & the subsequent
variation in acoustic
properties means soft-tissue
injuries become more
prevalent. He took the
child in his arms & told
her of an age when
performances were held
in the streets, open spaces,
shrines; when small groups
of independent Noh &
Kyōgen actors roamed
the countryside, able to be
identified by the color of
their socks, white for
the Noh, yellow for the
Kyōgen. That now re-
membered only as a
probability problem &
even then corrupted—
an actor has two white
& two yellow socks
randomly disarrayed in
his dresser drawer...Piano,
forte—the fiery string
music of ’30s country
bands given way to the
fiddle & steel honky-
tonk of musicians with
cleats on their shoes. The
child was asleep. He put
her down & blew a soft
strain on his new flute.