3. Utsusemi / The Shell of the Locust(空蝉)
Passage
...a poem in which he compared the scarf which she had dropped in her flight to the dainty husk which the cicada sheds on some bank beneath a tree.
Genji likened the Utsusemi's kimono(Waley transrated "scarf") to a cicada shell. Overlap his own emptiness.
During this period, Women wore layered kimonos. Therefore, it was possible to take off only the jacket and make it look like she was there.
Summary
Genji sneaks into the governor's house. There he pokes around Utsusemi's room. Utsusemi is playing a Go(board game) with a ex-wife's daughter (Nokiba no Ogi). At night, the two ladies sleep in the same room. In the dark, Genji approaches Utsusemi. She notices him and runs away, leaving only her kimono behind. Genji catches Nokiba no Ogi by mistake. And he realizes what happened. Genji brings home Utsusemi's kimono.
Comment
Murasaki Shikibu is challenging a very difficult depiction. Genji sneaks up on Utsusemi...Utsusemi runs away...Genji makes a mistake... If written by a bad novelist, it would be a utterly ridiculous romance.