'Every Western student of Japanese classical literature of pre-modern history is indebted to Helen McCullough for her many major contributions to our knowledge and understanding of the literature and culture of the Heian and medieval periods. Indeed, every undertaking to which this distinguished scholar has set her hand over her long and productive career has resulted in a standardwork, a work whose rigorous scholarship and accuracy have invariably commanded the highest admiration and respect. Now with this exhaustive and definitive study and set of translations, Professor McCullough has added yet another major achievement to her long list ... The whole story is here, in a work of extraordinary scholarship.' Robert H. Brower, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies