Who Is The Returning Husband?

The Returning Husband is the man in section 24 of The Tales of Ise, "Azusayumi" (The Catalpa Bow), who lived with his wife in a remote country village. He left for the capital to serve at court and did not return for three years.

In Episode 5, he finally comes home and knocks on the door, but his wife has promised that very night to marry another man. Without anger he leaves her the poem "Azusayumi mayumi tsukiyumi toshi wo hete," meaning "Love your new husband as I loved you," and goes away. The title, "Azusayumi" (catalpa bow), is a word that appears in this poem and in his wife's reply.