Compare the narrator’s (or author’s, if you prefer) comments in the first paragraph of Ch. 2 with those in the last paragraph of Ch. 4. These two paragraphs correspond (the second is an oblique response to the first, that is) and both are exemplary of the author’s regular use of soushiji  -- ‘meta-narrative’ or interventions by the narrator which serve to direct or manipulate the reader’s response to the story – comparable to an ‘aside’ in dramatic literature, or parabasis in Greek drama.
     The narrator’s account of Genji’s ‘character’ and behavior in the first paragraph of Ch. 2 is enigmatic and self-contradictory. (It may be compared to the Korean physiognomist’s reading of Genji’s face in Ch. 1 – an enigma that will not be resolved until much further on in the tale.) The last paragraph of Ch. 4 is a mixture of apology and self-defense. These two comments serve as a frame for the episodes narrated in Chs. 2, 3 and 4. The question is, what is the author doing here? There is no simple answer. The statements seem contradictory, and you may have to consider whether the author is challenging or taunting the reader.
     No research is required for this -- nor for the second topic below. The assignment is simply to read the two paragraphs carefully, keeping the narrative of Chs. 2, 3 and 4 in mind, try to figure out what the author is doing, here, and give arguments for a resolution of the apparent contradictions.