The Noh Plays of Japan (10 page)

Shoulder to shoulder, knee locked with knee,

Dwelt crowded—

Even Kagekiyo keen

As the clear moonlight—

Was ever called on to captain

The Royal Pinnace.

And though among his men

Many were brave and many of wise counsel,

Yet was he even as the helm of the boat.

And of the many who served him

None caviled, disputed.

But now

He that of all was envied

Is like Kirin
*
grown old,

By every jade outrun.

VILLAGER
(seeing the
GIRL
standing sadly apart
)

Poor child, come back again.

(She comes back to her father's side.
)

Listen, Kagekiyo, there is something your daughter wants of you.

KAGEKIYO

What is it she wants?

VILLAGER

She tells me that she longs to hear the story of your high deeds at Yashima. Could you not tell us the tale?

KAGEKIYO

That is a strange thing for a girl to ask. Yet since kind love brought her this long, long way to visit me, I cannot but tell her the tale. Promise me that when it is finished you will send her back again to her home.

VILLAGER

I will. So soon as your tale is finished, I will send her home.

KAGEKIYO

It was in the third year of Juyei,
*

At the close of the third month.

We of Heike were in our ships,

The men of Genji on shore.

Two armies spread along the coast

Eager to bid in battle

For final mastery.

Then said Noritsune, Lord of Noto,

"Last year at Muro Hill in the land of Harima,

At Water Island, even at Jackdaw Pass,

We were beaten again and again; outwitted

By Yoshitsune's strategy.

Oh that some plan might be found, some counsel given

For the slaying of Kur
ō
."
^†
So spoke he.

Then thought Kagekiyo in his heart,

"Though he be called 'Judge,'

Yet is he no god or demon, this Yoshitsune.

An easy task! Oh easy for one that loves not

His own life chiefly!

So he took leave of Noritsune

And landed upon the beach.

The soldiers of Genji

"Death to him, death to him!" cried

As they swept towards him.

CHORUS

And when he saw them,

"What great to-do!" he cried, then waving

His sword in the evening sunlight

He fell upon them swiftly.

They fled before his sword-point,

They could not withstand him, those soldiers;

This way, that way, they scuttled wildly, and he cried,

"They shall not escape me!"

KAGEKIYO
(breaking in excitedly
)

Cowards, cowards all of you!

CHORUS

Cowards, all of you!

Sight shameful alike for Gen and Hei.

Then, thinking that to stop one man

Could not but be easy,

Sword under arm,

"I am Kagekiyo," he cried,

"Kagekiyo the Passionate, a captain of the soldiers of Hei."

And swiftly pursued, with naked hand to grasp

The helm that Mionoya wore.

He clutched at the neck-piece,

Twice and again he clutched, but it slipped from him, slid through his fingers.

Then crying "He shall not escape me, this foe I have chosen,"

Swooped like a bird, seized upon the helmet,

"Eya, eya," he cried, tugging,

Till "Crack"—the neck-piece tore from the helm and was left in his hand,

While the master of it, suddenly free, ran till he was come

A good way off, then turning,

"O mighty Kagekiyo, how terrible the strength of your arm!"

And the other called back to him, "Nay, say rather 'How strong the shaft

Of Mionoya's neck!'" So laughed they across the battle,

And went off each his way.

(
KAGEKIYO,
who has been miming, the battle, breaks off abruptly and turns to the
VILLAGER.
The
CHORUS
speaks for him.
)

CHORUS

"I am old: I have forgotten—things unforgettable!

My thoughts are tangled: I am ashamed.

But little longer shall this world,

This sorrowful world torment me.

The end is near: go to your home;

Pray for my soul departed, child, candle to my darkness,

Bridge to salvation!

(He rises to his feet groping with his stick, comes to the
GIRL,
and gently pushes her before him towards the wing.
)

"I stay," he said; and she "I go."

The sound of this word

Was all he kept of her,

Nor passed between them

Remembrance other.

By Seami

PERSONS

THE PRIEST
(Lord Tokiyori disguised
)

TSUNEYO GENZAYEMON
(a former retainer of Tokiyori
)

GENZAYEMON'S WIFE

TOKIYORI'S MINISTER, AND FOLLOWERS

CHORUS

PRIEST

No whence nor whither know I, only onward,

Onward my way.

I am a holy man of no fixed abode. I have been traveling through the land of Shinano; but the snow lies thick. I had best go up to Kamakura now and wait there. When Spring comes I will set out upon my pilgrimage.

(He walks round the stage singing his song of travel.
)

Land of Shinano, Peak of Asama,

Thy red smoke rising far and near! Yet cold

Blows the great wind whose breath

From Greatwell Hill is fetched.

On to the Village of Friends—but friendless I,

Whose self is cast aside, go up the path

Of Parting Hill, that from the temporal world

Yet further parts me. Down the river, down

Runs my swift raft plank-nosed to Plank-nose Inn,

And to the Ford of Sano I am come.

I have traveled so fast that I am come to the Ford of Sano in the country of K
ō
zuke. Ara! It is snowing again. I must seek shelter here.
(Goes to the wing and knocks.)
Is there anyone in this house?

TSUNEYO'S WIFE
(raising the curtain that divides the hashigakari from the stage
)

Who is there?

PRIEST

I am a pilgrim; pray lodge me here tonight.

WIFE

That is a small thing to ask. But since the master is away, you cannot lodge in this house.

PRIEST

Then I will wait here till he comes back.

WIFE

That must be as you please. I will go to the corner and watch for him. When he comes I will tell him you are here.

(Enter
TSUNEYO
from the wing, making the gesture of one who shakes snow from his clothes.
)

TSUNEYO

Ah! How the snow falls! Long ago when I was in the World
*
I loved to see it:

"Hither and thither the snow blew like feathers plucked from a goose;

Long, long I watched it fall, till it dressed me in a white coat." So I sang; and the snow that falls now is the same that I saw then. But I indeed am frost-white
^†
that watch it!

Oh how shall this thin dress of Kefu-cloth
^‡

Chase from my bones the winter of today,

Oh pitiless day of snow!

(He sees his
WIFE
standing waiting.
)

What is this! How comes it that you are waiting here in this great storm of snow?

WIFE

A pilgrim came this way and begged for a night's lodging. And when I told him you were not in the house, he asked if he might wait till you returned. That is why I am here.

TSUNEYO

Where is this pilgrim now?

WIFE

There he stands!

PRIEST

I am he. Though the day is not far spent, how can I find my way in this great storm of snow? Pray give me shelter for the night.

TSUNEYO

That is a small thing to ask; but I have no lodging fit for you; I cannot receive you.

PRIEST

No, no. I do not care how poor the lodging may be. Pray let me stay here for one night.

TSUNEYO

I would gladly ask you to stay, but there is scarce space for us two, that are husband and wife. How can we give you lodging? At the village of Yamamoto yonder, ten furlongs further, you will find a good inn. You had best be on your way before the daylight goes.

PRIEST

So you are resolved to turn me away?

TSUNEYO

I am sorry for it, but I cannot give you lodging.

PRIEST
(turning away
)

Much good I got by waiting for such a fellow! I will go my way.
(He goes.
)

WIFE

Alas, it is because in a former life we neglected the ordinances
*
that we are now come to ruin. And surely it will bring us ill-fortune in our next life, if we give no welcome to such a one as this! If it is by any means possible for him to shelter here, please let him stay.

TSUNEYO

If you are of that mind, why did you not speak before?
(Looking after the
PRIEST.
) No, he cannot have gone far in this great snowstorm.

I will go after him and stop him. Hie, traveler, hie! We will give you lodging. Hie! The snow is falling so thick that he cannot hear me. What a sad plight he is in. Old-fallen snow covers the way he came and snow new-fallen hides the path where he should go. Look, look! He is standing still. He is shaking the snow from his clothes; shaking, shaking. It is like that old song:

"At Sano Ferry
No shelter found we
To rest our horses,
Shake our jackets,
In the snowy twilight."

That song was made at Sano Ferry,

At the headland of Miwa on the Yamato Way.

CHORUS

But now at Sano on the Eastern Way

Would you wander weary in the snow of twilight?

Though mean the lodging,

Rest with us, oh rest till day!

(The
PRIEST
goes with them into the hut.
)

TSUNEYO
(to his
WIFE
)

Listen. We have given him lodging, but have not laid the least thing before him. Is there nothing we can give?

WIFE

It happens that we have a little boiled millet;
*
we can give him that if he will take it.

TSUNEYO

I will tell him.
(To the
PRIEST
.) I have given you lodging, but I have not yet laid anything before you. It happens that we have a little boiled millet. It is coarse food, but pray eat it if you can.

PRIEST

Why, that's a famous dish! Please give it me.

TSUNEYO
(to
WIFE
)

He says he will take some; make haste and give it to him.

WIFE

I will do so.

TSUNEYO

Long ago when I was in the World I knew nothing of this stuff called millet but what I read of it in poems and songs. But now it is the prop of my life.

Truly Rosei's dream of fifty years' glory

That he dreamed at Kántán on lent pillow propped

Was dreamed while millet cooked, as yonder dish now.

Oh if I might but sleep as he slept, and see in my dream

Times that have passed away, then should I have comfort;

But now through battered walls

CHORUS

Cold wind from the woods