ACT VI.

“The country dance is over;
Come out, old man, come with your dame,
Come, old man, come with your dame.”

So sing the country folk as they pound their barley. Here stands the weather-beaten cottage of Yoichibei, a peasant in the noted village of Yamazaki; and here now passes Hayano Kanpei a ronin’s life. His wife Okaru has risen and, while waiting for her husband who is not yet home this morning, brings out her toilet-case to smooth her dishevelled hair. With her thoughts bent upon her fate which she still keeps a secret, she combs her hair with a comb of boxwood and dresses it with neatness and elegance; her beauty is too fair for a country-place. Her aged mother, hanging to her staff, comes tottering home from the fields.

Mother. Oh, you have done up your hair, daughter! And it is well done. Everywhere in the country they are now busy harvesting barley; and just now, near the bamboo jungle, I heard young men sing the barley-pounders’ song, “Come out, old man, come with your dame.” That made me very anxious as my old man is late coming home, and I went to the end of the village; but not a shadow of him could I espy.

Okaru. Yes, mother,Illustration: Two women I wonder what makes him so late. I will just run and see.

Mother. No, it is not well for a young woman to walk alone. You, especially, never liked from your childhood to walk about in the country; and though we sent you for service to Lord Enya’s, you apparently could not live away from the lonely country and came back to us. While you are with Kanpei, you never show any sign of discontent.

Okaru. Oh, mother, that is but natural. When I live with one I love, I would put up willingly with poverty, to say nothing of country life. When the Feast of Lanterns comes, I mean to do as the song says, “Come out, old man, come with your dame,” and go with Kanpei to see the dance. You, too, did that sort of thing when you were young.

Recitative. It is a light-tongued hussy, and her spirits, too, appear restless.

Mother. Cheerfully as you may talk, in your heart........

Okaru. No, no. I am quite composed. I have been long prepared to go to service in Gion-machi for our lord’s sake; but for my aged father to take so much trouble.........

Mother. Do not say that. Low as his position is, your brother, too, was a servant of Lord Enya; and it is not like taking trouble on another person’s account.

Recitative. As mother and daughter talk, hurriedly comes along the road with a palanquin Ichimonjiya, of Gionmachi. Stopping the palanquin, he calls out from outside the door.

Ichimonjiya. Is Master Yoichibei at home?

Recitative. With these words, he enters at the door.

Mother. Why, you have kindly come all this way. Now, bring the tobacco-tray, daughter, and offer tea.

Recitative. As the mother and daughter welcome him, Ichimonjiya speaks.

Ichimonjiya. Well, I thank your old man for coming last night; I hope he came home safely.

Mother. What, have you not brought him with you? That is strange. Since he has not........

Ichimonjiya. What, has he not come home? Strange! Perhaps, as he was loitering before the shrine of Inari,[1] he was bewitched by a fox. Now, just as we had agreed when I came here the other day, we decided last night that your daughter should serve for full five years only and her wages were to be a hundred ryo. Then the old man said that as he had some money to deliver last night, he wanted to sign the bond of service and receive in advance the whole sum of a hundred ryo. As he asked me with tears, I gave him half the sum when the bond was signed and promised to pay the remainder when the girl was delivered to me. And when I handed him the fifty ryo, he was overjoyed and raised the money to his head with rapture. It was about the fourth hour[2] when he went away rejoicing. I told him that he should not walk home alone with the money at night and tried to stop him; but he would not listen to me, and so he went home. It may be, on the road........

Okaru. No, no, nowhere would he stop on the way. Do you not think so, mother?

Mother. Yes, certainly. Especially, as he would not lose a moment if he could help it in hurrying home and making you and me glad by showing us the money. I cannot understand it.

Ichimonjiya. Well, whether you understand it or not, that is your business. I will hand you the balance and take the girl home.

Recitative. He takes the money from his bosom.

Ichimonjiya. Here is the remaining fifty ryo; and it makes up the hundred ryo. I hand it to you, and so take it.

Mother. But before your father comes home, I cannot let you go, can I, Karu?

Ichimonjiya. Why, dawdling like this, we shall never have done. See, here is Yoichibei’s seal; you have not a word to say now. This bond speaks for me. This girl’s service I have bought with money to-day; and a day’s delay means so much loss to me. I suppose I must use force.

Recitative. He seizes Okaru by the hand and drags her.

Mother. Please, wait.

Recitative. The mother clings to him; but he pushes her away. He forces Okaru into the palanquin. But just as it is lifted up, Kanpei returns, gun on his shoulder and with a straw rain-coat and hat on. He enters the house.

Kanpei. My wife in the palanquin, where are you going?

Mother. I am glad you have come home at this moment.

Recitative. He wonders at the mother’s joy.

Kanpei. There appears to be something at the bottom of this. Mother, wife, let me hear it.

Recitative. And he sits right in the middle of the room.

Ichimonjiya. Oh, are you the girl’s husband? Here is the bond with the old man’s seal, in which he says no one whatever, be he the girl’s husband, actual or affianced, shall offer any obstruction. And I don’t care who you are, and I am going to take away the girl at once.

Mother. Oh, you are no doubt puzzled, my son. We had heard from our daughter that you were in want of money; and much as we wished to get it for you, we had no prospect of procuring a single sen. And so says my old man, “I do not suppose our son is thinking of getting the money by selling his wife; but it may be that he has such a wish and is deterred from carrying it out only by the presence of her parents. What if this old father sells her without his knowledge? It is a custom with the samurai, when other means are exhausted, to take her back by force. It is no shame to sell one’s wife, and if I find for him in this way the money he requires in his lord’s cause, I do not think he will be very angry with me.” So yesterday he went to Gion-machi to settle the matter, but he has not come home yet. While we, I and my daughter, were feeling anxious at his absence, comes this man and says that as he gave the old man half the sum last night, he will pay the remaining fifty ryo now and take away my daughter this moment. I tell him I must see the old man first, but he won’t listen to me, and insists upon taking her away. What shall we do, Kanpei?

Kanpei. I am truly grateful for my father-in-law’s kindness. But I, too, have had a piece of good fortune; of that, however, I will speak later on. I do not think we should hand over my wife before her father comes home. Illustration: Man seated with a wrapped bundle

Ichimonjiya. And why?

Kanpei. Well, the bond gives you the parent’s authority. Though I do not doubt that you paid half the money last night.....

Ichimonjiya. Here, I am Ichimonjiya who am known all over Kyoto and Osaka and have in my employ girls enough to make an island of Amazons. Do you think I would say that I had paid the money when I hadn’t? There is still another thing that I can tell you for certain. When I saw your old man wrap the fifty ryo in his towel and put it in his bosom, I said to him it was risky, and gave him a pouch to put it in and hang round his neck. The pouch was made of a piece of cloth of the same pattern as this garment of mine; and no doubt, he will presently come home with it round his neck.

Kanpei. What do you say? A pouch of the same pattern as the dress you wear?

Ichimonjiya. Yes.

Kanpei. Of the same pattern?

Ichimonjiya. Is not that certain proof?

Recitative. Upon hearing this, Kanpei is amazed. After looking around him, he stealthily takes out the pouch from his sleeve; as he gazes at it, he sees it is of silk and cotton and does not differ a jot in pattern from the man’s dress. Great Heavens! Was it then his father that he killed with his gun last night? He feels a far greater pang than if his own heart had been pierced by a bullet. Ignorant of his feelings, his wife asks him.

Okaru. Come, my husband, do not look so restless; but decide for us whether I am to go or not.

Kanpei. Oh, yes. Since he speaks so convincingly, I fear you must go.

Okaru. What, without seeing father?

Kanpei. Yes. I saw your father for a moment this morning; I do not know when he will come home.

Okaru. Did you then see father? Why did you not say so before, instead of making mother and me anxious about him?

Recitative. Ichimonjiya takes advantage of the position.

Ichimonjiya. Doubt a man, they say, only after inquiring seven times. Since we know the old man’s whereabouts now, we all feel at ease. If you still resist, we must appeal to law. But it is now settled, I am glad to see. Mother and husband, when you come to worship at Rokujo, pay me a visit. Come, get into the palanquin.

Okaru. Yes, yes. I am going now, Kanpei. My two aged parents you will have to support, and father, especially, for he is always ailing, and you will please take great care of him.

Recitative. Unaware of her father’s death, she, poor girl, consigns him to her husband’s care. Had he not better, thinks Kanpei, tell the whole truth? No, he cannot do it before others, and he bears in silence the anguish of his heart.

Mother. Your husband would like to have parting words with you, but I suppose he fears it might upset you.

Okaru. No, no, though I part from him, I feel no sorrow since I am selling myself for our lord. I go with a brave heart. But, mother, I am sorry I cannot see father before I go.

Mother. Oh, when he returns, I am sure he will go and see you. Use moxa so as not to fall ill, and come and show me your bright face sometimes. You will be uncomfortable without paper and a fan. Have you everything you want? Don’t stumble and hurt yourself.

Recitative. She looks after her until she gets into the palanquin. They bid each other farewell. By what ill-fate is it that with such a fair daughter, this sorrow falls upon her? The mother weeps with clenched teeth; and the daughter clings to the side of the palanquin and chokes with tears in her desire not to let her crying be seen or heard. The palanquin is, alas, lifted up, and the bearers hurry away on the road. The mother stands gazing after her.

Mother. Ah, how sad I must have made my daughter with my foolish words! O my son, when even I, her mother, am resigned to her going, I hope you will not keep thinking of her and make yourself ill. How is it that father does not come home? You said you saw him, did you not?

Kanpei. Ah, yes.

Mother. And where did you see him? And where did he go when he left you?

Kanpei. Well, we parted at...... let me see...... was it at Toba or Fushimi? Or Yodo or Takeda?

Recitative. While he speaks at random, Meppo Yahachi, Tanegashima no Roku, and Tanuki no Kakubei, three hunters of the neighbourhood, come in without ceremony, bearing on a shutter Yoichibei’s body, covered over with a straw rain-coat.

Yahachi. As we were coming home from the night’s work, we found your old man’s body, and so we have brought it here.

Recitative. The mother is amazed.

Mother. Whose deed was it? Tell me, my son, who is the murderer? Please, revenge his death. Oh, my husband, my husband!

Recitative. But her cries are in vain; there is naught but tears for her.

Hunters. Oh, how grieved you must be, old mother! Appeal to the Lord Deputy’s office and have the matter inquired into. We are very sorry for you.

Recitative. The hunters all leave her and go to their own homes. The mother, amid her tears, comes close to Kanpei.

Mother. Now, my son, I thought my suspicions unjust; but there is one thing I cannot understand. Though you were, it is true, formerly a samurai, yet one would have expected you to be amazed when you saw your father-in-law’s dead body. When you met him on the road, did you not receive money from him? What did he say to you? Now, tell me. Say it. Ah, you cannot answer; and this is the reason why.

Recitative. And she puts her hand into Kanpei’s bosom and draws out the pouch.

Mother. A while ago I caught sight of this pouch. See, it is stained with blood, and you must have killed the old man.

Kanpei. No, this........

Mother. What of it? You may try to hide it; but the all-seeing Heaven reveals it. And the money for which you killed the old man, for whom was it intended? Yes, I see. You thought that your father-in-law, being poor, would keep back a half of the money for which he sold his daughter, and not give you the whole of it; and so you killed him and took it all. How it galls me to think that until this very day we were deceived and believed you to be an upright man, you inhuman monster! I am so astonished that tears refuse to flow. Oh, poor Yoichibei, you did not know what a brute your son is; in your wish to restore him to the samurai’s rank, you ran about, old man as you were, in Kyoto without taking a night’s rest, and at expense to yourself, you helped him; and all this has led to your own undoing, and you are bitten by the dog that you have been feeding. How could you have killed him in this cruel manner, you devil, you serpent? Return me father, restore to life my old man.

Recitative. In her fury, she seizes him by the hair, and pulling him towards her, beats his head on the floor.

Mother. My anger would not be satisfied even if I tortured you to death inch by inch.

Recitative. With revengeful words, she lays her face on the floor and gives way to tears. For his misdeed, Kanpei feels his whole body covered with boiling sweat; he clings to the mat, and he knows that the punishment of Heaven has come upon him. At this moment arrive two samurai, wearing deep wicker hats.

Samurai. Is Hayano Kanpei at home? Hara Goemon and Senzaki Yagoro beg to see him.

Recitative. It is an inopportune moment; but Kanpei takes his sword and with bent hips, goes forth to meet them.

Kanpei. You are welcome, gentlemen. I thank you for thus honouring my humble home.

Recitative. He bows to them.

Goemon. I see there is some trouble in the house.

Kanpei. Nay, it is but a slight house-household matter. Pray, do not mind it, but walk straight in.

Goemon. Then, by your leave, we will do so.

Recitative. They go straight in and take their seats; and Kanpei lays both his hands on the mat in front of them.

Kanpei. It was a serious fault of mine that I failed to be present when the great misfortune befell our lord; and for it I have not a word to say in excuse. But I humbly beg you, gentlemen, to intercede for me so that my offence may be pardoned and I may be permitted to attend on the anniversary of our lord’s demise, together with others of our clan.

Recitative. He speaks in humble supplication.

Goemon. Master Yuranosuke was first much pleased that you, a ronin without any means, should have offered so much money towards the cost of the monument; but the monument is to be placed in our lord’s burial-ground, and as it was felt that it would not please our lord’s spirit to use for building the monument the money of one who has been disloyal and faithless to him, the money is returned to you unopened.

Recitative. While Goemon is yet speaking, Yagoro takes the money from his bosom and lays it before Kanpei. In his confusion, he is almost out of his senses; and the mother comes forward with tears.

Mother. You villain, do you not see it is the retribution that has come this moment for your father’s death? Hear me, sirs. My husband, old as he was, did not think of his own future life, but sold his daughter for his son-in-law’s sake; and as he was coming home with the money, he lay in wait for him and killed him as you see. That was the money he stole, and as long as there is a Heaven above us, such money can surely be of no use. And there is neither God nor Buddha if this robber and parricide escapes unpunished. Strike this undutiful fellow with your swords and kill him inch by inch, sirs. I cannot control my anger.

Recitative. She throws herself on the floor and weeps. Astonished at these words, the two men take their swords and press upon either side of Kanpei.

Yagoro. Kanpei, I did not tell you to atone for your offence with money got unjustly and with cruelty. It would be useless to speak of the way of knighthood to an inhuman fellow like you. The felon who murders his father-in-law whom he should treat like his own father and robs him of his money, deserves to be spitted with a spear. I will take the duty upon myself.

Recitative. And he glares upon him.

Goemon. Righteous men are warned that even in thirst they should not drink of the robber’s spring. Can the money you stole by murdering your father-in-law be spent in our lord’s cause? Marvellous is Yuranosuke’s penetration when he rejected your money since he saw it was obtained by you who are by nature disloyal and faithless. But what we most deplore is that this matter will become known in the world; and when it is reported that Hayano Kanpei, a retainer of Enya Hangwan, did a most inhuman and cruel deed, it will not only be a shame to yourself, but it will be a stain upon our lord’s fair name. Fool that you are, did you not know as much? You were not formerly so lacking in understanding; what devil has now entered into your heart?

Recitative. Tears float in his keen eyes. Kanpei can no longer endure it when he is thus pressed with these clear reasonings, and baring his shoulders, he draws his dirk and instantly plunges it into his bowels.

Kanpei. Ah, I am ashamed to appear before you. I was prepared to kill myself if my desire could not be attained. Since the murder of my father-in-law will, you say, be a stain upon our lord’s name, I will tell you all. Hear me, gentlemen. Last night, on my way home after meeting Master Yagoro, I came across a wild boar in the dark running on the hill, and I sent two shots after it. I ran up to it and groped for it, and found that I had killed, not a boar, but a traveller. Great Heavens, thought I, I have made a terrible mistake! I felt in his bosom for some medicine, and caught hold of a pouch with this money in it. It was not right, I knew, but I felt that Heaven had given me the money; and so I ran off at once and handed it to Master Yagoro. And when I came home, I found that it was my father-in-law that I had killed and the money was the price of my wife’s virtue. When everything I do thus goes awry like the cross-bill’s beak, it shows that Kanpei’s knightly fortune has come to an end. Oh, sympathise with me, gentlemen.

Recitative. There are tears of mortification in his blood-shot eyes. On hearing his account, Yagoro stands up, and turning the dead body round, he examines the wound.

Yagoro. Master Goemon, look at this. Though it looks like a gunshot wound, it is a cut made by scooping with a sword. Ah, you have acted rashly, Kanpei.

Recitative. The wounded man looks up with a start, and the mother, too, is astonished.

Goemon. That reminds me, Master Senzaki. As you yourself saw, we came upon a traveller lying dead with a gunshot wound on our way hither. Upon nearer approach, we found he was Ono Sadakuro, the villain whom even his avaricious father, Kudayu, had to disown. It was said that having nowhere to go, he had turned a highwayman. There is no doubt that the murderer of Kanpei’s father-in-law was no other than he.

Mother. What, was it then somebody else that murdered the old man?

Recitative. The mother clings to Kanpei.

Mother. See, I clasp my hands to you and entreat you. It was all my fault that I should have abused you from my old complaining heart. Please, forgive me, Kanpei, and do not, do not die.

Recitative. As she entreats with tears, he raises his head.

Kanpei. Now my mother’s suspicions are dispelled and my name is cleared. I will take this thought with me to the other world and overtaking my father-in-law, accompany him over the Mountain of Death and across the Three-streamed River.

Recitative. He plunges his dirk deeper and turns it round.

Goemon. Ah, wait a while. That you revenged your father-in-law’s death without knowing it, shows that your knightly fortune is not yet at an end. By the mercy of the God of War, you have done a meritorious deed, Kanpei, and there is something I wish to show you secretly while you breathe.

Recitative. He takes a scroll from his bosom and deftly unrolls it.

Goemon. This is the covenant signed by the confederates who have sworn to slay our lord’s enemy, Kono Moronao.

Recitative. Before he has done reading it, Kanpei calls out in his agony.

Kanpei. What are their names?

Goemon. We are forty-five in all. Since we have seen your spirit, we will add your name and then we shall be forty-six. Take this as a souvenir to the other world.

Recitative. He takes out an ink-and-brush case from his bosom and writes down Kanpei’s name.

Goemon. Seal it with your blood, Kanpei.

Kanpei. Right willingly.

Recitative. He cuts his belly in a cross and pulling out his entrails, presses them under his name.

Kanpei. Now I have sealed it with my blood. Ah, how glad, how thankful I am! My desire is attained. Mother, do not lament, I pray you. Neither my father-in-law’s death nor my wife’s service has been in vain. Please, take this money for our confederates’ use.

Recitative. With tears the mother places before the two men the two packages of money and the pouch.

Mother. This pouch into which Kanpei’s spirit has entered, please, look upon it as my son-in-law and let it accompany you when you go to attack the enemy.

Goemon. Yes, that is a natural request.

Recitative. Goemon takes the money.

Goemon. Now enter into Buddhist happiness.

Kanpei. Buddhist happiness! Loathsome are the words. I will not die, no, I will not die. My spirit shall remain on earth and follow the attack upon our enemy.

Recitative. He speaks now with agony. The mother is bathed in tears.

Mother. I wish I could, Kanpei, let my daughter know of this and see you once more before you die.

Kanpei. No, mother. Her father’s death she may know of, but of mine never a word, I beg. The wife who was sold for her lord’s sake, if she should, on hearing of this, neglect her service, it would be the same as if she were disloyal to her lord. Only leave it as it is. I have now nothing I regret to leave behind.

Recitative. With the tip of his dirk he pierces his throat and, falling forward, he dies.

Mother. What, are you dead already, my son? Ah, is there in this world another as luckless as I? My husband is dead, my son-in-law to whom I turned for help, has gone before me, and my dearest daughter lives separated from me. This aged mother who is left alone behind, ah, how can she remain alive? O husband, Yoichibei, please, take me with you.

Recitative. She flings herself upon the body and cries. Again she stands up.

Mother. O my son, I will go with you.

Recitative. She clings to the body and sinks on the floor. She weeps there and here she weeps. With a loud cry she sinks and laments at the top of her voice. It is a sight pitiful to behold. Goemon stands up.

Goemon. Come, old mother, it is natural that you should cry; but Master Oboshi will be highly pleased when I tell him in detail how Kanpei died and hand the money he has offered. This money which I have here round my neck, a hundred ryo in all, I give you to offer prayers and hold services for the repose of the souls of your husband and son-in-law. Now, farewell, fare you well.

Recitative. Tears in the eyes that gaze on and tears in the eyes that look back, they part, alas, in a flood of tears.