 
KAGEKIYOBy SEAMI PERSONS
GIRL and ATTENDANT. Late dewdrops are our lives that only wait Till the wind blows, the wind of morning blows. GIRL. I am Hitomaru. I live in the valley of Kamegaye. My father Kagekiyo the Passionate fought for the House of Hei GIRL and ATTENDANT. Oh double-wet our sleeves With the tears of troubled dreaming and the dews That wet our grassy bed. We leave Sagami; who shall point the way To Totomi, far off not only in name? Over the sea we row: To Mikawa. How long, O City of the Clouds, Shall we, inured to travel, see you in our dreams? ATTENDANT. We have journeyed so fast that I think we must already have come to Miyazaki in the country of Hyuga. It is here you should ask for your father. (The voice of KAGEKIYO is heard from within his hut.) KAGEKIYO. Behind this gate, This pine-wood barricade shut in alone I waste the hours and days; By me not numbered, since my eyes no longer See the clear light of heaven, but in darkness, Unending darkness, profitlessly sleep In this low room. For garment given but one coat to cover From winter winds or summer’s fire This ruin, this anatomy! CHORUS (speaking for KAGEKIYO). Oh better had I left the world, to wear The black-stained sleeve. Who will now pity me, whose withered frame Even to myself is hateful? Or who shall make a care to search for me And carry consolation to my woes? GIRL. How strange! That hut is so old, I cannot think that any one can live there. Yet I heard a voice speaking within. Perhaps some beggar lodges there; I will not go nearer. (She steps back.) KAGEKIYO. Though my eyes see not autumn Yet has the wind brought tiding GIRL. Of one who wanders By ways unknown bewildered, Finding rest nowhere— KAGEKIYO. For in the Three Worlds of Being Nowhere is rest, In the Void Eternal. None is, and none can answer Where to thy asking. ATTENDANT (going up to KAGEKIYO’S hut). I have come to your cottage to ask you something. KAGEKIYO. What is it you want? ATTENDANT. Can you tell me where the exile lives? KAGEKIYO. The exile? What exile do you mean? Tell me his name. ATTENDANT. We are looking for Kagekiyo the Passionate who fought for the Taira. KAGEKIYO. I have heard of him indeed. But I am blind, and have not seen him. I have heard such sad tales of his plight that I needs must pity him. Go further; ask elsewhere. ATTENDANT (to GIRL, who has been waiting). It does not seem that we shall find him here. Let us go further and ask again. (They pass on.) KAGEKIYO. Who can it be that is asking for me? What if it should be the child of this blind man? For long ago when I was at Atsuta in Owari I courted a woman and had a child by her. But since the child was a girl, I thought I would get no good of her and left her with the head-man of the valley of Kamegaye. But she was not content to stay with her foster-parents and has come all this way to meet her true father. CHORUS. To hear a voice, To hear and not to see! Oh pity of blind eyes! I have let her pass by; I have not told my name; But it was love that bound me, Love’s rope that held me. ATTENDANT (calling into the side-bridge). Hie! Is there any villager about? VILLAGER (raising the curtain that divides the side-bridge from the stage). What do you want with me? ATTENDANT. Do you know where the exile lives? VILLAGER. The exile? What exile is it you are asking for? ATTENDANT. One called Kagekiyo the Passionate who fought for the Taira. VILLAGER. Did you not see some one in a thatched hut under the hillside as you came along? ATTENDANT. Why, we saw a blind beggar in a thatched hut. VILLAGER. That blind beggar is your man. He is Kagekiyo. (The GIRL starts and trembles.) But why does your lady tremble when I tell you that he is Kagekiyo? What is amiss with her? ATTENDANT. No wonder that you ask. I will tell you at once; this lady is Kagekiyo’s daughter. She has borne the toil of this journey because she longed to meet her father face to face. Please take her to him. VILLAGER. She is Kagekiyo’s daughter? How strange, how strange! But, lady, calm yourself and listen. Kagekiyo went blind in both his eyes, and finding himself helpless, shaved his head and called himself the beggar of Hyuga. He begs a little from travellers; and we villagers are sorry for him and see to it that he does not starve. Perhaps he would not tell you his name because he was ashamed of what he has become. But if you will come with me I will shout “Kagekiyo” at him. He will surely answer to his own name. Then you shall go to him and talk of what you will, old times or now. Please come this way. (They go towards the hut.) Hie, Kagekiyo, Kagekiyo! Are you there, Kagekiyo the Passionate? KAGEKIYO (stopping his ears with his hands, irritably). Noise, noise! Silence! I was vexed already. For a while ago there came travellers from my home! Do you think I let them stay? No, no. I could not show them my loathsomeness.... It was hard to let them go,—not tell them my name! A thousand rivers of tears soften my sleeve! A thousand, thousand things I do in dream And wake to idleness! Oh I am resolved To be in the world as one who is not in the world. Let them shout “Kagekiyo, Kagekiyo”: Need beggars answer? Moreover, in this land I have a name. CHORUS. “In Hyuga sunward-facing A fit name found I. Oh call me not by the name Of old days that have dropped Like the bow from a stricken hand! For I whom passion Had left for ever At the sound of that wrathful name Am angry, angry.” (While the CHORUS speaks his thought KAGEKIYO mimes their words, waving his stick and finally beating it against his thigh in a crescendo of rage.) KAGEKIYO (suddenly lowering his voice, gently). But while I dwell here CHORUS. “But while I dwell here To those that tend me Should I grow hateful Then were I truly A blind man staffless. Oh forgive Profitless anger, tongue untended, A cripple’s spleen.” KAGEKIYO. For though my eyes be darkened CHORUS. “Though my eyes be darkened Yet, no word spoken, Men’s thoughts I see. Listen now to the wind In the woods upon the hill: Snow is coming, snow! Oh bitterness to wake From dreams of flowers unseen! And on the shore, Listen, the waves are lapping The evening tide is in. (KAGEKIYO fumbles for his staff and rises, coming just outside the hut. The mention of “waves,” “shore,” “tide,” has reminded him of the great shore-battle at Yashima in which the Tairas triumphed.) “I was one of them, of those Tairas. If you will listen, I will tell the tale....” KAGEKIYO (to the VILLAGER). There was a weight on my mind when I spoke to you so harshly. Pray forgive me. VILLAGER. No, no! you are always so! I do not heed you. But tell me, did not some one come before, asking for Kagekiyo? KAGEKIYO. No,—you are the only one who has asked. VILLAGER. It is not true. Some one came here saying that she was Kagekiyo’s daughter. Why did you not tell her? I was sorry for her and have brought her back with me. (To the GIRL.) Come now, speak with your father. GIRL (going to KAGEKIYO’S side and touching his sleeve). KAGEKIYO. All that till now I thought to have concealed Is known; where can I hide, I that have no more refuge than the dew That finds no leaf to lie on? Should you, oh flower delicately tended, A beggar’s daughter. Oh think not ill of me That I did let you pass! (He gropes falteringly with his right hand and touches her sleeve.) CHORUS. Oh sad, sad! He that of old gave welcome To casual strangers and would raise an angry voice If any passed his door, Now from his own child gladly Would hide his wretchedness. He that once Among all that in the warships of Taira 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 cavilled, disputed. But now He that of all was envied Is like Kirin 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 Kuro.” 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. HACHI NO KIBy SEAMI PERSONS
PRIEST. No whence nor whither know I, only onward, Onward my way. I am a holy man of no fixed abode. I have been travelling 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 travelled so fast that I am come to the Ford of Sano in the country of Kozuke. 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 to-night. 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 “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 Oh how shall this thin dress of Kefu-cloth Chase from my bones the winter of to-day, 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 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, traveller, 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; 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 Blows sleep away and the dreams of recollection. (While the CHORUS sings these words an ATTENDANT brings on to the stage the three dwarf trees.) TSUNEYO. How cold it is! And as the night passes, each hour the frost grows keener. If I had but fuel to light a fire with, that you might sit by it and warm yourself! Ah! I have thought of something. I have some dwarf trees. I will cut them down and make a fire of them. PRIEST. Have you indeed dwarf trees? TSUNEYO. Yes, when I was in the World I had a fine show of them; but when my trouble came I had no more heart for tree-fancying, and gave them away. But three of them, I kept,—plum, cherry and pine. Look, there they are, covered with snow. They are precious to me; yet for this night’s entertainment I will gladly set light to them. PRIEST. No, no, that must not be. I thank you for your kindness, but it TSUNEYO. My life is like a tree the earth has covered; I shoot no blossoms upward to the world. WIFE. And should we burn for you These shrubs, these profitless toys, TSUNEYO. Think them the faggots of our Master’s servitude. WIFE. For snow falls now upon them, as it fell TSUNEYO. When he to hermits of the cold Himalayan Hills was carrier of wood. WIFE. So let it be. CHORUS. “Shall I from one who has cast life aside, Dear life itself, withold these trivial trees?” (TSUNEYO goes and stands by the dwarf trees.) Then he brushed the snow from off them, and when he looked, “I cannot, cannot,” he cried, “O beautiful trees, Must I begin? You, plum-tree, among bare boughs blossoming Hard by the window, still on northward face Snow-sealed, yet first to scent Cold air with flowers, earliest of Spring; ‘You first shall fall.’ You by whose boughs on mountain hedge entwined Dull country folk have paused and caught their breath, My hand so pitiless!” (He cuts down the plum-tree.) “You, cherry (for each Spring your blossom comes Behind the rest), I thought a lonely tree And reared you tenderly, but now I, I am lonely left, and you, cut down, Shall flower but with flame.” TSUNEYO. You now, O pine, whose branches I had thought One day when you were old to lop and trim, Standing you in the field, a football-post, Such use shall never know. Tree, whom the winds have ever wreathed With quaking mists, now shimmering in the flame Shall burn and burn. Now like a beacon, sentinels at night Kindle by palace gate to guard a king, Your fire burns brightly. Come, warm yourself. PRIEST. Now we have a good fire and can forget the cold. TSUNEYO. It is because you lodged with us that we too have a fire to sit by. PRIEST. There is something I must ask you: I would gladly know to what clan my host belongs. TSUNEYO. I am not of such birth; I have no clan-name. PRIEST. Say what you will, I cannot think you a commoner. The times may change; what harm will you get by telling me your clan? TSUNEYO. Indeed I have no reason to conceal it. Know then that Tsuneyo Genzayemon, Lord of Sano, is sunk to this! PRIEST. How came it, sir, that you fell to such misery? TSUNEYO. Thus it was: kinsmen usurped my lands, and so I became what I am. PRIEST. Why do you not go up to the Capital and lay your case before the Shikken’s court? TSUNEYO. By further mischance it happens that Lord Saimyoji Then, broken though it be I would gird this armour on, And rusty though it be I would hold this tall spear, And lean-ribbed though he be I would mount my horse and ride Neck by neck with the swiftest, To write my name on the roll. And when the fight began Though the foe were many, yet would I be the first To cleave their ranks, to choose an adversary To fight with him and die. (He covers his face with his hands; his voice sinks again.) But now, another fate, worn out with hunger To die useless. Oh despair, despair! PRIEST. Take courage; you shall not end so. If I live, I will come to you again. Now I go. TSUNEYO and WIFE. We cannot let you go. At first we were ashamed that you should PRIEST. Were I to follow my desire, think you I would soon go forth into the snow? TSUNEYO and WIFE. After a day of snow even the clear sky is cold, and to-night— PRIEST. Where shall I lodge? WIFE. Stay with us this one day. PRIEST. Though my longing bides with you— TSUNEYO and WIFE. You leave us? PRIEST. Farewell, Tsuneyo! BOTH. Come back to us again. CHORUS (speaking for PRIEST). “And should you one day come up to the City, seek for me there. A humble priest can give you no public furtherance, yet can he find ways to bring you into the presence of Authority. Do not give up your suit.” He said no more. He went his way,—he sad to leave them and they to lose him from their sight. (Interval of Six Months.) TSUNEYO (standing outside his hut and seeming to watch travellers on the road). Hie, you travellers! Is it true that the levies are marching to CHORUS. The horse is old, palsied as a willow-bough; it cannot hasten. It is lean and twisted. Not whip or spur can move it. It sticks like a coach in a bog. He follows far behind the rest. PRIEST (again ruler Are you there? ATTENDANT. I stand before you. PRIEST. Have the levies of all the lands arrived? ATTENDANT. They are all come. PRIEST. Among them should be a knight in broken armour, carrying a rusty sword, and leading his own lean horse. Find him, and bring him to me. ATTENDANT. I tremble and obey. (Going to TSUNEYO.) I must speak with you. TSUNEYO. What is it? ATTENDANT. You are to appear immediately before my lord. TSUNEYO. Is it I whom you are bidding appear before his lordship? ATTENDANT. Yes, you indeed. TSUNEYO. How can it be I? You have mistaken me for some other. ATTENDANT. Oh no, it is you. I was told to fetch the most ill-conditioned of all the soldiers; and I am sure you are he. Come at once. TSUNEYO. The most ill-conditioned of all the soldiers? ATTENDANT. Yes, truly. TSUNEYO. Then I am surely he. Tell your lord that I obey. ATTENDANT. I will do so. TSUNEYO. I understand; too well I understand. Some enemy of mine has called me traitor, and it is to execution that I am summoned before the Throne. Well, there is no help for it. Bring me into the Presence. CHORUS. He was led to where on a great daÏs All the warriors of this levy were assembled Row on row they were ranged, Samurai and soldiers; Swift scornful glances, fingers pointed And the noise of laughter met his entering. TSUNEYO. Stuck through his tattered, his old side-sewn sash, His rusty sword sags and trails,—yet he undaunted, “My Lord, I have come.” (He bows before the Throne.) PRIEST. Ha! He has come, Tsuneyo of Sano! Have you forgotten the priest whom once you sheltered from the snowstorm? You have been true to the words that you spoke that night at Sano: “If at any time there came news from the City of peril to our master Then broken though it be, I would gird this armour on, And rusty though it be, I would hold this tall spear, And bony though he be, I would mount my horse and ride Neck by neck with the swiftest.” These were not vain words; you have come valiantly. But know that this levy of men was made to this purpose: to test the issue of your words whether they were spoken false or true; and to hear the suits of all those that have obeyed my summons, that if any among them have suffered injury, his wrongs may be righted. And first in the case of Tsuneyo, I make judgment. To him shall be returned his lawful estate, thirty parishes in the land of Sano. But above all else one thing shall never be forgotten, that in the great snowstorm he cut down his trees, his treasure, and burnt them for firewood. And now in gratitude for the three trees of that time,—plum, cherry and pine,—we grant to him three fiefs, Plumfield in Kaga, Cherrywell in Etchu and Pine-branch in Kozuke. He shall hold them as a perpetual inheritance for himself and for his heirs; in testimony whereof we give this title-deed, by our own hand signed and sealed, together with the safe possession of his former lands. TSUNEYO. Then Tsuneyo took the deeds. CHORUS. He took the deeds, thrice bowing his head. (Speaking for TSUNEYO.) “Look, all you barons! (TSUNEYO holds up the documents.) Look upon this sight And scorn to envy turn!” Then the levies of all the lands Took leave of their Lord And went their homeward way. TSUNEYO. And among them Tsuneyo CHORUS. Among them Tsuneyo, Joy breaking on his brow, Rides now on splendid steed To the Boat-bridge of Sano, to his lands once torn Pitiless from him as the torrent tears That Bridge of Boats at Sano now his own. NOTE ON KOMACHI.The legend of Komachi is that she had many lovers when she was young but was cruel and mocked at their pain. Among them was one, Shii no Shosho, who came a long way to court her. She told him that she would not listen to him till he had come on a hundred nights from his house to hers and cut a hundred notches on the shaft-bench of his chariot. And so he came a hundred nights all but one, through rain, hail, snow, and wind. But on the last night he died. Once, when she was growing old, the poet Yasuhide asked her to go with him to Mikawa. She answered with the poem: “I that am lonely, Like a reed root-cut, Should a stream entice me, Would go, I think.” When she grew quite old, both her friends and her wits forsook her. She wandered about in destitution, a tattered, crazy beggar-woman. As is shown in this play, her madness was a “possession” by the spirit of the lover whom she had tormented. She was released from this “possession” by the virtue of a sacred Stupa In the disputation between Komachi and the priests, she upholds the doctrines of the Zen Sect, which uses neither scriptures nor idols; the priests defend the doctrines of the Shingon Sect, which promises salvation by the use of incantations and the worship of holy images. There is no doubt about the authorship of this play. Seami (Works, p. 246) gives it as the work of his father, Kwanami Kiyotsugu. Kwanami wrote another play, Shii no Shosho, Seami also used the Komachi legend. In his Sekidera Komachi he tells how when she was very old the priests of Sekidera invited her to dance at the festival of Tanabata. She dances, and in rehearsing the splendours of her youth for a moment becomes young again. SOTOBA KOMACHIBy KWANAMI PERSONS
PRIEST. We who on shallow hills In the heart’s deep recess seek solitude. (Turning to the audience.) I am a priest of the Koyasan. I am minded to go up to the Capital to visit the shrines and sanctuaries there. The Buddha of the Past is gone, And he that shall be Buddha has not yet come into the world. SECOND PRIEST. In a dream-lull our lives are passed; all, all That round us lies Is visionary, void. Yet got we by rare fortune at our birth Man’s shape, that is hard to get; And dearer gift was given us, harder to win, The doctrine of Buddha, seed of our Salvation. And me this only thought possessed, How I might bring that seed to blossom, till at last I drew this sombre cassock across my back. And knowing now the lives before my birth, No love I owe To those that to this life engendered me, Nor seek a care (have I not disavowed Such hollow bonds?) from child by me begot. A thousand leagues Is little road The fields his bed, The hills his home Till the travel’s close. PRIEST. We have come so fast that we have reached the pine-woods of Abeno, in the country of Tsu. Let us rest in this place. (They sit down by the Waki’s pillar.) KOMACHI. (She shrinks back and covers her face, frightened of being known.) Who are those rowing in the boats? Oh, I am weary. I will sit on this tree-stump and rest awhile. PRIEST. Come! The sun is sinking; we must hasten on our way. Look, look at that beggar there! It is a holy Stupa that she is sitting on! I must tell her to come off it. Now then, what is that you are sitting on? Is it not a holy Stupa, the worshipful Body of Buddha? Come off it and rest in some other place. KOMACHI. Buddha’s worshipful body, you say? But I could see no writing on it, nor any figure carved. I thought it was only a tree-stump. PRIEST. Even the little black tree on the hillside When it has put its blossoms on Cannot be hid; And think you that this tree Cut fivefold in the fashion of Buddha’s holy form Shall not make manifest its power? KOMACHI. I too am a poor withered bough. But there are flowers at my heart, Good enough, maybe, for an offering. But why is this called Buddha’s body? PRIEST. Hear then! This Stupa is the Body of the Diamond Lord. KOMACHI. And in what elements did he choose to manifest his body? PRIEST. Earth, water, wind, fire and space. KOMACHI. Of these five man also is compounded. Where then is the difference? PRIEST. The forms are the same, but not the virtue. KOMACHI. And what is the virtue of the Stupa? PRIEST. “He that has looked once upon the Stupa, shall escape forever from the Three Paths of Evil.” KOMACHI. “One thought can sow salvation in the heart.” SECOND PRIEST. If your heart has seen salvation, how comes it that you linger in the World? KOMACHI. It is my body that lingers, for my heart left it long ago. PRIEST. You have no heart at all, or you would have known the Body of Buddha. KOMACHI. It was because I knew it that I came to see it! SECOND PRIEST. And knowing what you know, you sprawled upon it without a word of prayer? KOMACHI. It was on the ground already. What harm could it get by my resting on it? PRIEST. It was an act of discord. KOMACHI. Sometimes from discord salvation springs. SECOND PRIEST. From the malice of Daiba ... KOMACHI. As from the mercy of Kwannon. PRIEST. From the folly of Handoku ... KOMACHI. As from the wisdom of Monju. SECOND PRIEST. That which is called Evil KOMACHI. Is Good. PRIEST. That which is called Illusion KOMACHI. Is Salvation. SECOND PRIEST. For Salvation KOMACHI. Cannot be planted like a tree. PRIEST. And the Heart’s Mirror KOMACHI. Hangs in the void. CHORUS (speaking for KOMACHI). “Nothing is real. Between Buddha and Man Is no distinction, but a seeming of difference planned For the welfare of the humble, the ill-instructed, Whom he has vowed to save. Sin itself may be the ladder of salvation.” So she spoke, eagerly; and the priests, “A saint, a saint is this decrepit, outcast soul.” And bending their heads to the ground, Three times did homage before her. KOMACHI. I now emboldened Recite a riddle, a jesting song. “Were I in Heaven The Stupa were an ill seat; But here, in the world without, What harm is done?” CHORUS. The priests would have rebuked her; But they have found their match. PRIEST. Who are you? Pray tell us the name you had, and we will pray for you when you are dead. KOMACHI. Shame covers me when I speak my name; but if you will pray for PRIESTS. Oh piteous, piteous! Is this Komachi that once Was a bright flower, Komachi the beautiful, whose dark brows Linked like young moons; Her face white-farded ever; Whose many, many damask robes Filled cedar-scented halls? KOMACHI. I made verses in our speech And in the speech of the foreign Court. CHORUS. The cup she held at the feast Like gentle moonlight dropped its glint on her sleeve. Oh how fell she from splendour, How came the white of winter To crown her head? Where are gone the lovely locks, double-twined, The coils of jet? Lank wisps, scant curls wither now On wilted flesh; And twin-arches, moth-brows tinge no more With the hue of far hills. “Oh cover, cover From the creeping light of dawn Silted seaweed locks that of a hundred years Lack now but one. Oh hide me from my shame.” (KOMACHI hides her face.) CHORUS (speaking for the PRIEST). What is it you carry in the wallet string at your neck? KOMACHI. Death may come to-day—or hunger to-morrow. That is what I carry in my bag. CHORUS. And in the wallet on your back? KOMACHI. A garment stained with dust and sweat. CHORUS. And in the basket on your arm? KOMACHI. Sagittaries white and black. CHORUS. Tattered cloak, KOMACHI. Broken hat ... CHORUS. She cannot hide her face from our eyes; And how her limbs KOMACHI. From rain and dew, hoar-frost and snow? CHORUS (speaking for KOMACHI while she mimes the actions they describe). Not rags enough to wipe the tears from my eyes! Now, wandering along the roads I beg an alms of those that pass. And when they will not give, An evil rage, a very madness possesses me. My voice changes. Oh terrible! KOMACHI (thrusting her hat under the PRIESTS’ noses and shrieking at them menacingly). Grr! You priests, give me something: give me something ... Ah! PRIEST. What do you want? KOMACHI. Let me go to Komachi. PRIEST. But you told us you were Komachi. What folly is this you are talking? KOMACHI. No, no.... Komachi was very beautiful. Many letters came to her, many messages,— Thick as raindrops out of a black summer sky. But she sent no answer, not even an empty word. And now in punishment she has grown old: She has lived a hundred years— I love her, oh I love her! PRIEST. You love Komachi? Say then, whose spirit has possessed you? KOMACHI. There were many who set their hearts on her, But among them all It was Shosho who loved her best, Shii no Shosho of the Deep Grass. CHORUS (speaking for KOMACHI, i.e. for the spirit of Shosho). The wheel goes back; I live again through the cycle of my woes. Again I travel to the shaft-bench. The sun ... what hour does he show? I must go my way. Though the watchmen of the barriers Stand across my path, They shall not stop me! (Attendants robe KOMACHI in the Court hat and travelling-cloak of Shosho.) Look, I go! KOMACHI. Lifting the white skirts of my trailing dress, CHORUS (speaking for KOMACHI, while she, dressed as her lover Shosho, mimes the night-journey). Pulling down over my ears the tall, nodding hat, Tying over my head the long sleeves of my hunting cloak, Hidden from the eyes of men, In moonlight, in darkness, On rainy nights I travelled; on windy nights, Under a shower of leaves; when the snow was deep, KOMACHI. And when water dripped at the roof-eaves,—tok, tok ... CHORUS. Swiftly, swiftly coming and going, coming and going ... One night, two nights, three nights, Ten nights (and this was harvest night) ... I never saw her, yet I travelled; Faithful as the cock who marks each day the dawn, I carved my marks on the bench. I was to come a hundred times; There lacked but one ... KOMACHI (feeling the death-agony of Shosho). My eyes dazzle. Oh the pain, the pain! CHORUS. Oh the pain! and desperate, Before the last night had come, He died—Shii no Shosho the Captain. (Speaking for KOMACHI, who is now no longer possessed by Shosho’s spirit.) Was it his spirit that possessed me, Was it his anger that broke my wits? If this be so, let me pray for the life hereafter, Where alone is comfort; Piling high the sands Till I be burnished as gold. See, I offer my flower I hold it in both hands. Oh may He lead me into the Path of Truth, Into the Path of Truth. |
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