Part 4
The young green shoots that grow on field and marsh We now must gather. When the snow has gone They will already have become too old-- Though still the wind blows cold thro’ shady copse And on the field of Ono lies the snow, The seven herbs of early spring-time sprout In Ikuta then let us pluck the shoots, In Ikuta then let us pluck the shoots.
PRIEST
O good people, will you tell me if toward Ikuta I’m nearing?
MAIDENS
As thou dost know the name of Ikuta There should have been no need to ask us that!
SPIRIT
Dost thou not know it from the many views That scattered far and wide portray the place?
First of all, dost thou not know it as the forest of Ikuta? See, the many clustered tree tops which are true to this its name.[12]
MAIDENS
And there the stream thou hast now deigned to cross, It is the far-famed river Ikuta.
SPIRIT
In the early breath of spring-time (like the shallows of the river) Do we gather, ’neath the snowy cloak, the young shoots of the field.
MAIDENS
And this field, too, where little sprouts as yet Are growing, why as Ono know’st it not?[13]
SPIRIT AND MAIDENS
The sweet wild cherry blossoms that do grow In Miyoshino and in Shiga too, The maple leaves of Tatsuta and those Of Hatsuse--they would be surely known By those who lived beside the poet’s home. But we, though living in this place know not The forest or the copse of Ikuta. So ask us not, for we know nothing here.
PRIEST
Ah yes. Unfolding now before my eyes The views I know--the forest, river, sea, And mist, the scenes of Ono now expand!
And the far-famed tomb of Ikuta, the Maiden’s Tomb, where is it?
SPIRIT
Ah, in truth, the Maiden’s Tomb! That is a place that I have heard of; Whereabout it is I know not, yea, I know not in the least.
MAIDENS
But prithee, traveller, these useless things We beg thee ask us not, we prize the time[14] When we can gather these young shoots of spring.
SPIRIT
And thou thyself, too, journeyest in haste, So wherefore dost thou tarry with us here?
MAIDENS
Thereon an ancient poem has the words--
CHORUS[15]
I
“A charming hindrance to the traveller Are they who pluck young shoots in Ono’s field In Ikuta.”[16] Why ask then useless things?
II
“Thou, Watchman of the field of Tobuhi That lies in Kasugano, go and see,” “Thou, Watchman of the field of Tobuhi That lies in Kasugano, go and see If it is not yet time to pluck the shoots.”[17] Thou, traveller, that to the capital Likewise dost haste, how many days hast thou? “For his sake do I go to the spring fields To gather the young shoots, though on my robe Cling still the cold, unmelted flakes of snow.”[18] Let us then gather, snowy though it be And on the marsh the thin ice still remains, Pushing aside the sprouting watercress, Let us then gather the green-coloured shoots Let us then gather the green-coloured shoots.
III
Would there be much to gather? For the spring Is very early yet--and young shoots hide.
SPIRIT
“The spring-time comes, but as I see the snow Upon the plain, I think of the old year.”[19] The young green shoots of this year still are few So we must gather those with older leaves.
CHORUS
And yet, although the leaves are old and sere The young green shoots are fresh as the new year. Guard then thyself, thou field of the young spring!
SPIRIT
To the field of spring, To the field of spring, To pluck violets He came, and then Only purple leaves Of the weeds culled he Who came gathering.
CHORUS
Ah, yes, the colour of affinity[20] Has brought to my sad thought the memory Of Love’s light bridge which was asunder torn.[21]
SPIRIT
The aged stems of plants once gone to seed In Sano district still may sprout again,
CHORUS
And their green colour will be purple dyed.
SPIRIT
The Shepherd’s Purse of Chōan--[22]
CHORUS
And the hot shepherd’s purse, a useless thing, And other herbs white rooted, like the dawn,[23] Which, hidden by the snow we may mistake And gather in the place of those we want.
CHORUS
The morning breeze in Ono still is cold The lower branches of the pine trees still Are weighted down with snow. Where hides the spring We cannot tell. And though the river breeze Blows cold, our billowing sleeves are colder far. Let us go home, although we leave unplucked Some of the young green shoots, let us go home.
PRIEST
Now there is something I would speak of unto thee if thou permittest-- All the maidens who were gathering the young greens have departed Save thyself, and wherefore then art thou alone remaining with me?
SPIRIT
For the Maiden’s Tomb but just now thou didst ask me. I will show thee.
PRIEST
Yes, indeed, I do desire to see it and I pray thee show me.
SPIRIT
This way honourably follow. And the Maiden’s Tomb is this!
PRIEST
What its history, and why then, is the Maiden’s Tomb so calléd? Pray minutely tell the story.
SPIRIT
Then will I the tale unfold. Once upon a time a maiden who was called Unai did live here, And two men there were, called Chinu and Sasada, and they loved her. And to her upon the same day, in the same hour, both declaring Fervent love, they sent two letters. But she thought that if she yielded Unto one, the other’s anger would be deep, and so to neither Would she yield (and then her father said the truest shot should win her). But upon Ikuta’s river did the two men’s flying arrows Pierce together but one water-fowl, and pierce the selfsame wing.
And then I thought, how cruel now I am.[24] The wild fowl’s troth, though plighted deep and true Is broken for me, and the happy pair-- Mandarin ducks--for my poor sake must bear The pain of separation. Piteous! So, with my life dismayed, I’d throw myself Into Ikuta river’s flowing tide[25] Here in the land of Tsu. Ikuta stands Merely a name to such a one as I.
CHORUS
These were her last words, as she took her way Into the river’s water. When they found They buried her beneath this mound of clay. Then the two men, her lovers, came to seek Her tomb. No longer will we live, they said, And like the stream of Ikuta, the tide Of their remorse rose up. Each with his sword Ended the other’s life.
And that was too my sin! That too my sin! What can become of such a one, so full Of sins? I pray thee therefore give me help! So saying ’neath the tomb once more she sank Yea, down beneath the tomb once more she sank.
[_Ghost of UNAI appears_]
PRIEST
Short as a young stag’s horns in summer time[26] The night of sleep! The weeds grow on her tomb, And from their shade appears again the ghost. I’ll raise the voice of prayer. “Thou spirit soul, Awake thyself to understanding true, Enter Nirvana casting off from thee Delusions of thy life and of thy death.”[27]
GHOST
Oh, the wide field, how desolate it is-- My own deserted tomb and nothing else! Only wild beasts contending for the dead Which come and go in gloom, and o’er the tomb The watching spirits flying in the wind That circling ever beats upon the pines. The heaven’s lightening, and the morning dew Are still before my eyes, and symbolise The world of Earth, as transient as they. How many of the lonely tombs are those Of Youth, whose lives are so unlike the name Of Ikuta, so-called the field of life.
CHORUS
A man comes from the world I left long since. How thankful am I. ’Tis the voice of prayer!
CHORUS
I
O human world. How much I long for thee.
II
A [living] man while spending [in this world] Even a single day and single night, A [living] man while spending [in this world] Even a single day and single night, Eight billion and four thousand things has he To think about. But how much more have I, I, who left long ago the pleasant world-- ’Twas in the reign of Tenchi and by now The second Horikawa holds his sway. Oh, that once more unto the pleasant world I might return. How long in shady weeds And ’neath the moss, how long I buried lie! But worse, not buried under the cool earth I suffer from a roasting heat and burn, Within a flaming dwelling-place, behold! Within a flaming dwelling-place, behold!
PRIEST
Alas! How truly piteous is thy state, If only thou wouldst once but cast away The clouds of thy delusions, thou wouldst be Freed from thy many sins and from all ills. “From evils all, and sins, from hells and fiends, Illnesses all and deaths, be thou set free.” Oh, quickly float thyself in buoyant thought!
GHOST
Ah, grateful am I, for the voice of prayer Has reached my ears, and tho’ my sufferings Do know no intermission, in hot hell The smoke clears back a moment, and I see A little open space. How glad I am!
Oh, how terrible! Who art thou? What! Of Sasada the spirit? And thou art the ghost of Chinu? And from right and left you hold me By the hands, and saying to me “Come, come, come.” Though they torment me I don’t dare to leave the shelter of my burning house; for no one, Nothing, is there to rely on. And I see another spirit Flying from afar towards me. Oh, how terrible! I see it, ’Tis the duck, and turned to iron, turned to steel it is before me!
With beaks of steel like naked swords the bird Pecks at my head and feasts upon my brain. Is it because of crimes I did commit? Oh, how resentful is it, cruel bird!
Oh! I pray thee, Priest, I pray thee, from these sufferings relieve me!
PRIEST
“The time of torment fierce has now arrived.” The spirit had not finished saying this, When o’er the tomb flew out a band of flame.
GHOST
And then its light became a hellish fiend,
PRIEST
Who raised the torture rod, and drove at her.
GHOST
Before me is a sea if I attempt But to advance
PRIEST
While flames are in the rear.
GHOST
And on the left.
PRIEST
And on the right as well.
GHOST
By water and by fire am I now held In double torment.
PRIEST
Helpless utterly.
GHOST
When to the pillar of the burning house
CHORUS
I reach my hands, and do attempt to cling At once the column bursts out into flame-- The blazing pillar must I then embrace. Oh, scorching heat! Oh, unendurable! The whole five members of my body turned Into black smoke by this fierce burning fire.
GHOST
And then when I arose--
CHORUS
And then when I arose, a jailor fiend Applied the torture-rod, and drove me out. I left the house and wandered through eight hells And there all suffering I underwent. Now I would show thee how I blotted out My many sins. Before thee lie the scenes First in the hell of all equality,[28] Then in the hell of black rope, devil led, And driven to the hell of gathering, Where all assemble. Then the hell of cries, Of bitter cries, came next, and then of heat, Of utmost heat, and then the hell of depth, Depth infinite, into whose space I fell Feet upwards and head downwards for three years And three months more, in agony the while. And after that a little interval-- The devils left me and the flames expired, I thought there was a respite to my pain, But then the darkness grew more terrible And to my burning house I would return I thought--but where then was it? To myself I asked the question in the pitchy dark. And seeking, seeking, to and fro I groped. “The Maiden’s Tomb”--I searched it everywhere, And now at last I find “The Maiden’s Tomb.” Like flying dews leaving a grassy shade, Like flying dews leaving a grassy shade, The spirit’s form has once more disappeared The spirit’s shadow has now vanished.
END OF “THE MAIDEN’S TOMB”
* * * * *
(The play ends thus abruptly, leaving us in doubt as to whether or not the Priest’s admonition prevailed, and she escaped into Nirvana.)
FOOTNOTES:
[8] Page 39--This piece in the current original is called _Motome-zuka_, which means, the “Sought Tomb.” In older versions it was previously called _Otome-zuka_, meaning the “Maiden’s Tomb,” by which name the story was also known in the _Yamato Monogatari_ (“Tales of Japan”), written nearly a thousand years ago. _Otome_ and _motome_ sounding so similar in Japanese, and, as the two men came _seeking_ the tomb, the name was changed in the text of the Japanese Nō, but as the older name both has priority and is more euphonious I revert to the older title.
This piece is one of the eleven most important _utais_, and the _Shite’s_ part is a particularly difficult one to chant.
[9] The long lines are translations of the “words” in the play. As these words are not ordinary prose it seems better not to put them into English prose from which they are so remote. (See p. 33.)
[10] Page 40--The original reads:--_Ikuta on Ono no asakazeni nao saekaeru tamoto kana_. Here the meaning is very confused, the word for sleeves (_tamoto_) following in the Japanese mind from _kaeru_ (which means to turn) in _saekaeru_ (it is cold).
[11] Page 40--This brings a picture to mind of the contrast between city and country life. An old institution among the well-to-do people of the capital is to make a pleasure picnic for the gathering of the young green shoots in very early spring. It was a general custom to eat the “seven greens” on the seventh day of January each year, and the poor people in the country hamlets make it one of their slender sources of revenue, to gather these green shoots early in January, for the city market.
[12] Page 41--_Ikuta_, the name of the hamlet, has the same _sound_, though it is written differently, as the Chinese character for numerous.
[13] Page 42--The Chinese character for the name _Ono_ reads “little field”; then there is the suggestion that there is little in the way of green sprouts yet.
[14] Page 42--The word “prize” is left out in the original out of politeness.
[15] The three parts of this song are chanted in different tones.
[16] Page 43--Quotation from an old poem. The stanza speaks of the attractiveness of village maidens gathering young leaves.
[17] Page 43--Quotation from an old poem. The owner of the field is hoping that the time will soon come for plucking the shoots. He is impatient, and sends the watchman to see if it is not yet time. This idea leads up to “Likewise dost haste” in one of the following lines.
[18] Page 43--A part of another old stanza.
[19] Page 44--Still another quotation from an old poem, introduced for the word _furu_. “To fall” and “old” are both _furu_ in Japanese, and “older leaves” in one of the following lines is _furu ha_.
[20] Page 44--_i. e._ Purple. As is common in Japanese poetry, the word purple is not actually used, but is called “the related colour.” As a colour the Japanese word _Murasaki_ is purple, and it is also applied to a herb with deep purple-coloured flowers. This plant’s colour is so intensely purple that all the herbs growing near it are supposed to show the same colour. From such an idea purple colour is known in poetry as _Yukari no iro_ (the related colour). In the present lines part of an old stanza is introduced for the sake of recalling the word _murasaki_, and this in turn leads on to _yukari no na_ in the first line of the Chorus.
[21] Page 44--According to an old tale a lover, crossing a pontoon bridge, fell between the boats and was drowned. The Chorus supposes the heroine to be thinking, “Like this man I too died because of love, and the ‘Bridge of Love’ is a name which is _related_ (see note 11) to my own destiny.”
[22] Page 45--The Shepherd’s Purse is one of the seven herbs. Chōan is in China, and the old name of China was _Kara_, so that the mention of Chōan brings _Kara_ to mind, which in turn suggests the word _karai_, hot, used in the next line.
[23] Page 45--The dawn is sometimes called the “whitening” in Japanese.
[24] Note the change of person, of course she has really been speaking of herself from the beginning.
[25] Page 47--_Ikuta_ means the living field, or field of life, and as she is about to die the name is meaningless to her.
[26] Page 47--Depending on an old poem in which the short growth of the summer horns is used to express the idea of brief time. An alternative translation of this line would be, “Short is my night’s sleep, short are a stag’s horns,” but these words do not convey to an English reader anything like the meaning the Japanese carries. In the original the word _tsuka_ means either a “tomb” or a “grasp,” and it acts as a pivot word. In the sense of “tomb” it leads to the weeds growing on her tomb, which is the essential part; and in the sense of “grasp” it suggests shortness, and inasmuch as a stag’s horns are so short in summer as to be within the grasp of a hand, their shortness is suggested, and this in turn suggests a night’s sleep in summer. This train of thought would probably not occur had it not been rendered a classical picture by an old and well-known stanza.
[27] Page 48--He is using the words of the Buddhist scriptures. Though in popular belief the hells and torments, as well as the world, exist, yet the higher philosophy of Buddhism holds that all is appearance only, and that the soul that realises this frees itself from the sufferings and restrictions of the grosser existence.
[28] Page 52--Popular Buddhistic teaching postulates eight hells, (1) The hell of equality, where all sinners go first. (2) The hell of black rope, where they are tied and led by devil-jailors to (3) the hell of gathering. Then comes (4) the hell of cries, (5) of bitter cries, (6) the hell of heat, (7) of utmost heat, and lastly (8) the hell of infinite depth.
KAGEKIYO[29]
Authorship of the Play
This Play was probably written about 1410; at any rate in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. Its author was _Motokiyo_, who was born in 1374 and who died in 1455. He was the eldest son of the famous Kiyotsugu (see p. 7).
Outline of the Story
The time of the action of the play is about the year 1190, and Kagekiyo, the hero of the story, is a very renowned warrior of the Taira clan. The Taira and the Minamoto (Gen) clans were rivals and were perpetually at war; during the years 1156-1185 more particularly this struggle culminated, when Japan had her “Wars of the Roses.”
Kagekiyo, known as the Boisterous, owing to his uneven temper and ready appeals to arms, was a famous warrior of the Taira clan, and when the Minamoto Shōgunate was established at Kamakura, Kagekiyo was exiled to a distant place in Hiuga, where he became blind and passed a miserable existence as a beggar. He had a daughter called Hitomaru, whom he left in Kamakura in the charge of a lady. At the time of the play, Hitomaru has just grown up to be a young lady, but she had a great desire to meet her father, and so set out with a servant to seek him. She has a long and arduous journey to the place of her father’s exile, and after enduring considerable hardships she at last finds Kagekiyo’s retreat. She and her servant encounter a villager who assists them in the final search for Kagekiyo, and they make inquiries of a blind beggar dwelling in a miserable straw hut. This beggar is actually Kagekiyo, but at first he refuses to answer them or to acknowledge it, out of shame and consideration for his daughter. Ultimately, however, he recounts to her some of his adventures, and then he commands her to leave him and they part for ever.
Comments on the Play
In this play there is perhaps less description of the beauties of Nature than in many of the _Nō_, but the opening lines are particularly fraught with the meaning which permeates the whole play.
The dew remains until the wind doth blow.
The comparison of human life to a drop of dew is one frequently made in the literature of the _Nō_. Throughout this play there are many phrases showing how deeply the characters feel the transitoriness of human life. After Hitomaru’s longing for a place to rest a little while, Kagekiyo exclaims--
Nay, in the three worlds there is not a place.
Kagekiyo’s behaviour to his child, and his reception of her after her long search for him, appears to us to be most cruel; but it is, nevertheless, based on the conceptions of the chivalry of his time. Kagekiyo’s leading thought was the really unselfish desire to keep the shame of his condition from touching his daughter. His first wish is that she shall not even recognise or speak with him; but when this is frustrated, he commands both the servant and the villager to send her back immediately their short meeting is over. And yet he does not seek even a moment’s embrace, nor does he use an endearing phrase to his daughter. The play is a good illustration of the way that the old codes of Japanese chivalry imposed courses of action which seem now in this softer age well-nigh inhuman in their repression and conquest of the natural feelings.
KAGEKIYO[30]
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
Kagekiyo _Shite_ Hitomaru, Kagekiyo’s daughter _Tsure_ Servant to Hitomaru Villager _Waki_ Chorus
SCENE
A mountain side at Miyasaki in the province of Hiuga. Time about 1190.
HITOMARU AND SERVANT
The dew remains until the wind doth blow, The dew remains until the wind doth blow. My own life fleeting as a drop of dew, What will become of me as time does pass?
HITOMARU
My name is Hitomaru, and I am A maiden, who in Kamakura[31] dwells. My father’s name is Kagekiyo, called By some the Boisterous, and he is a friend Of the Hei[32] clan, the Taira family And so is by the Gen[32] house hated much. To Miyasaki exiled, in Hiuga He deigns, in shame, long months and years to pass. To travel unaccustomed, I am tired, And yet inevitable weariness I mitigate by thinking of my quest, And I am strengthened for my father’s sake.
HITOMARU AND SERVANT
The tears of anxious sleep run down my cheek And to the dew upon the pillowing grass Add drops that drench my sleeves.
From Sagami the province we set out, From Sagami the province we set out, Asking from those we met, the road to take Toward our destination. And we passed The province Tōtōmi,[33] and crossed by boat The distant bay. And Mikana we passed, By Mikana, spanned o’er with bridges eight. Oh, would that we could grow accustomed soon To our short nights of sleep that we might dream Of the high capital above the clouds, Of the high capital above the clouds.
SERVANT
Endeavoured as you honourably have To hasten on the way, already now This is Miyasaki, as it is called, To Hiuga you have honourably come. This is the place to honourably ask Your honourable father’s whereabouts.
KAGEKIYO
[_Evident to the audience, but supposed to be hidden from the other actors._]
The pine trees that have seen long months and years Entwine themselves to form the arching bowers. Yet I, debarred from the clear light of day Discern no sign that time is passing by. Here idly in a dark and lowly hut I sleep the time away. The seasons change But not for heat nor cold my clothes are planned And to a skeleton my frame has waned.
CHORUS
If one has got to leave the world, then black, Black should his sleeves be dyed. Then surely black His sleeves should all be dyed, and yet my sleeves-- Oh, more inglorious! So utterly Worn out and waned my state that I myself Feel much averse unto my wretched self. So who could be benevolent enough To visit such a state of misery? No one inquiring of my misery Will ever come. No one inquiring of my misery Will ever come.
HITOMARU
Incredible that one should dwell within That wretched hut, it does not seem to be Fit for a habitation. Strangely though I heard a voice proceeding from its wall. A beggar’s dwelling it must be. I fear, And from the lowly dwelling keep away.
KAGEKIYO