Part 8
(Ref.) _Toto!_
That which yonder flies,-- Wild goose is it?--swan is it? Wild goose if it be,--
_Hareya toto!_ _Hareya toto!_
Wild goose if it be, Its name I soon shall say: Wild swan if it be,--better still!
_Toto!_
There are many old lyrics in the above form. Here is another song, of different construction, also from the old drama: there is no refrain, but there is the same peculiar suspension of phrase; and the effect of the quadruple repetition is emotionally impressive:--
Isora ga saki ni Tai tsuru ama mo, Tai tsuru ama mo,--
Wagimoko ga tame to, Tai tsuru ama mo, Tai tsuru ama mo!
Off the Cape of Isora, Even the fisherman catching _tai_,[92] Even the fisherman catching _tai_,--
[Works] for the sake of the woman beloved,-- Even the fisherman catching _tai_, Even the fisherman catching _tai_!
[92] _Chrysopbris cardinalis_, a kind of sea-bream,--generally esteemed the best of Japanese fishes.
But a still more remarkable effect is obtained in the following ancient song by the extraordinary reiteration of an uncompleted phrase, and by a double suspension. I can imagine nothing more purely natural: indeed the realism of these simple utterances has almost the quality of pathos:--
AGEMAKI
(_Old lyrical drama--date uncertain_)
Agemaki[93] wo Waseda ni yarite ya! So omou to, So omou to, So omou to, So omou to, So omou to,--
So omou to, Nani-mo sezushite,-- Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura, Harubi sura!
My darling boy!-- Oh! they have sent him to the ricefields! When I think about him,-- When I think, When I think, When I think, When I think,--
When I think about him! I--doing nothing at all,-- Even on this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even this spring-day, Even on this spring-day!--
[93] It was formerly the custom to shave the heads of boys, leaving only a tuft or lock of hair on either temple. Such a lock was called _agemaki_, a word also meaning "tassel"; and eventually the term came to signify a boy or lad. In these songs it is used as a term of endearment,--much as an English girl might speak of her sweetheart as "my dear lad," or "my darling boy."
Other forms of repetition and of refrain are furnished in the two following lyrics:--
BINDATARA
(_Supposed to have been composed as early as the twelfth century_)
Bindatara wo Ayugaseba koso, Ayugaseba koso, Aikyo zuitare!
_Yareko toto, Yareko toto!_
With loosened hair,-- Only because of having tossed it, Only because of having shaken it,-- Oh, sweet she is!
_Yareko toto! Yareko toto!_
SAMA WA TENNIN
(_Probably from the sixteenth century_)
Sama wa tennin! _Sore-sore_, _Tontorori!_
Otome no sugata Kumo no kayoiji Chirato mita! _Tontorori!_
Otome no sugata Kumo no kayoiji Chirato mita! _Tontorori!_
My beloved an angel is![94] _Sore-sore!_ _Tontorori!_
The maiden's form, In the passing of clouds, In a glimpse I saw! _Tontorori!_
The maiden's form, In the passage of clouds, In a glimpse I saw! _Tontorori!_
[94] Lit., "a Tennin";--that is to say, an inhabitant of the Buddhist heaven. The Tennin are usually represented as beautiful maidens.
My next selection is from a love-song of uncertain date, belonging to the Kamakura period (1186-1332). This fragment is chiefly remarkable for its Buddhist allusions, and for its very regular form of stanza:--
Makoto yara, Kashima no minato ni Miroku no mifune ga Tsuite gozarimosu.
_Yono!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe!_
Hobashira wa, Kogane no hobashira; Ho niwa Hokkekyo no Go no man-makimono.
_Sa iyoe, iyoe!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe!_
* * * * *
I know not if 't is true That to the port of Kashima The august ship of Miroku[95] has come!
_Yono!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe!_
[95] Miroku Bosatsu (Maitreya Bodhisattva) is the next great Buddha to come.
As for the mast, It is a mast of gold;-- The sail is the fifth august roll Of the Hokkekyo![96]
_Sa iyoe, iyoe!_ _Sa iyoe, iyoe_
[96] Japanese popular name for the Chinese version of the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra.--Many of the old Buddhist scriptures were written upon long scrolls, called _makimono_,--a name also given to pictures printed upon long rolls of silk or paper.
* * * * *
Otherwise interesting, with its queer refrain, is another song called "Agemaki,"--belonging to one of the curious class of lyrical dramas known as _Saibara_. This may be found fault with as somewhat "free"; but I cannot think it more open to objection than some of our much-admired Elizabethan songs which were probably produced at about the same time:--
AGEMAKI
(_Probably from the sixteenth century_)
Agemaki ya! _Tonton!_ Hiro bakari ya-- _Tonton!_ Sakarite netaredomo, Marobi-ainikeri,-- _Tonton!_ Kayori-ainikeri, _Tonton!_
Oh! my darling boy! _Tonton!_ Though a fathom[97] apart, _Tonton!_ Sleeping separated, By rolling we came together! _Tonton!_ By slow approaches we came together, _Tonton!_
[97] Lit., "_hiro_." The _hiro_ is a measure of about five feet English, and is used to measure breadth as well as depth.
My next group of selections consists of "local songs"--by which term the collector means songs peculiar to particular districts or provinces. They are old--though less old than the compositions previously cited;--and their interest is chiefly emotional. But several, it will be observed, have curious refrains. Songs of this sort are sung especially at the village-dances--_Bon-odori_ and _Honen-odori_:--
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Echigo_)
Hana ka?--chocho ka? Chocho ka?--hana ka?
_Don-don!_
Kite wa chira-chira mayowaseru, Kite wa chira-chira mayowaseru!
_Taichokane!_ _Sokane don-don!_
Flower is it?--butterfly is it? Butterfly or flower?
_Don-don!_
When you come thus flickering, I am deluded!-- When you come thus twinkling, I am bewitched!
_Taichokane!_ _Sokane don-don!_
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Kii,--village of Ogawa_)
Koe wa suredomo Sugata wa mienu-- Fuka-no no kirigirisu!
Though I hear the voice [_of the beloved_], the form I cannot see--a _kirigirisu_[98] in the high grass.
[98] _The kirigirisu_ is a kind of grasshopper with a very musical note. It is very difficult to see it, even when it is singing close by, for its color is exactly the color of the grass. The song alludes to the happy peasant custom of singing while at work in the fields.
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Mutsu,--district of Sugaru_)
Washi no kokoro to Oki kuru fune wa, Raku ni misetemo, Ku ga taenu.
My heart and a ship in the offing--either seems to move with ease; yet in both there is trouble enough.
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Suwo,--village of Iseki_)
Namida koboshite Shinku wo kataru, Kawairashi-sa ga Mashimasuru!
As she tells me all the pain of her toil, shedding tears,--ever her sweetness seems to increase.
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Suruga, village of Gotemba_)
Hana ya, yoku kike! Sho aru naraba, Hito ga fusagu ni Naze hiraku?
O flower, hear me well if thou hast a soul! When any one sorrows as I am sorrowing, why dost thou bloom?
OLD TOKYO SONG
Iya-na o-kata no Shinsetsu yori ka Suita o-kata no Muri ga yoi.
Better than the kindness of the disliked is the violence of the beloved.
LOVE-SONG
(_Province of Iwami_)
Kawairashi-sa ya! Hotaru no mushi wa Shinobu nawate ni Hi wo tomosu.
Ah, the darling!... Ever as I steal along the ricefield-path [_to meet my lover_], the firefly kindles a light to show me the way.
COMIC SONG
(_Province of Shinano_)
Ano yama kage de Hikaru wa nanja?-- Tsuki ka, hoshi ka, hotaru no mushi ka? Tsuki demo naiga; Hoshi demo naiga;-- Shuto no o-uba no me ga hikaru,-- (Chorus) _Me ga hikaru!_
In the shadow of the mountain What is it that shines so? Moon is it, or star?--or is it the firefly-insect? Neither is it moon, Nor yet star;-- It is the old woman's Eye;--it is the Eye of my mother-in-law that shines,-- (Chorus) _It is her Eye that shines!_
KAERI-ODORI[99]
(_Province of Sanuki_)
[99] I am not sure of the real meaning of the name _Kaeri-Odori_ (lit. "turn-dance" or "return-dance").
Oh! the cruelty, the cruelty of my mother-in-law!--
(Chorus) _Oh! the cruelty!_
Even tells me to paint a picture on running water! If ever I paint a picture on running water, You will count the stars in the night-sky!
_Count the stars in the night-sky!_
--_Come! let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden!_--
_Chan-chan! Cha-cha! Yoitomose, Yoitomose!_
Who cuts the bamboo at the back of the house?--
(Chorus) _Who cuts the bamboo?_--
My sweet lord's own bamboo, the first he planted,--
_The first be planted?_
--_Come! let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden!_--
_Chan-chan! Cha-cha! Yoitomose, Yoitomose!_
Oh! the cruelty, the cruelty of my mother-in-law!--
_Oh! the cruelty!_
Tells me to cut and make a hakama[100] out of rock! If ever I cut and sew a hakama of rock, Then you will learn to twist the fine sand into thread,--
_Twist it into thread._
--_Come! let us dance the Dance of the Honorable Garden!_--
_Chan-chan! Cha-cha! Yoitomose, Yoitomose! Chan-chan-chan!_
[100] A divided skirt of a peculiar form, worn formerly by men chiefly, to-day worn by female students also.
OTERA-ODORI (TEMPLE-DANCE)
(_Province of Iga, village called Uenomachi_)
Visiting the honorable temple, when I see the august gate, The august gate I find to be of silver, the panels of gold. Noble indeed is the gate of the honorable temple,-- _The honorable temple!_
Visiting the honorable temple, when I see the garden, I see young pinetrees flourishing in the four directions: On the first little branch of one the _shijugara_[101] has made her nest,-- _Has made her nest_.
Visiting the honorable temple, when I see the water-tank, I see little flowers of many colors set all about it, Each one having a different color of its own,-- _A different color._
Visiting the honorable temple, when I see the parlor-room, I find many kinds of little birds gathered all together, Each one singing a different song of its own,-- _A different song._
Visiting the honorable temple, when I see the guest-room, There I see the priest, with a lamp beside him, Reading behind a folding-screen--oh, how admirable it is!-- _How admirable it is!_
[101] The Manchurian great tit. It is said to bring good fortune to the owners of the garden in which it builds a nest,--providing that the nest be not disturbed and that the brood be protected.
Many kinds of popular songs--and especially the class of songs sung at country-dances--are composed after a mnemonic plan. The stanzas are usually ten in number; and the first syllable of each should correspond in sound to the first syllable of the numeral placed before the verse. Sometimes Chinese numerals are used; sometimes Japanese. But the rule is not always perfectly observed. In the following example it will be observed that the correspondence of the first two syllables in the first verse with the first two syllables of the Japanese word for one (_hitotsu_) is a correspondence of meaning only;--_ichi_ being the Chinese numeral:--
SONG OF FISHERMEN
(_Province of Shimosa,--town of Choshi_)[102]
[102] Choshi, a town of some importance, is situated at the mouth of the Tonegawa. It is celebrated for its _iwashi_-fishery. The _iwashi_ is a fish about the size of the sardine, and is sought chiefly for the sake of its oil. Immense quantities of _iwashi_ are taken off the coast. They are boiled to extract the oil; and the dried residue is sent inland to serve as manure.
_Hitotsutose_,-- Ichiban bune e tsumi-konde, Kawaguchi oshikomu o-yagoe.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Futatsutose_,-- Futaba no oki kara Togawa made Tsuzuite oshikomu o-yagoe.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Mitsutose_,-- Mina ichido-ni maneki wo age, Kayowase-bune no nigiyakasa
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Yotsutose_,-- Yoru-hiru taitemo taki-amaru, San-bai itcho no o-iwashi!
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Itsutsutose_,-- Itsu kite mitemo hoshika-ba ni Akima sukima wa sarani nai.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Mutsutoye_,-- Mutsu kara mutsu made kasu-wari ga O-wari ko-wari de te ni oware.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Nanatsutose_,-- Natakaki Tonegawa ichi-men ni Kasu-ya abura wo tsumi-okuru
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Yatsutose_,-- Yatebune no okiai wakashu ga, Ban-shuku soroete miya-mairi.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Kokonotsutose_,-- Kono ura mamoru kawa-guchi no Myojin riyaku wo arawasuru.
_Kono tai-ryo-bune!_
_Firstly_ (or "Number One"),--
The first ship, filled up with fish, squeezes her way through the river-mouth, with a great shouting.[103]
[103] _O-yagoe._ The chorus-cry or chant of sailors, pulling all together, is called yagoe.
_O this ship of great fishing!_[104]
[104] _Tai-ryo bune_, lit.:--"great-fishing," or "great-catching-ship." The adjective refers to the fishing, not to the ship. The real meaning of the refrain is, "this-most-successful-in-fishing of ships."
_Secondly_,--
From the offing of Futaba even to the Togawa,[105] the ships, fast following, press in, with a great shouting.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
[105] Perhaps the reference is to a village at the mouth of the river Togawa,--not far from Choshi on the Tonegawa. The two rivers are united by a canal. But the text leaves it uncertain whether river or village is meant.
_Thirdly_,--
When, all together, we hoist our signal-flags, see how fast the cargo-boats come hurrying!
_O this ship of great fishing!_
_Fourthly_,--
Night and day though the boiling be, there is still too much to boil--oh, the heaps of _iwashi_ from the three ships together!
_O this ship of great fishing!_
_Fifthly_,--
Whenever you go to look at the place where the dried fish are kept,[106] never do you find any room,--not even a crevice.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
[106] _Hoshika-ba_: lit., "the hoshika-place" or "hoshika-room." "Hoshika" is the name given to dried fish prepared for use as fertilizer.
_Sixthly_,--
From six to six o'clock is cleaning and washing: the great cutting and the small cutting are more than can be done.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
_Seventhly_,--
All up and down the famous river Tonegawa we send our loads of oil and fertilizer.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
_Eighthly_,--
All the young folk, drawing the _Yatai-bune_,[107] with ten thousand rejoicings, visit the shrine of the God.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
[107] _Yatai_ is the name given to the ornamental cars drawn with ropes in a religious procession. _Yatai-bune_ here seems to mean either the model of a boat mounted upon such a car, or a real boat so displayed in a religious procession. I have seen real boats mounted upon festival-cars in a religious procession at Mionoseki.
_Ninthly_,--
Augustly protecting all this coast, the Deity of the river-mouth shows to us his divine favor.
_O this ship of great fishing!_
A stranger example of this mnemonic arrangement is furnished by a children's song, composed at least a hundred years ago. Little girls of Yedo used to sing it while playing ball. You can see the same ball-game being played by girls to-day, in almost any quiet street of Tokyo. The ball is kept bounding in a nearly perpendicular line by skilful taps of the hand delivered in time to the measure of a song; and a good player should be able to sing the song through without missing a stroke. If she misses, she must yield the ball to another player.[108] There are many pretty "ball-play songs;" but this old-fashioned and long-forgotten one is a moral curiosity:--
[108] This is the more common form of the game; but there are many other forms. Sometimes two girls play at once with the same ball--striking it alternately as it bounds.
_Hitotsu to ya:_--
Hito wa ko na hito to iu; On wo shiraneba ko naraji.
_Futatsu to ya:_--
Fuji yori takaki chichi no on; Tsune-ni omoute wasure-naji.
_Mitsu to ya:_--
Mizu-umi kaette asashi to wa, Haha no on zo ya omou-beshi.
_Yotsu to ya:_--
Yoshiya mazushiku kurasu tomo, Sugu-naru michi wo maguru-moji.
_Itsutsu to ya:_--
Itsumo kokoro no kawaranu wo, Makoto no hito to omou-beshi.
_Mutsu to ya:_--
Munashiku tsukihi wo kurashi-naba, Nochi no nageki to shirinu-beshi.
_Nanatsu to ya:_--
Nasaki wa hito no tame narode, Waga mi no tame to omou-beshi.
_Yatsu to ya:_--
Yaku-nan muryo no wazawai mo Kokoro zen nara nogaru-beshi.
_Kokonotsu to ya:_--
Kokoro kotoba no sugu-naraba, Kami ya Hotoke mo mamoru-beshi.
_To to ya_:--
Totoi hito to naru naraba, Koko mono to iwaru-beshi.
_This is the first_:--
[Only] a person having filial piety is [worthy to be] called a person:[109] If one does not know the goodness of parents, one has not filial piety.
[109] Lit., "A person having filial piety is called a person." The word _hito_ (person), usually indicating either a man or a woman, is often used in the signification of "people" or "Mankind." The full meaning of the sentence is that no unfilial person deserves to be called a human being.
_The second_:--
Higher than the [mountain] Fuji is the favor of a father: Think of it always;--never forget it.
_The third_:--
[Compared with a mother's love] the great lake is shallow indeed! [By this saying] the goodness of a mother should be estimated.
_The fourth_:--
Even though in poverty we have to pass our days, Let us never turn aside from the one straight path.
_The fifth:_--
The person whose heart never changes with time, A true man or woman that person must be deemed.
_The sixth_:--
If the time [of the present] be spent in vain, In the time of the future must sorrow be borne.
_The seventh_:--
That a kindness done is not for the sake of others only, But also for one's own sake, should well be kept in mind.
_The eighth_:--
Even the sorrow of numberless misfortunes We shall easily escape if the heart be pure.
_The ninth_:--
If the heart and the speech be kept straight and true, The Gods and the Buddhas will surely guard us well.
_The tenth_:--
In order to become a person held in honor, As a filial person one must [first] be known.
The reader may think to himself, "How terribly exigent the training that could require the repetition of moral lessons even in a 'ball-play song'!" True,--but it produced perhaps the very sweetest type of woman that this world has ever known.
* * * * *
In some dance-songs the burthen is made by the mere repetition of the last line, or of part of the last line, of each stanza. The following queer ballad exemplifies the practice, and is furthermore remarkable by reason of the curious onomatopoetic choruses introduced at certain passages of the recitative:--
KANE-MAKI-ODORI UTA
("_Bell-wrapping-dance song_."--_Province of Iga--Naga district_)
A Yamabushi of Kyoto went to Kumano. There resting in the inn Chojaya, by the beach of Shirotaka, he saw a little girl three years old; and he petted and hugged her, playfully promising to make her his wife,--
(Chorus) _Playfully promising._
Thereafter that Yamabushi travelled in various provinces; returning only when that girl was thirteen years old. "O my princess, my princess!" he cried to her,--"my little princess, pledged to me by promise!"--"O Sir Yamabushi," made she answer,--"good Sir Yamabushi, take me with you now!--
"_Take me with you now!_"
"O soon," he said, "I shall come again; soon I shall come again: then, when I come again, I shall take you with me,--
"_Take you with me._"
Therewith the Yamabushi, escaping from her, quickly, quickly fled away;--with all haste he fled away. Having passed through Tanabe and passed through Minabe, he fled on over the Komatsu moor,--
_Over the Komatsu moor._
KAKKARA, KAKKARA, KAKKARA, KAKKA![110]
[110] These syllables, forming a sort of special chorus, are simply onomatopes; intended to represent the sound of sandalled feet running at utmost speed.
Therewith the damsel, pursuing, quickly, quickly followed after him;--with all speed she followed after him. Having passed through Tanabe and passed through Minabe, she pursued him over the Komatsu moor,--
_Over the Komatsu moor._