Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900

by Shirane, Haruo, ed.

  I have a mother living in a back alley south of here. She has no one but me to depend on, and she does piecework to eke out a living. I keep thinking that after I’m dead she’ll become a beggar or an outcast, and maybe she’ll die of starvation. That’s the only sad part about dying. I have just this one life. I’m ashamed that you may think me a coldhearted woman, but I must endure the shame. The most important thing is that I don’t want to die. I beg you, please help me stay alive.

  Koharu attempting to persuade the samurai (Magoemon, in a hood, to hide his identity) to become her customer so that she and Jihei can avoid committing suicide. (Photograph courtesy of Barbara Curtis Adachi Collection, C. V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University)

  CHANTER: As she speaks, the samurai nods thoughtfully. Jihei, crouching outside, hears her words with astonishment; they are so unexpected to his manly heart that he feels like a monkey who has tumbled from a tree. He is frantic with agitation.

  [JIHEI] (to himself): Then was everything a lie? Ahhh—I’m furious! For two whole years I’ve been bewitched by that rotten she-fox! Shall I break in and kill her with one blow of my sword? Or shall I satisfy my anger by shaming her to her face?

  CHANTER: He gnashes his teeth and weeps in chagrin. Inside the house Koharu speaks through her tears.

  [KOHARU]: It’s a curious thing to ask, but would you please show the kindness of a samurai and become my customer for the rest of this year and into next spring? Whenever Jihei comes, intent on death, please step in and force him to postpone his plan. In this way our relations can be broken quite naturally. He won’t have to kill himself, and my life will also be saved.—What evil connection from a former existence made us promise to die? How I regret it now!

  CHANTER: She weeps, leaning on the samurai’s knee.

  [SAMURAI]: Very well, I’ll do as you ask. I think I can help you.—But I feel a breeze. Somebody may be watching.

  CHANTER: He slams shut the latticework shōji. Jihei, listening outside, is in a frenzy.

  [JIHEI]: Exactly what you’d expect from a whore, a cheap whore! I misjudged her foul nature. She robbed the soul from my body, the thieving harlot! Shall I slash her or run her through? What am I to do?

  CHANTER: The shadows of two profiles fall on the shōji.

  [JIHEI]: I’d like to give her a taste of my fist and trample her.—What are they chattering about? See how they nod to each other! Now she’s bowing to him, whispering and sniveling. I’ve tried to control myself—I’ve pressed my chest, I’ve stroked it—but I can’t stand any more. This is too much to endure!

  CHANTER: His heart pounds wildly as he unsheathes his dirk, a Magoroku of Seki. “Koharu’s side must be here,” he judges, and stabs through an opening in the latticework. But Koharu is too far away for his thrust, and although she cries out in terror, she remains unharmed. Her guest instantly leaps at Jihei, grabs his hands, and jerks them through the latticework. With his sword knot he quickly and securely fastens Jihei’s hands to the window upright.

  [SAMURAI]: Don’t scream, Koharu. Don’t look at him.

  CHANTER: At this moment the proprietor and his wife return. They exclaim in alarm.

  [SAMURAI]: This needn’t concern you. Some ruffian ran his sword through the shōji, and I’ve tied his arms to the latticework. I have my own way of dealing with him. Don’t untie the cord. If you attract a crowd, the place is sure to be thrown in an uproar. Let’s all go inside. Come with me, Koharu. We’ll go to bed.

  CHANTER: Koharu answers yes, but she recognizes the handle of the dirk, and the memory—if not the blade—transfixes her breast.

  [KOHARU]: There’re always people doing crazy things in the Quarter when they’ve had too much to drink. Why don’t you let him go without making any trouble? I think that’s best, don’t you?

  [SAMURAI]: Out of the question. Do as I say—inside, all of you. Koharu, come along.

  CHANTER: Jihei can still see their shadows even after they enter the inner room, but he is bound to the spot, his hands held in fetters that grip him more tightly as he struggles, his body beset by suffering as he tastes a living shame worse than a dog’s.87 More determined than ever to die, he sheds tears of blood, a pitiful sight.

  Tahei the Lone Wolf returns from his carousing.

  [TAHEI]: That’s Jihei standing by Kawashō’s window. I’ll give him a thrashing.

  CHANTER: He catches Jihei by the collar and starts to lift him over his back.

  [JIHEI]: Owww!

  [TAHEI]: Owww? What kind of weakling are you? Oh, I see—you’re tied here. You must’ve been pulling off a robbery. You dirty pickpocket! You rotten pickpocket!

  CHANTER: He beats Jihei mercilessly.

  [TAHEI]: You burglar! You convict!

  CHANTER: He kicks him wildly.

  [TAHEI]: Kamiya Jihei’s been caught burgling, and they’ve tied him up!

  CHANTER: Passersby and people of the neighborhood, attracted by his shouts, quickly gather. The samurai rushes from the house.

  [SAMURAI]: Who’s calling him a burglar? You? Tell me what Jihei’s stolen! Out with it!

  CHANTER: He seizes Tahei and forces him into the dirt. Tahei rises to his feet, only for the samurai to kick him down again and again. He grabs Tahei.

  [SAMURAI]: Jihei! Kick him to your heart’s content!

  CHANTER: He pushes Tahei under Jihei’s feet. Bound though he is, Jihei stamps furiously on Tahei’s face. Tahei, thoroughly kicked and covered with muck, gets to his feet and glares around him.

  [TAHEI] (to bystanders): How could you fools just stand there and let him step on me? I know every one of your faces, and I intend to pay you back. Remember that!

  CHANTER: He makes his escape, still determined to have the last word. The spectators burst out laughing.

  [VOICES]: Listen to him brag, even after he’s been beaten up! Let’s throw him from the bridge and give him a drink of water! Don’t let him get away!

  CHANTER: They chase after him. When the crowd has dispersed, the samurai goes to Jihei and unfastens the knots. He shows his face with his hood removed.

  [JIHEI]: Magoemon! My brother! How shameful!

  CHANTER: He sinks to the ground and weeps, prostrating himself in the dirt.

  [KOHARU]: Are you his brother, sir?

  CHANTER: Koharu runs to them. Jihei, catching her by the front of the kimono, forces her to the ground.

  [JIHEI]: Beast! She-fox! I’d sooner kick you than Tahei!

  CHANTER: He raises his foot, but Magoemon calls out.

  [MAGOEMON]: That’s the kind of foolishness that’s gotten you into all this trouble. A prostitute’s business is to deceive men. Are you just realizing that? I could see to the bottom of her heart the very first time I met her, but you’re so scatterbrained that in more than two years of sleeping with this woman you never figured out what she was thinking. Instead of kicking Koharu, why don’t you use your feet on your own misguided disposition?—It’s deplorable. You may be my younger brother, but you’re almost thirty, and you’ve got a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, Kantarō and Osue. You run a shop with a thirty-six-foot frontage,88 but you don’t seem to realize that your whole fortune’s collapsing. You shouldn’t have to be lectured to by your brother. Your father-in-law is your aunt’s husband, and your mother-in-law is your aunt. They’ve always been like real parents to you. Your wife, Osan, is my cousin, too. The ties of marriage are multiplied by those of blood. But when the family has a reunion, the only subject of discussion is our mortification over your incessant visits to Sonezaki. I feel sorry for our poor aunt. You know what a stiff-necked gentleman of the old school her husband, Gozaemon, is. He’s forever flying into a rage and saying, “We’ve been tricked by your nephew. He’s deserted our daughter. I’ll take Osan back and ruin Jihei’s reputation throughout Tenma.” Our aunt, with all the heartache to bear herself, sometimes sides with him and sometimes with you. She’s worried herself sick. What an ingrate not to appreciate how she’s defended you in your sham
e! This one offense is enough to make you the target for Heaven’s future punishment!

  I realized that your marriage couldn’t last much longer at this rate. So I decided, in the hopes of relieving our aunt’s worries, that I’d see with my own eyes what kind of woman Koharu was and work out some sort of solution afterward. I consulted the proprietor here, then came myself to investigate the cause of your sickness. I see now how easy it was for you to desert your wife and children. What a faithful prostitute you discovered! I congratulate you!

  And here I am, Magoemon the Miller,89 known far and wide for my paragon of a brother, dressed up like a masquerader at a festival or maybe a lunatic! I put on swords for the first time in my life and announced myself, like a bit player in a costume piece, as an officer at a residence. I feel like an absolute idiot with these swords, but there’s nowhere I can dispose of them now.—It’s so infuriating—and ridiculous—that it’s given me a pain in the chest.

  CHANTER: He gnashes his teeth and grimaces, attempting to hide his tears. Koharu, choking all the while with emotion, can only say:

  [KOHARU]: Yes, you’re entirely right.

  CHANTER: The rest is lost in tears. Jihei pounds the ground with his fist.

  [JIHEI]: I was wrong. Forgive me, Magoemon. For three years I’ve been possessed by that witch. I’ve neglected my parents, relatives—even my wife and children—and wrecked my fortune, all because I was deceived by Koharu, that sneak thief! I’m utterly mortified. But I’m through with her now, and I’ll never set foot here again. Weasel! Vixen! Sneak thief! Here’s proof that I’ve broken with her!

  CHANTER: He pulls out the amulet bag that has rested next to his skin.

  [JIHEI]: Here are the written oaths we’ve exchanged, one at the beginning of each month, twenty-nine in all. I am returning them. This means our love and affection are over. Take them.

  CHANTER: He flings the notes at her.

  [JIHEI]: Magoemon, get my pledges from her. Please make sure you get them all. Then burn them with your own hands. (To Koharu) Give them to my brother.

  [KOHARU]: As you wish.

  CHANTER: In tears, she surrenders the amulet bag. Magoemon opens it.

  [MAGOEMON]: One, two, three, four . . . ten . . . twenty-nine. They’re all here. There’s also a letter from a woman. What’s this?

  CHANTER: He starts to unfold it.

  [KOHARU]: That’s an important letter. I can’t let you see it.

  CHANTER: She clings to Magoemon’s arm, but he pushes her away. He holds the letter to the lamplight and examines the address, “To Miss Koharu from Kamiya Osan.” As soon as he reads the words, he casually thrusts the letter into his kimono.

  [MAGOEMON]: Koharu. A while ago I swore by my good fortune as a samurai, but now Magoemon the Miller swears by his good fortune as a businessman that he will show this letter to no one, not even his wife. I alone will read it, then burn it with the oaths. You can trust me. I will not break this oath.

  [KOHARU]: Thank you. You save my honor.

  CHANTER: She bursts into tears again.

  [JIHEI] (laughs contemptuously): Save your honor! You talk like a human being! (To Magoemon) I don’t want to see her cursed face another minute. Let’s go. No—I can’t hold so much resentment and bitterness! I’ll kick her one in the face, a memory to treasure for the rest of my life. Excuse me, please.

  CHANTER: He strides up to Koharu and stamps on the ground.

  [JIHEI]: For three years I’ve loved you, delighted in you, longed for you, adored you; but today my foot will say my only farewells.

  CHANTER: He kicks her sharply on the forehead and bursts into tears. The brothers leave, forlorn figures. Koharu, unhappy woman, raises her voice in lament as she watches them go. Is she faithful or unfaithful? Her true feelings are hidden in the words penned by Jihei’s wife, a letter that no one has seen. Jihei goes his separate way without learning the truth.

  Act 2

  Scene 1: The house and shop of Kamiya Jihei. Time: Ten days later.

  CHANTER: The busy street that runs straight to Tenjin Bridge,90 named for the god of Tenma, bringer of good fortune, is known as the Street Before the Kami,91 and here a paper shop does business under the name Kamiya Jihei. The paper is honestly sold, and the shop is well situated; it is a long-established firm, and customers come thick as raindrops.

  Outside, crowds pass in the street, on their way to the Ten Nights service, while inside, the husband dozes in the kotatsu,92 shielded from drafts by a screen at his pillow. His wife Osan keeps solitary, anxious watch over shop and house.

  [OSAN]: The days are so short—it’s dinnertime already, but Tama still hasn’t returned from her errand to Ichinokawa.93 I wonder what can be keeping her. That scamp Sangorō isn’t back either. The wind is freezing. I’m sure both the children will be cold. He doesn’t even realize that it’s time for Osue to be nursed. Heaven preserve me from ever becoming such a fool! What an infuriating creature!

  CHANTER: She speaks to herself.

  [KANTARŌ]: Mama, I’ve come back all by myself.

  CHANTER: Her son, the older child, runs up to the house.

  [OSAN]: Kantarō—is that you? What’s happened to Osue and Sangorō?

  [KANTARŌ]: They’re playing by the shrine. Osue wanted her milk, and she was bawling her head off.

  [OSAN]: I was sure she would. Oh—your hands and feet are frozen stiff as nails! Go and warm yourself at the kotatsu. Your father’s sleeping there.—What am I to do with that idiot?

  CHANTER: She runs out impatiently to the shop just as Sangorō shuffles back, alone.

  [OSAN]: Come here, you fool! Where have you left Osue?

  [SANGORŌ]: You know, I must’ve lost her somewhere. Maybe somebody’s picked her up. Should I go back for her?

  [OSAN]: How could you! If any harm has come to my precious child, I’ll beat you to death!

  CHANTER: But while she is screaming at him, the maid Tama returns with Osue on her back.

  [TAMA]: The poor child—I found her in tears at the corner. Sangorō, when you’re supposed to look after the child, do it properly.

  Osan trying to persuade Jihei to get up. (Photograph courtesy of Barbara Curtis Adachi Collection, C. V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University)

  [OSAN]: You poor dear. You must want your milk.

  CHANTER: She joins the others by the kotatsu and nurses the child.

  [OSAN]: Tama—give that fool a taste of something that he’ll remember!94

  CHANTER: Sangorō shakes his head.

  [SANGORŌ]: No, thanks. I gave each of the children two tangerines just a while ago at the shrine, and I tasted five myself.

  CHANTER: Fool though he is, bad puns come from him nimbly enough, and the others can only smile despite themselves.

  [TAMA]: Oh—I’ve become so involved with this half-wit that I almost forgot to tell you, ma’am, that Mr. Magoemon and his aunt95 are on their way here from the west.

  [OSAN]: Oh dear! In that case, I’ll have to wake Jihei. (To Jihei) Please get up. Mother and Magoemon are coming. They’ll be upset again if you let them see you, a businessman, sleeping in the afternoon, with the day as short as it is.

  [JIHEI]: All right.

  CHANTER: He struggles to a sitting position and, with his abacus in one hand, pulls his account book to him with the other.

  [JIHEI]: Two into ten goes five, three into nine goes three, three into six goes two, seven times eight is fifty-six.

  CHANTER: His fifty-six-year-old aunt enters with Magoemon.

  [JIHEI]: Magoemon, aunt. How good of you. Please come in. I was in the midst of some urgent calculations. Four nines makes thirty-six monme. Three sixes make eighteen fun. That’s two monme less two fun.96 Kantarō! Osue! Granny and Uncle have come! Bring the tobacco tray! One times three makes three. Osan, serve the tea.97

  CHANTER: He jabbers away.

  [AUNT]: We haven’t come for tea or tobacco. Osan, you’re young, I know, but you’re the mother of two children, and your excessi
ve forbearance does you no credit. A man’s dissipation can always be traced to his wife’s carelessness. Remember, it’s not only the man who’s disgraced when he goes bankrupt and his marriage breaks up. You’d do well to take notice of what’s going on and assert yourself a bit more.

  [MAGOEMON]: It’s foolish to hope for any results, aunt. The scoundrel deceives even me, his elder brother. Why should he take to heart criticism from his wife? Jihei—you played me for a fool. After showing me how you returned Koharu’s pledges, here you are, not ten days later, redeeming her! What does this mean? I suppose your urgent calculations are of Koharu’s debts! I’ve had enough!

  CHANTER: He snatches away the abacus and flings it clattering into the hallway.

  [JIHEI]: You’re making an enormous fuss without any cause. I haven’t left the house since the last time I saw you, except to go twice to the wholesalers in Imabashi and once to the Tenjin Shrine. I haven’t even thought of Koharu, much less redeemed her.

  [AUNT]: None of your evasions! Last evening at the Ten Nights service I heard the people in the congregation gossiping. Everybody was talking about the great patron from Tenma who’d fallen in love with a prostitute named Koharu from the Kinokuni House in Sonezaki. They said he’d driven away her other guests and was going to ransom her in the next couple of days. There was all kinds of gossip about the abundance of money and fools even in these days of high prices.

  My husband, Gozaemon, has been hearing about Koharu constantly, and he’s sure that her great patron from Tenma must be you, Jihei. He told me, “He’s your nephew, but to me he’s a stranger, and my daughter’s happiness is my chief concern. Once he ransoms the prostitute he’ll no doubt sell his wife to a brothel. I intend to take her back before he starts selling her clothes.”

  He was halfway out of the house before I could stop him. “Don’t get so excited. We can settle this calmly. First we must make sure whether or not the rumors are true.”