Japanese Plays

by A. L. Sadler

  MAN OF THE CAPITAL: Your life has been no ordinary one. But tell me more about these natural calamities.

  CHOMEI: In the third year of the era Angen and the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month the wind blew a gale in the evening and a fire started in the southeast of the capital and was carried over to the northwest. And everything as far as the Shujaku Gate, the Daikyoku Hall, and the Academy and Office of Internal Affairs was reduced to ashes in a single night. They say it started at Higuchi Tominokoji in a temporary structure used as an infirmary. And as the flames came on they spread out like an opened fan and devoured everything. And the precious treasure that was lost is beyond reckoning. Then again in the fourth year of the era Jisho from the vicinity of Naka-no-Mikado and Kyogoku a great whirlwind blew even to Rokujo. For the space of near a quarter of a mile it raged, and of the houses within its reach there was none, great or small, that it did not overthrow. And in the Waterless month of the same year the capital was suddenly changed and all the inhabitants, from His August Majesty the Mikado and the ministers and great nobles of the Court, had perforce to remove to the new one. And the mansions that had stood so proudly side-by-side now from day to day became more ruinous. They were broken up and floated down the River Yodo, while their splendid gardens were turned into rice-fields. And the minds of the owners too were changed, so that everyone took to riding on horseback like a man-at-arms, and none used the courtier’s ox car. And it happened at this time that I chanced to go down myself to the new capital in the province of Settsu, and the site was too narrow to lay out a proper city. For on the north the mountains towered over it while on the south the sea hemmed it in, and the noise of the billows and the smell of the brine were beyond measure painful. And the palace was but a log-hut edifice as befitted such a rustic city. And most of the site was still unused for few dwellings had so far been built. Nothing had the air of the ancient capital, and the inhabitants looked like a lot of yokels. Indeed the troubles of the people were many, and there was a feeling of unrest on all sides. So that by the winter of the same year, the capital was moved back to its ancient seat. Then in the era Yōwa there were two years of famine, and a very terrible experience indeed it was. And not long after a pestilence followed, and by the walls and in the highways everywhere lay the bodies of those who had died. But the priest Ryugyo of the Temple of Ninnaji—

  CHORUS: Filled with compassion led a number of monks round the city and wrote on the foreheads of the dead the syllable “A,” that they might enter the Heaven of Amida. And within the space of two months they counted forty-two thousand three hundred corpses within the city. And the number in the regions without it was beyond counting. Then in the second year of Genryaku there was a great earthquake. And it was indeed no ordinary one. The hills crumbled and filled the rivers, while the sea surged up and overwhelmed the land. The earth split asunder and water gushed out. The rocks broke away and rolled into the valleys. People walking on the roads stumbled and fell, and houses as well as monasteries and temples were overthrown, and the roar of their falling was like thunder. And the terror of these scenes was beyond the power to imagine or, describe.

  CHOMEI: But now you must be weary. Pray take a rest after this long narration.

  MAN OF THE CAPITAL: An admirable suggestion. And how about some liquor? The time seems suitable. Boy! Serve the reverend hermit.

  YOUTH: I will most willingly.

  WAYFARER: When thus we listen to these tales of old, we must reflect that a cup of liquor in this life has more savor than a great name in history.

  CHOMEI: ’Tis very true. And you remember that in ancient China the recluse Hui Yuan retired to Tiger Valley and vowed never to leave it. But his friends Tao Yuan Ming and Liu Hsiu Ching came to see him, bringing a keg of liquor ... and though to drink liquor is contrary to the precepts of Buddha, yet he who has never been moved by it is less than a beast or devil ... and so the three friends drank together.

  CHORUS:

  And as is their wont when old friends meet over the “Parrot” cup,

  Merry with drink he went to see his comrades on their way

  And unwittingly wandered out of his place of retirement.

  And the drink they drank was but muddy liquor,

  By no means as fine as this “sake” of ours,

  That sparkles so bright and clear in the cup,

  As the youth bears it round unceasingly

  Circling about like the sun in springtime.

  YOUTH:

  The petals of the mountain cherry floating in the breeze

  Are like the snowflakes falling when the wind is very still.

  WAYFARER: Now we’re well flushed with wine, let the youth dance.

  YOUTH (dances): The petals of the mountain cherry, etc.

  CHORUS:

  And so in this symposium the hours pass by

  Till even in these lengthy days of spring

  The sun is now declining in the west.

  Though this hut may be an imitation of that of the Saint Vimalakirti,

  One virtue does not even equal that of the stupid Panthaka.

  (So murmuring an unavailing invocation to Buddha, they take their leave and part from Chomei, and as he stands looking after them he gazes at the sky, and as he re-enters his hut he mutters the verse):

  Sad am I at heart

  “When the moon’s bright silver orb,

  Sinks behind the hill.

  But how blest ’twill be to see

  Amida’s perpetual light.

  DŌJŌJI

  PROTAGONIST A SHIRABYOSHI.* IN THE SECOND ACT A

  DRAGON

  DEUTERAGONIST

  ASSISTANT THE ABBOT OF THE DŌJŌJI

  DEUTERAGONIST A PRIEST OF THE DŌJŌJI.

  TWO SERVANTS OF THE TEMPLE.

  TIME THE THIRD MONTH

  PLACE THE PROVINCE OF KII

  ACT I

  ABBOT: I am the abbot of the Temple of Dōjōji in the province of Kii. Now for a certain reason we have for long had no bell in this temple, but lately we have had another cast and today, it being a day of good omen, we intend to hold the inauguration ceremony. Ho! You fellows there! Get the bell hoisted up into the belfry.

  SERVANTS: We will indeed! See now how we have hung it in its place.

  ABBOT: Now while we hold the ceremony for this bell for certain reasons women are forbidden to approach. So see that none enter. Take good care!

  SERVANTS: We will, your reverence!

  SHIRABYOSHI: The evil that I did must be wiped out! The evil that I did must be wiped out! So I will go to the inauguration of the bell. Indeed I will set out for the Temple of Dōjōji that I may find some pretext to take part in the ceremony.

  PILGRIM-SONG:

  Over the waves the moon has disappeared,

  And on the pine-clad beach the salt spray dashes.

  So quickly do I hasten on my way,

  To reach the temple while the sun is high.

  To reach the temple while the sun is high,

  Before they may begin the service for the bell.

  SERVANTS: Whence, woman, do you come? You cannot enter the enclosure here.

  SHIRABYOSHI: I am a Shirabyoshi who lives near this province, and as you are holding this inauguration ceremony I have come to dance at it. I pray you let me enter the precincts.

  SERVANTS: Indeed we should much like to allow you, but there is the matter of what the abbot would say. For he gave us strict orders that no woman was to enter. Still we might let you in of our own accord. So now we will let you pass, and pray entertain us with a lively dance. Here is a hat of ceremony. Pray take it and dance in it.

  SHIRABYOSHI: Ah, I am grateful to you, and I will dance my very best.

  (Putting on the elegant ceremonial hat of a courtier she begins her rhythmic measure) —

  “Beside the blossom there is only the pine

  As the twilight falls we await the boom of the bell!”

  ABBOT: Because this temple was one of those built by the Lord Tac
hibana* -no-Michinari it was called Dōjōji.

  CHORUS:

  If you come and visit the mountain temple in spring

  At the sound of the evening bell when falls the twilight,

  The petals of the blossoms flutter down.

  ABBOT:

  And so the boom of many temple bells sounds forth ...

  And as the moon sinks the song of birds ...

  The sky is filled with snow ... The full tide ebbs,

  The fishing-fires shine mournfully by the river hamlet ...

  And now if sleepy ’tis a good time to drowse.

  (And as she dances nearer to the bell, fixing her gaze upon it as if to strike it, she seems to slip her hand upon the dragon-head by which it swings and. take it off and put it on her head, and so she vanishes.)

  ACT II

  SERVANTS: Ah! It has fallen!

  ABBOT: Why, what has fallen?

  SERVANTS: The bell has fallen from the belfry.

  ABBOT: What? You tell me it has fallen?

  SERVANTS: Indeed it has.

  ABBOT: And how can that be?

  SERVANTS: Indeed we took all care, but it has fallen.

  ABBOT: And can you then think of nothing?

  SERVANTS: There is one thing. There was a Shirabyoshi who lives not far away who came and asked us if she might enter these precincts, and though we told her that women were forbidden, when she promised us to dance we let her in. Could she have done this thing?

  ABBOT: Too terrible for words it is; It was because I knew of this I gave such strict command no woman be admitted. And how have you transgressed it! But come hither. And have you never heard why it is that no woman must come near this bell?

  SERVANTS: Indeed we have not.

  ABBOT: Then I will tell you.

  PRIEST: Yes, kindly do so.

  ABBOT: In ancient days there lived here a man called Managono-Shōji who had one daughter. And there was a wandering monk, a Yamabushi, who came from the north and would go to Kumano. And Shōji took him in and gave him lodging. And often he would come to this temple. And Shōji’s daughter fell in love with him, and he with her. And when he told her, not quite seriously, that he would marry her, it seems that she believed him. So when he went again to stay at Shōji’s house, when all was still at dead of night, she went into his chamber and entreated him: “Let me stay with you always! Take me away with you.” But the Yamabushi in great amazement slipped away from her and fled at once to this temple, earnestly praying to be hidden. But as there was no place where he could be hidden, the bell was lowered down upon him and so he stood concealed. But soon the girl pursued him, and just then this Hidaka River rose high in flood and flowed over all the country, and this maiden, turned to a dragon in her hate, came riding on its waves right to this temple, and searching everywhere at last became suspicious of the bell thus lowered on the ground. Gripping its dragon-boss between its teeth the dragon wound itself seven times around the bell, and lashed it with its tail and spat fire from its jaws, until at last the mighty heat melted the bell to water and the monk beneath it. A fearsome tale indeed. Is it not so?

  PRIEST: Too terrible for words. I never heard the like.

  ABBOT: That fierce desire of hers is not assuaged, but still clings round this bell and seeks to harm it. But let us, therefore, show the power of the Buddhist prayers and all the merit of our austere lives. Come let us to it!

  PRIEST: Indeed we will.

  ABBOT: The waters of the Hidaka River may be dried up and the sand by its banks taken away, but who can put bounds to the power of an anchorite’s prayers?

  PRIEST: Together be our voices lifted up!

  ABBOT: On the east Gozanze Myo-o!

  PRIEST: On the south Gundari Yasha Myo-o!

  ABBOT: On the west Dai-itoku Myo-o!

  PRIEST: On the north Kongo Yasha Myo-o!

  ABBOT: In the center Dai-nichi Daijo Fudo!

  CHORUS:

  Movable or Immovable with his rope!

  Namaku Samanda Basarada!* Senda Maka-Roshana.

  Soba-haya Untara Takan-man!

  He who hears shall obtain great enlightenment,

  And he who understands shall straightway become a Buddha!

  And if thus we pray over the dragon—

  ABBOT: How can she still harbor wrath?

  CHORUS: It moves! It moves! Pray now your hardest! A mighty heave with all your thousand arms, O Goddess Kwannon! The Gatha of the saving grace of Fudo! Pray till the sparks fly from his halo and the black smoke goes up to heaven! And now the bell, unstruck by any hand begins to echo! Untouched by man it rises up. By the might of our prayer it is heaved up into the belfry! But see! The dragon now appears! Give ear, ye Dragon Kings! On the east the Green Dragon Shōjo! On the west the White Dragon Byakutai! In the center the Yellow Dragon Otai! Give ear, all ye Dragon Kings of the three worlds, countless as the sands of the Ganges River, for if ye hear our prayers why should we fear this dragon?

  (Thus conjuring and being conjured the dragon rises and confronts the bell to strike at it once more, but her fierce intent spontaneous turns to flames which burn her up, and turning back she plunges into the waters of the Hidaka River. Sated with the sight the anchorites retire within their cells.)

  Footnotes

  * Shirabyoshi, literally “White rhythm maker.” A medieval female dancer, whose measures were one element of the Noh.

  * Michinari’s name was not Tachibana, but the author could not resist the jingle of “tatsu” = “build” with Tachibana, especially as Tachibana-no-Mi=the fruit of the orange-tree, which is the meaning of Tachibana.

  * These words are Sanskrit-Chinese-Japanese. Darani or Buddhist spells, mysterious and therefore potent.

  KYOGEN OR COMIC INTERLUDES

  THE BAG OF LEAVE-TAKING

  MASTER: I am a man of these parts. And I have a woman living with me who is not at all good to look at and who stays in bed late in the morning, and when she does get up is always drinking tea and talking scandal about people, and what is more she is also given to taking too much to drink and getting tipsy and she is such a trouble that I have for long thought I would get rid of her, and now she has gone off yesterday to visit her home, so I think I’ll take advantage of the opportunity to send her a letter to that effect. I’ll just call Taro Kwaja and give him the job. Hi, Taro Kwaja!

  TARO KWAJA: Here I am

  MASTER: What I have to say is this. You know what a great nuisance that woman’s goings-on are and that I am quite unable to put up with her any longer. Well, I am going to send her away, so please take her this letter to inform her of the fact. That’s what I want you to do.

  TARO KWAJA: Very much at your service, sir, as usual, but that woman is something quite out of the common, and what she is likely to say will not, in my opinion, be pleasant, so I beg you to excuse me.

  MASTER: Oh, that’s all right. Don’t you worry. All you have to do is to leave it and say there’s no answer needed.

  TARO KWAJA: Yes, sir, perhaps, but ... any other errand I shall be very pleased to do if only you will excuse me this one.

  MASTER: Oh, I see, you’re more frightened of her than of me, are you. Well, whether you like it or not you’ve got to go now. (Lays his hand on his sword-hilt.) Now will you go or not?

  TARO KWAJA: Oh, yes. I’ll go. I’ll go.

  MASTER: Then off with you at once. Take this and say I want no reply. And come back immediately.

  TARO KWAJA: Certainly, sir.

  MASTER: Then hurry up.

  TARO KWAJA: Yes, sir. Oh dear, what a troublesome business this is that he has thrust on me. I can imagine what she’ll say to me. What a temper she’ll get into when she sees this letter.

  PILGRIM-SONG:

  Well at any rate

  It’s my master’s order,

  So I must obey.

  But I’ll hand it down,

  To my grandchildren’s children,

  Never go to service

  In a noble’s household.

&n
bsp; Ah, well, here I am. Within there!

  WOMAN: Hullo, that’s Taro Kwaja’s voice. I expect he’s come to escort me back again. Ah, Taro Kwaja, so you’ve come to take me back. I expected you before.

  TARO KWAJA: Oh ... yes ... well, I’ve got a letter for you.

  (Hands it to her. She reads it.)

  WOMAN: Yah! Yah! You devils! Here’s this beast of a man of mine sent me my dismissal! And you’re a nice one to bring such a thing! You’re as bad as he is! You stinkard! You devil! I’ll tear your eyes out! I’ll kill you!

  TARO KWAJA: Oh, I say, look here, do let me explain a bit. I told him I couldn’t do it at first, and then he threatened to kill me if I didn’t, and so I had to. It’s no affair of mine. I didn’t have anything to do with it.

  WOMAN: Well, well, perhaps you didn’t, for all I know. So you can just go back and tell him that I’ll come along after you. I’ve got some business there. Now then, hurry off!

  TARO KWAJA: But he said he didn’t want any answer.

  WOMAN: I don’t care what he said. I tell you there’s something I must do there. Off you go. I’ll be there soon.

  TARO KWAJA: Certainly. Just what I thought. I suppose there’s nothing for it but to go back and do as she says. Well, here we are.

  MASTER: Is that Taro Kwaja back again?

  TARO KWAJA: Yes, master. She got into a frightful rage ... and she’ll be here directly.

  MASTER: What does she want here? After I told her there was no answer.

  TARO KWAJA: Yes, I gave her that message all right; but she said she had some urgent business here, and so she must come.

  WOMAN: Yes, you devils, it’s enough to make anyone angry! D’you think I’m going to be taken in by a fellow like that? You could kick two or three like him out of the bushes any day of the week. Here, where’s that bag? I want it. I’m fairly on fire with rage. Now you dirty beast, what do you mean by sending me that letter? Let me get hold of you! I’ll bite you to bits! You ...