by Arthur Waley
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 Hyūga. He begs a little from travelers; 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 travelers 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 Hyūga 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
Over rough stones to the cliff.
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 you 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. Someone came here saying that she was Kageki-yo'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)
It is I who have come to you.)
I have come all the long way,)
Through rain, wind, frost and dew.)
And now—you have not understood; it was all for nothing.)
Am I not worth your love? Oh cruel, cruel! (She weeps.)
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,
Call me your father, then would the World know you
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 caviled, disputed.
But now
He that of all was envied
Is like Kirin* grown old,
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 Kurō."† So spoke he.
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 soldie
rs;
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 KI
By Seami
PERSONS
THE PRIEST (Lord Tokiyori disguised)
TSUNEYO GENZAYEMON (a former retainer of Tokiyori)
GENZAYEMON'S WIFE
TOKIYORI'S MINISTER, AND FOLLOWERS
CHORUS
PRIEST
No whence nor whither know I, only onward,
Onward my way.
I am a holy man of no fixed abode. I have been traveling 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 traveled so fast that I am come to the Ford of Sano in the country of Kōzuke. 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 tonight.
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* I loved to see it:
"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† that watch it!
Oh how shall this thin dress of Kefu-cloth‡
Chase from my bones the winter of today,
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* that we are now come to ruin. And surely it will bring us ill-fortune in our next life, if we give no welcome to such a one as this! If it is by any means possible for him to shelter here, please let him stay.
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, traveler, 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;* we can give him that if he will take it.
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.
