“If e’er was ill-starr’d maid,That maid I am, surely;For days and days I thinkOf my dearest lover,With muffled cries at nightLike the lonely plover.”
“If e’er was ill-starr’d maid,That maid I am, surely;For days and days I thinkOf my dearest lover,With muffled cries at nightLike the lonely plover.”
“If e’er was ill-starr’d maid,That maid I am, surely;For days and days I thinkOf my dearest lover,With muffled cries at nightLike the lonely plover.”
“If e’er was ill-starr’d maid,
That maid I am, surely;
For days and days I think
Of my dearest lover,
With muffled cries at night
Like the lonely plover.”
Okaru is sunk in thought as she feels how fitly the song describes her own position. Here Heiyemon comes in and meets her.
Heiyemon.Are you not my sister?
Okaru.Oh, is it you, brother? I am ashamed to be seen here.
Recitative.She hides her face.
Heiyemon.There is no cause for shame. When I came back from the Eastern Provinces, I saw our mother and heard it all. You bravely sold yourself for your husband and for our lord. Well done, sister.
Okaru.I am glad if you think so kindly of me. But rejoice with me. To-night, though I did not expect it, I am to be redeemed.
Heiyemon.That is excellent. And by whom?
Okaru.By one whom you know, Master Oboshi Yuranosuke.
Heiyemon.What, by Master Yuranosuke? You have long been intimate?
Okaru.No, not at all. I have lately waited on him twice or thrice when he drank, and that was all. He says, if I have a husband, he will let me join him, and if I want to leave him, he will let me go. It is almost too good to be true.
Heiyemon.Then, does he know that you are Kanpei’s wife?
Okaru.No, he does not know it. As it would be shame to my parents and husband, how could I tell him?
Heiyemon.Humph, then, he is a libertine from his heart. It is certain that he has no wish to revenge his lord.
Okaru.Oh, but he has, brother. I cannot say it aloud. I will whisper it to you.
Recitative.She whispers to him.
Heiyemon.Humph, you really read the letter?
Okaru.I read it to the end. Then we looked at each other, face to face, and he began to banter me, and at last he talked of redeeming me.
Heiyemon.After you had read the whole letter?
Okaru.Yes.
Heiyemon.I see now. Sister, your life is doomed; give it to me.
Recitative.And he draws his sword and strikes at her; but she springs aside.
Okaru.O brother, what have I done? As I have my husband Kanpei and my two parents, you cannot do as you will with me. All my pleasure now is to be redeemed and see once more my parents and husband. Whatever I may have done, I will ask your pardon. Forgive me, pardon me.
Recitative.As she clasps her hands to him, Heiyemon flings away his sword and, throwing himself down, sinks into tears of bitter sorrow.
Heiyemon.My poor, poor sister, then, you know nothing? Our father Yoichibeiwas struck down and murdered on the night of the twenty-ninth day of the sixth moon.
Okaru.Heavens, and how?
Heiyemon.There is something more to startle you. Kanpei, whom you think to join when you are redeemed, has disembowelled himself and died.
Okaru.What? Is it true? Is it, is it, tell me?
Recitative.She clings to him and with a loud cry, sinks into bitter tears.
Heiyemon.It is natural, very natural that you should cry. It will take too long to tell you in full. I feel most sorry for our mother. She speaks of it and cries, and then she thinks of it and cries again. She feared that if you heard of it, you would cry yourself to death, and told me not to say a word of it to you. I did not think to tell you; but now you cannot escape death. For Master Yuranosuke, who is the very embodiment of loyalty, has no cause to redeem you if he does not know that you are Kanpei’s wife; and he certainly is not infatuated with love. Of grave import was the letter yousaw; and I am sure that he means to put you to death when he has redeemed you. Even though you should not tell of the letter, walls have ears, and if its contents came to light through others, it would be attributed to your blabbing. It was your fault to have peeped into the secret letter; and you must be killed. Rather than you should fall by another’s hand, I would put you to death myself. A woman who has knowledge of the great plot, you cannot be allowed to escape though you are my sister. On the strength of that deed, I will join the leaguers and accompany them on their journey. Ah, sad is the lot of a man of low estate; for he cannot, unless he shows a spirit superior to others, be counted among them. Hearken to me and give me your life; please, die, dear sister.
Recitative.Hearing these clear words of her brother, Okaru sobs again and again.
Okaru.I thought I had no tidings from Kanpei because he had started on his journey by making use of the money, the price of my service, and I have been angry because I thought he might have come to bid me farewell.Though I am wrong to say it, our father, sad as was his death, was still of ripe age; but Kanpei—to die when he was hardly thirty years old, how sad, how mortified he must have been and how must he have longed to see me! Why was I not allowed to see him? Not to abstain from animal food in memory of my father and husband, it was my evil fortune. Why should I wish to live? If I die by your hand, our mother will be offended with you. I will kill myself; and afterwards if my head or body be of service to you, make what use you please of it. Now farewell, dear brother.
Recitative.With these words she takes up the sword; but a voice cries out:
A Voice.Nay, wait a moment.
(Enter Yuranosuke).
Recitative.He who stops her is Yuranosuke. Heiyemon is startled. Okaru cries out as Yuranosuke holds her hand.
Okaru.Oh, let go. Let me die.
Recitative.He still holds her hands tightly.
Yuranosuke.You brother and sister,your conduct is admirable. My doubts are dispelled. The brother shall accompany me to the East, and the sister shall survive and offer prayers for his soul.
Okaru.No, I will say those prayers as I accompany him to the other world.
Recitative.As she tries to snatch away the sword, he holds it tightly over her hand.
Yuranosuke.Though your husband Kanpei has joined the league, he has not killed a single enemy and will have no plea to make when he meets his lord in the other world. That plea shall be found here.
Recitative.And he thrusts the sword which Okaru still holds between the mats through the floor, and Kudayu, whose shoulder is pierced as he hides under it, writhes with pain.
Yuranosuke.Drag him out.
Recitative.Instantly Heiyemon jumps off the verandah upon the ground and drags out by force the blood-stained Kudayu.
Heiyemon.What, Kudayu? Well, you are rightly served.
Recitative.He drags him forward andthrows him down before Yuranosuke, who catches him by the hair ere he can rise and pulls him towards him.
Yuranosuke.The worm that feeds in the lion’s body is such as you. You received a high salary from our lord and great favours as well; and yet you became his enemy Moronao’s spy and reported to him everything, were it true or false. We, forty men and more, have left our parents, parted from our children, and sent our wives who should be our life-long companions to lead a life of shame, all, all to revenge our lord’s death; and awaking or asleep, we ponder ever upon the circumstances of his suicide and weep tears of despair in the anguish of our hearts. To-night, of all others, the eve of the anniversary of our lord’s death when we must abstain from all unclean food and I have endeavoured with the utmost effort not even to utter an impure word, you dared to thrust the flesh of fish to my face; how great was my agony when I durst not refuse and yet could not accept it! How do you imagine I felt when it went down my throat on this eve of theanniversary of my lord whose family mine has served for many generations? My whole body seemed all at once to go to pieces and my bones to break every one, You devil, you hound of hell!
Recitative.He presses and pushes his head on the ground and sinks into tears of despair.
Yuranosuke.Here, Heiyemon, my forgetting to take that rusty sword of mine
Illustration: Yuranosuke slashing Kudayu with a sword
was a presage that I should torture this fellow to death with it. Torture him without killing him.
Heiyemon.Very well, sir.
Recitative.No sooner does he draw the sword than he jumps and flies at Kudayu and cuts him about; but the gashes are only a few inches long. He strikes him until no part of his body is left unwounded.
Kudayu.Heiyemon, Okaru, plead for me.
Recitative.He clasps his hands to them. How unsightly is it for him to bow and entreat Teraoka, whom formerly he despised as anashigaru!
Yuranosuke.If we kill him here, it will be difficult to explain it away. Pretend he is drunk and take him home.
Recitative.Hishaoriis thrown upon him to hide his wounds. Here Yazama, Senzaki, and Takemori, who have been listening in secret, suddenly open the sliding-door.
All Three.Master Yuranosuke, we humbly apologise for our conduct.
Yuranosuke.Here, Heiyemon, let this drunken guest take a bath in the River Kamo.
Heiyemon.Yes, sir.
Yuranosuke.Go.
[1]The Japanese three-stringed guitar.
[2]A play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the greatest of Japanese dramatists (1653—1724).
[3]Theashigaruwere a grade lower than the samurai; and in war they were common soldiers.
[4]When her lord, Satehiko, left on an expedition to Korea, Sayo-hime stood on a high rock and waved her sleeves to his vessel. She remained there so long that she was turned into stone.
[5]An allusion to a popular legend of the Stars Vega and Altair on the opposite sides of the Milky Way.
THE BRIDAL JOURNEY.[1]
Who was it sang,
“This world is like the As’ka River,For all things change for ever;There where the deep pool was yestreen,A shoal to-day is seen”?
“This world is like the As’ka River,For all things change for ever;There where the deep pool was yestreen,A shoal to-day is seen”?
“This world is like the As’ka River,For all things change for ever;There where the deep pool was yestreen,A shoal to-day is seen”?
“This world is like the As’ka River,
For all things change for ever;
There where the deep pool was yestreen,
A shoal to-day is seen”?
The pool has changed to a shoal, and he who received a stipend is now aroninwith no place to turn to. Through Enya’s fault, Konami, the daughter of Kakogawa, though still linked by love, is deserted by her affianced husband before the exchange of betrothal presents. She is given to moody thoughts, and her mother resolves to go with her to Yamashina and give her in marriage to her lover Chikara. Bearing in mind his present condition, when the mother and daughterbend their steps towards the Capital, they neither take a waiting-woman nor ride in a palanquin. Konami’s snowy-white complexion is tinged in the cold air with the light red of the winter plum-blossom; and the tips of her fingers are frozen as she reaches Kogoezaka (Frozen Steep) and climbs up the Satta Pass. As she looks back, the snow-dust vanishes from Mount Fuji[2]; but her uneasiness, as she thinks her fate will be like it, will soon be set at rest by the fire to be lighted
Illustration: Travelers walking with Mount Fuji in the background
at her wedding. With these joyful reflections she comes upon the pine-grove of Miho; after it is an avenue of pine-trees, which is nowfilled by a great procession. Who the lord is she knows not, but she looks at it with envy; ah, if the times had not changed, in such grand state might she have travelled for her marriage. With these dreams of pageantry she passes Fuchu, and when the castle-town is left behind, her mother, to cheer their spirits, looks forward impatiently to the moment when the wedding cups are exchanged and all is still but for the whisperings of the bridal chamber which the daughter will keep secret from the mother. The ivy-covered path leads from the sea-coast where the lashing billows separate parent and child; and here in the tangled path her mother takes her hand and asks her how glad she will be to meet her lover. She pushes aside her mother’s swords at the Mariko River, and near Utsu Hill she is lost in reverie, thinking of her bridegroom. The coloured rice at Seto is hard; and so may be her life, though now she is full of bashful joy. At the Oi River an anxiety arises; for the stream of water and a man’s heart are fickle, they say. Will his heart ever change? As wellask if the flower will bloom in the shade. At Shimada[3], that home of maiden coiffure,
Illustration: Two women, one resting on luggage
her brooding ceases. Asking herself in a murmur if people know how she is placed, she crosses the bridge at Shirasuka, and further on, at Yoshida and Akasaka, the women of the inns in a loud voice invite the passers-by. “If you would seek a mate,” they sing, “go to the Temple of Kiyomizu, plunge into the Falls of Otowa, and pray for one every day. The dancers’ drum hasbroken our midday nap.” Oh, how she wishes to tell of her hardships to her husband in the Capital! If it is only the couple and the mother, the Goddess of Ise has brought them together; and the country song is a good omen to her. She comes to Narumi; ah, is that the Shrine of Atsuta over yonder? The boat has hoisted its sail on the seven-riferry and the boatmen keep time as they row. The sound of their steering, it is like the cry of thesuzumushi(bell-insect); nay, it is sad and lonely as the cricket’s chirp.[4]The boats are few in number, and so runs the mother, and runs the daughter. The hail falls from the sky, and they put up umbrellas with their fellow-passengers in the boat. Now they come to Shono and stop at Kameyama, where part the roads to Ise and to the East. The bells (sazu) of the postal road are heard at Suzukagoe,and the rain falls at Tsuchiyama.[5]So they all say at Minakuchi. At Ishibe and Ishiba she picks up stones, big and little, and fondles and rubs them[6]as they remind her of her husband. In time they reach Otsu and cross the foot of the Temple of Miidera. and hurry to a village not far from Yamashina.
Illustration: Pines tree
[1]In this Act, such frequent allusions are made to the different places on the highroad from Yedo to Kyoto that, without the knowledge of their names, it is well-nigh impossible to make much meaning out of the whole piece.
[2]Refers to an ode by Saigyo-hoshi (1118-1190).
[3]The formal coiffure of young unmarried women is calledshimadaafter this town.
[4]Refers to an ode by Gokyogoku (died 1190), which runs:—Sweetly chirps in the frosty night,The lonely cricket at my side;But lonelier far am I and cold,With half my bed unoccupied.
Sweetly chirps in the frosty night,The lonely cricket at my side;But lonelier far am I and cold,With half my bed unoccupied.
Sweetly chirps in the frosty night,The lonely cricket at my side;But lonelier far am I and cold,With half my bed unoccupied.
Sweetly chirps in the frosty night,The lonely cricket at my side;But lonelier far am I and cold,With half my bed unoccupied.
Sweetly chirps in the frosty night,
The lonely cricket at my side;
But lonelier far am I and cold,
With half my bed unoccupied.
[5]Refers to a popular local song, which runs:—At Seki, it is burning hot o’erheadAt Suzuka the clouds have spread;And at Tsuchiyama, the half-way town,The rain comes pouring down.
At Seki, it is burning hot o’erheadAt Suzuka the clouds have spread;And at Tsuchiyama, the half-way town,The rain comes pouring down.
At Seki, it is burning hot o’erheadAt Suzuka the clouds have spread;And at Tsuchiyama, the half-way town,The rain comes pouring down.
At Seki, it is burning hot o’erheadAt Suzuka the clouds have spread;And at Tsuchiyama, the half-way town,The rain comes pouring down.
At Seki, it is burning hot o’erhead
At Suzuka the clouds have spread;
And at Tsuchiyama, the half-way town,
The rain comes pouring down.
[6]Oboshi’s real name is Ōishi, which means ‘big stone’; hence the allusion.
RECITATIVE.
In Yamashina, which is neither elegant nor out-of-the-common and has nothing to recommend it, lies Yuranosuke’s temporary home. Since yesterday he has remained at the tea-house in Gion; for last night he was kept in by snow and has come home this morning. Jesters and waitresses have come with him, and flushed with wine, he attempts to roll the snow; but instead of the snow rolling, he rolls in the snow, and he amuses himself heedless of all appearances.
A Jester.Master, your parlour commands a fine view. The garden with the bamboos weighted with snow looks just like a picture; it is beautiful, is it not, Oshina?
Oshina.Yes, when I see this view, I do not wish to go anywhere else.
Yuranosuke.Er......don’t you know that ode,
“When it is seen from morn to eve,E’en Awaji’s fair chain of hillsOver ’gainst Sumiyoshi’s beachSumiyoshi’s beach No more our eyes with wonder fills”?
“When it is seen from morn to eve,E’en Awaji’s fair chain of hillsOver ’gainst Sumiyoshi’s beachSumiyoshi’s beach No more our eyes with wonder fills”?
“When it is seen from morn to eve,
E’en Awaji’s fair chain of hills
Over ’gainst Sumiyoshi’s beach
Sumiyoshi’s beach No more our eyes with wonder fills”?
Two men and a womanThough a man may be proud of his garden, he cannot relish wine at home; it will not go down his throat. Now, come in, come in. Where is my wife when I have visitors?
Recitative.He goes before the others; and as he strides from one stepping-stone to another, his words are unsteady, and so are his legs, for he is exhilarated with wine. His wife, guessing that he has returned, comes out in a light spirit, and in her anxiety for her husband out in the cold, she shows no jealousy. With cheerful words she brings hima cup of tea; but he takes only a sip and throws the rest on the ground.
Yuranosuke.Ah, wife, that is clumsy of you. You wish me to become sober when I have had wine and enjoyed myself. How jealous must other people think you! Ah, how the snow has fallen! Snow is like whipped cotton, they say, and flying, is stuffed within; and the wife, when she is called mamma, becomes a household drudge.[1]Pardon the lateness of my visit to my lady’s chamber. The spring lobster, the goblet, and the fence of the Rice-God of the Grotto must be red, or they will lose their votaries, I suppose. Dear, dear, I have stumbled and sprained my big toe. Oh, well, well. I will do so while I am about it.
Oishi.Oh, do not jest; be quiet. When he drinks too much, he loses his senses. What a trouble he must have been to you!
Recitative.She speaks to them gently. Rikiya comes in.
Rikiya.Please, mother. Is father asleep? Pray, give him this.
Recitative.From their actions it is plain that the parents and son understand one another; and when Rikiya hands a wooden pillow, Yuranosuke appears to be in a dream.
Oishi.Will you all now go home?
Jesters and Waitresses.Yes, yes, madam. Pray, present compliments to Master. And come sometimes, Young Master.
Recitative.They make signs with their eyes, and they go home with abashed looks. When they have gone beyond hearing, Yuranosuke raises his head.
Yuranosuke.Rikiya, see this snow that I rolled when I pretended to amuse myself; it was done with an object in view. What do you make of it?
Rikiya.Snow, sir, is scattered when it falls by the least wind; and yet, though it is light, it becomes, when it is pressed into a ball, as you see there, as hard as a stone, for rocks are split by snow that is blown down from a peak. Weighty is loyalty. But neitherthat weighty loyalty nor this ball of snow must be kept too long. Is that your meaning, sir?
Yuranosuke.No, no. Yuranosuke, his son, Hara Goemon, and the rest of the forty-seven confederates are all masterless and live in the shade. Snow, too, will not melt if it is kept in the shade; and it warns us against haste. It is in the sun here, take it into the yard behind the house. When they collected fireflies or piled snow[2]for light to read by, it showed the patience of scholars. Let the servant open the garden-gate from inside. I will write the letter to Sakai; when the messenger comes, let me know.
Recitative.The servant opens the garden-gate; the snow is rolled in and the gate is shut. The sliding-door is opened and they all go in.
She who now comes to this retreat in Yamashina, as far removed from the worldas the recesses of the heart, is Tonase, the wife of Kakogawa Honzo Yukikuni. She makes the palanquin which has come with her wait near her; and alone she girds two swords and, strict in deportment, she calls at the door of the retreat.
Tonase.If you please.
Recitative.Hearing her voice, the servant Rin slips off hertasuki[3]and rushes to the door, which formerly would have been answered by an usher.
Tonase.Is this Master Oboshi Yuranosuke’s home? If so, pray, tell him that I am Tonase, Kakogawa Honzo’s wife; I have long neglected to call; but I have come a great distance to-day as there is something for which I desire to see him.
Recitative.Then she turns round and makes the bearers bring the palanquin beside her. She calls her daughter. And with such a smile as smiles the bush-warbler when he flies out of the depths of the valley to find the plum-tree all a-flower, out comes Konami,with a head-covering almost concealing her eyes.
Konami.Are we already at Master Rikiya’s home? I feel too shy.
Recitative.The room is put in order, and the servant comes to the door to bid them enter.
Tonase.The palanquin-bearers may now go home. Please, show us in.
Recitative.Konami keeps close to her mother and sits down with her; and the next moment Oishi calmly enters to meet them.
Oishi.You ladies are welcome. I should have called long ago; but you have no doubt heard of our present condition, and I am ashamed to be visited in such a home.
Tonase.You are too formal. Though we see each other for the first time to-day, since your son, Master Rikiya and my daughter Konami were betrothed, you and I are now connections, and we need not stand upon ceremony to each other.
Oishi.It is very kind of you to say so. I am grateful for such an unexpected visit in this cold weather of Master KakogawaHonzo’s lady who must be very busy. Mistress Tonase knows the Capital, no doubt; but it must be quite new to Mistress Konami. Have you been to Gion, Kiyomizu, Chion-in, and the Great Statue of Buddha? If you wish to see the Kinkakuji, I can procure you admittance.
Recitative.To this unreserved talk Konami can only mutter a word or two in answer, as if the light dazzled her even through her head-covering. Tonase now sits up straight.
Tonase.I will tell you why I came here to-day. After this my daughter Konami was betrothed, came the calamity to your Lord Enya, and we could not discover where Master Yuranosuke and Master Rikiya dwelt. It is the way of the world to change with the times; but unchangeable is the parent’s heart. Upon inquiry, we found that you lived here in Yamashina and, in our desire to make over our daughter to you as soon as possible, I have forced myself upon you to-day. My husband Honzo should have come in person; but as he is busy with his official duties, Ihave girded myself with these two swords, the soul of my husband, and am therefore here as his deputy. I do duty for him and myself. I desire to see Master Yuranosuke also. I should like to see the marriage-cups exchanged and feel at ease. Happily, to-day is an auspicious day, and please, therefore, to make preparations for the marriage.
Oishi.Your words are most unexpected. Unfortunately, Yuranosuke has gone out; but if he were at home and saw you, he would answer, “I am most grateful for your kindness. When the children were betrothed, I was in my lord’s service and received a stipend; I asked Master Honzo to give me his daughter and he consented, and the promise was made. But now I am aroninwith scarcely a servant; and though the promise was made, the daughter of one of Master Kakogawa’s high position would be out of place here; it would be, as the vulgar saying is, as ill-matched as a lantern and a temple-bell. An ill-sorted marriage can only end in a divorce. Besides, we have not exchanged betrothal presents, and so, pray give her away anywhereyou please without the least reserve.” That, Madam, would be his answer.
Tonase.You surprise me. However much you may humble yourself, you cannot say that it is an ill match between Honzo and Master Yuranosuke. I will tell you why. My master is of a modest position, and his chief councillor Honzo receives only five hundredkoku; while Lord Enya was adaimyo, and his chief councillor Master Yuranosuke’s stipend was fifteen hundredkoku. Did you not make the betrothal when your stipend was a thousandkokuhigher than Honzo’s? And now you are aronin, and even if you were without income, Honzo’s stipend would only be five hundredkokuhigher than yours.
Oishi.No, you are wrong. Though there might be a difference of not merely five hundredkoku, but even of ten thousand, we would not object to taking for wife a great man’s daughter if only our hearts matched.
Tonase.I should like to hear more of this, Mistress Oishi. You say, if your hearts matched. Whose hearts, pray, tell me?
Oishi.My master Lord Enya Hangwan’sdeath was due, it is true, to his hasty temper; but it arose originally from his love of honesty. On the other hand, Master Honzo cajoled Moronao with bribe and receives the stipend of a fawning samurai. We cannot take for wife a woman who is an ill match for the beloved son of Yuranosuke who refuses to serve a second master.
Recitative.Instantly Tonase shuffles forward.
Tonase.Whom do you mean by a fawning samurai? According to your answer, I may refuse to let it pass; but I will overlook it for the love of my daughter. It is the wife’s duty to submit to her husband. Whether the marriage ceremony has taken place or not, she is, since she has been betrothed to Rikiya, his wife in the eyes of all men.
Oishi.Humph, that is interesting. If she is his wife, her husband divorces her; I divorce her in my son’s name.
Recitative.With these words she stands up and going out, shuts the sliding-door behind her. The daughter bursts out crying.
Konami.I came here relying upon yourpromise to let me see Master Rikiya, to whom I was betrothed as we loved each other, and now his mother divorces me; but I have done nothing to deserve it. Please, plead for me, mother, and let the marriage ceremony take place.
Recitative.She clings to her mother and weeps; and the mother gazes long at her face.
Tonase.It may be due to a parent’s partiality; but your beauty appears to me to be more than ordinary. We looked for a good husband for you and betrothed you to Rikiya; and now our journey has been in vain. I understand now. Being aroninwith no one to turn to, Rikiya has, on the strength of his high birth, become the husband of a wealthy merchant’s daughter and lost all sense of duty and justice. Come, Konami. That fellow’s spirit is as I have just said. Since he has divorced you, you will find many a one anxious to marry you; and have you no wish to go elsewhere? This is a critical moment. Answer firmly without weeping. Come, what do you say?
Recitative.The mother’s nerves are tense as a bow.
Konami.You say cruel things, mother. When I left home, my father said to me that Oboshi Rikiya,roninas he is, is unexceptionable in conduct and ability and I was fortunate in having such a husband; since a chaste women never looks upon a second husband, I was not, even though I parted from him, to take another husband, for that would be the same as the infidelity of a married woman; asleep or awake, I must not forget to be tender to my husband and be dutiful to Yuranosuke and his wife; I was not, though I lived on good terms with my husband, to be in the least jealous and thus run the risk of being divorced; and when I was about to become a mother, I was not to conceal it from fear of causing my father anxiety, but to let him know at once. These were my father’s words and I remember them well. If I am divorced and go home, I shall only increase his anxiety; and whatever excuse or plea others may offer, I will marry no one, if I cannot Master Rikiya.
Recitative.On hearing Konami show her determination to persist in her love, Tonase can endure no longer and, overcome with tears, she draws her sword.
Konami.What are you going to do, mother?
Recitative.As Konami restrains her, her mother raises her face.
Tonase.Can you ask what I am going to do? As you say, your father wishes to have the marriage ceremony performed as soon as possible and to see the face of his first grandchild; for such is ever the father’s love of his daughter. When he is thus looking forward with great pleasure, how can I take you home and tell him that you have been divorced before even the wedding took place? And yet if your mother-in-law refuses to take you in, we can do nothing. Especially, as you are his former wife’s daughter and none of my blood, he might think I was remiss in bringing about your marriage, and I cannot go home alive. When I am dead, you will tell your father what I have told you and beg his forgiveness.
Konami.Ah, what you say is more than I deserve. It is I, unloved of my husband, that should die. I am most undutiful to you, for while I have hitherto received all kindness from you, I am now causing you sorrow. Oh, kill me, I entreat, with your own hand. I desire nothing more than to die here, divorced as I am, in my husband’s house. Please, slay me at once.
Tonase.Oh, well said; you have spoken bravely. I will not kill you alone; but I will accompany you on the road to Hades. When I have slain you with my own hand, I will soon overtake you. Are you ready?
Recitative.She bravely stops her tears and half rises.
Tonase.Oh, Konami, hear that. Akomuso[4]is playing outside on his flute the song of the “Nesting of the Crane.” When even birds love their young, it is the clashing of ill-starred karmas that I must slay an innocent child.
Recitative.As she thinks of it, her legs can hardly support her; and as she lifts atlast her sword with shaking hands, Konami sits bravely under it with her hands joined in prayer.
Illustration: Tonase has a raised sword behind kneeling Konami. A person is behind a screen
Konami.Oh, save us, Amida Buddha.
Recitative.As she recites this prayer, she hears a voice call out.
A Voice.Stop.
Recitative.Without her knowing it, Tonase’s arms weaken, and the flute, too, becomes suddenly still.
Tonase.Oh, yes, yes. The voice that called stopped the flute of thekomuso. As I wished so much to save you, my heart grewfaint at the sound of the voice. But let me not be laughed at for a faint-hearted woman. Daughter, are you ready?
Recitative.As she lifts her sword again, again the flute is played, and again the voice calls out.
A Voice.Stop.
Tonase.H’m, the voice that calls out, “Stop,” does it stop the hand of the flute-player or this uplifted hand?
A Voice.I stopped the hand with the sword. The marriage with my son Rikiya shall take place.
Tonase.What, that voice is Mistress Oishi’s. Is it true what you tell me?
Recitative.While she asks, the wedding song is heard from within the sliding-door: “Auspicious, indeed, are the pine-trees that grow together.” Out comes Oishi carrying on a level with her eyes a small stand of plain wood.
Oishi.You showed, Mistress Tonase, a resolute heart when you raised your hand against a daughter to whom you are bound by a sense of duty; and great, too, is MistressKonami’s chastity of heart. From admiration for your spirit, I will permit the ceremony I am loth to perform; and in return I expect a wine-cup from the bride that is not commonly given. I will receive it on this stand, and have you it ready?
Recitative.As Oishi places the stand before her, Tonase feels a little relieved, and she returns to the scabbard her drawn sword.
Tonase.By a wine-cup uncommon in the world I suppose you mean a wedding-present. These two swords are my husband’s heirloom; the sword was made by Masamune and the dirk by Namino-hira Yukiyasu. They are treasures that cannot be exchanged for house or life. I offer them as presents.
Recitative.Before she has done speaking, Oishi breaks out.
Oishi.Looking down upon us asronin, you give us two swords of high value as wedding-presents, as much as to say that we may sell them when we are straitened in our means. They are not what we desire.
Tonase.What, then, do you wish?
Oishi.We wish placed on this stand the head of Master Kakogawa Honzo.
Tonase.What? and why?
Oishi.When our Lord Enya Hangwan, having a grudge against Kono Moronao, struck him with his sword in the Palace of Kamakura, it was solely because your husband Kakogawa Honzo who was present caught him from behind and stopped him that he was unable to accomplish his object and his enemy escaped with a slight wound while he himself was compelled to commitseppuku. Though he said nothing at the time, great was his mortification and how must he have hated Master Honzo for his interference! If you think that Rikiya, his servant, is such a man that he will calmly take to wife the daughter of this Kakogawa, I will permit the exchange of the wedding-cups when I have seen on this stand Master Honzo’s hoary head, or if you refuse, place on it any two other heads for the ceremony. Now, do you consent, or do you not?
Recitative.To these sharp words ofreason the mother and daughter bow their heads and know not what to do.
A Voice Outside.I will give you Kakogawa Honzo’s head. Receive it.
Recitative.TheHonzo standingkomusowho has been standing outside, takes off his hat and throws it down; and slowly he comes within.
Konami.What, you are my father?
Tonase.Master Honzo, how did you come here? And in this guise? I cannot understand. How is this?
Honzo.Come, it is unbecoming to be so noisy. I have heard it all. I will tell you later how I came here without letting you know. Be silent for the present. And you are Mistress Oishi, the wife of Master Yuranosuke? I thought it would turn out thus to-day and came without my wife and daughter’s knowledge to find out for myself. And, as I expected, you wish to have my head asmy son-in-law’s wedding present! Ha, ha, ha! That is what a samurai should say. Yuranosuke, who has no intention of avenging his lord’s death, given to pleasures, a debauchee whose spirit is disordered with excessive drinking, the greatest mirror of folly in all Japan! A frog’s offspring can but become a frog; and Rikiya is a great idiot no less than his father, a cowardly, good-for-nothing samurai. Such a fellow cannot cut off this head of mine. No more of such foolishness!
Recitative.He tramples upon the stand and breaks it to pieces.
Honzo.It is I who will not have him for my son-in-law. You shallow-hearted woman!
Oishi.That is too much, Master Honzo. I will show you if this rusty sword of aroninhas an edge or not. Unworthy as I am, I am Yuranosuke’s wife; and you are such an enemy as I desire. Come, let us fight it out; let us appeal to arms.
Recitative.She tucks up her skirt, and taking down a spear from the wall, prepares to attack him.
Tonase and Konami.You are too hasty. Please, wait.