The god came originally from Aokigahara (see Zoku Kokin, a continuation of Songs Old and New). ↩
Asakayama is in Settsu. Another hill, so named, is in Michinoku. ↩
Or “my.” The vagueness is characteristic of Japanese poetry, and often, as here, is not without effect as broadening the field of suggestion. ↩
The meaning of this passage is not quite clear. ↩
The last three lines are a slightly paraphrased rendering of the text. “Blue Sea Wave,” “Joyeuse Rentrée,” “Joy of a Thousand Autumns,” and “Joy of a Myriad Years,” are all titles of Chinese musical pieces. ↩
Hito akiudo (人商人). They bought, or kidnapped, youths of agreeable appearance for service in temples. ↩
Become a nun. ↩
Konohasakuyahime. ↩
A stanza from the Kokinshiu. ↩
A stanza from the Kokinshiu, by Tsurayuki. ↩
Of Maternal and Filial Duty, which cannot be fulfilled apart. ↩
The doctorine of Karma. Every relationship, a chance likeness of name, a casual brushing of sleeves, betokens some past or future affinity. ↩
The priest has asked the villager why the woman speaks so sensibly, and suggested that he should say something that will set her off raving, so that he may be amused! The villager thereupon tells her that the blossoms are being scattered by the breeze.
A similar situation in the Kiōjomono is not infrequent. A mad woman is produced as an entertainment for visitors, and her ravings, serve for their diversion.
In Minazukibarai, for instance, a villager says to one who enquires what sights his district offers, “There is a young madwoman here … the way she dances about is most amusing … I’ll show her to you.”
In Hanjo, a servant, on his master’s behalf, addresses Hanako, “Why dost thou not rave to day, Mad Woman? Rave now to amuse us.” Strange idea of fun—yet not so strange when one remembers that, a century ago, people of fashion used to make up parties to view the antics of lunatics confined in Bedlam. ↩
These ten lines are transferred bodily from Chinese verse. ↩
“To shelter under the same tree, to dip one’s hand in the same stream.” Even such trifling affinities as these are preordained, so that there must be some previous cause from a previous existence connecting Sakurago with the Sakuragawa. The Japanese view of life was strongly coloured by the Karma doctrine. ↩
So Wu. ↩
I.e. a moon that has no phases. ↩
It must be remembered that the properties and scene are not representational but symbolic, the hero-actor simply says in effect, “Pretend that that is the tree and that the mountain.” ↩
There is here the double-entente. The blossom will really come out: it is a day of anniversary or something of that kind; also Genji will appear in his proper glory, as the audience knows, though the Waki does not. ↩
That is, this present manifestation in the shape of an old man will fade. ↩
The “soothsayer” is literally “the physiognomist from Korea.” ↩
Chujo, naidaijin, etc. are names for different grades of office. ↩
The characters often give their own stage directions or explain the meaning of their acts, as in the last line here. ↩
The Four Kings, i.e. of the four points of the compass. Devas (spirits) and Men occupy the position immediately below the Gods. ↩
More precisely “He became the place.” You can compare this with Buckle, or Jules Romains’ studies in unanimism. ↩
Atsumori must have done Kumagai some kindness in a former incarnation. This would account for Kumagai’s remorse. ↩
Buddha. ↩
I have omitted a line the force of which depends upon a play on words. ↩
The Taira evacuated the Capital in the second year of Juyei, . ↩
Ichi-no-Tani means “First Valley.” ↩
The name of so humble a thing was unfamiliar to the Taira lords. ↩
Atsumori. This passage is mimed throughout. ↩
Colophon
Plays
was compiled from plays written between circa and by
Zeami Motokiyo.
They were translated from Japanese between and by
Frederick Victor Dickins, George Sansom, Ernest Fenollosa, Yone Noguchi, and Arthur Waley.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Robin Whittleton,
and is based on transcriptions produced between and by
David Starner, Marlo Dianne, Charles Franks, Henry Flower, and Distributed Proofreaders
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans from
various sources.
The cover page is adapted from
Irises,
a painting completed in by
Vincent van Gogh.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in and by
The League of Moveable Type.
The first edition of this ebook was released on
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