Kagekiyo Read online

  KAGEKIYO [19]

  Authorship of the Play

  This Play was probably written about 1410; at any rate in the first quarter of the fifteenth century. Its author was Motokiyo, who was born in 1374 and who died in 1455. He was the eldest son of the famous Kiyotsugu (see p. 7).

  Outline of the Story

  The time of the action of the play is about the year 1190, and Kagekiyo, the hero of the story, is a very renowned warrior of the Taira clan. The Taira and the Minamoto (Gen) clans were rivals and were perpetually at war; during the years 1156-1185 more particularly this struggle culminated, when Japan had her "Wars of the Roses."

  Kagekiyo, known as the Boisterous, owing to his uneven temper and ready appeals to arms, was a famous warrior of the Taira clan, and when the Minamoto Shōgunate was established at Kamakura, Kagekiyo was exiled to a distant place in Hiuga, where he became blind and passed a miserable existence as a beggar. He had a daughter called Hitomaru, whom he left in Kamakura in the charge of a lady. At the time of the play, Hitomaru has just grown up to be a young lady, but she had a great desire to meet her father, and so set out with a servant to seek him. She has a long and arduous journey to the place of her father's exile, and after enduring considerable hardships she at last finds Kagekiyo's retreat. She and her servant encounter a villager who assists them in the final search for Kagekiyo, and they make inquiries of a blind beggar dwelling in a miserable straw hut. This beggar is actually Kagekiyo, but at first he refuses to answer them or to acknowledge it, out of shame and consideration for his daughter. Ultimately, however, he recounts to her some of his adventures, and then he commands her to leave him and they part for ever.

  Comments on the Play

  In this play there is perhaps less description of the beauties of Nature than in many of the Nō, but the opening lines are particularly fraught with the meaning which permeates the whole play.

  The dew remains until the wind doth blow.

  The comparison of human life to a drop of dew is one frequently made in the literature of the Nō. Throughout this play there are many phrases showing how deeply the characters feel the transitoriness of human life. After Hitomaru's longing for a place to rest a little while, Kagekiyo exclaims--

  Nay, in the three worlds there is not a place.

  Kagekiyo's behaviour to his child, and his reception of her after her long search for him, appears to us to be most cruel; but it is, nevertheless, based on the conceptions of the chivalry of his time. Kagekiyo's leading thought was the really unselfish desire to keep the shame of his condition from touching his daughter. His first wish is that she shall not even recognise or speak with him; but when this is frustrated, he commands both the servant and the villager to send her back immediately their short meeting is over. And yet he does not seek even a moment's embrace, nor does he use an endearing phrase to his daughter. The play is a good illustration of the way that the old codes of Japanese chivalry imposed courses of action which seem now in this softer age well-nigh inhuman in their repression and conquest of the natural feelings.

  Kagekiyo [*]

  Dramatis Personæ

  Kagekiyo (Shite)

  Hitomaru, Kagekiyo's daughter (Tsure)

  Servant to Hitomaru

  Villager (Waki)

  Chorus

  Scene

  A mountain side at Miyasaki in the province of Hiuga. Time about 1190.

  Hitomaru and Servant The dew remains until the wind doth blow,

  The dew remains until the wind doth blow.

  My own life fleeting as a drop of dew,

  What will become of me as time does pass?

  Hitomaru My name is Hitomaru, and I am

  A maiden, who in Kamakura [20] dwells.

  My father's name is Kagekiyo, called

  By some the Boisterous, and he is a friend

  Of the Hei [21] clan, the Taira family

  And so is by the Gen [21] house hated much.

  To Miyasaki exiled, in Hiuga

  He deigns, in shame, long months and years to pass.

  To travel unaccustomed, I am tired,

  And yet inevitable weariness

  I mitigate by thinking of my quest,

  And I am strengthened for my father's sake.

  Hitomaru and Servant The tears of anxious sleep run down my cheek

  And to the dew upon the pillowing grass

  Add drops that drench my sleeves.

  From Sagami the province we set out,

  From Sagami the province we set out,

  Asking from those we met, the road to take

  Toward our destination. And we passed

  The province Tōtomi, [22] and crossed by boat

  The distant bay. And Mikana we passed,

  By Mikana, spanned o'er with bridges eight.

  Oh, would that we could grow accustomed soon

  To our short nights of sleep that we might dream

  Of the high capital above the clouds,

  Of the high capital above the clouds.

  Servant Endeavoured as you honourably have

  To hasten on the way, already now

  This is Miyasaki, as it is called,

  To Hiuga you have honourably come.

  This is the place to honourably ask

  Your honourable father's whereabouts.

  Kagekiyo Evident to the audience, but supposed to be hidden from the other actors. The pine trees that have seen long months and years

  Entwine themselves to form the arching bowers.

  Yet I, debarred from the clear light of day

  Discern no sign that time is passing by.

  Here idly in a dark and lowly hut

  I sleep the time away. The seasons change

  But not for heat nor cold my clothes are planned

  And to a skeleton my frame has waned.

  Chorus If one has got to leave the world, then black,

  Black should his sleeves be dyed. Then surely black

  His sleeves should all be dyed. and yet my sleeves--

  Oh, more inglorious! So utterly

  Worn out and waned my stare that I myself

  Feel much averse unto my wretched self.

  So who could be benevolent enough

  To visit such a state of misery?

  No one inquiring of my misery

  Will ever come. No one inquiring of my misery

  Will ever come. Hitomaru Incredible that one should dwell within

  That wretched hut, it does not seem to be

  Fit for a habitation. Strangely though

  I heard a voice proceeding from its wall.

  A beggar's dwelling it must be. I fear,

  And from the lowly dwelling keep away.

  Kagekiyo That autumn now has come I cannot see,

  And yet I feel it for the wind has brought

  Tidings from somewhere, tho' I know not whence.

  Hitomaru Ah, knowing not my father's whereabouts

  In misery I wander, with no place

  Where I can rest even a little while.

  Kagekiyo Nay, in the three worlds there is not a place,

  'Tis only in the heavenly expanse. [23]

  Choose any man and ask him, he will say

  "Where else!" And what else could he ever say?

  Servant How now, you in the thatched hut, I would ask

  A question of you.

  Kagekiyo Well; what is it then? Servant Knowest thou where dwells an exiled man?

  Kagekiyo An exile though he be, what is his name?

  Servant The Boist'rous Kagekiyo is he called,

  And of the Taira house, a warrior.

  Kagekiyo Yes, yes, I think that I have heard of him,

  Though being blind the man I've never seen.

  Miserable, his honourable state!<
br />
  To hear of which stirs pity in my breast.

  Pray then inquire elsewhere the full account.

  Servant Then hereabouts he does not seem to be.

  To his mistress But further on we should inquire again

  If you will honourably now proceed.

  Kagekiyo She who has just been here--Why! is she not

  The very child of this selfsame blind man?

  Once, very long ago, at Atsuta

  I met a woman, and this child I got.

  It was a girl, [24] and so I trusted her

  To Kamegaegatsu's châtelaine.

  Now grieving parent meets with child estranged;

  She, speaking to her father, knows it not.

  Chorus Her form unseen, although I hear her voice,

  How sad my blindness is! Without a word

  I let her pass. And yet such action is

  Due truly to the bond of parent's love,

  Due truly to the bond of parent's love.

  Servant How now, you there! Art thou a villager?

  Villager And to the Villager what hast thou then

  Of honourable business?

  Servant Dost thou know Where lives an exiled man?

  Villager What sort of man-- An exile though he be--of whom you ask?

  Servant A warrior of the Hei house, and called

  Kagekiyo the Boist'rous, him I seek.

  Villager Just now as thou hast come along this way

  Upon the hill-side, was there not a hut,

  A hut with thatch, and somebody within?

  Servant Yes, a blind beggar sat within the hut.

  Villager Aye. That blind beggar is the man you seek,

  The very Kagekiyo whom you seek!

  How strange! When I said Kagekiyo's name

  That honourable lady there did deign

  To show a look of sadness. Why was that?

  Servant Thy wonder is most reasonable. Naught

  Shall I conceal from thee. Kagekiyo's

  Most honourable daughter is the maid

  Who hopes once more her honoured sire to meet.

  That being so, and as from far away

  She has come hither, I pray thee devise

  Some proper way of speaking face to face

  With Kagekiyo.

  Villager Oh, unutterable! Is she his honourable daughter then?

  Well, calm your heart, and pray you deign to hear.

  The sight of both eyes Kagekiyo lost;

  So helpless, he cut short his hair and called

  Himself Kōtau of Hiuga and he begs

  For his poor living from the travellers,

  And with the pity of such lowly folk

  As we ourselves, he just sustains his life.

  And that he doth not tell his name must be

  Shame for the contrast with the olden days.

  At once I shall go with you and call out

  "Kagekiyo"--and if it is his name

  Then will he answer and you can observe

  Him face to face, and of the distant past

  And of the present you shall tell him all.

  Pray come this way.

  Holloa! in the thatched hut Is Kagekiyo there within? Is there

  The boisterous Kagekiyo?

  Kagekiyo Worrying, Worrying, even if my state were well.

  And even though these people came from home,

  Shame for this very self compels me now

  Without my name to let them go--and yet--

  And yet it rends my heart and, the sad tears

  As of a thousand streams run down my sleeves.

  I waken with the thought that earthly things

  Are naught, and but as visions in a dream.

  I am resolved in this world now to be

  As one who is not, and if they will call

  This beggar Kagekiyo, why reply?

  Moreover in this province I've a name--

  Chorus That name in Hiuga facing to the sun, [25]

  In Hiuga, facing to the sun is not

  The name they call, but they return to one

  Of the old days, discarded long ago,

  Which with my helplessly dropped bow I dropped.

  Wild thoughts again I never will excite

  And yet I'm angry.

  Kagekiyo Though while here I live In this place.

  Chorus While I live In this place; if I stir the hate of those

  With means, how helpless would I be! and like

  A blind man who had lost his walking-stick.

  A crippled man am I, and yet I dared

  Unreasonable words to use in wrath.

  Forgive I pray!

  Kagekiyo Blind are my eyes and yet-- Chorus Blind are my eyes and yet I surely know

  Another's thought hid in a single word.

  And if upon the mountains blows the wind

  Against the pine trees, I can tell its source,

  Whether it comes from snow or unseen flowers,--

  Flowers only seen in dreams from which to wake

  Is to regret! Again if in the bay

  Upon the rough sea beaches dashing waves

  Are heard, then I well know the evening tide

  Is rising. Aye, to the great Taira clan

  I do belong, and so to pleasure them

  I'd give recitals of those olden days

  Kagekiyo How now, I wish to say a word to thee,

  For it has troubled me that I just now

  Used such quick-tempered words. For what I said

  I pray thee pardon me.

  Villager Well, that is naught. So never mind it. And, has no one come,

  To make inquiries here before I came?

  Kagekiyo No, no. Except thy calling, none has been.

  Villager Ho! 'Tis a lie thou sayest. Certainly

  Did Kagekiyo's noble daughter come.

  Wherefore dost thou conceal? It is because

  I feel her story is so pitiful

  That I've come here with her.

  To Hitomaru So now at once Meet with your father, see him face to face

  Kagekiyo keeps silence Hitomaru Pray, it is I, I who have come to you.

  Cruel! The rain, the wind, the dew and frost

  I minded not along that distant road,

  While coming to you! And all this, alas,

  Becomes as nothing! Does a Father's love

  Depend upon the nature of the child? [26]

  Ah, heartless!

  Kagekiyo Up till now I hoped to hide,

  But now I am found out I am ashamed.

  To hide my fleeting [*] self there is no place.

  To Hitomaru If, in thy flowering form thou shouldst proclaim

  That we are child and parent, then thy name

  Thou wouldst announce, [27] and when I think on this

  I am resolved we part. Pray do not feel

  Thy father harsh and this mere heartlessness!

  Chorus Ah, truly is it sad! In olden times

  I welcomed even strangers when they called,

  And was displeased if they should pass me by.

  And now its recompense! How sad it is!

  To think that I had hoped that my own child

  Should not have called on me. Alas, how sad!

  When in their warships were the Taira clan,

  When in their warships were the Taira clan,

  So many were there that their shoulders touched

  And in the crowded space the knees were crossed.

  There scarce was room to live [28] beneath the moon--

  And Kagekiyo more than any else

  Was on the flagship indispensable.

  His fellow officers and all the rest

  Though rich in valour and in tactic powers

  He did o'ertop. And as the ship is steered

  By him who holds the rudder, so did he

  Lead in the army and no difference

  Ever occurred between him and his men.

  All envied him, but now he is most like />
  A Unicorn, infirm with hoary age

  And rather worse than a mere useless horse. [29]

  Villager How now, Kagekiyo, I'd speak with thee!

  Thy daughter's wish is there, and she would hear

  Of thy heroic deeds at Yashima

  So tell her the brave story. Let her hear.

  Kagekiyo 'Tis somewhat unbecoming, her request!

  Yet as she came from far and for my sake,

  I'll tell the story, but when it is done

  Pray send her home again immediately.

  Villager That shall be done. Thy story finished, I

  Will send her back at once.

  Kagekiyo Well then. The time Was drawing toward the end of the third month

  Of the third year of Ju-ei [30] and our clan

  Were in their warships while upon the land

  The hordes of Minamoto gathered near.

  Two armies were opposed upon the coast

  And each one wished a contest to decide.

  Then Noritsune, Lord of Noto, spoke

  To all his people--"In our last year's fights

  From Muroyama down in Harima

  To Mizushima, Hiyodorigoe

  And all, we never had one victory.

  To Yoshitsune's [31] tactics this was due.

  "By some means or another we must slay

  This Kuro, and suggestions we desire

  Of some good plan;" he deigned to say to them.

  Then Kagekiyo in his mind resolved

  That Hangwan was no devil nor a god,

  So if I throw away my life for his,

  I thought, it will be easy, so that this

  To Noritsune was my last farewell.

  And as I landed the Gen warriors

  Did dash towards me to destroy my life.

  Chorus This Kagekiyo saw,

  This Kagekiyo saw, and crying out

  "How clamorous!" He struck out with his sword

  That in the evening sun flashed brilliantly.

  Th' opposing warriors at once gave way,

  And he pursued, that they should not escape.

  Kagekiyo This is deplorable for every one--

  Chorus This is deplorable for every one!

  'Tis mutual shame alike for the Gen clan

  And for the Hei clan to look upon

  So shouted I--thinking to stop one man

  Is easy, and so underneath my arm

  Carrying my sword--"A warrior am I

  Of the great Hei clan, Kagekiyo

  Some call the Boisterous," and thus crying out

  To seize them I pursued them. Then I caught

  On Mihonoya's helmet, but it slipped.