Читать книгу The Love of Izayoi & Seishin - Kawatake Mokuami - Страница 11
ОглавлениеACT TWO SCENE ONE
Time: New Year's; late afternoon.
The scene is the foot of the Hanamizu Bridge in Kamakura, At stage center is a stall twelve feet wide, spread with rush matting; a shop for New Year's decorations. Round wreaths of plaited straw hang from its eaves. At stage left is the foot of the bridge, and at stage right, a watchman's shack. A light-blue backdrop hangs at the rear of the stage. The curtain opens to drum and flute music. We see Ichisuke, a footman, wearing a crested cotton gown and carrying a sword. Over his shoulder he carries straw sandals strung on a pole. Two minor servants, Gonji and Dempachi, are gossiping.
Gonji: Hey, Ichisuke, I hear that a Buddhist priest who broke his vow of chastity is going to be brought to the Hanamizu bridge today and exiled from the city.
Dempachi: So that's why they have set up that shed for exposing criminals on Broad Avenue.
Ichisuke: (with a laugh) You fool! That over there is a New Year's decoration stall they haven't removed yet.
Gonji: I was wondering why it had those round straw wreaths. So they are leftovers from the end of the year, eh?
Dempachi: This monk who broke his vow of chastity—which temple does he belong to?
Ichisuke: Didn't you know? He is Seishin, the sexton at Paradise Temple. He became infatuated with Izayoi, the prostitute at the Ōgiya in Ōiso. The upshot is exile.
Dempachi: But even a monk or a pederast is after all a man, so there is no reason for them to dislike women.
Gonji: Come to think of it, Shinran, the founder of my faith, was very human. He permitted his priests to eat and to marry. Isn't it a blessed faith?
Ichisuke: I haven't had a woman in a long time. I have to go around hawking toothpicks and straw sandals to buy wine to go with my fish salad.
Dempachi: Me, too. I haven't had a woman since last month.
Gonji: Anyway, why don't we go have a drink somewhere?
Ichisuke: I would like to join you, as it has been a long time since I had any wine. But the fact is I don't have a copper on me.
Dempachi: Don't worry about that. You heard Gonji—he'll pay.
Gonji (upset): What? What makes you think I have any money? If I did I would go drink by myself.
Ichisuke: Were you counting on Dempachi, then?
Gonji: No, I was counting on your straw sandals.
Ichisuke: I can't afford to buy you drinks on these. These straw sandals are worth three hundred coppers and I put in a lot of time on them. I was planning on buying myself a small amount of wine for a nightcap and getting myself a street walker for a hundred coppers.
Dempachi: That's a fine how-do-you-do!
Gonji: Never mind—buy us a small bottle and we will take care of the rest.
Ichisuke (alarmed): I don't like the sound of that.
Dempachi: Come along, now, and don't make such a fuss.
Ichisuke (dismayed): Confound it! I've been trapped by scoundrels!
Dempachi drags Ichisuke off toward stage left in the direction of the bridge. Gonji follows. Then Sagobei, Izayoi's father, comes up the runway extending from the rear of the theatre to the stage. He holds the hand of the eleven-year-old acolyte KyŌgetsu, who is dressed in a gray robe and a short clerical apron. They stop on the runway.
KyŌgetsu: Tell me, Sagobei, is the place they are bringing Seishin very far away?
Sagobei: No, no, it is not far. They will soon be bringing him to the foot of that bridge you see over there.
KyŌgetsu: Then let us wait for him over there.
Sagobei: Come along now, and take care you don't stumble.
They continue to the stage proper.
Sagobei (sadly): When I asked at the watchman's shack back there just now, he told me that they would be leading him by at any moment. I have not seen him since he went to prison. I expect he has lost weight. Where will he go from here? I thought of giving him some money so that he could at least put his affairs in order. But I have been unable to do so. There has been no word from my son whom I sent off to try and raise some money. So I am certain he has failed. Ah! It seems there is no money to be had in the world.
KyŌgetsu (eagerly): Here, Sagobei, I don't have much, but if you want coppers, I have some temple offerings with me.
From under the collar of his gown he withdraws some money wrapped in paper.
Sagobei: Oh, no, no. I do not need anything now. Keep it and don't lose it. Well, now, they certainly ought to be leading him by soon.
He looks down the runway.
Sagobei (excitedly): Speak of a person and there is his shadow, they say. Look, look, over there.
KyŌgetsu: Is Seishin coming?
Sagobei: Yes, he is. We might get rebuked if we get in the way. Let's make ourselves inconspicuous.
The two conceal themselves in the back of the watchman's shack at stage right. From offstage come the sound of a drum beating as at the hourly tattoo, and music in the style of Buddhist liturgies. Two footmen in iris-patterned skirts and carrying poles about six feet in length lead the procession up the runway. They are followed by Seishin, with a month's growth of hair on his normally shaven head. He is dressed in a light-blue gown, and is bound with a rope held by two policemen wearing short black robes. He is followed by Terasawa TŌjŪrŌ, an official. His jacket is split in the back for his two swords, and he is attended by two lackeys carrying a round campaign hat and a camp stool. They come straight to the main stage where the policemen lay out a straw mat at stage center.
Policemen (gruffly): Sit down!
Seishin squats on the mat. His captors stand by at the rear. Terasawa seats himself on the camp stool at stage left.
TŌjŪrŌ (gravely): Seishin, disciple to Kyōzen of Paradise Temple!
Seishin: Aye!
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: It was most reprehensible of you, a monk, to have become involved with the prostitute named Izayoi employed at the Ōgiya in the post town of Ōiso, and to have recklessly spent gold and silver on wine and sensual pleasures. You ought to have been punished, but on exceptional clemency, you are hereby banished from the valleys and the seven counties of Kamakura.
Seishin: Aye!
TŌjŪrŌ: Accept your sentence with gratitude!
Seishin (humbly): I was told that when an only son takes the tonsure, nine generations of his family are born in heaven. I shaved off my hair in order to pray for the repose of the souls of my parents, and under the tutelage of my master Kyōzen, prayed diligently day and night for the past twenty-five years. But I was still unable to free myself from the wheel of transmigration in this world, strayed into carnal ways, and now receive sentence from on high. From this moment on I will revert to my original pure heart, for my heart has awakened to the truth for the first time. For the mercy by which a heavy sentence has been commuted to an order of exile, I am extremely grateful.
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: Untie him.
Policemen: Aye!
They free Seishin.
TŌjŪrŌ (gently): Now, then, that completes my official business. I received instructions from old Kyōzen at Paradise Temple in reading Buddhist texts by rote. I am therefore as good as a fellow disciple of yours, and I do not consider you a stranger. But the facts are that a thief entered Paradise Temple a while back, stole the 3000 gold pieces offered to the temple by Lord Yoritomo, and we do not know the whereabouts of this thief. Suspicion fell upon you, and we once interrogated you. But your protestations of innocence held up, and you are being exiled specifically on the crime of having broken your vow of chastity. Your old master always praised you for your talents and intelligence. His teachings of twenty-five years have come to nothing. He must be sorely disappointed. Since you are still young, mend your ways, train yourself further, and wipe away this disgrace to your old teacher. Unless you do this, you will not be called a true priest.
Seishin (touched): I am grateful to you for your kind advice. For the present I will quit this locality. To regain my status as priest I will cheerfully reside in any rude temple and undergo training. Then I will see you again.
TŌjŪrŌ: Then I will petition on high for the commutation of your sentence of exile from Kamakura, and we will happily meet again.
Seishin: Until then, may you be in good health.
TŌjŪrŌ: I hope you will concentrate on your training.
Seishin: Thank you.
TŌjŪrŌ: As my official duties are now done with, I will report to my superiors about this matter.
He rises.
Seishin: Goodbye, Terasawa.
TŌjŪrŌ: Seishin, you must not linger.
Seishin: Aye!
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: Attendants, come!
The hour-drum tattoo is played, and TŌjŪrŌ leads his entourage down the runway. There is a commotion, and Sagobei and KyŌgetsu run in from stage right.
Sagobei (joyfully): Seishin, you are alive and well!
Sagobei and KyŌgetsu: Our felicitations!
They embrace Seishin.
Seishin: Oh! You surprised me. You are Izayoi's father and KyŌgetsu the acolyte. I am grateful to you for coming to see me.
Melancholy music is played offstage. Seishin looks at the two with a happy expression. Sagobei, looking at Seishin's haggard form, weeps, wiping away the tears with a towel.
Sagobei (weeping): Ah! You have become so thin in the short time that you were away in prison. They have reason to call prison a hell on earth. The more I think about it the more pity I feel for you. It is my daughter who is wholly responsible for your present situation. I know very well that love is beyond our control, but the reason for your exile is Izayoi. This I cannot atone for. Please forgive me.
He presses his hands together in supplication.
Seishin (embarrassed): Ah! When you tell me that, I am out of countenance before you. What blame is there on Izayoi? I suffered the humiliation of arrest only because I gave in to passions forbidden to a priest. I have nobody to blame. This was all due to the inclinations of this stupid priest. Truly, this is the punishment of the Buddha. On no account must you trouble your heart about it.
Sagobei: But to become like this—a shadow of your former self. . . .
Seishin: Ah, don't bring up the past. Nothing will undo that now.
He pats KyŌgetsu on the head.
Seishin (touched): I am glad you came to see me.
KyŌgetsu: I learned today that you were going to be exiled to a distant place. I was not sure whether I would ever see you again. As this may be the last time, I came to thank you for having taught me the sutras.
Seishin: That was very commendable of you. I am grateful that you came to see me. You were under my tutelage barely a year. There are those whom I taught longer. But how fickle people are. When one falls on evil days no one comes near you. Only you have come. I am very happy.
Sagobei: Oh, KyŌgetsu is wiser than his years. Since yesterday he has been after me with, "Sagobei, if you are going, take me with you." From early this morning he kept saying, "Come, let us go! Aren't you ready yet?" He dragged me after him.
KyŌgetsu then takes the paper-wrapped offerings from under his collar.
KyŌgetsu: This is not much, but I saved it from the offerings given to me at funerals and memorial services. I would like to give it to you for spending money. Please use it.
He holds the packet out. Seishin is touched.
Seishin: My heart is full of gratitude. You are barely eleven years old. Yet you would give me those offerings because in your tender heart you thought I would have a difficult time of it in exile. I am grateful to you.
He reverently lifts the packet to his forehead.
Seishin: I will accept your word for the deed. There are a number of senior disciples who are now heads of temples. If I seek them out along the way and travel on their charity, I will not need your offerings. Take them home with you.
KyŌgetsu: No, no. I saved them expressly for you. Please take them.
Seishin: Your words are sufficient. Take these home with you and buy yourself the books you like or something else.
KyŌgetsu: No, no. You cannot make me take them back.
Seishin: But I am unworthy of these offerings.
The two push the offerings back and forth. Sagobei breaks in.
Sagobei: Oh, come, come, Seishin. He does this out of concern for your welfare. Why don't you condescend to accept his kindness? After all, no matter how much you insist, he will not take them back.
Seishin: Then I will accept your kindness.
KyŌgetsu (pleased) You will?
Seishin: With gratitude.
KyŌgetsu: Ah, thank you!
Seishin slips the packet under his collar.
Seishin: Sagobei, look at KyŌgetsu. He is mature for one so young. The boy makes me think of my own youth. I was born the son of a fisherman in the outskirts of Funabashi in Shimōfusa. My only brother was kidnaped when he was ten and we never found him. Worried sick over him, both my parents died miserably. I was without anyone to look after me. To pray for the repose of their souls I became a disciple at Paradise Temple. My master there used to say I would make a fine priest. Look at me now. KyŌgetsu, you were born with a fine mind. When you grow up, devote yourself wholeheartedly to the way of the Buddha, and do not stray into evil ways. Don't compound evil deeds by thinking that the first time no one will know, and the second time will not matter. They will not be overlooked by the Buddha or the bodhisattvas. Sentence from above awaits you in the end. You will heap disgrace upon the teacher to whom you owe a debt of obligation, and your punishment will be exile. All the diligent training will come to nothing in a twinkling. One error will undo the careful work of years. I am a good example of that. Persevere and let nothing deflect you from your aim. You will end up with your own temple.
KyŌgetsu (solemnly): I am obliged to you for your advice. I swear that I will do my best.
Sagobei: Remember what Seishin told you when you grow up. Be a good priest. Oh! What with the business with KyŌgetsu here, I had forgotten. Here is the wadded silk gown my daughter sent over yesterday with instructions that it be given to you. Throw away your dirty clothes and dress in something clean.
He takes out the silk gown from its cloth wrapper.
Seishin: (astonished): You mean Izayoi made this garment and is giving it to me?
Sagobei: Yes. A gown, an undergarment, a sash, a towel, and even a pair of slippers.
Seishin (moved): Ah! What a touching kindness for someone in the pleasure quarters! I accept them gratefully.
Sagobei: Come, exchange your dirty clothes for clean ones as quickly as you can.
Seishin: No. To wear them as I am would soil them. I will put these on after I clean myself at the baths.
Sagobei: To be sure. That is a good idea. Where do you intend to go from there?
Seishin: As I am embarrassed to be seen, I will quit this place tonight. I will stay in Kyoto for a while to train myself anew to become a true priest. Izayoi may think me untrue to our vows, but tell her that under the present circumstances, our affair is ended and she must resign herself to that fact.
Sagobei: Ah! That is a commendable resolution! The truth is that I did not approve of a person in your position doing what you did. But even though I felt that it was a bad business, I could do nothing about it after you became lovers. But wisdom comes with experience, they say. You showed good sense when you said that you will take this opportunity to renounce her completely. Of course, when my daughter hears that you have gone to Kyoto forever, I fully expect her to protest. But as her father, I will make her give you up, no matter what she says, since it will be for your sake, whom she loves and cherishes. Please have no concern.
Seishin (with a touch of regret): The fact is that I would like to see her once more without her seeing me. But I am afraid that if I did, I would be reluctant to part from her.
Sagobei: It would be better not to see her. But when I say this, Seishin, please do not think that I looked the other away and let you see my daughter while you were at the Paradise Temple but that I ask you not to now because of your disgrace. I swear by the Nyorai Buddha that such is not my intention.
Seishin: I know your heart. Why should I doubt you?
A temple bell tolls the hour.
Seishin: It should not be long before dusk. No matter how long we talk, the sorrows of parting will never end. Please leave me.
Sagobei (sadly): I take my leave of you, but somehow I feel we will never meet again . . . .
KyŌgetsu: . . . and I grieve at this parting.
Seishin: You are right. This is not a case where I can return in a year or two. . . .
Sagobei: . . . and in interim of the long months and days. . . .
KyŌgetsu: . . . in a world that is full of uncertainties. . . .
Seishin: ... this may be our parting.
Seishin takes KyŌgetsu's hands.
Sagobei: Ah, do not say such an unpropitious thing! The gods protect us!
Seishin: Then if fortune smiles on us....
Sagobei: ... we will, in time. . . .
Seishinand Sagobei: ... see each other again.
Sagobei and KyŌgetsu rise.
KyŌgetsu: Goodbye, Seishin.
Seishin: Learn your sutras well.
KyŌgetsu: I will.
Sagobei: Come, let us go.
To a song offstage and a bell tolling, Sagobei and KyŌgetsu exit hand in hand down the runway. Seishin watches them go.
Seishin: How thoughtful that wise little KyŌgetsu is, even of me. He shows every sign of becoming a fine priest in the future. But the precept against carnal desire is difficult to observe. Ah! I hope he will be spared my fate. It is already dusk. This suits me fine. I will leave as quickly as I can before people see me.
He rises, carrying the bundle.
Seishin (wavering): But wait. I have renounced her, but Izayoi and I were inseparable these last two years. If I could have just one more glimpse of her. . . .
With his hand, he gestures as though to banish such a thought.
Seishin: Ah! Passion, like a dog, will not leave me though I drive it away. I prostrate myself before the Amida Buddha! Hail to the Amida Buddha!
He prays reverently. The stage set revolves to the sound of temple bells.
II. 2
Time: evening of the same day
The scene: the Hundred Piles Breakwater. Along the full length of the stage, a raised level, two feet high, represents a stone wall. At stage left is the breakwater piling. Also at stage left a Buddhist altar with its rear to the audience is set on the raised level. At stage right a pine branch overhangs a bamboo fence. The entire down stage area represents water.
The bell tolls and there is drum and flute music until the set comes to rest. Suddenly there is a commotion, and Kane, an unlicensed prostitute, runs out from the crossroads shrine pursued by Ichisuke, the footman from the previous scene.
Ichisuke (furiously): Hey, hey, you slut! Give me back those hundred coppers!
Kane: Give them back my eye! You didn't pay me for last night.
Ichisuke (indignantly): That was on the cuff last night. Even so a hundred coppers are too much when it should only be twenty-four. I need a little money tonight, so give me the change.
Kane: (soothingly): Don't be such a tightwad. I will show you a good time.
Ichisuke (curtly): Not tonight. I told you I need the money. I can't be hanging about.
Kane (equally curt): If you don't have the time tonight, come tomorrow night.
She prepares to go. Ichisuke grabs her.
Ichisuke (threateningly): So you won't return it even after I have pleaded with you?
Kane (scoffingly): Why should I?
Ichisuke (seeing red): You slut! I'll teach you a lesson or two!
He seizes the edge of Kane's sash. Kane resorts to masculine gestures for comic effect.
Kane: What impudence!
The two scuffle in knockabout fashion, fighting for possession of the coppers. They drop the bag. They cannot locate it in the dark.
Kane (dismayed): Oh, oh! What a calamity! I dropped the money!
Ichisuke: What? You dropped it?
Kane: Find it and I will give you half.
They search. He finds the money and a rolled poster.
Ichisuke: I found the money and this thing.
Kane: Read it quickly and see if we can turn it into cash.
Ichisuke: I hope I can read it without stumbling.
He unrolls the poster
Ichisuke: "The title of the following musical narrative is The Early Evening Moon Seen Through the Plum and Willow Trees'. The singer is Kiyomoto Enjudayū and the samisen player is Kiyomoto Tokubei. The actors are Iwai Kumesaburō and Ichikawa Kodanji."
Kane (disappointed): Oh, bosh! That's only a poster for the musical narrative in this scene.
Ichisuke (businesslike): Come on, you promised. Hand over half.
Kane: Not on your life!
Ichisuke (furiously): You whore! I'll take it away from you if that's the last thing I do!
Kane: Oh, stop harping on the same old tune!
Ichisuke (suddenly stepping out of character): Oh, that reminds me, I must make the announcement: Ladies and gentlemen! The musical narrative for which you have been waiting now begins!
Kane: We are the ones who called the tune!
Ichisuke: Get away with you!
Then to the rapid drumbeats which are a convention in the kabuki in scenes laid near water, plus flute music, Kane exits running to stage left with Ichisuke in pursuit. A section of the paling at stage right then falls open, revealing the Kiyomoto musicians on a platform. The music begins.
Narrator: Even on a hazy moonlit night the images of the stars number one, two, three, four, five. "Five strokes on the alarm bell? Am I being pursued?" Fleeing the quarter, Izayoi hears the tolling of the hour bell with a beating heart.
To samisen music and the ringing of a bell, Izayoi comes swiftly up the runway. She is dressed in the casual dress of a prostitute, with a sash of soft silk. A kerchief is draped over the head. She stops on the runway.
Narrator: Izayoi comes, fleeing along the frosty river's edge with an anxious heart. She is pursued by the wind, and flies she knows not where. She dreads the eyes of men more than the whitefish does the bonfire and the nets of a fisherman's boat.
Izayoi pantomimes on the runway, then comes to the stage proper.
Izayoi: Oh, what a relief to know that the voices I heard were not those of my pursuers! I knew that Seishin was being exiled today. My father and I are obligated to him. I longed to see him and escaped from the brothel. I have come this far but I have lost my way in the dark. I pray that I might be able to see him!
Narrator: She stops for a moment. Upstream, from a pleasure boat returning from a plum-viewing party, comes a song: "If you want to meet your lover in secret, avoid a pitch-black night. Your luck on the sixteenth night, the izayoi, when no clouds conceal the moon, will be good. Wait patiently until then." Taking this as a lucky omen, Izayoi prepares to hurry on.
Izayoi starts to exit at stage left. Then Seishin enters at stage left, dressed in a plain, elegant gown. He wears a black hood. They pass, avoiding each others eyes. The moon appears, and their eyes meet.
Seishin (astonished): Aren't you Izayoi?
Izayoi: You are Seishin?
Seishin (with mixed feelings of joy and distress): Ah, an unfortunate meeting!
He starts to go, but Izayoi catches hold of him.
Izayoi (with feeling): How I have longed to see you!
Narrator: From the openings of her sleeves comes the fragrance of plum blossoms as she clings to him. He is soon charmed.
Izayoi detains Seishin. Seishin realizes that there is no way out of this situation now.
Seishin (suppressing his feelings): You're all alone. Where are you going in the dark and so far from the quarter?
Izayoi (crushed): Where? Oh, Seishin, how heartless of you! Yesterday my father told me that you were to be expelled and that I would never again see you in the quarter. When I heard him say that he thought you might be starting on a journey somewhere, I just had to see you. At the quarter every omen was evil and pointed to a long separation. I decided to leave and sneaked out at sundown. I did this because I wanted to see you.
