Lo! The cutting of the eboshi was done.
 Then he decked it brightly with ribbons of three colours,
 Tied the strings to it and finished it handsomely.
 “Pray deign to wear it,” he cried, and set it on the boy’s head.
 Then, stepping back to look,
 “Oh admirable skill! Not even the captain of a mighty host
 Need scorn to wear this hat!”

HATMAKER.

There is not an eboshi in the land that fits so well.

USHIWAKA.

You are right; please take this sword in payment for it.

HATMAKER.

No, no! I could not take it in return for such a trifle.

USHIWAKA.

I beg you to accept it.

HATMAKER.

Well, I cannot any longer refuse. How glad my wife will be! (Calling.) Are you there?

WIFE.

What is it? (They go aside.)

HATMAKER.

This young lad asked me to make him an eboshi, and when it was made he gave me this sword as a present. Is it not a noble payment? Here, look at it. (The wife takes the sword and when she has examined it bursts into tears.) Why, I thought you would treasure it like a gift from Heaven. And here you are shedding tears over it! What is the matter?

WIFE.

Oh! I am ashamed. When I try to speak, tears come first and choke the words. I am going to tell you something I have never told you before. I am the sister of Kamada Masakiyo who fell at the Battle of Utsumi in the country of Noma. At the time when Tokiwa bore Ushiwaka, her third son, the lord her husband sent her this weapon as a charm-sword, and I was the messenger whom he charged to carry it. Oh were he in the world again;[53] then would our eyes no longer behold such misery. Oh sorrow, sorrow!

HATMAKER.

You say that you are the sister of Kamada Masakiyo?

WIFE.

I am.

HATMAKER.

How strange, how strange! I have lived with you all these years and months, and never knew till now. But are you sure that you recognize this weapon?

WIFE.

Yes; this was the sword they called Konnentō.

HATMAKER.

Ah! I have heard that name. Then this must be the young Lord Ushiwaka from Kurama Temple. Come with me. We must go after him and give him back the sword at once. Why, he is still there! (To USHIWAKA.) Sir, this woman tells me she knows the sword; I beg of you to take it back.

USHIWAKA.

Oh! strange adventure; to meet so far from home
 With humble folk that show me kindness!

HATMAKER and WIFE.

My Lord, forgive us! We did not know you; but now we see in you Lord Ushiwaka, the nursling of Kurama Temple.

USHIWAKA.

I am no other. (To the WIFE.) And you, perhaps, are some kinswoman of Masakiyo?[54]

WIFE.

You have guessed wisely, sir; I am the Kamada’s sister.

USHIWAKA.

Lady Akoya?

WIFE.

I am.

USHIWAKA.

Truly I have reason to know.... And I

CHORUS.

Am Ushiwaka fallen on profitless days.
 Of whom no longer you may speak
 As master, but as one sunk in strange servitude.
 Dawn is in the east; the pale moon fades from the sky, as he sets forth from the Mirror Inn.

HATMAKER and WIFE.

Oh! it breaks my heart to see him! A boy of noble name walking barefoot with merchants, and nothing on his journey but cloth of Shikama to clothe him. Oh! piteous sight!

USHIWAKA.

Change rules the world for ever, and Man but for a little while. What are fine clothes to me, what life itself while foemen flaunt?

HATMAKER.

As a journey-present to speed you on the Eastern road ...

CHORUS.

So he spoke and pressed the sword into the young lord’s hands. And the boy could not any longer refuse, but taking it said, “If ever I come into the World[55] again, I will not forget.” And so saying he turned and went on his way in company with the merchants his masters. On they went till at last, weary with travel, they came to the Inn of Akasaka in the country of Mino.

KICHIJI (the merchant).

We have come so fast that here we are at the Inn of Akasaka.

(To his BROTHER.)

Listen, Kichiroku, you had better take lodging for us here.

KICHIROKU.

I obey. (Goes towards the hashigakari or actors’ entrance-passage.) May I come in?

INNKEEPER.

Who are you? Ah! it is Master Kichiroku. I am glad to see you back again so soon.

(To KICHIJI.)

Be on your guard, gentleman. For a desperate gang has got wind of your coming and has sworn to set upon you to-night.

KICHIJI.

What are we to do?

KICHIROKU.

I cannot tell.

USHIWAKA (comes forward).

What are you speaking of?

KICHIJI.

We have heard that robbers may be coming to-night. We were wondering what we should do....

USHIWAKA.

Let them come in what force they will; yet if one stout soldier go to meet them, they will not stand their ground, though they be fifty mounted men.

KICHIJI.

These are trusty words that you have spoken to us. One and all we look to you....

USHIWAKA.

Then arm yourselves and wait. I will go out to meet them.

CHORUS.

And while he spoke, evening passed to darkness. “Now is the time,” he cried, “to show the world those arts of war that for many months and years upon the Mountain of Kurama I have rehearsed.”

Then he opened the double-doors and waited there for the slow in-coming of the white waves.[56]

BRIGANDS.

Loud the noise of assault. The lashing of white waves against the rocks, even such is the din of our battle-cry.

KUMASAKA.

Ho, my man! Who is there?

BRIGAND.

I stand before you.

KUMASAKA.

How fared those skirmishers I sent to make a sudden breach? Blew wind briskly within?

BRIGAND.

Briskly indeed; for some are slain and many grievously wounded.

KUMASAKA.

How can that be? I thought that none were within but the merchants, Kichiji and his brother. Who else is there?

BRIGAND.

By the light of a rocket[57] I saw a lad of twelve or thirteen years slashing about him with a short-sword; and he was nimble as a butterfly or bird.

KUMASAKA.

And the brothers Surihari?

BRIGAND.

Stood foster-fathers[57] to the fire-throwers and were the first to enter.

But soon there meets them this child I tell of and with a blow at each whisks off their heads from their necks.

KUMASAKA.

Ei! Ei! Those two, and the horsemen that were near a hundred strong,—all smitten! The fellow has bewitched them!

BRIGAND.

When Takase saw this, thinking perhaps no good would come of this night-attack, he took some seventy horsemen and galloped away with them.

KUMASAKA.

Ha! It is not the first time that lout has played me false.

How fared the torch-diviners?[57]

BRIGAND.

The first torch was slashed in pieces; the second was trampled on till it went out; the third they caught and threw back at us, but it too went out. There are none left.

KUMASAKA.

Then is all lost. For of these torch-diviners they sing that the first torch is the soul of an army, the second torch is the wheel of Fate, and the third torch—Life itself. All three are out, and there is no hope left for this night’s brigandage.

BRIGAND.

It is as you say. Though we were gods, we could not redeem our plight. Deign to give the word of retreat.

KUMASAKA.

Why, even brigands must be spared from slaughter. Come, withdraw my men.

BRIGAND.

I obey.

KUMASAKA.

Stay! Shall Kumasaka Chōhan be worsted in to-night’s affray? Never! Where could he then hide his shame? Come, robbers, to the attack!

CHORUS.

So with mighty voice he called them to him, and they, raising their war-cry, leapt to the assault.

(Speaking for USHIWAKA.)

“Hoho! What a to-do! Himself has come, undaunted by the fate of those he sent before him. Now, Hachiman,[58] look down upon me, for no other help is here.” So he prayed, and stood waiting at the gap.

(Speaking for KUMASAKA.)

“Sixty-three years has Kumasaka lived, and to-day shall make his last night-assault.”[59] So he spoke and kicking off his iron-shoes in a twinkling he levelled his great battle-sword that measured five foot three, and as he leapt forward like a great bird pouncing on his prey, no god or demon had dared encounter him.

(Speaking for USHIWAKA.)

“Ha, bandit! Be not so confident! These slinking night-assaults displease me”; and leaving him no leisure, the boy dashed in to the attack.

Then, Kumasaka, deeply versed in use of the battle-sword, lunged with his left foot and in succession he executed The Ten-Side Cut, The Eight-Side Sweep, The Body Wheel, The Hanyū Turn, The Wind Roll, The Blade Drop, The Gnashing Lion, The Maple-Leaf Double, The Flower Double.

Now fire dances at the sword-points;
 Now the sword-backs clash.

At last even the great battle-sword has spent its art. Parried by the little belt-sword of Zōshi,[60] it has become no more than a guard-sword.

(Speaking for KUMASAKA.)

“This sword-play brings me no advantage; I will close with him and try my strength!”

Then he threw down his battle-sword and spreading out his great hands rushed wildly forward. But Ushiwaka dodged him, and as he passed mowed round at his legs.

The robber fell with a crash, and as he struggled to rise
 The belt-sword of Ushiwaka smote him clean through the waist.
 And Kumasaka that had been one man
 Lay cloven in twain.
YOUNG MAN’S MASK

BENKEI ON THE BRIDGE
(HASHI-BENKEI)

By HIYOSHI SA-AMI YASUKIYO

(Date unknown, probably first half of the fifteenth century.)

PERSONS

BENKEI.

I am one who lives near the Western Pagoda. My name is Musashi-bō Benkei. In fulfillment of a certain vow I have been going lately by night at the hour of the Ox[61] to worship at the Gojō Temple. To-night is the last time; I ought soon to be starting.

Hie! Is any one there?

FOLLOWER.

Here I am.

BENKEI.

I sent for you to tell you that I shall be going to the Gojō Temple to-night.

FOLLOWER.

I tremble and listen. But there is a matter that I must bring to your notice. I hear that yesterday there was a boy of twelve or thirteen guarding the Gojō Bridge. They say he was slashing round with his short sword as nimble as a bird or butterfly. I beg that you will not make your pilgrimage to-night. Do not court this peril.

BENKEI.

That’s a strange thing to ask! Why, were he demon or hobgoblin, he could not stand alone against many. We will surround him and you shall soon see him on his knees.

FOLLOWER.

They have tried surrounding him, but he always escapes as though by magic, and none is able to lay hands on him.

BENKEI.

When he seems within their grasp

FOLLOWER.

From before their eyes

BENKEI.

Suddenly he vanishes.

CHORUS.

This strange hobgoblin, elfish apparition,
 Into great peril may bring
 The reverend limbs of my master.
 In all this City none can withstand the prowess
 Of this unparalleled monster.

BENKEI.

If this is as you say, I will not go to-night; and yet ... No. It is not to be thought of that such a one as Benkei should be affrighted by a tale. To-night when it is dark I will go to the bridge and humble this arrogant elf.

CHORUS.

And while he spoke,
 Evening already to the western sky had come;
 Soon the night-wind had shattered and dispersed
 The shapes of sunset. Cheerless night
 Came swiftly, but with step too slow
 For him who waits.

(A Comic interlude played by a bow-master is sometimes used here to fill in the time while BENKEI is arming himself.)

USHIWAKA.

I am Ushiwaka. I must do as my mother told me; “Go up to the Temple[62] at daybreak,” she said. But it is still night. I will go to Gojō Bridge and wait there till suddenly

Moonlight mingles with the rising waves;
 No twilight closes
 The autumn day, but swiftly
 The winds of night bring darkness.

CHORUS (speaking for USHIWAKA).

Oh! beauty of the waves! High beats my heart,
 High as their scattered pearls!
 Waves white as dewy calabash[63] at dawn,
 By Gojō Bridge.
 Silently the night passes,
 No sound but my own feet upon the wooden planks
 Clanking and clanking; still I wait
 And still in vain.

BENKEI.

The night grows late. Eastward the bells of the Three Pagodas toll.
 By the moonlight that gleams through leaves of these thick cedar-trees
 I gird my armour on;
 I fasten the black thongs of my coat of mail.
 I adjust its armoured skirts.
 By the middle I grasp firmly
 My great halberd that I have loved so long.
 I lay it across my shoulder; with leisurely step stride forward.
 Be he demon or hobgoblin, how shall he stand against me?
 Such trust have I in my own prowess. Oh, how I long
 For a foeman worthy of my hand!

USHIWAKA.

The river-wind blows keen;
 The night is almost spent,
 But none has crossed the Bridge.
 I am disconsolate and will lie down to rest.

BENKEI.

Then Benkei, all unknowing,
 Came towards the Bridge where white waves lapped.
 Heavily his feet clanked on the boards of the Bridge.

USHIWAKA.

And even before he saw him Ushiwaka gave a whoop of joy.
 “Some one has come,” he cried, and hitching his cloak over his shoulder
 Took his stand at the bridge-side.

BENKEI.

Benkei discerned him and would have spoken....
 But when he looked, lo! it was a woman’s form!
 Then, because he had left the World,[64] with troubled mind he hurried on.

USHIWAKA.

Then Ushiwaka said,
 “I will make game of him,” and as Benkei passed
 Kicked at the button of his halberd so that it jerked into the air.

BENKEI (cries out in surprise).

Ah! fool, I will teach you a lesson!

CHORUS.

Then Benkei while he retrieved his halberd
 Cried out in anger,
 “You shall soon feel the strength of my arm,” and fell fiercely upon him.
 But the boy, not a jot alarmed,
 Stood his ground and with one hand pulled aside his cloak,
 While with the other he quietly drew his sword from the scabbard
 And parried the thrust of the halberd that threatened him.
 Again and again he parried the halberd’s point.
 And so they fought, now closing, now breaking.
 What shall Benkei do? For when he thinks that he has conquered,
 With his little sword the boy thrusts the blow aside.
 Again and again Benkei strikes.
 Again and again his blows are parried,
 Till at last even he, mighty Benkei,
 Can do battle no longer.
 Disheartened he steps back the space of a few bridge-beams.
 “Monstrous,” he cries, “that this stripling ... No, it cannot be.
 He shall not outwit my skill.”
 And holding out his halberd at full length before him
 He rushed forward and dealt a mighty blow.
 But Ushiwaka turned and dived swiftly to the left.
 Benkei recovered his halberd and slashed at the boy’s skirts;
 But he, unfaltering, instantly leapt from the ground.
 And when he thrust at the boy’s body,
 Then Ushiwaka squirmed with head upon the ground.
 Thus a thousand, thousand bouts they fought,
 Till the halberd fell from Benkei’s weary hands.
 He would have wrestled, but the boy’s sword flashed before him,
 And he could get no hold.
 Then at his wits’ end, “Oh, marvellous youth!”
 Benkei cried, and stood dumbfounded.

CHORUS.

Who are you that, so young and frail, possess such daring? Tell us your name and state.

USHIWAKA.

Why should I conceal it from you? I am Minamoto Ushiwaka.

CHORUS.

Yoshitomo’s son?

USHIWAKA.

I am. And your name ...?

CHORUS (speaking for BENKEI).

“I am called Musashi Benkei of the Western Pagoda.
 And now that we have told our names,
 I surrender myself and beg for mercy;
 For you are yet a child, and I a priest.
 Such are your rank and lineage, such your prowess
 That I will gladly serve you.
 Too hastily you took me for an enemy; but now begins
 A three lives’ bond; henceforward[65]
 As slave I serve you.”
 So, while the one made vows of homage, the other girded up his cloak.
 Then Benkei laid his halberd across his shoulder
 And together they went on their way
 To the palace of Kujō.[66]

CHAPTER III


KAGEKIYO

By SEAMI

PERSONS

GIRL and ATTENDANT.

Late dewdrops are our lives that only wait
 Till the wind blows, the wind of morning blows.

GIRL.

I am Hitomaru. I live in the valley of Kamegaye. My father Kagekiyo the Passionate fought for the House of Hei[67] and for this was hated by the Genji.[68] I am told they have banished him to Miyazaki in the country of Hyūga, and there in changed estate he passes the months and years. I must not be downcast at the toil of the journey;[69] for hardship is the lot of all that travel on unfamiliar roads, and I must bear it for my father’s sake.

GIRL and ATTENDANT.

Oh double-wet our sleeves
 With the tears of troubled dreaming and the dews
 That wet our grassy bed.
 We leave Sagami; who shall point the way
 To Tōtōmi, far off not only in name?[70]
 Over the sea we row:
 And now the eight-fold Spider Bridge we cross
 To Mikawa. How long, O City of the Clouds,[71]
 Shall we, inured to travel, see you in our dreams?

ATTENDANT.

We have journeyed so fast that I think we must already have come to Miyazaki in the country of Hyūga. It is here you should ask for your father.

(The voice of KAGEKIYO is heard from within his hut.)

KAGEKIYO.

Behind this gate,
 This pine-wood barricade shut in alone
 I waste the hours and days;
 By me not numbered, since my eyes no longer
 See the clear light of heaven, but in darkness,
 Unending darkness, profitlessly sleep
 In this low room.
 For garment given but one coat to cover
 From winter winds or summer’s fire
 This ruin, this anatomy!

CHORUS (speaking for KAGEKIYO).

Oh better had I left the world, to wear
 The black-stained sleeve.
 Who will now pity me, whose withered frame
 Even to myself is hateful?
 Or who shall make a care to search for me
 And carry consolation to my woes?

GIRL.

How strange! That hut is so old, I cannot think that any one can live there. Yet I heard a voice speaking within. Perhaps some beggar lodges there; I will not go nearer. (She steps back.)

KAGEKIYO.

Though my eyes see not autumn
 Yet has the wind brought tiding

GIRL.

Of one who wanders
 By ways unknown bewildered,
 Finding rest nowhere—

KAGEKIYO.

For in the Three Worlds of Being
 Nowhere is rest,[72] but only
 In the Void Eternal.
 None is, and none can answer
 Where to thy asking.

ATTENDANT (going up to KAGEKIYO’S hut).

I have come to your cottage to ask you something.

KAGEKIYO.

What is it you want?

ATTENDANT.

Can you tell me where the exile lives?

KAGEKIYO.

The exile? What exile do you mean? Tell me his name.

ATTENDANT.

We are looking for Kagekiyo the Passionate who fought for the Taira.

KAGEKIYO.

I have heard of him indeed. But I am blind, and have not seen him. I have heard such sad tales of his plight that I needs must pity him. Go further; ask elsewhere.

ATTENDANT (to GIRL, who has been waiting).

It does not seem that we shall find him here. Let us go further and ask again. (They pass on.)

KAGEKIYO.

Who can it be that is asking for me? What if it should be the child of this blind man? For long ago when I was at Atsuta in Owari I courted a woman and had a child by her. But since the child was a girl, I thought I would get no good of her and left her with the head-man of the valley of Kamegaye. But she was not content to stay with her foster-parents and has come all this way to meet her true father.

CHORUS.

To hear a voice,
 To hear and not to see!
 Oh pity of blind eyes!
 I have let her pass by;
 I have not told my name;
 But it was love that bound me,
 Love’s rope that held me.

ATTENDANT (calling into the side-bridge).

Hie! Is there any villager about?

VILLAGER (raising the curtain that divides the side-bridge from the stage).

What do you want with me?

ATTENDANT.

Do you know where the exile lives?

VILLAGER.

The exile? What exile is it you are asking for?

ATTENDANT.

One called Kagekiyo the Passionate who fought for the Taira.

VILLAGER.

Did you not see some one in a thatched hut under the hillside as you came along?

ATTENDANT.

Why, we saw a blind beggar in a thatched hut.

VILLAGER.

That blind beggar is your man. He is Kagekiyo.

(The GIRL starts and trembles.)

But why does your lady tremble when I tell you that he is Kagekiyo? What is amiss with her?

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 travellers; 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 travellers 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 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. Some one came here saying that she was Kagekiyo’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).