Arthur Waley

“ I am a priest of the Kōyasan. I am minded to go up to the Capital to visit the shrines and sanctuaries there.
The Buddha of the Past is gone,
And he that shall be Buddha has not yet come into the world.
SECOND PRIEST.
In a dream-lull our lives are passed; all, all
That round us lies
Is visionary, void.
Yet got we by rare fortune at our birth
Man’s shape, that is hard to get;
And dearer gift was given us, harder to win,
The doctrine of Buddha, seed of our Salvation. ”

“ ANGEL.
No, no. Doubt is for mortals;
In heaven is no deceit.
HAKURYŌ.
I am ashamed. Look, I give back the robe.
(He gives it to her and she takes it in both hands.)
ANGEL.
The heavenly lady puts on her garment,
She dances the dance of the Rainbow Skirt, of the Robe of Feathers.
HAKURYŌ.
The sky-robe flutters; it yields to the wind.
ANGEL.
Sleeve like a flower wet with rain ...
HAKURYŌ.
The first dance is over.
ANGEL.
Shall I dance?
CHORUS.
The dance of Suruga, with music of the East? ”

“ To Mutsura I come; to the Hill of Kamakura,
Lamentably tattered, yet because the World
Is mine no longer, unashamed on borrowed bed,
Mattress of straw, to lie till the bell swings
Above my pillow. Away, away! For dawn
Is on the hemp-fields of Tsuru. Now the noonday sun
Hangs high above us as we cross the hills.
Now to the village of Isawa we come.
Let us lie down and rest awhile in the shelter of this shrine.
(The FISHER comes along the hashigakari towards the stage carrying a lighted torch.) ”

“ Sing “uta,” like the songs of men.
And instances are many;
Many as the myriad pebbles that lie
On the shore of the sea of Ariso.
“For among things that live
There is none that has not the gift of song.”
Truly the fisherman has the ways of Yamato in his heart. Truly, this custom is excellent.
FISHERMAN.
If we speak of the sports of Yamato and sing its songs, we should show too what dances we use; for there are many kinds.
CHORUS.
Yes, there are the dances; but there is no one to dance.
FISHERMAN.
Though there be no dancer, yet even I—
CHORUS.
For drums—the beating of the waves. ”

“ During the dance this drum rhythm speeds up to a felt time, and at moments of great stress, as when an avenging ghost swims on with a spear, a third drum, played with sticks, comes in with rapid regular beats, louder and softer. Sometimes when the beats are not so followable, but anyway quicker in succession, I seem to make out that they must be involving themselves in some business of syncopation, or the catching up and outstripping of a slow beat by a quicker one. ”

“ 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? ”

“ KOMACHI.
Lifting the white skirts of my trailing dress,
CHORUS (speaking for KOMACHI, while she, dressed as her lover Shōshō, mimes the night-journey) .
Pulling down over my ears the tall, nodding hat,
Tying over my head the long sleeves of my hunting cloak,
Hidden from the eyes of men,
In moonlight, in darkness,
On rainy nights I travelled; on windy nights,
Under a shower of leaves; when the snow was deep,
KOMACHI.
And when water dripped at the roof-eaves,—tok, tok ...
CHORUS.
Swiftly, swiftly coming and going, coming and going ... ”

“ That would anchor near us in the dawn.
Over the sea from the far side,
From China the journey of a ship’s travel
Is a single night’s sailing, they say.
And lo! the moon has vanished!
HAKU.
I have borne with the billows of a thousand miles of sea and come at last to the land of Nippon. Here is a little ship anchored near me. An old fisherman is in it. Can this be indeed an inhabitant of Nippon?
OLD FISHERMAN.
Aye, so it is. I am an old fisher of Nihon. And your Honour, I think, is Haku Rakuten, of China.
HAKU.
How strange! No sooner am I come to this land than they call me by my name! ”

“ But it is still night. I will go to [83] 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. ”

“ The great masked figure, gliding without lifting the heels, but with all the more appearance of swiftness, to the front of the stage, is the most ecstatic thing to sit under, and the most that a man can do to act what people mean by ‘poetical,’ something removed from reality but not remote, fascinating so that you fall in love with it, but more than you would care to trifle with. ”

“ Then he threw away his pike, and spreading out his great hands,
[68] Down this corridor and into this corner he chased him, but when he would have grasped him,
Like lightning, mist, moonlight on the water,—
The eye could see, but the hand could not touch.
KUMASAKA.
I was wounded again and again.
CHORUS.
He was wounded many times, till the fierce strength of his spirit weakened and weakened. Like dew upon the moss that grows.
KUMASAKA.
Round the foot of this pine-tree
CHORUS.
Are vanished the men of this old tale. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Can a damask drum give sound?
When I bade him beat what could not ring,
Then tottered first my wits.
COURTIER.
She spoke, and on the face of the evening pool
A wave stirred.
PRINCESS.
And out of the wave
COURTIER.
A voice spoke.
(The voice of the GARDENER is heard; as he gradually advances along the hashigakari it is seen that he wears a “demon mask,” leans on a staff and carries the “demon mallet” at his girdle.)
GARDENER’S GHOST.
I was driftwood in the pool, but the waves of bitterness
CHORUS.
Have washed me back to the shore. ”

“ KUMASAKA.
To-day is some one’s birthday. I beg of you to pray for the salvation of his soul.
PRIEST.
I have left the World, and it is my business now to say such prayers; but of whom am I to think when I pray?
KUMASAKA.
There is no need to know his name. He is buried in that tomb over there, among the rushes to this side of the pine-tree. It is because he cannot get free [37] that he needs your prayers.
PRIEST.
No, no; it will not do. I cannot pray for him unless I know his name.
KUMASAKA.
Pray, none the less. For it is written, “All the creatures of the world shall be profited. ”

“ It is a long way to the Hill of the Flying Sheep. Listen! A wizard once lodged here and gave us a marvellous pillow called the Pillow of Kantan: he who sleeps on it sees all his future in a moment’s dream.
ROSEI.
Where is this pillow?
HOSTESS.
It is on the bed.
ROSEI.
I will go and sleep upon it.
HOSTESS.
And I meanwhile will heat you some millet at the fire.
ROSEI (going to the bed) .
So this is the pillow, the Pillow of Kantan that I have heard such [158] strange tales of? Heaven has guided me to it, that I who came out to learn the secret of life may taste the world in a dream. ”

“ 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!
[75]
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. ”

“ But in the theatre version of Funa Benkei, Shizuka wore no mask, and when she pleaded, Baikō, of course, acted; it was charming; but Heaven knows what words he was saying—certainly he was not turning the mind of his audience in upon any masterpiece of words, rhythm and poetical fancy. He was acting the situation. The Nō performer, on the other hand, is intensifying the poet’s fancy. From sight of the masks hung up alone, I had not imagined how well their mixture of vacancy and realism would do the trick. The masks are not wayward, not extravagant (even the devil’s masks are realistic) ”

“ 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. ”

“ That Kumagai pursues him;
He cannot escape.
Then Atsumori turns his horse
Knee-deep in the lashing waves,
And draws his sword.
Twice, three times he strikes; then, still saddled,
In close fight they twine; roll headlong together
Among the surf of the shore. ”

“ The best single moment I have seen was the dance of thanks to the fisherman who returns to the divine lady the Hagoromo, the robe without which even an angel cannot fly. It seemed to me an example of the excellent rule in art that, if a right thing is perhaps rather dull or monotonous lasting five minutes, you will not cure the defect by cutting the performance to two and a half minutes ”

“ When the houses of Gen and Hei [51] were in their pride,
Like the plum-tree and cherry-tree among flowers,
Like Spring and Autumn among the four seasons.
Then, as snow that would outsparkle the moonlight,
Gen strove with Hei; and after the years of Hōgen, [52]
[73] The house of Hei prevailed and the whole land was theirs
So is it now.
But retribution shall come; time shall bring
Its changes to the world and like the cherry-blossom
This eboshi that knows its season
Shall bloom again. Wait patiently for that time!
HATMAKER.
And while they prayed
CHORUS.
Lo! ”

“ From beginning to end, all the words of every Nō play fit into an 8-beat measure, and a performer who sat in the dark, tapping the measure while skilfully weaving in the words, would give a Nō audience the essential ground of its pleasure. ”

“ He said: “I will say my incantations.”
Following in the steps of En no Gyōja, [142]
Clad in skirts that have trailed the Peak of the Two Spheres, [143]
That have brushed the dew of the Seven Precious Trees,
Clad in the cope of endurance
That shields from the world’s defilement,
“Sarari, sarari,” with such sound
I shake the red wooden beads of my rosary
And say the first spell:
Namaku Samanda Basarada
Namaku Samanda Basarada. [144] ROKUJŌ (during the incantation she has cowered at the back of the stage wrapped in her Chinese robe, which she has picked up again.) ”

“ When summoned to play before the noble gentlemen, we are expected to give the regular “words of good-wish” and to divide our performance into the three parts, Introduction, Development and Climax, so that the pre-arranged order cannot be varied.... But on less formal occasions, when, for example, one is playing not at a Shōgunal banquet but on a common, everyday (yo no tsune) stage, it is obviously unnecessary to limit oneself to the set forms of “happy wish.”
One’s style should be easy and full of graceful yūgen, and the piece [6] selected should be suitable to the audience. ”

“ PRIEST.
On all the roads where Kichiji might be passing, up hill and down dale on every halting-place they spied, till at last
KUMASAKA.
Here at the Inn of Akasaka we found him,—a fine place, with many roads leading from it. We set watch upon the place. The merchants had sent for women. From nightfall they feasted. They roystered the hours away—
PRIEST.
And at last, very late at night,
Kichiji and his brother, with no thought for safety,
Fell into a sodden sleep.
KUMASAKA.
But there was with them a boy of sixteen. ”

“ The second party danced the ballad called Tsumado, the story of which is:
Hosshō, Abbot of the Hiyeizan, was sitting late one summer night by the Window of the Nine Perceptions, near the Couch of the Ten Vehicles, in a room sprinkled with the holy water of Yoga, washed by the moonlight of the Three Mysteries. Suddenly there was a sound of hammering on the double-doors. And when he opened the doors and looked—why, there stood the Chancellor Kwan, who had died on the twenty-fifth day of the second month. ”

“ He cast himself and died.
(GARDENER leaves the stage.)
Enter the PRINCESS.
COURTIER.
I would speak with you, madam.
The drum made no sound, and the aged Gardener in despair has flung himself into the pond by the laurel tree, and died. The soul of such a one may cling to you and do you injury. Go out and look upon him
PRINCESS (speaking wildly, already possessed by the GARDENER’S angry ghost, which speaks through her) . [120]
[138]
Listen, people, listen! ”