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 ...
One night, two nights, three nights,
Ten nights (and this was harvest night) ...
I never saw her, yet I travelled;
Faithful as the cock who marks each day the dawn,
I carved my marks on the bench.
I was to come a hundred times;
There lacked but one ...
KOMACHI (feeling the death-agony of Shōshō).
My eyes dazzle. Oh the pain, the pain!
CHORUS.
Oh the pain! and desperate,
Before the last night had come,
He died—Shii no Shōshō the Captain.