CHORUS.
The wind stabbed him, and as the night wore on,
The snow grew hard with frost; he could not brush it away.
“I will go back,” he thought, and pushed at the barred gate.
“Open!” he cried, and hammered with his frozen hands.
None heard him; his blows made no sound.
“Oh the cold, the cold! I cannot bear it.
Help, help for Tsukiwaka!”
Never blew wind more wildly!
(TSUKIWAKA falls dead upon the snow.)
The servant finds him there and goes to the House of the Tall Pines to inform the mother. A scene of lament follows in which mother, sister and chorus join. The father comes home and hears the sound of weeping. When he discovers the cause, he is reconciled with the first wife (the second wife is not mentioned again), and owing to their pious attitude, the child returns to life.
TORI-OI
BY KONGŌ YAGORŌ
Bears a strong resemblance to Take no Yuki.
The date of the author is unknown.
A certain lord goes up to the city to settle a lawsuit, leaving his steward in charge of his estate. In his absence the steward grows overbearing in his manner towards his mistress and her little son, Hanawaka, finally compelling them to take part in the arduous labour of “bird-scaring,” rowing up and down the river among the rice-fields, driving away the birds that attack the crop.