By ZENCHIKU UJINOBU (1414-1499?)
PERSONS
- A PRIEST FROM THE CAPITAL.
- A PRIEST OF AKASAKA (really the ghost of the robber KUMASAKA NO CHOHAN).
- CHORUS.
PRIEST.
These weary feet that found the World
Too sad to walk in, whither
Oh whither shall wandering lead them?
I am a priest from the Capital. I have never seen the East country, and now I am minded to go there on pilgrimage.
(He describes the journey, walking slowly round the stage.)
Over the mountains, down the Ōmi road by a foam-flecked stream;
And through the woods of Awazu.
Over the long bridge of Seta
Heavily my footfall clangs.
In the bamboo-woods of Noji I await the dawn.
There where the morning dew lies thick, over the Greenfield Plain,
Green in name only—for the leaves are red with autumn—
In evening sunshine to the village of Akasaka I am come!
KUMASAKA.
(It is convenient to call him this, but he is the ghost of Kumasaka, appearing in the guise of a priest.)