KICHIJI.
If that is so, I cannot any longer refuse to take you with me. (Describing his own action.)
Then he offered the boy a broad-brimmed hat.
USHIWAKA.
And Ushiwaka eagerly grasped it.
To-day, he said, begins our troublous journey’s toil.
CHORUS (describing the journey and speaking for USHIWAKA).
Past the creek of Awata, to Matsusaka,
To the shore of Shinomiya I travel.
Down the road to the barrier of Ōsaka walking behind pack-ponies,
How long shall I serve in sadness these hucksters of gold?
Here where once the blind harper[48] lay sorrowing
On a cottage-bed, far away from the City,
Thinking perhaps some such thoughts as I do now.
We have passed the plain of Awazu. Over the long bridge of Seta
The hoofs of our ponies clank.
We cross the hill of Moru, where the evening dew
Lies thick on country paths and, caught in the slanting light,
Gleams on the under-leaves till suddenly night
Comes on us and in darkness we approach
The Mirror Inn.
KICHIJI.
We have travelled so fast that we have already reached the Mirror Inn. Let us rest here for a little while.
MESSENGER.