It does not seem that we shall find him here. Let us go further and ask again. (They pass on.)
KAGEKIYO.
Who can it be that is asking for me? What if it should be the child of this blind man? For long ago when I was at Atsuta in Owari I courted a woman and had a child by her. But since the child was a girl, I thought I would get no good of her and left her with the head-man of the valley of Kamegaye. But she was not content to stay with her foster-parents and has come all this way to meet her true father.
CHORUS.
To hear a voice,
To hear and not to see!
Oh pity of blind eyes!
I have let her pass by;
I have not told my name;
But it was love that bound me,
Love’s rope that held me.
ATTENDANT (calling into the side-bridge).
Hie! Is there any villager about?
VILLAGER (raising the curtain that divides the side-bridge from the stage).
What do you want with me?