Classic Poem

waki
waki-tsure
mae-shite

tsure
ai
nochi-shite

Act 1 To shin-no-shidai entrance music, Tomonari advances to
the center of the stage, followed by two Attendants, who take up
positions facing him. Tomonari wears a court minister's cap,
heavy silk kimono, lined hunting robe, and wide white divided
skirt. The Attendants are similarly attired .

T OMONARI AND Attendants :
( shidai ) Today we don our travel clothes,
Today we don our travel clothes,
For the long journey before us. T OMONARI : ( nanori ) I am Tomonari, priest of the Aso Shrine in Higo Province in Kyushu. Never having seen the capital, I shall go there and shall take the excellent opportunity this journey offers to visit the Bay of Takasago in Harima Province.

T OMONARI AND Attendants :
( age-uta ) Clad in travel attire,
Today we take the boat
And set out for the distant capital,
And set out for the distant capital.
Soft spring breezes fill our sails;
Gazing ahead and behind us,
For days past count
We can see nothing but clouds and sea,
Till what once seemed remote
Now drifts into view:
We've reached Takasago Bay at last,
We've reached Takasago Bay at last.
T OMONARI : ( tsuki-zerifu ) Traveling in haste, we have now reached Takasago. Let us stop here a while and inquire about this place.
Attendants : As you will, sir.
They all sit in the waki spot. To shin-no-issei entrance music, the Old Woman, carrying a broom, followed by the Old Man, carrying a rake, appear on the bridgeway. She stops by the first pine, and he, by the third pine. The Old Woman wears an uba mask, " old woman " wig, painted gold-pattern underkimono, " not-red " brocade outer kimono, and wide-sleeved robe. The Old Man wears a koji-jo mask, " old man " wig, small-check underkimono, wide-sleeved robe, and wide white divided skirt.

O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
( issei ) The spring breezes
Murmur in the Takasago Pine.
As the day draws to an end,
The bell on the hill
Tolls the curfew.
O LD W OMAN :
The shore mists veil the waves
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Whose voices tell of
The sea's ebb and flow.
Advancing onto the stage, Old Woman stands in the center and Old Man in the shite spot.

O LD Man :
( sashi ) Who is now left that knew me well?
This Takasago Pine,
Though venerable indeed,
Is not my friend from days of long ago.
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Countless years have passed,
Dropping their snowy mantle on our heads;
Like aged cranes
On a frosty spring morning
Under the waning moon,
We awake on our rush mats
To the familiar murmur of the pine,
And communing with our hearts,
We express our thoughts in verse.
( sage-uta ) Our only visitor, the bay breeze,
Whispers in the pine;
The needles are falling
From the tree upon our sleeves;
Broom in hand,
Let us sweep them away,
Let us sweep them away.
( age-uta ) Here at Takasago,
Here at Takasago
Each day the pine on the hill grows older
And advances in years.
How we have aged,
Sweeping away the fallen needles under the pine!
Shall we too live on for many years to come
Like the sturdy ancient pines
Of long-famed lki, ( Old Man moves to the center and Old Woman to the corner .)
Of long-famed lki?
T OMONARI : ( mondo ) ( rises ) We have been waiting for a villager. Look, an old couple has just appeared over there! Pardon me, I have something to ask you.
O LD Man : Were you speaking to me? What is it you wish?
T OMONARI : Pray tell me, which is the Takasago Pine?
O LD Man : This is the Takasago Pine under which we are now sweeping.
T OMONARI : The Takasago and Sumino-e Pines are called the " 'Twin Pines, " but how can this be when Takasago and Sumiyoshi are different places?
O LD Man : You are right. In the Preface to the Kokinshu , it is written, " The pines of Takasago and of Sumino-e seem like twins. " I myself come from Sumiyoshi in Settsu Province, but this old woman is a native of this place. ( Turns toward Old Woman .) If you know anything about this pine, you ought to tell this priest.
T OMONARI :
It is passing strange,
That this aged pair should dwell apart,
He in Sumino-e and she in Takasago!
Tell me, I pray, how this can be?
O LD W OMAN :
You speak strangely.
Though separated by miles of land and sea,
The hearts of man and wife are joined by love;
They pay no heed to distance.
O LD Man :
Well, you should know!
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
If the Takasago and the Sumino-e Pines,
Though not endowed with feeling,
Are known as Twins,
How much more then should we —
This woman and myself?
From Sumiyoshi I have come each day
For many years to visit her.
Like these Twin Pines we,
A loving wife and husband,
Have grown old together.
T OMONARI :
( kakeai ) Your words fill me with wonder!
But can you not tell me
An ancient tale about these Pines?
O LD Man : According to the ancient dwellers of this place, they symbolize auspicious imperial reigns:
O LD W OMAN :
Takasago, the old Man'yoshu days,
O LD Man :
Sumiyoshi, our present emperor's reign,
O LD W OMAN :
And the unfading green of the Pines
O LD Man :
Stands for the art of poetry, flourishing as of old,
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Nurtured by the August Majesty whom all revere.
T OMONARI :
How noble is your tale!
Now all my doubts have fled.
O LD Man :
Under the warm sunshine, by western seas,
T OMONARI :
There at Sumino-e,
O LD Man :
Here at Takasago,
T OMONARI :
The Pines put on a greener green ...
O LD Man :
O peaceful days
T OMONARI :
Of spring!
Below, Old Woman goes and sits in front of the chorus, while Tomonari moves to the waki spot.

CHORUS :
( age-uta ) Calm lies over the four seas,
The world is at peace,
The soft wind scarcely moves the boughs;
In such a reign as this
Happy are the pines born at one time
And growing old together.
Words cannot express
The happiness of those whose days are lived
Under our sovereign's blessed rule,
Under our sovereign's blessed rule.
Old Man sits down at the center .
T OMONARI : ( unnamed ) Pray tell me more about the auspicious Takasago Pine.
C HORUS :
( kuri ) Plants and trees, men say, have no soul,
Yet in due season they blossoMand bear fruit.
Under the warm spring sun
The branches on the south side flower first.
O LD Man :
( sashi ) But the pine tree remains
Unchanging
Throughout the year.
C HORUS :
Though spring may flee and winter come,
Its green is unfading;
Even in the snow
It grows greener.
Ten times the pine shall bloom!
So it is said froMancient times.
O LD Man :
In this auspicious reign
C HORUS :
Jeweled words, like glistening dewdrops,
Light up our people's hearts,
O LD Man :
Awakening in all living beings
C HORUS :
A love of poetry.
( kuse ) For, as Chono writes,
All of nature's voices
Are charged with poetry.
Herb and tree,
Earth and sand,
Murmur of wind and roar of water,
Each encloses in itself the universe;
Spring forests stirring in the eastern wind,
Autumn insects chirping in the dewy grass,
Is not each of them a poem?
Yet of all trees the pine is lord,
Endowed with princely dignity.
Unchanging from age to age,
Its unfading green endures a thousand years;
Fittingly did the Qin emperor
Bestow high rank upon the pine;
In other lands as in our own,
All men unite to praise the pine.
O LD Man :
At Takasago the bell on the hill is tolling; ( Rises with the rake in his hand .)

C HORUS :
It is dawn and freezing hard,
Yet the dark green pine needles suffer no harm.
Morning and evening
The fallen pine needles are raked away, ( Mimes the action of raking up pine needles .)
Yet its glory never fades,
But grows more green.
Of all the evergreens
The Twin Pines,
Blessed emblems of long life,
Have ever been extolled. ( Sits down .)
( rongi ) Truly, like the pines of ancient fame,
Truly, like the pines of ancient fame,
Long have you lived. Pray tell me now
Your history and your names.
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Why should we conceal anything?
We are the spirits
Of the Twin Pines of Sumino-e and Takasago
In human form as man and wife.
C HORUS :
How marvelous is the miracle
Of these famed pine trees!
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Trees and plants,
Though not endowed with a soul,
C HORUS :
In this auspicious reign
O LD Man AND O LD W OMAN :
Nay, even the earth and grasses,
C HORUS :
Sharing the glory of this realm,
Live gratefully under our sovereign's peaceful sway.
Now to Sumiyoshi I shall sail
And there await your coming.
So saying, he boards a fishing boat ( Old Man rises and mimes boarding a boat .)
Moored by the water's edge,
And with a breeze at his back
Is swiftly wafted out to sea,
Is swiftly wafted out to sea.
Exit Old Man, followed by Old Woman.

Interlude

Tomonari orders an Attendant to summon a Villager, who advances onto the stage from villager's position, wearing a check-pattern kimono, kyogen robe, and divided skirt. In reply to Tomonari's question, the Villager tells him the legend of the Twin Pines and, after offering to take him to Sumiyoshi in his new boat, exits.

Act 2

Tomonari and Attendants move to the center and face each other.

T OMONARI AND Attendants :
( age-uta ) From Takasago Bay,
Hoisting our sails,
Hoisting our sails,
Under the rising moon
We put out on the flowing tide.
Leaving behind the isle of Awaji
And passing distant Naruo
To Sumino-e we have come,
To Sumino-e we have come.
They return to the waki spot and sit down. To deha entrance music, the god of the Sumiyoshi Shrine advances along the bridgeway and takes his stand by the first pine. He wears a kantan-otoko mask, long black wig, " open-work " crown, red and white-striped heavy silk kimono, lined hunting robe, and wide white divided skirt.

S UMIYOSHI G OD :
( sashi ) Long years have passed
Since first I saw
The Pine of Sumiyoshi by the sea.
How many ages has it seen?
Do you not know the bond between us,
And how since ancient days
I have poured my blessings on the Imperial House?
And, ye musicians of the shrine,
This night let sacred music,
Dance, and the throb of drums
Gladden my heart!
Below, the Sumiyoshi God enters the stage and moves and gestures in consonance with the text.
C HORUS :
( jo-no-ei ) Forth from the waves of the western sea
That beat on Aoki-ga-hara,
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
I first arose — the god himself.
( issei ) It's spring, and the melting snow
Lies lightly on Asaka Beach.
C HORUS :
By the rocks where men gather seaweed,
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
I recline on the ancient pine roots;
C HORUS :
A thousand years of evergreen fill my palm;
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
Plucking a spray of plum blossoms
I adorn my hair,
C HORUS :
And petals, like spring snow, scatter over my robe.
( Dance : kami-mai)
Sumiyoshi God performs an exuberant kami-mai dance.

C HORUS :
( rongi ) O blessed vision,
O blessed vision!
Under the lovely moon
Before the Sumiyoshi Shrine the god is dancing!
Awe fills our hearts.
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
The voices of the dancing maids rise clear,
The waters of the bay
Mirror the Pine of Sumino-e —
This is tthe " Blue Sea Waves " dance.
C HORUS :
Straight is the way of the gods and the sovereign
And straight the road to the capital
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
By which the traveler " returns to the Imperial City. "
C HORUS :
Clad in an auspicious
S UMIYOSHI G OD :
Omi robe,
C HORUS :
My outstretched arms expel evil spirits,
My inward-gathering hands embrace long life, prosperity, and happiness.
" A Thousand Autumns "
Gladdens the people's hearts;
And " Ten Thousand Years "
Endows them with new life.
The murmur of the wind in the Twin Pines
Fills each heart with gladness,
Fills each heart with gladness!
Sumiyoshi God, in the shite spot, stamps twice .