Semimaru, a work of the fourth category, was
written by Zeami. The story of Semimaru, the blind biwa
player—the biwa
is a kind of lute—appears as early as the
twelfth-century collection of tales, Konjaku
Monogatari, but apparently has no historical basis. The Konjaku
Monogatari version relates that Semimaru lived
near the barrier of Ōsaka, between Kyoto and Lake Biwa. Once he had been
in the service of a courtier, a famous biwa
master, and learned to play by listening to his master. Minamoto Hakuga,
the son of a prince, heard of Semimaru's skill and wished to bring him to
the Capital. Semimaru, however, refused. So eager was he to hear
Semimaru's biwa that Hakuga journeyed to Mt.
Osaka, a wild and distant place in those days, though today a half-hour
journey from Kyoto.
By the time of the writing of the Heike Monogatari,
a century later, Semimaru had become known as the fourth son of the
Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930). Like the Semimaru of the Konjaku
Monogatari, he lived by a barrier, but it was
the one at Shinomiya Kawara. A man named Hakuga no Sammi was so anxious
to hear him play that he visited Semimaru's hut every day, rain or shine,
for three years without fail.
Zeami borrowed from various versions of the legend of Semimaru as known in
his day, but especially from the Heike Monogatari.
No previous version of the story, however, mentions Princess Sakagami, who
was apparently Zeami's creation. Semimaru is one
of the rare plays in which the tsure
(Semimaru) is nearly as important as the shite
(Sakagami); another such play is Komachi of the Hundred Nights.
Semimaru is perhaps the most tragic play of the
entire No repertory. Unlike The Sought-for Grave,
in which Unai returns to earth to tell of her endless torments in hell,
the tragedy of Semimaru takes place in this world,
and involves two human beings who are nearly as real and immediate to us
as characters in Western drama.
During the height of the fanatical nationalism of the 1930s and 1940s Semimaru
was banned from the stage for its alleged
disrespect to the Imperial Family, but today it is performed by all
schools of Nō.
PERSONS
Prince Semimaru (tsure)Kiyotsura, an imperial
envoy (waki)Two Palanquin Bearers (wakizure)Hakuga No Sammi (kyōgen)Princess Sakagami, Semimaru's
sister (shite)
PLACE
Mt. Osaka in Ōmi Province
TIME
The Reign of Emperor Daigo; the eighth month
SEMIMARU
The stage assistant places a representation of a hut at the waki-position.
Semimaru enters, wearing the semimaru
mask. He is flanked by two Palanquin Bearers
who hold a canopy over him. Kiyotsura follows them.
He lowers his head to give a sad expression to his mask.
Travelers and men on horses
Riding to and from the Capital,
Many people, dressed for their journeys,
Will drench their sleeves in sudden showers
How hard it is to abandon him,
To leave him all alone—
How hard it is to abandon him,
To tear ourselves away.
Kiyotsura bows to Semimaru.
But even farewells must have an end;
By the light of the daybreak moon
Stifling tears that have no end, they depart.
Weeping, Kiyotsura goes to the bridgeway.
Semimaru, the Prince, left behind alone,
Takes in his arms his lute, his one possession,
Clutches his staff and falls down weeping.
Semimaru picks up the staff and kasa, comes
forward, and turns toward the departing Kiyotsura. Kiyotsura stops at the
second pine and looks back at him, then exits. Semimaru retreats, kneels,
drops his kasa and staff, and weeps. Hakuga
no Sammi enters and stands at the naming-place.
Hakuga
I am Hakuga no Sammi.
[8]8
I have learned that Prince Semimaru has been abandoned on Mount Ōsaka and
it pains me so much to think of him at the mercy of the rain and dew that
I have decided to build a straw hut where he may live.
He opens the door, of the hut, then goes to Semimaru at the shite-pillar.
The hut is ready at last, I shall inform him of this.
He bows to Semimaru.
Pardon me, sir; Hakuga is before you. If you stay here in this way, you
will be soaked by the rain. I have built you a straw hut and I hope you
will live in it. Please, come with me.
He takes Semimaru's hand and leads him inside the hut, then steps back and
bows.
If ever you need anything, you have only to summon me, Hakuga no Sammi. I
shall always be ready to serve you. I take my leave of you for now.
He closes the door of the hut, then exits. Sakagami enters
wearing the zō mask. Her robe is folded back
from her right shoulder indicating that she is deranged. She stops at the
first pine.
Sakagami
I am the third child of the Emperor Daigo,
The one called Sakagami, Unruly Hair.
Though born a princess, some deed of evil
From my unknown past in former lives
Causes my mind at times to act deranged.
And in my madness I wander distant ways.
My blueblack hair grows skywards;
Though I stroke it, it will not lie flat.
She smooths down her hair
Those children over there-what are they laughing at?
She looks to the right as if watching passersby.
What? You find it funny that my hair stands on end? Yes,
I suppose hair that grows upside down is funny.
My hair is disordered, but much less than you—
Imagine, commoners laughing at me!
How extraordinary it is that so much before our eyes is upside down.
Flower seeds buried in the ground rise up to grace the branches of a
thousand trees. The moon hangs high in the heavens, but its light sinks
to the bottom of countless waters.
She looks up and down.
I wonder which of all these should be said to go in the
Sakagami sits at the stage assistant's position, indicating she has
arrived at Mount Ōsaka. Semimaru, inside the hut,opens his fan and holds
it in his left hand as if playing his lute.
Semimaru
The first string and the second wildly sound
[13]13
The autumn wind brushes the pines and falls
With broken notes; the third string and the fourth
But the sun and moon have not dropped to the ground.
Things are still in their accustomed place, I thought,
But how can it be, then, that you and I
Should cast away our royalty and live like this,
Unable even to mingle with common men?
A mad woman, I have come wandering now
Far from the Capital girdled by clouds,
To these rustic scenes, a wretched beggar,
By the roads and forests, my only hope
The charity of rustics and travelers.
To think it was only yesterday you lived
In jeweled pavilions and golden halls;
You walked on polished floors and wore bright robes.
In less time than it takes to wave your sleeve,
Today a hovel is your sleeping-place.
Bamboo posts and bamboo fence, crudely fashioned
Eaves and door: straw your window, straw the roof,
And over your bed, the quilts are mats of straw:
Pretend they are your silken sheets of old.
Semimaru
My only visitors—how rarely they come—
Are monkeys on the peak, swinging in the trees;
Their doleful cries soak my sleeve with tears.
I tune my lute to the sound of the showers,
I play for solace, but tears obscure the sounds.
Even rain on the straw roof makes no noise.
Through breaks in the eaves moonlight seeps in.
But in my blindness, the moon and I are strangers.
In this hut I cannot even hear the rain—
How painful to contemplate life in this hut!
Both weep.
Sakagami
Now I must go; however long I stayed
The pain of parting never would diminish.
Farewell, Semimaru.
Both rise.
Semimaru
If sheltering under a single tree
Were our only tie, parting would still be sad;
How much sadder to let my sister go!
Imagine what it means to be alone!
Sakagami moves toward the shite-pillar.
Sakagami
Truly I pity you; even the pain
Of wandering may provide distraction,
But remaining here—how lonely it will be!
Even as I speak the evening clouds have risen,
I rise and hesitate; I stand in tears.
She weeps.
Semimaru
The evening crows call on the barrier road,
Their hearts unsettled
Sakagami
As my raven hair,
My longing unabated, I must go.
Semimaru
Barrier of Meeting, don't let her leave!
Sakagami
As I pass by the grove of cedars
She goes to the first pine.
Semimaru
Her voice grows distant. . .
Sakagami
By the eaves of the straw hut. . .
Semimaru
I stand hesitant.
Chorus
"Farewell," she calls to him, and he responds,
"Please visit me as often as you can."
Sakagami goes to the third pine and turns back to look at Semimaru.
Her voice grows faint but still he listens,
Sakagami starts to exit. Semimaru takes a few steps forward, stops and
listens. His blind eyes gaze in her direction.
She turns a final time to look at him.
Weeping, weeping they have parted,
Weeping, weeping they have parted.
Sakagami exits, weeping. Semimaru also weeps.
Notes
Japanese Text Initiative
Electronic Text Center | University of Virginia Library
PO Box 400148 | Charlottesville VA 22904-4148
434.243.8800 | fax: 434.924.1431
