Classic Poem

M ONK :
( shidai ) Suma! and on down the shore to Akashi
Suma! and on down the shore to Akashi
I will go roaming with the moon.
( nanori ) You have before you a monk who is looking at every province.
Since I have not yet seen the lands of the west, I have decided this autumn to make my way there and watch the moon over Suma and Akashi.
( tsuki-zerifu ) Having come so swiftly, I have already reached Suma shore, as I believe it is called, in the province of Settsu. On the beach, I see a single pine with a sign placed before it and a poem-slip hanging in its branches. There must be a story about this tree. I will ask someone what it is.
( mondo ) Is any resident of Suma shore nearby? Villager, who has slipped in to sit at the kyogen seat, now rises and comes to the first pine . Villager : What do you need, reverend sir, from a resident of Suma shore? M ONK : I see this pine has a tablet planted before it, and a poem-slip hanging in its branches. There must be a story about it. Would you kindly tell it to me? Villager : Why, certainly. Long ago there were two young women — two saltmakers — named Pining Wind and Autumn Rain. This pine stands in their memory. People who wished to honor them put this tablet here and hung in the pine's branches the poem-slip you see. Such people also give them comfort and guidance as they pass. Of course, reverend sir, you yourself have no connection with them, but it would be good of you to do so, too, as you pass by. M ONK : Thank you for your account. Then I will go to the pine and comfort the spirits of those two young women. Villager : If there is anything else you need, reverend sir, please let me know. M ONK : I promise to do so. Villager : Very well.
Exit Villager. Monk comes to center and stands facing the pine . M ONK : ( unnamed ) So, this pine is the relic of two saltmakers who lived long ago: Pining Wind, one was called, and the other Autumn Rain.

A sad, sad story!
There they lie buried deep in the earth,
yet their names still linger, and in sign,
ever constant in hue, a single pine
leaves a green autumn.
Ah, very moving!
And now that I have comforted them by chanting the sutra and by calling for them upon our Lord Amida, the sun — as it will on these short autumn days — has all too quickly set. That village below the hills is still a good way off. I will go instead to this salt-house and see the night through here. Stage attendant places the brine wagon near the corner pillar: a small, light evocation of a wagon, with a pail on it and a long brocade " rope " to pull it by .
To shin-no-issei music, Autumn Rain enters and stops at the first pine. She is followed by Pining Wind, who stops at the third pine. Autumn Rain carries a second pail. Both are dressed in white robes over red trouser-skirts. They stand facing each other .

P INING Wind AND A UTUMN R AIN :
( issei ) A brine wagon wheels meagerly
our dreary world round and round:
O sorry life!
They face the audience .

R AIN :
Waves here at our feet: on Suma shore
They face each other .

B OTH :
the very moon moistens a trailing sleeve.
To ashirai music, both come on stage. Autumn Rain stands at the center, Pining Wind in the shite spot .

( shidai ) We of Suma, long familiar with fall,
we of Suma, long familiar with fall —
come, under the moon, let us draw brine!
Face audience .

Wind :
( sashi ) Fall winds were blowing, to call forth sighs,
and although the sea lay some way off,
Yukihira, the Middle Counselor,
Face each other .

B OTH :
sang of the breeze from Suma shore
blowing through the pass; and every night,
waves sound so near the saltmakers' home,
apart and lonely. On the way to the village,
besides the moon, there is no company.
Wind :
The sorry world's labors claim us,
and wholly wretched the seafolk's craft
B OTH :
that makes no way through life, a dream
where, bubbles of froth, we barely live,
our wagon affording us no safe haven:
we of the sea, whose grieving hearts
never leave these sleeves dry!
Face audience .

C HORUS :
( sage-uta ) So thoroughly
this world of ours
appears unlivable,
one only envies
the brilliant moon
rising now, come, draw the rising tide, ( Pining Wind steps forward, as though toward the sea .)
rising now, come, draw the rising tide! ( Notices her reflection in a tide pool .)
( age-uta ) Image of shame, my reflection,
image of shame, my reflection
shrinks away, withdrawing
tides leave behind stranded pools, ( Gazes at the water again .)
and I, how long will I linger on?
Dew agleam on meadow grasses
soon must vanish in the sun,
yet on this stony shore
where saltmakers rake seaweed in,
trailing fronds they leave behind,
these sleeves can only wilt away,
these sleeves can only wilt away. ( Retreats to the shite spot .)
Wind :
( sashi ) How lovely, though so familiar,
Suma as twilight falls!
Fishermen's calls echo faintly;
They face each other .

B OTH :
out at sea, their frail craft loom
dim, the face of the moon:
wild geese in silhouette,
flocks of plovers, cutting gales,
salt sea winds — yes, each one
at Suma speaks of autumn alone.
Ah, the nights' long, heart-chilling hours!
Face the audience .

Wind :
( kakeai ) But come, let us draw brine!
At the sea's edge flood and ebb
clothe one in salt robes:
R AIN :
tie the sleeves across your shoulders
Wind :
to draw brine — or so we wish,
R AIN :
yet no, try as we may,
Wind :
a woman's wagon
C HORUS :
( age-uta ) rolled in, falls back, weak and weary, ( Autumn Rain goes to the back center. Pining Wind advances slightly, gazes after the cranes .)
rolled in, falls back, weak and weary.
Cranes start from the reeds with cries
while all four storm winds add their roar.
The dark, the cold: how can they be endured? ( Pining Wind looks at the moon, then glances into the buckets on the brine wagon .)
As night wears on, the moon shines so bright!
Now we draw the moon's reflections!
Salt-fire smoke — O do take care!
This is the way we of the sea
live through the gloom of fall. ( Kneels by the brine wagon .)
( sage-uta ) Pine Islands! where Ojima's seafolk,
beneath the moon, ( With her fan, mimes drawing brine, then gazes at the moon's reflection in her pail .)
draw reflections, ah, with keen delight
draw reflections, ah, with keen delight! ( To the shite spot .)
( rongi ) Far away they haul their brine
in Michinoku: though the name
is " near, " Chika, where workers tend
the Shiogama salt-kilns.
Wind :
And where the poor folk carried salt-wood:
Akogi beach, that was, and the tide withdrawing
C HORUS :
on down the same Ise coast lies Futami shore,
and its Paired Rocks: O I would pair
a past life in the world with one renewed!
Wind :
When pines stand misty in spring sun,
the sea-lanes seem to stretch away
past the tide-flats of Narumi,
Bay of the Sounding Sea.
C HORUS :
Ah, Narumi, that was,
but here at Naruo,
beneath the shadowing pines,
no moon ever shines to touch
the village huts roofed with rushes
at Ashinoya,
Wind :
drawing brine from Nada seas
sorely burdens me with care
though none will tell, and I am come,
no boxwood comb in my hair,
C HORUS :
while in comb the rolling billows ( Autumn Rain places her pail on the brine wagon. Pining Wind gazes at it .)
for us to draw brine, and look:
the moon is in my pail!
Wind :
In mine, too, there is a moon!
C HORUS :
How lovely! A moon here, too!
Pining Wind looks into the other pail, then up to the sky, then again at the two pails. Having received the wagon-rope from Autumn Rain, she pulls the wagon up to the drums, then looks back at it one more time .

Wind :
The moon is one,
C HORUS :
reflections two, three the brimming tide,
for tonight we load our wagon with the moon.
O no, I do not find them dreary,
the tide-roads of the sea!
Stage attendant removes the wagon. Pining Wind sits on a stool in front of the drums, while Autumn Rain sits directly on stage, slightly behind her and to her left. They are in the salt-house . M ONK : ( unnamed ) The people of the salt-house have returned. I will ask them to give me shelter for the night.
( mondo ) I beg your pardon, there in the salt-house! Excuse me, please! R AIN ( rises ): What is it? M ONK : I am a traveler, and now the sun has set. May I have shelter for the night? R AIN : Please wait a moment. I will ask the owner. ( Turns to Pining Wind, kneels on one knee .) I beg your pardon, but a traveler is here. He says he wants shelter for the night. Wind : We could easily give him shelter, but our house simply is not fit to be seen. No, we cannot let him stay. R AIN ( rises, turns to Monk ): I gave your request to the owner. She says that our house is not fit to be seen and that we cannot offer you lodging for the night. M ONK : I understand, of course, but please realize that I do not mind what condition your house is in. I am a monk, after all. Do pass on again my urgent request for shelter here tonight. R AIN ( turns to Pining Wind, kneeling on one knee ): The traveler is a monk, and he insists on asking again for a night's shelter. Wind : What? The traveler is a monk, you say? Why yes, the moonlight shows me one who has renounced the world. Well, it will do, this saltmakers' home, with its posts of pine and fence of bamboo. The night is cold, I know. Tell him he may stay and warm himself at our rush fire. R AIN ( rises, turns to Monk ): Do please come in. M ONK : Thank you for your kindness.
Autumn Rain sits as before. Monk rises, advances a few steps, sits again. He too is now in the salt-house . Wind : From the start I wanted to have you stay, but this house is simply not fit to be seen. That is why I refused. M ONK : It is very good of you to have me. Since I am a monk and have always been one, my travels have no particular goal. On what grounds, then, should I prefer one lodging to another? Besides, here on Suma shore, any sensitive person ought actually to prefer a somewhat melancholy life:

Should one perchance
ask after me,
say that on Suma shore,
salt, sea-tangle drops
are falling as I grieve.
Yes, that was Yukihira's poem. By the way, I noticed that pine tree on the shore. When I asked a man about it, he told me that it stands in memory of two saltmakers named Pining Wind and Autumn Rain. ( Pining Wind and Autumn Rain weep .) I have no connection of my own with them, of course, but I prayed for them before going on. Why, how strange! When I mentioned Yukihira, both of you seemed overcome with sorrow. What is the meaning of your grief? Wind AND R AIN : Oh, it is true! When love is within, love's colors will show without! The way you quoted his poem, " Should one by chance inquire for me, " brought on such pangs of longing! So tears of attachment to the human world once more moistened our sleeves. ( They weep .) M ONK : Tears of attachment to the human world? You talk as though you were not of the living. And Yukihira's poem seems to afflict you with feelings of painful longing; I do not understand. Please, both of you, tell me your names!

Wind AND R AIN :
( kudoki-guri ) I am ashamed!
As the tale rises to my lips,
I whom none ask after, ever,
rejoin a world gone long ago,
where, brine drenched, I learn no lesson
but suffer on in bitterness of heart.
( kudoki ) Yet having spoken,
perhaps we need dissemble no more.
Some while ago, as twilight fell,
you kindly comforted those who lie
under that pine, beneath the moss:
two young women,
Pining Wind and Autumn Rain.
We before you are their phantoms.
Yes, Yukihira, those three years,
lightened his leisure with pleasant boating
and watched the moon here on Suma shore.
While seafolk maidens each night drew brine,
he chose and courted us, two sisters.
Pleased with names that fit the season,
he called us Pining Wind and Autumn Rain.
We Suma seafolk, familiars of the moon,
Wind :
found our saltburners' clothing suddenly changed
B OTH :
to silken summer robes censed with sweet fragrance.
Wind :
So those three years slipped quickly by.
Then Yukihira went up to the capital
R AIN :
and, not long after, came the news
B OTH :
that he, so young, had passed away.
Wind :
O how I love him!
But perhaps once, in another life ( Weeps .)
he again will come,
C HORUS :
( uta ) pining. Wind and Autumn Rain
wet these sleeves, helpless, alas,
against a love so far beyond us.
We of Suma are deep in sin: ( They appeal to Monk with palms pressed together .)
O in your kindness, give us comfort!
( age-uta ) Upon passion's tangled grasses,
dew and longing mingle wildly, ( Below, Autumn Rain goes to sit in left center while Monk moves to the waki spot .)
dew and longing mingle wildly,
till the heart, spellbound, yields to madness.
The Day of the Serpent brings purification,
yet sacred streamers to ask the god's help
wave on, useless, wave-borne froth,
we melt into grief and lasting sorrow. ( Below, stage attendant gives Pining Wind a man's hat and robe. Carrying them, she dances and mimes in consonance with the text .)
( kuse ) Ah, as those old days return to mind,
I miss him so!
Yukihira, the Middle Counselor,
three years dwelt on Suma shore,
then went away up to the capital,
but left as keepsakes of our love
his tall court hat, his hunting cloak.
Each time I see them, ever more
passion grasses spring,
the pale dewdrops on each blade
so swiftly gone — might I so soon
forget this agony!
His parting gifts,
O they are enemies:
were they gone from me,
a moment of forgetfulness
might even now be mine
so someone sang. O it is true!
My love for him only deepens. ( Lowers her hat and cloak, which she had clasped to her, and weeps. Below, she continues miming .)
Wind :
Night after night,
I remove on lying down
this, my hunting cloak,
C HORUS :
and on and on I only pray
that he and I might share our life —
but fruitlessly.
His keepsakes bring me no joy!
She throws them down but cannot leave them;
picks them up, and his own face
looms before her. Do as she may,
From the pillow,
from the foot of the bed,
love comes pursuing.
Down she sinks in helpless tears,
lost in misery. ( The donning of the robe )
In the shite spot, Pining Wind collapses into a sitting position and weeps. To ashirai music, the stage attendant clothes her in the robe and places the hat on her head. She weeps once more .

Wind :
( ge-no-ei ) River of Three Crossings:
the grim ford of ceaseless weeping
yet conceals a gulf of churning love!
( kakeai ) O what happiness! Yukihira is standing there, calling my name, Pining Wind!
I am going to him!
She rises and starts toward the pine. Autumn Rain comes up behind her and catches her right sleeve . R AIN : How awful! This state you are in is exactly what drowns you in the sin of clinging! You have not yet forgotten the mad passion you felt when we still belonged to the world. That is a pine tree. Yukihira is not there.
Wind :
You are too cruel, to talk that way! That pine is Yukihira!
Though for a time we may say goodbye,
should I hear you pine, I will return:
so said his poem, did it not?
R AIN :
Why, you are right! I had forgotten!
A while, perhaps, we may say goodbye,
but should you miss me, I will come:
those were the words
Wind :
I had not forgotten, pining
wind is rising now:
he promised he will come —
R AIN :
news to start an autumn rain,
leaving sleeves a moment moistened;
Wind :
yes, pining still, he will return:
R AIN :
we rightly trusted
Wind :
his dear poem:
B OTH :
( waka ) Now I say goodbye, ( Dance : chu-no-mai)
In tears, Pining Wind runs on to bridgeway, while Autumn Rain, also weeping, goes to sit in left center. Pining Wind then returns to the stage, pauses in the shite spot, and performs a chu-no-mai dance .

Wind :
bound for Inaba's
far green mountains;
yet, my love, pine
and I will come again.
( noriji ) Yonder, Inaba's far mountain pines;
C HORUS :
here, my longing, my beloved lord
here on Suma shore pines: Yukihira
back with me once more, while I,
beside the tree, rise now, draw near:
so dear, the wind-bent pine —
I love him still! ( Dance : ha-no-mai)
Pining Wind ceases weeping, then lifts her head and dances a ha-no-mai around the pine. As the text continues, she continues to dance and mime.

C HORUS :
In the pine a wind blows wild.
The Suma breakers rage nightlong
While wrongful clinging brings you this, our dream.
In your kindness, give us comfort!
Now, farewell:
( uta ) receding waves fall silent
along Suma shore
a breeze sweeps down from off the hills.
On the pass, the cocks are crowing.
The dream is gone, without a shadow
night opens into dawn.
It was autumn rain you heard,
but this morning see:
pining wind alone lingers on,
pining wind alone lingers on.
Facing the side from the shite spot, stamps the final beat .