LITMIR.BIZ

      ACT TWO SCENE ONE

      Time: New Year's; late afternoon.

      The scene is the foot of the Hanamizu Bridge in Kamakura, At stage center is a stall twelve feet wide, spread with rush matting; a shop for New Year's decorations. Round wreaths of plaited straw hang from its eaves. At stage left is the foot of the bridge, and at stage right, a watchman's shack. A light-blue backdrop hangs at the rear of the stage. The curtain opens to drum and flute music. We see Ichisuke, a footman, wearing a crested cotton gown and carrying a sword. Over his shoulder he carries straw sandals strung on a pole. Two minor servants, Gonji and Dempachi, are gossiping.

      Gonji: Hey, Ichisuke, I hear that a Buddhist priest who broke his vow of chastity is going to be brought to the Hanamizu bridge today and exiled from the city.

      Dempachi: So that's why they have set up that shed for exposing criminals on Broad Avenue.

      Ichisuke: (with a laugh) You fool! That over there is a New Year's decoration stall they haven't removed yet.

      Gonji: I was wondering why it had those round straw wreaths. So they are leftovers from the end of the year, eh?

      Dempachi: This monk who broke his vow of chastity—which temple does he belong to?

      Ichisuke: Didn't you know? He is Seishin, the sexton at Paradise Temple. He became infatuated with Izayoi, the prostitute at the Ōgiya in Ōiso. The upshot is exile.

      Dempachi: But even a monk or a pederast is after all a man, so there is no reason for them to dislike women.

      Gonji: Come to think of it, Shinran, the founder of my faith, was very human. He permitted his priests to eat and to marry. Isn't it a blessed faith?

      Ichisuke: I haven't had a woman in a long time. I have to go around hawking toothpicks and straw sandals to buy wine to go with my fish salad.

      Dempachi: Me, too. I haven't had a woman since last month.

      Gonji: Anyway, why don't we go have a drink somewhere?

      Ichisuke: I would like to join you, as it has been a long time since I had any wine. But the fact is I don't have a copper on me.

      Dempachi: Don't worry about that. You heard Gonji—he'll pay.

      Gonji (upset): What? What makes you think I have any money? If I did I would go drink by myself.

      Ichisuke: Were you counting on Dempachi, then?

      Gonji: No, I was counting on your straw sandals.

      Ichisuke: I can't afford to buy you drinks on these. These straw sandals are worth three hundred coppers and I put in a lot of time on them. I was planning on buying myself a small amount of wine for a nightcap and getting myself a street walker for a hundred coppers.

      Dempachi: That's a fine how-do-you-do!

      Gonji: Never mind—buy us a small bottle and we will take care of the rest.

      Ichisuke (alarmed): I don't like the sound of that.

      Dempachi: Come along, now, and don't make such a fuss.

      Ichisuke (dismayed): Confound it! I've been trapped by scoundrels!

      Dempachi drags Ichisuke off toward stage left in the direction of the bridge. Gonji follows. Then Sagobei, Izayoi's father, comes up the runway extending from the rear of the theatre to the stage. He holds the hand of the eleven-year-old acolyte KyŌgetsu, who is dressed in a gray robe and a short clerical apron. They stop on the runway.

      KyŌgetsu: Tell me, Sagobei, is the place they are bringing Seishin very far away?

      Sagobei: No, no, it is not far. They will soon be bringing him to the foot of that bridge you see over there.

      KyŌgetsu: Then let us wait for him over there.

      Sagobei: Come along now, and take care you don't stumble.

      They continue to the stage proper.

      Sagobei (sadly): When I asked at the watchman's shack back there just now, he told me that they would be leading him by at any moment. I have not seen him since he went to prison. I expect he has lost weight. Where will he go from here? I thought of giving him some money so that he could at least put his affairs in order. But I have been unable to do so. There has been no word from my son whom I sent off to try and raise some money. So I am certain he has failed. Ah! It seems there is no money to be had in the world.

      KyŌgetsu (eagerly): Here, Sagobei, I don't have much, but if you want coppers, I have some temple offerings with me.

      From under the collar of his gown he withdraws some money wrapped in paper.

      Sagobei: Oh, no, no. I do not need anything now. Keep it and don't lose it. Well, now, they certainly ought to be leading him by soon.

      He looks down the runway.

      Sagobei (excitedly): Speak of a person and there is his shadow, they say. Look, look, over there.

      KyŌgetsu: Is Seishin coming?

      Sagobei: Yes, he is. We might get rebuked if we get in the way. Let's make ourselves inconspicuous.

      The two conceal themselves in the back of the watchman's shack at stage right. From offstage come the sound of a drum beating as at the hourly tattoo, and music in the style of Buddhist liturgies. Two footmen in iris-patterned skirts and carrying poles about six feet in length lead the procession up the runway. They are followed by Seishin, with a month's growth of hair on his normally shaven head. He is dressed in a light-blue gown, and is bound with a rope held by two policemen wearing short black robes. He is followed by Terasawa TŌjŪrŌ, an official. His jacket is split in the back for his two swords, and he is attended by two lackeys carrying a round campaign hat and a camp stool. They come straight to the main stage where the policemen lay out a straw mat at stage center.

      Policemen (gruffly): Sit down!

      Seishin squats on the mat. His captors stand by at the rear. Terasawa seats himself on the camp stool at stage left.

      TŌjŪrŌ (gravely): Seishin, disciple to Kyōzen of Paradise Temple!

      Seishin: Aye!

      He bows.

      TŌjŪrŌ: It was most reprehensible of you, a monk, to have become involved with the prostitute named Izayoi employed at the Ōgiya in the post town of Ōiso, and to have recklessly spent gold and silver on wine and sensual pleasures. You ought to have been punished, but on exceptional clemency, you are hereby banished from the valleys and the seven counties of Kamakura.

      Seishin:

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