Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/278

274 Ah! Now I remember—this was the kimono which I was wearing at the very hour of death.

(Describing his actions.) And thereupon he tears a sleeve from the kimono which he is wearing, a kimono made of hemp like that of Kiso long ago, and worn in the days of his life.


 * (The Hunter removes the left sleeve of his kimono, touches it to his forehead, and then holds it out in both hands toward the Monk.)

He says, “This give as a token.” And so saying, gives it with tears to the wandering monk … with tears, to the wandering monk….


 * (The Monk goes to the Hunter at the First Pine and takes the sleeve, then turns and comes onto the stage, while the Hunter starts along the Bridge toward the curtain.)

They bid farewell. The footsteps of the monk lead away toward Michinoku, down through the flaming, budding trees of spring, far and far away, amid the rising smoke and clouds of Tateyama, until his figure too becomes like a wisp of cloud.


 * (The Monk continues toward the front of the stage. The Hunter brings his hand to his forehead in a gesture of weeping. Then he turns around on the Bridge and looks long toward the stage, shading his eyes with his hand.)

The dead one weeps and weeps, watching the monk depart, and then vanishes, no one knows where … no one knows where….


 * (The Hunter has turned and continued along the Bridge. Now the curtain is swept back and he moves into the blackness beyond the curtain.)

"Place: Soto no Hama, a fishing village on the northernmost coast of Honshū several hundred miles from Tateyama."