Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/34

6 stories or popular histories in public came into existence. These recitals were accompanied by taps of a fan, to mark time or to give emphasis. The Taiheiki, a sketch of the political history of the Kamakura Period (1186–1332), the Heiké-Monogatari, or the "Story of the Taira Family," and several children's stories were made use of for this purpose. Toward the dose of the sixteenth century, to this accompaniment was added the music of the samisen, a three-stringed guitar introduced shortly before from Loochoo. This improvement gave a stimulus to the profession which became more and more popular.

About that time was written a story entitled Jōruri Jūnidan Soshi, or the "Story of Lady Jōruri." It was in twelve acts, and had a wide circulation among the story reciters. Tradition says that its author was a maid of honour to Oda Nobunaga, named Ono no Otsū, but there is no authenticity for this belief. The following is the gist of the story:

A high-ranked samurai in the post-town of Yahagi, in Mikawa Province, prays the God Jōruri Kō to bless him with a child. In response to his earnest prayers, a beautiful girl is born to