PART I
Waki
I am Chorio,[1]
a subject of Koso of Kan,
though I am busy in service I had a strange
dream that there was in Kahi an earthen
bridge, and that as I leaned on the bridge-rail
there came an old man on horseback. And
he dropped one of his shoes and bade me pick
up the shoe. I thought this uncivil, yet he
seemed so uncommon a figure and so gone
on in old age that I went and picked up the
shoe. "You've a true heart," he said, "come
back here in five days' time, and I will teach
you all there is to know about fighting."
He said that, and then I woke up, and now
it's five days since the dream, and I am on my
way to Kahi.
Dawn begins to show in the sky. I am
afraid I may be too late. The mountain is
already lit, and I am just reaching the bridge.
Shite
Chorio, you are late, you have not kept your
promise. I came quite early, and now it is
much too late. Hear the bell there.
Chorus
Too late now. Come again. Come in
five days' time if you carry a true heart within
you. And I shall be here, and will teach you
the true craft of fighting. Keep the hour,
and keep true to your promise. How angry
the old man seemed. How suddenly he is
gone. Chorio, see that you come here in
time.
Chorio
He is angry. I am sorry. Why do I follow
a man wholly a stranger? Foolish. Yet, if he
would teach me his secrets of strategy. . . .
Chorus
I think that he will come back. He does
not like wasting his time. Still, he will come
back again. See, he has gone away happy.
