University of Virginia Library

GENJO

By Kongo

Story from Utai Kimmō Zuye

In China, under the Tō dynasty (a.d. 604927),
there was a biwa player named Renjōbu,
and he had a biwa called Genjō. In the reign
of Nimmyō Tennō (a.d. 834-850) Kamon no
Kami Sadatoshi met Renjōbu in China, and
learnt from him three tunes, Ryūsen (The
Flowing Fountain), Takuboku[1] (The Woodpecker),
and the tune Yōshin. He also brought
back to our court the biwa named Genjō.

Murakami Tennō (947-967) was a great
biwa player. One moonlit night, when he
was sitting alone in the Southern Palace, he
took the biwa Genjō and sang the old song:

Suddenly the spirit of Renjōbu appeared
to him and taught him two new tunes, Jōgen
and Sekishō (the Stone Image). These two,
with the three that Sadatoshi had brought
before, became the Five Biwa Tunes.

These five tunes were transmitted to Daijō
Daijin Moronaga, who was the most skilful
player in the Empire.

Moronaga purposed to take the biwa Genjō
and go with it to China in order to perfect
his knowledge. But on the way the spirit of
Murakami Tennō appeared to him at Suma
under the guise of an old salt-burner.[2]

GENJO

PART I

The Scene is in Settsu

Characters

First Shite,

• an old man.

Tsure,

• an old woman.

Tsure,

• Fujiwara no Moronaga.

Second Shite,

• the Emperor Murakami.

Tsure,

• Riujin, the Dragon God.

Waki,

• an attendant of Moronaga.

Waki

What road will get us to Mirokoshi,[3] far in
the eight-folded waves?

Moronaga

I am the Daijo Daijin Moronaga.

Waki

He is my master, and the famous master of
the biwa, and he wishes to go to China to
study more about music, but now he is turning
aside from the straight road to see the moonlight
in Suma and Tsu-no-Kuni.[4]

Moronaga

When shall I see the sky-line of Miyako,
the capital? We started at midnight. Yama-zaki
is already behind us.

Waki

Here is Minato river and the wood of
Ikuta; the moon shows between the black
trees, a lonely track. But I am glad to be
going to Mirokoshi. The forest of Koma is
already behind us. Now we are coming to
Suma.

Now we have come to the sea-board, Suma
in Tsu-no-Kuni. Let us rest here a while
and ask questions.

Old Man and Old Woman

It's a shabby life, lugging great salt tubs,
and yet the shore is so lovely that one puts off
one's sorrow, forgets it.

Old Man

The setting sun floats on the water.

Old Man and Old Woman

Even the fishermen know something grown
out of the place, and speak well of their seacoast.

Old Woman

The isles of Kii show through the cloud to
the southward.

Old Man

You can see the ships there, coming through
the gateway of Yura.

Old Woman

And the pine-trees, as far off as Sumiyoshi.

Old Man

And the cottages at Tojima, Koya, and
Naniwa.

Old Woman

They call it the island of pictures.

Old Man

Yet no one is able to paint it.

Old Man and Old Woman

Truly a place full of charms.

Chorus

The air of this place sets one thinking.
Awaji, the sea, a place of fishermen, see now
their boats will come in. The rain crouches
low in the cloud. Lift up your salt tubs, Aie!
It's a long tramp, heavy working. Carry

along, from Ise Island to the shore of Akogi.
There is no end to this business. The salt at
Tango is worse. Now we go down to Suma.
A dreary time at this labour. No one knows
aught about us. Will any one ask our trouble?

Old Man

I will go back to the cottage and rest.

Waki
(at the cottage door)

Is any one home here? We are looking for
lodging.

Old Man

I am the man of the place.

Waki

This is the great Daijin Moronaga, the
master of biwa, on his way to far Mirokoshi.
May we rest here?

Old Man

Please take him somewhere else.

Waki

What! you won't give us lodging. Please
let us stay here.

Old Man

The place isn't good enough, but you may
come in if you like.

Old Woman

When they were praying for rain in the
garden of Shin-sen (Divine Fountain), he drew
secret music from the strings of his biwa—

Old Man

—and the dragon-god seemed to like
it. The clouds grew out of the hard sky of a
sudden, and the rain fell and continued to
fall. And they have called him Lord of the
Rain.

Old Woman

If you lodge such a noble person—

Old Man

—I might hear his excellent playing.

Both

It will be a night worth remembering.

Chorus

The bard Semimaru played upon his biwa
at the small house in Osaka, now a prince will
play in the fisherman's cottage. A rare night.

Let us wait here in Suma. The pine-wood
shuts out the wind and the bamboo helps to
make stillness. Only the little ripple of waves
sounds from a distance. They will not let
you sleep for a while. Play your biwa. We
listen.

Waki

I will ask him to play all night.

Moronaga

Maybe it was spring when Genji was
exiled and came here into Suma, and had his
first draught of sorrow, of all the sorrows that
come to us. And yet his travelling clothes
were not dyed in tears. Weeping, he took
out his small lute, and thought that the shore
wind had in it a cry like his longing, and came
to him from far cities.

Chorus

That was the sound of the small lute and
the shore wind sounding together, but this
biwa that we will hear is the rain walking in
showers. It beats on the roof of the cottage.
We cannot sleep for the rain. It is interrupting
the music.

Old Man

Why do you stop your music?

Waki

He stopped because of the rain.

Old Man

Yes, it is raining. We will put our straw
mats on the roof.

Old Woman

Why?

Old Man

They will stop the noise of the rain, and we
can go on hearing his music.

Both

So they covered the wooden roof.

Chorus

And they came back and sat close to hear
him.

Waki

Why have you put the mats on the roof.

Old Man

The rain sounded out of the key. The
biwa sounds "yellow bell," and the rain gives
a "plate" note. Now we hear only the
"bell."

Chorus

We knew you were no ordinary person.
Come, play the biwa yourself.

Old Man and Old Woman

The waves at this side of the beach can play
their own biwa; we did not expect to be
asked.

Chorus

Still they were given the biwa.

Old Man

The old man pulled at the strings.

Old Woman

The old woman steadied the biwa.

Chorus

A sound of pulling and plucking, "Barari,
karari, karari, barari," a beauty filled full of
tears, a singing bound in with the music,
unending, returning.

Moronaga

Moronaga thought—

Chorus

—I learned in Hi-no-Moto all that men
knew of the biwa, and now I am ashamed to
have thought of going to China. I need not
go out of this country. So he secretly went
out of the cottage. And the old man, not

knowing, went on playing the biwa, and singing
"Etenraku," the upper cloud music, this
song:

The old man is playing, not knowing the
guest has gone out.

Old Woman

The stranger has gone.

Old Man

What! he is gone. Why didn't you stop
him?

Both

So they both ran after the stranger.

Chorus

And taking him by the sleeve, they said,
"The night is still only half over. Stay here."

Moronaga

Why do you stop me? I am going back
to the capital now, but later I will return.
Who are you? What are your names?

Both

Emperor Murakami, and the lady is
Nashitsubo.

Chorus

To stop you from going to China we looked
on you in a dream, by the sea-coasts at Suma.
So saying, they vanished.

PART II

The Emperor Murakami

I came up to the throne in the sacred era
of Gengi,[5] when the fine music came from
Mirokoshi, the secret and sacred music, and
the lutes Genjo, Seizan,[6] and Shishimaru. The
last brought from the dragon world. And
now I will play on it.

And he looked out at the sea and called on
the dragon god, and played on "Shishimaru."

The lion-dragon floated out of the waves,
and the eight goddesses of the dragon stood
with him, and he then gave Moronaga the
biwa. And Moronaga took it, beginning to
play. And the dragon king moved with the

music, and the waves beat with drum rhythm.
And Murakami took up one part. That was
music. Then Murakami stepped into the
cloudy chariot, drawn by the eight goddesses
of the dragon, and was lifted up beyond sight.
And Moronaga took a swift horse back to his
city, bearing that biwa with him.