能のあらすじ・見どころ Summary and Highlights of Noh Ebira(Quiver) English
Summary
In early spring, a group of priests (waki and wakitsure) from Tsukushi (today Fukuoka Prefecture) set out on a journey to Kyoto. On their way, they see a beautiful plum tree in full bloom in the Forest of Ikuta (Chuō Ward, Kobe City) along the Ikuta River (a river flowing through present-day Kobe City). The priests decide to rest there and enjoy the view of the plum tree.
Then, a man (the main role of the first act) from the village appears, and the priests ask him about the tree. The man answers, saying that the tree is called the ‘Quiver Plum’, and tells the story of a warrior named Kajiwara Genta Kagesuea Genji warrior, who fought in the Genpei War (1180-1185). In the battle at Ikuta Forest, Kagesue fought with a plum bough in his quiver (the container for arrows, carried on the back). The priests are fascinated by the story and contemplate those past days when that young warrior fought at the very site they are at now. The man then continues on with the details of the battle.
When the night begins to fall, the priests ask the man to give them a night’s shelter. Then, the man says that this tree is indeed his home. He says that the priests must have come to him because their destinies had links from a past life. He asks the priests to wait for him beneath the tree, and disappears.
After the man disappears, another local man (ai) from Ikuta comes and tells the stories about the accomplishments of the Genji warriors Kajiwara Kagetoki and his son Kajiwara Genta Kagesue, and recommend the priests host a service to pray for Kagesue’s soul.
In the darkness of the night, where only the flowing sound of Ikuta River could be heard, a young warrior with a plum blough in his quiver appears. The warrior is the ghost of Kagesue (the main role of the second act). Suddenly, the peaceful scenery of the village is transformed into a world of endless carnage (Shuradō, a hell that warriors go to after death in Buddhism), and Kagesue reenacts the battle scenes. As dawn nears, he asks the priests to pray for his soul and vanishes into the air.
Highlights
The ‘Quiver Plum’ is preserved in the quiet precincts of Ikuta Shrine in downtown Kobe as a historical site of a battle between the Genji and Heike clans during the Genpei War (1180-1185).
The anecdote of Kagesue fighting with a plum bough in his quiver is in the Nagato Edition of the Tale of the Heike. The Battle of Ichi-no-tani (1184) was a fierce battle and is especially famous for General Yoshitsune’s attack over the Hiyodori Pass. The play ‘Ebira’ spotlights the young Genji warrior with a poetic soul.
In many of the literary works from later dates featuring the Genpei War, including Gikei-ki, Kajiwara Kagetoki is depicted as the villain who slanders Yoshitsune (a general typically depicted as a tragic hero in literature). However, in the local man’s monologue in the interlude of the play (ai kyogen), Kagetoki is depicted as a brave father and warrior who breaks through the enemy line to rescue his son, who has disappeared from sight.
The highlight of the lyrical storytelling is in the first half of the play when the man (the main role of the first act) recounts the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani with beautiful imagery: Against the magnificent mountains and sea – the white banners of Genji are likened to the soaring cranes, the red banners of Heike are compared to raging flames and the ships sailing fast are illustrated as boats flying in the sky.
The type of mask used in the play for Kagesue’s ghost, ‘Heida’, is said to have been named after General Egara Heita, or from a combination of the names of this play’s protagonist Kajiwara Genta Kagesue and his father, Kajiwara Heizo Kagetoki.
After the short dance section (kakeri) expressing Kagesue’s agony in the warrior’s hell, Kagesue reenacts the battle scenes with vigorous movements in the next section (kuse), and this is the choreographic highlight of the play. A single fan is used to represent different items, such as a plum bough or a shield, and it is also used as a sword to exhibit different movements resembling the different sword techniques in battle scenes. Please enjoy the dynamic display of movements at the climax of the play.