能のあらすじ・見どころ Summary and Highlights of Noh Tanikō English
Summary
Summary
Sotsu-no-ajari (waki), a mountain priest that performs ascetic training (yamabushi) living in a shukubo lodge of Imagumano in Kyoto, visits his pupil Matsuwaka (kokata) to tell him that he will soon undergo mineiri (severe, often dangerous training in the mountains). Matsuwaka has lost his father and is at home nursing his mother (maeshite), who is ill. Matsuwaka requests to join the mineiri to pray for his mother’s recovery. The worried mother tries to stop him, but he is determined, so she sends him off in tears.
Matsuwaka, Sotsu-no-ajari, and other mountain priests arrive at Mount Katsuragi in Yamato (Nara Prefecture) and are beginning the mineiri when Matsuwaka catches a cold. There is a rule, called tanikō, that those who become ill during mineiri must be thrown down the valley even if they are alive. Sotsu-no-ajari is advised to carry out tanikō by the subleader (wakitsure) and the other mountain priest(wakitsure). Sotsu-no-ajari and Matsuwaka say farewell, and the mountain priests, in tears, hurl Matsuwaka down the valley.
Sotsu-no-ajari grieves over the loss of his pupil. The other mountain priests are moved by this and propose praying to Enno-gyōja (a saint that the mountain priests worship) to bring Matsuwaka back to life. They pray, and Enno-gyōja (nochishite) appears. Enno-gyōja commands the Gigaku Kishin (a deity that serves Enno-gyōja’s) to retrieve Matsuwaka from the valley and bring him back to life.
In the case of the Kanze School’s style of this play, the mountain priests’ prayers are generally followed directly by the appearance of Gigaku Kisin; Enno-gyōja does not appear on stage.
Highlights
Highlights
Tanikō was a rule among mountain priests, and it stated that those who become ill during mineiri training had to be hurled down the valley. Mineiri is an ascetic training unique to a syncretic religion that values practice of severe physical and mental training in the mountains (Shugendō), and it is performed while staying in the mountains for days or longer periods of time. It is uncertain as to whether the tanikō rule actually existed, but its use in this plot does present a picture of the severity of mineiri training.
The highlight of the first half of the play is Matsuwaka and his mother’s separation. In particular, the emotional exchange between Matsuwaka, who wishes to join the mineiri to pray for his mother’s recovery, and his mother, who is concerned about the safety of her young son.
The culmination of the middle of the play is the scene where Matsuwaka dies. A set piece (tsukurimono) representing Mount Katsuragi is placed on stage. The mountain priests pick up Matsuwaka, who is ill, lay him next to the stage piece, and cover him with a robe. This sequence represents the act of dropping him into the bottom of the valley and burying him.
The highlight of the second half of the play is a scene where Gigaku Kishin, summoned by Enno-gyōja, brings Matsuwaka back to life. Enno-gyōja, who wields mystical powers, first appears on stage wrapped in an aura of solemnity and summons Gigaku Kishin to this world. Gigaku Kishin pulls out a tree and removes the robe covering Matsuwaka. This represents bringing Matsuwaka out of the ground and back to life. (The appearance of Enno-gyōja is omitted depending on the script or the school of nō.)
Tanikō is an important piece in training of the waki-role actors, as it features a lot of action by waki and wakitsure roles (Sotsu-no-ajari, Subleader, and the other mountain priests).