能のあらすじ・見どころ Summary and Highlights of Noh Uneme English
Summary
A group of Travelling Monks is visiting the Kasuga region (present-day Nara prefecture). There they meet a Woman who says she is visiting the Kasuga Shrine. Enraptured by the beauty of the scenery illuminated by the moon, the Woman relates the origin of the shrine, then she leads the Monks to the Sarusawa Pond nearby. There, she tells the story of Uneme, the "lady-in-waiting" at the service of the Emperor, and asks the Monks to pray for her salvation. Though the Emperor used to favor Uneme, he later changed his heart. Unable to accept this, Uneme threw herself in the Sarusawa Pond and died. Upon seeing her body, the Emperor composed a poem: “Seeing my lover’s hair in disarray, like seaweed at the bottom of Sarusawa Pond, breaks my heart”. At the end of her story, the Woman reveals to be the spirit of Uneme, then disappears into the pond.
（minaho-no-den）
A group of Travelling Monks is visiting the Kasuga region (present-day Nara prefecture). There they meet a Woman who says she is visiting the Kasuga Shrine. The Woman leads the Monks to the Sarusawa Pond nearby. There, she tells the story of Uneme, the "lady-in-waiting" at the service of the Emperor and asks the Monks to pray for her salvation. Though the Emperor used to favor Uneme, he later changed his heart. Unable to accept this, Uneme threw herself in the Sarusawa Pond and died. Upon seeing her body, the Emperor composed a poem: “Seeing my lover’s hair in disarray, like seaweed at the bottom of Sarusawa Pond, breaks my heart”. At the end of her story, the Woman reveals to be the spirit of Uneme, then disappears into the pond.
A Man from the Place appears and re-tells the story of Uneme. He then urges the monks to pray for the salvation of her soul. As the Monks gather around the Pond and begin a memorial service to her, the Ghost of Uneme appears. The Ghost reveals to have been able to reach enlightenment thanks to the Monks’ prayers, then reminisces about the days she used to spend with courtiers and nobles. When Prince Katsuragi-no-Ōkimi was traveling to Michinoku (northeastern Japan) Uneme composed the poem “My thoughts for you are deep, unlike the shallow mountains before Mt. Asakayama”. Then she dances as she used to do at the banquets for the court. She wishes that her dance will serve as a Buddhist service, allowing everyone to reach enlightenment. At the end of the dance, she disappears into the depths of the Pond.
Highlights
This play attributed to Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443), has two main sources: the founding myths of the Kasuga Shrine in Nara, and stories around Lady Uneme. The name "Uneme" refers to a kind of "lady-in-waiting" at the service of the Emperor. The "lady-in-waiting" who died at Sarusawa Pond is mentioned in the tenth-century anthology "Yamato Monogatari", while the "lady-in-waiting" who composed the poem for Katsuragi-no-Ōkimi is mentioned in the preface of the "Kokin wakashū." Though these may be two different characters, during the middle ages the two figures overlapped. The highlight of the first act is the story of Uneme throwing herself in the pond, told through narrative dance. In the second act, the Ghost of Uneme dances the elegant "jo-no-mai" slow-tempo dance in remembrance of the ancient times, when she used to dance for the Emperor. In the performance variant "minaho-no-den," the scene in which the Woman relates the origin of the Kasuga Shrine is omitted. Furthermore, when the Ghost of Uneme dances in the second half, the conventional foot stamping and flipping of the sleeves are omitted, suggesting that she is dancing in the water.