HAGOROMO

The plot of the play 'Hagoromo, the Feather-mantle' is as follows. The
priest finds the Hagoromo, the magical feather-mantle of a Tennin, an
aerial spirit or celestial dancer, hanging upon a bough. She demands
its return. He argues with her, and finally promises to return it, if she
will teach him her dance or part of it. She accepts the offer. The Chorus
explains the dance as symbolical of the daily changes of the moon. The
words about 'three, five and fifteen' refer to the number of nights in
the moon's changes. In the finale, the Tennin is supposed to disappear
like a mountain slowly hidden in mist. The play shows the relation of the
early Noh to the God-dance.


PRIEST
Windy road of the waves by Miwo,
Swift with ships, loud over steersmen's voices.
Hakuryo, taker of fish, head of his house,
Dwells upon the barren pine-waste of Miwo.

A FISHERMAN
Upon a thousand heights had gathered the inexplicable cloud, swept by the
rain. The moon is just come to light the low house. A clean and pleasant
time surely. There comes the breath-colour of spring; the waves rise in a
line below the early mist; the moon is still delaying above, though we've
no skill to grasp it. Here is a beauty to set the mind above itself.

CHORUS
I shall not be out of memory
Of the mountain road by Kiyomi,