One of Japan’s greatest literary treasures, second only to Lady Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji, is the travel journal written by Matsuo Basho, Oko no Hosomichi, translated as Narrow Roads to the Interior, or Back Roads to the Far North. In 1689, at the age of forty-five, Basho (translates as banana tree) and his friend and disciple, Sora (sky) hiked north from Tokyo, up the eastern coast of the main island of Japan. They crossed over the high interior mountains, often compared to the Alps, to the west coast. They went as far north as the three holiest mountains in Japan and returned over an easier route back to Tokyo – a trip lasting nine months.
Both men kept journals. Sora’s was dry and factual and was lost until an old mansion was torn down in 1993 when it was rediscovered. Basho had spent three years revising and polishing his journal entries and the haiku poems that accompanied them before releasing the work to be published by one of his other disciples. The keeping of a travel diary, along with poems, was an ancient and honored literary form. However, Basho was the first to do so using the shorter haiku instead of the more famous (then), tanka also called waka. Over the years the admiration of Basho’s life and his work has raised him to a god-like status in Japan.
We often think of Basho (pronounced: BOSH, like posh, OH) as a haiku master when actually he was a renga master. Renga is a linked form of poetry, often written collaboratively by a group of poets. Basho traveled around Japan (this, though, was his longest and most dangerous trip) holding parties where he led the groups of poets and wanna-be-poets in writing renga while teaching them the form. Whenever Basho experienced writer’s block he would make a trip, often finding inspiration because other famous poets had seen and written about specific sites. It worked. Some of his most memorable poems were written on this trip.
In the play, I have tried to include most of the poems in their final versions as saved by both Basho and Sora (SOAR-AH) and accurately portray the situation from which the poem arose. I have taken liberties with their ideas, opinions, and emotional connections.
On October 12, 1994, I reread Basho's book,
Narrow Roads to the Far North,
Penguin Books translation by
Nobuyuki Yuasa,
to celebrate the 300th Anniversary
of his death date. Suddenly I began
seeing the scenes of Basho's book
as a play. I wrote them down, filling
in the pictures that came to mind
with stage instructions. In 2009 I
changed the poem translations
to those from my book, Basho
The Complete Haiku.
I hope Basho
approves of my work.
BANANA SKIES
Jane Reichhold
THE STAGE
The whole play takes place around one stage setting. In the very middle is one or more large tubs or cut-off wine casks planted with small pine trees. These should not look like Christmas trees, but be pruned around the lower 2/3 so they look like "real" shore pine or pines as they grow in a forest when they are old. The trees can be 4 - 10 feet high.
This arrangement should be in harmony with the rest of the stage. The stage size should determine how many trees in the tubs there are and how tall they are.
Unseen and unlighted at stage center left, behind the trees is a black wooden inclined structure of a size that equals a little less than 1/4 of the total stage length. It can be as small as the size of a double bed. The rise, from front to back, need not be higher than two or two and one-half feet.
The most active stage element is the moveable partition or "curtain.” This structure's length should be a bit less than 1/3 of the stage's width and at least seven feet tall. This screen is really a portable partition (on casters) that is manned by two unseen persons. Part of the rigid frame structure could have two collapsible seats so the stage hands can sit down to rest between the moves. The very top of the partition has a rod on which the curtain can be bunched or pulled smooth with the excess material, at times, pulled around the corners.
The curtain should have some "drape" like a knitted fabric but must be cotton in a natural, neutral color like unbleached muslin or burlap. It should not be white or dyed beige - tan - light brown but should have natural flecking or imperfections. It should not be new or crisp but old, used, almost worn with footprints (which will come naturally if it is used for rehearsals). In the bottom hem (of 2 -3 inches) should be some sand to keep it down and not moving and to create some tension in the folds.
For each scene the screen is set in a different position on the stage. Sometimes the move to the new place will be made with the lights on and at other times the changes will be done in darkness. Every attempt should (usually) be made to minimize the fact that two men are behind this frame. It should never be lifted so high that their shoes are revealed and they should (for the most part) be silent. (They can be used as prompters and as the off-stage voices.) These two can take the parts of some of the characters. The curtain apparatus is the most vital and active part of the stage scenery. The backdrop and sides should only be usual black curtain.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
Parts can be all be played by males, or all by females, or two can be female and the males other than Basho and Sora, can take multiple parts. The play is set in Japan but the characters could be modern or of another nationality.
BASHO is about 40 - 50 years old, gray hair or a shaved head. Walks stiffly, sighs heavily. Can be slightly overweight or just tall and heavy or as Basho was — medium height (5'3") and rather thin. Larger than Sora.
SORA is the same sex as Basho but is much younger. Sora is in his/her early twenties, athletic, smaller, and quicker than Basho. It would be well if his head could be shaved. Nationality of the actor can color his concept of Sora.
*****
INNKEEPER I Overbearing professional type. Acts as if his hotel is the best thing since the Hilton.
INNKEEPTER II Rougher, more of rustic type. A hardened, no-nonsense mountain man, rugged Westerner.
A POET TOKYU He is middle-aged, the typical "academic poet-professor." Terribly polite and correct and intrusive.
BLIND MINSTRAL Any age. If possible can play a simple melody on a stringed instrument
PRIEST EGAKU Rigid, correct, with elegant bearing. Regal, authoritarian.
PROSTITUTE I The two females are not related to and can have very different features.
PROSTITUTE II One is younger, more insecure.
In the script the gender reference corresponds to the original character but can be changed.
Time
The costumes can be contemporary clothes compatible for the respective parts or one can decide to "set" the play in feudal Japan 1600 wearing robes and Japanese kimono.
Or it can be set with punk clothes, or neo-hippies in original Wavy Gravy.
Scene 1
Scene The curtain/partition is at down stage right about 2 feet from the curtain line.
Lights A soft light on the curtain area, plus a very dim, weak, small hazy spot is on the tops of the trees in the tubs. Several spots are wide and indistinct on the curtain. Not too bright. The light of a spring afternoon on the open road.
Time March 29, 1689.
There is no curtain to open.
At Lights Up The stage is empty. Voices can be heard just off down stage right as BASHO & SORA are heard bidding their friends farewell. This should go on for "actual time" of a minute or more.)
SORA
(enters stage right very slowly proceeding only two feet across the curtain. He wears a backpack, a canteen dangles from his waist, a knife is holstered to his belt. He wears either a jacket over a T-shirt, and walking shorts, or a short “happy coat” over a full length robe. Under his straw hat should be an extra knitted hat. He carries a walking stick which he uses for every purpose (such as hanging stuff on) except as something to lean on.
(looking off-stage to the right)
Basho, the journey will never begin if you don't stop saying good-bye.
(One hears BASHO'S voice, still calling his farewells as he stands in the wings offstage. He ignores everything SORA says.)
SORA
Look! it's getting late. Soon we'll have to find a place to spend the night and we haven't even left yet.
(recognizes that BASHO is not paying any attention to him and begins to whine.)
We might as well go back with them and have another party tonight.
(now certain BASHO is not paying any attention to him at all he begins to speak to himself. At the same time he finds his shoe lace untied. He unloads his pack and bends to tie his shoestring.)
I don't want another party like last nights'. My head still aches and rings. A good five mile hike would make me feel better. What's this trip — with this old guy — going to be like? I had hoped to have some adventures and learn something they don't teach in school. It's gotta get better than this. . .
(BASHO backs into the light. He is still waving, wiping his eyes, acting overwhelmed by all the gear hanging on him in a disorderly fashion.)
SORA
(perks up, begins to put his backpack on again when BASHO'S advance is stopped by a voice from off-stage.)
VOICE:
Wait! Wait! Here comes Ama. She got it finished. Wait! She must give it to you.
BASHO
(goes back off stage. One can hear sobbing and more farewells.)
SORA
(looks exasperated, but is speechless. Finally, he takes off his canteen and drinks from it. As BASHO again backs into the light, he hastily closes it to pretend he wasn't getting a drink but BASHO is totally absorbed in his farewells. Now he is carrying a raincoat on his arm and has a sack in one hand and a drawstring bag hanging from the other hand. Just before reaching SORA BASHO stumbles. SORA touches his arm to steady him and at this BASHO recognizes him.)
BASHO
(gestures helplessly, waving all these things about.)
Oh, oh.
SORA
(bustles about setting down his pack, picking up items BASHO has dropped around him as he sits down — distracted and unseeing. As SORA repacks things he ridicules each "worthless" item. In the mean time BASHO has taken a notebook from a pocket and is busy writing —pause —his thoughts in it.)
SORA
Okay, let's try to begin this trip again. Up and away we go.
BASHO
(just sits, but finally says:)
What do you think of this as a beginning for my diary?
(he reads)
Days and months are the travelers of eternity. So are the years that pass by.
SORA
(obviously wants to begin walking, yet he eyes the older man with admiration as he helps him to his feet.)
Li Po would be proud of you.
BASHO
You recognize that?
SORA
They are good lines. Li Po is glad to loan them to you. They are his gift to send you off on your way.
BASHO
(seems unable to begin walking)
The gods seemed to have possessed my soul, to have turned it inside out and images from the road seem to come from every corner — inviting me, me. . . It was impossible for me to stay idle. I mended my pants, tied a new strap on my hat, exercised my legs to make them strong.
SORA
(takes him by the elbow to get him walking.)
BASHO
Did you know I even wrote a farewell poem and pinned it to the doorway?
SORA
(continues to tug on him)
BASHO
a door of grass
the resident changes for a time
a house of dolls
It bothers me that I sold the cottage to a man with daughters. Today they will set out the dolls in my rooms. Strange. Very strange.
(He stops to look directly at Sora.)
Do you think the third moon is too early to begin such a long trip? Too cold? All my friends think so. That's why they wept so bitterly when our boat reached the place of parting.
SORA
They were drunk and half-sick from river waves.
BASHO
spring departing
birds mourn and in the eyes
of fish are tears
(He turns and waves. Puts his hand above his eyes, looks long and realizes no one is waving back to him. He takes a few very tiny steps, stops again to adjust his backpack, hefts it as if it is too heavy for such an old man. He is feeling very sorry for himself.)
(As the two walk with large hiking movements that stay nearly in the same place from right to left side. When they reach the left corner of the curtain the lights dim)
Blackout
Scene Two
Setting During this blackout some excessive hanging packs are unhooked and tossed off stage.
The Screen has been moved so the left corner is set about two feet back from its place in the previous scene.
Lights only directly overhead lights.
Time The morning of May 18th, 1689
At Lights Up BASHO and SORA are at the far left corner of the curtain. They seem rested and acclimated to being on their trip. BASHO is leaning on his staff, staring off stage-right. SORA reads to him from a small paperback guide book.)
SORA
Moo-row-no-yash-ee-ma. The shrine is dedicated to the goddess (ahem) called "The Lady of the Flower-bearing Trees." Another shrine to her is at the foot of Mount Fuji. This goddess is said to have locked herself up in a burning cell to prove the nature of her divinely conceived son when her husband doubted her fidelity. As a result, her son was named "Born out of Fire" and the shrine name means "burning cell."
(SORA stops reading, looks down the page as if searching for more — wanting more information. Finding none, he stares rather dumbly in the direction BASHO is gazing.
BASHO
(Without changing his stance seems as if he is talking to himself.)
What does it mean?The first shrine we find on our journey is dedicated to a woman.
SORA
A hard-headed one, that's for sure. Didn't she die as a result?
BASHO
She died after giving birth.
SORA
Well, she got herself in that fix.
BASHO
Not alone.
SORA
Was the father really a god?
BASHO
Aren't they all?
(laughs)
Too bad we can't ask her.
SORA
Why do the locals worship her?
BASHO
(after a long silence)
Maybe because all births are holy and mysterious.
SORA
As are all beginnings.
(He reaches over and puts his arm on BASHO's shoulder.)
Let's take it as a blessing on the start of our journey.
BASHO
(taking a step away from the intimate moment)
It's the custom that poets who stop here write of rising smoke.
SORA
(raising an eyebrow)
Smoke?
BASHO
(continuing as if not interrupted)
and ORDINARILY (the word is stressed) people DO NOT eat fish.
SORA
(gives him a knowing look)
BASHO
...because they smell bad when burnt.
(The two seem to share and inside joke as they proceed. As they leave the left corner of the curtain, it is slowly moved back about two-three feet. The two proceed to the right corner of the curtain, turn as if making a switch back.)
Scene Three
Screen Just the same only the other end has been moved back creating a new angle.
Lights instead of lights dimming at the end of Scene Two they now simply become brighter with more spots a warmer glow as if the day is warmer.
Time Afternoon of May 20th, 1689.
SORA
(Staring at a sight)
In olden times, the name of this mountain was written as "ni-koh" using the Chinese characters for "two" and "wild', but when the Saint Kukai built a temple here, he changed the characters to "Nik-koh" meaning "sun" and "light". He must have foreseen what would happen a thousand years later.
(pauses)
BASHO
Now the honorable light of the Tokugawa rule illuminates the firmament, and its benefits reach into every corner so we all may live in peace.
SORA
(disdainfully)
Augh, cut out the political stuff, Basho. I am filled with such awe I hesitate to write a poem.
BASHO
(reciting)
how glorious
young green leaves
flash in the sun
(he takes off his jacket, or top kimono, and stuffs it in his pack)
SORA
(obviously in another mental space absently rubs his shorn head as he removes the knitted hat under his straw hat. He looks back off- stage right. He begins to recite)
with my head shorn
I come to Mount Black Hair
my day for changing to summer clothes
BASHO
(looks at Sora with disapproval)
SORA
(dropping his head)
It's not a very good poem, is it?
BASHO
It was well-linked with the idea of the contrast between your bald head and Black Hair Mountain and the addition of contrasting your "enlightened" head with the day we traditionally begin wearing lighter summer clothes but. . .
SORA
Two personal pronouns in one verse.
BASHO
Three.
(From around the curtain's left side comes the INNKEEPER. Super salesman type. Wearing power clothes of whatever style.)
INNKEEPER
Good day gentlemen. My name is Honest John and I am your renowned host AND spiritual guide as you enter the Home of the Holiest Shrines. You will be needing a room? We have the Deluxe Pilgrims' Unit , a separate cottage with housekeeping, in-room meals, a masseuse, hot tub and your personal astrology advisor meets with you
(at this point he looks the visitors up and down)
or there is the dormitory facility
(SORA and BASHO exchange looks of dismay).
If you don't mind raking up pine needles and sweeping the paths, you can have the grounds keeper's cabin. He quit three days ago.
(looks around the floor)
The place is a mess. . .
(Moving back a step from the INNKEEPER, SORA and BASHO put down their packs, arranging their things as if in a room where they will be staying for some time. The INNKEEPER "invades" this space as the two work around him and his invasive monologue.)
INNKEEPER
The jobs are easy and you'll still have lots of time to roam around to see the sights. This is a very scenic place. Very close, just up behind the local shrine is a waterfall. Behind it is a cave. In summer monks perform austerities by sitting naked in there behind the falls. It's a wonder they don't all die of chills and coughing.
BASHO
(striking a holy pose)
cloistered in a cave
the discipline for summer
watching water fall
SORA
The poem is full of you.
BASHO
But you will notice I avoided the use of a personal pronoun.
SORA
It doesn't make a difference.
BASHO
Oh, yes it does. It's the difference between poetry and personal narrative, drivel, doggerel.
INNKEEPER
(ignoring their conversation)
You must take care if you venture out on the grass moor. It is wider than it looks. Distances can fool you. You may think you can easily hike to a distant village but at nightfall you'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Your best bet is to stay at a farmer's house — the one with a daughter.
(laughs alone at his own joke)
(now BASHO and SORA give him their attention)
but he still had a long way to walk so he borrowed the farmer's horse, also. This guy has a regular racket out there, hiring out his goods to stranded tourists. No matter where the horse is taken, he knows his way home. The girl, too. Her name is Manifold.
SORA
That's a strange name.
(SORA is now giving the INNKEEPER all his attention as if wanting more information on the daughters of the region.)
INNKEEPER
Strange, but strangely beautiful. As are so many things in this region. Have you heard of the dog-shooting grounds?
(BASHO and SORA evidence disbelief)
Yes, it's true. The military invented the sport. So the archers could practice on live targets. Yeah, they'd keep these dogs out there, not give them any food for a couple days, if they were female, to make 'em hungry. If they had male dogs, all they needed was to let loose a hot bitch on the far side of the grounds. As those dogs raced across the flat moor, the arrows would sing out.
(He looks around to see that SORA and BASHO are appalled so he quickly adds)
Made soup out of 'em. Nothing was wasted.
(Now both SORA and BASHO look a bit sick so he quickly changes his subject.)
This area is famous for its archers. Yoichi came from here. You never heard of him? In 1183 he shot AND HIT a fan suspended from a boat. That was in the battle of Yashima. Made him famous all over the country. Yes, we've got lots to see here. There is the tomb of Lady Tamamo. You know her?
(By now SORA and BASHO are stretched out, ready to rest, if the INNKEEPER would shut up and let them alone.)
INNKEEPER
You know they say she was really a fox. Maybe just a foxy lady. Anyhow she was the emperor's favorite concubine. That is, until a priest blew her cover. She escaped and hid out here. She was one bitter woman. When she was going to die she wanted so bad that her anger live on that she turned herself into the Murder Stone. Yeah, really. Yet to this day, anything that goes near that rock dies. You can still go out there. You can hardly see the ground. So many dead insects and butterflies and bees pile up there. Awful place. A dark corner of the mountain.
You know the founder of the Shugen sect came from here? That was in the seventh or eighth century. Yeah, he traveled all over this place. Because of the marshy ground, he had special clogs made on real high platforms to keep his feet dry while he stood and preached.
BASHO
summer mountain
I pray to his high clogs
to begin my journey
SORA
(dryly)
An extra syllable and three personal pronouns.
BASHO
mountains of summer
bowing before the tall clogs
bless this journey?
INNKEEPER
(catching on to and invading SORA and BASHO's exchange)
(without waiting for an answer)
We used to have a priest. What was his name? Bacco, Becko, Bucco. Something like that. He lived back in the mountains. He used to save the charcoal from his night fire. He wrote poems all over a big rock. All his poems were written in charcoal on a rock. His whole life's work on a rock. But then it rained for a week.
(All are silent before this thought.)
His cabin is still there.
BASHO
(introspectively)
I'd like to go there. I would pin a poem on the wall.
even woodpeckers
do not damage this tiny hut
a summer grove
SORA
(seems too moved by Basho's verse to correct it. But then he rouses himself to say)
That's even better than my favorite. The one you wrote for the farmer who loaned his horse to you and then asked you for a verse. How does it go?
across the field
the horse pulls toward
the cuckoo
BASHO
(speaking to the INNKEEPER)
I'd like to see the willow where the famous tanka poet Saigyo wrote "spreading its shade over a crystal stream." Is that still. . .?
INNKEEPER
Yeah, over in Ashino. It's a long walk. There's only rice paddies around now. But those fields are full of girls. It's planting time and all the women in the district are out there. I can't even get anyone to cook or clean for me.
(This reminds him of his duties and without saying good-bye he barges off stage left.)
BASHO
(has his eyes closed)
one patch of a rice field
when it was planted I left
the willow tree
SORA
(sits up. Thinks about the poem a moment. They look at each other and laugh)
Blackout
Scene Four
Screen is moved to a new place at up stage right
Lights overhead only on the area just in front of the screen.
At Lights Up BASHO and SORA can be seen still in the position they were when Scene 2 ended. They are not lighted but they can be seen picking up their gear, putting on their packs. They slowly "hike" back to the screen, going to the left corner where they enter the lighted area.)
SORA
BASHO
My mind seems to have a certain balance and composure. I'm no longer victim of those shaking attacks.
SORA
BASHO
Not completely. I've very aware of the other poets who have come to this border. Their feelings of "crossing over" which they left in their poems –
this is with me.
SORA
I'm more aware of the cold. Seems autumn is here already.
BASHO
The many white flowers in the hedges along the path do feel like early snow.
SORA
(stopping to get out his jacket)
Wait a minute while I dig out my jacket.
BASHO
According to others' diaries, the ancients, when they passed through here, they got dressed up in their finest clothes.
(BASHO muses while SORA puts on his jacket. Then SORA writes down a poem in his notebook and then reads it.)
SORA
white blossoms
decorating my hair at the barrier
my gala garment
BASHO
Two pronouns and this constant interest in your hair, or the lack of it.
SORA
Well, I don't see you writing your required crossing-the-barrier poem.
(Silence as they slow step "hike" past the middle of the screen.)
SORA
Are we going to stop at Shadow Pond? The guidebook says. . .
BASHO
It reflects whatever it sees. With these gray skies I have enough gray skies. Forget the pond.
(BASHO walks with his head down. SORA keeps looking around in awe and wonder.)
SORA
BASHO
(squinting into the distance)
Are we near Sukagawa? I used to know a poet-guy there. Can't remember his name. Energetic old cuss. That's probably him. What's his name? Just like him to come charging up the mountain destroying our peace.
TOKYU
(comes bustling from the left edge of the curtain toward BASHO and SORA. SORA pulls away from BASHO as TOKYU is only interested in BASHO and cuts SORA out. But SORA is happy to leave BASHO in TOKYU's grasp. Much greeting is mimed with bowing and gestures of introduction.)
BASHO
Without incident.
TOKYU
Without incident? You mean nothing of note occurred? No mountain top experience? How tragic! What did you use as subject for your barrier crossing poem?
BASHO
(silent)
TOKYU
Don't tell me you didn't write one? The greatest teacher of linked verse poetry in the whole land goes through one of the most memorable places and felt NOTHING?
BASHO
(looks him directly in the eye to say distinctly in a monotone)
I was absorbed in the wonders of the surrounding countryside. . .
TOKYU
That alone should have inspired you to write MANY verses!
BASHO
. . .And the recollections of the ancient poets.
TOKYU
Oh yes, that. Sometimes I can't write either if I dwell on the glorious words from the past. But still the experience. The MOMENTS. The strangeness of standing at the exact point – the peak where two landscapes collide. There so close. . .
BASHO
(threatening and yet secretively)
Knock it off, will you? I'm an old man. Because I am an old man my legs get more tired. My feet are even older and they walked up AND down this damned mountain.
TOKYU
All you need to get you inspired again is the thrill of getting together with the poets of our region. That'll take your mind off of all this. I've arrangedfor them to meet at my house tonight. Surely by then you will have thought of a beginning stanza for our linked poem we hope to write with you. If we write less than three sets during your visit, I'll be very disappointed. Let's see. . . we'll have saki and sushi.
( he steps slightly ahead of BASHO and SORA.)
SORA
(runs up, taps BASHO on the shoulder and reads to him from his notebook.)
roots of elegance
on this trip to the far north
rice-planting songs
BASHO
(He looks at SORA with new friendship as he takes the book in his hands.)
Thanks. Thanks, pal.
Blackout
Scene Five
Screen is stage center behind the pines.
Lights Just one narrow overhead spot shines down on the floor at the right corner of the screen.
At Lights Up Both BASHO and SORA are sitting on the floor as if the light is a campfire. They drink from their canteens as they reminisce. BASHO has his notebook open on his knee.
BASHO
Yes, yes, here it is. What I wrote when I found the priest living alone under that huge ancient chestnut tree.
(He looks up from his book as he recalls in memory the experience.)
When I stood in front of that tree, I felt as if I were in the midst of the deep mountains where the old poet Saigyo had picked nuts. Ah. Here's what I wrote: The chestnut is a holy tree, for the Chinese ideograph for chestnut is "tree" placed directly below "west" the direction of the Holy Land Buddha came from. The ancient priests are said to have used chestnut limbs for walking sticks and the main support for houses.
men of this world
fail to find the flowers
nuts by the eaves
SORA
(quietly)
Were you thinking more of the tree or thepriest?
BASHO
(and he reads again)
In the hills were many scattered pools. There is a species of iris, very rare, so I went to look for it! I went from pool to pool. I asked every soul I met where I could find it. But strangely enough, no one had ever heard of it.
SORA
(after a pause)
BASHO
(continuing)
The next morning I went to the village famous for the stone on which they pattern cloth by rubbing fern leaves across its unusual design. I found the great stone in the middle of the village. I was led there by a child guide. But the stone was half-buried in the ground. The child said it used to be up on the mountain side but so many travelers came to see it and in so doing they trampled the farmers' crops so it was rolled down and its exquisite pattern hidden away.
picking up rice seedlings
hands move as in days of old
ferns of remembrance
SORA
(dryly)
The poem doesn't fit.
BASHO
Too bad. I like it.
(flips over several pages and finds a place to resume reading)
This was the site of the old warrior's house. I could not refrain from weeping. In a remote temple were the tombs of the Sato family. Again I wept bitterly as I remembered the two young wives, how they dressed up their frail bodies in armor after the death of their husbands.
SORA
(pulls up his legs, curls into a ball to reject BASHO's line of narrative.)
BASHO
I went into the temple for a drink of tea. Among the treasures were the sword of Lord Yoshitsune and the backpack of Benkei, which he had carried. . .
SORA
(sitting up as he becomes interested)
Benkei was always one of my heroes.
BASHO
. . .a priest more interested in military affairs than preaching.
SORA
Lord Yoshitsune had to beat him up in a fight before Benkei would be his companion.
BASHO
(as he says this, he juts out his foot to kick SORA on the sole of his boot. SORA returns a kick to his shoe but misses hitting BASHO's knee. BASHO grabs his knee howling in pain. SORA gets up to kneel by BASHO to see how he is hurt. BASHO grabs SORA —his pain was a ruse — and they begin to tussle. They roll into the darkness behind the tub of pine trees. Fighting sounds fade to sounds of a sexual encounter. Depending on the audience, the actors can determine how realistic this scene is portrayed.)
Lights dim to almost a blackout.
At Lights Up BASHO is sitting at the left side of the pines. He sits alone in a small beam of light that filters through the pines. SORA lies asleep with his head close to the left corner of the screen He is mostly in the dark.
BASHO
(writing)
backpack and sword
decorated in May
(pause)
with paper fish kites
(He turns a page and stares at it, then begins to write again.)
My heart leapt with joy when I finally saw the celebrated pine of Takekuma. It is exactly as described by ancient writers. Yet one poet wrote of his grief when the tree was cut down — a governor used it as a bridge piling. It must have been replanted, cut, planted again and now things are as they were a thousand years ago.
(He flips back to the front of his book, mumbling as he searches for a page.)
It is here somewhere. I know Kyohaku wrote a poem for me just before we left. What was it he said? Here. Here it is.
Takekuma's pine
at least let the master see
a late-blooming cherry
(pauses)
(Under Kyohaku's poem he writes one)
since the cherry blossoms
I’ve waited three months to see
the twin-trunk pine
Blackout
Scene Six
Screen is now center stage in front of the pines.
Light middle section overhead spots and some greenish-hued lights from other positions.
At Lights Up BASHO and SORA are at the far right corner of the screen. SORA is slightly behind BASHO as they "hike." SORA is reverently holding a sandal in each hand (like the Teva or flip-flops or straw sandals?) BASHO has a pair but his are casually hanging from a crook of his finger.)
SORA
Look at that. The straps are the exact color of those iris from the Boys' Festival. How super was that celebration! Good we were in this place and at this time. And then to find an artist to join us. What luck!
BASHO
It's sure we would have missed many sights without him. But I could have done with a few less flower viewings.
iris leaves
I tie them to my feet
as sandal cords
SORA
We WERE knee-deep in flowers most of the time.
BASHO
We even looked at flowers that won't bloom until autumn!
SORA
But the white rhododendrons WERE impressive.
BASHO
I liked that line he said: The darkest spot on earth is a subject for poetry because of its DEWINESS.
SORA
One poet says his master needs an umbrella to protect him when he enters it. That's pretty good.
BASHO
(looking around as if lost)
I think we need a map more than an umbrella. Do you have those drawings he made for you to explain the way?
SORA
(pulls out a roll of paper from his pack. The two kneel down to hold the edges against the wind.)
Here is where the sedges grow and they make those mats. Nothing much to see there.
BASHO
SORA
BASHO
When I stand in front of those old monuments which have withstood, stood with, so much passing time, I feel myself to be in the living memory of the ancients and I forget how hard this traveling is. . .
SORA
It's quite a hike out of the way to get there. Think you can forgo this one old stone?
BASHO
(running his finger over the map)
Anyhow, here is an even bigger and older one — Rock-in-the-Offing.
SORA
No one uses the word "offing" anymore. It's river's mouth. He marked it as something special. Here the temple has many tombstones. More stones for you!
Lights put all the white lights possible on the very middle of the screen. SORA and BASHO are bowed as they hike through it. Lights dim as they approach the left edge of the screen.
(Around the corner of the screen sits a blind man with a stringed instrument on his lap.)
A bell tolls.
BASHO
What a depressing sound! I never heard a curfew bell so mournful.
SORA
If the temple bell sounds that sorrowful, I hate to think what visiting the cemetery will do to our spirits. Let's hurry on into town.
BASHO
SORA
BASHO
You can hear the voices of the fishermen down on the rocks. Strange, how clearly their voices carry up here. They live such a precarious life and yet here on the hill is where their voices really ARE. They are down there and their voices have separated themselves to come to this place. Is it now and forever? After we are gone, will we still be here? As voices?
(Both stand staring out over the audience.)
SORA
Maybe everything does happen at once. The ancients are here again. We are here. And the people after us are also here, seeing us AND the ancients.
BASHO
Even the people in the tombs can never go away. We just keep gathering together.
SORA
MINSTREL
( starts strumming very softly.)
BASHO
Another blessed act. Think it is true that every vibration continues to vibrate —just quieter and quieter through the centuries?
SORA
If it's not the same sound that continues to vibrate, it is surely repeated periodically.
MINSTREL
(the strumming becomes a tune)
SORA
. . . by someone new, like repeating a song. Do you hear music? Now? Are we drunk already?
(With their tiny stepping hiking they arrive around the corner where they stop before a blind man playing a guitar? ukulele? biwa? lute? mouth harp if nothing else.)
MINSTREL
Good evening gentlemen. There are just two of you, right? You see, I can't see but I've listened to your bodies walk the mountain's side. If you've something to share in those canteens that clink at your sides, we can widen this moment with the space of our souls and my music.
(SORA and BASHO look at each other. BASHO's hand goes to the sore place under his pack. They swing their packs down from theirbacks as the MINSTREL begins singing a song (of his choice). Half-way through it SORA gets restless. He and BASHO make signs that they find it less than good. BASHO mimes they must be kind with a dampening sign of his hand. Finally SORA pulls out the map again and begins to study it. When MINSTREL finishes his song, SORA claps as enthusiastically as BASHO does, but hegoes right back to his map.)
BASHO
Marvelous. Rarely do I get to sit it so close to the musician. That too, is an experience.
MINSTREL
Glad you liked my song. It is one of the old Dramatic Narratives of the Far North.
SORA
(absently)
Anything old thrills Basho. Rustic flavors of the past. . .
MINSTREL
(strums cautiously)
And you, young man, How does my song sit with you?
BASHO
He will appreciate it more when it finally catches up with him. Far down the trail — in a day or two. Out of nowhere he will hear it for the first time.
(He gives SORA a fond look to take the sting out of this statement.)
MINSTREL
SORA
No, we just want to get a boat to sail to the islands.
MINSTREL
Before you get in the boat, you'd better visit the shrine the new governor built.
BASHO
MINSTREL
Yep, we've had it, too, since the year one hundred and one thousand and eighty-seven. Here ended the Golden Age. Right here. I've gotta song about the last fight among the Fujiwara brothers. Wanna hear it?
SORA
MINSTREL
Talk needs a drink.
SORA
(hands him the open canteen, gives BASHO a warning look as the MINSTREL drinks long and deep.)
MINSTREL
Much praise has already been give to the wonders of the Matsushima islands. Yet if further praise is possible, I would like to say that here’s the most beautiful spot in the whole country.
SORA
MINSTREL
Seen 'em? I've sailed 'em! I wasn't always blind. Just since the famine. The famine took my eyes.
SORA
(passes him the canteen again. BASHO opens a food appropriate to the situation: nuts, chips, trail mix. MINSTREL notices these sounds and edges closer to the food by laying aside his instrument.)
MINSTREL
Strange. When I had my eyes, I always used to come up here when our ship was in port. Loved to look out across the bay. There by south-east, where the bay opens to the sea, you'd think each wave fills the bay to the brim. Always fascinated me.
(MINSTREL reaches for more food and while he fills his mouth and chews noisily)
SORA
(looking over the audience)
Well, this scene is certainly not inferior to Lake Dotei or Lake Seiko.
MINSTREL
(with his mouth full)
SORA
(abashedly)
No, but I've read a lot about it.
MINSTREL
Nothing. Nothing at all to these.
BASHO
Tall islands point to the sky. Level ones prostrate themselves before surges of water.
MINSTREL
Yeah, I used to think they looked exactly like parents caressing their children.
BASHO
( reaches out and takes SORA's hand)
MINSTREL
(BASHO and SORA remember pines)
Their branches are curved by the wind — into the most unusual forms.
(BASHO and SORA are groping each other)
I'd see the tiny cottages out there, with smoke curling up out of them. I wondered what kind of people they must be.
(the groping between the two intensifies as they move so their backs are to the audience)
Approaching always gave me a strange sense of yearning. In the midst of roaring wind and driving clouds, I felt myself to be in a world totally different. When I lay down to sleep in the breeze of clouds, I experience a strange pleasure.
(MINSTREL reaches for his instrument to croon above any noises BASHO and SORA are making)
BASHO
many islands
broken into pieces
the summer sea
Scene Seven
Screen placed at an angle from up stage center to center stage center right.
Lights are up but softened with gentle colors — as in memories.
At Lights Up BASHO and SORA are hidden behind the screen. They will come around the corner to proceed to the front in their hiking mode.
Time June 20th
SORA
(out of sight around the corner of the screen)
Fifty miles in two days is pretty good for us.
BASHO
(also out of sight but moving forward)
I've read of this place so much, I feel like I've been here before.
SORA
(comes into view, looks back at BASHO who is still hidden)
BASHO
(now in the view of the audience, pointing)
SORA
Basho, Basho. Just the ruins of the great gates. There's nothing here but rice paddies.
BASHO
No, no. Mount Kinkei is still the same. There's the river cutting across the plain. There's the house of Lord Yasuhira, just north of the barrier gate. See how vital that was? To protect the entrance from the barbarian invaders from the north?
SORA
Ruins and grass.
BASHO
No, no. Many a feat of chivalrous valor was repeated here.
SORA
The short span of three generations.
BASHO
(He removes his hat)
SORA
As the Chinese poet, Tu Fu wrote:
a country may fall
but mountains and rivers
spring forth
on a ruined castle,
there are the grasses
BASHO
summer grass
the only remains of warriors'
dreams
(In frustration and the beginning of tears, he flings has hat on the ground, sinks down on it, bows his head and weeps.)
SORA
(stands alone letting BASHO get his feelings cared for.)
Thunder
Lights only dim
(SORA helps BASHO rise and they move to mid-screen where they stop. SORA knocks on the screen as if it is a door.)
INNKEEPER II
(stands on the other side of the screen. He has a very rough voice. There is no light on him and we never see him.)
SORA
INNKEEPER
Go away. No one is here.
SORA
Yes you are.
(supporting BASHO)
We need a shelter from this rain and the night.
INNKEEPER
SORA
We are travelers —poets — sightseers.
INNKEEPER
SORA
Not much. But we can pay the price of lodging here. We will pay you in advance. Please let us in before we get any wetter.
(BASHO and SORA huddle up against the screen as rain sounds continue and continue and continue.)
Lights dim and brighten a bit, dim and brighten, dim and barely brighten.
BASHO
Three days. Three days we we've been holed up in here at Pisswater Barrier.
SORA
Each day we have paid in advance.
BASHO
fleas and lice
now a horse pisses
(rain sounds get louder)
by my pillow
INNKEEPER
(pause as if listening to their answer)
(laughs coarsely)
You know what mountains are between here and there? The road is a single rut. I doubt you could find it. It is so dark and sinister out there, black soot falls from the clouds!
(BASHO and SORA confer)
BASHO
It must be possible to get across.
INNKEEPER
Not without a guide.
BASHO
And you just happen to know of one.
INNKEEPER
He's a strapping of a boy.
BASHO
(muttering)
He wouldn't be — your son.
(SORA and BASHO hike to the corner where LIGHTS have a pool of clear white light on just the end of the curtain.)
SORA
(looking over his shoulder)
Man, am I glad to get rid of him! He was one big and scary kid.
BASHO
But he got us through it. And as he said, this was his first trip and nothing bad happened.
SORA
BASHO
SORA
You are trying to make light of it, but I still feel uneasy.
BASHO
Wait until you meet Seifu. He is a poet-merchant, or merchant-poet. He lives, I think, in this town.
SORA
BASHO
In the capitol. We studied together. If we can find his house, I am sure we can stay with him.
(looking around to read a sign)
SORA
The land is full of temples and every one of them is "famous" for something. My feet refuse to walk to another one.
BASHO
(pointing off stage left)
It is only seven miles out of the way.
SORA
No.
BASHO
Then you stay here while I make this side trip.
SORA
BASHO
SORA
Don't believe it. I just pretended so you wouldn't be ashamed of your fears.
BASHO
Don't give me that kind of lip.
SORA
( takes off his pack, sits down and makes himself comfortable.)
BASHO
So that's your decision. I'll be back here sometime tomorrow — if all goes well. (BASHO walks off stage left.)
(SORA pretends to sleep, gets out a book, can't read, doesn't like the taste in his canteen, stares at the audience as if he hates every person there.)
Lightsdim and brighten into the next day.
At Lights Up BASHO enters from stage left. He is quiet and full of introspection. SORA bounces up with joy when he sees him. SORA runs to him, helps him off with his pack, settles him down, opens the canteen for him, picks an (imaginary) twig off his clothes, seats himself at BASHO's feet like an eager child.
SORA
BASHO
(still enthralled finds it hard to pull himself into SORA's mood and question but when he looks at SORA's eager face he softens a bit and begins to speak but he is obviously still within his experience. )
When I reached it, the late afternoon sun was still lingering over the scene.
Lights warm in color.
BASHO
After arranging to stay with the priests. . .
SORA
(makes a wry face)
BASHO
. . . at the foot of the mountain, I climbed to the temple situated near the summit. The whole mountain was made of massive rocks jumbled together, covered with age-old pines and oaks. The stony ground itself bore the color of eternity, paved with velvety moss. The doors of the temple were firmly barred. . .
SORA
BASHO
(ignoring him)
. . . there was not a sound to be heard. I moved about on my hands and knees, going from rock to rock, bowing reverently at each shrine. I felt the purifying power of this holy environment pervade my whole being.
such stillness
piercing the rock
the cicada's voice
SORA
Are you sure that’s what you want to say? Isn't that a metaphor? The cry penetrates the rocks?
BASHO
SORA
Well, I'll be damned. I should have known you wouldn't stoop to lyrical poetry!
Blackout
Scene Eight
Screen is laid down flat on the floor directly in front of the pines — down stage center. Yes the handles and seats stick up but the curtain is supposed to be a river so it should be bunched up and lumpy looking.
At Lights Up The two men are sitting in a "boat" which consists of SORA's backpack laid flat, SORA seated cross-legged, BASHO seated with his back pack projecting in front of him. Both are facing the audience. When they talk, SORA leans forward to BASHO's shoulder and BASHO turns his head sideways to indicate when he is directly speaking to SORA. When BASHO speaks to himself his words go straight forward so SORA doesn't "hear" him.
SORA
Jizo! What a wild river!Still, it sure beats walkin'!
BASHO
(uneasy and looking over the edge into the water)
My souls — spelled with a U — prefer the good earth.
SORA
Think pleasant thoughts.
BASHO
summer rains
quickly gathered
Mogami River
SORA
BASHO
(pointing up to the left)
are the Go Stones. Don't the stones look like counters on a board? And those must be
(pointing straight ahead)
Peregrine Falcon Rapids.
(Both men jiggle and sway as if their boat is taking the rapids. They hang on to the "sides".)
SORA
(as they hit calmer water)
BASHO
In olden days farmers used it to transport their rice to the market of Sakata.
SORA
(bailing water)
BASHO
SORA
(continues to bail and grumble to himself.)
BASHO
(relaxes and falls into reverie. Finally speaks.)
I loved how that odd guy said it. "The old seed of linked verse, once strewn here by scattering wind, had taken root, still bearing its own flowers each year and thus, softening the mind of the rough villagers like the clear note of a reed pipe." (he muses)
Too bad they had no one to guide them through, as the guy said, "the forest of error."
(he re-crosses his legs)
Oh, well, maybe the booklet of linked verse we composed together will be of help to them and those who come after.
(he smiles satisfied with himself)
(pointing up to the right as he turns to speak to SORA)
There is the Cascade of Silver Threads.
SORA
I hope they tie this boat together.
(peering over the edge)
The river cannot hold much more water.
Blackout
Scene Nine
Screen is now draped over the inclined riser. The folds are stretched out so the surface is relatively smooth -- at least in the middle. If the seats and handles stick up, keep these parts to the right, out of the action.
Lights come from directly above. They should be a bit bluish to look like snow light. The pines are well-lighted so they are a part of this scene.
At Lights Up SORA and BASHO enter from behind the pines. The PRIEST comes from stage wing left and crosses in front of the "mountain" to meet SORA and BASHO at the right front edge.
BASHO
(bowing)
PRIEST
Yes, welcome to Mount Haguro. Our mutual friend Sakichi, or do you use his poet-name — Rogan?, told me a famous author was coming our way. We welcome you to abide in our south annex, it is our most commodious.
(BASHO and SORA bow to him. PRIEST barely nods and then changes his mind and makes a deeper bow.)
PRIEST
I trust, when you have rested, we can write some linked verse together.
BASHO
(bows again)
And my first verse shall be:
the scent of wind
from the south not far from
the Mogami River
(pause, as both men look at him wondering if he actually wants to say that)
BASHO
Uh. Oh. Maybe. . .
admirable
snow gives its scent to
the south valley
(silence)
BASHO
Orrr.
admirable
making the snow fragrant
sound of the wind
(silence)
BASHO
admirable
making the snow go around
the wind’s sound
PRIEST
(takes BASHO's arm and points to the center of the incline on the floor)
This is Gongen Shrine. The founder was a priest call Nohjo. He was the third son of the Emperor Sushun. No one knows when he lived but the shrine IS mentioned in the ancient writings.
(getting into the role of tourist guide)
The mountain is called Hugaro because according to a local history book, quantities of feathers were sent from here each year to the emperor.This shrine is counted as one of the three most sacred shrines of the north, with the others being Mount Gassen and Mount Yudono.
SORA
(is not listening. He has wondered away and is watching "people" who are tourists coming to the shrine, looking them up and down, some with approval, some he finds comical and mimics them. This is his big mime scene and he takes over, gets the best lighting. The priest's monologue is mostly a drone to his actions.)
PRIEST
There is, you know, a sister shrine just outside the capitol. But it is HERE the Doctrine of Absolute Meditation as is preached by the Tendai sect, shines forth like the clear beams of the moon, amid the Laws of the Spiritual Freedom and Enlightenment which illuminate as lamps in the utter darkness.
(pointing toward the audience)
There are the hundreds of houses where the priests practice religious rites with absolute severity.
BASHO
(casts a quick glance of disapproval in SORA's direction. He stops for an instant, but as soon as BASHO's attention swings back to the priest, he continues.)
PRIEST
(as if preaching)
Indeed the whole mountain is filled with miraculous inspirations and sacred awe. Its glory will never perish as long a man continues to live on earth.
(he motions to SORA and BASHO. PRIEST hangs a paper necklace on each and places a hood of white cloth on their heads.)
BASHO & SORA
(Take off their packs and lay them down on the lower right edge of the incline, they set off up the center of the incline.)
PRIEST
(blesses them with signs of benediction.)
SORA & BASHO
(walk "switch backs" across the incline. This should look like a hard climb. They get out of breath, are cold, slip on ice, can barely drag themselves up right to the top right edge.)
Lights dim for sunset. To their right a single, tight spot moves as moonrise.
BASHO
(pointing out the circle of light)
The moon. How perfect.
SORA
(deeply moved is silent as he, too, gazes at the moon)
Lights come up brighter.
SORA & BASHO
(walk "down" and slightly to the right so they are about in the middle of the incline.)
BASHO
He must have chosen this spot for his smithy because he knew a certain mysterious power was in the water of this stream.
SORA
BASHO
The story of Kanshoh and Bakuya is not out of place here, for it teaches us that no matter where your interest lies, you will not be able to accomplish anything unless you bring your deepest devotion to it.
SORA
They were husband and wife.
BASHO & SORA
(now walk to the left top corner, stare long at the back of the stage with their backs to the audience. They put their arms on each other's shoulders as they whisper together, nod in agreement. As hey turn around and prepare to descend...)
BASHO
Remember the priest said we should never reveal what we saw.
SORA
(seriously)
We'll consider it our secret!
BASHO
But we should compose some poems on the experience.
SORA
(squats down at the lower left edge of the incline)
BASHO
(looks to the upper right corner of the incline)
coolness
a crescent moon brushed by
Black Feather Mountain
(now he points to the center top of the incline)
cloud peaks
how many have crumbled
on the mountain of the moon
(now he drops his head after a furtive motion to point to upper left corner of the incline)
forbidden to reveal
how sleeves are wetted
on Bath Room Mountain
SORA
Bath Mountain
pilgrims' coins strewn on the path
my tears
BASHO
Yes, I, too, had a strange feeling seeing that sight.
SORA
I wonder why they have that custom of throwing away all of one's coins before arriving at the most sacred shrine?
BASHO
Because we are all equal before the mysteries. No one is richer or poorer.
SORA
But we are not all equal. One of us is a genius.
Blackout
Scene Ten
Screen has now been righted and is set edge-wise (actually facing stage left) to the audience just to the left of the incline so there is room for action on both sides.
Lights are spotted on both sides of the curtain as if shining into two rooms with the curtain the wall between them.
At Lights Up SORA and BASHO walk slowly back to the right incline bottom corner where they left their packs. They carry them over to the middle of the curtain on its left side. The two men lie down with their heads on their packs. As they settle down SORA is very much in pain from a stomach ache.)
PROSTITUTES I & II
(During this time two women come in from stage left and quietly sit on the floor side by side, facing the audience.)
BASHO
I sure hope you feel better tomorrow. Those herbs that quack gave you looked positively poisonous.
SORA
Don't remind me.
(he groans and rolls into a fetal position.)
BASHO
(sits closest to the curtain. He remains awake listening to the two women talking.)
Lights on the left side of the curtain fade to a glow.
PROSTITUTE I
Whatta joker. He brings us to this goddess-forsaken place. Then he high-tails it off in the otherdirection. Men!
PROSTITUTE II
I dunno know. For me, I'm glad to be rid of him. Now we can do what we want to!
PROSTITUTE I
I wanna get home. And every day we eat, we get farther away.
PROSTITUTE II
Don't be so dramatic. What money we don't have, we can — between the two of us —
(she laughs)
earn it.
PROSTITUTE I
But you gotta admit our being female and alone on the road... We could be giving it away for free.
PROSTITUTE II
And we could get hurt. We've gotta stick together.
PROSTITUTE I
Yeah.
(she repairs her make-up)
SORA
(groans in his sleep)
PROSTITUTE I
PROSTITUTE II
Sh! sound like one of those two guys next door.
PROSTITUTE I
PROSTITUTE II
(she pronounces it wrong).
They shave their heads and act — kinda — like priests so no one robs 'em.
PROSTITUTE I
(pulling her hair back off her face with both hands as she looks into her mirror)
Maybe we should try that trick.
PROSTITUTE II
That could cut your income to zero instantly.
PROSTITUTE I
Oh, I don't know. Edgy, you know.
PROSTITUTE II
Off of it. But what if they'd let us tag along with them? They could be our tickets home — safe and sound.
PROSTITUTE I
Two priests with two prostitutes. That should get everyone's attention. We might as well join the circus.
PROSTITUTE II
They are po-ets, really. Not really priests. They might even learn to enjoy our company.
PROSTITUTE I
The young one looks sick. I don't wanna play nursie all the way back to Niigata.
PROSTITUTE II
PROSTITUTE I
Do we ever get a choice? I just wanna get home. My hair needs washing. I'm sick of these same clothes. Jizo, this place is the pits at night.
PROSTITUTE II
Try to get some sleep. I have a plan for tomorrow.
(The two women lie down with their feet also to the audience.)
Lights dim and lighten to early morning.
BASHO, SORA & PROSTITUTE I & II
(rise, gather up their things, stretch, yawn and move to meet at the down stage corner of the screen. SORA is still not feeling well.)
PROSTITUTE I
(approaches BASHO acting shy and unsure — penitent)
SORA and BASHO
(turn, seem surprised she is talking to them)
PROSTITUTE I
Sirs, we are forlorn travelers, complete strangers to this road. Will you be kind enough, at least, to let us follow you?
BASHO
(looks grim)
PROSTITUTE I
If you are a priest, as your black robe tells us, have mercy upon us and help us to learn the great love of Buddha (the Savior if the play is not set in Japan).
BASHO
(bows to the women. SORA looks at him as if he has lost his mind)
I am greatly touched by your words. . .
PROSTITUTE I & II
(smile and step or lean closer to him)
BASHO
. . . but we have so many places to stop at on the way that we cannot help you.
PROSTITUTE II
(starts to gesture "oh we will stay out of your way" by pulling her folded hands to her chest)
BASHO
Go as other travelers go. If you trust in Buddha, you will never lack his divine protection.
(The women start to weep and cling to one another)
BASHO
(steps away from the scene as he begins to think)
SORA
(starts to go to them with his comfort.)
BASHO
under one roof
prostitutes and I slept
the moon and clover
(he turns to SORA to demand sharply)
Did you get that written down? It's time we be making tracks if we want to see the wisteria at Nagi.
PROSTITUTE I & II
(The two women ease to the left off-stage and fade away)
SORA
(hastily writing down BASHO's poem. His question is very querulous)
See wisteria now? In early autumn? They bloom in spring.
(watching BASHO's detached demeanor)
At least they did where I grew up.
(SORA always stands as if his stomach still hurts. When he can, he holds his hand over it.)
BASHO
I want to see what color they are NOW.
(walking a bit then pausing to recite)
sweet smelling rice paddy
coming from the right
the Angry Sea
SORA
Basho, I really don't feel well at all. Your being harsh with me makes me feel even worse.
BASHO
It's because you are too soft. In the next city I know of a poet. I am sure he will let us stay at his house. There will be no prostitutes to steal your heart — or stomach.
SORA
I don't want to argue with you. I just don't think I can go on. I'll can turn off here to go to a relative who lives in Nagashima.
(he writes a farewell poem reading slowly as he writes)
now walking alone
if I fall let me die
in the bush clover
(the last words he spits out at BASHO reminding him of his rejection of the women).
BASHO
(looking him belligerently in the eye, writes without looking at his notebook)
from this day on
dew will erase the writing
on my hat
SORA
(stumbles off toward stage right leaving BASHO alone in a rather unlighted portion of the stage. Just before going into the wings, SORA pauses, writes a poem, and flings it on the floor so it lands half-way between up- and down-stage, in the left third of the stage.)
BASHO
(walks much more slowly over the same area making switch backs on one third of the stage until he arrives at the point where SORA's poem lies. He picks it up and reads SORA's poem out loud.)
BASHO
all night long
listening to the autumn wind
the lonely hills
(speaks gently)
So Sora and I are separated by the distance of a single night. But it is the same as being apart a thousand miles. I, too, hear the wind and the chatter of priests.
BASHO
(As he starts walking right across the middle of the stage — in thedirection of the pines a voice comes from off-stage right.)
VOICE
Hey, you. poet, priest, whatever. You know you are supposed to leave a gift as thanks for our hospitality. Are you sneaking off with your shoes still untied?
BASHO
(yanks out his notebook, scribbles as he speaks)
sweeping the garden
I leave in the temple
scattered willow leaves
(he looks around as if the place is ill-kept, rips his poem out of the notebook and flings it to the ground so it lands about where SORA's was.)
BASHO
(walks all over this half of the nearly darkened stage. He mimes meeting others, walks arm in arm with them, just a second, mimes farewell, meets another. He wanders back and forth. At one point he writes a poems and speaks...)
writing something
then tearing the fan apart
I miss someone
(As BASHO continues to stumble/ walk he writes on papers, but doesn't even read them. He just drops them in a paper trail.
Screen has in this time been moved so it is parallel with the incline and close to the back wall up stage center left. The black incline will cut off the sight of BASHO's feet and legs, but that is the right effect — so he is detached from the ground as he almost floats as he very slowly moves from right to left in front of the curtain-screen.
Lights are high on the curtain so the incline is unlit and invisible.
(While BASHO makes this slow walk across the curtain area, bowed with weariness and sick of himself, a VOICE from behind the curtain (or off-stage) calls out in a singing song, the names of the towns and the sights he is passing.)
VOICE
Yo-she-zah-key
The pine at She-go-she
Mahts-oh-kah
and the Ten-rue-you-gee
Kahn-nah-zah-wah
Foo-koo-ee
Tsir-rue-gah
Mount She-ran-ne
MOUNT Heen-nah
The bridge of As-sah-moo-zoo
The famous reeds at Tah-mah-ee
Ooo-goo-ee-sue
And the pass at You-noh
The castle of Hi-oo-chee
My-oh-gin OF Key-ee
Ten-yah ON Soom-mo Beach
The Colored Beach. . .
BASHO
It was there I stopped to pick up the tiny pink shells. I couldn't stop myself from thinking — and writing:
between the waves
small shells mingle with
petals of bush clover
VOICE
Rots-sue
AT Meen-noh
Horseback Into The City Of Oh-gah-key
SORA
(entering from wings left.)
Lights flare full up so the whole stage is strongly lighted.
BASHO
(They greet each other warmly.)
(Everyone who has anything to do with the production, stage hands, costumers, absolutely every one, dressed just as they are for their jobs, all come on stage pulling a table of food and drinks and for about two minutes there is a party. People may shout out their own haiku.)
Screen As the party starts the two persons who have handled this, take the screen around the back edge of the stage over to the down stage right where they again lay it down so the top of the upper left corner of it points to the center stage and the bottom is already partly off-stage. The curtain should be looped over the top railing (now parallel to the floor, so this corner forms the prow of a small boat. When they are done, they join the party.
SORA and BASHO
quietly gather up their things and just as they get to the down stage right edge of the party, someone notices them leaving and "speaks" to them unheard.)
BASHO
Yes, I am still tired even though it is the sixth day of the Ninth moon. But we want to see the dedication of the new shrine at Ise. Sora tells me, it is very fine. And it only happens every 21 years. Then we shall see "The Wedded Rocks!”
BASHO & SORA
step toward the laid-on-the-floor curtain boat. The party-goers have now gathered into a knot before them. As SORA and BASHOstep into the boat, SORA goes first and kneels to steady the boat and hold on to the dock as BASHO steps in holding SORA's hand as railing, the crowd quiets as he turns to read his last poem. It is up to the actors if they want to continue holding hands as BASHO reads)
BASHO
a clam
torn from its shell
parting in autumn
(He gestures broadly to not only the party people, but to the audience as well.)
CURTAIN