Come along now, and take care you don't stumble.
They continue to the stage proper.
Sagobei (sadly): When I asked at the watchman's shack back there just now, he told me that they would be leading him by at any moment. I have not seen him since he went to prison. I expect he has lost weight. Where will he go from here? I thought of giving him some money so that he could at least put his affairs in order. But I have been unable to do so. There has been no word from my son whom I sent off to try and raise some money. So I am certain he has failed. Ah! It seems there is no money to be had in the world.
KyŌgetsu (eagerly): Here, Sagobei, I don't have much, but if you want coppers, I have some temple offerings with me.
From under the collar of his gown he withdraws some money wrapped in paper.
Sagobei: Oh, no, no. I do not need anything now. Keep it and don't lose it. Well, now, they certainly ought to be leading him by soon.
He looks down the runway.
Sagobei (excitedly): Speak of a person and there is his shadow, they say. Look, look, over there.
KyŌgetsu: Is Seishin coming?
Sagobei: Yes, he is. We might get rebuked if we get in the way. Let's make ourselves inconspicuous.
The two conceal themselves in the back of the watchman's shack at stage right. From offstage come the sound of a drum beating as at the hourly tattoo, and music in the style of Buddhist liturgies. Two footmen in iris-patterned skirts and carrying poles about six feet in length lead the procession up the runway. They are followed by Seishin, with a month's growth of hair on his normally shaven head. He is dressed in a light-blue gown, and is bound with a rope held by two policemen wearing short black robes. He is followed by Terasawa TŌjŪrŌ, an official. His jacket is split in the back for his two swords, and he is attended by two lackeys carrying a round campaign hat and a camp stool. They come straight to the main stage where the policemen lay out a straw mat at stage center.
Policemen (gruffly): Sit down!
Seishin squats on the mat. His captors stand by at the rear. Terasawa seats himself on the camp stool at stage left.
TŌjŪrŌ (gravely): Seishin, disciple to Kyōzen of Paradise Temple!
Seishin: Aye!
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: It was most reprehensible of you, a monk, to have become involved with the prostitute named Izayoi employed at the Ōgiya in the post town of Ōiso, and to have recklessly spent gold and silver on wine and sensual pleasures. You ought to have been punished, but on exceptional clemency, you are hereby banished from the valleys and the seven counties of Kamakura.
Seishin: Aye!
TŌjŪrŌ: Accept your sentence with gratitude!
Seishin (humbly): I was told that when an only son takes the tonsure, nine generations of his family are born in heaven. I shaved off my hair in order to pray for the repose of the souls of my parents, and under the tutelage of my master Kyōzen, prayed diligently day and night for the past twenty-five years. But I was still unable to free myself from the wheel of transmigration in this world, strayed into carnal ways, and now receive sentence from on high. From this moment on I will revert to my original pure heart, for my heart has awakened to the truth for the first time. For the mercy by which a heavy sentence has been commuted to an order of exile, I am extremely grateful.
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: Untie him.
Policemen: Aye!
They free Seishin.
TŌjŪrŌ (gently): Now, then, that completes my official business. I received instructions from old Kyōzen at Paradise Temple in reading Buddhist texts by rote. I am therefore as good as a fellow disciple of yours, and I do not consider you a stranger. But the facts are that a thief entered Paradise Temple a while back, stole the 3000 gold pieces offered to the temple by Lord Yoritomo, and we do not know the whereabouts of this thief. Suspicion fell upon you, and we once interrogated you. But your protestations of innocence held up, and you are being exiled specifically on the crime of having broken your vow of chastity. Your old master always praised you for your talents and intelligence. His teachings of twenty-five years have come to nothing. He must be sorely disappointed. Since you are still young, mend your ways, train yourself further, and wipe away this disgrace to your old teacher. Unless you do this, you will not be called a true priest.
Seishin (touched): I am grateful to you for your kind advice. For the present I will quit this locality. To regain my status as priest I will cheerfully reside in any rude temple and undergo training. Then I will see you again.
TŌjŪrŌ: Then I will petition on high for the commutation of your sentence of exile from Kamakura, and we will happily meet again.
Seishin: Until then, may you be in good health.
TŌjŪrŌ: I hope you will concentrate on your training.
Seishin: Thank you.
TŌjŪrŌ: As my official duties are now done with, I will report to my superiors about this matter.
He rises.
Seishin: Goodbye, Terasawa.
TŌjŪrŌ: Seishin, you must not linger.
Seishin: Aye!
He bows.
TŌjŪrŌ: Attendants, come!
The hour-drum tattoo is played, and TŌjŪrŌ leads his entourage down the runway. There is a commotion, and Sagobei and KyŌgetsu run in from stage right.
Sagobei (joyfully): Seishin, you are alive and well!
Sagobei and KyŌgetsu: Our felicitations!
They embrace Seishin.
Seishin: Oh! You surprised me. You are Izayoi's father and KyŌgetsu the acolyte. I am grateful to you for coming to see me.
Melancholy music is played offstage. Seishin looks at the two with a happy expression. Sagobei, looking at Seishin's haggard form, weeps, wiping away the tears with a towel.
Sagobei (weeping): Ah! You have become so thin in the short time that you were away in prison. They have reason to call prison a hell on earth. The more I think about it the more pity I feel for you. It is my daughter who is wholly responsible for your present situation. I know very well that love is beyond our control, but the reason for your exile is Izayoi. This I cannot atone for. Please forgive me.
He presses his hands together in supplication.
Seishin (embarrassed): Ah! When you tell me that, I am out of countenance before you. What blame is there on Izayoi? I suffered the humiliation of arrest only because I gave in to passions forbidden to a priest. I have nobody to blame. This was all due to the inclinations of this stupid priest. Truly, this is the punishment of the Buddha. On no account must you trouble your heart about it.
Sagobei: But to become like this—a shadow of your former self. . . .
Seishin:
