“Okuni and Gohei”
Characters
- Okuni. The widow of a samurai.
- Gohei. A retainer of Okuni’s husband.
- Ikeda Tomonojo. A samurai of the same clan as Okuni’s husband.
Time
The Tokugawa-shogunate age.
Place
The wilderness of Nasuno, Shimodzuke Province.
A lonely Autumn evening on the wild wide plain and wilderness of Nasuno.
A pine-tree avenue from right to left across the stage.
Okuni and her retainer in traveling-dress, are resting at the foot of a pine-tree. The mistress, Okuni, is the widow of a samurai of one of the Western clans. The retainer, a follower called Gohei.
- Gohei.—My lady, how do you feel? … Can’t you start again by and by?
- Okuni.—Yes, but I still feel very tired.
- Gohei.—It will soon be evening … and it will be very hard for you if we are benighted in this wilderness, so I beg you to keep up your courage for a while until we reach the next village. I know
