第七回 竜成の会 関蝉丸神社勧進能 蝉丸【令和4年8月28日】

(A maibayashi is a dance excerpt performed by an actor in formal wear to the accompaniment of a small chorus and the musical ensemble of flute and drums.)

解説 Commentary

平安時代に唐から伝わった「獅子丸」「絃上」「青山」という三面の琵琶の名器がありました。そのうちの「獅子丸」はその音色の美しさに聞き惚れた海底の龍神が、竜宮へ取ってしまったそうです。そのおよそ三百年後……琵琶の名手である藤原師長（ふじわらのもろなが）はもはや国内では自分の琵琶の奥義を極める事ができないと思って、唐に渡ろうとします。

師長は須磨の浦で伝説的な琵琶の名手・村上天皇の霊と出会い、自分の琵琶の未熟さを痛感します。やがて村上天皇は龍神に命じて竜宮から「獅子丸」を取り寄せ師長に弾かせ、自らは愛器「絃上」を弾じて奥義を伝え、師長は「獅子丸」を携え、気持ちを新たにして都へ戻ります。

It is said that three famous biwa, “Shishimaru,” “Kenjō,” and “Seizan,” were introduced from China during the Heian Period (794~1185) . Of the three, the Dragon God was said to have fallen in love with the beauty of the sound of “Shishimaru,” taking it to his palace at the bottom of the sea. About three hundred years later….

The famous biwa player Fujiwara no Moronaga, feeling he cannot further his mastery of the mysteries of the biwa in Japan, decides to go to China. Moronaga is at Suma Bay when he meets the spirit of Emperor Murakami, legendary in his fame as a biwa player, and feels his immaturity as a musician all the more keenly. Finally, Emperor Murakami orders the Dragon God to bring Shishimaru from the Dragon Palace for Moronaga to play while he (the emperor), plays his beloved Kenjō in order to teach Moronaga secret techniques and mysteries of the instrument. Moronaga, feeling renewed and carrying Shishimaru with him, then returns to the capital.

みどころ Highlights

今回の舞囃子では、龍神が海底の竜宮から「獅子丸」を持参する場面を謡うところから始まります。龍神の力強いテンポから一変して、村上天皇の霊のゆったりとした気品のある「早舞」になります。舞を終えると村上天皇は八匹の龍が運ぶ空飛ぶ車に乗り、師長も空飛ぶ馬に乗って都へと帰ります。「蝉丸」と同じ琵琶が登場する演目ですが、静かな「蝉丸」に対して舞の見所の多い演目です。

This maibayashi begins with the scene of the biwa “Shishimaru” being brought from the Dragon God's Palace at the bottom of the sea. The powerful tempo representing the appearance of the Dragon God then changes to the calm and elegant hayamai, fast tempo dance, of the spirit of Emperor Murakami. When the dance has ended, Emperor Murakami rides into the sky in a carriage drawn by four dragons and Moronaga rides a flying horse to return to the capital. The performance features the theme of a biwa as “Semimaru” does, but in co ntrast to the calm of “Semimaru,” there are many dance highlights in “Kenjō.”

解説 Commentary

聟と舅（しゅうと）は隣り合った田んぼを持っています。日照りの続くある日、田に引く水の取り合いで口論となった二人は、互いに自分に都合の良い理由を述べて田に水を引こうと争います。そして聟がうっかり舅の顔に泥水を掛けてしまい、それがきっかけとなり水の掛け合いが始まります。果ては仲裁に入った妻（舅から見て娘）までも巻き込んだ争いに発展してしまいますが、果たしてどんな結末が待っているのでしょうか。

A Son-in-law and his Father-in-law have rice fields next to each other. One day during a continuing drought, the two meet to arrange watering their fields and get into a quarrel as they discuss how the water should be drawn, each giving reasons that suit their own convenience. Finally, getting physical as each tries to manage the release of the water, the Son-in-law inadvertently splashes muddy water on his Father-in-law's face. They start to fight in earnest, throwing water at each other. In time the Wife (daughter of the Father-in-law) gets involved as she tries to mediate, but joins in the brawl, with unexpected results….

みどころ Highlights

一説にはこの狂言が「水かけ論」の由来になっているとかいないとか。双方が互いの自説にこだわり、いつまで経っても結論に達しない議論……そんな争いが狂言というフィルターに通して描かれると面白おかしいヒューマンドラマに変わります。夏の日差し、水の冷たさ、稲や土の匂いのする狂言をお楽しみください。

According to one theory, this kyogen may be the origin of the expression ”mizukakeron” meaning an endless or pointless argument in which both sides insist on the validity of their own reasoning so that their discussion goes on and on without ever reaching a conclusion. When such an argument is seen through the filter of kyogen it becomes a humorous human drama. Please enjoy summer sunlight, the chill of water, and the smell of fields and soil through this kyogen.

解説 Commentary

醍醐天皇の第四皇子蝉丸の宮は幼少の頃より盲目の身でした。ある日、帝は臣下の藤原清貫（ふじわらのきよつら）に命じて蝉丸を逢坂山に捨てさせます。清貫は「帝のお考えがどうしても理解できない」と嘆くと、蝉丸は「これは前世から背負っている罪や業から私を助けようとする父帝の御慈悲である」と言って清貫を気遣います。やがて清貫は泣く泣く宮の髪を剃り、蓑・笠・杖を与えて都へ立ち帰ると、一人残された蝉丸もさすがの淋しさに琵琶を抱いて泣き伏すのでした。

やがて蝉丸が捨てられた事を聞いて、都から源博雅（みなもとのひろまさ）が訪ねて来ます。博雅は蝉丸が雨露をしのげる様に、と藁屋をしつらえて蝉丸のお世話をします。

ここにまた第三皇女・逆髪（さかがみ）の宮という蝉丸の姉宮がいました。彼女も前世の業因ゆえか心乱れ、その髪は逆様に生い上っています。逆髪は都を彷徨い出て、逢坂山に着くとみすぼらしい藁屋の中から気高い琵琶の撥音が聞こえてきます。逆髪は「どうしてこんな所から素晴らしい琵琶の音がするのか」と不思議に思いながらも何故か懐かしさを覚えます。そして立ち寄り藁屋の中を覗くと、その中には変わり果てた弟の宮の姿がありました。姉弟二人はこの不思議な巡り合せに、お互いの不運を嘆き合いますが、やがて名残を惜しみながらも逆髪は逢坂山を立ち去るのでした。

The fourth son of the Emperor Daigo (897~930), Prince Semimaru, was blind from an early age. One day the emperor ordered one of his men, Fujiwara Kiyotsura, to take Semimaru to Mt. Ausaka and to abandon him there. When Kiyotsura lamented that he couldn't understand the Emperor's thoughts, Semimaru sought to alleviate his concern by answering, that this was his father's compassion toward him and his father's way of helping him to overcome the sins and actions of a previous life. Finally, Kiyotsura shaved the head of the weeping prince, gave him a straw cape, a hat, and a cane and returned to the capital, leaving Semimaru, a lonely figure in tears holding his biwa.

Soon after, having heard that Semimaru had been abandoned, Miyamoto no Hiromasa went from the capital to see him. Hiromasa took care of Semimaru, building a thatched hut to protect him from the rain and dew.

Semimaru also had an older sister, Sakagami, the third princess, who then appears. Perhaps because of some actions in a previous life her mind is disturbed and her hair grows standing on end as though upside down. Sakagami wanders away from the capital and, upon reaching Mt. Ausaka, hears from a shabby thatched hut the lofty sound of a biwa. Even as she is feels how strange it is to be hearing such marvelous music in such a place, it gives her a feeling of nostalgia. She approaches the hut and, looking inside, sees her brother, completely changed. Through this mysterious encounter, brother and sister together lament each other's misfortunes, until finally, Sakagami regretfully leaves Mt. Ausaka.

みどころ Highlights

逆髪は物語の中で……例えば花の種は地面に埋もれているが、生い茂った枝となって空に向かって上って行き、月は天空に掛かっていながらも、その影は深い水底に映っている。そのいずれが順・逆であると言う事ができようか。……と言います。この言葉が表すように世の中は様々な多様性に満ち溢れていて、立場や状況によって人や物事は順逆と言った二元論では言い表せないものだと思います。私達を含め、そんな複雑な世界で必死に生きる登場人物達の姿をご覧ください。

During the play Sakagami says, “For example, the seeds of flowers are buried in the ground, yet become a thousand flourishing branches rising up towards the sky; even as the moon hangs in the heavens, its light is reflected in the waters' depths. Which of these can be said to be in the correct direction, or upside down?” As these words suggest, the world is full of diversity, of people and things in such a variety of situations and positions as to be impossible to describe or explain through a dualism that insists on a “right” or “correct” way and its reverse. As you watch the characters in this drama, consider how they strive to live in such a complex world, just as we do ourselves.