'SUMIDAGAWA'

'THE RIVER SUMIDA'

NOH DRAMA BY KANZE JURO MOTOMASA

15TH CENTURY

TYPE FOUR

WAKI"

I am the boatman who commands the ferry across

the River Sumida at the border of the Province of

Musashi. Today I am in great haste to ferry people over.

A special circumstance at that place on the other side,

a memorial service to chant the name of the Buddha,

is about to begin, and so I service both the priests

who don't pay (and whom I usually refuse)

and the common people who do.

Take note, all of you who desire to cross.

WAKI-TSURE"

These clothes that have seen us to the end of the road

to the East, the clothes that have seen the road to the end,

remind us of the great distance we have traveled."

(Translation by KLR)