One of the best things about kyogen -- the comic interludes to Noh plays -- is the sheer number of lines delivered with unique intonation.
When someone appears on stage, they describe themselves by saying, "Kono atari no mono de gozaru" (I'm from around here). A master calls for his servant, "Taro Kaja oruka" (Is Taro Kaja [my chief servant] here)? and the servant responds, "Haa, omae ni" (Yes, in your presence).
The yell at the start of a sumo bout is "Yattona" (Here we go)! and for a sneeze is "Kussame" (Ahchoo)! There are many other lines with special rings to them, such as "Sorori, sorori to mairo" (Let's go quietly, quietly). One of the most famous is the line used to end a kyogen: "Yarumaizo, yarumaizo" (You won't get away, you won't get away).
Taro Kaja, or anyone else who has done something wrong, will try to escape while crying out, "Yurusaserarei, yurusaserarei" (Forgive me, forgive me). The master or other offended party will chase after him, calling out, "Yarumaizo, yarumaizo."
The literal meaning of this is "I won't let [you] go" or "I won't let [you] escape," but characters who run away are rarely caught on stage.
Noh stages have no curtain between the actors and the audience, so kyogen uses such lines to have actors leave the stage without it seeming strange.
Shigeyama Senzaburo, a kyogen actor of the Okura school, said he has been asked, "So what happens next?" by foreign audience members.
"If it ends like that, there's no disappointment, either for the chaser or the chasee. I think not having a fixed conclusion represents a kind of gentleness that is typical of kyogen, and is also typically Japanese," he said.
It is interesting to see how "yarumaizo" is used in different ways depending on the context. For example, in "Obagasake," a nephew disguises himself as a demon, threatens his aunt and drinks her alcohol. When the nephew's mischief is revealed, he totters and lurches as he flees. On the other hand, the thief in "Urinusubito" runs away quite quickly.
In "Neongyoku," Taro Kaja attempts to give reasons for refusing his master's order to perform a Noh chant. In this play, there is also an alternate ending to yarumaizo, in which the master chases after Taro Kaja, calling after him kindly without anger, "Ima hitotsu utoute kikase, mazu mate, mazu mate" (Let me hear one chant now, just wait, just wait).
What happens between the master and Taro Kaja after so much chasing when they disappear behind the curtain that leads backstage?
According to Senzaburo, "My job is to make it seem like they'll be doing the same thing tomorrow."
-- Morishige covers traditional performing arts.
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