The Nō Plays of Japan
Translated by Arthur Waley
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The opening
ATSUMORI
THE PRIEST RENSEI (formerly the warrior Kumagai). A YOUNG REAPER, who turns out to be the ghost of Atsumori. HIS COMPANION. CHORUS.
PRIEST. Life is a lying dream, he only wakes Who casts the World aside.
I am Kumagai no Naozane, a man of the country of Musashi. I have left my home and call myself the priest Rensei; this I have done because of my grief at the death of Atsumori, who fell in battle by my hand. Hence it comes that I am dressed in priestly guise.
And now I am going down to Ichi-no-Tani to pray for the salvation of Atsumori’s soul.
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About this edition
- The words
- Arthur Waley's English translation, copied word for word.
- Copied from
- Left out
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1
- Waley's centered author/date attribution, not part of the play (19 blocks)
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 5 places
- The source library's header, footer and license, in 2 places
- The anthology's grouping heading; the individual source play titles open chapters (5 blocks)
- Other works printed in the same volume
- Pictures and their captions
- Waley's explanatory comparison with The Burden of Love, not the play
- A preface, foreword or afterword
- The source website's menus, layout and notices
- Chapter VII, SUMMARIES: Waley's summaries of plays, not the plays' source text (377 blocks)
- Heading for the book's supplementary bibliography