Four nights libretto

Moto Osada

FOUR NIGHTS OF DREAM An Opera in Four Scenes

Libretto

Moto Osada

Four Nights of Dream An Opera in Four Scenes Libretto, based on Ten Nights of Dream by Soseki Natsume, by Moto Osada

Copyright © 2008 by Moto Osada

The Characters of the Opera Female Narrator/Female Chorus I Samurai/Male Chorus I (Son) Female Chorus II/Woman Shotaro/Male Chorus II/Man Ken-san/Father Male Chorus III Dancer

Lyric soprano Baritone Mezzo-soprano Lyric baritone Tenor Bass Non-singing character

Time and Place Any time, anywhere.

The libretto is based on the Japanese author Soseki Natsume's Ten Nights of Dream, published in 1908. Ten Nights of Dream consists of ten short stories, which the author relates in the form of dreams. Four stories were selected from the work and made into an opera in four scenes. The stories have no relation to one another; they are distinct dreams.

Synopsis

SCENE 1: The First Night (Characters: Samurai, Female Choruses I & II) Monodrama with commentaries by Female Choruses. The Samurai is engaged in the Zen Buddhist practice of meditation. His goal is to solve a problem presented to him by the priest, and thus attain enlightenment (satori). Struggling to do so, he recalls how the priest mocked him, saying that if he cannot attain enlightenment he is not a real samurai. Now the Samurai is determined to attain enlightenment by the time the clock strikes the hour, and then return to the priest to exchange his enlightenment for the priest's head. If he cannot attain enlightenment within the hour, he vows to kill himself, for a samurai should not live beyond humiliation. The problem he is presented with is the meaning of Nothingness. He struggles to find the answer, and is consumed with rage. Swarmed with resentment against his inability to attain enlightenment, he is about to lose his mind. As Nothingness remains out of his reach, the clock finally strikes the hour.

SCENE 2: The Second Night (Characters: Female Narrator, Shotaro, Woman, Ken-san) A comical scene with the characteristics of an intermezzo. Ken-san and the Female Narrator introduce Shotaro, the protagonist of the scene. Shotaro is a nice, handsome, but also lazy young man who sits all day by the entrance of the fruit shop staring at the faces of women passing by.

The Woman appears. Shotaro is very impressed by her looks. She buys the largest fruit basket and complains how heavy it is. Shotaro offers to carry it to her home. Ken-san and the Female Narrator continue the story by relating the long journey Shotaro takes with the Woman. They arrive at a vast field. After crossing the field, they come to the lip of a sheer precipice. The Woman simply tells Shotaro to jump down. He politely declines to do so. The Woman says, "If you do not jump, you will be licked by a pig." Shotaro finds pigs abominable, but he still refuses to jump. Immediately a pig comes grunting up. Shotaro reluctantly hits the pig on the snout with a walking stick. The pig flops down and vanishes over the precipice. As Shotaro heaves a sigh of relief, another pig appears. Once again he uses his walking stick. This pig also tumbles down into the chasm. Then yet another pig appears. This action is repeated many times and is comedically described by the quartet of Shotaro, the Woman, Ken-san, and the Female Narrator. Shotaro, being exhausted by hitting snout after snout, is finally licked by a pig and collapses. Ken-san comments that too much looking at women is never a good thing.

SCENE 3: The Third Night (Characters: Father, Male Choruses I (Son), II & III, Dancer) NOTE: Essentially there are only two characters in this scene: the Father and the Son. The Son, carried on the Father’s back throughout the scene, is a doll. The Son’s lines are sung by Male Chorus I. Male Choruses II & III represent the consciousness of the Father. The Dancer, present on the stage throughout the scene, symbolizes the Son’s mysterious character The Father is walking with his son on his back. The Son is six-years old and blind. The Father and the Son (Male Chorus I) exchange a few words. The Father is taken aback by the fact that the Son's voice is that of an adult (sung by Male Chorus I) and that he possesses an uncanny ability to foresee things. The Father thinks that the boy might bring him bad fortune and decides to abandon him somewhere. The Son asks if he is too heavy for the Father to carry. The Father says no, to which the Son replies that he soon will be. The Son observes that being blind is troublesome. The Father tries to appease him, but the Son replies that people tend to mock the blind, and even his parent mocks him. The Father hurries on thinking he will soon find a place to throw his hump away. The Son says to the Father, "It was an evening like this." The Father asks what the Son is talking about, but the Son claims that the Father should know very well. The Father has a vague feeling that he remembers such an evening. He wants to get rid of the Son right away for he is afraid of discovering what the whole thing is about. Suddenly the Son stops the Father and says, "Just here!" The Father nods in spite of himself. The Son continues, "It was exactly one hundred years ago that you murdered me at the root of this cedar tree." Upon this announcement, the Dancer starts to dance in a fast tempo accompanied by the Male Choruses, creating an atmosphere not unlike a ghost dance in the Japanese Noh drama.

SCENE 4: The Fourth Night (Characters: Man, Female Narrator) NOTE: There are two characters in this scene: a man and a woman. The woman is played by the Female Narrator, who is not participating in the stage action. She alters between the woman's lines and narrating.

The Female Narrator describes the dying woman and the man who sits beside her. Just when she is about to die, the woman (the Female Narrator) tells the Man, "When I am dead, dig a hole with a large shining shell of mother-of-pearl. Mark my grave with a fragment of star and wait for me by the graveside." She says if he can wait for a hundred years, she will come back to see him again. He says he will wait and then describes her last moment. In the following aria, he describes how he waits for her by her graveside, watching the sun rise and set innumerable times.

He starts to wonder if the woman has lied to him. The Female Narrator joins in and describes how, from the grave, a stem starts to grow, and a slender bud opens its petals soft and full. The duet climaxes as they sing about how the Man kisses the white lily and realizes that the hundredth year has come.

Contents

Scene 1: The First Night--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7 Scene 2: The Second Night---------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 Scene 3: The Third Night-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------16 Scene 4: The Fourth Night----------------------------------------------------------------------------------21

7 SCENE 1 The First Night CHARACTERS Samurai Female Chorus I Female Chorus II

Baritone Soprano Mezzo-soprano

A dimly lit room in a vast temple with no sign of life. A late fall evening. There is a Japanese style cushion and a joss stick (incense-stick) smoldering in front of it. As the clock strikes the hour, the SAMURAI enters. He goes up to the cushion and kneels on one knee. He then lifts up one corner of the cushion and slides his right hand underneath. He makes sure that his dagger he has hid is still there. Reassured, he lets the cushion fall back to its original position and sits on it. He closes his eyes and begins to meditate.

He abruptly stops meditating.

SAMURAI: An insolent lout!

That priest, he said, "You are a samurai, yet you don't understand Zen! A samurai should be able to attain enlightenment.

You are not a samurai! More like the scum of human beings!"

He laughed - laughed at me! Then he sneered and said, "I dare you to bring me proof of your attained enlightenment!"

An unbearable humiliation!

By the time the clock strikes the next hour, I shall attain the truth!

By the time the clock strikes the next hour, I will trade my satori for that pert priest's head!

But not until I am spiritually awakened can I take his life.

I must achieve this for I am samurai!

If I cannot, I will kill myself with my own sword!

By the time the clock strikes the next hour!

He again slides his hand underneath the cushion and takes out the dagger. Gripping its hilt, he draws the dagger out of its sheath. He stares at the blade intensely. He suddenly thrusts the dagger into the air, as if to stab someone.

He slides the dagger back into its sheath and places it close to his right side. Then he sits squarely in the Zen posture.

8

Scene 1

SAMURAI (continued): Joshu, the Chinese sage, recommended Nothingness.

But what is Nothingness? That damned priest! What is it?

The SAMURAI opens his eyes as big as he can, and breathes heavily as if to calm himself and concentrate.

As I open my eyes, I see the painting on the wall.

I see the lamp and the tatami mat of straw.

I see the priest’s bald head!

I even hear the laughter emerging from his crocodile mouth!

Come what may, I’ll lop that saucy skull!

Enlightenment! Nothingness!

I feel a pain in my knee-joints.

Let both damned knees crack open! But it hurts!

Nothingness will save me! Nothingness is coming closer…

Now I feel nothing…but pain!

Rage consumes me! Resentment swarms!

I want to be smashed to smithereens, To destroy every bone in my body, To grind each shred of flesh, By throwing myself against a gigantic rock!

In an attempt to calm himself, the SAMURAI closes his eyes and takes a Zen meditation posture again.

FEMALE CHORUSES I & II: Sit and meditate…

Endure…

The heart rent…

Every muscle tightened…

All exits blocked …

No relief, no mercy…

So hideous is my case…

Scene 1 SAMURAI: Strange…

The painting, the lamp, the tatami mat…

Everything seems not to exist yet it does exist; Seems to exist when it does not…

But still there is no Nothingness, no Nothingness at all! No enlightenment!

Nothing! I’ve got nothing!

I have been just sitting here!

The clock begins to chime the hour. Startled by the sound of the clock, the SAMURAI realizes an hour has passed. He quickly puts his right hand upon the hilt of the dagger. The clock strikes for the second time.

9

10 SCENE 2 The Second Night CHARACTERS Female Narrator Ken-san Shotaro Woman

Lyric soprano Buffo tenor Lyric baritone Mezzo-soprano

The FEMALE NARRATOR and KEN-SAN, who narrate the story, stand next to each other off center stage.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: Shotaro!

FEMALE NARRATOR: Now Ken-san and I will tell you the story of Shotaro!

KEN-SAN: Shotaro!

SHOTARO, wearing a Panama hat and holding a walking-stick in his hand, enters during the description of him given by the FEMALE NARRATOR and KEN-SAN. SHOTARO mimes the actions described by them.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Shotaro is the most handsome man in our neighborhood.

KEN-SAN: The SECOND most handsome…

FEMALE NARRATOR: Good-natured and honest…

KEN-SAN: A little naive…

FEMALE NARRATOR: He looks so good in his Panama hat!

KEN-SAN: It’s so outdated!

Scene 2

11

FEMALE NARRATOR: At the end of day, he sits in front of the fruit shop wearing his…

KEN-SAN: (sarcastically) Panama hat!

FEMALE NARRATOR: And… KEN-SAN: …stares at the women passing by.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: Other than this, he has no particular traits whatsoever.

KEN-SAN: Sometimes he looks at the fruits instead.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Peaches, bananas, and apples are arranged beautifully in baskets…

KEN-SAN: Ready to be taken away as gifts!

FEMALE NARRATOR: He looks at them and says…

SHOTARO: How pretty.

If I wanted to start my own business, a fruit shop would be just the thing for me!

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: And thus he just sits there in his Panama hat, loafing his time away!

The WOMAN enters and goes up to SHOTARO, who is sitting on a bench in front of the fruit shop. The FEMALE NARRATOR and KEN-SAN curiously observe their interaction.

SHOTARO: (aside) I like the color of her kimono!

And what a beautiful face she has!

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: There he goes again.

WOMAN: (to SHOTARO) Which basket is the biggest?

12

Scene 2

SHOTARO: (pointing to a basket) This one.

WOMAN: I would like to have it, please.

SHOTARO immediately picks up the basket and hands it to her.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: But he doesn’t work there!

WOMAN: (holding the basket by its handle) Ah, it is a bit heavy.

SHOTARO: I will carry the basket to your house!

WOMAN: Will you carry the basket to my house?

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: There he goes again!

Thus Shotaro goes on a journey with the woman, hauling around the heavy basket.

KEN-SAN: That Panama hat is a chick magnet!

In the following scene, SHOTARO and the WOMAN mimes the actions described by the FEMALE NARRATOR and KEN-SAN. FEMALE NARRATOR: First, they take a long long train ride…

KEN-SAN: And then arrive at a vast field.

FEMALE NARRATOR: As far as the eye can see…

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: There is nothing but green grass!

KEN-SAN: He accompanies her across the field.

Scene 2 FEMALE NARRATOR: Suddenly they come to…

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: The edge of a very steep cliff!

FEMALE NARRATOR: Well, then she says…

WOMAN: Jump down from the cliff, sweetheart.

SHOTARO: (peeping over the edge) But it’s very steep; I cannot see the bottom. (removing his Panama hat) I must refuse your request.

WOMAN: If you haven’t the guts to jump, you will be licked by a pig.

Are you ready for that?

SHOTARO: (aside) Pigs and samurai stories are what I hate most.

But I don't want to die. (to the WOMAN) I must refuse your request.

A pig appears.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Then, as the woman warned, a pig comes grunting up.

KEN-SAN: Oink, oink.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Shotaro reluctantly hits the pig on the snout with his walking stick!

KEN-SAN, SHOTARO, AND FEMALE NARRATOR: The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff!

SHOTARO: That was disgusting…

Another pig appears.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Again, Shotaro hits the pig on the snout with his walking stick!

13

14

Scene 2

KEN-SAN: Oink, oink!

SHOTARO, KEN-SAN, WOMAN AND FEMALE NARRATOR: The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff!

SHOTARO: (frightened) I see millions of pigs heading right at me!

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: Yet another one comes grunting up.

He hits it on the snout with his hard, long stick.

Oink, oink.

The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff.

SHOTARO: I see millions of pigs heading right at me!

Yet another one comes grunting up.

I hit it on the snout with my hard, long stick.

Oink, oink.

The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff.

WOMAN: If you haven’t the guts to jump, you will be licked by a pig.

Can you handle it?

Yet another one comes grunting up.

You hit it on the snout with your hard, long stick.

Oink, oink.

The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: For seven days and six nights, Shotaro keeps hitting snout after snout for seven days and six nights!

SHOTARO: I see the pigs in an endless line, falling headfirst into the bottomless valley below!

WOMAN: Can you see the pigs in an endless line, falling headfirst into the bottomless valley below!

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: In the end, his arms get limp like jelly!

WOMAN: Your arms are weak and soft like jelly!

Scene 2 FEMALE NARRATOR: Yet another one comes grunting up.

He hits it on the snout with his hard, long stick.

KEN-SAN Oink, oink.

The poor pig tumbles down to the bottom of the cliff.

WOMAN: If you haven’t the guts to jump, you will be licked by a pig.

SHOTARO: I can’t hit pigs anymore!

FEMALE NARRATOR: Shotaro is finally licked by a pig and he breaks down.

SHOTARO collapses.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND KEN-SAN: Shotaro!

We must end the story of Shotaro.

Shotaro!

KEN-SAN: Hope all you good kids learned something from this.

Too much looking at women is never a good thing.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Ken-san, do you have anything else to add?

KEN-SAN: I want his Panama hat!

15

16 SCENE 3 The Third Night CHARACTERS Father Male Chorus I (Son) Male Chorus II Male Chorus III Dancer

Tenor Baritone Baritone Bass

NOTE: Essentially there are only two characters in this scene: the Father and the Son. The Son, carried on the Father’s back throughout the scene, is a doll. The Son’s lines are sung by Male Chorus I. Male Choruses II & III represent the consciousness of the Father. The Dancer, present on the stage throughout the scene, symbolizes the Son’s mysterious character.

The Father is walking with his Son (a doll) on his back on a long, narrow footpath between the paddy-fields. It is dusk.

MALE CHORUSES I, II & III: This is the dream that I dreamt.

This is the dream that I dreamt.

MALE CHORUSES II & III: A boy, six years of age, is riding on my back.

It is my son.

Somehow I know that he is blind.

His head is cleanly shaven, Like a bonze priest’s head.

FATHER: Son, tell me, when did you lose your eyesight?

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Well, it was a long time ago.

FATHER: (aside) Why does my child have the voice of an adult?

Scene 3 MALE CHORUSES II & III: To left and right, the paddy-fields are all green.

The path is narrow.

Every now and then, the shape of a heron brightens the growing darkness.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): I see we’ve come to the paddy-fields.

FATHER: (turning his head) How do you know?

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Why, we can hear the herons shrieking.

MALE CHORUSES II & III: And thereupon, the herons cried twice.

FATHER: (aside) Though the child is my own, I am afraid of him.

With this weird creature on my back, something horrible might happen to me.

I see an enormous forest looming through the darkness.

That might be a good place to dump my burden.

MALE CHORUSES II & III: …this weird creature…something horrible… …a forest looming in the darkness…

That might be a good place to dump my burden.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): (mockingly) Ha, ha.

FATHER: What are you laughing at?

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Am I heavy for you, Father?

FATHER: No, not heavy.

17

18 MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Before long, you will find me heavy.

The FATHER stops to take a rest.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): You should find a signpost here.

FATHER: Yes, I see a square-shaped stone, standing up to my waist.

It says, “To the left, Higakubo; to the right, Hottahara.”

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): We should go to the left.

The FATHER hesitates.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): What are you waiting for? Go ahead.

MALE CHORUSES II & III: Away to the left, the forest casts dark shadows from high above the sky.

How could this blind boy know so much?

FATHER: (starting to walk) How could this mere blind brat know so much?

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): I hate being blind.

It’s so troublesome.

FATHER: That’s why I’m carrying you on my back.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): And I’m grateful for that.

But people mock me.

Even my parent mocks me, and that sends me to hell!

Scene 3

Scene 3 FATHER: (aside) I’ve had just about enough.

I should get to the forest quickly to abandon this lump!

MALE CHORUSES II & III: I should get to the forest to abandon this lump!

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Go on a little further and you’ll see.

It was just such an evening.

FATHER: (irritated) What was?

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): (scornfully) Why do you ask?

You know well enough.

FATHER: (aside) Maybe I do…

Maybe it was just such an evening.

I don’t remember what happened.

I don’t want to find out for it might prove to be disastrous for me.

MALE CHORUSES II & III: Rain has been falling for some time.

With each step, the path grows darker.

FATHER, MALE CHORUSES II & III: The small child clinging to my back shines like a mirror; Like a mirror that reveals my past, my present, and my future.

Like the most relentless mirror that searches out the smallest facts.

And he is my own son.

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Just here! Just here!

Just at the root of that cedar tree!

The FATHER stops.

19

20

FATHER: (looking around) I didn’t know we are deep in the forest already…

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): Just here! Just here!

Right at the root of that cedar tree!

Father, it happened at the cedar’s root.

FATHER: (unconsciously) Yes it did…

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): It was the fifth year of Bunka, the year of the Dragon!

FATHER: (as before) The fifth year of Bunka, the year of the Dragon…

MALE CHORUS I (AS THE SON): It was exactly one hundred years ago that you murdered me right here!

The DANCER starts the Ghost Dance.

FATHER, MALE CHORUSES I, II & III: One hundred years ago On a dark night like this In the rain At the root of the cedar Killed a blind man Killed a blind man Now the child on my back is as heavy as a god of stone.

As heavy as a god of stone.

Scene 3

21 SCENE 4 The Fourth Night CHARACTERS Man Female Narrator/Woman

Lyric baritone Lyric soprano

NOTE: There are two characters in this scene: a man and a woman. The woman’s lines are sung by the Female Narrator, who does not participate in the stage action. She alters between the woman’s lines and narrating.

The MAN sits, with his arms folded, center stage. There is something that represents a bed and the dying woman in front of him. The FEMALE NARRATOR stands off center stage and never participates in the stage action.

FEMALE NARRATOR: The man sits by the bedside.

And the woman lying there on her back quietly says that She is going to die.

Her long hair lies on the pillow, softly framing her oval face.

Her white cheeks are tinged with the warm hue of blood.

And her lips are fully red.

The woman quietly and clearly says that She is going to die.

MAN: She opens her eyes wide, The eyes so large and moist.

Deep black, ringed by long lashes.

I see an image of myself reflected At the bottom of those black eyes. (to the woman) You are not going to die, are you? (a pause) (slightly bending over and moving his face closer to the pillow) Answer me, you are not going to die, are you?

22

Scene 4

FEMALE NARRATOR: I am dying; it can’t be helped.

MAN: Can you see my face?

FEMALE NARRATOR: Can I see it?

Of course, it’s reflected there.

The MAN sits up again, folding his arms, and continues to wonder whether the WOMAN is actually about to die.

FEMALE NARRATOR: When I’m dead, please bury me.

Dig a hole with a large shell, a shining shell of mother-of-pearl.

Mark my grave with a piece of a fallen star.

Then, wait for me there.

I will come to see you again.

MAN: When will you come to see me?

FEMALE NARRATOR: The sun rises, and the sun sets.

Then it rises and sets again.

While the red sun travels, East to west From east to west again, Will you be patient enough to wait for me?

The MAN nods in silence.

FEMALE NARRATOR: Wait a hundred years.

For one hundred years, sit at my graveside and wait for me.

For, without fail, I will come to see you again.

MAN: I will wait.

Scene 4

MAN: My image, reflected in her eyes, begins to crumble Like a reflection on the moving surface of still water.

Her eyes begin to flow, and the next moment Closed.

Tears ooze through the long shut eyelashes and roll down her cheeks.

She is dead.

(A short instrumental interlude) Now the MAN sits beside the WOMAN’s grave.

As she told me, I dug a hole with a pearl-oyster shell.

I laid her body in the hole and placed a fragment of a fallen star on the grave As a tombstone.

MAN: Now I will wait here for a hundred years.

The sun rises in the east as she said.

A large, red sun.

It sets in the west.

I count, “One.” Yes I will wait here for a hundred years.

After a while, slowly a bright scarlet sun rises again.

And silently it sinks away.

I count, “Two.” I don’t know how many suns I have watched and counted.

Countless red suns that no one could ever finish counting Have passed above my head.

But still the hundredth year does not arrive!

The star fragment is now covered with moss.

Did she lie to me? Did she deceive me?

Was I a fool to believe her?

FEMALE NARRATOR: Then, from under the tombstone, a green stem sprouts and begins to grow.

It grows longer and longer until it reaches his chest.

FEMALE NARRATOR AND MAN: At the top of the stalk, a slender bud opens its petals soft and full.

MAN: The pure white lily pours its scent to drench my bones!

23

24

FEMALE NARRATOR AND MAN: As dew from the sky falls upon it, The flower sways to and fro.

FEMALE NARRATOR: He leans forward and kisses the dewy white petals!

MAN: Then I kiss the dewy white petals!

FEMALE NARRATOR: As he draws his face back from the flower, MAN: I glance up at the distant sky MAN AND FEMALE NARRATOR: Where only one star is twinkling in the dawn.

MAN: And only now, Now for the first time, I know that the hundredth year has come!

Scene 4