Kiku-jidō [Noh Song]

Kiku-jidō (Makura-jidō)
There are only voice parts in this recording.
Script (English/Modern Japanese)
www.the-noh.co...
noh-sup.hinoki...
The play is set in Wei Dynasty China (3rd c.). Miraculous water is found to spring forth at the foot of Mt. Rekken (or Tekken) and Emperor Wen sends an Imperial Envoy to investigate the source of the mysterious stream. The Envoy and his followers climb the mountain and find a hut surrounded by chrysanthemum flowers. A Youth is living inside the hut. Surprised to find a young boy living alone so deep in the mountains, the Envoy asks for his name. The Youth replies that he is a page serving King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty (who reigned in the 10th century BC - over one thousand years before) and shows the Envoy the pillow he received as a gift from his lord. Sacred words from a Buddhist prayer are inscribed on it. The Youth explains how he copied the prayer on chrysanthemum leaves as a spiritual exercise, a practice that granted him immortality. The dewdrops accumulating on the leaves turn into an elixir of eternal life and drip into the stream that reaches the foot of the mountain. The Youth praises the virtue of the sutra pillow and dances among the chrysanthemums before returning to his hut.
Sung by Kanze School