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The monk once again asks the villager about Madam Eguchi. The villager tells him the story of Shōkū Shōnin (Monk Shōkū) having received, in a dream, an oracle that Madam Eguchi was a reincarnation of bodhisattva Universal Sage. The villager encourages the monk to perform a memorial service for Madam Eguchi. In the middle of the night, while the monk is preforming a memorial service for Madam Eguchi, her ghost appears on a pleasure boat, accompanied by the ghosts of two of her attendants. After showing the scene of enjoying themselves on the gorgeous boat, Madam Eguchi expounds the Buddhist teachings of karmic reward and the principle of impermanence and performs a dance. Then, she explains that we will reach enlightenment once we let go of our attachments, and is transformed into the bodhisattva Universal Sage. The pleasure boat she is riding in is also transformed into a white elephant (the mount of bodhisattva Universal Sage). The bodhisattva mounted on the elephant rides on a white cloud and flies away to the west.
Madam Eguchi was a brothel mistress in the village of Eguchi. There are several stories about her, such as the episodes in which she exchanged poems with Monk Saigyō regarding his request for overnight lodging. In another story, Monk Shōkū came to see her because it was revealed to him in a dream that she is an incarnation of the bodhisattva Universal Sage. The inclusion of these episodes in this Noh piece enriches its storyline. The highlight of this play, “Eguchi,” comes the second half of the drama when courtesans enjoy boating. Madam Eguchi and two retainers appear on the stage in a boat, which is quite impressive. Like a fragile dream that disappears in an instant, they enjoy a night of boating on the Eguchi shore, which is surrounded by rivers. While the drama depicts such moments of pleasure, it also describes the severity of karmic reward and the impermanence of this world. Although Madam Eguchi is a courtesan engaged in the most worldly of worldly professions, she is also an incarnation of the bodhisattva Universal Sage. Madam Eguchi vividly embodies the dazzling brilliance, effervescence, and fleeting nature of this world and yet she also shows that etched deep within it lies, the light of profound truth, imbuing this play with profound meaning. The dances are elegant and beautiful not merely for their own sake, as they also draw the audience into the world of profundities that they can enjoy pondering in the lingering atmosphere. The last section of Eguchi touches upon core principles of the Buddha’s teaching and therefore is often chanted at wakes, funerals and memorial services to console the soul of the deceased. STORY PAPER : EguchiStory Paper presents noh chant stories in modern speech, with story outlines, highlights and more using Adobe PDF format, which can print out and zoom in. Print out the pages and take them with you when you see the actual noh performance.
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