Hagoromo (play)

nihongo|"Hagoromo"|羽衣|The Feather Mantle is among the most-performed Japanese Noh plays. [Kinoshita, June & Nicholas Palevsky. "Gateway to Japan". Kodansha International (1998), [http://books.google.com/books?id=V4OjvUhiTAQC&pg=PA121&sig=I52ayjBmuP5bJAYWepJ27ZvEbAs p121] . ISBN 477002018X.] Tyler, Royall. "Japanese No Dramas." Penguin Classics (1992), [http://books.google.com/books?id=t4QEbb8Nnq4C&pg=PA96&sig=Zum6QnLw5oLv-sgxesOSamBZnUk p96] . ISBN 0140445390.] It is an example of the traditional swan maiden motif.

ources and history

The earliest recorded version of the legend dates to the eighth century.Blacker, Carmen. "Collected Writings of Carmen Blacker." Routledge (2000), [http://books.google.com/books?id=aAcjXlMAeMwC&pg=PA44sig=uZiuK3y3iVYW7C3SKiWIWoxnVxk p44] . ISBN 1873410921.] The authorship of the Noh play "Hagoromo" is unknown. The earliest references to the play in historical records date to 1524, which suggests that it was written well after Zeami's time.

Plot

The plot is as follows: A priest finds the Hagoromo, the magical feather-mantle of a "tennin" (an aerial spirit or celestial dancer) hanging on a bough. The "tennin" demands its return. The priest argues with her, and finally promises to return it, if she will teach him her dance or part of it. She accepts his offer. The Chorus explains the dance as symbolic of the daily changes of the moon. The words about "three, five, and fifteen" refer to the number of nights in the moon's changes. In the finale, the "tennin" disappears like a mountain slowly hidden in mist. [Pound, Ezra. "Noh", Or, Accomplishment: A Study of the Classical Stage of Japan." Macmillan (1916), [http://books.google.com/books?id=uaAPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165 p165] . "This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain". ]

Later adaptations

W.B. Yeats' "At the Hawk's Well" drew extensively from the Hagoromo legend. [Murphy, Maureen. "Some Western Productions of "At the Hawk's Well", with a Mythological Footnote." In "Tumult of
Rodopi (1995), [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ks-2w5iiGDAC&pg=PA71&sig=p-QVP8I3BXCAp_uhx7hGyyW7kMY p71] . ISBN 9051837712.] Osamu Tezuka based a short story in his Phoenix series on the story of the Hagoromo, but with a sci-fi twist, featuring a time displaced human girl from the distant future instead of a tennin. Recently, the story was adapted into the manga and anime series "Ceres, The Celestial Legend". [Drazen, Patrick. "Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation". Stone Bridge Press (2003), [http://books.google.com/books?id=wkrgvKvsvYAC&pg=PA40&sig=B-moiasX998iQ0SSmqzbnfUiLXs p41] . ISBN 1880656728.]

References

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=8-wPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA178 English translation of the Hagoromo Noh play] by Arthur Waley
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=uaAPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165 English translation of the Hagoromo Noh play] by Ezra Pound
* [http://www.the-noh.com/en/plays/data/program_011.html Hagoromo Noh play Photo Story and Story Paper]