Bell sound - Kanenone

The title of a Kyogen piece. Tarokaja Kyogen. The master commands Tarokaja (shite) to go to Kamakura and inquire about the price of gold. Tarokaja mishears the price of gold as the sound of a bell, and when he arrives in Kamakura, he visits famous temples and rings each bell to check the sound. The bell at Kenchoji Temple has the clearest sound, so he hurries back and reports to his master. The master is astonished and gets angry at the good-for-nothing Tarokaja, and chases him out, but with the help of an arbitrator, Tarokaja tries to cheer up the master by improvising a song and dance about going around to listen to the sound of the bell, and is scolded by the master, which ends the piece. This is the story of the Okura school, and there is no arbitrator in the Izumi school. A highlight of the play is the use of onomatopoeia to represent the sounds of the temple bells, making full use of a distinctive feature of Kyogen acting in which onomatopoeia are expressed through the actors' voices.

[Kazutoshi Hayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

狂言の曲名。太郎冠者(かじゃ)狂言。主人は太郎冠者（シテ）に鎌倉へ行って金(かね)の値(ね)を聞いてこいと命じる。金の値を鐘の音と聞き違えた太郎冠者は、鎌倉に着くと有名な寺々を回り、それぞれ鐘をついて音のぐあいを確かめる。建長寺の鐘がもっとも冴(さ)えたよい音だったので、急ぎ帰って主人にその旨を報告する。あきれた主人は役たたずの太郎冠者に腹をたて、追い出すが、仲裁人のとりなしで、太郎冠者は主人の機嫌を直そうと、鐘の音を聞いて回ったようすを即興で謡い舞ってみせ、主人にしかられて終曲する。以上は大蔵流の筋で、和泉(いずみ)流では仲裁人は出ない。寺々の鐘の音を擬音で演じ分けるところが見どころで、擬音を役者の声で表現する狂言演技の特色が十分活用されている。

［林　和利］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例