Burden of Love - The Lord of Love

Noh piece. The fourth piece. A current piece by the Kanze and Konparu schools. However, the Konparu school is a revival from the Showa period. In the Umewaka family, it is written as "Jubin" (Heavy Burden). There are other similar pieces, such as "Aya no Tsuzumi" by the other three schools. It was written by Zeami. It is a reworking of the old work "Aya no Taiko," and Zeami lists it in "Sando" as a representative of new works. A vassal (waki) appears accompanied by a servant, and explains that an old man (mae shite) who cultivates chrysanthemums in the Imperial Gardens is in love with the Empress (Nyogo) (Tsure), and has the old man summoned. If he can carry a fake heavy burden around a hundred or a thousand times, he will be able to see the Empress again. The old man tries his best to do so, but there is no way he can lift the heavy burden, which is made of a rock and wrapped in brocade. In despair and resentment, the old man commits suicide. In the latter part of the play, a terrifying old demon (Go-shite) appears and blames the Empress for her infidelity, but then softens and disappears, offering to become her guardian deity if she mourns his death. The ending, which is a reconciliation, is quite different from "Aya-tsuzumi," which ends with the protagonist being deeply resentful. "Ojidawara," a kyogen play depicting an old man who easily shoulders a straw rice sack and wins the master's daughter, is a parody of "Koi Ju-ni."

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能の曲目。四番目物。観世(かんぜ)、金春(こんぱる)二流現行曲。ただし金春流は昭和の復曲。梅若家では『重荷』と表記。類曲に他の3流の『綾鼓(あやのつづみ)』がある。世阿弥(ぜあみ)作。古作の『綾の太鼓』を改作したもので、世阿弥は『三道(さんどう)』に新作の代表としてあげている。臣下の者（ワキ）が下人を従えて登場、御苑の菊作りの老人（前シテ）が女御(にょうご)（ツレ）に恋をしていることを述べ、老人を呼び出させる。作り物の重荷を持って百回も千回も回ることができたら、ふたたび女御の姿を拝ませようという提示に、老人は力を尽くして挑戦するが、巌(いわお)を錦(にしき)で包んだ重荷が上がろうはずもない。絶望と恨みに老人は自殺する。後段は、女御の不実を責める恐ろしげな老人の悪霊（後シテ）の出現だが、あとを弔うならば守り神になろうと心を和らげて消える。恨み抜いて終わる『綾鼓』とは、和解の結末が大きく異なっている。試練の米俵を楽々と担ぎ、主人の娘を手に入れる老翁(ろうおう)を描いた狂言の『祖父俵(おおじだわら)』は、『恋重荷』のパロディーである。

［増田正造］

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