Kogoto Kobei - Kogoto Kobei

Rakugo. Tanaka Kobei, a landlord living in Furukawa, Azabu, is caring but nagging, so he is known as "Nagging Kobei." He refuses the renters of his vacant house by finding various faults. The story revolves around an exchange between a rice pounder, a tofu maker, and a tailor, who come to ask for his services. He is surprised by the rude tone of the last man to arrive, and ends the story by saying, "What business do you have?" "I'm a gunsmith." "That makes sense." This is an old story that has been passed down since the Edo period, and the parts that depict part of the lives of ordinary people in Edo are valuable as a source of customs. When the exchange with the rice pounder is the main focus of the performance, it is called "Pounder Kobei," and Kokontei Shinsho 5th performed it under this title. The story of the pounder is rather sad, so today, when "Kogon Koubei" is performed, it is usually the story of the flamboyant tailor. The story develops into a theatrical travel scene, with Koubei making the unreasonable claim that the marriageable son of the tailor and the daughter of a nearby second-hand clothing store are in love and will commit suicide together, which is an interesting idea, and is also known as "Michiyuki Koubei."

[Kazuo Sekiyama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

落語。麻布(あざぶ)古川(ふるかわ)に住む家主(いえぬし)の田中幸兵衛は世話好きだが小言が多く、人よんで「小言幸兵衛」。空き家の借り手にいろいろと難癖をつけて断る。搗米(つきごめ)屋、豆腐屋、仕立屋と頼みにくるのを断るやりとりが咄(はなし)の中心をなす。最後にきた男の乱暴な口調にびっくり、「ご商売は？」「鉄砲鍛冶(かじ)だ」「道理でぽんぽんいう」とサゲる。江戸時代から継承する古い咄で、江戸の庶民生活の一端を描写する部分は、風俗資料としての価値がある。搗米屋とのやりとりを主に演じる場合は『搗屋幸兵衛』といい、5代目古今亭志ん生(ここんていしんしょう)はこの題で演じた。搗屋の話は湿っぽいので、今日『小言幸兵衛』というと、はでな仕立屋のくだりを主に演ずるのが普通。幸兵衛が、年ごろの仕立屋の息子と近所の古着屋の娘が恋し合って心中するはずだと理不尽なことを言い立て、芝居仕立ての道行(みちゆき)の場面へと発展してゆくという発想のおもしろさがあり、そのため『道行幸兵衛』の別名もある。

［関山和夫］

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