Buaku

The title of a Kyogen piece. In the Okura school it is called Daimyo Kyogen, and in the Izumi school it is called Miscellaneous Kyogen. Ordered by his master to kill the disloyal servant Buaku (Shite), Taro Kaja receives his sword and sets off to kill him. The Kaja offers Buaku some river fish, and when he enters a fish tank he tries to sneakily attack him from behind, but his friendship gets the better of him and he spares his life. The master receives a false report that Buaku has been killed, and takes the Kaja with him to Higashiyama. Meanwhile, Buaku also comes to Kiyomizu Kannon to offer thanks for sparing his life, and runs into his master near Toribeno. As a last resort, Buaku appears disguised as a ghost, and makes a false statement that he met the lord in the afterlife. Claiming to have been ordered by the lord, he takes the frightened master's sword, small sword, and fan, and then threatens him, saying that he has been asked to accompany him to the afterlife, chasing the fleeing master. The tense first half and the humorous second half are different, but the way they are integrated into one piece is cleverly structured. There is a theory that the miraculous tales in volume 17-4 of the Konjaku Monogatarishu and the supernatural tales in volume 2-7 of the Kizatsudanshu are the basis for this piece.

[Kazutoshi Hayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

狂言の曲名。大蔵(おおくら)流では大名狂言、和泉(いずみ)流では雑狂言。不奉公者の武悪（シテ）を討つよう主人に命じられた太郎冠者(かじゃ)は、太刀(たち)を受け取り討っ手に向かう。冠者は、武悪に川魚の進上を勧め、生け簀(す)に入ったところを後ろからだまし討ちにしようとするが、友情が先だって斬(き)れず命を助ける。武悪を討ったと偽りの報告を受けた主人は、冠者を連れて東山へ赴く。一方、武悪も助命のお礼参りに清水(きよみず)観音へやってきて、鳥辺野(とりべの)のあたりで主人にばったり出くわす。武悪は窮余の策に幽霊を装って現れ、あの世で大殿様に会ったなどとでたらめを述べる。その大殿様の注文と称して、怖がる主人から太刀、小さ刀、扇を預かったうえ、あの世に主人を同道するよう頼まれたと脅し、逃げる主人を追い込んでいく。緊迫した前半とユーモラスな後半は異質であるが、これを統合して1曲に仕立て上げている構成は巧みである。『今昔(こんじゃく)物語集』巻17-4の霊験譚(れいげんたん)や『奇異雑談集』巻2-7の怪異譚を、この曲の原拠とみる説がある。

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