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PART TWO

  The old man and the boy begin their dialogue

  WAKI

  (A Priest)

  Are you the flower keeper?

  BOY

  (A "doji", or temple servant)

  I am the boy who serves the Jinnushi Gongen. I sweep up in the blossom season, so you may call me the flower keeper if you wish, although I should tell you that I am one of noble rank concealed in a lowly appearance.

  WAKI

  I believe you. Will you tell me something about this temple?

  BOY

  It is called Seisuiji and was founded by Tamura Maro. In Kojimadera of Yamato, a priest named Kenshin, searching for the true light of Kwannon, saw a golden light floating on the Kotsu River. As he approached it, he encountered an elderly man who said "I am Gioye Koji and you must seek out Maro, Sakanouye-no-Tamura Maro, and build a temple." So he did.

  WAKI

  That is interesting. Can you tell me something of the places hereabouts?

  BOY

  The mountain to the south is Nakayama Seikanji. And the temple to the north where they ring the nightfall bell is the temple of Ashino. Look. The moon is rising over Mount Otoba and shines through the cherry blossoms.

  WAKI

  It is an hour worth more than silver.

  TOGETHER

  (Reciting A Chinese poem by Su Shih, AD 1036-1101)

  "One moment of this night is worth a thousand gold bars.

  The flowers have a wonderful smell in the soft moonlight."

  WAKI

  Having shared these moments with you, I know you are not an ordinary boy. What is your name?

  BOY

  If you want to make that discovery, you must watch to see which road I take. Then you can find out where I am returning to.

  CHORUS

  He stepped down in front of the Gongen Jinnushi Temple and went into

  the mountains.

  The BOY leaves. WAKI kneels beneath the full moon and touches his forehead to the wooden steps then he follows the boy downstage.

  BOY

  Frost tinges the jasper terrace.

  A fine stork, a black stork sings in the heavens.

  Autumn is deep in the valley of Hako,

  The sad monkeys cry out in the midnight,

  The mountain pathway is lonely.

  CHORUS

  The morning moonlight lies over the world

  And flows through the gap of the mountains.

  White frost is on the Kahi bridge, the crisp water wrinkles beneath.

  There is no print in the frost on the bridge,

  No-one has crossed the river this morning.

  WAKI

  A moon hangs clear on the pine-bough. The wind rustles as if flurried with rain. This is the hour of magic when the strings sound like a stork crying in a cage. His brushing wings were a storm, his spirit is gone in the darkness.

  The four actors join hands and dance to the sound of the flute. Thus are Wisdom, Innocent Heroism, Beauty and Purity united in the harmony of music and movement.

  Lady Tso's fourth century "Song of Takuboku"

  In the South Hills there's a bird

  That calls itself the woodpecker

  When it's hungry, it eats its tree;

  When it's tired, it rests in the boughs.

  Don't mind about other people;

  Just make up your mind what you want.

  If you're pure, you'll get honour;

  If you're foul, you'll get shame.

  The performers bow to the audience and then to each other. Everyone claps. Veda simply tosses her hotdog on to the grass where it is squashed under the wheels of a pushchair.