KYOGEN:『ぬけから』NUKEGARA The Castoff Shell
Shite:Taro Kaja　Ado:Master
Taro Kaja loves to drink sake and to keep him in good spirits his Master always gives him a drink before sending him off on errands. For some reason he forgets this custom and so Taro Kaja makes false starts, coming back until the Master remembers to give him some sake. This time Taro Kaja helps himself to too much sake and when he starts out on his errand he is very drunk, indeed. He decides to stop by the side of the road to rest. The Master decides to check on Taro Kaja’s progress and when he finds him asleep decides to teach him a lesson. The Master puts a demon mask on Taro Kaja.

NOH:『羽　衣　盤渉』HAGOROMO Banshiki
It is spring and a Fisherman, Hakuryo, returns with his companions from an early outing in their boats on the MioBay in Suruga, in present day Shizuoka prefecture. Arriving at the pine grove overlooking the bay, he is suddenly surprised when flowers come raining down from the sky and a wonderful fragrance and sweet music fill the air. He then notices a beautiful robe of feathers (hagoromo) draped on a pine branch. It is such a marvel that he decides at once to take it home and present it to the village elders. He has just taken it in his hands when a woman’s voice calls out, saying that the robe is hers. She is a Heavenly Maiden, she explains, one of thirty who attend the Lord of the Moon, an incarnation of Seishi, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. These maidens appear in cloaks of white or black creating the phases of the moon, a symbol of enlightenment. The Maiden has come down to visit the Earth and taken off her robe of feathers and hung it on the pine tree before bathing in the sea. She pleads with Hakuryo to return the robe, explaining that she needs it to return to her home. At first he refuses stubbornly, but seeing her begin to wilt and decay before his very eyes, he finally relents. Hakuryo agrees to return the robe, but only if she will show him the celebrated dances of the MoonPalace. She readily agrees to do so, and asks Hakuyro to give her the robe so that she can dance. He refuses, saying he fears she will take the robe and fly away without dancing as she has promised. She sternly rebukes him with the words, ‘Doubt and suspicion are for mortals, but in Heaven there is no deceit.’ Hearing this, Hakuryo is so ashamed that he quickly returns the robe.
The Heavenly Maiden the dances in celebration before returning to her home in the Moon. In today’s performance of the kogaki variation Banshiki, the Jo-no-Mai Slow Tempo Dance, is performed in the Banshiki mode associated with the element water.