Onmyoji

In the hazy chill of the evening air, Seimei carried the jug as he walked. Occasionally, he'd lift the bottle to his lips, and take a sip of sake. He seemed to be enjoying himself and the ambience of the biwa that night.

"Have a drink Hiromasa?" Seimei asked.

"No," At first he refused.

"The arrow won't hit you just because you're drunk." After being teased by Seimei, Hiromasa took a drink.

Nevertheless, the sound of the biwa was pitiful. Semimaru had long since been listening raptly and silently to the biwa's music. "This is the first time I've heard it, but it's such a sad song," Petite Semimaru murmured.

"Don't tighten your chest," Hiromasa said, adjusting his bow on his shoulder.

"It must be a foreign melody." Seimei said, lifting the sake to his mouth.

The trees grew mature in the dark, their green fragrance blending with the night air. [1] They arrived beneath the Rashomon gate. As expected, the biwa's music lingered in the air above. The three of them, remaining silent, listened intently to the song for a time. While listening, it became clear that the song changes.

At some of those moments, Semimaru murmured quietly. "I remember this song, to some extent -"

"What!?" Hiromasa looked to Semimaru.

"The late Palace Lord responsible for court ceremonies once played a song whose name he didn't know, and I think it was a song akin to this." Semimaru removed the biwa from his back, and held it in his hands.

Strum.

Then, matching the music that came from above, he started to play.

Strum. Strum.

And, the two songs began to entwine. At first Semimaru's song could be picked out, with a little difficulty. Perhaps Semimaru's song reached the top of the gate, however, as the song from the gate began to match with his. Every time it was repeated, it became harder to tell which sound came from Semimaru's biwa, until it was identical to the music which came from the top of the gate.

It was an exquisite song. The sounds of the two biwas harmonized, melding together, resonating through the night. Those listening shivered, the hairs on their arms standing on end. Enthused, Semimaru closed his blind eyes, weaving notes upon his biwa, chasing the feeling that was building inside him. An expression of joy floated across his face.

"I'm so happy, Seimei -" Hiromasa murmured, tears blurring his eyes. "Human beings, can they really hear music such as this -"

Strum. Strum.

And, the sound of the biwa, it rises to the black sky.

A voice could be heard. A low, beast-like growl. At first, it was a whisper, a quiet sound blending with the biwa, that slowly became louder. It came from the top of the Rasho Gate. From the gate, the biwa played on while the voice howled.

Eventually, the sound of the biwas came to an end, and the voice kept howling and sobbing. Semimaru turned his blissful expression towards the heavens, as if attempting to follow the trailing notes with his blind eyes. 

A somber voice began to blend with the roar. It was a language from a foreign country. 

"That's not Chinese," [2] Seimei said. A moment passed, as he focused intently on the words, sighing, "It's from Tenjiku." That is to say, India. "Do you understand it?"

Hiromasa replied, "Perhaps a little?" He had many acquaintances among the Buddhist priests [3], he added. "What are you saying?" He asked in the language, while Seimei focused intently once again. 

"He's sad, he says. And yet, he's also happy, he says. And he keeps calling a woman's name..."

The speech of India, that is, ancient India, or Sanskrit. The Buddhist scriptures were originally written in Sanskrit, and many scriptures written in China used Chinese letters to create transliterations. Even in the Heian period, there were Japanese people who could speak the language, and in fact, there were even Indian people living in Japan.

"He's calling a woman's name?"

"That's what I'm telling you -"

"Suria?"

"Suriyaka, maybe Suria."

Seimei looked to the Rashomon gate with a composed expression. 

They only carried a few lamps, and already the air above the gate was shrouded in darkness. 

Seimei called out to the second floor of the shadowy gate in a low voice. He spoke in a foreign language.

Immediately, the howling voice ceased. "What did you say?"

"I just said your playing sounds good -" Almost right away, a low voice came from overhead.

"What kind of person are you, who knows the music and the language of my country?" There was a slight accent, but the Japanese was unmistakable. 

"We serve the Imperial Court of this Capital city," Hiromasa said.

"What's your name?"

"Minamoto no Hiromasa." Hiromasa said. 

"Minamoto no Hiromasa, you've come here two nights in a row," said the voice.

"Oh," Hiromasa replied. 

"It was me," said Semimaru. 

"Semimaru - were you playing the biwa just now?" When the voice asked, Semimaru replied with a strum of the biwa instead.

"I'm Masanari." Seimei said, Hiromasa turned to Seimei with a suspicious look. "Why did you give a different name?"

It was that kind of face. Seimei, looking up at the Rashomon, had a satisfied expression.

"That other person is -" The voice said a word in the foreign language. "They don't seem like a person." 

"Indeed." Seimei said. 

"Are they a spirit?" The voice murmured.

Seimei nodded. It seemed that those on top of the gate could see those at the bottom.

'That one, does he have a name?" Seimei asked.

"Kandata," [4] the voice replied quietly.

"Is that a foreign name?" 

"Yes. I was born in the place you call Tianzhu." [5]

"It's already too late for you in this world." 

"Yes." Kantata answered.

"What is your social status?"

"I am a traveling musician. Originally I was born to the king's concubine in a small country, I left for the neighboring country after the king was defeated in war. I was always more interested in music than in martial arts, and by the time I was ten I could play a whole range of instruments. What I was best at playing was the five-stringed yueqin - [6]" The voice sounded heavy with nostalgia.

"With only my yueqin, I was washed away to the Tang [7] after a great deal of struggle, where I remained for a long time. I came to this country more than 150 years ago with my old koto. I entered the country on the ship of a Buddhist priest -"

"I see."

"I died 128 years ago." 

"I was making musical instruments like the biwa near Hokke-ji Temple in Heijokyo [8], when one night I was taken in by a bandit, and the thief decapitated me, and I died."

"Why did that happen - ?"

"I wanted to see my old village with my own eyes one more time before I died. I felt sorry for myself for being driven out of my home country and ending up in such a foreign land, and that feeling did not make me a Buddha. [9]"

"I see," Seimei nodded and called out, "But, Kantata,"

"Yes" The voice answered.

"Why did you steal the Genjou Biwa?"

"To be honest, this Genjou was created while I was in the Tang." He spoke in a quiet, low voice.

Seimei gave a big sigh. "Is that so."

"It's a miraculous coincidence [10], Masanari-dono -" The voice said, using the false name Seimei gave earlier. However, Seimei did not reply.

"Which of you is Masanari?" The voice spoke again. Hiromasa glanced at Seimei, who was looking up at the dark gate with a smile spread across his red lips. Suddenly, Hiromasa understood the reason for the koto.

"The Genjou may have belonged there in the past, but now it's here. Please don't return it there -" Hiromasa said with a glare at the top of the gate. 

"I don't mind returning it, but -" A small voice spoke. There was silence for a moment, "I want to request an exchange instead." 

"What!?" 

"I'm embarrassed to say, that while I was sneaking into the palace to steal the biwa, my heart was moved by one of the court ladies."

"What!?"

"At sixteen, I was married to my wife, and there is a lady-in-waiting at the palace who looks exactly like her." 

"..."

"Originally, I was sneaking into the imperial palace night after night to catch a glimpse of her, when I discovered the biwa."

"..."

"I could have forced the lady-in-waiting to be mine, but I just couldn't... so instead, I stole the biwa, to remember the old days, and my wife, Surya, and to comfort my heart." 

"So -" 

"Please send the woman to me. Just for a single night. Please give me one night's relations in exchange. [11]  In return, I'll send the woman back in the morning, and I'll quickly leave this place." After a while, the master of the voice seemed to start howling in anguish. 

"I understand." It was Hiromasa who answered. "If I return and report this to the emperor and the wish is granted, why not return tomorrow night at the same time and bring the woman?" 

"Thank you."

"So, what are the woman's features?"

"She is a lady-in-waiting named Tamakusa, with a pale complexion and a dark mole on her forehead." 

"If your wish is granted, I will shoot an arrow here tomorrow at noon. It case it isn't, I'll shoot an arrow painted black -"

"Thank you for your consideration." The voice replied.

"Hey, hey," Seimei, who had been quiet for a while until a moment ago, called out to the top of the gate. "Why don't you listen some more to the biwa that was playing earlier?"

"Biwa -"

"Mhm."

"I couldn't possibly hope for that. I would come down to play, of course, but because of my ghastly appearance I must play up here." 

Strum.

And the biwa rang out. The rhythm, the sound did not disappear, remaining in the air like a spider's web. It was a beautiful comforting sound, even more so than the last. 

Until that moment, Mitsumushi stood stiffly, but suddenly she knelt and put down her lantern. She stood again without change. In the night air, Mitsumushi's pale hand lifted, and turned round in the air. She moved to the rhythm of the biwa.

"Oh..." Hiromasa spoke with a sigh and a spellbound voice. "The dance and the sound are over..."

... or were they? [12]

A voice called out from above. 

"That was a fine dance. I will show you my abilities, if I wish to see you this evening." 

"If you wish?"

"Tomorrow, I hope you don't bring anything strange." 

Before the voice finished speaking, green light fell on Mitsumushi from the second floor of the Rashomon. The moment the light enveloped her, her face took on an expression of anguish, her red lips falling open. In the instance her white teeth were visible, Mitsumushi vanished with the light. 

Something in the light fluttered to the ground and fell in the spot she stood with a plop. When Seimei walked over and picked it up, it was the flower of a wisteria tree. 

"Thank you for your cooperation." The voice from overhead made clear the conversation was over. Afterwards, only the silky fog moved through the darkness of the night.

Seimei pinched the wisteria flower with a finger on his right hand, and pressed it against his red lips. On those lips floated a quiet smile.

Chapter Six Notes 

[1] The verb used here is 'ureru', 'to ripen, to mature'. The trees are ripening/maturing, which I take to mean that as they walk the trees are growing bigger/older, implying magic and age. 'Ripening' is not something you'd ever say trees do in English, so I went with maturing.

[2] Seimei says the voice isn't speaking in 'Tang', referring to Tang Dynasty Chinese, the dialect that would have been spoken during this era. He's basically saying he's not speaking mainland Chinese. Later he concludes the language is from 'tenjiku', or India.

[3] The language being spoken, as is mentioned later in the story, is Sanskirt, an ancient Indian dialect. It's a language heavily associated with Buddhism since the religion was born in India, and Sanskrit was one of the first languages Buddhist priests wrote their texts in. So, Japanese Buddhists would have known the language, which is how Hiromasa learned a little of it.

[4] The name Kandata might be a reference to a Japanese short story, The Spider's Thread, by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. It's a Buddhist themed short story published in 1918 about a criminal who is given a chance at redemption and ruins it by being only interested in himself. 

[5] India.

[6] A yueqin is a Chinese 4 stringed instrument, though apparently his instrument had 5 strings.

[7] China. 

[8] Heijō-kyō was Japan's capital in the Nara period, during the 700's, which is now modern day Nara. The temple is a Buddhist temple in that same city.

[9] The equivalence of this phrase in English might be, I was no saint. He's saying his bitter feelings about missing home made him a badly behaved person. 

[10] The phrase here is heavily religious in connotation, referring to Buddhist ideas of destiny. There's not an easy English comparison since destiny and fate aren't that big of a deal here, but he's saying it feels like it was fated that he find the biwa. In English, the closest equivalent is probably a miracle.

[11] The word here is 契り, which can mean both a pledge or vow, or in the context of two people, sexual relations. Given the conversation and the organization of the sentence, I think he's asking to have sex with her. It might just be asking to spend an evening with her. ... but the sexual context seems pretty obvious I think. 

[12] The phrase in question is: 　舞いと琵琶が終った。　──と。My best guess as to the meaning is the above. 'と' at the end of a sentence can imply the speaker/subject is unsure of what they're saying, maybe implying that Hiromasa thinks the music/dance is over because the sound is ending, only for it to continue.