Tsuchigumo
Spider（1901）Japanese Plays and Playfellows, Heinemann, London [EN]
- 55-56It seems that a band of robbers, who lived in caves and were known by the nickname of earth-spiders, were routed from their lairs and exterminated by Kintaro, servant of Yoremitsu, whose valour was much enhanced in popular estimation by the flattering- rumour that the defeated pests were not men at all, but a race of enormous demon-insects.
- 18-19Those in the ” Monstrous Spider ” are particularly strange and fantastic, and the fight between the armed Imperial Guards and masked monsters, who entangle and entwine their human opponents in the long gauzy filaments of their spider’s web, is curious and impressive.
- 19The origin of the tale is supposed to be the story of Kintaro, the servant of Yorimitsu, who exterminated a band of robbers dwelling in caves, and popularly known as “earthspiders.”
- 465. Tsuchigumo, the Earth-Spider.
- 55“Tsuchigumo,” the Earth-Spider, the last piece performed, is founded on a curious legend, whose chief merit may be that it affords excuse for a fantastic stage-picture.
- 56Accordingly, the climax of “Tsuchigumo” is a stirring encounter between Imperial Guards, armed with swords and spears, and masked monsters, who entangle their weapons and baffle their aim in a cloud of long gauzy filaments, resembling the threads of a spider’s web.
- 46A glance at the programme gave assurance of prolonged and varied entertainment, since no less than five religious plays and three kiyōgen (lit. mad words), or farcical interludes, were announced in the following order: 1. Shunkwan, the High-Priest in Exile. 2. Koi no Omone, the Burden of Love. 3. Aoi no Uye, the Sick Wife. 4. Funa Benkei, Benkei at Sea. 5. Tsuchigumo, the Earth-Spider.
- 55“Tsuchigumo,” the Earth-Spider, the last piece performed, is founded on a curious legend, whose chief merit may be that it affords excuse for a fantastic stage-picture.
- 56Accordingly, the climax of “Tsuchigumo” is a stirring encounter between Imperial Guards, armed with swords and spears, and masked monsters, who entangle their weapons and baffle their aim in a cloud of long gauzy filaments, resembling the threads of a spider’s web.
- 24 -25Hachinoki, Hashibenkei, Hо̄kazо̄, Dо̄jо̄ji, Tо̄ru, Okina, Kayoigomachi, Kantan, Kagekiyo, Yoroboshi, Tsuchigumo, Nakamitsu, Utо̄, Kurozuka, Kuzu, Kumasaka, Yamauba, Yо̄rо̄, Matsukaze, Funa-Benkei, Fujito, Kokaji, Aoino-ue, Ataka, Ama, Midare, Shichiki-ochi, Shakkyо̄, Shunkwan, Shо̄zon, Mochizuki, Sesshо̄seki, Semimaru, Sumidagawa – 35 in all.
- 25Izutsu, Rōtaiko, Hanagatami, Hanjo, Futarishizuka, Tomonaga, Chikubushima, Oharagōkō, Tsuchigumo, Tsunemasa, Kozō, Sanemori, Hibariyama, Motomezuka, Settai, etc.
- 20Characteristic ones are ” о̄yeyama,” ” Kurama-tengu,” ” Adachigahara,” ” Matsuyama-tengu,” and” Tsuchigumo.”
- 87[TSUCHIGUMO]
- 38A fifty-page introduction is followed by translations of six plays: Aridoshi, Ebira, Ninin Shizuka, Kashiwazaki, Tsuchigumo, Yuki; and summaries of seven others are given.
- 36-37In this group are included those in which supernatural beings such as oni (demon), tengu (goblin), kitsune (fox), sisi (lion) and syozyo (wine fairy appear and perform their special dances, as in Kurozuka (The Black Mound of the Adati Plain), Momizi-gari (The Maple Viewing), Ōe-yama (The Demon of Mt. Ōe), No-mori (The Field-keeping Demon), Kurama-tengu (The Hobgoblin of Mt. Kurama), Zegai (The Hobgoblin of China), Sessyō-seki (The Killing Stone of the Nasu Plain), Kokazi (The Sword-smith and the Fox-God), Yamanba (The Mountain Demoness), Nue (The Monkey Headed Monster), Tuti-gumo (The Cave Monster), Huna-Benkei (Benkei in the Boat), Kumasaka (Kumasaka the Chief Robber) and Syōkun (Wan Chao-chun Sacrificed).
- 60Tuti-gumo (The Cave Monster)