The Golden Country (6 page)

Staggering

FERREIRA: The silence of the night—only the stars are alive. The earth is cold. Is my faith also weak? Am I tempting you with my cries? I'm gradually falling into the sin of hypocrisy.

CURTAIN

It is the following afternoon, the same scene as Act one, Scene two. Hatsu and Yuki are mending Mass vestments, a red and a black.

YUKI: Hatsu, this is the vestment used in the Mass for the Dead. Black stands for the sorrow of those left behind. The red vestment is worn in the Mass of the Saints who gave up their lives for Christ. Father told me that the red is for the precious blood of the martyrs.

HATSU: Yes?

YUKI: Hatsu, did Father bring these vestments across the far seas with him?

HATSU: No, they were given to him by a great Father who died in Japan. Now only these two are left. With sun, wind, and rain, the colors have faded.... Yuki, Father told me that even when he was running from place to place like a dog, trying to keep ahead of the officials-even then he kept these two vestments with him always, along with his breviary.

YUKI: Father came to this country the year I was born, didn't he?

HATSU: He was here in Nagasaki and made many trips to Yamaguchi and Kyoto. But even this distance, he used to say, was nothing compared to the dangerous journey to Japan from his native land.

YUKI: Hatsu, won't you put that vestment on for a second?

HATSU: This vestment? But it's the vestment Father uses to say Mass.

YUKI: Only for a second. No one will ever know.

HATSU
(putting it on):
Like this?

YUKI: Oh, it looks very nice on you.

HATSU: Nice on
me?
Please don't tease me.

YUKI: I would like to see that vestment, not as it is now, faded and worn, but as it once was, a flaming crimson, burning like the evening sun of Nagasaki that dyes the seas red. I would like to attend a Mass as in the old days, when all sang out in a loud voice, and the altar was buried in flowers, and among the flowers a shining gold crucifix.

She falls silent.

HATSU: Is something wrong, Yuki?

YUKI: No, nothing. Nothing.

She covers her face with her hands and sobs in a low voice.

HATSU: How strange you are! A moment ago you were joking and had me put on the Mass vestment, and now you're weeping. I must say, I can't understand you young girls.

She shakes her head.

YUKI: But you're not so old yourself.

HATSU: Why did you suddenly burst into tears?

YUKI: You wouldn't understand.

HATSU: Yuki, don't make fun of me. If I knew what was wrong, I wouldn't ask. Come on, tell me.

YUKI: Do you promise not to tell anyone?

HATSU: I promise. May I go to the inferno if I am lying.

Hatsu and Yuki turn their backs to the audience and speak together in a low voice.

HATSU: So you refused to marry Gennosuke, the young samurai. I know how you feel. But I'm sure he doesn't hold it against you. You're probably more upset about it than he is.

YUKI: But what must he think of me?

HATSU: He belongs to the bureau, a young samurai hunting for Christians. It doesn't matter much what he thinks, even if he is hurt or dies.... No, no, that's not a Christian way of talking. Even if he is one of our persecutors, we must be kind to him. Are you in love with him, Yuki? I can't know unless you tell me. Speak out.

YUKI: Yes, I love him.

HATSU: Ah, is that so? You're just at the right age. I see how you feel about him. Fine, then. I'll see to it that he finds out your true feelings.

YUKI: But how?

HATSU: I have a cousin named Tome who works at a candle shop in Nagasaki. She sometimes delivers candles
to the bureau. I can have her tell Gennosuke secretly of your love.

YUKI: No, no, you mustn't. Then all of my father's pains till now would be to no avail. Everyone at the bureau would find out that we're Christians.

HATSU: Oh, I wouldn't have Tome tell Gennosuke that you're Christians! She'd only say that you love him but have a very good reason for refusing to many him.

YUKI: I wonder if it would work. No I'm sure it wouldn't. In the first place, how do we know that we can trust Tome? Besides, to do such a thing without first consulting my father. ...Still, if we could do it in such a
way that he wouldn't find out. ...No, no, I'm sure it
wouldn't work.

The door opens and Kasuke, Mokichi, and Norosaku enter.

HATSU: What do you mean by bursting in here without giving the signal?

KASUKE: There's no time for such things. Where's Father Ferreira?

HATSU: In the shed in the back. He's writing something. But what's the matter? Why are you so excited?

MOKICHI: They brought the
fumi-e
to the village of Miwa yesterday.

HATSU: And what happened?

KASUKE: Those who wouldn't step on it were led away to the bureau in Nagasaki.

MOKICHI: All along the way the officials beat them with whips and sticks, as if they were horses or cows. The women and children who fell were kicked brutally.

KASUKE: At their head stood the apostate, Moritaro. He's the one who told the bureau about the Christians of Miwa. But he'd had a change of heart, and was with the Christians in the procession, weeping and wailing.

MOKICHI: The apostates become the tools of the bureau as it tries to get even one more Christian to give up his faith. Just as the devil will do everything in his power to swell his ranks by even one, so these fallen Christians work to drag others into their evil.

HATSU: Stop that fearful talk in Yuki's presence.

KASUKE
(to Yuki):
Forgive me. I thought it best to tell Father Ferreira about this.

Kasuke and Mokichi quickly exit to the rear.

NOROSAKU: Why is everybody making such a fuss?

HATSU: It's nothing. In a short time many of the Fathers will come to Nagasaki from across the distant seas.

NOROSAKU: With the sign of Jesus on their sails.

HATSU: That's right. You remember that song very well, don't you?

NOROSAKU: I remember. Shall I sing it for you?

He sings.

NOROSAKU:
The Pope's ship approaches these shores With the sign of Jesus on its sails. Now it can be seen approaching The Pope's ship with the sign of Jesus on its sails.

HATSU: Well done. Someday, Norosaku, you'll be able to go out to meet the Pope's ship, coming straight from the country called Rome, on its sails the name of Mary. And there'll be many Fathers aboard.

NOROSAKU: On that day I'll greet the Fathers. Then they'll ask me, "Norosaku, will you have something to eat?" and I'll answer, "I will." And they'll ask me again, "Norosaku, would you like to have some sake to drink?" and I'll answer, "I would."

HATSU: That's right.

Kasuke, Mokichi, and Ferreira enter.

KASUKE, MOKICHI: Good-by Father.

They exit.

HATSU
(looking steadily at Ferreira):
What will happen to us? ... No, no, nothing will happen. I was just telling Norosaku that in a short time we'd all go out to welcome the Pope's ship bringing over many new Fathers.

FERREIRA: Yes, yes. There's nothing to worry about. The Lord will see that everything works out for the best.

NOROSAKU: And that ship will take us to the temple of Paradise.

We're on our way, we're on our way,

We're on our way to the temple of Paradise.

The temple of Paradise is far away,

The temple of Paradise is far away,

But we're on our way, we're on our way,

We're on our way to the temple of Paradise.

Father, what kind of place is Paradise?

FERREIRA
(gently):
Paradise, Norosaku? It's a place where all of the present sadness and pain will have completely disappeared, where we'll enjoy ourselves completely with God.

NOROSAKU: Then I'll be able to eat as much as I like, won't I? All the millet and dried fish I can eat. And Santa Maria will serve me.

FERREIRA: Yes, Santa Maria will gladly serve you. It's a place where gentleness of heart will overflow like golden light. Like spring in my native Portugal.

YUKI: Father, tell us about your country.

NOROSAKU
(with emphasis):
In your country, Father, can everybody eat until they're filled?

FERREIRA: My country? My country is Japan. I came across the far seas to become a Japanese. I'll never return again to Portugal. It's now just the country where my past is buried. Still, when I close my eyes like this, I see before me the white walls of the city. In spring the windows are all bright with red roses and the sun sparkles on the sea. When the noon Angelus drifts quietly between the rows of houses, the young girls come to a halt and make the sign of the cross.

YUKI: Father, tell us how you left your country and came to Japan.

FERREIRA: It took me four years to get here. I first passed along the southern coast of the hot continent called Africa. It was two years before I reached Goa in India. Many times the ship had to stop at neighboring ports because of storms or epidemics, or for lack of water. Many of the sailors died in the course of the journey. It took another year to get to Macao, and still another from Macao to Japan. Finally I reached the port of Hirado.

YUKI: Father, why did you leave your native land? I've heard that you left behind a mother and sister.

FERREIRA: I came because I had a dream of Japan as the golden country. I didn't dream of buried gold as did the Portuguese merchants. No, no, rather I think of Japan as the golden country where the teachings of Christ can really take root.

YUKI: It seems to me, Father, that it is your country that is the golden country.

FERREIRA: Distant objects always seem beautiful. What is beyond reach always attracts. That is why one's memories are always beautiful.

NOROSAKU: That's true. That's true.

YUKI
(as if dreaming):
What is beyond reach always attracts! Maybe that's why he seems so attractive.

HATSU
(trying to cover up for Yuki's slip):
Are you speaking of Christ?

YUKI: I wonder if he holds it against me.

HATSU: Why should Christ hold anything against you?

NOROSAKU: Yes, yes.

FERREIRA: Now please leave me alone for a time. Yuki, Norosaku, there's nothing to worry about. Norosaku can dream about the meal that awaits him and Yuki can imagine the country I left behind. And so you will spend the day pleasantly.

Yuki, Hatsu, and Norosaku leave the room

FERREIRA
(bringing out the painting of Christ):
Lord, how long must I go on with this painful pretense? Why must these innocent ones suffer tomorrow under the whips of the persecutors? In spite of all, your face remains so silent and unperturbed. Too silent, too unperturbed. At the river of boiling water, in the death-colored streets of India, I tried to come at least one step closer to your face. But at this moment what I want to see is not your serene face, but your suffering face—your face lined with fear and disfigured with sweat and blood. "And now Christ was in an agony and prayed still more
earnestly; his sweat fell to the ground like thick drops of blood."

With the painting of Christ in his hands, he walks staggeringly offstage. The sound of a creaking door, Hatsu silently enters.

HATSU
(looking about):
Norosaku.

Norosaku follows her onstage.

HATSU: Do you understand, Norosaku? You want to eat your fill, don't you? You want to have enough millet and dried fish, don't you?

NOROSAKU: Father said I should spend the day thinking about what I'd eat.

HATSU: Then, Norosaku, listen carefully to what I tell you. I can't bear to see Yuki's tear-stained face. Can you go to Nagasaki by yourself?

NOROSAKU: I'll go. I'll go.

HATSU: You know my cousin Tome who works in the candle shop, don't you? Will you go to her and tell her that I've a favor to ask of her and that she should meet me secretly at Ienontsuji. Don't forget the place— Ienontsuji. Do you have it? You want to eat your fill of millet and dried fish, don't you?

CURTAIN

The scene is the Bureau of Investigation. It is evening. Tomonaga Sakuemon is sitting alone. Gennosuke enters.