KONKICHI-The Lonely Fox

狂言と仮面劇が融合ー日中韓の最高の舞台「コンキチ」が始まる！！
平成２０年度文化庁芸術祭参加作品

楽劇ー３カ国が共同で上演する仮面劇「コンキチ」が始まった。
世界中の多くの人々の心に、２１世紀を救う感動的な物語を手渡そうと、
日本の伝統芸能や中国古代の音楽を駆使して、自然と人間の内面に深く切り込みながら、生命の躍動感・勇気を奮い起こさせる舞台を企画いたしました。

愛・自然・人間　のありかた・・・
天平楽府の奏でる楽曲にのせて・・・
人間と自然の共生の大切さをテーマに・・・
日本・中国・韓国の芸術家たちが・・・

楽劇　ＫＯＮＫＩＣＨＩ　（日中韓三国共同制作）　
平成20年度文化庁芸術祭参加作品

多くの国で翻訳出版され、広く読まれている物語田島伸二原作の「コンキチ」が、
日本・韓国・中国の狂言師、歌舞伎役者、京劇役者、現代舞踊家、音楽家たちにより、
新しい楽劇として新しく登場しました。

（東京）渋谷セルリアンタワー能楽堂　昼公演　夜公演
１０月２８日（火）午後３時開演の回又は午後７時開演の回　
前売10000・9000円
KONKICHI のホームページ：　http://j-asia.jp/konkichi/

（埼玉）
１０月１７日（金）午後７時開演の回のみ　　前売3500円　学生1500円
会場　こしがや能楽堂（埼玉県越谷市花田六丁目６−１）
交通　武蔵野線南越谷駅から又は東武伊勢崎線新越谷駅からバス・タクシー

KONKICHI HOMEHILL - The Lonely Fox

It was February, and the rays of the winter sun glittered brightly on the snow that covered everything in sight. In other years, every animal living in these hills would still be fast asleep in winter hibernation, but this year there was one who was wide awake.
Although the first warm breeze of spring was yet far off, Konkichi the fox crawled up and out of the deep hole that he had dug to pass the winter in sleep. Young Konkichi was deep in thought. Now, before you say that this fox, an animal, could not possibly be deep in thought, remember that　a fox, too, has feelings, and cries out ‘Kon’ whenever he is especially happy or sad. A fox these days has many things to be concerned about.
Through a winter so long that it seemed like forever, Konkichi had been thinking and thinking, not closing his eyes to sleep even once. It is no wonder, then, that when he came out of his hole, his eyes were tired and bloodshot, his fur coat was mussed up, and his tail, of which he was so proud, had lost its silvery sheen.
This matter that had Konkichi so deep in thought was — well, something about a golf course! A golf course? Just what could a fox have to do with golf?

Since spring of the previous year, when the hill had been dug up and carved into a golf course, Konkichi had watched with envy the figures of humans swinging golf clubs as they strolled around the course. These people, called ‘businessmen’, wore smart neckties as they went back and forth to offices Monday through Friday, and when the weekend came it seemed that their job was to come out onto the green hills and have fun hitting little white balls into the air and then into little round holes.
Konkichi would hide in the high grass around the golf course and secretly watch these smartly dressed people enjoying golf, and think to himself, ‘It sure is a hard and boring life we foxes live, chasing rabbits and field mice, and being chased by the farmer when we go after his chickens.’
‘Ah, I want to be a human being! I’d like to try living the life of a businessman. Oh, what can I do? Why don’t I just become a person once and for all! Oh, but if I did. . .’ This is the problem that had kept Konkichi awake and confused all winter long.
Just now, as we were learning about Konkichi’s winter thoughts, he came up to the entrance to his hole and sat motionless, thinking over these questions until, suddenly, he stood and shook himself from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. ‘I quit being a fox!’ he yelled, his voice carrying over the fields and mountains, loud enough to reach the ocean and fly over the waves to echo around the world. ‘From now on I’m going to be a person, a person I will become,’ muttered Konkichi to himself. Konkichi decided to use ken-pon-tan magic. This ken-pon-tan magic, known only to foxes, is a way for foxes to change into human form. By placing an oak leaf on the head and saying ‘ken’, one would become able to speak exactly like a person. Then, saying ‘pon’ would change the body of the fox into whatever kind of person he wanted to be. Only the tail of the fox would still remain. Finally—yes, truly, finally — by saying ‘tan’ the tail would disappear, and the fox who used this magic would then be completely human, and could never again become a fox. Konkichi’s mother had many times warned him not to say these three words, but now he was determined to ignore her advice.

The young fox picked up an old, dried oak leaf that lay just inside his winter hole, and placed it on top of his head.
‘Konkichi! Just what do you think you are doing?!’ his mother called to him from where she sat at the entrance to their home in the side of the hill. ‘My son, I know what you have been thinking about through this winter, but life as a human may not be as enjoyable as it appears to others who can only see it from the outside.’
Konkichi replied, ‘Mother, I’ve already made up my mind. No matter what, I will become a person. Being stuck here in the hills with no food in the winter, and then being chased around by men with guns — I’ve had enough of that! I’m going to be a businessman in town. With the salary I’ll be earning, I’ll buy many tasty rabbits and bring them to you.’ Hurriedly ending his short speech, the young fox turned his pointed nose toward the sky to begin the magic chant.
‘Konkichi!’ his mother again cried out, ‘I never told you before, but many hundreds of our fox friends have used the ken-pon-tan magic to become human, and then left these hills. Nobody knows what became of them after that. I beg of you to think it over again, my dear son. . . .’
Before his loving mother could finish speaking, Konkichi shouted, ‘Mother, here I go!’ and with that he firmly held the oak leaf on his head with his right forepaw and barked out ‘ken-pan-ta—n.’
Right then and there, where Konkichi the fox had been, stood a young man with his right hand on his head, a tall young man smartly dressed in a dark blue suit and a red necktie. Konkichi in his new human form slowly lowered his hand from the top of his head and hesitatingly touched the necktie on his chest. Then he slowly stretched his hand behind him and felt — no tail! He could even speak with the sounds and words of the humans. Thinking ahead to his glorious future as a person, never to be a fox again, Konkichi was really delighted.
While Konkichi beamed happily, his mother stared blankly at him, and from her unblinking eyes the tears came and rolled down her face. Her transformed son, seeing her in her grief, said, ‘I’ll be back soon, so...’ and swiftly disappeared down the side of the hill.

(to be continued to http://tajimaiclc.at.webry.info/200809/article_7.html)