Ebira (no Ume)

箙（の梅） The Quiver

1 Source and/or Related Material

Nagato version of the Tale of the Heike 16

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) and his companions (wakitsure) visit the Ikuta River in Suma (present-day Kobe). When they are gazing at a beautiful plum tree, a local villager (maeshite) appears and tells the travellers about this tree called the “quiver plum”. The man relates how during the battle between the Genji and Heike clans, the warrior Kajiwara Kagesue stuck a branch of this plum tree into his quiver for decoration, then fought furiously against his enemies. He also narrates the battle of Ichinotani. Thereupon a man from Ikuta (ai) enters, tells further about the “quiver plum” and asks the monk to hold a memorial service for Kagesue. When the monk falls asleep Kagesue’s ghost (nochishite) appears to him in full regalia. The ghost shows the torments he is suffering in warrior hell and how he once stuck a branch of the plum tree into his quiver. He asks the monk again to pray for his soul and disappears.