Author: Komparu Zenchiku (1405-1470?)
Scene: Autumn, the 12th century, Sumiyoshi in Settsu Province, in the present Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City
Category: Fourth category miscellaneous play, phantasm (mugen) noh in two acts, shin-no-jo-no-mai (slow, elegant god dance) piece, with taiko
Performance practice: Performed by all five schools
| Role | Mask | Actor | Rank |
| The priest Saigyo | Waki | Secondary actor | |
| An old man | Old man (asakura-jo, warai-jo) | Maejite | First half shite main actor |
| An old woman | Old woman (uba) | Tsure | Accompanying shite actor |
| Deity of a subsidiary shrine of Sumiyoshi | Deity (nobori-hige "rising whiskers") | Ai/Ai-kyogen | Interlude actor |
| A shrine priest possessed by the deity Sumiyoshi Myojin | Old man (koushi-jo, shiwa-jo) | Nochijite | Second half shite main actor |
The priest Saigyo travels to Sumiyoshi to worship at the Sumiyoshi Shrine. There, he stops at the house of an old couple and asks for lodging. The old couple are engaged in an argument over whether to leave a plank in the roof closed, the better to hear the patter of the autumn rain, or open, the better to see the moon. They ask Saigyo to finish a waka poem to secure his lodging. His answer about the moonlight and the rain patter moves the old couple to invite him to stay. Together they view the moon, listen to the rain, and recall ancient autumn scenes. After the night has deepened, the old couple encourage Saigyo to sleep, then themselves disappear.
A protecting deity of a subsidiary shrine of Sumiyoshi appears as Saigyo sleeps and in his dream informs him that the old couple are in fact deities of Sumiyoshi. The deity Sumiyoshi Myojin now appears as a shrine priest. He praises Saigyo and tells of the rarity of great poets, and then says that he has transformed into a shrine priest to express his gratitude. He dances in praise of the virtue of poetry.
A framework hut representing the home of the old man and woman is placed on stage.
1. Waki entrance: The priest Saigyo enters to shidai music and sings of being drawn by the mist. He tells that he is on a pilgrimage from his home in Sagano to the Sumiyoshi Shrine and sings a travel song describing his journey. On his arrival at Sumiyoshi, he sees a small house and decides to ask for a night's lodging.
Stage attendants lower the curtain around the framework hut to reveal an old man and woman.
2. Shite/Tsure entrance: The old man and woman sing a poem about the autumn wind rustling through the dry branches sounding like rain, and moonlight on sand looking like frost on a spring night.
3. Waki/Shite/Tsure exchange: Saigyo calls out and asks for lodging bnt is told to go elsewhere. The couple sing together and reveal an argument they are having: the wife wants to leave the roof plank off and see the moon, while the husband wants to cover the roof to hear the sound of the autumn rain. The husband turns to Saigyo and quoting the last couplet of a poem, challenges him to complete the poem if he wishes to stay. The priest recites: "Wavering over whether the rain will stop and the moon will shine, the poor become troubled over the thatching of the roof." Pleased with his response, the chorus describe how the couple welcome the priest to their home. [The stage now represents the inside of the couple's home.]
4. Shite/Tsure exclamation: The couple sing of hearing the autumn rain and of the wind blowing through the pines. The chorus sings of seeing the moon as if in a dream. The old man sings of striking a fulling block and the chorus sings poetically referring to a poor woman who strikes a block to release her autumn anger under the moon, of the old man's tears as he thinks of this emotional scene, and of the moonlight on sleeves of autumn leaves.
5. Shite/Tsure exit: Noting that the night has deepened, the old man encourages the priest to rest. The chorus sings of returning to the past in dream and falling asleep. The couple exit to raijo music.
6. Ai's standing speech: A subordinate shrine deity enters to kyogen raijo music, tells what happened earlier and that the old couple and their house have disappeared leaving Saigyo under a pine. He tells Saigyo in dream that the old man who appeared before him was the deity Sumiyoshi Myojin who will now appear as a shrine priest and teach Saigyo the secrets of poetry. He exits.
Stage attendants remove the framework hut and replace it with a dais having a shrine with sacred Shinto paper cords.
7. Nochijite entrance: The shrine priest enters to deha music and sings of waka being based on the paths of yin and yang, structured in five lines as in the five elements, and having an upper and lower section as in heaven and earth. He sings of being grateful for prayers which call forth the oracles of the deity.
8. Shite exclamation and dance: With notto music, the priest sings praising Saigyo's skill at waka, then dances a long and elegant shin-no-jo-no-mai "god dance."
9. Conclusion: The chorus sings of the deity's gratitude, of the sound of the waves and pine wind along the shore of Sumiyoshi, of bells ringing and waka being sung, and of the diety departing the body of the shrine priest who then becomes his normal self.
[Richard Emmert]