THE MADMAN ON THE ROOF
by Kikuchi Kan (1888-1948)
Characters
KATSUSHIMA YOSHITARO, the madman, twenty-four years of age
KATSUSHIMA SUEJIRO, his brother, a seventeen-year old high school student
KATSUSHIMA GISUKE, their father
KATSUSHIMA OYOSHI, their mother
TOSAKU, a neighbour
KICHIJI, a manservant, twenty years of age
A PRIESTESS, about fifty years of age
PLACE: A small island in the Inland Sea
TIME: 1900
The stage setting represents the backyard of the Katsushima, who are the richest family on the island. A bamboo fence prevents one from seeing more of the house than the high roof, which stands out sharply against the rich greenish sky of the southern island summer. At the left of the stage once can catch a glimpse of the sea shinning in the sunlight.
Yoshitaro, the elder son of the family, is sitting astride the ridge of the roof, and is looking out over the sea.
GISUKE (speaking from within the house) : Yoshi is sitting on the roof again. He’ll get a sunstroke---the sun’s so terribly hot. (Coming out.) Kichiji! --- Where is Kichiji?
KICHIII (appearing from the right) : Yes! What do you want?
GISUKE: Bring Yoshitaro down. He has no hat on, up there in the hot sun. He’ll get a sunstroke. How did he get up there, anyway? From the barn? Didn’t you put wires around the barn roof as I told you to the other day?
KICHIJI: Yes, I did exactly as you told me.
GISUKE (coming through the gate to the center of the stage, and looking up to the roof) : I don’t see how he can stand it, sitting on that hot slate roof. (He calls.) Yoshitaro! You’d better come down. If you stay up there you’ll get a sunstroke and maybe die.
KICHIJI: Young master! Come on down. You’ll get sick if you stay there.
GISUKE: Yoshi! Come down quick! What are you doing up there, anyway? Come down, I say! (He calls loudly.) Yoshi!
YOSHITARO (indifferently) : Wha-a-at?
GISUKE: No “whats”! come down right away. If you don’t come down, I’ll get after you with a stick.
YOSHITARO (protesting like a spoiled child) : No, I don’t want to. There’s something wonderful. The pries of the god Kompira is dancing in the clouds. Dancing with an angel in pink robes. They’re calling to me to come. (Crying out ecstatically.) Wait! I’m coming!
GISUKE: If you talk like that you’ll fall, just as you did once before. You’re already crippled and insane---what will you do next to worry your parents? Come down, you fool!
KICHIJI: Master, don’t get so angry. The young master will not obey you. You should get some fried bean cake; when he sees it he will come down, because he likes it.
GISUKE: No, you had better get the stick after him. Don’t be afraid to give him a good shaking-up.
KICHIJI: That’s too cruel. The young master doesn’t understand anything. He’s under the influence of evil spirits.
GISUKE: We may have to put bamboo guards on the roof to keep him down from there.
KICHIJI: Whatever you do wont keep him down. Why, he climbed the roof of the Honzen Temple without even a ladder; a low roof like this one is the easiest thing in the world for him. I tell you, it’s the evil spirits that make him climb. Nothing can stop him.
GISUKE: You may be right, he worries me to death. If we could only keep him in the house it wouldn’t be so bad, even though he is crazy; but he’s always climbing up to high places. Suejiro says that everybody as far as Takamatsu knows about Yoshitaro the Madman.
KICHIJI: People on the island all say he’s under the influence of a fox-spirit, but I don’t believe that. I never heard of a fox climbing trees.
GISUKE: You’re right. I think I know the real reason. About the time Yoshitaro was born, I bought a very expensive imported rifle, and I shot every monkey on the island. I believe a monkey-spirit is now working in him.
KICHIJI: That’s just what I think. Otherwise, how could he climb trees so well? He can climb anything without a ladder. Even Saku, who’s a professional climber, admits that he’s no match for Yoshitaro.
GISUKE (with a bitter laugh) : Don’t joke about it! It’s no laughing matter, having a son who is always climbing on the roof. (Calling again.) Yoshitaro, come down! Yoshitaro! ---When he’s up there on the roof, he doesn’t hear me at all---he’s so engrossed. I cut down all the trees around the house so he couldn’t climb them, but there’s nothing I can do about the roof.
KICHIJI: When I was a boy I remember there was a ginko tree in front of the gate.
GISUKE: Yes, that was one of the biggest trees on the island. One day Yoshitaro climbed clear to the top. He sat out on a branch, at least ninety feet above the ground, dreaming away as usual. My wife and I never expected him to get down alive, but after a while, down he slid. We were all too astonished to speak.
KICHIJI: That was certainly a miracle.
GISUKE: That’s why I say it’s a monkey-spirit that’s working him. (He calls again.) Yoshi! Come down! (Dropping his voice.) Kichiji, you’d better go up and fetch him.
KICHIJI: But when anyone else climbs up there, the young master gets angry.
GISUKE: Never mind his getting angry. Pull him down.
KICHIJI: Yes master.
(Kichiji goes out after the ladder. Tosaku, the neighbour, enters.)
TOSAKU: Good day, sir.
GISUKE: Good day. Fine weather. Catch anything with the nets you put out yesterday?
TOSAKU: No, not much. The season’s over.
GISUKE: Maybe it is too late now.
TOSAKU (looking up at Yoshitaro) : Your son’s on the roof again.
GISUKE: Yes, as usual. I don’t like it, but when I keep him locked in a room he’s like a fish out of water. Then, when I take pity on him ad let him out, back he goes on the roof.
TOSAKU: But after all, he doesn’t bother anybody.
GISUKE: He bothers us. We feel so ashamed when he climbs up there and shouts.
TOSAKU: But your younger son Suejiro, has a fine record at school. That must be some consolation for you.
GISUKE: Yes, he’s a good student, and that is a consolation for me. If both of them were crazy, I don’t know how I could go on living.
TOSAKU: By the way, a Priestess has just come to the island. How would you like to have her pray for your son? ---That’s really what I came to see you about.
GISUKE: We’ve tried prayers before, but it’s never done any good.
TOSAKU: This Priestess believes in the god Kompira. She works all kinds of miracles. People say the god inspires her, that’s why her prayers have more effect than those of ordinary priests. Why don’t you try her once?
GISUKE: Well, we might. How much does she charge?
TOSAKU: She won’t take your money unless the patient is cured. If he is cured, you can pay her whatever you feel like.
GISUKE: Suejiro says he doesn’t believe in prayers…. But there’s no harm in letting her try.
(Kichiji enters carrying the ladder and disappears behind the fence.)
TOSAKU: I’ll go and fetch her here. In the meantime you get your son down off the roof.
GISUKE: Thanks for your trouble. (After seeing that Tosaku has gone, he calls again.) Yoshi! Be a good boy and come down.
KICHIJI (who is up on the roof by this time) : Now then, young master, come down with me. If you stay up here any longer you’ll have a fever tonight.
YOSHITARO (drawing away from Kichiji as a Buddhist might from a heathen) : Don’t touch me! The angels are beckoning to me. You’re not supposed to come here. What do you want?
KICHIJI: Don’t talk nonsense! Please come down.
YOSHITARO: If you touch me the demons will tear you apart.
(Kichiji hurriedly catches Yoshitaro by the shoulder and pulls him to the ladder. Yoshitaro suddenly becomes submissive.)
KICHIJI: Don’t make any trouble now. If you do you’ll fall and hurt yourself.
GISUKE: Be careful!
(Yoshitaro comes down to the center of the stage, followed by Kichiji. Yoshitaro is lame in his right leg.)
GISUKE (calling) : Oyoshi! Come out here a minute.
OYOSHI (from within) : What is it?
GISUKE: I’ve sent for a Priestess.
OYOSHI (coming out) : That may help. You never can tell what will.
GISUKE: Yoshitaro says he talks with the god Kompira. Well, this Priestess is a follower of Kompira, so she ought to be able to help him.
YOSHITARO (looking uneasy): Father! Why did you bring me down? There was a beautiful cloud of five colours rolling down to fetch me.
GISUKE: Idiot! Once before you said there was a five-coloured cloud, and you jumped off the roof. That’s the way you became a cripple. A Priestess of the god Kompira is coming here today to drive the evil spirit out of you, so don’t you go back up on the roof.
(Tosaku enters, leading the Priestess. She has a crafty face.)
TOSAKU: This is the Priestess I spoke to you about.
GISUKE: Ah, good afternoon. I’m glad you’re come---this boy is really a disgrace to the whole family.
PRIESTESS (casually) : You needn’t worry any more about him. I’ll cure him at once with the god’s help. (Looking at Yoshitaro.) This is the one?
GISUKE: Yes. He’s twenty-four years old, and the only thing he can do is climb up to high places.
PRIESTESS: How long has he been this way?
GISUKE: Ever since he was born. Even when he was a baby, he wanted to be climbing. When he was four or five years old, he climbed onto the low shrine, then onto the high shrine of Buddha, and finally onto a very high shelf. When he was seven he had began climbing trees. At fifteen he climbed to the tops of mountains and stayed there all day long. He says he talks with demons and with the gods. What do you think is the matter with him?
PRIESTESS: There’s no doubt but it’s a fox-spirit. I will pray for him. (Looking at Yoshitaro.) Listen now! I am the messenger of the god Kompira. All that I say comes from the god.
YOSHITARO (uneasily) : You say the god Kompira? Have you ever seen him?
PRIESTESS (staring at him) : Don’t say such sacrilegious things! The god cannot be seen.
YOSHITARO (exultantly) : I have seen him many times! He’s an old man with white robes and a golden crown. He’s my best friend.
PRIESTESS (taken aback at this assertion, speaking to Gisuke) : This is a fox-spirit, all right, and a very extreme case. I will address the god.
(She chants a prayer in a weird manner. Yoshitaro, held fast by Kichiji, watches the Priestess blankly. She works herself into a frenzy, and falls to the ground in a faint. Presently she rises to her feet and looks about her strangely.)
PRIESTESS (in a changed voice) : I am the god Kompira!
(All except Yoshitaro fall to their knees with exclamation of reverence.)
PRIESTESS (with affected dignity): The elder son of this family is under the influence of a fox-spirit. Hang him up on the branch of a tree and purify him with the smoke of green pine needles. If you fail to do what I say, you will all be punished!
(She faints again. There are more exclamation of astonishment.)
PRIESTESS (rising and looking about her as though unconscious of what has taken place): What has happened? Did the god speak?
GISUKE: It was a miracle.
PRIESTESS: You must do at once whatever the god told you, or you’ll be punished. I warn you for your own sake.
GISUKE (hesitating somewhat) : Kichiji, go and get some green pine needles.
OYOSHI: No! It’s too cruel, even if it is the god’s command.
PRIESTESS: He will not suffer, only the fox-spirit within him. The boy himself will not suffer at all. Hurry! (Looking fixedly at Yoshitaro.) Did you hear the god’s command? He told the spirit to leave your body before it hurt.
YOSHITARO: That was not Kompira’s voice. He wouldn’t talk to a priestess like you.
PRIESTESS (insulted) : I’ll get even with you. Just wait! Don’t talk back to the god like that, you horrid fox!
(Kichiji enters with an armful of green pine boughs. Oyoshi is frightened.)
PRIESTESS: Respect the god or be punished!
(Gisuke and Kichiji reluctantly set fire to the pine needles, then bring Yoshitaro to the fire. He struggles against being held in the smoke.)
YOSHITARO: Father! What are you doing to me? I don’t like it! I don’t like it!
PRIESTESS: That’s not his own voice speaking. It’s the fox within him. Only the fox is suffering.
OYOSHI: But it’s cruel!
(Gisuke and Kichiji attempt to press Yoshitaro’s face into the smoke. Suddenly Suejiro’s voice is heard calling within the house, and presently he appears. He stands amazed at the scene before him.)
SUEJIRO: What’s happening here? What’s the smoke for?
YOSHITARO (coughing from the smoke, and looking at his brother as a saviour) : Father and Kichiji are putting me in the smoke.
SUEJIRO (angrily) : Father! What foolish thing are you doing now? Haven’t I told you time and time again about this sort of business?
GISUKE: But the god inspired the miraculous Priestess…
SUEJIRO (interrupting) : What nonsense is that? You do these insane things merely because he is so helpless.
(With a contemptuous look at the Priestess he stamps the fire out)
PRIESTESS: Wait! That fire was made at the command of the god!
(Suejiro sneeringly puts out the last spark.)
GISUKE (more courageously) : Suejiro, I have no education, and you have, so I am always willing to listen to you. But this fire was made at the god’s command, and you shouldn’t have stamped on it.
SUEJIRO: Smoke won’t cure him. People will laugh at you if they hear you’ve been trying to drive out a fox. All the gods in the country together couldn’t even cure a cold. This Priestess is a fraud. All she wants is the money.
GISUKE: But the doctors can’t cure him.
SUEJIRO: If the doctors can’t, nobody can. I’ve told you before that he doesn’t suffer. If he did, we’d have to do something for him. But as long as he can climb up on the roof, he is happy. Nobody in the whole country is as happy as he is---perhaps nobody in the world. Besides if you cure him now, what can he do? He’s twenty-four years old and he knows nothing, not even the alphabet. He’s had no practical experience. If he were cured, he would be conscious of being crippled, and he’d be the most miserable man alive. Is that what you want to see? It’s all because you want to make him normal. But wouldn’t it be foolish to become normal merely to suffer? (Looking sidewise at the Priestess.) Tosaku, if you brought her here, you had better take her away.
PRIESTESS (angry and insulted) : You disbelieve the oracle of the god. You will be punished! (She starts her chant as before. She faints, rises, and speaks in a changed voice.) I am the great god Kompira! What the brother of the patient springs from his own selfishness. He knows if his sick brother is cured, he’ll get the family estate. Doubt not this oracle!
SUEJIRO (excitedly knocking the Priestess down) : That’s a damned lie, you old fool.
(He kicks her.)
PRIESTESS (getting to her feet and resuming her ordinary voice) : You’ve hurt me! You savage!
SUEJIRO: You fraud! You swindler!
TOSAKU (coming between them) : Wait, young man! Don’t get in such a frenzy.
SUEJIRO (still excited) : You liar! A woman like you can’t understand brotherly love!
TOSAKU: We’ll leave now. It was my mistake to have brought her.
GISUKE (giving Tosaku some money) : I hope you’ll excuse him. He’s young and has such a temper.
PRIESTESS: You kicked me when I was inspired by the god. You’ll be lucky to survive until tonight.
SUEJIRO: Liar!
OYOSHI (soothing Suejiro) : Be still now. (To the Priestess) : I’m sorry this has happened.
PRIESTESS (leaving with Tosaku) : The foot you kicked me with will rot off!
(The priestess and Tosaku go out.)
GISUKE (to Suejiro) : Aren’t you afraid of being punished for what you’ve done?
SUEJIRO: A god never inspires a woman like that old swindler. She lies about everything.
OYOSHI: I suspected her from the very first. She wouldn’t do such cruel things if a real god inspired her.
GISUKE (without any insistence) : Maybe so. But, Suejiro, your brother will be a burden to you all your life.
SUEJIRO: It will be no burden at all. When I become successful, I’ll build a tower for him on top of a mountain.
GISUKE (suddenly) : But where’s Yoshitaro gone?
KICHIJI (pointing at the roof) : He’s up there.
GISUKE (having to smile): As usual.
(During the preceding excitement, Yoshitaro has slipped away and climbed back up on the roof. The four person below look at each other and smile.)
SUEJIRO: A normal person would be angry with you for having put him in the smoke, but you see, he’s forgotten everything. (He calls.) Yoshitaro!
YOSHITARO (for all his madness there is affection for his brother) : Suejiro! I asked Kompira and he says he doesn’t know her!
SUEJIRO (smiling) : You’re right. The god will inspire you, not a priestess like her.
(Through a rift in the clouds, the golden light of the sunset strikes the roof.)
SUEJIRO (exclaiming) : What a beautiful sunset!
YOSHITARO (his face lighted by the sun’s reflection) : Suejiro, look! Can’t you see a golden palace in that cloud over there? There! Can’t you see? Just look! How beautiful!
SUEJIRO (as he feels the sorrow of sanity) : Yes, I see. I see it, too. Wonderful.
YOSHITARO (filled with joy) : There! I hear music coming from the palace. Flutes, what I love best of all. Isn’t it beautiful?
(The parents have gone into the house. The mad brother on the roof and the same brother on the ground remain looking at the golden sunset.)
-THE END-
The drama was written by Kikuchi Khan also called as Kikuchi Hiroshi. The characters are Katsushima Yoshitaro, Katsushima Suejiro, Katsushima Gisuke, Katsushim Oyoshi, Tosaku, Kichij, and a priestess.
Yoshitaro, a 24-year-old son of Gisuke, was worried about his father, who was concerned about his son climbing on the roof to watch the sunset. Gisuke attempted unsuccessfully to persuade his son to descend from the roof one day. However, no matter how hard Gisuke tries, his kid cannot climb down the ladder. As a result, he instructed Kichiji, their servant, to transport Yoshitaro to the top. Kichiji walked outdoors to acquire a ladder for himself. Tosaku, their next-door neighbor, came inside the home and realized what was going on inside. Afterward, Tosaku advised a holy lady who might treat Yoshitaro's condition. Yoshitaro was possessed by an evil spirit, according to the Holy Woman, who came to the home and told the family. Suejiro came in and saved his brother Yoshitaro as they were in the middle of the mending operation for Yoshitaro. While talking to their parents, Suejiro justified and rationalized his brother's situation. He was informing them that Yoshitaro had not been possessed by an evil spirit but instead was suffering from a terrible illness. The reality about their oldest son, Yoshitaro, is then revealed to their parents, who come to terms with it. In the end, brotherly love triumphed, bringing the family together and allowing them to compromise.
It is the moral of the tale that "don't be embarrassed about your kind, particularly if it doesn't do any harm to your neighbors." Consider yourself fortunate and grateful for the individuals who are there to adore you; don't be concerned about others. Don't be afraid to be yourself.
It teaches me a valuable lesson: I should accept my flaws for others to embrace me as well. It all starts with ourselves. Today, people are judged more on conformity to society's standards, but we should not allow them to govern us. We must be true to ourselves since it is this that distinguishes us.
Source:
- https://frain.livejournal.com/50467.html
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