At last Kagekiyo stands and begins to dance. They fall naturally into
line.
The sadness of this day yesterday a dream tomorrow an illusion today in
reality here on my lap the biwa I pluck and make sing whose child listens it
is my own good child oh how precious the preciousness of this day.
Kagekiyo and Murasaki realize that they are parent and child. They want
to tell one another their names, but they are unable to—they go on dancing.
Snow falls so heavily that the two figures can no longer be seen.
I try to tell you who I am but I am filled with shame shall I say shall I not
say oh father oh daughter and so together they dance together they dance a
chance meeting is itself the fruit of an eternal bond.
Kagekiyo moves as if to shake himself free of Murasaki, then clasps the
biwa to his chest and cries. Murasaki places her own long cloak over
Kagekiyo’s shoulders and then continues dancing, seemingly even more
possessed than before. She continues to stand in the fiercely falling snow.
(Curtain.)
