Pit Workers in the Old Days #2 (Atsumori of the Taira Clan)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #2 (Taira no Atsumori)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #2 (Atsumori of the Taira Clan)]
21.1 x 30.4 cm Ink Painting

Sasugani takeki Kumagai mo
waga ko no koto o omoidashi (Churyaku)
yoroi no sode o shiborikeri (Ika ryaku)

Though Kumagai was a very strong warrior,
as he remembered his young son (Text partly omitted)
he couldn't stop shedding tears and wiping them with his sleeves (The rest omitted)

The above is an excerpt from the lyrics of a song which is famous for Atsumori's flute named "Aoba no Fue" and Renjobo Kumagai in the lyrics. I wrote, as an introduction, a few phrases of this song which had been sung as a school song by schoolchildren since around 1906.

Heike ni nadakaki Atsumori wa,
Suma no urawa ni tada hitori,
okinaru mifune ni utsuranto,
koma o namima ni noriirete,
itcho amari mo susumishi ni,
ato yori Kumagai oikitari (Ika ryaku)

A famous warrior, Atsumori of the Taira clan,
was left alone on the shore of Suma.
He rode his horse into the sea,
intending to reach his ship waiting off shore.
When he went as far as about 120 yards,
Kumagai caught up with him (The rest omitted)
[Translator's Notes: "Heike" stands for "the Taira clan."]

Though this song has almost nothing to do with miners, I dared to paint this picture because I remembered the dance and play accompanied by this song.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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