Beautiful yet fleeting, it flickers and perishes.
Words cannot describe what lay there.
All that remains is sadness,
and long-neglected memories.
The blue moon illuminated
your wandering shadow.
I could never tell you all I wanted to say.
It was so very frustrating.
I think about your faked smile,
and forget all the hot tears we shed.
What do these empty husks,
those empty eyes of yours, reflect, my dear?
The transient quarter moon
hides in a rift in the clouds,
as darkness seeps up from the ground.
Tell me the truth, please.
Are you so despondent
that you still sit alone, sighing?
Part the Second
It may seem strange to you that we expend so much effort on incense,
almost to the point of obsession.
Smells are extremely potent things, though.
When hearing a sweet fragrance, you often find that long-forgotten vistas,
beams of light, or even poems come to mind.
Well, I think I understand.
As you’ve no doubt gathered, Toudaiji is merely a pseudonym.
Its real name is the Rannatai.
Rannatai
The radicals which compose these characters can be read tou-dai-ji, correct?
Toudaiji
I see.
The Rannatai is no ordinary wood.
It is said that its owner will become a great conqueror.
Lord Ashikaga Yoshimasa and Oda Nobunaga have partaken of the Rannatai
in the Toudaiji Temple’s Great Treasure Room.
Oh?
But if the Rannatai is stored in the Great Treasure Room, what is it doing here?
There are actually two Rannatai.
Word reached us that Lady Ruri owned the second.
It should be obvious why we seek the Toudaiji.
Let us begin before dawn breaks.
We will play Taketori-no-Kou this time.
Taketori-no-Kou
How is that played?
First, two reference scents are heard.
One is designated as Princess Kaguya, the other as the Old Woodcutter.
After that, five scents, including the Princess and Old Man, are heard in turn.
Each player must determine whether the scent is the Princess, the Old Man, or something else.
A player with a correct answer moves on to the next round, while one with an incorrect answer…
Loses then and there.
Nakarai-dono, did you not say something about a Nue earlier?
Did you mean the mythical beast with a monkey’s head, tiger’s limbs and so forth?
And a snake’s tail. Precisely.
That’s merely a picture assembled from stories.
Those who see its monkey portion say they saw a monkey,
and those who see its tiger portion say they saw a tiger.
Indeed, the story never explicitly describes the creature,
but rather implies that its form differs depending on where it is seen.
Is this Nue your Mononoke?
I wonder.
I have not discerned its Form as of yet.
I wonder when it will appear.
Well, perhaps it already has.
I apologize.
The reference scent, Princess Kaguya, is ready.
What is this scent?
I can tell it is some sort of agar, but its depth is unfathomable.
He’s no ordinary medicine seller.
It’s as though the skin of my scalp is shuddering.
The Old Man is ready.
It is the same as the Kaguya scent?
No, that can’t be.
He’s more formidable than he appears.
Now we begin in earnest. The first scent is ready.
Oh my.
I seem to have made rather a blunder.
And what is the nature of this blunder?
I have a store of oleander, which I tried to avoid, as it shouldn’t be used in such concoctions.
Oleander
I’m afraid some got mixed in.
Why couldn’t you use this oleander?
Isn’t it a medicine?
Its leaves are indeed, but a single breath of the vapor from its branches can kill.
It is a poison.
Wha…
What do you mean?
I’m afraid I’ve forgotten which of these five scents contains the oleander.
Silly me. Silly me.
We must begin again!
That’s right! We must start over from the beginning.
I will continue.
Even if it is poison, Oosawa will be the first to smell it.
This one is neither Princess Kaguya nor the Old Man.
Not this one.
Oh my.
Does it not smell at all?
It’s part of a screen, fragments of a blood-soaked sliding door.
I prepared it just for you.
For you, Jissonji-san’s killer.
Oh, I had intended to tour the house before night fell, but I see you beat me to it.
It’s awfully cold tonight, isn’t it?
Throw yourself into the snow if you wish to feel warmer. That’s just common sense.
You’re Muromachi-han, are you not?
I hear your prospects for promotion at the palace are dwindling.
Could it be, Muromachi-han,
that you’re foolish enough to try and gain power through the Fue-no-Kouji’s Toudaiji?
A desperate move, from a drowning rat.
The Toudaiji is already as good as mine.
Nobody has ever beaten me in a Kumikou.
You’re a fool for trying.
What is going on with this room? It stinks of dust.
I will wait in the next room along.
How could a smelly swain like yourself know anything of incense?
Oh, it stinks. It stinks ever so much.
What a shameful way to face one’s death.
…chi-ha…
Muromachi-han.
The second scent is ready.
This isn’t it, either.
What is this? It smells like burning hair.
Well done, Nakarai-san.
I knew you would be able to tell.
Whose hair is it, do you think?
Oh no!
There is a lavatory at the end of the hall.
O—O—Oh my. Very kind of you.
If you’ll excuse me.
Lady Ruri, are you in there?
Please, please just say that the answer is Endless Summer.
I am the only one who truly desires your hand.
The others only want the Toudaiji.
I would sell my store and all my worldly possessions for you.
I would be penniless, but I would not regret it.
If it means being with you, I… I…
Me! Marry me!
Me! Me! Me! Me!
The third scent is ready.
Th—This crazy Kumikou is too much for me!
You do not desire the Toudaiji, then?
T—Toudaiji?
It was you who suggested this particular Kumikou, was it not, Oosawa-san?
If this scent is the one, the Toudaiji will be mine.
Ah!
What do you mean, “Ah”?
I’m so sorry.
It seems that scent contains the oleander.
Wh—Wh—Wh—What are you saying?
This scent can’t be the o—o—o—oleander!
I’m so very sorry.
Oleander
Antidote! Is there an antidote?
I seem to remember that a great quantity of water can help.
Or maybe not.
Water! Water! Water! Water! Water! Water! Water! Water!
An ordinary medicine seller could not afford such a rare medicine as oleander.
That’s what you want to say, is it not?
That’s fine.
Whether or not it was real,
as long as he,
no, they, realized that their lives were over, it fulfilled its purpose.
At first, I only intended to draw you out, then leave you to your own devices,
but maintaining the status quo is so terribly dull.
I simply had to meddle a bit.
Yes, there was never anyone else in this mansion.
Other than yourself and those sad souls,
unaware of their own deaths,
that you once possessed and killed, that is.
You watched me prepare incense all by myself in an empty room,
and laughed at me from in there, didn’t you?
Didn’t you, Mononoke?
Nue.
A Mononoke whose form changes depending on where it is seen. Such is the Nue.
No, I should call you Toudaiji now, shouldn’t I?
I have determined the Mononoke’s Form.
The others told me of your Truth and Regret, as well.
You killed those that came in pursuit of the rumored Toudaiji,
and had them repeat an endless series of Kumikou, night after night.
This is your Truth.
To the layman’s eye, you are naught but rotten old wood.
In order to remain yourself, you needed someone,
anyone to say you were more than just another tree.
That is your Regret.
Even so, though, this was going a bit far, don’t you think?
Then what will you do?
You will become yet another among them.
Where…
Where am I?
So dark! So dark!
Come to me! Come to me!
Form, Truth, Regret, assembled thus,
my sword shall be released!
Released!
Wh—What are you going to do to me?
Without a flame to burn it, the wood will never release its true scent.
What a peaceful garden this is.
And so,
the scent expires.
The End
Without you, I just can’t smile.
I walk this banal town,
feeling such intense emotions.
I know that if I could treasure them and live on,
I would need nothing else.
The summer flowers that bloomed in the sky
Come falling down, dancing in the wind.
I can barely recall the night sky
where they all came tumbling down,
so what I can still recall is all the more precious.