The Golden Country Page 3

  INOUE: I believe I did say that.

  HIRATA: But what if such a man should seem most respected on the surface? Then what should one do about his suspicions?

  INOUE: Conjecture is not proof. It's no laughing matter to arrest a samurai on mere conjecture. Don't let your zeal walk away with your head.

  HIRATA: Excuse me. But I've got to catch Ferreira!

  He claps his hands.

  Tome comes onstage, accompanied by the guard.

  HIRATA: Sir, please listen to what she has to say.

  To Tome

  HIRATA: Where do you work?

  TOME: At a candle shop in Higashimiza-cho.

  HIRATA: Someone has been buying a large quantity of candles at your shop each month this year, hasn't he?

  TOME: Yes.

  HIRATA: Please look at this receipt.

  Hirata takes a paper out of Tome's hands and gives it to Inoue.

  HIRATA: Do you see whose name is on it?

  INOUE: Tomonaga Sakuemon.

  HIRATA: Why should he be ordering so many candles each month?

  INOUE: For the Christian Mass, do you suppose?

  HIRATA: He would hardly have use for this many candles in his home.

  INOUE: Yes, I see.

  HIRATA: And if these are for Mass, then a priest must be at hand. Could it be Ferreira? But even if it is not Ferreira...

  Silence. Through the gate the children's singing can be heard.

  HIRATA: What shall we do?

  INOUE: Throw suspicion on a man. Capture him, torture him, make him talk, spill his blood! ... Oh, I'm sick of all this.

  He comes back to himself, remains silent, thinking, with eyes cast down.

  HIRATA: Didn't you just ask Gennosuke if he weren't ready to find himself a wife?

  INOUE: Yes. Tomonaga's daughter is not yet betrothed?

  HIRATA: I don't believe so. Gennosuke seems to be in love with her from long ago.

  After a pause, he continues, as if to himself

  HIRATA: A Christian will marry no one but another Christian. Isn't that so?

  INOUE: That's exactly what I was thinking.

  Tomonaga has entered and is hidden in the shadow. Inoue, looking in his direction, laughs.

  CURTAIN

  * * *

  ACT ONE SCENE TWO

  * * *

  A month later. The scene is Korimura, a village on the outskirts of Nagasaki. A large barn used by the Christians as a meeting place. In the center is a large door. There is the sound of tapping at the door, one long and two short.

  KASUKE: Kyrie eleison.

  VOICE OUTSIDE: Christe eleison.

  KASUKE (opening the door): It's Hatsu, with Mokichi and Hisaichi. Are you sure you weren't followed?

  HISAICHI: We were having dinner when Mokichi came to say that Lord Tomonaga wanted to see us. I left everything and came on the run across the fields.

  KASUKE: Have you heard the news? They've caught Brother Caspar in Nagasaki. And in Isahaya the officials walked in on a catechist and six Christians as they were saying their prayers.

  Thinking for a while

  KASUKE: It'll be our turn next.

  MOKICHI: Enough of that talk! It's bad luck. That'll never happen here!

  KASUKE: When I wake up in the middle of the night and think about it, I shudder. If even they who were hidden so well...

  HISAICHI: If we're caught, we're caught.

  NOROSAKU: If we're caught, we're caught.

  KASUKE: This is no laughing matter. You're young and speak bravely. But what will you do if you're caught and brought before the bureau?

  HISAICHI: I won't know until the time comes.

  NOROSAKU: Won't know when the time comes.

  KASUKE: Will you stand or will you fall? When they ask you "Do you give up Christ?" will you say "Yes, I give him up," or won't you? That's something you'd better start thinking about now. I suppose most people of the village will refuse at first to give in. In that case, what will the officials do next? You saw Moritaro of Isahaya when they sent him back after he'd given in. He was skin and bones, and black and blue all over. And that even though he'd done what they'd asked.

  HISAICHI: I'll escape as long as I can. I'll hide from them as best as I can. And if I'm caught, whatever happens, I'll bear up under it as well as I can.

  MOKICHI: What will you do, Kasuke? If they put you to the water torture or the fire, what will you do?

  KASUKE: Me? There's nothing I can do but cling to God.

  MOKICHI: Hatsu, you haven't said anything. What about you? Will you give in?

  HATSU: God will never let such a terrible thing happen to us. Didn't Father Ferreira tell us that he was merciful? He said that before things ever came to such a pass God would surely come to our aid.

  MOKICHI: I also lived in that hope at first. But will God really come to our aid?

  NOROSAKU (in a loud voice): He will come to our aid.

  MOKICHI: I wasn't asking you, fool. Kasuke, Father said that those who gave up their lives would go to Paradise, didn't he?

  KASUKE: Yes, he did.

  MOKICHI: And that those who didn't bear up under the torture, and said "I give in" would go to hell?

  NOROSAKU (in a loud voice): No, they won't go to hell.

  KASUKE: Be quiet. If afterward they don't return to the practice of their religion but remain fallen away for the rest of their lives, they have betrayed God and are marked for hell.

  MOKICHI: But here's the point! If we'd been born in a different age—not the present time of persecution but in the old days when everyone was Christian, including the daimyo, then we wouldn't have had to put up with all this. We'd have worked and prayed as Father told us, and would have peacefully made our way to Paradise.

  KASUKE: What you say is true.

  MOKICHI: A moment ago you mentioned Moritaro, who gave up his faith under torture. Now if he'd been born a generation ago, he'd probably have been a good Christian and gone to heaven. The other Christians would never have had cause to denounce him as a traitor worthy of hell. It was just his bad luck to have been born in this age of persecution. He couldn't stand up

  under the torture, and so he fell. The more I think about it, the less I understand.

  As if angry

  MOKICHI: That's the way I look at it.

  NOROSAKU: That's the way I look at it too. I can't understand.

  HATSU: Mokichi, what are you saying? You mustn't murmur against God's Providence.

  NOROSAKU: That's what I think too. You mustn't murmur against God.

  KASUKE: He may be somewhat thick, but life is certainly easy for him—no worries, no problems.

  HATSU: Father says that it was for his own good that God didn't give Norosaku more brains than he needed.

  HISAICHI: Norosaku, what do you think Paradise is like?

  NOROSAKU: When I enter the gates of Paradise, Santa Maria will greet me. Then she will wait on me until I've eaten my fill. And then she'll offer me sake and I'll drink it down.

  MOKICHI: That's enough. It's easy to see why he's a Christian.

  The sound of tapping on the door-according to the prearranged signal.

  MOKICHI: Kyrie eleison.

  VOICE OUTSIDE: Christe eleison.

  Five or six Christians of both sexes enter.

  WOMAN: We came in the rain.

  All are shaking out their wet clothes. The sound of rain grows louder.

  KASUKE: It's too bad we have to post a guard on a night like this, but Heizo, please keep a lookout for us. If you see or hear anything suspicious, give the signal.

  Heizo opens the door to leave. Father Ferreira, Lord Tomonaga, and Yuki are standing at the door.

  TOMONAGA: Kasuke, did you post anyone on guard?

  KASUKE: Yes, Heizo was just going out.

  TOMONAGA: It's dangerous tonight with just one man. Please send another with him.

  At Kasuke's signal, one of the farmers goes out.

  TOMONAGA: The reason I called you all togeth
er this evening is this. The chief investigator, Inoue Chikugo-no-kami, has decided to make a final effort to pull out all the roots of Christianity. He intends to go from village to village, wherever there may be hidden Christians, and make each farmer step on the fumi-e.

  KASUKE: What's a fumi-e?

  TOMONAGA: A fumi-e is a plaque of Mary or Christ, or a crucifix. He'll try to make us step on it.

  KASUKE: Step on it?

  TOMONAGA: Yes, in front of the officials he will order us to step on the face of Christ or Mary. Those who do so at once will be released. Those who don't... Unless they will sign a pledge of apostasy ...

  He turns his eyes downward.

  TOMONAGA: Sooner or later-no, very soon, they will bring the fumi-e here too. I came to tell you so you wouldn't be caught unawares.

  MOKICHI: But even knowing it beforehand ... there's no escaping it, is there? What did we ever do to deserve this? Why must we spend each day in such fear? I don't understand. We've never neglected to pay our yearly tax of rice or make our annual work contribution, even the women and children. All we've done is live according to the religion our fathers and grandfathers went to so much trouble to pass on to us. Is it for this that we must receive such treatment?

  TOMONAGA: I know without your telling me what you're going through. And because I know it, I've hurried to bring you this message.

  MOKICHI: Sir, what would you do in our place? ... If you were asked to step on the fumi-e?

  TOMONAGA: What would I do?

  He laughs.

  TOMONAGA: Five years ago when Otomo Kazen gave up the faith he'd received from his father, and ordered all his retainers to do the same, I also signed the pledge of apostasy. I didn't want to do it, but finally did—for three reasons. The first, of course, was just sheer weakness. But, secondly, I wanted to be of some help to Father Ferreira, and I wanted to be able to give my protection to you, to all my people. And so I became an official of the Bureau of Investigation and have so far succeeded in escaping detection. But I've made up my mind that I must one day declare publicly what I am. For that reason, should Inoue bid me step on the cross or on the face of Christ, I'm determined to give witness to my faith, whatever pain may be inflicted on me. But I am a samurai and you are farmers. I should never blame you for stepping on the fumi-e.

  MOKICHI: Father says that those who give up their faith go to hell.

  TOMONAGA: That I don't know. Ail I know is this: those who give up their lives for Christ will on that very day pass through the gates of Paradise. I know that Santa Maria will bind their wounds and that Jesus will wipe away their tears. That I know.

  HISAICHI (with force): I'll never step on it. I'll never step on it.

  NOROSAKU: I'll drink saké with Santa Maria in Paradise.

  TOMONAGA: But frankly, Hisaichi, I think you ought to consider seriously whether it might not be better to step on the fumi-e after all. However shameful, you'd at least remain alive. As a samurai, I can't do that. But you can. You'd remain alive to pass on the teaching of Christ secretly to your children and grandchildren. Then the Christian faith would keep a foothold in this country. That's one way of looking at it.

  HATSU: I'll never step on it. No matter what happens. This life is painful enough for us farmers. Born farmers, farmers we remain to the end. We're already in the fields each morning before the moon has hidden itself from view, and we're still at work after the sun has set. We plant the rice knee-deep in cold water, and when it ripens and is harvested we must give it away to pay our tax. We're called out on public duty and must go even if we are sick. In the pain of daily living we've fixed our hearts on the joys of Paradise. And if after all this we are unable to reach Paradise, but giving up our faith must face the tortures of hell, then we are worse off than animals. I can't bear to think of it.

  The other farmers listen intently to Hatsu's words.

  TOMONAGA: Well, at least tonight there's no fumi-e to worry about. Think it over carefully and decide what stand you will take. But I have something else to tell you. Inoue intends to plant a dog in your midst.

  KASUKE: A dog?

  TOMONAGA: Pretending to be a Christian, he'll walk among you and report everything he sees and hears to the bureau.

  All are disturbed.

  TOMONAGA: No, he's not here yet. But be on your guard.... Who wants to confess his sins and his doubts to Father and receive the grace of the sacrament? I'll go first. Wait outside, but take good care that you're not seen.

  The farmers open the door and go out into the rain.

  TOMONAGA (keeping his eyes fixed on the door, says to Yuki): You too had better go out and prepare for confession.

  She exits.

  TOMONAGA: Why is God silent? Why doesn't he help us? Even if he doesn't help me, why does he allow these poor farmers to be cornered like this? These five years Christians everywhere have been captured and tortured, and a tremendous amount of blood has been spilt. Why does he remain silent through all this? In Hirado, in Omura, in Isahaya, in Nagasaki, so much blood has flowed!

  FERREIRA (as if to reassure himself as well): Do you think these trials are meaningless? Do you think that God would send us suffering just for its own sake? Lord Tomonaga—

  He shakes his head vigorously

  FERREIRA: The Lord would never send us such meaningless tribulations.

  TOMONAGA: Then what is it? Why does he send them, Father? You know these Japanese farmers. In their ignorance they have followed along like children. Plunged into the boiling waters of Unzen, they held on, believing that this was the way to Paradise. Even when they had huge rocks tied to them and were dropped into the middle of the sea, with their last breath they sang out their prayers. . . . This is true fealty. Even as a samurai, I have never to this day seen so great a fealty.

  FERREIRA: And the Lord rewards such fealty with great glory.

  TOMONAGA: I also try to explain it this way. For these five years I have believed this. Even now I still believe it in my heart. But occasionally when I am disheartened, I am attacked by doubt. I wonder if these are not just words to keep our eyes from the truth.

  FERREIRA: What do you doubt?

  TOMONAGA: What need is there for such a vast stream of blood to continue to flow? When I see the farmers stricken with such fear and lamentation, I wonder if God has not deserted us.

  FERREIRA: Whatever God does is good.

  Ferreira walks to the other side of the room, picks up a bundle in a corner, and draws out of it a painting of Christ.

  FERREIRA: Lord Tomonaga, look at this face of Christ. It is probably the Christ of the Sermon on the Mount. Have you ever wondered what Christ looked like? No one knows what his face was really like. Nowhere in the Scriptures is a description of it. But this face ... it is a face that men through the centuries have formed in their prayer born of suffering and trials. Take a good look at it. Can this beautiful face be indifferent to our cries? Can it pretend not to see our suffering?

  TOMONAGA: Don't try to put me off with beautiful words. Tell me the truth, Father. Isn't God keeping a cold silence? Isn't he silent in spite of the suffering of these farmers?

  FERREIRA (weakly): In these trials God is trying to tell us something.

  TOMONAGA: What?

  FERREIRA (painfully): That I don't know. But you must at least believe that he is trying to get something across to us.

  TOMONAGA: Father, as I told you before, Inoue and the other officials have begun to suspect me. No, it's even more than this. They've found something out about me. The other day Inoue made the proposal that Yuki marry a young samurai by the name of Gennosuke who is employed at the bureau.

  FERREIRA: It's a trap, isn't it? He knows that if you are a Christian you will not consent to your daughter's marrying one of the persecutors of the Christians. He's waiting to see what you'll do.

  TOMONAGA: Of course it's a trap. At the time, I was able to put him off, but sooner or later he will come up with another test. As I told the farmers, my mind is set. As a samur
ai, it is only proper that I give up my life for my God. But they are weak farmers. It's for their sakes that I ask you to clear up quickly the doubts I mentioned to you. Please give an answer to my question. Why does God remain silent? Why doesn't he speak in spite of all this suffering of the Christians? ... No, I mustn't talk in this way.

  Yuki enters with a white veil on her head.

  YUKI: Have you finished? I'm ready for confession.

  TOMONAGA: Yuki, make a careful confession. Confess your smallest sins and doubts. So that you may be washed as white as snow. Don't be ashamed of anything. It's painful to confess one's weakness, but this very pain cleanses the soul. Do you understand?

  YUKI: Yes, I understand.

  Tomonaga bows to Ferreira, then exits. Ferreira sits to hear Yuki's confession.

  FERREIRA (reciting the opening formula in Latin): Be brave. Go ahead and confess.

  Yuki remains silent.

  FERREIRA: Have you done anything to stain your soul with sin?

  YUKI: Father, a girl like me ...

  She falls into silence again.

  FERREIRA: A girl like you ... yes?

  YUKI: A girl like me ... No.

  She starts again.

  YUKI: Will God forgive a person for being in love?

  FERREIRA: By being in love do you mean a husband loving his wife, or a girl like you falling in love with some young man? No, no, that's not a sin. Not at all. Far from being a sin, God made man and woman in such a way that they would fall in love with each other. Just as in spring the trees burst into fragrant flower and birds begin to sing, so this too is blessed by God. And didn't Christ help to celebrate the wedding feast at Cana?