a fairy robe hanging from the branches of a pine tree, and determines to take it back with him to the old folks in his village. But now the fairy owner of the robe claims it—without her robe of feathers "never more can she go through the realms of air, never return to her celestial home." The fisherman refuses to restore the robe; and a situation arises reminding us somewhat of Philoctetes and Neoptolemus in the drama of Sophocles. The chorus pity her, and sing, in a spirit full of natural sentiment—
"Clouds, wandering clouds, she yearns and yearns in vain,
Soaring like you to tread the heaven again."
Presently the fisherman relents. On one condition he will restore the robe—that the fairy shall dance one of the fairy dances of which he has heard so much. The fairy consents to dance "the dance that makes the Palace of the Moon turn round," and, singing
"Now the dancing maiden sings,
Robed in clouds and fleecy wings,"
{{dhr]} commences one of those dances which occupy so prominent a place in the Japanese drama. Meanwhile the chorus sings of the cause that "gave the blue realms of air their name of firmament," the fairy now and then joining in their song. The fairy continues dancing to the end of the play, the chorus in imagination watching and describing her disappearance from their sight towards heaven in the following ode, which well deserves a place alongside the descriptive passages of the Indian and Chinese dramas.
"Dance on, sweet maiden, through the happy hours;
Dance on, sweet maiden, while the magic flowers
Crowning thy tresses flutter in the wind,
Raised by the waving pinions intertwined. …
But, ah, the hour, the hour of parting rings!
