Note 8 — THE MAIDEN’S TOMB

Page 39—This piece in the current original is called Motome-zuka, which means, the “Sought Tomb.” In older versions it was previously called Otome-zuka, meaning the “Maiden’s Tomb,” by which name the story was also known in the Yamato Monogatari (“Tales of Japan”), written nearly a thousand years ago. Otome and motome sounding so similar in Japanese, and, as the two men came seeking the tomb, the name was changed in the text of the Japanese Nō, but as the older name both has priority and is more euphonious I revert to the older title.

This piece is one of the eleven most important utais, and the Shite’s part is a particularly difficult one to chant.