J.

by David Brining

  xxij

  the vast jostling crowd which had gathered on the grass in front of the stage. She had managed to acquire a 42p hotdog and was trying desperately to prevent the usual slippage of onions and spillage of ketchup. Some of the people had hoisted children onto their shoulders so they could "see the pretty dancers". Veda could see nothing as yet. Mr Jambres puffed contentedly on his pipe. Veda thought she should have answered his rather brusque invitation with a "Noh". She took a huge bite from her hotdog. Warm ketchup squirted over her fingers. Miserably she dabbed at it with the soggy napkin. The beat of a drum brought her attention back to the stage and she stood on tiptoe to see more clearly.

  The stage is dominated by a set of wooden steps, a two-dimensional pagoda sawn out of chipboard and five huge black and gold lacquered Chokin jars. A cloud of white orange blossom signals the arrival of two musicians wearing flowing silks in pastel blue shades. One has a drum, the other a flute. Two young girls also dressed in silk take up positions facing each other downstage whilst a bare- legged boy dressed from throat to knee in a rich gold robe bound at the waist with a plaited golden thread and a man wearing white with a grey loincloth beneath his robe take up their positions on either side of the upstage steps. All four are wearing masks. The man's shows the Face of Wisdom, the boy's that of Innocent Heroism, the two girls those of Beauty and Purity. There is a magical floating of flute in the air. This is the

  N O H

  BORROWed from the Translation of Ezra Pound by Jurat Jarkman

  "the paleness of words is made good by the unity of the dance"