Kenzaburo Oe - Somersault

They took the path the Fireflies had run down from the western heights, cut across the northern slope to arrive at the eastern slope, and then came down the glen to arrive beside the chapel on the western slope. They then passed right in front of the spectators and went up to the dam. Once they'd climbed up to the grandstands, they descended again to the dam and the performance came to a conclusion, the participants disappearing off in the direction of the Mansion.

Those who'd dressed as Spirits were now waiting in the Mansion for Part Two to begin. The Fireflies transporting the good Spirits would, fol- lowing the legend, go clockwise up the forest. And the bad Spirits, again following the legend-since they were ominous souls who had met untimely deaths-would descend in counterclockwise fashion. The Fireflies who would be playing the Spirits had done their homework.

Mr. Matsuo went on to describe each of the Spirits in detail, in particu- lar the one called He Who Destroys, the person who first settled this area, and his woman companion, also a gigantic figure, named Oshikome. And the giant named Shirime-"Butthole Eye," literally-an ostracized figure who, as his named implied, had a single eye looking out from between his buttocks.

These were the Spirits handed down as myths, while the Spirits recorded in history included Meisuke-san, the one who led a peasant rebellion and was executed; a postwar woman in the village named Jin who, because of Okura disease, weighed 300 pounds; then Former Brother Gii; and last New Brother Gii, who founded the Church of the Flaming Green Tree. The papier-mâché dolls this year were particularly well made. The brand-new doll of Guide was especially impressive.

Part Two of the Spirit Festival began at 7 P.M., right after the Quiet Women, ignoring all the protests, locked themselves in the chapel. In the Hollow, the twilight forest was dark, the sky alone painfully bright.

As the procession set off from the Mansion, the rhythm started up that had pained Morio earlier-dan! dan-dan! dan! dan-dan! beat out on gongs and drums of different sizes-and as the musical part of the procession leading the way made its way up to the dam, the flutes, which had been out of sync, played in a lovely unison.

The musicians were dressed in ancient kagura court-musician costumes with headgear-green and yellow, red and silver-and coronets on their heads. Their feet, though, were in canvas shoes, and the faces of the boys looked familiar. When they got to the grandstands they went beside them, lined up in a crescent shape, and continued the performance.

Next, the Spirits came up the dam, each half again larger than life size.

Eye holes and breathing holes were cut out of the chest area of each of the papier-mâché dolls. Clothes were put on over this, and some of the dolls car- ried spears and swords. Mr. Matsuo didn't explain why, but Ogi could guess the stories behind them.

After a while the Spirits, which had appeared at the dam in groups of three, passed in front of the grandstands, each with a unique way of walking that was part of the performance, and came down to the reserved special seat- ing. Western-style boats and Japanese boats used in river fishing had come up beside the highest step, which was submerged in water, leading down from the dam. The Fireflies reached out to steady the boats, as the Spirits climbed aboard, and then got in too, pushed off with poles from the dam, and rowed over to the island. Several bare lightbulbs were lit around the giant cypress, which was surrounded by its wooden frame, but they weren't enough to illu- minate the tree. In the midst of that dim light the Spirits took off their papier- mâché coverings. Using the bamboo ladder, they carried up the papier-mâché and laid it on both sides of the upper and lower levels. The former Spirits, now young men in T-shirts and jeans, returned to the water's edge and were rowed back to the dam.

Now a gloomy pall settled over the events. The music filtering down from above the stands was growing monotonous and lonely and, even worse, boring. Finally, though, a papier-mâché figure of Guide appeared, remark- ably larger than any of the previous dolls, dressed in the clothes of a South- ern European farm woman, and a cheerful stir swept through the onlookers once more. This Spirit, gesticulating in an exaggerated manner, was rowed out alone to the island.

Right after this, a papier-mâché figure of Guide, somewhat smaller than the one on the island, appeared in the grandstands where the musical proces- sion had made its exit. Some of the Fireflies brought a microphone over to where that figure was standing. Another mike had been set up right in front of the papier-mâché figure standing in the middle of the top level of the wooden frame on the island. The Spirit of Guide at the grandstands lifted the microphone up to his chest and stepped forward. He thrust out his chest and the stir among the crowd quieted down.

It was quite an unexpected entrance, but the thousand or so people sur- rounding the Hollow quieted down. This was Patron, dressed up as Guide, about to begin his keynote sermon. Speakers on either side of the stands and on poles on the island carried Patron's voice to his rapt audience.

"It's been a long time since I've seen all of you," he began. "I imagine you former members of the church who've come from so far away will under- stand why I'm inside this doll made up to look like Guide to deliver my ser- mon. As I need not remind those who are from this region, this papier-mâché covering is called a shell in the valley. Wearing this shell to talk is in keeping with your legends… Whenever Guide related my visions, I was in a sense clothed in his body. The shell covering my spirit was his flesh. Now that I've been left behind by Guide, I'm trying to re-create the past, at least on the sur- face.

"I would like to speak with all of you about the Somersault. And I'll begin by talking about a young man who was the first one to evaluate the Somersault in a positive light. He's the model for Jonah in the triptych in the chapel I'm sure you've all seen. He's so perfect a person to serve as the model that the Fireflies, following Japanese pronunciation, have dubbed him Yonah.

"After Guide and I did our Somersault and left the church, many people discovered the place where we had taken refuge and came to ask us what the Somersault was all about-its present and future meaning. But only one per- son and one group understood it as an inescapable calling. The person was Yonah, and the group was the remnants of the Izu radical faction. This group was essentially negative toward the Somersault; Guide was killed by them in place of me. The reason I'd like to begin with Yonah, as I said, is because he viewed the Somersault in such A positive way.

"Before that, though, let me speak of the interrogation that group did of Guide. They questioned him, grilled him, and he answered-or at least he tried to. I couldn't share in his pain; I could only listen to the recording made of this kangaroo trial. But throughout it, Guide never once lied, I can guarantee that. And after a long interrogation, Guide was tortured to death.

"This evening Guide has joined the procession of Spirits-those who have died untimely deaths in the midst of this forest. We will burn up all the shells on the island so the Spirits can return again to the forest. The real shell of Guide's Spirit is exhibited there on the tower. The papier-mâché I'm wear- ing is thus nothing more than a shell of a shell.

"Guide, who died this untimely death, thus joins the procession of Spirits in this land where our Church of the New Man will be built. He was an ex- tremely responsible man, who even took responsibility when I made mistakes, and I know that whenever the Church of the New Man goes through trials he will be there to help us. I am grateful to the Fireflies for letting Guide's soul join the Spirit Festival. And I'd like to express my respect for them for having the sense to come up with the name Yonah."