三日の約束

対象:一般向け ／ 時間:60〜70分

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三日で捕るか、命を絶つか。

母の涙が、男の縄をほどく。

Capture her in three days—or give up his life.

A mother’s tears loosen the lawman’s rope.

【あらすじ】

とある川町。島破りの罪人・天神お玉を召し捕ろうと、八兵衛と佐次郎、二人の捕り方が待ち構えていた。八兵衛が七日あれば十分と豪語する中、佐次郎は「三日で捕らえる」と言い切り、もし果たせなければ自ら腹を切ると命懸けの約束を交わす。

やがて現れた一人の女。正体を隠して通り過ぎようとするが、その女こそ天神お玉だった。激しい立ち回りの末、ついに佐次郎はお玉を取り押さえる。だが、縄を受けたお玉の目からこぼれたのは、死を恐れる涙ではなかった。

あと半年で赦免となるはずの身で、なぜ島を破ったのか。お玉は、板橋に残した我が子・太郎吉への想いを語り始める。罪を背負いながらも、母として最後に一目だけ子に会いたい。その一念に心を動かされた佐次郎は、自らの命を懸けた勝負を承知のうえで、お玉の縄を解く。

「必ず戻ってまいります」

母として、罪人として、そして一人の人間として交わした三日の約束。お玉は太郎吉の待つ板橋へ走る。だがその一部始終を、川へ落とされた八兵衛が見ていた。

情けは罪か、信じる心は愚かさか。

我が子を想う母の一念と、約束を信じる男の意地が交差する、涙と捕物の人情芝居。

In a riverside town, two lawmen, Hachibei and Sajirō, lie in wait to capture Tenjin Otama, a convict who has escaped from exile. While Hachibei boasts that seven days would be more than enough, Sajirō declares that he will capture her within three days—and if he fails, he will take his own life. Thus begins a wager staked on his very life.

Before long, a woman appears. She tries to pass by while hiding her true identity, but she is none other than Tenjin Otama. After a fierce struggle, Sajirō finally captures her. Yet when Otama accepts the rope, the tears that fall from her eyes are not tears of fear for her own death.

Why would a woman who was only six months away from pardon risk everything by breaking exile? Otama begins to speak of her son, Tarokichi, whom she left behind in Itabashi. Though burdened by her crime, she longs, as a mother, to see her child one last time. Moved by her devotion, Sajirō releases her, knowing full well that his own life hangs in the balance.

“I will return, without fail.”

As a mother, as a criminal, and as a human being, Otama makes a three-day promise. She runs toward Itabashi, where Tarokichi waits. But Hachibei, who has been thrown into the river, has witnessed everything.

Is compassion a crime? Is faith in another person foolish?

A mother’s desperate love for her child and a man’s pride in keeping faith collide in this moving human drama of tears and pursuit.