かぐや姫

 

Long, long ago, there lived an old bamboo wood cutter. He was very poor and sad also, for no child had heaven sent to cheer his old age, and in his heart there was no hope of rest from work till he died and was laid in the quiet grave. Every morning he went forth into the woods and hills wherever the bamboo reared its lithe green plumes against the sky. When he had made his choice, he would cut down these feathers of the forest, and splitting them lengthwise, or cutting them into joints, would carry the bamboo wood home and make it into various articles for the household, and he and his old wife gained a small livelihood by selling them.	昔むかし、竹取のおじいさんがいました。 彼は非常に貧しくて哀れで、年老いた自分を元気づける子供を天から授かることもなく、死んで静かな墓に入るまで仕事が休まるような希望も持てずにいました。 毎朝おじいさんは、森でも丘でも、天に向かってしなやかな緑の笹を生やした竹があるところならどこへでも出かけて行きました。 竹を選んで切り倒すと、縦に割ったり節を切ったりして家へと運び、それを家庭用のいろいろな製品にして売ることで、彼は年寄りの奥さんと生計を立てていました。
One morning as usual he had gone out to his work, and having found a nice clump of bamboos, had set to work to cut some of them down. Suddenly the green grove of bamboos was flooded with a bright soft light, as if the full moon had risen over the spot. Looking round in astonishment, he saw that the brilliance was streaming from one bamboo. The old man, full of wonder, dropped his ax and went towards the light.	ある朝、おじいさんはいつも通り仕事に出かけると素晴らしい竹藪を見つけて、それらを切り倒し始めました。 すると突然、緑の竹の木立はまるで満月がその場に昇ったかのように明るく柔らかな光で溢れました。 驚いて振り返ると、その輝きが1本の竹から流れ出ていることに気が付きました。おじいさんは不思議な気持ちで斧をおろし、光の方向へと近づいて行きました。
On nearer approach he saw that this soft splendor came from a hollow in the green bamboo stem, and still more wonderful to behold, in the midst of the brilliance stood a tiny human being, only three inches in height, and exquisitely beautiful in appearance. “You must be sent to be my child, for I find you here among the bamboos where lies my daily work,” said the old man, and taking the little creature in his hand he took it home to his wife to bring up. The tiny girl was so exceedingly beautiful and so small, that the old woman put her into a basket to safeguard her from the least possibility of being hurt in any way.	近づいてみると、この柔らかな輝きは緑の竹の幹にあるくぼみから来ており、さらに驚くべきことに、輝きの真ん中に、高さ三寸くらいの見た目も非常に美しい小さな人間が立っていたのでした。 「あなたは私の子供になるために送られたにちがいない。というのも、私が毎日働いているこの竹藪であなたを見つけたのだから」とおじいさんは言うと、この小さな生き物を育てるべく、手の中に入れ、おばあさんの元へ帰りました。この小さな女の子は非常に美しくて小さかったので、おばあさんは彼女が傷つくことが決してないように篭に入れました。
The old couple were now very happy, for it had been a lifelong regret that they had no children of their own, and with joy they now expended all the love of their old age on the little child who had come to them in so marvelous a manner. From this time on, the old man often found gold in the notches of the bamboos when he hewed them down and cut them up; not only gold, but precious stones also, so that by degrees he became rich. He built himself a fine house, and was no longer known as the poor bamboo woodcutter, but as a wealthy man.	老夫婦は今、とても幸せでした。なぜなら、子供がいないことが長年の 心残りだったからです。彼らは喜びにあふれ、不思議な形で彼らのところにやってきた小さな子供に愛情を注ぎました 。 この時から、おじいさんが竹を切り倒すとしばしば切り刻んだ竹の中から金が見つかるようになりました。また 金だけではなく、貴重な石も見つかるようになったので、彼は次第に金持ちになりました。彼は立派な家を建てて、もはや貧しい竹取り爺さんではなく、裕福な人として知られるようになりました。
Three months passed quickly away, and in that time the bamboo child had, wonderful to say, become a full grown girl, so her foster parents did up her hair and dressed her in beautiful kimonos. She was of such wondrous beauty that they placed her behind the screens like a princess, and allowed no one to see her, waiting upon her themselves.	3か月がすぐに経ち、その時には、素晴らしくも立派な女性になっていたので、養父母は彼女の髪をあげて、美しい着物を着せました。 彼女はとても美しかったので、両親は彼女をお姫様のように帳台の中から出さず、彼女を見ることをも誰にも許しませんでした。
It seemed as if she were made of light, for the house was filled with a soft shining, so that even in the dark of night it was like daytime. Her presence seemed to have a benign influence on those there. Whenever the old man felt sad, he had only to look upon his foster daughter and his sorrow vanished, and he became as happy as when he was a youth.	彼女が放つ柔らかな光は、暗い夜でも家の中を昼間のように明るく照らし、彼女はまるで光でできているかのように思えました。 彼女の存在はそこにいる人々に良い影響を与えたようです。 おじいさんが悲しい時はいつでも、養女を見るだけで悲しみは消え去り、若かりし頃のように幸せになりました。
At last the day came for the naming of their new found child, so the old couple called in a celebrated name giver, and he gave her the name of Princess Moonlight, because her body gave forth so much soft bright light that she might have been a daughter of the Moon God. For three days the festival was kept up with song and dance and music.	ついに、この新しい子供に名前を付ける日がきて、老夫婦は著名な名つけ人を呼びました。すると彼は彼女に「かぐや姫」という名前を付けたのです。というのも彼女の体は、彼女が月の神の娘であるかのように柔らかな光を放っていたからです。 3日間、お祝いの祭りは歌と踊りと音楽でくりひろげられました。
All the friends and relations of the old couple were present, and great was their enjoyment of the festivities held to celebrate the naming of Princess Moonlight. Everyone who saw her declared that there never had been seen any one so lovely; all the beauties throughout the length and breadth of the land would grow pale beside her, so they said. The fame of the Princess’s loveliness spread far and wide, and many were the suitors who desired to win her hand, or even so much as to see her.	老夫婦の友人と親族たちは皆参加し、かぐや姫が名付けられたことを祝うために開かれたお祭りを大いに楽しみました。彼女を見た誰もが、今までにこの国のどこを探しても彼女より可愛く美しい人を見たことがないと言いました。 愛らしいかぐや姫の名声は遠くまで広まり、結婚の承諾を得たい、そうでなくとも彼女に一目会いたいと多くの求婚者があらわれました。
Suitors from far and near posted themselves outside the house, and made little holes in the fence, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Princess as she went from one room to the other along the veranda. They stayed there day and night, sacrificing even their sleep for a chance of seeing her, but all in vain. Then they approached the house, and tried to speak to the old man and his wife or some of the servants, but not even this was granted them. Still, in spite of all this disappointment they stayed on day after day, and night after night, and counted it as nothing, so great was their desire to see the Princess.	遠くあるいは近郊からやってきた求婚者たちは家の外に張り付き、縁側を通って部屋から部屋へと渡る姫を、一目見ようと垣根に小さな穴をあけました。 彼らは昼も夜もそこにいて、彼女に会う機会を得るために睡眠さえも犠牲にしましたが、すべて無駄でした。 それから彼らは家に近づき、老夫婦や使用人たちに話しかけようとしましたが、これさえ許可されませんでした。 失望したにもかかわらず、それでも彼らは毎日、毎晩、そこにとどまりましたがかぐや姫に会いたいという望みに比べれば、ちっぽけなことに思えました。
At last, however, most of the men, seeing how hopeless their quest was, lost heart and hope both, and returned to their homes. All except five Knights, whose ardor and determination, instead of waning, seemed to wax greater with obstacles. These five men even went without their meals, and took snatches of whatever they could get brought to them, so that they might always stand outside the dwelling.	とうとう、ほとんどの男たちは、いかに望みのないものを追求していたことを知り、がっかりしてと希望を失い、家へ戻っていきました。この5人の騎士を除いて。彼らは、引き下がるどころか、障害によって熱意と決意が増大したようでした。5人の騎士は食事もせず、家の外でいつも立つことができるように奪える物は何でも奪い取っていったのです。
They stood there in all weathers, in sunshine and in rain. Sometimes they wrote letters to the Princess, but no answer was vouchsafed to them. Then when letters failed to draw any reply, they wrote poems to her telling her of the hopeless love which kept them from sleep, from food, from rest, and even from their homes. Still Princes Moonlight gave no sign of having received their verses. In this hopeless state the winter passed.	彼らは晴れの時も雨の時もそこに立ち続けました。 姫に手紙を書いたこともありましたが、返事はもらえませんでした。 手紙を書いても返事がもらえないことが分かると、眠り、食事、休息、さらには家からも彼らを遠ざける希望のない愛について語る詩歌をかぐや姫に書きました。 それでもかぐや姫がその詩歌を受け取った様子はありませんでした。 この絶望的な状態で冬が過ぎさりました。

 

The snow and frost and the cold winds gradually gave place to the gentle warmth of spring. Then the summer came, and the sun burned white and scorching in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, and still these faithful Knights kept watch and waited. At the end of these long months they called out to the old bamboocutter and entreated him to have some mercy upon them and to show them the Princess, but he answered only that as he was not her real father he could not insist on her obeying him against her wishes.	雪と霜と冷たい風に変わって、春の穏やかな暖かさが徐々におとずれました。それから夏が来て、太陽は白く燃え、天と地を熱く焦がしましたが、忠実な貴族たちは待たされ続けました 。 長い月日の終わりに、彼らはおじいさんに声をかけ、慈悲の心でかぐや姫を見せてほしいと懇願しましたが、彼は彼女の本当の父親ではないので、彼女の意思に反して彼に従うようには言えないと答えました 。
The five Knights on receiving this stern answer returned to their several homes, and pondered over the best means of touching the proud Princess’s heart, even so much as to grant them a hearing. They took their rosaries in hand and knelt before their household shrines, and burned precious incense, praying to Buddha to give them their heart’s desire. Thus several days passed, but even so they could not rest in their homes.	この厳しい答えを受け取ると、5人の貴族たちは故郷に戻り、誇り高きかぐや姫の心に触れる、そうでなくとも話だけでも聞いてもらえるための最良の方法を考えました。 彼らは数珠を手に取って、家に祭ってある神社の前でひざまずき、貴重な線香を燃やして、願いが叶うように仏さまに祈りました。こうして 数日が経ちましたが、それでも彼らは家にいても安らぐことができませんでした。
So again they set out for the bamboo cutter’s house. This time the old man came out to see them, and they asked him to let them know if it was the Princess’s resolution never to see any man whatsoever, and they implored him to speak for them and to tell her the greatness of their love, and how long they had waited through the cold of winter and the heat of summer, sleepless and roofless through all weathers, without food and without rest, in the ardent hope of winning her, and they were willing to consider this long vigil as pleasure if she would but give them one chance of pleading their cause with her.	それでまた、彼らは竹取りのおじいさんの家に行くことにしました。今回はおじいさんが貴族たちに会いに出てきたので、誰にも会わないとかぐや姫が決意しているのなら教えて欲しいとおじいさんに頼みました。そして、彼らがどんなに姫を愛しているか、どんなに長い間、冬の寒さや夏の暑さに耐えて、眠ることもなく、どんな天気でも屋根もなく立ち続け、食べ物も休みさえなくても、姫を手に入れたいという強い思いでいたかを代わりに話してほしいと懇願しました。もし姫が私たちが願っている一度の機会を与えてくれるなら、貴族たちは喜んで、長い徹夜をするつもりでした。
The old man lent a willing ear to their tale of love, for in his inmost heart he felt sorry for these faithful suitors and would have liked to see his lovely foster daughter married to one of them. So he went in to Princess Moonlight and said reverently: “Although you have always seemed to me to be a heavenly being, yet I have had the trouble of bringing you up as my own child and you have been glad of the protection of my roof. Will you refuse to do as I wish?”	おじいさんは彼らが語る愛の物語に喜んで耳を貸しました。心の底では、彼は忠実な求婚者たちを気の毒に思い、愛するかぐや姫が彼らの1人と結婚するのを見たいと思っていました。だから、 おじさんはかぐや姫のところに行き「あなたはいつも天上の人のように見えますが、私は悩みながらも自分の子供の様にあなたを育て、あなたは私の保護のもとにいる事を喜んでいますが、あなたは私の望みを拒みますか」と謹んで言いました。
Then Princess Moonlight replied that there was nothing she would not do for him, that she honored and loved him as her own father, and that as for herself she could not remember the time before she came to earth. The old man listened with great joy as she spoke these dutiful words. Then he told her how anxious he was to see her safely and happily married before he died.	かぐや姫はおじいさんのためならば何でもしますと答えました。彼女は自分の父親としておじいさんを敬愛していましたし、地球にきた前のことを覚えていなかったのです。 おじいさんは姫の誠実な言葉を喜んで聞きました。 それから彼は自分が死ぬ前に、かぐや姫が無事に幸せな結婚をすることを切望しているか彼女に話しました。
“I am an old man, over seventy years of age, and my end may come any time now. It is necessary and right that you should see these five suitors and choose one of them.” “Oh, why,” said the Princess in distress, “must I do this? I have no wish to marry now.” “I found you,” answered the old man, “many years ago, when you were a little creature three inches high, in the midst of a great white light. The light streamed from the bamboo in which you were hid and led me to you.	「私は70歳を超えた年寄りで、いつ私の終わりが来てもおかしくない。5人の求婚者に会い、そのうちの1人を選ぶことは必要であり正しいことだ。」 「どうして」姫は困惑して言いました。「私はそうしなくてはいけませんか。私は今結婚したくはありません」「私何年も前に、大きな光の中でまだ三寸ばかりのあなたを見つけた。 あなたが隠されていた竹から放たれた光が私を導いたのだ。」とおじいさんは答えました。
So I have always thought that you were more than mortal woman. While I am alive it is right for you to remain as you are if you wish to do so, but some day I shall cease to be and who will take care of you then? Therefore I pray you to meet these five brave men one at a time and make up your mind to marry one of them!” Then the Princess answered that she felt sure that she was not as beautiful as perhaps report made her out to be, and that even if she consented to marry any one of them, not really knowing her before, his heart might change afterwards.	だから私はいつもお前はただの人間ではないと思ってた。 私が生きている間は、あなたの望む通り今のままでも良いだろう。しかし、やがて私は死んだら誰があなたの世話をするのだ。だから私はお前にあの勇敢な男たちに一度会い、彼らのうちの1人と結婚することを決めるように祈るばかりだ。」すると姫はおそらく噂されているほど自分は美しくはなく、 彼らの一人と結婚することに同意したとしても、以前の彼女を本当に知らないため、彼の心はその後で変わるかもしれませんと答えました。
So as she did not feel sure of them, even though her father told her they were worthy Knights, she did not feel it wise to see them. “All you say is very reasonable,” said the old man, “but what kind of men will you consent to see? I do not call these five men who have waited on you for months, light hearted. They have stood outside this house through the winter and the summer, often denying themselves food and sleep so that they may win you.	彼女はおじいさんが彼らは立派な騎士だと言っても、確信がもてず、彼らに会うことは賢明でないと感じていました。「 お前が言っていることは全て正しい。」とおじいさんは言いました。「どんな男なら会ってくれるんだ？何ヶ月もお前を待ち続けている5人の男たちは軽い気持ちで待っているとは言わない。 彼らは冬と夏の間も、食べ物や睡眠をとらずに、お前を手に入れるためにこの家の外に立っていたのだ。
What more can you demand?” Then Princess Moonlight said she must make further trial of their love before she would grant their request to interview her. The five warriors were to prove their love by each bringing her from distant countries something that she desired to possess.	他に何を求めると言うのだ？」かぐや姫は、面会を許す前に、さらなる愛の試練与えなければならないと言いました。 五人の戦士たちは姫が望む物を、遠い国から姫に持ってくることで、彼らの愛を証明することになったのです。
That same evening the suitors arrived and began to play their flutes in turn, and to sing their self composed songs telling of their great and tireless love. The bamboo cutter went out to them and offered them his sympathy for all they had endured and all the patience they had shown in their desire to win his foster daughter. Then he gave them her message, that she would consent to marry whosoever was successful in bringing her what she wanted.	その同じ夜、求婚者たちは到着して、順番に笛を演奏し始め、たゆまない大きな愛を伝える自作の歌を歌い始めました。 竹取りおじいさんは彼らのところに出向き、かぐや姫を勝ち取るために耐え忍んできたことに同情をしめしました。それからおじいさんは、姫が望むものを持ってくることに成功した人と結婚するだろうという彼女の意向を伝えました。