The Widow Ho

One day in the early dawn, a distinguished mandarin was leaving the temple of the City God. It was his duty to visit this temple on the first and fifteenth of the moon, whilst the city was still asleep, to offer incense and adoration to the stern-looking figure enshrined within.

ある日の明け方、一人の名高い高官が城隍神の廟から出てくるところだった。月の一日と十五日、町がまだ眠っているうちにこの廟を訪れ、なかに祀られた厳めしい顔つきの像に香を焚いて拝むのが、彼の務めだったのである。

This mandarin was Shih-Kung, and a juster or more upright official did not exist in all the fair provinces of the Empire. Wherever his name was mentioned it was received with the profoundest reverence and respect; for the Chinese people have never lost their ideal of Tien-Li, or Divine Righteousness. This ideal is still deeply embedded in the hearts of high and low, rich and poor; and the homage of all classes, even of the most depraved is gladly offered to any man who conspicuously displays this heavenly virtue.

この高官は施公といい、帝国の麗しい諸省のどこを探しても、これほど公正で廉直な役人はいなかった。その名が口にされるところではどこでも、このうえない崇敬と尊敬をもって迎えられた。というのも、中国の人々は天理、すなわち神の正義という理想を決して失ったことがないからである。この理想は今もなお、身分の高い者にも低い者にも、富める者にも貧しい者にも、心の奥深くに根づいていて、この天の徳を際立って示す人には、あらゆる階層の者が、もっとも堕落した者でさえ、喜んで敬意を捧げるのである。

As Shih-Kung was being carried along in his sedan chair, with his numerous retinue following closely behind him, he happened to notice a young woman walking in the road in front of him, and began to wonder what it was that had brought her out at such an unusually early hour. She was dressed in the very deepest mourning, and so after a little more thought he concluded that she was a widow who was on her way to the grave of her late husband to make the usual offerings to his spirit.

施公が大勢の供をすぐ後ろに従えて轎に乗って運ばれていくと、ふと前方の道を一人の若い女が歩いているのが目にとまり、こんなに珍しく早い時刻に何の用で出てきたのだろうと思いはじめた。女はこのうえなく深い喪服をまとっていたので、少し考えたあと、施公は、あれは寡婦で、亡き夫の墓へいつもの供え物をしに行くところなのだろうと結論した。

All at once a sudden, furious whirlwind screamed about the woman and seemed determined to spend its force upon her; but beyond her nothing was touched by it. Not a leaf on the trees near by was moved, and not a particle of dust on the road, except just where she stood, was in the least agitated by the fierce tempest that for the moment raged around her.

突然、激しいつむじ風が女のまわりで唸りをあげ、その力をすべて女に浴びせようとしているかのようだった。けれども女の向こうでは何一つそれに触れられなかった。近くの木々の葉は一枚も揺れず、女の立っているところのほかは、道の塵ひと粒さえ、束の間女のまわりに吹き荒れたすさまじい嵐に少しも乱されなかった。

As Shih-Kung gazed at this strange occurrence, the woman's outer skirt was blown up in the air, and he saw that underneath was another garment of a rich crimson hue. He then knew at once that there was something radically wrong, for no woman of ordinary virtuous character would ever dare to wear such a glaring colour, while she pretended to be in deep mourning. There was something suspicious, too, in the sudden tornado that blew with such terrific violence round the woman only. It was not an accident that brought it there. It was clearly the angry protest of some spirit who had been foully misused, and who was determined that the wrong-doer should not escape the penalty for the evil she had committed.

施公がこの不思議な出来事を見つめていると、女の上に着ていたスカートが吹き上げられ、その下に濃い深紅の色の別の衣を着ているのが見えた。施公はすぐに、何かがひどくおかしいと悟った。並の貞淑な女なら、深い喪に服しているふりをしながら、そんなけばけばしい色をあえて着ることは決してないからである。女のまわりにだけあれほどすさまじい勢いで吹いた突然の竜巻にも、怪しいところがあった。それがそこに来たのは偶然ではない。明らかに、ひどい仕打ちを受けた何かの霊の怒りの抗議であり、その霊は悪をなした者に報いを逃れさせまいと決めているのだった。

Calling two of his runners to him, Shih-Kung ordered them to follow the woman and to see where she was going and what she did there, and then to report to him immediately.

施公は下役を二人呼び寄せ、女のあとをつけて、どこへ行き、そこで何をするかを見届け、すぐに報告するよう命じた。

The two detectives obeyed his instructions to the very letter, and found that she went to a cemetery which lay on the hillside at the outskirts of the town. She had brought with her a goodly supply of gold and silver paper-money, such as is usually offered to the dead to enable them to purchase food and other necessaries in the Land of Shadows. She was preparing to set these on fire in order that they might reach the spirit for whom they were intended, when, much to the amazement of the runners, another tornado came with the same violence as before, and scattered the paper in all directions so that not a single piece was left to offer to the dead.

二人の探索方は命じられたとおりに寸分違わず務めを果たし、女が町はずれの丘の斜面にある墓地へ行ったことを突き止めた。女は、影の国で食べ物やその他の必需品を買えるよう死者にふつう供えられる、金銀の紙銭をたっぷり携えてきていた。それが届けたい霊のもとに届くよう火をつけようとしていると、下役たちがたいそう驚いたことに、またさっきと同じ激しさで竜巻が起こり、紙銭を四方へ吹き散らして、死者に供えられるものは一枚も残らなかった。

All this was duly reported to Shih-Kung, who at once sent a dispatch to the county magistrate, commanding him to investigate the case thoroughly, and giving him all the particulars of the extraordinary occurrences which had been witnessed.

このことはすべてしかるべく施公に報告され、施公はすぐさま県の知県に書状を送って、目撃された奇妙な出来事の詳細をすべて伝え、この件を徹底的に調べるよう命じた。

This inferior mandarin was greatly puzzled as to how he should act in the matter. No complaint had reached him from anyone concerning the woman, and he had not a particle of evidence on which to proceed against her. In these circumstances, he determined to make an appeal to the City God to reveal to him a mystery that was beyond his powers to unravel. Accordingly, close upon the hour of midnight, he repaired to the temple of this famous idol and lay down to sleep, believing that, if he did so, he would be granted some revelation which would deliver him from his difficulties.

この下位の役人は、この件でどう動けばよいかひどく困惑した。女について訴え出た者は一人もおらず、女を取り調べる根拠となる証拠はかけらもなかった。そこで知県は、自分の力では解けない謎を明かしてくれるよう城隍神に願うことに決めた。そうして真夜中が近づくころ、この名高い像の廟へ出向いて横になり眠った。そうすれば、困難から救ってくれる何かのお告げが授かると信じていたのである。

During the early hours of the morning, close upon the break of day, a vision seemed to pass clearly before the mandarin's eyes.

明け方近く、夜が白みはじめるころ、一つの幻がはっきりと知県の目の前を通り過ぎたように思われた。

He saw the grim god come out of his shrine and appear beyond the yellow curtains which hide his features from the unholy gaze of the crowds that every day flock to his temple. Immediately in front of him floated in the air the coffin of a full-grown man, which gradually settled on the table just below the altar, on which are placed the brazen bowls containing the ashes of the countless incense-sticks burned before the god to gain his favour.

厳めしい神が祠から出てきて、毎日廟に押しかける群衆の不浄な視線からその顔を隠している黄色い帳の外に現れるのが見えた。そのすぐ前には大人の男の棺が宙に浮かんでいて、それがしだいに、神の歓心を買おうと焚かれた無数の線香の灰を入れた真鍮の鉢が並ぶ、祭壇のすぐ下の卓の上に降りてきた。

After the lapse of but a moment the sleeping magistrate saw a man step up out of the surrounding darkness and take his stand at the head of the coffin.

ほんの一瞬ののち、眠っている知県は、一人の男がまわりの闇のなかから進み出て、棺の頭のほうに立つのを見た。

There was something very familiar in the appearance of this mysterious individual who stood there so solemnly, and the mandarin felt that he had seen him before. Suddenly he recognized him as the Coroner of his own district, with whom he had often acted and whose reports were frequently submitted to him in cases where murder was suspected. He was so amazed by this discovery that he woke with a start, when the whole scene at once vanished from his gaze, and he could see nothing but the idol in its shrine, surrounded by the tawdry untidy articles that make up the furnishing of a temple.

そこにいかめしく立っているこの不思議な人物の姿にはどこかひどく見覚えがあり、知県は前に会ったことがあると感じた。突然、それが自分の県の検屍役人だとわかった。何度も一緒に務めを果たし、殺人の疑いのある事件ではその報告がしばしば自分のもとに上がってくる男である。この発見にあまりに驚いたので、知県ははっと目を覚まし、するとその光景はすっかり消えてしまって、祠のなかの像と、そのまわりの廟の調度をなす安っぽく雑然とした品々のほかは、何も見えなくなった。

By this time the dawn was sending its pale, silver light into the great, gloomy building; so the magistrate arose and hurried back to his yamen with a lightened heart, for the god had revealed to him that the grim secret which had so far evaded him lay in the coffin of the dead, and was to be solved there and there only. His course now seemed easy, and it was with a mind full of relief that he entered his home.

このころには夜明けが、青白い銀色の光を大きな薄暗い建物のなかへ送り込んでいた。そこで知県は起き上がり、軽くなった心で急いで役所へ戻った。これまで自分の手を逃れてきた陰惨な秘密は死者の棺のなかにあり、そこでだけ、そこでのみ解けるのだと、神が明かしてくれたからである。今やなすべきことはたやすく思われ、すっかり安堵した心で家に入った。

He at once issued a warrant for the arrest of the widow, and at the same time sent officers to bring the coffin that contained the body of her husband from its burying-place.

知県はすぐに寡婦を捕らえる令状を出し、同時に役人たちを遣わして、夫の遺体を納めた棺を埋葬地から運んでこさせた。

When the widow appeared before the mandarin, she denied that she knew anything of the cause of her husband's death. He had come home drunk one night, she declared, and had fallen senseless on the ground. After a great deal of difficulty, she had managed to lift him up on to the bed, where he lay in a drunken slumber, just as men under the influence of liquor often do, so that she was not in the least anxious or disturbed about him. During the night she fell asleep as she watched by his side, and when she woke up she found to her horror that he was dead.

寡婦は知県の前に引き出されると、夫の死のわけについて何か知っていることを否定した。夫はある晩酔っぱらって帰ってきて、正体もなく地面に倒れたのだと女は言い張った。ずいぶん苦労してどうにか寝台に抱え上げると、夫は酒に酔った男によくあるように泥のように眠りこけていたので、少しも心配したり気にかけたりはしなかった。夜のあいだ夫のそばで見守っているうちに眠ってしまい、目を覚ましてみると、恐ろしいことに夫は死んでいたのだという。

"That is all that can be said about the case," she concluded, "and if you now order an examination of the body, it simply means that you have suspicions about me, for no other person was with him but myself when he died. I protest therefore against the body being examined. If, however, you are determined to do so, I warn you that if you find no signs of violence on it, you expose yourself according to the laws of China to the punishment of death."

「この件について言えることはそれで全部です」と女は締めくくった。「今もし遺体を調べるようお命じになるなら、それはただ、わたしを疑っておられるということです。夫が死んだとき、そばにいたのはわたしのほかにだれもいないのですから。ですから遺体を調べることには抗議いたします。けれど、どうしてもなさるというのなら、申し上げておきます。もし暴行の跡が何も見つからなければ、中国の法によって、あなたさまが死罪を受けることになりますよ」

"I am quite prepared to take the responsibility," replied the mandarin, "and I have already ordered the Coroner to open the coffin and to make a careful examination of the body."

「その責めを負う覚悟は十分にできている」と知県は答えた。「すでに検屍役人に、棺を開けて遺体を注意深く調べるよう命じてある」

This was accordingly done, but no trace of injury, not even the slightest bruise, could be discovered on any part of the dead man's body.

そこでそのとおりに行われたが、死んだ男の体のどこにも、傷の跡はおろか、ごくわずかな打ち身さえ見つからなかった。

The county magistrate was greatly distressed at this result of the enquiry, and hastened to Shih-Kung in order to obtain his advice as to what steps he should now take to escape the punishment of death which he had incurred by his action. The Viceroy agreed that the matter had indeed assumed a most serious aspect. "But you need not be anxious," he added, "about what you have done. You have only acted by my orders, and therefore I assume all responsibility for the proceedings which you have adopted to discover the murderer."

県の知県はこの取り調べの結果にひどく心を痛め、自分の行いによって招いた死罪を逃れるにはこれからどうすればよいか助言を仰ごうと、施公のもとへ急いだ。総督は、事がまことにきわめて重大な局面を迎えたことを認めた。「けれども心配することはない」と総督は付け加えた。「そなたのしたことについては。そなたはわしの命に従って動いただけなのだから、人殺しを見つけ出すためにそなたがとった手続きの責めは、すべてわしが負う」

Late in the afternoon, as the sun began to disappear behind the mountains of the west, Shih-Kung slipped out by a side door of his yamen, dressed as a peddler of cloth, and with pieces of various kinds of material resting on his shoulders. His disguise was so perfect that no one, as he passed down the street, dreamed of suspecting that instead of being a wandering draper, he was in reality the Governor-General of the Province, who was trying to obtain evidence of a murder that had recently been committed in his own capital.

午後遅く、太陽が西の山々の向こうに沈みはじめるころ、施公は布の行商人に身をやつし、さまざまな種類の布地を肩に載せて、役所の脇の戸からそっと抜け出した。その変装はあまりに見事だったので、通りを下っていく彼を見て、流しの呉服屋ではなく、実はこの省の総督で、自分のお膝元の都で最近起こった殺人の証拠をつかもうとしているのだと、疑う者はだれ一人いなかった。

Travelling on down one street after another, Shih-Kung came at last to the outskirts of the town, where the dwellings were more scattered and the population was less dense. By this time it was growing dark, so when he came to a house that stood quite apart by itself, he knocked at the door. An elderly woman with a pleasant face and a motherly look about her asked him in a kind and gentle voice what he wanted.

通りを一つ、また一つと進んでいき、施公はとうとう町のはずれに来た。そこでは家々はまばらで、人も少なかった。このころにはもう暗くなりかけていたので、ぽつんと一軒だけ離れて建っている家に来ると、施公は戸を叩いた。気立てのよさそうな顔つきの、母親らしい雰囲気の年配の女が、優しく穏やかな声で何の用かと尋ねた。

"I have taken the liberty," he replied, "of coming to your house to see whether you would not kindly allow me to lodge with you for the night. I am a stranger in this region," he continued, "and have travelled far from my home to sell my cloth. The night is fast falling, and I know not where to spend it, and so I beg of you to take me in. I do not want charity, for I am quite able to pay you liberally for any trouble I may cause you; and to-morrow morning, as early as you may desire, I shall proceed on my wanderings, and you will be relieved of me."

「勝手ながら」と施公は答えた。「今夜一晩泊めていただけないかと思って、お宅に伺いました。わたしはこの土地の者ではなく」と施公は続けた。「布を売るために故郷から遠くまで旅してまいりました。夜はどんどん更けてきて、どこで過ごせばよいのかわかりませんので、どうか泊めていただきたいのです。施しを求めているのではありません。お手数をおかけする分は十分お支払いできますし、明日の朝は、お望みの早い時刻に旅を続けますので、ご迷惑はおかけしません」

"My good man," she replied, "I am perfectly willing that you should lodge here for the night, only I am afraid you may have to endure some annoyance from the conduct of my son when he returns home later in the evening."

「まあ、あなた」と女は答えた。「一晩お泊めするのはまったくかまいませんよ。ただ、夜遅くに息子が帰ってきたら、その振る舞いで何か嫌な思いをなさるかもしれないのが心配なのです」

"My business leads me into all kinds of company," he assured her, "and I meet people with a great variety of dispositions, but I generally manage to get on with them all. It may be so with your son."

「商売柄、わたしはあらゆる人とかかわります」と施公は請け合った。「いろいろな気性の人に会いますが、たいていはみなとうまくやっていけます。息子さんともそうかもしれません」

With a good-natured smile, the old lady then showed him into a little room just off the one which was used as a sitting room. Shih-Kung was very tired, so he threw himself down, just as he was, on a trestle bed that stood in the corner, and began to think over his plans for solving the mystery of the murder. By-and-by he fell fast asleep.

人のよい微笑みを浮かべて、老婦人は居間として使っている部屋のすぐ脇の小部屋に彼を案内した。施公はたいそう疲れていたので、そのままの格好で隅にある架台の寝台に身を投げ出し、殺人の謎を解くための計画を思いめぐらしはじめた。やがて彼はぐっすりと眠り込んだ。

About midnight he woke up at the sound of voices in the next room, and heard the mother saying:--"I want you to be very careful how you treat the peddler, and not to use any of your coarse language to him. Although he looks only a common man, I am sure he is a gentleman, for he has a refined way with him that shows he must have come from no mean family. I did not really want to take him in, as I knew you might object; but the poor man was very tired, and it was getting dark, and he declared he had no place to go to, so that at last I consented to let him stay. It is only for the night, and to-morrow at break of day he says he must be on his travels again."

真夜中ごろ、隣の部屋の話し声に目を覚ますと、母親がこう言っているのが聞こえた。「行商人さんの扱いにはよくよく気をつけて、いつもの乱暴な言葉づかいはしないでちょうだい。見かけはただの庶民だけれど、きっと身分のある方よ。立ち居振る舞いに品があって、卑しい家の出ではないとわかるもの。お前が嫌がるのはわかっていたから、本当はお泊めしたくなかったの。でもあの気の毒な方はとても疲れていたし、暗くなってきていたし、ほかに行くところがないとおっしゃるものだから、とうとう泊まってもらうことにしたのよ。今夜だけのことで、明日の夜明けにはまた旅に出なければならないとおっしゃっているわ」

"I do most strongly dislike having a strange man in the house," replied a voice which Shih-Kung concluded was the son's; "and I shall go and have a look at him in order to satisfy myself about him."

「家に知らない男がいるのは大嫌いなんだ」と、施公が息子の声だと判断した声が答えた。「ちょっと見に行って、確かめてこよう」

Taking a lantern in his hand, he came close up to where Shih-Kung was lying, and flashing the light upon his face, looked down anxiously at him for a few moments. Apparently he was satisfied, for he cried out in a voice that could easily be heard in the other room: "All right, mother, I am content. The man has a good face, and I do not think I have anything to fear from him. Let him remain."

息子は手に提灯を持って施公の横たわっているところのすぐそばまで来ると、その顔に明かりを向け、しばらく気がかりそうに見下ろしていた。どうやら納得したらしく、隣の部屋にもたやすく聞こえる声で叫んだ。「大丈夫だよ、おっかさん、これでいい。いい顔をした男だ。何も恐れることはなさそうだ。泊めておいてやろう」

Shih-Kung now considered that it was time for him to act. He stretched himself and yawned as though he were just waking out of sleep, and then, sitting up on the edge of the bed, he looked into the young man's face and asked him who he was.

施公は、今こそ動く時だと考えた。眠りから覚めたばかりのように伸びをしてあくびをすると、寝台の縁に起き上がって座り、若者の顔を見上げて、あなたはどなたかと尋ねた。

"Oh!" he replied in a friendly way, "I am the son of the old lady who gave you permission to stay here for the night. For certain reasons, I am not at all anxious to have strangers about the house, and at first I very much objected to have you here. But now that I have had a good look at you, my objections have all vanished. I pride myself upon being a good judge of character, and I may tell you that I have taken a fancy to you. But come away with me into the next room, for I am going to have a little supper, and as my mother tells me that you fell asleep without having had anything to eat, I have no doubt you will be glad to join me."

「ああ」と若者は親しげに答えた。「おれは、あんたにここで一晩泊まっていいと言ったばあさんの息子さ。わけあって、よその者に家のまわりにいてほしくないんで、はじめはあんたがここにいるのがひどく嫌だった。でも、よく顔を見てみたら、そんな気持ちはすっかり消えちまった。おれは人を見る目があるのが自慢でね、正直、あんたが気に入ったよ。それより隣の部屋へ来ないか。これからちょっと夜食をやるところなんだ。おっかさんの話じゃ、あんた何も食べずに寝ちまったそうだから、きっと一緒にやりたいだろう」

As they sat talking over the meal, they became very friendly and confidential with each other, and the sam-shu that the son kept drinking from a tiny cup, into which it was poured from a steaming kettle, had the effect of loosening his tongue and causing him to speak more freely than he would otherwise have done.

食事をしながら語り合ううちに、二人はすっかり打ち解けて心を許し合うようになった。息子が湯気の立つ土瓶から小さな杯に注いではあおっていた焼酒のせいで舌がゆるみ、ふだんよりずっと口が軽くなった。

From his long experience of the shady classes of society, Shih-Kung very soon discovered what kind of a man his companion was, and felt that here was a mine from which he might draw valuable information to help him in reaching the facts he wished to discover.

世の中の後ろ暗い連中を長年相手にしてきた経験から、施公は相手がどういう男なのかすぐに見抜き、ここに、突き止めたい事実にたどり着く助けとなる貴重な知らせを掘り出せる鉱脈があると感じた。

Looking across the table at the son, whose face was by this time flushed with the spirit he had been drinking, and with a hasty glance around the room, as though he were afraid that some one might overhear him, he said in a low voice, "I want to tell you a great secret. You have opened your heart a good deal to me, and now I am going to do the same with you. I am not really a peddler of cloth, as I have pretended to be. I have been simply using that business to disguise my real occupation, which I do not want anyone to know."

このころには酒で顔を赤くしていた息子を卓越しに見やり、だれかに立ち聞きされるのを恐れるかのように部屋のなかをすばやく見回すと、施公は低い声で言った。「一つ大きな秘密を打ち明けたい。あんたはずいぶん胸の内を明かしてくれたから、今度はわたしも同じようにしよう。わたしは、ふりをしていたような布の行商人じゃないんだ。その商売は、だれにも知られたくない本当の稼業を隠すために使っていただけなんだよ」

"And what, may I ask, may be the trade in which you are engaged, and of which you seem to be so ashamed that you dare not openly confess it?" asked the son.

「で、おおっぴらに打ち明けられないほど恥ずかしがっているその稼業ってのは、いったい何なんだい」と息子は尋ねた。

"Well, I am what I call a benevolent thief," replied Shih-Kung.

「まあ、わたしは、自分で言うところの義賊なんだ」と施公は答えた。

"A benevolent thief!" exclaimed the other in astonishment. "I have never heard of such a thing before, and I should very much like to know what is meant by it."

「義賊だって」と相手は驚いて叫んだ。「そんなものは聞いたことがない。いったいどういう意味なのか、ぜひ知りたいもんだ」

"I must tell you," explained the guest, "that I am not a common thief who takes the property of others for his own benefit. I never steal for myself. My practice is to find out where men have made money unjustly, and then by certain means at my command I deprive them of some of their unlawful gains and distribute them amongst the people they have wronged. In this way I have been the means of bringing suitable punishment on the heads of the guilty, and at the same time of relieving the necessities of those who have suffered at their hands."

「言っておかねばならないが」と客は説明した。「わたしは、他人の財産を自分の得のために奪う並の盗人じゃない。自分のためには決して盗まない。わたしのやり方は、不正に金をもうけた者を見つけ出し、手持ちのある手段で不当な稼ぎのいくらかを取り上げて、そいつらに害された人々に分けてやることなんだ。こうして、罪ある者の頭にふさわしい罰を下すと同時に、そいつらのせいで苦しんだ者たちの窮乏を救ってきたのさ」

"I am astonished at what you tell me," replied the son, "though I do not believe all you say about not taking a share in the plunder you get. But now that you have opened your heart to me, I shall repay your confidence by telling you what I am. I am a real thief, and I support my mother, who does not suspect the truth, and keep the home together, simply by what I steal from others."

「驚いたね」と息子は答えた。「もっとも、分捕ったものを分け前にとらないってのは、全部は信じないがね。けど、あんたが胸の内を明かしてくれたからには、おれも信頼に応えて、おれが何者か話そう。おれは本物の盗人さ。何も知らないおっかさんを養って家を支えているのは、ただ人から盗んだものなんだ」

He then proceeded to give an account of some of the adventures he had met with in the course of his expeditions by night to rooms and houses which, as he always found out beforehand by careful spying, contained valuables that could be easily carried away.

それから若者は、夜ごと部屋や家へ忍び込む仕事の途中で出くわした冒険のいくつかを語りはじめた。そうした家は、いつも前もって注意深く探りを入れて、たやすく持ち出せる貴重品があるとわかっているところだった。

While he was relating these stories, Shih-Kung's eyes gleamed with delight, for he saw that the man had fallen into the trap which had been laid for him, and felt confident that before the night was over he would be in possession of some clue to the mystery he was endeavouring to solve. He was disgusted with the sordid details of the criminal life of which the man before him seemed to be proud; yet with wonderful patience this mandarin, with his large powers of mind, and with a genius for statesmanship which had made him famous throughout the Empire, sat for hours enduring the wretched talk of this common thief. But his reward came in due time.

若者がそうした話をしているあいだ、施公の目は喜びに光った。男が仕掛けた罠にかかったのを見て、夜が明ける前に解こうとしている謎の手がかりをつかめるだろうと確信したからである。目の前の男が自慢にしているらしい犯罪の暮らしのあさましい細かい話にうんざりしながらも、偉大な知力を持ち、帝国じゅうに名を轟かせた政治の才を備えたこの高官は、驚くべき忍耐をもって、このありふれた盗人のくだらない話に何時間も耐えて座っていた。けれども、やがて報われる時が来た。

"By the way," exclaimed this man whose business it was to break into homes when the small hours of the morning found their inmates wrapped in slumber, "some time ago I had a most remarkable experience, and as you have shown yourself such a good fellow, I will tell you about it, if you do not think it too late to do so."

「そういえば」と、家の者たちが寝静まった夜更けに押し入るのを稼業とするこの男は叫んだ。「しばらく前に、とんでもない目に遭ったんだ。あんたはこんなにいい奴だってわかったから、夜も遅すぎると思わなけりゃ、その話をしてやろう」

"I shall be most delighted to hear you relate it," said his guest. "I have been greatly entertained by your vivid way of describing the adventures through which you have passed. You deserve to be classed amongst the great heroes of old, who have made their names famous by their deeds of daring. Go on, I pray you, and tell me the particulars of this unusual experience."

「ぜひとも聞かせてもらいたい」と客は言った。「あんたがくぐり抜けてきた冒険の生き生きした語りっぷりに、ずいぶん楽しませてもらった。あんたは、大胆な行いで名を上げた昔の大英雄たちの仲間に数えられるにふさわしい。さあ、どうか続けて、その変わった体験のことを詳しく話してくれ」

"Well," proceeded the man, "I had very carefully planned to pay a visit to a certain house just outside the walls of the city. It was an easy one to get in to without any danger of being observed, for it was in a quiet street, where passers-by are very few after dark. It was a gloomy place after sunset, for the high walls that looked down upon it threw deep and heavy shadows, which faint-hearted people declare are really unhappy and restless ghosts prowling about to harass and distress the unwary.

「それでだ」と男は話しはじめた。「おれは、町の城壁のすぐ外にある一軒の家を訪ねようと、念入りに計画を立てていた。人に見られる危険もなく、たやすく入り込める家だった。日が暮れると通る人のめったにない静かな通りにあったからね。日没後は陰気な場所で、見下ろすように高い壁が深く重い影を落としていて、臆病な連中は、あれは本当は不幸で落ち着かない幽霊がうろついて、うっかりした者を悩ませ苦しめているんだと言っていた。

"It was a little after midnight, when with stealthy footsteps I crept along the narrow streets, keeping as much as I could under cover of the houses, where the darkness lay deepest. Every home was hushed in slumber. The only things that really troubled me were the dogs, which, with an intelligence far greater than that of their masters, suspected me of some evil purpose, and barked at me and made wild snaps at my legs. I managed, however, to evade them and finally to arrive at the house I intended to rob.

「真夜中を少し過ぎたころ、おれは忍び足で狭い通りを這うように進んだ。できるだけ家々の陰に隠れて、闇のいちばん深いところを行った。どの家も眠りに静まりかえっていた。本当に困ったのは犬どもだけで、あいつらは飼い主よりずっと賢いから、おれに何か悪だくみがあると疑って吠えかかり、足にがぶりと噛みつこうとした。けれどどうにかかわして、とうとう盗みに入るつもりの家に着いたんだ。

"When I got close up to it, I was surprised to find a light burning inside. There was another thing, too, that I could not understand, and this was that a little side door by which I had planned to enter had not been bolted, but had been left ajar so that any prowling robber could easily gain admittance through it. Taking off my shoes, I walked on tiptoe along the stone-paved courtyard in the direction of the room where the light was burning, and hiding myself just outside the window, I could observe everything without being seen myself.

「すぐそばまで来ると、驚いたことに、なかに明かりがともっていた。もう一つ、わけのわからないことがあった。入り込もうと計画していた小さな脇の戸にかんぬきがかかっておらず、うろつく泥棒ならだれでもたやすく入れるように、少し開けたままになっていたんだ。靴を脱いで、石畳の中庭を明かりのともった部屋のほうへ爪先立ちで歩き、窓のすぐ外に身を隠すと、自分は見られずに何もかも見ることができた。

"I saw a woman of about thirty sitting alone by a table. She was evidently annoyed about something, for a frown rested on her face, and her eyes now and again flashed with suppressed anger, as though she had suffered some great wrong and wished to avenge it. I was just beginning to wonder when I should be able to attend to my own particular business, when I heard the side door slam, and the heavy staggering footsteps of a person under the influence of sam-shu sounded in the dark.

「三十ぐらいの女が一人、卓のそばに座っているのが見えた。何かに腹を立てているらしく、顔をしかめ、目はときどき押し殺した怒りでぎらりと光った。まるで何かひどい仕打ちを受けて、その仕返しをしたがっているみたいだった。いつになったら自分の仕事にとりかかれるんだろうと思いはじめたとき、脇の戸がばたんと閉まる音がして、焼酒に酔った者の重いよろめく足音が闇のなかに響いた。

"I drew back a little further from the window. A man approached the room where the woman was sitting; lurching heavily, he sent the door open with a bang, fell down on the floor, and lay there perfectly insensible. He was a little insignificant fellow, whilst his wife was a vigorous, strapping woman. Looking at him with a world of contempt in her eyes, she came and picked him up and laid him on a bed that stood in the corner of the room.

「おれは窓から少し身を引いた。一人の男が女の座っている部屋へやって来た。ひどくよろめきながら戸をばたんと押し開けると、床に倒れ込んで、まったく正体もなく横たわった。小柄でちっぽけな男で、女房のほうはがっしりした大柄な女だった。女はさげすみのこもった目で男を見ると、近寄って抱え上げ、部屋の隅にある寝台に寝かせた。

"She then went back to her seat, but there was an evil look in the glances that she kept casting at her wretched husband. I was wondering to myself what was to be the end of this curious scene, when I saw her get up and go to a kind of wardrobe and take out a needle some two or three inches in length. She then undid her husband's dress, and seizing a mallet that lay on the table, she drove the needle deep down into his navel until it had entirely vanished in the flesh and not a trace of it was to be seen.

「それから女は自分の席に戻ったが、惨めな亭主に投げかける目つきには邪悪なものがあった。このおかしな場面がどう終わるのかと心のなかで思っていると、女が立ち上がって簞笥のようなものへ行き、長さ二、三インチほどの針を一本取り出すのが見えた。それから女は亭主の着物をはだけ、卓の上にあった木槌をつかむと、針を亭主のへそに深々と打ち込み、とうとう肉のなかにすっかり消えて跡形も見えなくなった。

"The drunken man screamed as though in great agony, tossed convulsively on the bed, and then lay still and moved no more.

「酔っぱらった男はひどく苦しんでいるように叫び声をあげ、寝台の上で身をよじってのたうち、それからじっと横たわって二度と動かなかった。

"I was so paralyzed with fear lest I should be implicated in this murder, that I dashed out of the house with all the speed I could command in the dark, and without stopping my flight for a single moment, I reached my home, terrified beyond measure at the awful scene that I had just witnessed.

「おれはこの人殺しに巻き込まれるのが怖くて身がすくみ、闇のなかをあらんかぎりの速さで家から飛び出した。一瞬たりとも足を止めずに逃げ続けて家にたどり着いたが、たった今見たおぞましい光景に、どうしようもないほど震え上がっていた。

"The only amusing part about the whole business was the inquest which was held the other day upon the body of the dead husband. I was present, and laughed in my sleeve at the whole proceedings. There was the Coroner, with solemn face, going through all the regular rules of examining the body for some proof that the man had been murdered. Then there was the county magistrate, questioning and threatening the woman as to the part she had played in the tragedy. And then, too, there was the wife, with sobs and sighs, and with tears running down her face, calling Heaven to witness that she had had nothing to do with the death of her husband. It was a splendid farce, carried out with wonderful acting by the wife, for there was not a flaw in her evidence, and no sign on the body to convict her of her crime.

「この件でただ一つ面白かったのは、先日その死んだ亭主の遺体について行われた検屍さ。おれもその場にいて、腹のなかでその成り行きを笑っていた。検屍役人がいかめしい顔で、男が殺された証拠がないかと遺体を調べるいつもの決まりをひととおりこなしていた。それから県の知県が、事件で女が果たした役割について問いただしたり脅したりしていた。そしてまた女房が、ため息をつき、すすり泣き、顔に涙を流しながら、亭主の死とは何のかかわりもないと天に誓っていた。女房の見事な芝居でやってのけた、たいした茶番だったよ。女の申し立てには一つの綻びもなく、遺体にも女の罪を証すしるしは何もなかったんだから。

"A few words from me would have settled the question in a moment, and the county magistrate, who seemed dreadfully distressed because of the responsibility he had incurred in the eyes of the law by holding an examination of the body without sufficient evidence to warrant him in so doing, would have had his heart lightened of the load that was weighing it down if I could only have had the opportunity of whispering a single sentence into his ear."

「おれが一言いえば、事はたちまち片がついただろう。十分な証拠もなしに遺体を調べさせたせいで法の上で負うことになった責めにひどく苦しんでいるらしかった県の知県も、耳にたった一言ささやく機会さえあれば、心にのしかかっている重荷から解き放たれただろうにな」

"It is your duty," interposed his guest, "to proceed to-morrow morning to the mandarin's yamen, and tell your story to the county magistrate, so that a great wrong may not go unpunished."

「あんたの務めは」と客が口をはさんだ。「明日の朝、役所へ出向いて、県の知県にその話をすることだ。そうすれば大きな悪が罰を逃れずにすむ」

"That I can never do," promptly replied the man. "What do you think would happen were I to do what you suggest? I am a thief. I get my living by thieving. I was in the house on the night of the murder for the purpose of robbery. That would all come out when I give my evidence. After I had proved the murder, what would become of me? I should be cast into prison, and I might have to lie there for years, for who would ever bail out a thief? And then my poor mother would starve, for she has to depend on me entirely for her living, and she would be compelled to go on the streets and beg for charity from door to door. No, it is impossible for me ever to interfere in this case."

「そいつは決してできない」と男はすぐさま答えた。「あんたの言うとおりにしたら、どうなると思う。おれは盗人だ。盗みで食っている。人殺しの夜、あの家にいたのは盗みのためだった。証言すれば、それが全部ばれちまう。人殺しを証明したあと、おれはどうなる。牢に放り込まれて、何年も入っていなけりゃならないかもしれない。盗人の保釈金なんてだれが出してくれるものか。そうなりゃ気の毒なおっかさんは飢え死にだ。暮らしのすべてをおれに頼っているんだから、通りへ出て戸口から戸口へ施しを乞うて回らなきゃならなくなる。いや、この件に首を突っ込むなんて、おれには決してできない」

Shih-Kung recognized the difficulty in which the man was placed, and yet without his evidence it would be impossible to convict the woman of the crime she had committed. He accordingly thought out a plan which he felt would remove the obstacles that stood in the way of securing him as a witness.

施公は男が置かれている苦境を理解したが、その証言がなければ、女が犯した罪を立証するのは不可能だった。そこで、男を証人として確保する妨げとなっている障害を取り除けると思える策を練った。

Turning to the man, he said, "I have had a very pleasant evening with you, and I thank you for your courtesy and hospitality. I feel my heart moved with a desire for a deeper friendship than mere words can ever express, and so I propose that you and I become sworn brothers, so that whatever may befall us in the future we shall stand by each other to the very death."

男のほうを向いて、施公は言った。「今夜はとても楽しく過ごさせてもらった。あんたの心づかいともてなしに礼を言う。わたしの胸には、ただの言葉では言い表せないほど深い友情を結びたいという思いが湧いている。そこで、あんたとわたしで義兄弟の契りを結ばないか。この先何が起ころうとも、死ぬまで互いに助け合うのだ」

The young man looked up with astonishment at this unexpected proposal, but the sudden flash in his eyes and the smile that overspread his countenance showed that it was very pleasing to him.

若者はこの思いがけない申し出に驚いて顔を上げたが、その目にぱっと浮かんだ輝きと顔じゅうに広がった微笑みは、それが彼にとってたいそううれしいものであることを示していた。

"I shall be delighted to agree," he quickly replied, "but when shall we have an opportunity of appearing in the temple, and of registering our vow in the presence of the god?"

「喜んで承知するよ」と若者はすぐに答えた。「けど、いつ廟へ行って、神さまの前で誓いを立てる機会があるかな」

"There is no need to go to any temple," Shih-Kung replied. "Your family idol, which sits over there enshrined before us, will be quite sufficient for our purpose. Give me a pen and paper, and I will write out the articles of our brotherhood and present them to the god."

「廟へ行く必要はない」と施公は答えた。「あそこにわたしたちの前に祀られているあんたの家の神さまで、十分用が足りる。筆と紙をくれ。わたしが兄弟の契りの条目を書いて、神さまに捧げよう」

In a few minutes the document was written out according to the minute rules laid down by the law which binds two men in a sworn brotherhood. By the most solemn oaths Shih-Kung and this thief agreed to assist each other in any extremity in which either might be placed in the future. Any call from one to the other must be instantly responded to. No danger and no peril to life or limb must be allowed to deter either of them when the cry for help or deliverance was heard. Each was to regard the interests of the other as identical with his own, and as long as life lasted, the obligation to succour in every time of need could never be relaxed or annulled.

数分のうちに、二人の男を義兄弟として結ぶ法に定められた細かい決まりに従って、証文が書き上げられた。このうえなく厳かな誓いによって、施公とこの盗人は、この先どちらかがどんな窮地に陥ろうとも互いに助け合うことを約した。一方から他方への呼びかけには、ただちに応えねばならない。助けや救いを求める叫びが聞こえたときは、命や身体へのどんな危険や危難にも怯んではならない。互いの利害を自分の利害と同じものとみなし、命のあるかぎり、あらゆる困窮の時に助けるという務めは、決して緩めたり取り消したりすることはできない。

To prove that this solemn engagement was no mere passing whim of the moment, it had to be read in the hearing of the household god, who happened to be the Goddess of Mercy. She would then be an everlasting witness of the transaction, and with the invisible forces at her command would visit pains and penalties on the one who broke his oath. Standing in front of her shrine, Shih-Kung read out the articles of agreement, word by word, in a slow and measured tone suited to the solemnity of the occasion. He then lighted the paper at the lamp, and both men gazed at it until nothing was left but ashes, when each of them knew that the Goddess had received the document and had placed it in her archives in the far-off Western Heaven as a record of the vows made in her presence in those early hours of the morning.

この厳かな約束がその場の一時の気まぐれでないことを示すため、証文は家の神——たまたま観音であった——の耳に届くよう読み上げねばならなかった。そうすれば観音がこの取り決めの永遠の証人となり、意のままになる目に見えない力によって、誓いを破った者に苦しみと罰を下すのである。施公は観音の祠の前に立ち、この場の厳粛さにふさわしいゆっくりとした重々しい調子で、取り決めの条目を一語一語読み上げた。それから紙を灯火で燃やし、二人は灰しか残らなくなるまでそれを見つめた。そのとき二人はそれぞれ、観音が証文を受け取り、その明け方の時刻に御前で交わされた誓いの記録として、遠い西天にある自分の文庫に納めたのだと知った。

When they sat down again, Shih-Kung looked with a strong and masterful gaze at his newly-created brother and said to him:--"You and I are now sworn brothers, and of course we must be frank with each other. I do not wish to deceive you any longer, so I must tell you that I am neither a peddler of cloth, nor a benevolent thief in the sense in which you understood the term. I am in fact Shih-Kung, the Viceroy of this Province."

ふたたび腰を下ろすと、施公は新しくできた義兄弟を力強く威厳のある眼差しで見つめて言った。「あんたとわたしは今や義兄弟だ。もちろん、互いに隠し立てをしてはならない。わたしはもうあんたを欺きたくないから、言っておかねばならない。わたしは布の行商人でもなければ、あんたの思ったような意味での義賊でもない。実はこの省の総督、施公なのだ」

No sooner did the man hear the name of this great mandarin, who was a profound source of terror to the criminals and evil-doers within his jurisdiction, than he fell on his knees before him in the most abject fright, and repeatedly knocking his head on the ground, besought him to have mercy on him.

管轄のうちの罪人や悪人たちにとって深い恐怖の的であるこの大官の名を聞くやいなや、男はこのうえなく惨めに怯えて彼の前にひざまずき、何度も頭を地面に打ちつけて、どうかお慈悲をと懇願した。

Raising him up gently with his hand, Shih-Kung told him to lay aside all his fears. "You are my brother now," he said, "and we have just sworn in the presence of the Goddess to defend each other with our lives. I shall certainly perform my part of the oath. From this moment your fortune is made; and as for your mother, who received me with such gracious courtesy, it shall be my privilege to provide for her as long as she lives."

施公は手でそっと男を立ち上がらせ、恐れはすべて捨てるようにと言った。「今やあんたはわたしの兄弟だ」と施公は言った。「わたしたちはたった今、観音さまの御前で、命をかけて互いを守ると誓ったのだ。わたしは必ず誓いのわたしの側を果たす。この時からあんたの運は開けた。それに、あれほど心のこもった礼儀でわたしを迎えてくれたあんたのおっかさんについては、生きているかぎりお世話をさせてもらうのがわたしの務めだ」

Emboldened by these words of the great statesman, the young man appeared at the second inquest, which Shih-Kung ordered to be held, and gave such testimony that the guilt of the wretched wife was clearly established, and due punishment meted out to her.

この大政治家の言葉に勇気づけられて、若者は施公が開くよう命じた二度目の検屍に出頭し、証言をした。それによって惨めな女房の罪ははっきりと立証され、しかるべき罰が女に下された。