The Beautiful Daughter of Liu-kung

In one of the central provinces of this long-lived Empire of China, there lived in very early times a man of the name of Chan. He was a person of a bright, active nature which made him enjoy life, and caused him to be popular amongst his companions and a favourite with every one who knew him. But he was also a scholar, well-versed in the literature of his country, and he spent every moment that he could spare in the study of the great writings of the famous men of former days.

この長く続く中華帝国の中部のある省に、ごく古い時代、陳という名の男が住んでいた。明るく活発な性分で、人生を楽しみ、仲間には人気があり、知る人みなに好かれていた。けれども彼は学者でもあり、国の文学に通じていて、割ける時間はすべて、昔の名高い人々の偉大な著作を学ぶことに費やしていた。

In order that he might be interrupted as little as possible in his pursuit of learning, he engaged a room in a famous monastery some miles away from his own home. The only inhabitants of this monastery were a dozen or so of Buddhist priests, who, except when they were engaged in the daily services of the temple, lived a quiet, humdrum, lazy kind of existence which harmonized well with the solitude and the majestic stillness of the mountain scenery by which they were surrounded.

学問の追求をできるだけ妨げられないように、陳は自分の家から数マイル離れた名高い寺に一部屋を借りた。この寺に住むのは十人あまりの仏僧だけで、寺の日々の勤行に携わっているとき以外は、静かで単調な、怠惰ともいえる暮らしを送っていた。それは、寺を取り巻く山の景色の寂しさと荘厳な静けさによく調和していた。

This monastery was indeed one of the most beautiful in China. It was situated on the slope of a hill, looking down upon a lovely valley, where the natural solitude was as complete as the most devoted hermit could desire. The only means of getting to it were the narrow hill footpaths along which the worshippers from the great city and the scattered villages wound in and out on festal days, when they came trooping to the temple to make their offerings to the famous God enshrined within.

この寺はまことに中国でもっとも美しい寺の一つであった。美しい谷を見下ろす丘の斜面にあり、そこでは自然の寂しさが、どれほど熱心な隠者でも望むほど完璧だった。そこへ行く道は、丘の細い小道しかなかった。祭りの日には、大きな町や点在する村々から参詣人がその小道を曲がりくねって群れをなしてやって来て、寺に祀られた名高い神に供え物をするのだった。

Chan was a diligent student, and rarely indulged in recreation of any kind. Occasionally, when his mind became oppressed with excessive study he would go for a quiet walk along the hillside; but these occasions were few and far between, for he made up for every hour he spent away from his beloved books by still closer application to them in the hours that followed.

陳は勤勉な学生で、どんな娯楽にもめったに興じなかった。ときおり、学問に励みすぎて頭が重くなると、丘の斜面を静かに散歩することもあった。けれどもそうしたことはごくまれで、愛する書物から離れて過ごした一時間一時間を、そのあとの時間にいっそう打ち込むことで取り戻していた。

One day he was strolling in an aimless kind of way on the hillside, when suddenly a party of hunters from the neighbouring city of Eternal Spring came dashing into view. They were a merry group and full of excitement, for they had just sighted a fox which Chan had seen a moment before flying away at its highest speed in mortal dread of its pursuers.

ある日、陳が丘の斜面をあてもなくぶらついていると、突然、近くの長春の町から来た狩人の一団が勢いよく姿を現した。一行は陽気で興奮に満ちていた。ちょうど一匹の狐を見つけたところだったのである。陳はその少し前、追っ手を死ぬほど恐れて全速力で逃げていくその狐を見ていた。

Prominent amongst the hunters was a young girl, who was mounted on a fiery little steed, so full of spirit and so eager to follow in the mad chase after the prey, that its rider seemed to have some difficulty in restraining it. The girl herself was a perfect picture. Her face was the loveliest that Chan had ever looked upon, and her figure, which her trim hunting dress showed off to the utmost advantage, was graceful in the extreme. As she swept by him with her face flushed with excitement and her features all aglow with health, Chan felt at once that he had lost his heart and that he was deeply and profoundly in love with her.

狩人たちのなかでひときわ目立っていたのは一人の少女で、気の荒い小柄な馬にまたがっていた。馬は元気いっぱいで、獲物を追う狂おしい追跡に加わりたくてたまらず、乗り手は抑えるのに少し苦労しているようだった。少女そのものは絵にかいたように美しかった。その顔は陳がこれまで見たなかでもっとも愛らしく、きりりとした狩りの装束がこのうえなく引き立てるその姿は、きわめて優美だった。興奮に頬を染め、健やかさに顔を輝かせて少女がそばを駆け抜けていったとき、陳はたちまち、自分が心を奪われ、深く深く恋に落ちたことを感じた。

On making enquiries, he found that she was named Willow, that she was the daughter of the chief mandarin of the town in which she lived, and that she was intensely fond of the chase and delighted in galloping over the hills and valleys in the pursuit of the wild animals to be found there. So powerfully had Chan's mind been affected by what he had seen of Willow, that he had already begun to entertain serious thoughts of making her his wife; but while his mind was full of this delightful prospect he was plunged into the deepest grief by hearing that she had suddenly died. For some days he was so stricken with sorrow that he lost all interest in life, and could do nothing but dwell on the memory of her whom he had come to love with all the devotion of his heart.

尋ねてみると、少女の名は柳といい、住んでいる町の長官の娘で、狩りが大好きで、そこにいる野の獣を追って丘や谷を駆けめぐるのを楽しんでいるのだとわかった。柳の姿に陳の心はあまりに強く揺さぶられたので、彼はすでに彼女を妻にしようと真剣に考えはじめていた。けれども、この楽しい見込みで胸がいっぱいになっているさなか、彼女が突然死んだと聞いて、深い悲しみに突き落とされた。幾日も、陳は悲嘆に打ちひしがれて生きる張り合いをすっかり失い、心の限りを尽くして愛するようになった人の思い出にふけるほかは何もできなかった。

A few weeks after the news of her death, the quiet of the retreat was one day broken by a huge procession which wound its way along the mountain path leading to the monastery doors. On looking out, Chan saw that many of the men in this procession were dressed in sackcloth, and that in front of it was a band of musicians producing weird, shrill notes on their various instruments.

その死の知らせから数週間後のある日、隠れ家の静けさは、寺の門へ続く山道を曲がりくねって進んでくる大行列によって破られた。外をのぞいてみると、行列の男たちの多くは麻の喪服を着ており、先頭には楽隊がいて、さまざまな楽器で奇妙な甲高い音を奏でていた。

By these signs Chan knew that what he saw was a funeral, and he expected to see the long line of mourners pass on to some spot on the hillside where the dead would be buried. Instead of that, however, they entered through the great gates of the monastery, and the coffin, the red pall of which told him that it contained the body of a woman, was carried into an inner room of the building and laid on trestles that had been made ready for it.

こうしたしるしから、陳は目にしているのが葬列だとわかり、長い会葬者の列が丘の斜面のどこか死者を埋める場所へ進んでいくのだろうと思った。ところが、一行は寺の大門をくぐって中へ入り、赤い棺覆いから女の遺体が納められているとわかる棺が、建物の奥の部屋へ運び込まれ、そのために用意された台の上に置かれた。

After the mourners had dispersed, Chan asked one of the priests the name of the woman who had died, and how it was that the coffin was laid within the precincts of the temple instead of in the house of the deceased, where it could be looked after by her relatives and where the customary sacrifices to the spirit of the dead could be offered more conveniently than in the monastery.

会葬者が散っていったあと、陳は僧の一人に、亡くなった女の名を尋ね、また、なぜ棺が故人の家ではなく寺の境内に置かれたのかと尋ねた。家なら親族が面倒を見られるし、死者の霊へのしきたりの供え物も寺よりずっと手軽にできるはずだった。

The bonze replied that this was a peculiar case, calling for special treatment.

僧は、これは特別な扱いを要する変わった事情なのだと答えた。

"The father of the poor young girl who died so suddenly," he said, "was the mandarin of the neighbouring city of Eternal Spring. Just after the death of his daughter an order came from the Emperor transferring him to another district, a thousand miles from here.

「あんなに突然亡くなったあの気の毒な娘さんの父親は」と僧は言った。「隣の長春の町の長官でした。娘さんが亡くなった直後に、皇帝から、ここから千マイルも離れた別の地方へ移るよう命令が来たのです。

"The command was very urgent that he should proceed without delay to take up his post in the far-off province, and that he was to allow nothing to hinder him from doing so. He could not carry his daughter's body with him on so long a journey, and no time was permitted him to take the coffin to his home, where she might be buried amongst her own kindred. It was equally impossible to deposit the coffin in the yamen he was about to leave, for the new mandarin who was soon to arrive would certainly object to have the body of a stranger in such close proximity to his family. It might bring him bad luck, and his career as an official might end in disaster.

「遠い省の任地へ遅れず赴くこと、何ものにもそれを妨げさせてはならぬこと、というきわめて急な命令でした。そんな長旅に娘さんの遺体を連れていくことはできず、身内のなかに葬れるよう故郷へ棺を運ぶ時間も許されませんでした。去ろうとしている役所に棺を置いておくこともやはりできませんでした。まもなく着任する新しい長官は、見知らぬ者の遺体が家族のすぐそばにあるのをきっと嫌がるでしょうから。不運を招き、役人としての出世が災いのうちに終わるかもしれないのです。

"Permission was therefore asked from our abbot to allow the coffin to be placed in one of our vacant rooms, until the father some day in the future can come and bear the body of his beloved daughter to the home of his ancestors, there to be laid at rest amongst his own people.

「そこでうちの住職に、いつか父親がやって来て、愛する娘の遺体を先祖の家へ運び、身内のなかに眠らせることができるまで、空いている部屋の一つに棺を置かせてほしいと願い出があったのです。

"This request was readily granted, for whilst he was in office the mandarin showed us many favours, and his daughter was a beautiful girl who was beloved by everyone; and so we were only too glad to do anything in our power to help in this unhappy matter."

「この願いはすぐに聞き入れられました。長官は在任中にわたしどもに何かと目をかけてくださいましたし、娘さんはだれにでも愛される美しい方でしたから、この不幸な件で力になれることなら、わたしどもは喜んで何でもしたのです」

Chan was profoundly moved when he realized that the woman whom he had loved as his own life lay dead within a chamber only a few steps away from his own. His passion, instead of being crushed out of his heart by the thought that she was utterly beyond his reach, and by no possibility could ever be more to him than a memory, seemed to grow in intensity as he became conscious that it was an absolutely hopeless one.

命のように愛した女が、自分の部屋からほんの数歩の部屋に死んで横たわっているのだと知って、陳は深く心を動かされた。その恋心は、彼女がまったく手の届かないところにいて、どうあっても思い出以上のものにはなりえないという思いによって胸から押しつぶされるどころか、それがまったく望みのない恋だと意識するにつれて、ますます激しくなるようだった。

On that very same evening, about midnight, when silence rested on the monastery, and the priests were all wrapped in slumber, Chan, with a lighted taper in his hand, stole with noiseless footsteps along the dark passages into the chamber of death where his beloved lay. Kneeling beside the coffin with a heart full of emotion, in trembling accents he called upon Willow to listen to the story of his passion.

まさにその晩の真夜中ごろ、寺が静まりかえり、僧たちがみな眠りに包まれているとき、陳は火をともした蝋燭を手に、足音を忍ばせて暗い廊下をたどり、愛する人の横たわる死の部屋へ入った。胸をいっぱいにして棺のそばにひざまずき、震える声で、自分の恋の話を聞いてくれと柳に呼びかけた。

He spoke to her just as though she were standing face to face with him, and he told her how he had fallen in love with her on the day on which he had caught a glimpse of her as she galloped in pursuit of the fox that had fled through the valley from the hunters. He had planned, he told her, to make her his wife, and he described, in tones through which the tears could be heard to run, how heart-broken he was when he heard of her death.

陳はまるで彼女が目の前に立っているかのように語りかけ、狩人から逃れて谷を駆け抜けていった狐を追って馬を走らせる彼女をちらりと見たあの日に恋に落ちたことを話した。彼女を妻にしようと考えていたのだと告げ、その死を聞いたときどれほど胸が張り裂けたかを、涙のにじむ声で語った。

"I want to see you," he continued, "for I feel that I cannot live without you. You are near to me, and yet oh! how far away. Can you not come from the Land of Shadows, where you are now, and comfort me by one vision of your fair face, and one sound of the voice that would fill my soul with the sweetest music?"

「あなたに会いたい」と陳は続けた。「あなたなしでは生きていけないと感じるのです。あなたはすぐそばにいるのに、ああ、なんと遠いことか。今いる影の国から出てきて、その美しい顔を一度見せ、わたしの魂をこのうえなく甘い音楽で満たすその声を一度聞かせて、わたしを慰めてはくれませんか」

For many months the comfort of Chan's life was this nightly visit to the chamber where his dead love lay. Not a single night passed without his going to tell her of the unalterable and undying affection that filled his heart; and whilst the temple lay shrouded in darkness, and the only sounds that broke the stillness were those inexplicable ones in which nature seems to indulge when man is removed by sleep from the scene, Chan was uttering those love notes which had lain deeply hidden within his soul, but which now in the utter desolation of his heart burst forth to ease his pain by their mere expression.

何か月ものあいだ、死んだ恋人の横たわる部屋へのこの夜ごとの訪れが、陳の生の慰めであった。胸を満たす変わることのない不滅の愛を告げに行かない夜は一夜としてなかった。寺が闇に包まれ、人が眠りによってその場から退いたときに自然がふけるらしい説明のつかない物音だけが静けさを破るなか、陳は、魂の奥深くに秘められていたが、今や心のまったくの荒涼のなかで、ただ口にするだけで痛みを和らげようとほとばしり出た、あの愛の言葉を語り続けた。

One night as he was sitting poring over his books, he happened to turn round, and was startled to see the figure of a young girl standing just inside the door of his room. It seemed perfectly human, and yet it was so ethereal that it had the appearance of a spirit of the other world. As he looked at the girl with a wondering gaze, a smile lit up her beautiful features, and he then discovered to his great joy that she was none other than Willow, his lost love whom he had despaired of ever seeing again.

ある夜、陳が書物に読みふけって座っていると、ふと振り向いて、部屋の戸口のすぐ内側に一人の少女の姿が立っているのを見て、はっとした。それはまったく人間のように見えたが、あまりに儚げで、あの世の霊のようでもあった。不思議そうに少女を見つめていると、その美しい顔に微笑みが灯り、陳は、それがほかならぬ柳、二度と会えないとあきらめていた失われた恋人だとわかって、大いに喜んだ。

With her face wreathed in smiles, she sat down beside him and said in a timid, modest way:--"I am here to-night in response to the great love which has never faltered since the day I died. That is the magnet which has had the power of drawing me from the Land of Shadows. I felt it there, and many speak about it in that sunless country. Even Yam-lo, the lord of the spirits of that dreary world, has been moved by your unchanging devotion; so much so that he has given me permission to come and see you, in order that I might tell you how deeply my heart is moved by the profound affection that you have exhibited for me all these months during which you never had any expectation of its being returned."

顔いっぱいに微笑みを浮かべて、柳は陳のそばに腰を下ろし、おずおずと慎ましやかに言った。「今夜ここに来たのは、わたしが死んだ日から一度も揺らぐことのなかったあなたの大きな愛に応えるためです。その愛こそ、わたしを影の国から引き寄せる力を持った磁石なのです。わたしはあちらでそれを感じましたし、あの日の差さない国でも多くの者がそれを噂しています。あのわびしい世界の霊たちの主、閻魔でさえ、あなたの変わらぬ真心に心を動かされました。それで、報われる望みなど少しもないまま、この何か月ものあいだあなたがわたしに示してくださった深い愛情に、わたしの心がどれほど深く動かされているかをお伝えできるよう、あなたに会いに来ることを許してくださったのです」

For many months this sweet intercourse between Chan and his beloved Willow was carried on, and no one in the whole monastery knew anything of it. The interviews always took place about midnight, and Willow, who seemed to pass with freedom through closed doors or the stoutest walls, invariably vanished during the small hours of the morning.

何か月ものあいだ、陳と愛する柳とのこの甘い語らいは続き、寺のだれ一人それを知る者はなかった。逢瀬はいつも真夜中ごろで、閉ざされた扉やどんな頑丈な壁も自由に通り抜けられるらしい柳は、決まって夜明け前の時刻に姿を消した。

One evening whilst they were conversing on topics agreeable to them both, Willow unburdened her heart to Chan, and told him how unhappy she was in the world of spirits.

ある晩、二人がともに心楽しい話題について語り合っていると、柳は陳に胸の内を明かし、霊の世界でどれほど不幸であるかを語った。

"You know," she said, "that before I died I was not married, and so I am only a wandering spirit with no place where I can rest, and no friends to whom I can betake myself. I travel here and there and everywhere, feeling that no one cares for me, and that there are no ties to bind me to any particular place or thing. For a young girl like me, this is a very sad and sorrowful state of things.

「ご存じのとおり」と柳は言った。「わたしは死ぬ前に嫁いでいなかったので、休める場所も身を寄せる友もない、さまよう霊にすぎないのです。あちらこちら、どこへでもさまよい歩き、だれもわたしのことを気にかけてくれず、どこか特定の場所や物に結びつける絆も何一つないと感じています。わたしのような若い娘にとって、これはとても悲しく痛ましい有様なのです。

"There is another thing that adds to my sorrow in the Land of Shadows," she went on to say, with a mournful look on her lovely countenance. "I was very fond of hunting when I was in my father's home, and many a wild animal was slain in the hunting expeditions in which I took an active part. This has all told against me in the world in which I am now living, and for the share I took in destroying life I have to suffer by many pains and penalties which are hard for me to endure.

「影の国でわたしの悲しみを増していることがもう一つあります」と、愛らしい顔に悲しげな色を浮かべて柳は続けた。「父の家にいたころ、わたしは狩りが大好きで、わたしが進んで加わった狩りで、たくさんの野の獣が殺されました。今住んでいる世界では、それがすべてわたしに不利に働いていて、命を奪うことに加わった罰として、耐えがたい多くの苦しみと責めを受けねばならないのです。

"My sin has been great," she said, "and so I wish to make special offerings in this temple to the Goddess of Mercy and implore her to send down to the other world a good report of me to Yam-lo, and intercede with him to forgive the sins of which I have been guilty. If you will do this for me, I promise that after I have been born again into the world I will never forget you, and if you like to wait for me I shall willingly become your wife and serve you with the deepest devotion of which my heart is capable, as long as Heaven will permit you and me to live together as husband and wife."

「わたしの罪は重いのです」と柳は言った。「ですから、この寺で観音様に特別な供え物をし、あの世の閻魔にわたしのことを良く伝えてくださるよう、そしてわたしの犯した罪を赦してくださるよう閻魔にとりなしてくださるよう、お願いしたいのです。もしこれをしてくださるなら、この世に生まれ変わったあとも決してあなたを忘れないと約束します。もしわたしを待ってくださるなら、喜んであなたの妻となり、天がわたしたちに夫婦としてともに生きることを許してくださるかぎり、わたしの心にできるかぎりの深い真心であなたにお仕えします」

From this time, much to the astonishment of the priests in the monastery, Chan began to show unwonted enthusiasm for the service of the Goddess, and would sometimes spend hours before her image and repeat long prayers to her. This was all the more remarkable, as the scholar had rarely if ever shown any desire to have anything to do with the numerous gods which were enshrined in various parts of the temple.

このときから、寺の僧たちがたいそう驚いたことに、陳は観音への勤めにかつてない熱意を示しはじめ、ときには何時間もその像の前で過ごし、長い祈りを唱えるようになった。これはなおさら注目すべきことだった。この学者は、寺のあちこちに祀られている数多の神々とかかわりを持ちたいという気持ちを、これまでめったに、いやほとんど一度も見せたことがなかったからである。

After some months of this daily appeal to the Goddess of Mercy, Willow informed him that his prayers had been so far successful that the misery of her lot in the Land of Shadows had been greatly mitigated. The pleadings of the Goddess with Yam-lo had so influenced his heart towards Willow that she believed her great sin in the destruction of animal life had been forgiven, and there were signs that the dread ruler of the Underworld was looking upon her with kindness.

観音への日々の祈願が何か月か続いたあと、柳は陳に、その祈りがある程度実を結び、影の国での自分の境遇の惨めさはずいぶん和らいだと告げた。観音の閻魔へのとりなしが柳に対する閻魔の心を大きく動かしたので、獣の命を奪った大きな罪は赦されたと思うし、冥界の恐ろしい支配者が自分を好意の目で見ているしるしもあるというのだった。

Chan was delighted with this news, and his prayers and offerings became still more frequent and more fervent. He little dreamed that his devotion to the Goddess would be the means of his speedy separation from Willow, but so it was. One evening she came as usual to see him, but instead of entering with smiling face and laughter in her eyes, she was weeping bitterly as though she were in the direst sorrow.

陳はこの知らせに大喜びし、その祈りと供え物はいっそう頻繁に、いっそう熱心になった。観音への献身が柳との早い別れをもたらすことになろうとは夢にも思わなかったが、そうなったのである。ある晩、柳はいつものように会いに来たが、にこやかな顔と笑みをたたえた目で入ってくる代わりに、このうえない悲しみのうちにあるかのように、さめざめと泣いていた。

Chan was in the greatest distress when he saw this and asked her to explain the reason for her grief. "The reason for my tears," she said, "is because after this evening I shall not see you again. Your petitions to the Goddess have had such a powerful effect upon her mind that she has used all her influence with Yam-lo to induce him to set me free from the misery of the Land of Shadows, and so I am to leave that sunless country and to be born again into life in this upper world."

これを見て陳はひどく心を痛め、悲しみのわけを話してくれと頼んだ。「泣いているわけは」と柳は言った。「今夜を最後に、もうあなたにお会いできないからです。あなたの観音様への願いがあまりに強く観音様の心を動かしたので、観音様はありったけの力を尽くして閻魔を説き、わたしを影の国の惨めさから解き放たせてくださいました。それでわたしは、あの日の差さない国を去って、この上の世界にふたたび生まれることになったのです」

As she uttered these words her tears began to flow once more and her whole frame was convulsed with sobbing.

そう言うと、柳の涙はまたあふれ出し、全身がすすり泣きに震えた。

"I am glad," she said, "that I am to be born once more and live amongst men, but I cannot bear the thought of having to be separated for so long from you. Let us not grieve too much, however. It is our fate, and we may not rebel against it. Yam-lo has been kinder to me than he has ever been to any one in the past, for he has revealed to me the family into which I am to be born and the place where they live, so if you come to me in eighteen years you will find me waiting for you. Your love has been so great that it has entered into my very soul, and there is nothing that can ever efface it from my heart. A thousand re-births may take place, but never shall I love any one as I love you."

「もう一度生まれて人のあいだで生きられるのはうれしいのです」と柳は言った。「でも、こんなに長くあなたと離れていなければならないと思うと耐えられません。けれど、あまり嘆くのはよしましょう。これはわたしたちの運命で、それに逆らうことはできないのですから。閻魔はこれまでだれに対してよりもわたしに優しくしてくださいました。わたしが生まれる家と、その家のある場所を明かしてくださったのです。ですから、十八年たってわたしのところへ来てくだされば、わたしはあなたを待っています。あなたの愛はあまりに大きくて、わたしの魂の奥にまで入り込み、何ものもそれをわたしの心から消し去ることはできません。千度生まれ変わろうとも、あなたを愛するように人を愛することは決してありません」

Chan professed that he was greatly comforted by this confession of her love, but all the same he felt in despair when he thought of the future.

陳は、この愛の告白に大いに慰められたと言ったが、それでも行く末を思うと絶望を感じた。

"When next I shall see you," he said with a sigh, "I shall be getting so old that you, a young girl in the first flush of womanhood, will not care to look at me. My hair will have turned grey and my face will be marked with wrinkles, and in the re-birth you will have forgotten all that took place in the Land of Shadows, and the memory of me will have vanished from your heart for ever."

「次にあなたに会うとき」と陳はため息をついて言った。「わたしはすっかり年をとっているでしょうから、女盛りの初々しい若い娘のあなたは、わたしを見向きもしないでしょう。わたしの髪は白くなり、顔にはしわが刻まれ、あなたは生まれ変わって影の国で起こったことをすっかり忘れ、わたしの思い出はあなたの心から永久に消えてしまうでしょう」

Willow looked with loving but sorrowful eyes upon her lover as he was expressing his concern about the future, but quickly assured him that nothing in the world would ever cause her to cease to remember him with the tenderest affection.

恋人が行く末への不安を口にするのを、柳は愛情をこめた、しかし悲しげな目で見つめたが、すぐに、世のどんなことも、自分がこのうえなく優しい愛情をもって彼を思い出すのをやめさせることは決してないと請け合った。

"In order to comfort you," she said, "let me tell you of two things that the dread Yam-lo, out of consideration for your love for me, has granted me--two things which he has never bestowed upon any other mortal who has come within the region of his rule. The first is, he has allowed me to inspect the book of Life and Death, in which is recorded the history of every human being, with the times of their re-births and the places in which they are to be born. I want you this very minute to write down the secret which has been revealed to me as to my new name and family and the place where I shall reside, so that you will have no difficulty in finding me, when eighteen years hence you shall come to claim me as your wife.

「あなたを慰めるために」と柳は言った。「恐ろしい閻魔が、わたしへのあなたの愛を思いやって、わたしに許してくださった二つのことをお話しします。閻魔の治める領分に来たほかのどんな人間にも、決して授けたことのない二つのことです。一つめは、生死の書を見ることを許してくださったことです。そこにはすべての人間の来歴が、生まれ変わる時と生まれる場所とともに記されているのです。わたしに明かされた秘密、わたしの新しい名と家と住む場所を、今すぐ書き留めておいてください。そうすれば、十八年後にわたしを妻に迎えに来てくださるとき、迷わずわたしを見つけられるでしょう。

"The next is a gift so precious that I have no words in which to express my gratitude for its having been bestowed upon me. It is this. I am given the privilege of not forgetting what has taken place during my stay in the Land of Shadows, and so when I am re-born into another part of China, with a new father and mother, I shall hold within my memory my recollection of you. The years will pass quickly, for I shall be looking for you, and this day eighteen years hence will be the happiest in my life, for it will bring you to me never more to be separated from me.

「二つめは、あまりに尊い賜物なので、それを授けられたことへの感謝を言い表す言葉もありません。それはこうです。影の国にいたあいだに起こったことを忘れずにいる特権を与えられたのです。ですから、中国の別の土地に、新しい父と母のもとに生まれ変わっても、あなたの思い出を記憶のなかに持ち続けることができます。年月はすぐに過ぎるでしょう。わたしはあなたを待ちわびているのですから。そして十八年後の今日は、わたしの生涯でいちばん幸せな日になるでしょう。あなたをわたしのもとへ連れてきて、もう二度と離れ離れにならずにすむのですから。

"But I must hasten on," she hurriedly exclaimed, "for the footsteps of fate are moving steadily towards me. In a few minutes the gates of Hades will have closed against me, and Willow will have vanished, and I shall be a babe once more with my new life before me. See, but a minute more is left me, and I seem to have so much to say. Farewell! Never forget me! I shall ever remember you, but my time is come!"

「でも、急がなければ」と柳はあわただしく叫んだ。「運命の足音が着実にわたしに迫っているのです。あと数分で冥府の門はわたしの前で閉ざされ、柳は消え、わたしはまた赤子になって、新しい命が目の前に広がるのです。ほら、あと一分しか残っていないのに、言いたいことがこんなにたくさんあるような気がします。さようなら。わたしを決して忘れないで。わたしはいつまでもあなたを覚えています。でも、時が来てしまいました」

As she uttered these words, a smile of ineffable sweetness flashed across, her beautiful face, and she was gone.

そう言うと、言い表しようのない優しい微笑みが柳の美しい顔をよぎり、彼女は消えた。

Chan was inexpressibly sad at the loss he had sustained by the re-birth of Willow, and in order to drive away his sorrow he threw his heart and soul into his studies. His books became his constant companions, and he tried to find in them a solace for the loneliness which had come upon him since the visits of Willow had ceased. He also became a diligent worshipper of the idols, and especially of the Goddess of Mercy, who had played such an important part in the history of his beloved Willow.

柳の生まれ変わりによって失ったものに、陳は言い表しようもなく悲しんだ。悲しみを追い払うために、身も心も学問に打ち込んだ。書物が絶えず彼の友となり、柳の訪れが絶えてから身に降りかかった寂しさの慰めを、そのなかに見出そうとした。また、偶像、とりわけ愛する柳の身の上に大きな役割を果たした観音を、熱心に拝むようになった。

The years went slowly by, and Chan began to feel that he was growing old. His hair became dashed with silver threads, and wrinkles appeared in his forehead and under his eyes. The strain of waiting for the one woman who had taken complete possession of his heart had been too much for him. As the time drew near, too, when he should go to meet her, a great and nervous dread began to fill him with anxiety. Would she recognize him? And would she, a young girl of eighteen, be content to accept as a husband a man so advanced in years as he now was? These questions were constantly flashing through his brain.

年月はゆっくりと過ぎ、陳は自分が老いてきたと感じはじめた。髪には銀の筋が混じり、額と目の下にしわが現れた。心をすっかり占めてしまったただ一人の女を待つ重圧は、彼には重すぎたのだ。そのうえ、彼女に会いに行く時が近づくにつれ、大きな神経質な恐れが彼を不安で満たしはじめた。彼女は自分だとわかってくれるだろうか。十八の若い娘が、今の自分のように年のいった男を夫として受け入れる気になるだろうか。こうした問いが絶えず頭をよぎった。

At last only a few months remained before he was to set out on his journey to the distant province where Yam-lo had decided that Willow was to begin her new life on earth.

とうとう、閻魔が柳にこの世での新しい生を始めさせると定めた遠い省へ旅立つまで、あと数か月を残すばかりとなった。

He was sitting one evening in his study, brooding over the great problem that would be solved before long, when a man dressed in black silently entered the room. Looking on Chan with a kindly smile which seemed to find its way instantly to his heart, he informed him that he was a fairy from the Western Heaven and that he had been specially deputed by the rulers there to render him all the assistance in his power at this particular crisis, when they knew his heart was so full of anxiety.

ある晩、陳が書斎に座って、まもなく答えの出る大きな問題を思い悩んでいると、黒い衣をまとった男が音もなく部屋に入ってきた。すぐに心にしみ入るような優しい微笑みを浮かべて陳を見ると、男は、自分は西天から来た仙人で、陳の心が不安でいっぱいになっているのを知っているあちらの支配者たちから、この特別な難局にあたって、力の限り陳を助けるよう特に遣わされたのだと告げた。

"We have all heard in that far-off fairyland," he continued, "of the devotion you have shown to Willow, and how during all the years which have intervened since you saw her last you have never faltered in your love for her. Such affection is rare among mortals, and the dwellers in fairyland would like to help in bringing together two such loving hearts; for let me assure you that however strong your feeling for the one whom you are so anxious to see again, she on her part is just as deeply in love with you, and is now counting the days until she will be able to see you and until you need never again be parted from each other. In order to assist in this happy consummation, I want you to take a short trip with me. It will only take a few hours, and you will then find that something has happened to remove all your fears as to how you will be received by Willow."

「あの遠い仙界では、わたしたちはみな聞き及んでいます」と仙人は続けた。「あなたが柳に示してきた真心を、そして最後に彼女を見てから過ぎたこの年月のあいだ、あなたの愛が一度も揺らがなかったことを。これほどの愛情は人間のあいだではまれで、仙界に住む者たちは、これほど愛し合う二つの心を結びつける手助けをしたいと思っているのです。というのも、はっきり申し上げますが、あなたがもう一度会いたいと切に願うその人へのあなたの思いがどれほど強くても、彼女のほうもそれに劣らず深くあなたを愛していて、あなたに会える日、もう二度と離れ離れにならずにすむ日を、今や指折り数えて待っているのです。このめでたい成就を助けるために、わたしと一緒に短い旅をしていただきたい。ほんの数時間しかかかりません。そうすれば、柳にどう迎えられるかというあなたの不安をすっかり取り除く出来事が起こったとわかるでしょう」

The fairy man then led Chan to the door, and gave a wave of his hand in the direction of the sky. Instantly the sound of the fluttering and swish of wings was heard, and in a moment a splendid eagle landed gracefully at their feet. Taking their seats upon its back, they found themselves flashing at lightning speed away through the darkness of the night. Higher and higher they rose, till they had pierced the heavy masses of clouds which hung hovering in the sky. Swift as an arrow the eagle still cleft its way upward until the clouds had vanished to an infinite distance below them; and still onward they were borne in the mighty stillness of an expanse where no human being had ever travelled before.

それから仙人は陳を戸口へ連れていき、空のほうへ手をひと振りした。たちまち羽ばたきと翼の風を切る音が聞こえ、一瞬のうちに見事な鷲が二人の足もとに優雅に降り立った。その背に腰を下ろすと、二人は夜の闇のなかを稲妻のような速さで飛んでいた。高く、さらに高く昇り、ついには空に垂れこめる重い雲の塊を突き抜けた。矢のように速く鷲はなおも上へと空を切り裂き、雲ははるか下の果てしない彼方へ消えてしまった。それでも二人は、これまで人間がだれ一人旅したことのない広がりの大いなる静けさのなかを、さらに先へと運ばれていった。

Chan felt his heart throb with a nervousness which he could not control. What if the bird should tire, he thought, and he should be dropped into the fathomless abyss below? Life's journey would then come to a tragic end. Where, too, was he being carried and how should he be ever able to return to his far-off home on the earth? He was becoming more and more agitated, when the fairy took hold of his hand and in a voice which at once stilled his fears, assured him that there was not the least danger in this journey through the air.

陳は抑えきれない不安に胸が高鳴るのを感じた。もし鳥が疲れて、自分が下の底知れぬ深淵へ落とされたらどうなるだろう、と彼は思った。そうなれば人生の旅は悲劇のうちに終わってしまう。それに、自分はどこへ運ばれているのか、そして地上の遠い我が家へどうやって帰れるのだろうか。ますます心が乱れてきたとき、仙人が陳の手をとり、たちまち恐れを静める声で、この空の旅には少しの危険もないと請け合った。

"We are as safe here," he assured him, "as though we were standing upon a mountain whose roots lie miles below the surface of the earth. And see," he continued, pointing to something in the distance, "we shall arrive at our destination in the course of a few seconds."

「ここにいるのは」と仙人は請け合った。「根が地の表から何マイルも下にある山の上に立っているのと同じくらい安全です。それにほら」と遠くの何かを指さして続けた。「あと数秒で目的の地に着きますよ」

True enough, he had hardly finished speaking when a land, fairer than Chan had ever seen on earth or pictured in imagination, loomed up suddenly in front of them; and before he could gather together his astonished thoughts, the eagle had landed them on its shores, and with outspread wings was soaring into the mystery of the unknown beyond.

まさにそのとおりで、仙人が言い終わるか終わらないうちに、陳が地上で見たことも想像のなかで描いたこともないほど美しい土地が、突然目の前に姿を現した。驚きに乱れた考えをまとめる間もなく、鷲は二人をその岸に降ろし、翼を広げて、その向こうの知られざる神秘のなかへと舞い上がっていった。

The fairy now led Chan along a road surrounded by the most bewildering beauty. Rare flowers, graceful trees, and birds which made the groves resound with the sweetest music, were objects that kept his mind in one continual state of delight. Before long they arrived in front of a magnificent palace, so grand and vast that Chan felt afraid to enter within its portals, or even tread the avenue leading up to it.

仙人は、目もくらむほどの美しさに囲まれた道に沿って陳を案内した。珍しい花々、優美な木々、そして木立をこのうえなく甘い音楽で響かせる鳥たちが、陳の心を絶え間ない喜びの状態にとどめた。まもなく二人は壮麗な宮殿の前に着いた。それはあまりに堂々として広大だったので、陳はその門のなかへ入ることはおろか、そこへ続く並木道を踏むことさえ恐ろしく感じた。

Once more his companion relieved Chan's anxiety by assuring him that he was an expected guest, and that the Queen of this fairy country had sent him to earth specially to invite him to come and visit her, in order that she might bestow upon him a blessing which would enrich the whole of his life and would enable him to spend many happy years with her whom he had loved with such devotion.

ふたたび連れの仙人は陳の不安を和らげ、あなたは待たれている客なのだと請け合った。この仙界の女王が、あなたの生涯をすっかり豊かにし、あれほど真心をこめて愛してきた人と幸せな年月を長く過ごせるようにする祝福を授けたいので、訪ねてくるよう招くために、特に自分を地上へ遣わしたのだというのである。

Chan was ushered into a large reception hall, where he was met by a very stately lady, with a face full of benevolence, whom he at once recognized, from the images he had often worshipped, as the Goddess of Mercy. He was startled when he discovered in what august presence he was standing, and began to tremble with excitement as he realized that here in actual life was the famous personage whose image was worshipped by the millions of China, and whose influence spread even into the Land of Shadows.

陳は広い応接の間に通され、そこでたいそう気品のある、慈悲に満ちた顔の婦人に迎えられた。何度も拝んできた像から、陳はすぐにそれが観音だとわかった。自分がどれほど尊い方の御前に立っているのかを知ってはっとし、中国の幾百万の人々がその像を拝み、その力が影の国にまで及ぶ名高い方が、ここに生身で実際におられるのだと悟って、興奮に震えはじめた。

Seeing Chan's humility and evident terror of her, the Goddess spoke to him in a gentle, loving voice, and told him to have no fear, for she had summoned him to her presence not to rebuke but to comfort him.

陳のへりくだりと、自分を明らかに恐れている様子を見て、観音は優しく慈しみ深い声で語りかけ、恐れることはない、叱るためではなく慰めるために御前に呼んだのだと告げた。

"I know your story," she said, "and I think it is a beautiful one. Before I was raised to the high position I now occupy I was at one time a woman like Willow, and I can sympathize with her in her devotion to you because of the wonderful love you have shown her from the first moment that you saw her.

「あなたの物語は知っています」と観音は言った。「美しい物語だと思います。今の高い地位に上げられる前、わたしもかつては柳のような一人の女でした。ですから、あなたが初めて彼女を見た瞬間から示してきた素晴らしい愛ゆえに彼女があなたに尽くす気持ちに、わたしは共感できるのです。

"I know, too, your anxiety about your age, and your fear lest when Willow sees you with the marks of advancing years upon you, her love may die out and you will be left with your heart broken and in despair. I have foreseen this difficulty, and I am going to have it removed.

「年齢についてのあなたの不安も知っています。老いのしるしが刻まれたあなたを見たら柳の愛が消えてしまい、あなたは心を砕かれて絶望のうちに取り残されるのではないかと恐れていることも。わたしはこの難しさを見越していました。そしてそれを取り除いてあげようと思います。

"The fairy who brought you here," she continued, "will now take you round the palace grounds, and if you will carry out my wishes, the fears which have been troubling you for years shall entirely vanish. You will then meet Willow with a heart as light as that of any man in the flush of youth, who awaits the coming of the bridal chair which bears his future wife to his home."

「あなたをここへ連れてきた仙人が」と観音は続けた。「これから宮殿の庭を案内します。わたしの望みに従ってくれれば、何年もあなたを悩ませてきた恐れはすっかり消えるでしょう。そうすればあなたは、未来の妻を乗せて我が家へやって来る花嫁の駕籠を待つ、若さの盛りにあるどんな男とも同じくらい軽やかな心で、柳に会えるでしょう」

Chan at once, without any hesitation, followed his guide through the spacious grounds which surrounded the palace, and was finally led to the edge of a beautiful little lake embowered amongst trees and ferns, and rare and fragrant flowers. It was the most exquisite scene on which his vision had ever rested.

陳はすぐさま、少しもためらわずに案内の仙人について宮殿を囲む広大な庭を進み、とうとう、木々や羊歯や珍しく香り高い花々に囲まれた美しい小さな湖のほとりへ導かれた。それは陳の目がこれまでとらえたなかでもっとも優美な光景だった。

With a kindly look at his companion, the fairy said, "This beautiful piece of water goes by the name of the 'Fountain of Eternal Youth,' and it is the Queen's express desire that you should bathe in it."

連れの陳に優しい眼差しを向けて、仙人は言った。「この美しい水は『不老の泉』という名で呼ばれています。あなたがここで水浴びすることが、女王のはっきりとしたお望みなのです」

Quickly undressing, Chan plunged into the pool and for a moment sank beneath the surface of the waters. Emerging quickly from them, a delightful feeling of new-born strength seemed to be creeping in at every pore of his body. The sense of advancing age passed away, and the years of youth appeared to come back to him again. He felt as though he were a young man once more; for the weary doubts, which for some years past had made his footsteps lag, had gone with his first plunge into those fragrant waters.

陳は急いで着物を脱ぐと池に飛び込み、一瞬水面の下に沈んだ。すぐに水から出てくると、新たに生まれた力の心地よい感覚が、体のあらゆる毛穴から忍び込んでくるようだった。忍び寄る老いの感覚は消え去り、若い日々がふたたび戻ってきたように思われた。ここ何年か足取りを重くしていた疲れた疑いは、あの香り高い水に初めて飛び込んだとたんに消えてしまったので、彼はもう一度若者になったような気がした。

By-and-by he came out of this "Fountain of Eternal Youth" with the visions and ambitions of his young manhood rushing through his brain. His powers, which seemed of late to have become dull and sluggish, had recovered the impetus which in earlier years had carried him so successfully through many a severe examination. His thoughts, too, about Willow had so completely changed that instead of dreading the day when he should stand before her, his one passionate desire now was to start upon his journey to keep his appointment with her.

やがて陳はこの「不老の泉」から出てきたが、その頭には若い男盛りのころの夢と志がどっと押し寄せていた。近ごろ鈍く重くなっていたように思えた力は、若いころに数々の厳しい試験を見事に切り抜けさせたあの勢いを取り戻していた。柳についての考えもすっかり変わり、彼女の前に立つ日を恐れるどころか、今や彼のただ一つの熱い望みは、彼女との約束を果たすために旅立つことだった。

Chan and the fairy then proceeded to the edge of the vast and boundless expanse which bordered the palace of the Goddess, and found a magnificent dragon waiting to convey them back to earth. No sooner had they taken their seats on its back than it fled with the swiftness of the wind through the untrodden spaces of the air, until at length the mountains came looming out of the dim and shadowy distance, and with a rush Chan found himself safely landed at the door of the temple from which he had taken his departure for his amazing journey to the Western Heaven.

それから陳と仙人は、観音の宮殿に接する広大で果てしない広がりの縁へ進み、そこで二人を地上へ送り返すために待っている見事な竜を見つけた。その背に腰を下ろすやいなや、竜は人の踏み入ったことのない空の広がりを風のような速さで飛び、ついにはぼんやりとかすんだ彼方から山々が姿を現して、陳は勢いよく、西天への驚くべき旅に出発したあの寺の門前に無事降り立っていた。

Whilst these wonderful things were taking place, Willow--or rather Precious Pearl, as she had been named by her new parents, who of course had no knowledge of her previous history--had grown up to be a most beautiful and fascinating woman.

こうした不思議な出来事が起こっているあいだに、柳——というより、新しい両親から宝珠と名づけられた娘。もちろん両親は彼女の前世のことなど何も知らなかった——は、このうえなく美しく魅力的な女に成長していた。

During all these years she had never ceased to look forward with an anxious heart to the day when she would once more meet the man to whom she had betrothed herself eighteen years ago. Latterly she had begun to count the days that must still elapse before she could see him again. She never forgot the night in the temple when she bade him "Good-bye" just before she was reborn into this world. The day and the hour had been stamped upon her memory, and since then the years had seemed to travel with halting, leaden feet, as though they were loth to move on. But now only a few months remained, and no doubt ever entered her brain that Chan would fail her.

この年月のあいだずっと、彼女は、十八年前に自分が婚約した男にふたたび会う日を、はやる心で待ちわびることをやめなかった。近ごろは、彼にまた会えるまでにまだ過ぎねばならない日数を数えはじめていた。この世に生まれ変わる直前、寺で彼に「さようなら」を告げたあの夜を、彼女は決して忘れなかった。その日その時刻は記憶に刻みつけられ、それ以来、年月は進むのを嫌がるかのように、足を引きずり鉛のような足取りで過ぎていくように思われた。けれども今やあと数か月を残すばかりで、陳が約束を破るかもしれないという疑いは一度も彼女の頭に浮かばなかった。

Just about this time her mother had an offer of marriage for her from a very wealthy and distinguished family, and contrary to the usual custom of mothers in China she asked her daughter what she thought of the proposal. Pearl was distressed beyond measure, and prayed and entreated her mother on no account to broach the subject to her again, as she could never entertain any proposition of the kind.

ちょうどそのころ、母親のもとに、たいそう裕福で名のある家から娘への縁談が持ち込まれた。そして中国の母親たちのいつものしきたりに反して、母親はその申し出をどう思うかと娘に尋ねた。宝珠は限りなく心を痛め、そうした申し出は決して受け入れられないので、どうかこの話は二度と持ち出さないでほしいと、母親に拝むように懇願した。

Amazed at such a statement, her mother begged her to explain her reason for such strange views. "Girls at your age," she said, "are usually betrothed and are thinking of having homes of their own. This is the universal custom throughout the Empire, and therefore there must be some serious reason why you will not allow me to make arrangements for your being allied to some respectable family."

娘のそんな言葉に驚いて、母親は、どうしてそんな奇妙な考えを持つのかわけを話してくれと頼んだ。「お前の年ごろの娘は」と母親は言った。「たいてい婚約していて、自分の家を持つことを考えているものです。これは帝国じゅうのしきたりなのだから、お前がどこかちゃんとした家との縁組を整えさせてくれないのには、何か重大なわけがあるにちがいありません」

Pearl had been feeling that the time was drawing near when she would have to divulge the secret of her love affair, and she considered that now was the best opportunity for doing so. To the astonishment therefore of her mother, who believed that she was romancing, she told her the whole story of the past; how Chan had fallen in love with her, and how after she had died and had come under the control of Yam-lo in the Land of Shadows, that dread lord had permitted her spirit to visit her lover in the temple where her body had been laid until a lucky resting-place could be found for it on the hillside. She also explained how it had been agreed between them that she was to wait for him until after the lapse of eighteen years, when she would be old enough to become his wife. "In a few months the time will be up," she concluded, "and so I beseech you not to speak of my being betrothed to any one else, for I feel that if I am compelled to marry any other than Chan I shall die."

宝珠は、自分の恋の秘密を打ち明けねばならない時が近づいていると感じていたので、今こそそうする絶好の機会だと考えた。そこで、娘が作り話をしていると思った母親を驚かせたことに、彼女は過去の話をすべて語った。陳が自分に恋をしたこと、自分が死んで影の国で閻魔の支配下に入ったあと、あの恐ろしい主が、丘の斜面に縁起のよい眠り場所が見つかるまで遺体が安置されていた寺へ、自分の霊が恋人を訪ねることを許してくれたこと。また、十八年がたって彼の妻になれる年になるまで彼を待つと二人のあいだで約束したことも説明した。「あと数か月でその時が来ます」と宝珠は締めくくった。「ですから、どうかほかのだれかとの婚約の話はしないでください。陳以外の人と結婚させられたら、わたしは死んでしまうと思うのです」

The mother was thunderstruck at this wonderful story which her daughter told her. She could only imagine that Pearl had in some way or another been bewitched, and was under a fatal delusion that she was in love with some hero of romance, to whom she believed she was betrothed. Still, her daughter had always been most loving and devoted to her, and had shown more brightness and ability than Chinese girls of her age usually possessed. Her mother did not like, therefore, to reprove her for what she considered her ridiculous ideas, so she determined to try another plan to cure her of her folly.

母親は娘の語ったこの不思議な話に仰天した。宝珠がなんらかの形で魔法にかけられ、自分が婚約していると思い込んでいる物語の主人公に恋をしているという、命取りの妄想にとらわれているのだとしか思えなかった。それでも娘はいつもこのうえなく愛情深く母に尽くしてきたし、同じ年ごろの中国の娘たちがふつう持っている以上の聡明さと才能を見せてきた。そこで母親は、ばかげた考えだと思うことで娘を叱る気にはなれず、別のやり方で娘の愚かな思い込みを治してみようと決めた。

"What age was this man Chan," she asked, "when you entered into this engagement with him?"

「その陳という人は」と母親は尋ねた。「お前がその人と約束を交わしたとき、いくつだったの」

"He was just thirty," Pearl replied. "He was of very good family and a scholar, and had distinguished himself for his proficiency in the ancient literature of China."

「ちょうど三十でした」と宝珠は答えた。「たいそう良い家の出の学者で、中国の古典に通じていることで名を上げていました」

"Oh! then he must be nearly fifty now. A fine mate he would make for you, a young girl of only eighteen! But who knows how he may have changed since last you saw him? His hair must be turning grey, and his teeth may have fallen out; and for anything you know he may have been dead and buried so long ago that by this time they have taken up his bones, and nothing is left of him but what the funeral urn may contain of his ashes."

「まあ、それなら今はもう五十近いはずよ。たった十八の若い娘のお前には、ご立派な連れ合いだこと。それに、お前が最後に会ってから、その人がどれほど変わったかわかったものではないわ。髪は白くなりかけているにちがいないし、歯も抜けているかもしれない。お前の知るかぎりでは、ずっと前に死んで葬られ、今ごろはもう骨を掘り出されて、骨壺に納まった灰のほかは何も残っていないかもしれないのよ」

"Oh! I do pray that nothing of that kind has happened to him," cried Pearl, in a tone of voice which showed the anguish she was suffering. "Let us leave the question for a few months, and then when he comes for me, as I know he will, you will find by personal knowledge what a splendid man he is, and how entirely worthy he is of being your son-in-law."

「ああ、どうかそんなことが起こっていませんように」と宝珠は、苦しみのほどがわかる声で叫んだ。「このことは数か月そっとしておきましょう。そうすれば、あの人がわたしを迎えに来たとき——来てくれるとわかっています——あの人がどんなに立派な人で、お母さまの婿にどれほどふさわしい人か、じかにわかってもらえるはずです」

On the day which had been appointed under such romantic circumstances eighteen years before, Chan arrived in the town, and after taking a room in an inn and making certain enquiries, he made his way to the home where he believed that Willow resided. On his arrival, however, he was roughly told by the servant that no such person as Willow lived there, and that they did not like strangers coming about the house. Indeed he was given plainly to understand that the sooner he left, the better everyone would be pleased. This treatment was of course part of a scheme devised by Pearl's parents to frustrate any plans that Chan might have formed for seeing her. They were determined not to give their daughter to a man so old as he must be, and therefore they decided that an interview between the two must be prevented at all hazards.

十八年前にあれほど物語めいたいきさつで定められたその日、陳は町に着き、宿屋に部屋をとってあれこれ尋ねたあと、柳が住んでいると信じる家へ向かった。けれども着いてみると、召使いに手荒く、柳などという者はここには住んでいないし、見知らぬ者が家のまわりをうろつくのは迷惑だと言われた。それどころか、早く立ち去ってくれればくれるほどみなが喜ぶのだと、はっきり思い知らされた。この扱いはもちろん、陳が彼女に会おうとして立てたかもしれないどんな計画もくじくために、宝珠の両親が考え出した策略の一部だった。二人は、陳ほど年をとっているはずの男に娘をやるまいと決めていたので、二人を会わせることはどんなことをしても防がねばならないと決めたのである。

Chan was greatly distressed at the rebuff which he had received. Had Willow after all made a mistake eighteen years ago when she gave him the name of this town as the place where her new home was to be? He had carefully written it down at her dictation, and it had been burned into his brain all the years since. No, there could be no mistake on that point. If there were any, then it was one that had been made purposely by Yam-lo in order to deceive them both. That idea, however, was unthinkable, and so there must be something else to account for his not finding Willow as he had expected. He at once made enquiries at the inn at which he was staying, and found that there was a daughter at the very house to which he had gone, and that in almost every particular the description he was given of her corresponded with his beloved Willow.

陳は受けた門前払いにひどく心を痛めた。結局のところ、柳は十八年前、自分の新しい家のある場所としてこの町の名を告げたとき、間違えたのだろうか。彼女が言うのを注意深く書き留めたし、それ以来の年月ずっと頭に焼きついていた。いや、その点に間違いはありえない。もしあるとすれば、それは二人を欺くために閻魔がわざとしたことになる。けれどもそんな考えは思いもよらないことなので、思っていたように柳が見つからないのには、何かほかにわけがあるにちがいなかった。陳はすぐに泊まっている宿屋で尋ね、自分が訪ねたまさにその家に娘が一人いて、聞かされたその娘の様子がほとんどどの点でも愛する柳と一致することを知った。

In the meantime, poor Pearl was in a state of the greatest anxiety. The eventful day on which she was to meet her lover had opened for her with keen expectation of meeting him after their long and romantic separation. She had never for one moment doubted that he would keep his engagement with her. An instinct which she could not explain made her feel certain that he was still alive, and that nothing in the world would prevent him from meeting her, as had been agreed upon between them at that eventful parting in the temple eighteen years before.

そのあいだ、哀れな宝珠はこのうえなく不安な状態にあった。恋人に会うはずの大事な日は、長く物語めいた別れのあとで彼に会えるという胸の高鳴る期待とともに明けていた。彼女は、彼が約束を守ることを一瞬たりとも疑わなかった。自分でも説明のつかない直感が、彼はまだ生きていて、十八年前の寺でのあの大事な別れのときに二人のあいだで取り決めたとおり、世のどんなことも彼が自分に会いに来るのを妨げはしないと確信させていた。

As the day wore on, however, and there were no signs of Chan, Pearl's distress became exceedingly pitiful; and when night came and her mother declared that nothing had been seen of him, she was so stricken with despair that she lost all consciousness, and had to be carried to bed, where she lay in a kind of trance from which, for some time, it seemed impossible to arouse her.

けれども日が傾き、陳の姿が見えないまま時が過ぎると、宝珠の苦しみは見るも哀れなものになった。夜が来て、母親が、その人の姿はまったく見かけなかったと告げると、彼女は絶望に打ちのめされて意識を失い、寝床へ運ばれねばならなかった。そこで一種の昏睡状態に陥り、しばらくのあいだ、目覚めさせることはできないように思われた。

When at last she did regain consciousness, her mother tried to comfort her by saying that perhaps Chan was dead, or that he had forgotten her in the long course of years, and that therefore she must not grieve too much. "You are a young girl," she said, "and you have a long life before you. Chan is an old man by this time; no doubt he has long ago married, and the home ties which he has formed have caused him to forget you. But you need not be broken-hearted on that account. There are many other men who will be more suitable for you than he could possibly be. By-and-by we shall arrange a marriage for you, and then life will appear to you very different from what it does now."

ようやく意識を取り戻すと、母親は、たぶん陳は死んだか、長い年月のうちにお前のことを忘れてしまったのだろうから、あまり嘆いてはいけないと言って慰めようとした。「お前は若い娘で」と母親は言った。「長い人生が前にあるのよ。陳は今ごろはもう年寄りです。きっとずっと前に結婚して、築いた家庭の絆のせいでお前のことを忘れてしまったのでしょう。でも、そのことで胸を痛めることはないわ。あの人よりずっとお前にふさわしい男の人はほかにたくさんいます。そのうちに縁組を整えてあげますから、そうすれば人生は今とはまるで違って見えるでしょう」

Instead of being comforted, however, Pearl was only the more distressed by her mother's words. Her love, which had begun in the Land of Shadows, and which had been growing in her heart for the last eighteen years, was not one to be easily put aside by such plausible arguments as those she had just listened to. The result was that she had a relapse, and for several days her life was in great danger.

けれども宝珠は慰められるどころか、母親の言葉にいっそう苦しんだ。影の国で始まり、この十八年ずっと胸のうちで育ってきた彼女の愛は、今聞かされたようなもっともらしい理屈で簡単に脇へやれるものではなかった。その結果、彼女は病をぶり返し、何日ものあいだ命が危ぶまれた。

The father and mother, fearing now that their daughter would die, determined, as there seemed no other remedy, to bring Chan to their home, and see whether his presence would not deliver Pearl from the danger in which the doctor declared she undoubtedly was.

娘が死んでしまうのではないかと恐れた父と母は、ほかに手立てはなさそうだったので、陳を家へ連れてきて、その姿を見せれば、医者が間違いなく陥っていると告げた危険から宝珠を救えるのではないか、試してみようと決めた。

The father accordingly went to the inn where he knew Chan was staying, and to his immense surprise he found him to be a young man of about twenty-five, highly polished in manner, and possessed of unusual intelligence. For some time he utterly refused to believe that this handsome young fellow was really the man with whom Pearl was so deeply in love, and it was not until Chan had told him the romantic story of his life that he could at all believe that he was not being imposed upon. Eventually, however, he was so taken with Chan that he became determined to do all in his power to bring about his marriage with his daughter.

そこで父親は陳が泊まっていると知っていた宿屋へ行った。すると大いに驚いたことに、陳は二十五ほどの若者で、物腰はこのうえなく洗練され、並外れた聡明さを備えていた。しばらくのあいだ、父親はこの見目のよい若者が、宝珠があれほど深く恋い慕っている男だとはどうしても信じようとしなかった。陳が自分の生涯の物語めいた話を語ってはじめて、だまされているのではないと、どうにか信じる気になった。けれども結局、父親は陳にすっかり惚れこみ、娘との結婚を実現させるためにできることは何でもしようと決めた。

"Come with me at once," he said, "and see if your presence will not do more than the cleverest doctors in the town have been able to accomplish. Pearl has been so distressed at not seeing you that she is now seriously ill, and we have been afraid that she would die of a broken heart."

「すぐに一緒に来てください」と父親は言った。「あなたが来てくだされば、町いちばんの腕利きの医者たちにもできなかったことができるのではないか、試してみてほしいのです。宝珠はあなたに会えないのをあまりに嘆いて、今は重い病にかかっています。心が砕けて死んでしまうのではないかと、わたしどもは恐れているのです」

When they arrived at the house Chan was taken into the sick-room, and the girl gazed into his face with a look of wonderment. "I do not seem to recognize you," she said in a feeble voice. "You are much younger than Chan, and although there is something about you that reminds me of him, I cannot realize that you are the same person with whom my spirit eighteen years ago held fellowship in the monastery where my body lay unburied."

家に着くと陳は病室に通され、娘は不思議そうな面持ちで彼の顔を見つめた。「あなたがわかりません」と娘は弱々しい声で言った。「あなたは陳よりずっと若くて、どこかあの人を思わせるところはあるけれど、十八年前、わたしの遺体が葬られずに置かれていた寺で、わたしの霊が語り合ったのと同じ人だとは思えないのです」

Chan proceeded to explain the mystery. "For years," he said, "my mind was troubled about the difference between our ages. I was afraid that when you saw me with grey hairs and with wrinkles on my face, your love would receive a shock, and you might regret that you had ever pledged yourself to me. Although you had vanished from my sight, my prayers still continued to be offered to the Goddess of Mercy. She had heard them for you, you remember, when you were in the Land of Shadows, and through her intercession Yam-lo had forgiven your sins, and had made life easier for you in that gloomy country.

陳はその謎を説明しはじめた。「何年ものあいだ」と彼は言った。「わたしは二人の年の差に心を悩ませていました。白髪で顔にしわの寄ったわたしを見たら、あなたの愛が揺らいで、わたしに身を誓ったことを悔やむのではないかと恐れていたのです。あなたがわたしの前から消えてしまってからも、わたしは観音様に祈りを捧げ続けました。覚えているでしょう、あなたが影の国にいたとき、観音様はあなたのためにその祈りを聞き届けてくださり、そのとりなしによって閻魔はあなたの罪を赦し、あの陰鬱な国でのあなたの暮らしを楽にしてくださったのです。

"I still continued to pray to her, hoping in some vague way that she would intervene to bring about the desire of my heart, and that when in due time I should meet you again, every obstacle to our mutual love would be for ever removed.

「わたしは祈り続けました。観音様がなんとかして間に入って、わたしの心の願いをかなえてくださり、時が来てふたたびあなたに会うとき、二人の愛を妨げるものがすべて永久に取り除かれているようにと、ぼんやりと望みながら。

"One day a fairy came into the very room where your spirit had often conversed with me. He carried me away with him to the Western Heaven and brought me into the very presence of the Goddess of Mercy. She gave directions for me to bathe in the 'Fountain of Eternal Youth,' and I became young again. That is why you see me now with a young face and a young nature, but my heart in its love for you has never changed, and never will as long as life lasts."

「ある日、あなたの霊がよくわたしと語り合ったまさにその部屋に、一人の仙人がやって来ました。仙人はわたしを西天へ連れていき、観音様その人の御前に導きました。観音様はわたしに『不老の泉』で水浴びするよう命じられ、わたしはふたたび若くなったのです。それで今、あなたの目に若い顔と若い気質のわたしが見えるのです。けれど、あなたを愛するわたしの心は一度も変わったことはなく、命のあるかぎり決して変わることはありません」

As he was telling this entrancing story, a look of devoted love spread over the beautiful countenance of Pearl. She gradually became instinct with life, and before he had finished speaking, the lassitude and exhaustion which had seemed to threaten her very life entirely disappeared. A rosy look came over her face, and her coal-black eyes flashed with hidden fires.

陳がこの心奪われる話をしているうちに、宝珠の美しい顔には深い愛の色が広がった。彼女はしだいに生気を取り戻し、陳が話し終わる前に、命さえ脅かすかと思われた倦怠と衰弱はすっかり消え去った。顔には薔薇色が差し、漆黒の目は秘めた炎にきらめいた。

"Now I know," she cried, "that you are Chan. You are so changed that when I first caught sight of you my heart sank within me, for I had pictured an older man, and I could not at once realize that you were the same Chan who showed such unbounded love for me in the years gone by.

「今こそわかりました」と宝珠は叫んだ。「あなたは陳です。あまりに変わっていらしたので、初めてお姿を見たとき、わたしの心は沈んでしまいました。もっと年上の人を思い描いていたので、過ぎし年月にわたしにあれほど限りない愛を示してくれた陳その人だと、すぐには思えなかったのです。

"It was not that I should have loved you less even though you had really been older. My heart would never have changed. It was only my doubt as to your reality that made me hesitate, but now my happiness is indeed great; for since through the goodness of the Goddess you have recovered your youth, I need not fear that the difference between our years may in the near future bring to us an eternal separation."

「たとえあなたが本当に年をとっていらしたとしても、わたしの愛が少しでも減ったわけではありません。わたしの心は決して変わらなかったでしょう。ためらったのは、あなたが本物かどうか疑ったからにすぎません。でも今、わたしの幸せはまことに大きいのです。観音様のお恵みであなたが若さを取り戻されたのですから、二人の年の差がほどなく永遠の別れをもたらすのではないかと恐れる必要もないのですから」

In a few days Pearl was once more herself again. Her parents, delighted with the romantic turn that things had taken and highly pleased with Chan himself, arranged for the betrothal of their daughter to him; and in the course of a few months, the loving couple were united in marriage. And so, after years of waiting, the happy consummation was accomplished, which Heaven and the Goddess of Mercy and even the dread Ruler of the Land of Shadows had each taken a share in bringing about; and for many and many a long year the story of Chan and his wife was spread abroad throughout the region in which they lived.

数日のうちに、宝珠はすっかりもとの自分に戻った。事の物語めいた成り行きに喜び、陳その人にもたいそう満足した両親は、娘と陳の婚約を整え、数か月のうちに愛し合う二人は夫婦として結ばれた。こうして、何年も待った末に、天と観音と、そして影の国の恐ろしい支配者までもがそれぞれ一役買って実現させた、めでたい成就が果たされた。そして長い長い年月にわたって、陳とその妻の物語は、二人の住む土地じゅうに語り広められたのである。