The Mysterious Buddhist Robe

The short visit which the Emperor Li Shih-ming paid to the Land of Shadows had produced a profound impression on his mind. The pain and misery that men had to endure there, because of the evils they had committed in this life by their own voluntary action, had been brought before him in a most vivid manner. He had seen with his own eyes what he had always been unwilling to believe--namely, that wrong-doing is in every case followed by penalties, which have to be paid either in this world or the next.

皇帝李世民が影の国へ束の間訪れたことは、その心に深い印象を残していた。人々が現世で自らの意思によって犯した悪のために、そこで耐えねばならない苦痛と惨めさが、このうえなく生々しく目の前に示されたのである。皇帝は、これまでずっと信じたくなかったこと、すなわち悪い行いには必ず報いが続き、その報いはこの世かあの世で払わねばならないということを、自分の目で見たのだった。

He was now convinced that the doctrine of the sages on this point was true, for he had witnessed the horrors that criminals who had practically escaped punishment in this life had to suffer when they came under the jurisdiction of Yam-lo.

この点についての聖人たちの教えが真実であることを、皇帝は今や確信していた。この世では事実上罰を免れた罪人たちが、閻魔の裁きの下に置かれたとき、どれほど恐ろしい目に遭わねばならないかを見届けたからである。

What distressed him most of all, however, was the grim thought which clung to him and refused to be silenced, that a large number of those in the Land of Shadows who were suffering from hunger and nakedness, were there as the result of his own cruelty and injustice, and that the cries of these men and women would reach to Heaven, and in due time bring down vengeance on himself.

けれども何よりも皇帝を苦しめたのは、振り払おうとしても離れず、黙らせることもできない一つの暗い思いだった。影の国で飢えと裸に苦しんでいる者の多くは、自分の残酷さと不正の結果としてそこにいるのであり、その男女の叫びは天に届き、いずれ自分の身に復讐をもたらすだろう、という思いである。

With this fear of coming judgment there was at the same time mingled in his mind an element of compassion, for he was really sorry for the poor wretches whom he had seen in the "City of the Wronged Ones," and whose reproaches and threats of divine vengeance had entered into his very soul.

来るべき裁きへのこの恐れとともに、皇帝の心には同時に憐れみの情も混じっていた。「冤魂の城」で見た哀れな者たち、その非難と神の復讐の脅しが魂の奥まで入り込んだ者たちを、皇帝は心から気の毒に思っていたのである。

He therefore determined to institute a magnificent service for those spirits of the dead, who through the injustice of rulers, or the impotence of law, or private revenge, had lost their lives and were suffering untold hardships in the other world. He would have prayers said for their souls, that would flood their lives with plenty, and in course of time would open up the way for their being reborn into the world of men.

そこで皇帝は、君主の不正や、法の無力や、私怨によって命を失い、あの世で言いようのない苦難を受けている死者の霊のために、壮麗な法要を営もうと決めた。彼らの魂のために祈りを捧げさせ、その暮らしを豊かさで満たし、やがて人の世に生まれ変わる道を開いてやろうというのである。

In this way he would propitiate those whom he had injured, and at the same time accumulate such an amount of merit for his benevolence, that the gods would make it easy for him when his time of reckoning came, and the accounts of his life were made up and balanced.

こうすれば、自分が害した者たちをなだめ、同時に慈悲の功徳をたっぷり積むことができ、清算の時が来て生涯の勘定が締められ突き合わされるときに、神々が手心を加えてくれるだろう。

As this ceremony was to be one such as had never before been held at any period of Chinese history, he was anxious that the man who should be the leader and conductor of it should not be one of the men of indifferent lives who are usually found in the Buddhist temples and monasteries. He must be a man of sterling character, and of a life so pure and holy that no stain could be found upon it to detract from the saintly reputation he had acquired.

この法要は中国の歴史のどの時代にもかつて営まれたことのないものになるはずだったので、皇帝は、それを率いて執り行う者が、仏教の寺や僧院によくいるいい加減な暮らしぶりの僧であってはならないと考えた。その者は堅固な人柄の持ち主で、得てきた聖なる評判を損なうような染み一つ見出せないほど、清く聖なる生き方をしていなければならなかった。

His Majesty accordingly sent out edicts to all the Viceroys in the Empire, commanding them to issue proclamations throughout the length and breadth of the country, telling the people of the great religious service which he was going to hold in the capital for the unhappy spirits in the Land of Shadows. In these edicts he ordered that search should be made for a priest of unblemished character--one who had proved his love for his fellow-men by great acts of sympathy for them. This man was to be invited to present himself before the Emperor, to take charge of the high and splendid service which had been designed by the Sovereign himself.

そこで皇帝は帝国じゅうの総督に勅令を送り、国の隅々にまで布告を出して、影の国の不幸な霊のために都で営もうとしている大法要のことを人々に知らせるよう命じた。この勅令のなかで皇帝は、汚れのない人柄の僧、同胞への大きな同情の行いによって人々への愛を証してきた僧を探すよう命じた。その者は皇帝の前に出るよう招かれ、天子みずから構想した崇高で壮麗な法要を司ることになっていた。

The tidings of this noble conception of Li Shih-ming spread with wonderful rapidity throughout his dominions, and even reached the far-off Western Heaven, where the mysterious beings who inhabit that happy land are ever on the alert to welcome any movement for the relief of human suffering. The Goddess of Mercy considered the occasion of such importance that she determined to take her share of responsibility for this distinguished service, by providing suitable vestments in which the leader of the great ceremony should be attired.

李世民のこの気高い構想の知らせは、驚くほどの速さでその領土じゅうに広まり、はるか西天にまで届いた。その幸いの国に住む不思議な存在たちは、人の苦しみを和らげようとするどんな動きも喜んで迎えようと、いつも気を配っているのである。観音はこの機会をたいへん重要なものと考え、大法要の導師がまとうにふさわしい法衣を用意することで、この輝かしい法要に自らも責任の一端を担おうと決めた。

So it came to pass that while men's minds were excited about the proposed celebration for the dead, two priests suddenly appeared in the streets of the capital. No one had ever seen such old-fashioned and weird-looking specimens of manhood before. They were mean and insignificant in appearance, and the distinctive robes in which they were dressed were so travel-stained and unclean that it was evident they had not been washed for many a long day.

こうして、死者のための祭典の計画に人々の心が沸き立っているさなか、二人の僧が突然、都の通りに現れた。これほど古めかしく奇妙な風体の人間は、だれも見たことがなかった。見かけはみすぼらしく取るに足らず、身にまとった僧衣は旅の汚れにまみれて不潔で、もう長いあいだ洗っていないのは明らかだった。

Men looked at them with astonishment as they passed along the road, for there was something so strange about them that they seemed to have come down from a far-off distant age, and to have suddenly burst into a civilization which had long out-grown the type from which they were descended. But by-and-by their curious old-world appearance was forgotten in amazement at the articles they carried with them. These were carefully wrapped in several folds of cloth to keep them from being soiled, though the two priests were perfectly willing to unfold the wrappers, and exhibit them to anyone who wished to examine them.

二人が道を通っていくと、人々は驚いて見つめた。二人にはあまりに奇妙なところがあり、遠い遠い昔の時代から降りてきて、自分たちの出た型をとうに脱した文明のなかへ、ふいに飛び込んできたように見えたのである。けれどもやがて、その奇妙な古めかしい風体は、二人が携えている品々への驚きのなかで忘れられていった。品々は汚れないよう何重もの布で丁寧に包まれていたが、二人の僧は、見たいという者がいればだれにでも喜んで包みを解いて見せた。

The precious things which were preserved with such jealous care were a hat and robe such as an abbot might wear on some great occasion when the Buddhist Church was using its most elaborate ceremonial to perform some function of unusual dignity and importance. There was also a crosier, beautifully wrought with precious stones, which was well worthy of being held in the hand of the highest functionary of the Church in any of its most sacred and solemn services. The remarkable thing about the hat and robe was their exquisite beauty. The richness of the embroidered work, the quaint designs, the harmonious blending of colours, and the subtle exhibition of the genius of the mind which had fashioned and perfected them, arrested the attention of even the lowest class in the crowds of people who gathered round the two priests to gaze upon the hat and robe, with awe and admiration in their faces.

これほど大事に守られていた宝物は、仏教の教団が格別の威厳と重みのある務めを果たすために最も手の込んだ儀式を行うような大事な折に、住職がかぶり、まとうような帽子と法衣であった。ほかに、宝石で美しく細工された錫杖もあり、教団のもっとも神聖で厳粛な儀式において最高位の者の手に握られるにふさわしいものだった。帽子と法衣で驚くべきはその絶妙な美しさだった。刺繍の豊かさ、趣のある意匠、色の調和のとれた混ざり合い、そしてそれを形づくり仕上げた心の才がほのかに表れているさまは、二人の僧のまわりに集まり、畏れと感嘆を顔に浮かべて帽子と法衣を見つめる群衆のうち、もっとも身分の低い者たちの目さえ引きつけた。

Some instinct that flashed through the minds of the wondering spectators told them that these rare and fairy-like vestments were no ordinary products manufactured in any of the looms throughout the wide domains of the Empire. No human mind or hand had ever designed or worked out the various hues and shades of such marvellous colours as those which flashed before their eyes, and which possessed a delicacy and beauty such as none of the great artists of the past had ever been able to produce.

見とれている人々の心にひらめいた何かの直感が、この珍しくこの世ならぬ法衣は、帝国の広い領土のどこの機で織られたありふれた品でもないと告げていた。目の前にきらめくこれほど見事な色の、さまざまな色合いと濃淡を考え出し仕上げた人間の心や手はかつてなく、その繊細さと美しさは、過去のどんな大芸術家も生み出せなかったものだった。

The priests from the various temples and monasteries of the capital soon heard the reports that spread through the city about the marvellous hat and robe, and flocked in large numbers to see these wonderful things, which the two curious-looking men were displaying to all who cared to gaze upon them.

都のあちこちの寺や僧院の僧たちも、町じゅうに広まった見事な帽子と法衣の噂をまもなく聞きつけ、奇妙な風体の二人が見たい者にはだれにでも見せているその素晴らしい品々を見ようと、大勢で押しかけた。

"Do you wish to dispose of these things?" asked one of the city priests.

「これを手放すおつもりですか」と都の僧の一人が尋ねた。

"If any one can pay the price at which alone we are prepared to sell, we shall be willing to part with them to him," was the reply.

「わしらが売ってもよいと考える値を払える者がいれば、その者に譲るつもりだ」というのが答えだった。

"And what may the price be?" anxiously enquired the priest.

「で、その値はいかほどですか」とその僧は気がかりそうに尋ねた。

"The hat and robe will cost four thousand taels, and the crosier, which is of the rarest materials and manufacture, will be sold for the same amount."

「帽子と法衣は四千両、錫杖はこのうえなく珍しい材料と細工でできているので、同じく四千両で売ろう」

At this a great laugh resounded through the crowd. In those days eight thousand taels was a huge fortune which only one or two of the wealthiest men of the State could have afforded to give. The boisterous mirth, however, which convulsed the crowd when they heard the fabulous sums asked by these strangers for their articles, soon became hushed when the latter proceeded to explain that the sums demanded were purposely prohibitive, in order that the sacred vestments should not fall into the hands of anyone who was unworthy to possess them.

これを聞いて群衆のあいだにどっと笑いが起こった。そのころ八千両といえば莫大な財産で、国じゅうでも一人か二人の大富豪しか出せない額だった。けれども、見知らぬ二人が品物に途方もない値をつけたのを聞いて群衆を揺るがした騒々しい笑いは、二人が続けて、法衣がそれを持つにふさわしくない者の手に渡らないよう、わざと手の届かない値にしてあるのだと説明すると、まもなく静まった。

"You are all aware," said one of the strangers, "that His Majesty the Emperor, recognizing that the service for the dead which he is about to hold is one of momentous importance, not only to the spirits suffering in the Land of Shadows, but also to the prosperity and welfare of the Chinese Empire, has already issued edicts to secure the presence of some saintly and godly priest, who shall be worthy to superintend the prayers that will be said for the men and women who are leading dreary lives in the land over which Yam-lo rules."

「みな知っておろう」と見知らぬ者の一人が言った。「皇帝陛下は、これから営もうとしておられる死者のための法要が、影の国で苦しむ霊にとってばかりでなく、中国という帝国の繁栄と安寧にとってもきわめて重大なものであることをお認めになって、閻魔の治める国でわびしい暮らしを送っている男女のために唱えられる祈りを取り仕切るにふさわしい、聖なる徳の高い僧を招くべく、すでに勅令を出しておられる」

The story of these two men spread with great rapidity throughout the homes of all classes in the metropolis, and when it was understood that they had no desire to make money by the rare and beautiful articles which they readily displayed to the crowds that followed them whenever they appeared on the streets, they began to be surrounded with a kind of halo of romance. Men whispered to each other that these were no common denizens of the earth, but fairies in disguise, who had come as messengers from the Goddess of Mercy. The garments which they had with them were such as no mortal eyes had ever beheld, and were clearly intended for use only at some special ceremony of exceptional importance such as that which the Emperor was planning to have carried out.

この二人の話はあらゆる身分の都の家々にたちまち広まり、二人が街に現れるたびについてくる群衆に快く見せている珍しく美しい品々で金をもうける気がまったくないとわかると、二人は一種のロマンの光輪に包まれるようになった。人々は、あれはこの世のありふれた住人ではなく、観音の使いとしてやって来た変装した仙人なのだとささやき合った。二人が携えている衣は人の目がかつて見たこともないもので、皇帝が執り行わせようとしているような、格別に重大な特別の儀式のためだけに用いられるものであることは明らかだった。

At length rumours reached the palace of the strange scenes which were daily taking place in the streets of the capital, and Li Shih-ming sent officers to command the two strange priests to appear in his presence.

とうとう、都の通りで日々繰り広げられている奇妙な光景の噂が宮殿にまで届き、李世民は役人を遣わして、二人の奇妙な僧を御前に呼び出させた。

When they were brought before him, and he saw the wonderful robe embroidered in delicate hues and colours such as no workman had ever been known to design before, and grasped the crosier which sparkled and flashed with the brilliancy of the precious stones adorning it, the Emperor felt that the invisible gods had approved of his design for the solemn service for the dead and had prepared vestments for the High Priest which would be worthy of the exalted position he would occupy in the great ceremony.

二人が御前に連れてこられ、どんな職人もかつて考え出したことのない繊細な色合いで刺繍された見事な法衣を見て、飾りの宝石の輝きできらきらと光る錫杖を手に握ったとき、皇帝は、目に見えない神々が死者のための厳粛な法要という自分の構想を嘉し、大法要で導師が占める高い地位にふさわしい法衣を用意してくれたのだと感じた。

"I hear that you want eight thousand taels for these articles," said the Emperor to the two men, who stood respectfully before him.

「この品々に八千両を望んでいると聞いたが」と皇帝は、うやうやしく御前に立つ二人に言った。

"We are not anxious, your Majesty," replied one of the strangers, "about the price. That is to us of very little importance. We have mentioned this large sum simply to prevent any man of unworthy mind from becoming their possessor.

「陛下、わしらは値にこだわってはおりません」と見知らぬ者の一人が答えた。「値などわしらにはほとんどどうでもよいのです。この大きな額を口にしたのは、ただ、ふさわしくない心の者がこれを手にするのを防ぐためにすぎません。

"There is a peculiarity about that robe," he continued. "Any person of pure and upright heart who wears it will be preserved from every kind of disaster that can possibly assail him in this world. No sorrow can touch him, and the schemes of the most malignant of evil spirits will have no influence upon him. On the other hand, any man who is under the dominion of any base passion, if he dares to put on that mystic robe, will find himself involved in all kinds of calamities and sorrows, which will never leave him until he has put it off and laid it aside for ever.

「あの法衣には不思議な性質があります」と彼は続けた。「清く正しい心の者がそれをまとえば、この世でその身に襲いかかりうるあらゆる災いから守られます。どんな悲しみも触れることはなく、もっとも邪悪な悪霊どものたくらみも何の力も及ぼしません。反対に、何か卑しい欲に支配されている者が、あえてその神秘の法衣を身につければ、ありとあらゆる災いと悲しみに巻き込まれ、それを脱いで永久に手放すまで、それは決して離れないのです。

"What we are really here for," he concluded, "is to endeavour to assist your Majesty in the discovery of a priest of noble and blameless life who will be worthy of presiding at the service you are about to hold for the unhappy spirits in the Land of Shadows. When we have found him we shall consider that our mission has been fulfilled, and we can then return and report the success we have achieved."

「わしらがここに来たほんとうのわけは」と彼は締めくくった。「陛下が影の国の不幸な霊のために営もうとしておられる法要を司るにふさわしい、気高く非の打ちどころのない生き方をした僧を見つけるお手伝いをすることなのです。その者が見つかれば、わしらの使命は果たされたものと考え、戻って成し遂げたことを報告できます」

At this moment despatches from high officials throughout the country were presented to the Emperor, all recommending Sam-Chaong as the only man in the dominions who was fit to act as High Priest in the proposed great service. As Sam-Chaong happened to be then in the capital, he was sent for and, being approved of by His Majesty, was at once appointed to the sacred office, which he alone of the myriads of priests in China seemed to be worthy of occupying.

ちょうどそのとき、国じゅうの高官たちから文書が皇帝のもとに届き、どれもが、計画中の大法要の導師を務めるにふさわしい者は領土のなかで三蔵ただ一人であると推していた。三蔵はたまたまそのとき都にいたので呼び出され、皇帝の眼鏡にかなって、ただちにその聖なる職に任じられた。中国の無数の僧のなかで、その職に就くにふさわしいのは彼一人であるように思われた。

The two strangers, who had been noting the proceedings with anxious and watchful eyes, expressed their delight at the decision that had been arrived at. Stepping up to Sam-Chaong with the most reverential attitude, they presented him with the costly vestments which had excited the wonder and admiration of everyone who had seen them. Refusing to receive any remuneration for them, they bowed gracefully to the Emperor and retired. As the door of the audience-chamber closed upon them they vanished from human sight, and no trace of them could anywhere be found.

成り行きを気がかりそうに油断なく見守っていた二人の見知らぬ者は、下された決定に喜びを表した。このうえなくうやうやしい態度で三蔵のもとへ進み出ると、見た者みなの驚嘆と賛美をかき立ててきた高価な法衣を彼に贈った。代価を受け取ることは断り、皇帝に優雅に一礼して退出した。謁見の間の扉が二人の背後で閉まると、二人は人の目から消え失せ、どこを探しても跡形も見つからなかった。

On the great day appointed by the Emperor, such a gathering was assembled as China in all the long history of the past had never before witnessed. Abbots from far-off distant monasteries were there, dressed in their finest vestments. Aged priests, with faces wrinkled by the passage of years, and young bonzes in their slate-coloured gowns, had travelled over the hills and mountains of the North to be present, and took up their positions in the great building. Men of note, too, who had made themselves famous by their devoted zeal for the ceremonies of the Buddhist Church and by their munificent gifts to the temples and shrines, had come with great retinues of their clansmen to add to the splendour and dignity of the occasion.

皇帝が定めた大いなる日には、中国が過去の長い歴史のなかでかつて見たことのないほどの人々が集まった。遠く離れた僧院の住職たちが、もっとも立派な法衣をまとってそこにいた。年月に顔を刻まれた老僧や、鼠色の衣をまとった若い僧たちが、北の丘や山を越えて旅してきて、大伽藍のなかにそれぞれの場所を占めた。仏教の儀式への献身的な熱意と寺や祠への惜しみない寄進で名を上げた名士たちも、一族の者を大勢従えてやって来て、その日の壮麗さと威厳に花を添えた。

But the chief glory and attraction of the day to the assembled crowds was the Emperor, Li Shih-Ming. Never had he been seen in such pomp and circumstance as on this occasion. Close round him stood the princes of the royal family, the great officers of state and the members of the Cabinet in their rich and picturesque dresses. Immediately beyond were earls and dukes, viceroys of provinces and great captains and commanders, whose fame for mighty deeds of valour in the border warfare had spread through every city and town and hamlet in the Empire.

けれども、集まった群衆にとってその日の最大の栄光であり見ものであったのは、皇帝李世民その人であった。これほどの威儀と盛儀のうちにある皇帝を、だれも見たことがなかった。皇帝のすぐまわりには、皇族の親王たち、国の大官たち、華やかで絵のような装束をまとった閣僚たちが立っていた。そのすぐ向こうには、伯爵や公爵、諸省の総督、そして辺境の戦での武勇の誉れが帝国のあらゆる都市や町や村に轟いている大将軍や指揮官たちがいた。

There were also present some of the most famous scholars of China, who, though not members of the Buddhist Church, yet felt that they could not refuse the invitation which the Emperor had extended to them.

また、仏教の教団の者ではないものの、皇帝が差し伸べた招きを断るわけにはいかないと感じた、中国でもっとも名高い学者たちも何人か列席していた。

In short, the very flower of the Empire was gathered together to carry out the benevolent purpose of rescuing the spirits of the dead from an intolerable state of misery which only the living had the power of alleviating.

要するに、生きている者だけが和らげる力を持つ耐えがたい惨めさから死者の霊を救い出すという慈悲深い目的を果たすために、帝国の精華がまさにそこに集ったのである。

The supreme moment, however, was when Sam-Chaong and more than a hundred of the priests most distinguished for learning and piety in the whole of the church, marched in solemn procession, chanting a litany, and took their places on the raised platform from which they were to conduct the service for the dead.

けれども最高の瞬間は、三蔵と、教団全体のなかでも学識と信心にもっとも秀でた百人を超える僧たちが、経文を唱えながら厳かな行列を組んで進み、死者のための法要を執り行う高座に着いたときであった。

During the ceremony, much to his amazement, Li Shih-Ming saw the two men who had bestowed the fairy vestments on Sam-Chaong, standing one on each side of him; but though they joined heartily in the proceedings, he could not help noticing that a look of dissatisfaction and occasionally of something which seemed like contempt, rested like a shadow on their faces.

法要のさなか、李世民がたいそう驚いたことに、三蔵に仙界の法衣を贈った二人の男が、三蔵の左右に一人ずつ立っているのが見えた。けれども二人は心から法要に加わってはいたものの、その顔には不満の色が、ときには侮りのようにも見えるものが、影のように宿っているのに気づかずにはいられなかった。

At the close of the service he commanded them to appear before him, and expressed his surprise at their conduct, when they explained that the discontent they had shown was entirely due to a feeling that the ritual which had been used that day was one entirely inadequate to the occasion. It was so wanting in dignity and loftiness of conception, they said, that though some ease might be brought to the spirits suffering in the Land of Shadows from the service which had been performed, it would utterly fail in the most important particular of all--namely, their deliverance from Hades, and their rebirth into the land of the living.

法要が終わると、皇帝は二人を御前に呼び、その振る舞いに驚いたと告げた。すると二人は、自分たちが見せた不満はひとえに、その日用いられた儀軌がこの機会にまったくそぐわないものだと感じたためだと説明した。その儀軌は威厳にも崇高な構想にもあまりに欠けているので、執り行われた法要によって影の国で苦しむ霊にいくらかの安らぎはもたらされるかもしれないが、何よりも肝心な点、すなわち冥府から救い出して生者の国に生まれ変わらせるという点では、まったく役に立たないだろう、と二人は言った。

That this was also a matter which had given the Goddess of Mercy a vast amount of concern was soon made evident to the Emperor, for in the midst of this conversation there suddenly sounded, throughout the great hall in which the vast congregation still lingered, a voice saying: "Send Sam-Chaong to the Western Heaven to obtain the ritual which shall there be given him and which shall be worthy of being chanted by a nation."

それが観音をもひどく気にかけさせていた事柄であることは、まもなく皇帝に明らかになった。この話のさなか、大勢の会衆がまだ残っている大伽藍じゅうに、突然こう告げる声が響き渡ったのである。「三蔵を西天へ遣わし、そこで授けられる、国じゅうで唱えられるにふさわしい儀軌を得させよ」

This command from the invisible Goddess produced such an impression upon the Emperor that he made immediate preparations for the departure of Sam-Chaong on his momentous journey; and in a few days, supplied with everything necessary for so toilsome an undertaking, the famous priest started on what seemed a wild and visionary enterprise in pursuit of an object which anyone with less faith than himself would have deemed beyond the power of any human being to accomplish.

目に見えない観音からのこの命令は皇帝に強い印象を与え、皇帝は三蔵がその重大な旅に出立できるよう、ただちに支度を整えさせた。数日のうちに、これほど骨の折れる企てに必要なものをすべて与えられて、名高い僧は旅立った。それは、彼ほどの信仰を持たない者なら人間の力ではとうてい成し遂げられないと考えたであろう目的を追う、途方もない夢のような企てに見えた。

In order to afford him protection by the way and to act as his body-servants, the Emperor appointed two men to accompany Sam-Chaong on the long journey which he had undertaken at the command of the Goddess of Mercy. His Majesty would indeed have given him a whole regiment of soldiers, if he had been willing to accept them; but he absolutely refused to take more than just two men. He relied chiefly on the fairy robe which he had received, for that secured him from all danger from any foes whom he might meet on the road. Moreover, his mission, as he assured the Emperor, was one of peace and good-will, and it would not harmonize either with his own wishes or with those of the Goddess for him to be in a position to avenge his wrongs by the destruction of human life.

道中で三蔵を守り、身の回りの世話をさせるために、皇帝は二人の男を任じ、観音の命によって引き受けた長い旅に同行させた。三蔵が受け入れさえすれば、皇帝はじつに一連隊の兵士を与えもしただろう。けれども三蔵は、二人より多くを連れていくことを頑として断った。彼が何よりも頼みにしていたのは授かった仙界の法衣で、それは道中で出会うどんな敵からの危険からも彼を守ってくれるのだった。そのうえ、彼が皇帝に請け合ったとおり、その使命は平和と善意の使命であり、人の命を奪って自分の受けた害に報いるような立場に身を置くことは、彼自身の望みにも観音の望みにもそぐわなかった。

Before many days had elapsed Sam-Chaong began to realize the perilous nature of the service he had been called upon to perform. One afternoon, the travellers were jogging leisurely along in a wild and unsettled district, when suddenly two fierce-looking hobgoblins swooped down upon them, and almost before a word could be said had swallowed up both his poor followers. They were proceeding to do the same with Sam-Chaong when a fairy appeared upon the scene, and sent them flying with screams of terror to the caverns in the neighbouring hills where their homes seemed to be.

何日も経たないうちに、三蔵は自分が果たすよう召された務めがどれほど危険なものかを悟りはじめた。ある午後、一行が荒れ果てた人の住まぬ土地をのんびりと進んでいると、突然、恐ろしい顔つきの小鬼が二匹襲いかかってきて、一言も口にする間もなく、哀れな供の二人を丸呑みにしてしまった。三蔵も同じようにしようとしたそのとき、一人の仙人が現れ、小鬼どもを、住処らしい近くの山の洞穴へと、恐怖の叫びをあげて逃げ去らせた。

For a moment or two, Sam-Chaong was in extreme distress. He had just escaped an imminent peril; he was absolutely alone in an apparently uninhabited region; and the shadows of night were already darkening everything around. He was wondering where he would spend the night, when a man appeared upon the scene and invited him to come home with him to a mountain village on the spur of the hills which rose abruptly some distance away in front of them.

しばらくのあいだ、三蔵はひどく途方に暮れた。差し迫った危険をたった今逃れたばかりで、見たところ人の住まない土地にまったくの一人きりで、夜の影がもうあたりをすっかり暗くしはじめていた。どこで夜を明かそうかと思案していると、一人の男が現れ、少し先に切り立ってそびえる山の尾根にある山村の我が家へ一緒に来ないかと誘ってくれた。

Although an entire stranger, who had never even heard Sam-Chaong's name, this man treated his guest right royally and gave him the very best that his house contained. Deeply impressed with the generous treatment he had received, Sam-Chaong determined that he would repay his host's generosity by performing an act which would be highly gratifying both to him and to all the members of his household.

三蔵の名前さえ聞いたことのない赤の他人だったが、この男は客をまさに王侯のようにもてなし、家にある最上のものを与えてくれた。受けた寛大なもてなしに深く心を打たれて、三蔵は、主人にも家の者みなにもこのうえなく喜ばれる行いによって、主人の厚意に報いようと決めた。

Arranging a temporary altar in front of the image of the household god, who happened to be the Goddess of Mercy, he chanted the service for the dead before it with such acceptance that the spirit of the father of his host, who had been confined in the Land of Shadows, was released from that sunless land and was allowed to be reborn and take his place amongst the living. Moreover, that very night, the father appeared before his son in a vision, and told him that in consequence of the intercession of Sam-Chaong, whose reputation for piety was widely known in the dominions of Yam-lo, he had been allowed to leave that dismal country and had just been born into a family in the province of Shensi.

家の守り神——たまたま観音であった——の像の前に仮の祭壇をしつらえ、三蔵はその前で死者のための法要を唱えた。それはたいそう嘉されて、影の国に囚われていた主人の父の霊は、その日の差さぬ国から解き放たれ、生まれ変わって生者の列に加わることを許された。そのうえ、まさにその夜、父が息子の夢に現れ、三蔵——その信心の評判は閻魔の領土で広く知られていた——のとりなしのおかげで、あの陰鬱な国を去ることを許され、陝西省のある家にたった今生まれたところだと告げた。

The son was rejoiced beyond measure at this wonderful news, and in order to show his gratitude for this generous action, he volunteered to accompany Sam-Chaong right to the very frontiers of China and to share with him any dangers and hardships he might have to endure by the way.

息子はこの素晴らしい知らせを限りなく喜び、この寛大な行いへの感謝を示すために、中国の国境まで三蔵に付き添い、道中で耐えねばならないどんな危険や苦難もともに分かち合おうと、自ら申し出た。

After many weary days of travelling this part of the journey was at last accomplished, and they were about to separate at the foot of a considerable hill which lay on the border line between China and the country of the barbarians beyond, when a loud and striking voice was heard exclaiming, "The priest has come! The priest has come!"

何日もの疲れる旅の末、この道のりもようやく果たされ、中国とその向こうの蛮族の国との境にあるかなり大きな山のふもとで二人が別れようとしていると、大きくよく通る声がこう叫ぶのが聞こえた。「坊さまが来た。坊さまが来た」

Sam-Chaong asked his companion the meaning of these words and to what priest they referred.

三蔵は連れの男に、その言葉はどういう意味で、どの僧のことを言っているのかと尋ねた。

"There is a tradition in this region," replied the man, "that five hundred years ago, a certain fairy, inflamed with pride, dared to raise himself in rebellion against the Goddess of Mercy in the Western Heaven. To punish him she turned him into a monkey, and confined him in a cave near the top of this hill. There she condemned him to remain until Sam-Chaong should pass this way, when he could earn forgiveness by leading the priest into the presence of the Goddess who had commanded him to appear before her."

「この土地には言い伝えがあります」と男は答えた。「五百年前、ある仙人が驕りに燃えて、あろうことか西天の観音様に背いて反乱を起こしました。それを罰するため、観音様はその仙人を猿に変え、この山の頂近くの洞穴に閉じ込めたのです。そして三蔵がこの道を通るまでそこにいるよう定めました。そのときには、観音様の前に出るよう命じられたその僧を観音様のもとへ導くことで、赦しを得られるというのです」

Ascending the hill in the direction of the spot from whence the cry "The priest has come!" kept ringing through the air, they came upon a natural cavern, the mouth of which was covered by a huge boulder, nicely poised in such a position that all exit from it was rendered an impossibility. Peering through the crevices at the side, they could distinctly see the figure of a monkey raising its face with an eager look of expectation in the direction of Sam-Chaong and his companion.

「坊さまが来た」という叫びが絶えず空に響いてくるほうへ山を登っていくと、二人は天然の洞穴に行き当たった。その口は巨大な岩でふさがれていて、岩はうまい具合に据えられ、そこから出ることがまったくできないようになっていた。脇の割れ目からのぞき込むと、一匹の猿の姿がはっきり見え、猿は待ちかねたような顔を三蔵と連れの男のほうへ向けていた。

"Let me out," it cried, "and I will faithfully lead you to the Western Heaven, and never leave you until you find yourself standing in the presence of the Goddess of Mercy."

「出してくれ」と猿は叫んだ。「そうすれば忠実にあんたを西天へ案内し、あんたが観音様の御前に立つまで決してそばを離れないから」

"But how am I to get you out?" asked Sam-Chaong. "The boulder that shuts you in is too large for human hands to move, and so, though I pity you in your misfortune and greatly desire your help to guide me along the unknown paths that lie before me, I fear that the task of setting you free must fall to other hands than mine."

「けれど、どうやってお前を出してやればよいのだ」と三蔵は尋ねた。「お前を閉じ込めている岩は人の手で動かすには大きすぎる。だから、お前の不運は気の毒に思うし、行く手に待つ見知らぬ道を案内してもらいたいとも強く願うが、お前を自由にしてやる役目は、わたしではなく別の者の手に委ねるほかないのではないか」

"Deliverance is more easy than you imagine," replied the monkey. "Cast your eye along the edge of this vast rock, which the Goddess with but a simple touch of one of her fingers moved into its place five hundred years ago, as though it had been the airiest down that ever floated in a summer's breeze, and you will see something yellow standing out in marked contrast to the black lichen-covered stone. That is the sign-manual of the Goddess. She printed it on the rock when she condemned me centuries ago to be enclosed within this narrow cell until you should come and release me. Your hand alone can remove that mystic symbol and save me from the penalty of a living death."

「助け出すのはあんたが思うよりずっとたやすい」と猿は答えた。「この大岩の縁に沿って目をやってごらん。観音様が五百年前、夏のそよ風に漂うこのうえなく軽い綿毛でもあるかのように、指一本でちょいと触れてここへ動かした岩だ。すると、黒い苔むした石とはっきり違って浮き出ている黄色いものが見えるだろう。あれが観音様の御印だ。何百年も前、あんたが来て出してくれるまでこの狭い牢に閉じ込めておくとわしに言い渡したとき、岩に押したものだ。あの神秘の印を取り除けるのはあんたの手だけで、そうすればわしは生きながらの死という罰から救われる」

Following the directions of the monkey, Sam-Chaong carefully scraped away the yellow-coloured tracings which he tried in vain to decipher; and when the last faint scrap had been finally removed, the huge, gigantic boulder silently moved aside with a gentle, easy motion and tilted itself to one side until the prisoner had emerged, when once more it slid gracefully back into its old position.

猿の指図に従って、三蔵は、読み解こうとしても読めない黄色の筆跡を注意深くこすり落とした。最後のかすかなかけらがとうとう取り除かれると、巨大な大岩は音もなく、やわらかくなめらかな動きで脇へ退き、囚われていた者が出てくるまで片側に傾いていたが、やがてまた優雅にもとの位置へ滑り戻った。

Under the guidance of the monkey, who had assumed the appearance of a strong and vigorous young athlete, Sam-Chaong proceeded on his journey--over mountains so high that they seemed to touch the very heavens, and through valleys which lay at their foot in perpetual shadow, except only at noon-tide when the sun stood directly overhead. Then again they travelled across deserts whose restless, storm-tossed, sandy billows left no traces of human footsteps, and where death seemed, like some cunning foe, to be lying in wait to destroy their lives.

たくましく屈強な若い力士の姿をとった猿に導かれて、三蔵は旅を続けた。天そのものに届くかと思えるほど高い山々を越え、太陽が真上に来る正午のほかは絶えず影に沈むそのふもとの谷を抜けていった。それからまた、落ち着きなく嵐に揺さぶられる砂の大波が人の足跡を一つも残さず、死がずる賢い敵のように命を奪おうと待ち伏せているような砂漠を横切って旅した。

It was here that Sam-Chaong realized the protecting care of the Goddess in providing such a valuable companion as the monkey proved himself to be. He might have been born in these sandy wastes, so familiar was he with their moods. There was something in the air, and in the colours of the sky at dawn and at sunset, that told him what was going to happen, and he could say almost to a certainty whether any storm was coming to turn these silent deserts into storm-tossed oceans of sand, which more ruthless even than the sea, would engulf all living things within their pitiless depths. He knew, moreover, where the hidden springs of water lay concealed beneath the glare and glitter that pained the eyes simply to look upon them; and without a solitary landmark in the boundless expanse, by unerring instinct, he would travel straight to the very spot where the spring bubbled up from the great fountains below.

ここで三蔵は、猿というかくも頼もしい連れを与えてくれた観音の加護を身にしみて感じた。猿はこの砂の荒野で生まれたのではないかと思えるほど、その移り気をよく心得ていた。空気のなかに、また夜明けと日暮れの空の色のなかに、これから何が起こるかを告げる何かがあり、この静かな砂漠を、海よりも無慈悲にあらゆる生きものを情け容赦のない深みへ呑み込む嵐の砂の大海に変えてしまう嵐が来るかどうかを、猿はほとんど確実に言い当てることができた。そのうえ、見るだけで目が痛むぎらぎらとした輝きの下に、隠れた泉がどこに潜んでいるかを知っていて、果てしない広がりのなかに目印一つ無くとも、誤ることのない本能によって、地下の大きな水源から泉が湧き出るまさにその場所へまっすぐ進んでいった。

Having crossed these howling wildernesses, where Sam-Chaong must have perished had he travelled alone, they came to a region inhabited by a pastoral people, but abounding in bands of robbers. Monkey was a daring fellow and was never afraid to meet any foe in fair fight; yet for the sake of Sam-Chaong, whose loving disposition had been insensibly taming his wild and fiery nature, he tried as far as possible to avoid a collision with any evil characters, whether men or spirits, who might be inclined to have a passage of arms with them.

三蔵が一人で旅していたら命を落としていたにちがいない、風の吠えるこの荒野を越えると、一行は遊牧の民の住む土地に来たが、そこには盗賊の一団がはびこっていた。猿は大胆な男で、正々堂々の戦いならどんな敵を相手にしても決して恐れなかった。けれども、その愛情深い気質によって猿の荒々しく激しい性をいつのまにか和らげていた三蔵のために、一戦交えたがっているかもしれない悪者とは、人であれ霊であれ、できるかぎり衝突を避けようとした。

One day they had passed over a great plain, where herds of sheep could be seen in all directions browsing under the watchful care of their shepherds, and they had come to the base of the foot-hills leading to a mountainous country beyond, when the profound meditation in which Sam-Chaong was usually absorbed was suddenly interrupted by a startled cry from Monkey.

ある日、一行は、四方に羊の群れが羊飼いに見守られながら草を食んでいる大平原を越え、向こうの山国へと続く丘陵のふもとまで来ていた。そのとき、三蔵がいつも没頭している深い瞑想が、猿の驚いた叫びによって突然破られた。

Drawing close up to him, he said in a low voice, "Do you see those six men who are descending the hill and coming in our direction? They look like simple-minded farmers, and yet they are all devils who have put on the guise of men in order to be able to take us unawares. Their real object is to kill you, and thus frustrate the gracious purpose of the Goddess, who wishes to deliver the souls in the Land of Shadows from the torments they are enduring there.

猿はすぐそばへ寄って、低い声で言った。「山を下りてこっちへやって来るあの六人の男が見えるか。素朴な百姓のように見えるが、みんな、わしらの不意を突くために人の姿をした悪鬼なんだ。やつらのほんとうの狙いはあんたを殺し、影の国の魂をそこで受けている責め苦から救おうという観音様のありがたいお考えをくじくことだ。

"I know them well," he went on; "they are fierce and malignant spirits and very bold, for rarely have they ever been put to flight in any conflict in which they have been engaged. They little dream, however, who it is you have by your side. If they did they would come on more warily, for though I am single-handed they would be chary of coming to issues with me.

「やつらのことはよく知っている」と猿は続けた。「猛々しく悪意に満ちた霊で、ひどく大胆だ。これまで加わったどんな争いでも、追い払われたことはめったにない。けれど、あんたのそばにいるのがだれなのか、やつらは夢にも思っていない。知っていたらもっと用心して来るだろう。わしはたった一人だが、やつらもわしと事を構えるのはためらうはずだからな。

"But I am glad," he continued, "that they have not yet discovered who I am, for my soul has long desired just such a day as this, when in a battle that shall be worthy of the gods, my fame shall spread throughout the Western Heaven and even into the wide domains of the Land of Shadows."

「だが、うれしいことに」と猿はさらに続けた。「やつらはまだわしの正体に気づいていない。わしの魂は、まさにこういう日を長いあいだ待ち望んでいたんだ。神々にふさわしい戦いによって、わしの名が西天じゅうに、さらには影の国の広い領土にまで轟く日をな」

With a cry of gladness, as though some wondrous good-fortune had befallen him, he bounded along the road to meet the coming foe, and in contemptuous tones challenged them to mortal combat.

何か素晴らしい幸運が舞い込んだかのように喜びの声をあげると、猿は迫りくる敵を迎え撃とうと道を跳ねるように駆けていき、侮るような口調で死を賭した一騎打ちを挑んだ。

No sooner did they discover who it was that dared to champion Sam-Chaong with such bold and haughty front, than with hideous yells and screams they rushed tumultuously upon him, hoping by a combined attack to confuse him and to make him fly in terror before them.

これほど大胆かつ傲然と三蔵の味方をしようとしているのがだれなのかに気づくやいなや、悪鬼どもはおぞましい叫びと金切り声をあげて猿にどっと襲いかかった。一斉に攻めかかって猿をうろたえさせ、恐れをなして逃げ出させようというのである。

In this however they had reckoned without their host. With a daring quite as great as theirs, but with a skill far superior to that of the six infuriated demons, Monkey seized a javelin which came gleaming through the air just at the precise moment that he needed it, and hurled it at one of his opponents with such fatal effect that he lay sprawling on the ground, and with a cry that might have come from a lost spirit breathed his last.

けれども、それは相手を見くびった目算だった。悪鬼どもに劣らぬ大胆さで、しかも猛り狂う六匹の悪鬼をはるかにしのぐ腕前で、猿は、ちょうど必要なその瞬間に空をきらめいて飛んできた投げ槍をつかむと、敵の一匹めがけて投げつけた。槍は見事に命中し、その悪鬼は地面に大の字に倒れ、地獄に落ちた霊が上げるような叫びとともに息絶えた。

And now the battle became a mighty one indeed. Arrows shot from invisible bows flew quicker than flashes of light against this single mighty fighter, but they glanced off a magic shield which fairy arts had interposed in front of him. Weapons such as mortal hands had never wielded in any of the great battles of the world were now brought into play; but never for a moment did Monkey lose his head. With marvellous intrepidity he warded them off, and striking back with one tremendous lunge, he laid another of the demons dead at his feet.

さあ、戦いはまことに激しいものとなった。見えない弓から放たれた矢が光のひらめきより速く、このただ一人の強者めがけて飛んだが、仙術が猿の前にかざした魔法の盾に当たってはじき返された。人の手が世界のどんな大戦でも振るったことのない武器が、今や持ち出された。けれども猿は一瞬たりとも取り乱さなかった。驚くべき豪胆さでそれらを受け流し、すさまじいひと突きで反撃して、もう一匹の悪鬼を足もとに斃した。

Dismay began to raise the coward in the minds of those who were left, and losing heart they turned to those subtle and cunning devices that had never before failed in their attacks on mankind. Their great endeavour now was to inveigle Monkey into a position where certain destruction would be sure to follow. Three-pronged spears were hurled against him with deadly precision, and had he not at that precise moment leaped high into the air no power on earth could have saved him.

残った者たちの心には狼狽が臆病風を吹かせはじめ、気力を失った悪鬼どもは、これまで人間を襲って一度もしくじったことのない、巧妙でずる賢い策略に頼った。今や彼らの狙いは、猿をおびき寄せて、確実に滅びが待つ場所へ追い込むことだった。三叉の槍が恐ろしいほど正確に猿めがけて投げつけられ、猿がまさにその瞬間に宙高く跳び上がらなかったら、この世のどんな力も彼を救うことはできなかっただろう。

It was at this tremendous crisis in the fight that Monkey won his greatest success. Leaping lightly to the ground whilst the backs of his foes were still turned towards him, he was able with the double-edged sword which he held in each of his hands to despatch three more of his enemies. The last remaining foe was so utterly cowed when he beheld his comrades lying dead upon the road that he took to flight, and soon all that was to be seen of him was a black speck slowly vanishing on the distant horizon.

戦いのこの途方もない危機の瞬間にこそ、猿は最大の勝利を収めた。敵がまだ背を向けているうちに身軽に地面へ跳び下りると、両手に一振りずつ握った両刃の剣で、さらに三匹の敵を片づけることができたのである。最後に残った敵は、仲間たちが道に倒れて死んでいるのを見てすっかり怖じ気づき、逃げ出した。まもなくその姿は、遠い地平にゆっくりと消えていく黒い点にしか見えなくなった。

Thus ended the great battle in which Monkey secured such a signal victory over the wild demons of the frozen North, and Sam-Chaong drew near to gaze upon the mangled bodies of the fierce spirits who but a moment ago were fighting so desperately for their very lives.

こうして、猿が凍てつく北の荒々しい悪鬼どもに輝かしい勝利を収めた大いなる戦いは終わった。三蔵は近寄って、ついさっきまで自らの命をかけて死にものぐるいで戦っていた猛々しい霊たちの、切り刻まれた屍を見つめた。

Now, Sam-Chaong was a man who naturally had the tenderest heart for every living thing; and so, as he looked, a cloud of sadness spread over his countenance and he sighed as he thought of the destruction of life which he had just witnessed. It was true that the demons had come with the one settled purpose of killing him, and there was no reason therefore why he should regret their death. But life to him was always precious, no matter in what form it might be enshrined. Life was the special gift of Heaven, and could not be wilfully destroyed without committing a crime against the gods.

さて、三蔵は生まれつきあらゆる生きものに対してこのうえなく優しい心を持つ人であった。そこで、見つめているうちにその顔には悲しみの雲が広がり、今しがた目にした命の破壊を思ってため息をついた。たしかに悪鬼どもは彼を殺すという一つの決まった目的を持ってやって来たのであり、だから彼がその死を悔やむいわれはなかった。けれども彼にとって、命はどんな形に宿っていようと常に尊いものだった。命は天からの特別な賜物であり、神々に対して罪を犯すことなしに、わざと滅ぼすことはできないのだった。

So absorbed did Sam-Chaong become in this thought, and so sombre were the feelings filling his heart, that he entirely forgot to thank the hero by his side who had risked his life for him, and but for whose prowess he would have fallen a victim to the deadly hatred of these enemies of mankind. Feelings of resentment began to spring up in the mind of Monkey as he saw that Sam-Chaong seemed to feel more pity for the dead demons than gratitude for the heroic efforts which had saved him from a cruel death.

この思いにあまりに没頭し、心を満たす思いがあまりに暗かったので、三蔵は、自分のために命を賭け、その武勇がなければ人類の敵どもの恐ろしい憎しみの餌食になっていたはずの、かたわらの英雄に礼を言うのをすっかり忘れてしまった。三蔵が、むごい死から自分を救ってくれた英雄的な働きへの感謝よりも、死んだ悪鬼どもへの憐れみのほうを強く感じているらしいのを見て、猿の心には恨みの気持ちが湧きはじめた。

"Are you dissatisfied with the services I have rendered to you to-day?" he asked him abruptly.

「今日わしがあんたにしてやった働きに不満があるのか」と猿はぶっきらぼうに尋ねた。

"My heart is deeply moved by what you have done for me," replied Sam-Chaong. "My only regret is that you could not have delivered me without causing the death of these poor wretched demons, and thus depriving them of the gift of life, a thing as dear to them as it is to you or me."

「お前がわたしのためにしてくれたことに、心から感じ入っている」と三蔵は答えた。「ただ一つ残念なのは、この哀れな悪鬼どもを死なせずにわたしを救うことができなかったことだ。命という賜物を奪ってしまった。命は、お前やわたしにとってと同じく、彼らにとっても大切なものなのに」

Now Monkey, who was of a fierce and hasty temper, could not brook such meagre praise as this, and so in passionate and indignant language he declared that no longer would he be content to serve so craven a master, who, though beloved of the Goddess, was not a man for whom he would care to risk his life again.

さて、猿は激しく短気な性分だったので、こんなわずかなほめ言葉には我慢がならず、激しく憤った言葉で、観音様に愛されているとはいえ、二度と命を賭ける気にもなれないこんな腰抜けの主人に仕えるのは、もうまっぴらだと言い放った。

With these words he vaulted into the air, and soared away into the distance, on and on through countless leagues of never-ending sky, until he came to the verge of a wide-spreading ocean. Plunging into this as though it had been the home in which he had always lived, he made his way by paths with which he seemed familiar, until he reached the palace of the Dragon Prince of the Sea, who received him with the utmost cordiality and gave him an invitation to remain with him as his guest as long as he pleased.

そう言うと猿は宙へ跳び上がり、はるか彼方へと飛び去った。果てしなく続く空を、数えきれない里を越えてどこまでも飛び、ついに広々とした大海の縁に来た。そこへ、ずっと住み慣れた我が家であるかのように飛び込むと、よく知っているらしい道をたどって、海の竜王の宮殿にたどり着いた。竜王はこのうえなく心をこめて猿を迎え、好きなだけ客として滞在するよう誘った。

For some time he entertained himself with the many marvellous sights which are hidden away beneath the waters of the great ocean and which have a life and imagery of their own, stranger and more mysterious perhaps than those on which men are accustomed to look. But in time he became restless and dissatisfied with himself. The unpleasant thought crept slowly into his heart that in a moment of passion he had basely deserted Sam-Chaong and had left him helpless in a strange and unknown region; and worse still that he had been unfaithful to the trust which the Goddess had committed to him. He became uncomfortably conscious, too, that though he had fled to the depths of the ocean he could never get beyond the reach of her power, and that whenever she wished to imprison him in the mountain cavern where he had eaten out his heart for five hundred years, she could do so with one imperious word of command.

しばらくのあいだ、猿は大海の水の下に隠された数々の不思議な光景を楽しんで過ごした。そこには独自の生命と姿があり、人が見慣れているものよりも、おそらくは奇妙で神秘的なのだった。けれどもやがて猿は落ち着かなくなり、自分に満足できなくなった。一時の激情にかられて卑しくも三蔵を見捨て、見知らぬ未知の土地に頼る者もなく置き去りにしてしまったこと、さらに悪いことに、観音が自分に託した信頼を裏切ってしまったことが、嫌な思いとなってゆっくりと心に忍び込んできた。また、海の底へ逃げてきたとはいえ、決して観音の力の及ばぬところへは行けないこと、そして観音がその気になれば、五百年ものあいだ悶々と過ごしたあの山の洞穴へ、有無を言わさぬ一言で自分をふたたび閉じ込められることも、居心地悪く意識するようになった。

In this mood of repentance for his past errors, he happened to cast his eye upon a scroll which hung in one of the rooms of the palace. As he read the story on it his heart smote him, and from that moment he determined to hasten back to the post from which he had fled.

過去の過ちを悔いるこの気持ちのなかで、猿はふと宮殿の一室に掛けられた掛け軸に目をとめた。そこに書かれた物語を読むと胸が痛み、その瞬間から、逃げ出してきた持ち場へ急いで戻ろうと心に決めた。

The words on the scroll were written in letters of gold and told how on a certain occasion in the history of the past the fairies determined to assist the fortunes of a young man named Chang-lung, who had gained their admiration because of the nobility of character which he had exhibited in his ordinary conduct in life. He belonged to an extremely poor family, and so without some such aid as they could give him, he could never attain to that eminence in the State which would enable him to be of service to his country. But he must first be tested to see whether he had the force of character necessary to bear the strain which greatness would put upon him. Accordingly one of the most experienced amongst their number was despatched to make the trial.

掛け軸の言葉は金文字で書かれ、昔の歴史のある折に、仙人たちが張良という若者の運を後押ししようと決めた次第を物語っていた。張良は、日々の暮らしの振る舞いに表れた人柄の気高さによって、仙人たちの賞賛を得ていたのである。彼はたいそう貧しい家の出で、仙人たちが与えられるような助けがなければ、国に尽くせるほどの高い地位には決して上れないのだった。けれどもまず、偉くなることで身にかかる重圧に耐えられるだけの人格の力があるかどうかを試さねばならなかった。そこで仙人たちのなかでもっとも老練な一人が、試しを行うために遣わされた。

Assuming the guise of an old countryman in poor and worn-out clothing, the fairy sat down on a bridge over a stream close to the village where the favourite of the gods lived. By-and-by Chang-lung came walking briskly along. Just as he came up to the disguised fairy, the latter let one of his shoes drop into the water below. With an air of apparent distress, he begged the young man to wade into the stream and pick it up for him.

貧しくすり切れた着物をまとった田舎の老人の姿をとって、仙人は、神々に目をかけられたその若者の住む村のそばの、小川にかかる橋に腰を下ろした。やがて張良が足早に歩いてきた。ちょうど変装した仙人のところまで来たとき、仙人は片方の靴を下の水へ落とした。いかにも困ったという様子で、仙人は若者に、川へ入って靴を拾ってきてくれと頼んだ。

Cheerfully smiling, Chang-lung at once jumped into the water. In a moment he had returned with the shoe and was handing it to the old man, when the latter requested him to put it on his foot for him. This was asking him to do a most menial act, which most men would have scornfully resented; but Chang-lung, pitying the decrepit-looking old stranger, immediately knelt on the ground and carefully fastened the dripping shoe on to his foot.

張良は快く微笑んで、すぐに水へ飛び込んだ。たちまち靴を持って戻り、老人に手渡そうとすると、老人はそれを足にはかせてくれと頼んだ。これはたいそう卑しい行いをせよと求めることで、たいていの男なら軽蔑して腹を立てたことだろう。けれども張良は、よぼよぼに見える見知らぬ老人を気の毒に思い、すぐに地面にひざまずいて、しずくの垂れる靴を丁寧に老人の足にはかせた。

Whilst he was in the act of doing this, the fairy, as if by accident, skilfully managed to let the other shoe slip from his foot over the edge of the bridge into the running stream. Apologizing for his stupidity, and excusing himself on the ground that he was an old man and that his fingers were not as nimble as they used to be, he begged Chang-lung to repeat his kindness and do him the favour of picking up the second shoe and restoring it to him.

張良がそうしているあいだに、仙人はまるで偶然のように、もう片方の靴を足から巧みにすべらせて、橋の縁から流れる小川へ落とした。自分の不手際を詫び、年寄りで指が昔ほど器用に動かないのだと言い訳しながら、仙人は張良に、もう一度親切にしてもう片方の靴を拾って戻してくれと頼んだ。

With the same cheery manner, as though he were not being asked to perform a servile task, Chang-lung once more stepped into the shallow brook and bringing back the shoe, proceeded without any hesitation to repeat the process of putting it on the old man's foot.

卑しい務めを頼まれているとは思っていないかのように、同じ快い様子で、張良はふたたび浅い小川へ足を踏み入れ、靴を持って戻ると、ためらうことなく、また老人の足にはかせてやった。

The fairy was now perfectly satisfied. Thanking Chang-lung for his kindness, he presented him with a book, which he took out of one of the sleeves of his jacket, and urging him to study it with all diligence, vanished out of his sight. The meeting that day on the country bridge had an important influence on the destiny of Chang-lung, who in time rose to great eminence and finally became Prime Minister of China.

仙人はこれですっかり満足した。張良の親切に礼を言うと、上着の袖の一つから一冊の書物を取り出して贈り、よくよく励んで学ぶよう勧めて、その目の前から消え失せた。その日の田舎の橋での出会いは張良の運命に大きな影響を及ぼし、彼はやがて高い地位に上り、ついには中国の宰相となった。

As Monkey studied the golden words before him, he contrasted his own conduct with that of Chang-lung, and, pricked to the heart by a consciousness of his wrong, he started at once, without even bidding farewell to the Dragon Prince of the Sea, to return to the service of Sam-Chaong.

目の前の金文字を読みながら、猿は自分の振る舞いを張良の振る舞いと引き比べ、自分の過ちを悟って胸を刺され、海の竜王に別れを告げることさえせず、すぐさま三蔵に仕えるために戻ろうと出発した。

He was just emerging from the ocean, when who should be standing waiting for him on the yellow sands of the shore but the Goddess of Mercy herself, who had come all the way from her distant home to warn him of the consequences that would happen to him were he ever again to fail in the duty she had assigned him of leading Sam-Chaong to the Western Heaven.

猿がちょうど海から出てきたとき、岸の黄色い砂の上に立って彼を待っていたのは、ほかならぬ観音その人であった。観音は、三蔵を西天へ導くという自分が課した務めを猿がふたたび怠ったなら、どんな結果が身に降りかかるかを警告するために、遠いすみかからはるばるやって来たのである。

Terrified beyond measure at the awful doom which threatened him, and at the same time truly repentant for the wrong he had committed, Monkey bounded up far above the highest mountains which rear their peaks to the sky, and fled with incredible speed until he stood once more by the side of Sam-Chaong.

自分を脅かす恐ろしい運命に限りなく怯え、同時に犯した過ちを心から悔いて、猿は空に峰をそびえさせるどんな高い山よりもはるか高く跳び上がり、信じられない速さで飛んで、ふたたび三蔵のかたわらに立った。

No reproof fell from the latter's lips as the truant returned to his post. A tender gracious smile was the only sign of displeasure that he evinced.

持ち場を離れていた者が戻ってきても、三蔵の唇からは叱責の言葉一つ漏れなかった。優しく慈しみ深い微笑みが、彼の見せた不興の唯一のしるしだった。

"I am truly glad to have you come back to me," he said, "for I was lost without your guidance in this unknown world in which I am travelling. I may tell you, however, that since you left me the Goddess appeared to me and comforted me with the assurance that you would ere long resume your duties and be my friend, as you have so nobly been in the past. She was very distressed at my forlorn condition and was so determined that nothing of the kind should happen again in the future, that she graciously presented me with a mystic cap wrought and embroidered by the fairy hands of the maidens in her own palace.

「お前が戻ってきてくれて本当にうれしい」と三蔵は言った。「わたしが旅しているこの見知らぬ世界で、お前の案内が無くて途方に暮れていたのだ。けれども言っておくが、お前が去ってから観音様がわたしの前に現れ、お前はまもなく務めに戻り、これまでと同じように立派にわたしの友となってくれるだろうと請け合って、慰めてくださった。観音様はわたしの心細い有様をたいそう気にかけてくださり、この先二度とこのようなことが起こらないようにと固く決めて、ご自分の宮殿の乙女たちの仙界の手で作られ刺繍された神秘の帽子を、ありがたくもわたしに授けてくださったのだ。

"'Guard this well,' she said, 'and treasure it as your very life, for it will secure you the services of one who for five hundred years was kept in confinement in order that he might be ready to escort you on the way to the Western Heaven. He is the one man who has the daring and the courage to meet the foes who will endeavour to destroy you on your journey, but he is as full of passion as the storm when it is blowing in its fury. Should he ever desert you again, you have but to place this cap on your head, and he will be wrung with such awful and intolerable agonies that though he were a thousand miles away he would hurry back with all the speed he could command to have you take it off again, so that he might be relieved from the fearful pains racking his body.'"

「『これをよく守り、己の命のように大切にしなさい』と観音様はおっしゃった。『これがあれば、西天への道中であなたを守る備えができるよう、五百年ものあいだ閉じ込められていた者の働きを確かなものにできます。あの者は、旅のあいだあなたを滅ぼそうとする敵に立ち向かう大胆さと勇気を持つただ一人の者ですが、猛り狂って吹き荒れるときの嵐のように激しい気性に満ちています。もしまたあなたを見捨てるようなことがあれば、この帽子を頭にかぶりさえすればよいのです。そうすればあの者は、耐えがたい恐ろしい苦しみに身をよじられ、たとえ千マイル離れていようと、体をさいなむ恐ろしい痛みから逃れるために帽子を脱いでもらおうと、あらんかぎりの速さで急いで戻ってくるでしょう』」

After numerous adventures too long to relate, Sam-Chaong reached the borders of an immense lake, many miles in extent, spanned by a bridge of only a single foot in width. With fear and trembling, as men tremble on the brink of eternity, and often with terror in his eyes and a quivering in his heart as he looked at the narrow foothold on which he was treading, he finally crossed in safety, when he found to his astonishment that the pulsations of a new life had already begun to beat strongly within him. Beyond a narrow strip of land, which bounded the great expanse of water over which he had just passed, was a wide flowing river, and on its bank was a boat with a ferryman in it ready to row him over.

語るには長すぎる数々の冒険の末、三蔵は、差し渡し何マイルもある広大な湖のほとりに着いた。そこには幅わずか一フィートの橋が一本かかっているだけだった。人が永遠の縁で震えるように恐れおののき、踏みしめている狭い足場を見ては、しばしば目に恐怖を浮かべ胸を震わせながら、三蔵はとうとう無事に渡りきった。すると驚いたことに、新しい命の鼓動がすでに自分の内で力強く打ちはじめているのに気づいた。今しがた渡ってきた広大な水を囲む細長い陸地の向こうには、広い川が流れていて、その岸には、彼を向こう岸へ漕いで渡そうと船頭の乗った舟が待っていた。

When they had reached the middle of the stream, Sam-Chaong saw a man struggling in the water as if for dear life. Moved with pity he urged upon the boatman to go to his rescue and deliver him from drowning. He was sternly told, however, to keep silence. "The figure you see there," said the boatman, "is yourself--or rather, it is but the shell of your old self, in which you worked out your redemption in the world beyond, and which you could never use in the new life upon which you have entered."

川の真ん中まで来ると、三蔵は、一人の男が必死に命をつなごうとするかのように水のなかでもがいているのを見た。憐れみに動かされて、三蔵は船頭に、その男を助けに行って溺れるのを救ってやってくれとせがんだ。けれども船頭は厳しく彼に黙るよう言った。「あそこに見える姿は」と船頭は言った。「あなた自身です——いや、むしろ、あなたの古い自分の抜け殻にすぎません。あなたは向こうの世界でその体によって救いを成し遂げたのですが、足を踏み入れた新しい命のなかでは、もう決して使うことはできないのです」

On the opposite bank of the river stood the Goddess of Mercy, who with smiling face welcomed him into the ranks of the fairies.

川の向こう岸には観音が立っていて、微笑みを浮かべて三蔵を仙人の列に迎え入れた。

Since then, it is believed by those whose vision reaches further than the grey and common scenes of earthly life, Sam-Chaong has frequently appeared on earth, in various disguises, when in some great emergency more than human power was required to deliver men from destruction. There is one thing certain at least,--these gifted people declare--and that is that in the guise of a priest Sam-Chaong did once more revisit this world and delivered to the Buddhist Church the new ritual which the Goddess of Mercy had prepared for it, and which is used to-day in its services throughout the East.

それ以来、この世のありふれた灰色の光景より遠くまで見通す目を持つ人々が信じるところでは、三蔵は、人を滅びから救うのに人間以上の力が必要となる大きな危機のたびに、さまざまな姿に身をやつして、しばしばこの世に現れてきたという。少なくとも一つのことは確かだ——と、その天分に恵まれた人々は言う——三蔵は僧の姿でふたたびこの世を訪れ、観音が用意した新しい儀軌を仏教の教団に授けたのであり、それは今日も東洋じゅうでその法要に用いられているのである。