The Willow-wren and the Bear

Once in summer-time the bear and the wolf were walking in the forest, and the bear heard a bird singing so beautifully that he said: ‘Brother wolf, what bird is it that sings so well?’ ‘That is the King of birds,’ said the wolf, ‘before whom we must bow down.’ In reality the bird was the willow-wren. ‘IF that’s the case,’ said the bear, ‘I should very much like to see his royal palace; come, take me thither.’ ‘That is not done quite as you seem to think,’ said the wolf; ‘you must wait until the Queen comes,’ Soon afterwards, the Queen arrived with some food in her beak, and the lord King came too, and they began to feed their young ones. The bear would have liked to go at once, but the wolf held him back by the sleeve, and said: ‘No, you must wait until the lord and lady Queen have gone away again.’ So they took stock of the hole where the nest lay, and trotted away. The bear, however, could not rest until he had seen the royal palace, and when a short time had passed, went to it again. The King and Queen had just flown out, so he peeped in and saw five or six young ones lying there. ‘Is that the royal palace?’ cried the bear; ‘it is a wretched palace, and you are not King’s children, you are disreputable children!’ When the young wrens heard that, they were frightfully angry, and screamed: ‘No, that we are not! Our parents are honest people! Bear, you will have to pay for that!’

ある夏のこと、熊と狼が森を歩いていた。すると熊は一羽の鳥がたいそう美しく歌うのを聞いて言った。「狼の兄弟、あんなに上手に歌うのは何という鳥だ」「あれは鳥の王だ」と狼は言った。「われわれは頭を下げねばならん」実のところ、その鳥はミソサザイだった。「それなら」と熊は言った。「その王の宮殿をぜひ見たいものだ。さあ、連れていってくれ」「おまえが思っているようにはいかん」と狼は言った。「女王が来るまで待たねばならん」まもなく女王が嘴に餌をくわえて到着し、王も来て、二羽は雛に食べさせはじめた。熊はすぐにでも行きたかったが、狼が袖をつかんで引き止めて言った。「いや、王と女王がまた出かけるまで待たねばならん」そこで二匹は巣のある穴に目をつけて、駆け去った。だが熊は王の宮殿を見るまで落ち着かず、しばらくするとまたそこへ行った。王と女王はちょうど飛び去ったあとだったので、熊は覗き込んで、五、六羽の雛が横たわっているのを見た。「これが王の宮殿か」と熊は叫んだ。「なんと情けない宮殿だ。それにおまえたちは王の子ではない、素性の知れぬ子どもらだ」若いミソサザイたちはそれを聞くとひどく腹を立てて叫んだ。「いや、ぼくらはそんなのじゃない。ぼくらの親はまっとうな者だ。熊、その代価は払ってもらうぞ」

The bear and the wolf grew uneasy, and turned back and went into their holes. The young willow-wrens, however, continued to cry and scream, and when their parents again brought food they said: ‘We will not so much as touch one fly’s leg, no, not if we were dying of hunger, until you have settled whether we are respectable children or not; the bear has been here and has insulted us!’ Then the old King said: ‘Be easy, he shall be punished,’ and he at once flew with the Queen to the bear’s cave, and called in: ‘Old Growler, why have you insulted my children? You shall suffer for it--we will punish you by a bloody war.’ Thus war was announced to the Bear, and all four-footed animals were summoned to take part in it, oxen, asses, cows, deer, and every other animal the earth contained. And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees and flies had to come.

熊と狼は落ち着かなくなって引き返し、自分の穴に入った。だが若いミソサザイたちは泣き叫びつづけ、親がまた餌を持ってくると言った。「蠅の脚一本だって口にしないよ。たとえ飢え死にしそうでもね。ぼくらがまっとうな子どもかどうか決着をつけてくれるまでは。熊が来てぼくらを侮辱したんだ」そこで年老いた王は言った。「安心していなさい。あれは罰せられる」そしてすぐに女王とともに熊の洞へ飛んでいって、なかへ呼ばわった。「唸りじいさん、なぜわたしの子らを侮辱した。その報いは受けてもらう。血なまぐさい戦でおまえを罰してやる」こうして熊に宣戦が布告され、四つ足の獣がみな参加を求められた。牡牛、驢馬、雌牛、鹿、そのほか地上のあらゆる獣である。そしてミソサザイは空を飛ぶものをみな召集した。大小の鳥だけでなく、蚋も熊蜂も蜜蜂も蠅も来なければならなかった。

When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies to discover who was the enemy’s commander-in-chief. The gnat, who was the most crafty, flew into the forest where the enemy was assembled, and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree where the password was to be announced. There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and said: ‘Fox, you are the most cunning of all animals, you shall be general and lead us.’ ‘Good,’ said the fox, ‘but what signal shall we agree upon?’ No one knew that, so the fox said: ‘I have a fine long bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can.’ When the gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow-wren. When day broke, and the battle was to begin, all the four-footed animals came running up with such a noise that the earth trembled. The willow-wren with his army also came flying through the air with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each other. But the willow-wren sent down the hornet, with orders to settle beneath the fox’s tail, and sting with all his might. When the fox felt the first string, he started so that he lifted one leg, from pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the air; at the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; at the third, he could hold out no longer, screamed, and put his tail between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was lost, and began to flee, each into his hole, and the birds had won the battle.

戦の始まる時が来ると、ミソサザイは敵の総大将が誰かを探らせに斥候を放った。いちばん狡猾な蚊が、敵の集まっている森へ飛んでいき、合言葉が告げられる木の葉の下に隠れた。そこに熊が立っていて、狐を前に呼んで言った。「狐、おまえは獣のうちでいちばん狡い。おまえが将軍となってわれわれを率いよ」「よろしい」と狐は言った。「だが、どんな合図を取り決めましょう」誰にも分からなかったので、狐は言った。「わたしには長くふさふさした立派な尾があって、赤い羽根飾りのように見えます。わたしが尾をすっかり高く掲げたら万事順調ですから、突撃してください。だが垂れ下げたら、力のかぎり逃げるのです」蚊はそれを聞くと飛んで帰り、ミソサザイに細かいところまで残らず知らせた。夜が明けて戦が始まろうというとき、四つ足の獣がみな地が震えるほどの物音を立てて駆けてきた。ミソサザイもその軍勢を率いて空から飛んできた。羽音を立て、渦巻き、群れをなして、誰もが落ち着かず怯えるほどだった。そして両軍は互いに向かって進んだ。だがミソサザイは熊蜂を下へ遣わして、狐の尾の下にとまり、力のかぎり刺せと命じた。狐は最初のひと刺しを感じると、痛みで片足を上げるほど跳び上がったが、こらえて尾を高く掲げたままでいた。二度目のひと刺しでは、ひととき下げざるをえなかった。三度目にはもうこらえきれず、叫んで尾を股のあいだに挟んだ。獣たちはそれを見て万事休すと思い、それぞれ自分の穴へ逃げはじめた。こうして鳥たちが戦に勝った。

Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried: ‘Children, rejoice, eat and drink to your heart’s content, we have won the battle!’ But the young wrens said: ‘We will not eat yet, the bear must come to the nest, and beg for pardon and say that we are honourable children, before we will do that.’ Then the willow-wren flew to the bear’s hole and cried: ‘Growler, you are to come to the nest to my children, and beg their pardon, or else every rib of your body shall be broken.’ So the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged their pardon. And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late into the night.

そこで王と女王は子どもらのもとへ飛んで帰って叫んだ。「子どもたち、喜びなさい。心ゆくまで食べて飲みなさい。わたしたちは戦に勝ったのです」だが若いミソサザイたちは言った。「まだ食べないよ。熊が巣まで来て詫びて、ぼくらが誉れある子どもだと言うまではね」そこでミソサザイは熊の穴へ飛んでいって叫んだ。「唸りじいさん、わたしの子らの巣へ来て詫びよ。さもないと体じゅうの肋骨を折ってやる」そこで熊はこの上ない恐ろしさで這っていって詫びた。そしてようやく若いミソサザイたちは満足し、みなで座って食べて飲み、夜更けまで楽しんだ。