The White Snake

A long time ago there lived a king who was famed for his wisdom through all the land. Nothing was hidden from him, and it seemed as if news of the most secret things was brought to him through the air. But he had a strange custom; every day after dinner, when the table was cleared, and no one else was present, a trusty servant had to bring him one more dish. It was covered, however, and even the servant did not know what was in it, neither did anyone know, for the king never took off the cover to eat of it until he was quite alone.

ずっとむかし、その知恵で国じゅうに名を知られた王がいた。王に隠しおおせるものは何もなく、どんな秘めごとの知らせでも空を伝って届くかのようだった。けれども王には奇妙な習わしがあった。毎日食事のあと、食卓が片づけられて誰もいなくなると、信頼のおける召使いがもう一皿だけ運んで来なければならなかった。その皿には蓋がしてあって、召使いさえ中に何が入っているか知らず、誰も知る者はなかった。王はまったくの一人になるまで、蓋を取って食べることがなかったからである。

This had gone on for a long time, when one day the servant, who took away the dish, was overcome with such curiosity that he could not help carrying the dish into his room. When he had carefully locked the door, he lifted up the cover, and saw a white snake lying on the dish. But when he saw it he could not deny himself the pleasure of tasting it, so he cut of a little bit and put it into his mouth. No sooner had it touched his tongue than he heard a strange whispering of little voices outside his window. He went and listened, and then noticed that it was the sparrows who were chattering together, and telling one another of all kinds of things which they had seen in the fields and woods. Eating the snake had given him power of understanding the language of animals.

これが長いあいだ続いていたが、ある日、皿を下げる召使いが、どうにも抑えきれないほどの好奇心に駆られて、皿を自分の部屋へ運び込んでしまった。用心して戸に錠を下ろしてから蓋を取ってみると、皿の上には白い蛇が横たわっていた。ところがそれを見ると、味わってみたい気持ちを抑えきれず、ほんの少し切り取って口に入れた。それが舌に触れるや否や、窓の外で小さな声が不思議にささやき交わすのが聞こえた。行って耳を澄ませてみると、それは雀たちがしゃべり合って、野や森で見てきたさまざまなことを互いに話しているのだった。蛇を食べたことが、召使いに獣の言葉を解する力を与えたのである。

Now it so happened that on this very day the queen lost her most beautiful ring, and suspicion of having stolen it fell upon this trusty servant, who was allowed to go everywhere. The king ordered the man to be brought before him, and threatened with angry words that unless he could before the morrow point out the thief, he himself should be looked upon as guilty and executed. In vain he declared his innocence; he was dismissed with no better answer.

さてちょうどこの同じ日に、王妃がいちばん美しい指輪をなくし、どこへでも出入りを許されているこの信頼された召使いに、盗んだのではないかという疑いがかかった。王は男を呼び出させ、明日までに盗人を指し示すことができなければ、おまえ自身が罪人とみなされて処刑されるぞ、と怒りの言葉で脅した。男はいくら潔白を訴えても無駄で、それ以上の答えはもらえないまま退けられた。

In his trouble and fear he went down into the courtyard and took thought how to help himself out of his trouble. Now some ducks were sitting together quietly by a brook and taking their rest; and, whilst they were making their feathers smooth with their bills, they were having a confidential conversation together. The servant stood by and listened. They were telling one another of all the places where they had been waddling about all the morning, and what good food they had found; and one said in a pitiful tone: ‘Something lies heavy on my stomach; as I was eating in haste I swallowed a ring which lay under the queen’s window.’ The servant at once seized her by the neck, carried her to the kitchen, and said to the cook: ‘Here is a fine duck; pray, kill her.’ ‘Yes,’ said the cook, and weighed her in his hand; ‘she has spared no trouble to fatten herself, and has been waiting to be roasted long enough.’ So he cut off her head, and as she was being dressed for the spit, the queen’s ring was found inside her.

困り果てて怖くなった男は中庭へ降りて行き、この難儀からどう抜け出したものかと思案した。ところで小川のそばに鴨が何羽か静かに並んで休んでいて、嘴で羽根をなでつけながら、内緒話をしていた。召使いはそばに立って聞いていた。鴨たちは、その朝じゅうどこをよちよち歩き回って、どんなうまいものを見つけたかを話し合っていた。すると一羽が情けない声で言った。「何か胃にもたれるものがあるんだよ。急いで食べていたら、王妃さまの窓の下に落ちていた指輪をのみ込んでしまってね。」召使いはすぐさまその鴨の首をつかんで台所へ運び、料理人に言った。「よい鴨がいるぞ、どうかこれを絞めてくれ。」「よかろう」と料理人は言って、手で重さをはかった。「自分を太らせるのに手を抜かなかったな。焼かれるのを待ちくたびれていたろうよ。」そう言って首を落とし、串に刺す支度をしていると、腹の中から王妃の指輪が出て来た。

The servant could now easily prove his innocence; and the king, to make amends for the wrong, allowed him to ask a favour, and promised him the best place in the court that he could wish for. The servant refused everything, and only asked for a horse and some money for travelling, as he had a mind to see the world and go about a little. When his request was granted he set out on his way, and one day came to a pond, where he saw three fishes caught in the reeds and gasping for water. Now, though it is said that fishes are dumb, he heard them lamenting that they must perish so miserably, and, as he had a kind heart, he got off his horse and put the three prisoners back into the water. They leapt with delight, put out their heads, and cried to him: ‘We will remember you and repay you for saving us!’

これで召使いは楽々と潔白を証せた。王は非を償おうと、望みを一つ言ってよいと許し、宮廷で望むかぎり最上の地位をやろうと約束した。けれども召使いは何もかも断り、ただ馬一頭と旅の路銀だけを願った。世の中を見て少し歩き回りたいと思ったからである。願いがかなえられると、男は旅に出た。そしてある日、池のほとりに来て、葦にからまって水を求めて喘いでいる魚を三匹見つけた。魚は物を言わぬというけれど、男には、こんなみじめに死なねばならぬと魚たちが嘆いているのが聞こえた。そして情け深い心の持ち主だったので、馬から降りて、囚われの三匹を水に戻してやった。魚たちは喜んで跳ね、頭を出して男に叫んだ。「あなたを忘れません。助けてくださったお返しをします!」

He rode on, and after a while it seemed to him that he heard a voice in the sand at his feet. He listened, and heard an ant-king complain: ‘Why cannot folks, with their clumsy beasts, keep off our bodies? That stupid horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down my people without mercy!’ So he turned on to a side path and the ant-king cried out to him: ‘We will remember you--one good turn deserves another!’

男が馬を進めていくと、しばらくして足もとの砂の中から声が聞こえるような気がした。耳を澄ますと、蟻の王が嘆いているのだった。「あの不器用な獣を連れた人間どもは、どうしてわれらの体を避けてくれないのか? あの間抜けな馬め、重い蹄でわが民を容赦なく踏みつぶしていく!」そこで男はわきの道へそれ、蟻の王は叫んだ。「あなたを忘れません——情けは情けで返しましょう!」

The path led him into a wood, and there he saw two old ravens standing by their nest, and throwing out their young ones. ‘Out with you, you idle, good-for-nothing creatures!’ cried they; ‘we cannot find food for you any longer; you are big enough, and can provide for yourselves.’ But the poor young ravens lay upon the ground, flapping their wings, and crying: ‘Oh, what helpless chicks we are! We must shift for ourselves, and yet we cannot fly! What can we do, but lie here and starve?’ So the good young fellow alighted and killed his horse with his sword, and gave it to them for food. Then they came hopping up to it, satisfied their hunger, and cried: ‘We will remember you--one good turn deserves another!’

その道をたどって森に入ると、そこでは年取った大鴉が二羽、巣のそばに立って、雛を放り出していた。「出て行け、この怠け者の役立たずどもめ!」と親鴉たちは叫んだ。「もうおまえたちの餌は見つけられん。十分大きいのだから、自分で暮らしを立てろ。」ところが哀れな若鴉たちは地面に横たわり、羽をばたつかせて泣いた。「ああ、おれたちはなんと頼りない雛だろう! 自分でどうにかしなければならないのに、飛ぶこともできない! ここで横になって飢え死にするほか、何ができよう?」そこでこの善良な若者は馬から降り、剣で馬を殺して、雛たちに餌としてやった。すると雛たちは跳ねて寄って来て、腹を満たし、叫んだ。「あなたを忘れません——情けは情けで返しましょう!」

And now he had to use his own legs, and when he had walked a long way, he came to a large city. There was a great noise and crowd in the streets, and a man rode up on horseback, crying aloud: ‘The king’s daughter wants a husband; but whoever seeks her hand must perform a hard task, and if he does not succeed he will forfeit his life.’ Many had already made the attempt, but in vain; nevertheless when the youth saw the king’s daughter he was so overcome by her great beauty that he forgot all danger, went before the king, and declared himself a suitor.

これで男は自分の足を使わねばならなくなった。長い道を歩いて行くと、大きな町に着いた。通りは大変な物音と人だかりで、一人の男が馬に乗って来て、声高に触れて回っていた。「王の姫君が夫を求めておられる。だが姫の手を求める者は難しい務めを果たさねばならず、しくじれば命を失うことになる。」すでに多くの者が試みて、みな無駄だった。それでも若者は王の姫を見ると、その大変な美しさに心を奪われて危険をすっかり忘れ、王の前に出て、求婚者だと名乗った。

So he was led out to the sea, and a gold ring was thrown into it, before his eyes; then the king ordered him to fetch this ring up from the bottom of the sea, and added: ‘If you come up again without it you will be thrown in again and again until you perish amid the waves.’ All the people grieved for the handsome youth; then they went away, leaving him alone by the sea.

そこで若者は海辺へ連れ出され、目の前で金の指輪が海へ投げ込まれた。そして王は、この指輪を海の底から拾って来いと命じ、こう付け加えた。「持たずに上がって来たなら、波のあいだで命尽きるまで、何度でも投げ込まれることになる。」人々はみなこの見目よい若者を憐れんだ。そして立ち去り、若者は海辺に一人取り残された。

He stood on the shore and considered what he should do, when suddenly he saw three fishes come swimming towards him, and they were the very fishes whose lives he had saved. The one in the middle held a mussel in its mouth, which it laid on the shore at the youth’s feet, and when he had taken it up and opened it, there lay the gold ring in the shell. Full of joy he took it to the king and expected that he would grant him the promised reward.

若者が岸に立ってどうしたものかと考えていると、ふいに三匹の魚が泳いで来るのが見えた。それは命を助けてやったあの魚たちだった。真ん中の一匹が口に貝をくわえていて、それを若者の足もとの岸に置いた。若者が拾い上げて開けてみると、殻の中に金の指輪があった。喜びいっぱいで王のところへ持って行き、約束の褒美をもらえるものと思った。

But when the proud princess perceived that he was not her equal in birth, she scorned him, and required him first to perform another task. She went down into the garden and strewed with her own hands ten sacksful of millet-seed on the grass; then she said: ‘Tomorrow morning before sunrise these must be picked up, and not a single grain be wanting.’

ところが高慢な姫は、若者が自分と生まれの釣り合わぬ者だと知ると、これを侮って、まず別の務めを果たせと求めた。姫は庭へ下りて行き、自分の手で黍の種を十袋分、芝生に撒き散らした。そしてこう言った。「明日の朝、日の出前にこれを拾い集めるのです。一粒も欠けてはなりません。」

The youth sat down in the garden and considered how it might be possible to perform this task, but he could think of nothing, and there he sat sorrowfully awaiting the break of day, when he should be led to death. But as soon as the first rays of the sun shone into the garden he saw all the ten sacks standing side by side, quite full, and not a single grain was missing. The ant-king had come in the night with thousands and thousands of ants, and the grateful creatures had by great industry picked up all the millet-seed and gathered them into the sacks.

若者は庭に座り込んで、どうすればこの務めが果たせるものかと考えたが、何も思いつかず、そのまま悲しげに座って、死へ引かれて行くべき夜明けを待っていた。ところが朝日の最初の光が庭に射し込むやいなや、十の袋がみな並んで立ち、たっぷりいっぱいで、一粒も欠けていないのが見えた。蟻の王が何千何万という蟻を連れて夜のうちにやって来て、恩を知るこの虫たちが大変な働きぶりで黍の種を残らず拾い、袋に集めてくれたのである。

Presently the king’s daughter herself came down into the garden, and was amazed to see that the young man had done the task she had given him. But she could not yet conquer her proud heart, and said: ‘Although he has performed both the tasks, he shall not be my husband until he had brought me an apple from the Tree of Life.’ The youth did not know where the Tree of Life stood, but he set out, and would have gone on for ever, as long as his legs would carry him, though he had no hope of finding it. After he had wandered through three kingdoms, he came one evening to a wood, and lay down under a tree to sleep. But he heard a rustling in the branches, and a golden apple fell into his hand. At the same time three ravens flew down to him, perched themselves upon his knee, and said: ‘We are the three young ravens whom you saved from starving; when we had grown big, and heard that you were seeking the Golden Apple, we flew over the sea to the end of the world, where the Tree of Life stands, and have brought you the apple.’ The youth, full of joy, set out homewards, and took the Golden Apple to the king’s beautiful daughter, who had now no more excuses left to make. They cut the Apple of Life in two and ate it together; and then her heart became full of love for him, and they lived in undisturbed happiness to a great age.

まもなく王の姫が自ら庭へ下りて来て、若者が言いつけた務めをやり遂げたのを見て驚いた。けれどもまだ高慢な心に打ち克つことができず、こう言った。「二つとも務めを果たしたとはいえ、命の樹から林檎を取って来るまでは、わたしの夫にはなれません。」若者は命の樹がどこに立っているのか知らなかったが、それでも出かけた。見つかる望みはなかったけれど、足が運んでくれるかぎりいつまでも歩き続けるつもりだった。三つの王国をさまよったあと、ある晩森に来て、木の下に横になって眠った。すると枝の中でざわめく音がして、金の林檎が一つ手に落ちて来た。同時に三羽の大鴉が舞い降りて膝にとまり、こう言った。「わたしたちは、あなたが飢え死にから救ってくださった三羽の若鴉です。大きくなって、あなたが金の林檎を探していると聞いたので、海を越えて世界の果て、命の樹の立つところまで飛んで行き、この林檎を持って参りました。」若者は喜びいっぱいで家路につき、金の林檎を王の美しい姫に届けた。姫にはもう言い逃れの種が残っていなかった。二人は命の林檎を二つに割って一緒に食べた。すると姫の心は若者への愛でいっぱいになり、二人は何ごともない幸せのうちに長寿を全うした。