The Blue Light

There was once upon a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him: ‘You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me service for them.’ Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. ‘Do give me one night’s lodging, and a little to eat and drink,’ said he to her, ‘or I shall starve.’ ‘Oho!’ she answered, ‘who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.’ ‘What do you wish?’ said the soldier. ‘That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.’ The soldier consented, and next day laboured with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. ‘I see well enough,’ said the witch, ‘that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.’ The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. ‘Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.’ Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. ‘No,’ said he, perceiving her evil intention, ‘I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.’ The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.

むかしあるところに、長年にわたって王に忠実に仕えた兵士がいた。けれども戦が終わると、数多くの傷を負ったせいで、もう仕えることができなくなった。王は言った。「家へ帰ってよいぞ。もうおまえは要らぬ。金ももう出ぬ。わしに奉公する者だけが給金を受けるのだからな。」そこで兵士は暮らしの立て方も分からず、ひどく困り果てて去り、一日じゅう歩いて、夕方に森へ入った。暗くなると灯りが見えたので、そちらへ行ってみると、魔女の住む家に着いた。「どうか一晩泊めてください。食べるものと飲むものも少し」と兵士は魔女に言った。「でないと飢え死にしてしまう。」「ほう!」と魔女は答えた。「逃げ出した兵隊に何かくれてやる者があるものかね。それでも情けをかけて入れてやろう、わたしの言う通りにするならね。」「何をしろというのだ?」と兵士は言った。「明日、わたしの庭のまわりをみな掘り返しておくれ。」兵士は承知して、あくる日は力のかぎり働いたが、夕方までに終わらなかった。「よく分かったよ」と魔女は言った。「今日はもう無理だね。だがもう一晩置いてやろう。その払いとして、明日は薪を一荷割っておくれ。細かくね。」兵士は一日かけてそれをやり、夕方になると魔女はもう一晩泊まってはどうかと言い出した。「明日はほんの些細な仕事をしてもらうだけさ。家の裏に古い涸れ井戸があってね、そこにわたしの灯りが落ちてしまったんだ。青く燃えて、決して消えない灯りさ。それを取って来ておくれ。」あくる日、老婆は兵士を井戸へ連れて行き、籠に乗せて下ろした。兵士は青い灯りを見つけ、引き上げてくれと合図した。魔女は引き上げたが、兵士が縁の近くまで来ると、手を伸ばして青い灯りを取り上げようとした。「いや」と兵士は相手の邪な魂胆を見て取って言った。「両足で地に立つまでは、この灯りは渡さぬ。」魔女は怒り狂い、兵士をまた井戸へ落として、行ってしまった。

The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him? He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. ‘This shall be my last pleasure,’ thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said: ‘Lord, what are your commands?’ ‘What my commands are?’ replied the soldier, quite astonished. ‘I must do everything you bid me,’ said the little man. ‘Good,’ said the soldier; ‘then in the first place help me out of this well.’ The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man: ‘Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.’ In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man reappeared. ‘It is all done,’ said he, ‘and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord?’ inquired the dwarf. ‘At this moment, none,’ answered the soldier; ‘you can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.’ ‘Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.’ Thereupon he vanished from his sight.

哀れな兵士は湿った地面に落ちたが怪我はなく、青い灯りは燃え続けていた。けれどもそれが何の役に立つだろう? 死を逃れられないことはよく分かっていた。兵士はしばらくたいそう悲しげに座っていたが、ふと懐を探ると煙管が出て来た。まだ半分ほど詰まっている。「これが最後の楽しみだ」と思って取り出し、青い灯りで火をつけて吸い始めた。煙が洞窟の中をめぐると、突然、黒い小人が一人目の前に立って言った。「ご主人、何なりとお申しつけを。」「申しつけだと?」と兵士はすっかり驚いて答えた。「あなたの命じることは何でもしなければならないのです」と小人は言った。「よろしい」と兵士は言った。「では何よりまず、この井戸から出してくれ。」小人は兵士の手を取り、地下の通路を通って導いた。そして青い灯りを持って行くのも忘れなかった。道々、小人は魔女が集めてそこに隠していた宝を見せ、兵士は運べるだけの黄金を取った。地上に出ると、兵士は小人に言った。「さあ行って、あの年寄りの魔女を縛り上げ、裁きの場へ連れて行け。」ほどなく魔女が風のように、荒々しい雄猫にまたがり、恐ろしい叫び声を上げて通り過ぎた。そしてまもなく小人がまた現れた。「みな済みました」と小人は言った。「魔女はもう絞首台にかかっております。ご主人、さらに何かお申しつけは?」と小人は尋ねた。「いまのところは何もない」と兵士は答えた。「家へ帰ってよい。ただ、呼んだらすぐ来てくれ。」「青い灯りで煙管に火をつけてくださるだけでよいのです。そうすればすぐお前に現れます。」そう言って小人は姿を消した。

The soldier returned to the town from which he came. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black manikin and said: ‘I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.’ ‘What am I to do?’ asked the little man. ‘Late at night, when the king’s daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant’s work for me.’ The manikin said: ‘That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.’ When twelve o’clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the manikin carried in the princess. ‘Aha! are you there?’ cried the soldier, ‘get to your work at once! Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.’ When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said: ‘Pull off my boots,’ and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the manikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.

兵士はもと来た町へ帰った。いちばんよい宿へ行き、立派な着物をあつらえ、それから主人にできるかぎり立派な部屋を整えさせた。部屋が整って兵士が入ると、黒い小人を呼んで言った。「おれは王に忠実に仕えたのに、王はおれを追い出し、飢えるにまかせた。いま仕返しをしてやりたい。」「何をいたしましょう?」と小人は尋ねた。「夜遅く、王の姫が寝床に入ったら、眠ったまま、ここへ連れて来い。おれのために下女の仕事をさせる。」小人は言った。「わたしには造作ないことですが、あなたにはたいそう危ういことです。露見すれば、ひどい目にお遭いになりましょう。」十二時が打つと戸がぱっと開いて、小人が姫を運び入れた。「やあ! 来たか」と兵士は叫んだ。「すぐに仕事にかかれ! 箒を取って部屋を掃け。」姫が掃き終わると、兵士は椅子のところへ来いと命じ、それから足を伸ばして言った。「長靴を脱がせろ。」そして脱がせた長靴を姫の顔に投げつけ、拾い上げて磨き上げさせた。それでも姫は逆らわず、黙って、半ば目を閉じたまま、言われたことを何でもした。最初の鶏が鳴くと、小人は姫を王宮へ運び戻し、寝床に寝かせた。

Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. ‘I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,’ said she, ‘and taken into a soldier’s room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.’ ‘The dream may have been true,’ said the king. ‘I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.’ But unseen by the king, the manikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty manikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant’s work until cock-crow.

あくる朝、姫は起きると父のところへ行き、たいそう奇妙な夢を見たと話した。「稲妻のような速さで通りを運ばれて」と姫は言った。「兵隊の部屋へ連れて行かれ、下女のようにその人に仕えて、部屋を掃き、長靴を磨き、ありとあらゆる下働きをさせられました。ただの夢なのに、本当に何もかもやったように疲れています。」「その夢は本当かもしれぬ」と王は言った。「知恵を授けよう。懐いっぱいに豆を入れ、懐に小さな穴を開けておくのだ。そうすればまた連れ去られたとき、豆がこぼれて通りに跡が残る。」けれども王がそう言ったとき、王には見えないところに小人が立っていて、何もかも聞いていた。夜、眠った姫がまた通りを運ばれたとき、たしかに豆は懐からいくらかこぼれた。けれども跡にはならなかった。狡猾な小人がその少し前に、あらゆる通りに豆をまいておいたからである。そしてまた姫は、鶏が鳴くまで下女の仕事をさせられた。

Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying: ‘It must have rained peas, last night.’ ‘We must think of something else,’ said the king; ‘keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.’ The black manikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier’s house it would go badly with him. ‘Do what I bid you,’ replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.

あくる朝、王は家来を出して跡を探させたが、まるで無駄だった。どの通りにも貧しい子どもたちが座って豆を拾い、「ゆうべは豆が降ったに違いない」と言っていたからである。「別の手を考えねばならぬ」と王は言った。「寝床に入るとき靴を履いたままにしておけ。そして連れて行かれた場所から戻る前に、片方をそこに隠しておくのだ。わしがすぐに見つけ出してやろう。」黒い小人はこの謀りごとを聞き、夜になって兵士がまた姫を連れて来いと命じたとき、それを打ち明けた。そしてこの策を封じる手立ては思いつかないこと、もし兵士の家で靴が見つかれば、身に悪いことが起こるだろうと告げた。「言いつけた通りにしろ」と兵士は答えた。そしてこの三度めの夜も、姫は下女のように働かされた。けれども帰る前に、姫は靴の片方を寝床の下に隠した。

Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter’s shoe. It was found at the soldier’s, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him: ‘Be so kind as to fetch me the small bundle I have left lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.’ His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black manikin. ‘Have no fear,’ said the latter to his master. ‘Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.’ Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favour of the king. ‘What is it?’ asked the king. ‘That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.’ ‘You may smoke three,’ answered the king, ‘but do not imagine that I will spare your life.’ Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the manikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said: ‘What does my lord command?’ ‘Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.’ Then the manikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified; he threw himself on the soldier’s mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife.

あくる朝、王は町じゅうを探させて娘の靴を捜した。靴は兵士のところで見つかり、小人の勧めで門の外へ出ていた兵士も、まもなく連れ戻されて牢に投げ込まれた。逃げるときに、兵士はいちばん大切なもの——青い灯りと黄金——を忘れてしまい、懐にはただ一枚のドゥカート金貨しかなかった。そしていま、鎖につながれて牢の窓辺に立っていると、たまたま昔の戦友が一人通りかかるのが見えた。兵士は窓の硝子を叩き、その男が寄って来ると、こう言った。「すまないが、宿に置いてきた小さな包みを取って来てくれ。そうしてくれたら金貨を一枚やる。」戦友はそこへ走って行き、望みのものを持って来た。一人になるとすぐ、兵士は煙管に火をつけて黒い小人を呼んだ。「恐れることはありません」と小人は主人に言った。「どこへ連れて行かれようと行き、彼らの好きにさせておきなさい。ただ、青い灯りだけは持っていらっしゃい。」あくる日、兵士は裁きにかけられ、悪いことは何もしていないのに、裁判官は死刑を言い渡した。刑場へ引き出されるとき、兵士は王に最後の願いを乞うた。「何だ?」と王は尋ねた。「道すがら、もう一服だけ吸わせてください。」「三服吸ってよい」と王は答えた。「だが命を助けてやるなどと思うな。」そこで兵士は煙管を取り出し、青い灯りで火をつけた。すると煙が一筋二筋立ちのぼるやいなや、小人が小さな棍棒を手に現れて言った。「ご主人、何をお命じですか?」「あそこの不正な裁判官と、その役人を地に打ち伏せろ。そしておれをあれほど酷く扱った王も容赦するな。」すると小人は稲妻のように彼らに襲いかかり、あちらへこちらへと飛び回った。その棍棒に触れられた者は誰であれ地に倒れ、二度と身動きしようとしなかった。王は恐れおののき、兵士の慈悲にすがり、ただ生かしてもらうためだけに、自分の王国を兵士のものとして与え、娘を妻として与えた。