Cat-skin

There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole face of the earth. But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and said, ‘Promise me that you will never marry again, unless you meet with a wife who is as beautiful as I am, and who has golden hair like mine.’ Then when the king in his grief promised all she asked, she shut her eyes and died. But the king was not to be comforted, and for a long time never thought of taking another wife. At last, however, his wise men said, ‘this will not do; the king must marry again, that we may have a queen.’ So messengers were sent far and wide, to seek for a bride as beautiful as the late queen. But there was no princess in the world so beautiful; and if there had been, still there was not one to be found who had golden hair. So the messengers came home, and had had all their trouble for nothing.

むかしある王がいて、その妃は混じりけのない黄金の髪をしていて、地上のどこにも並ぶ者のないほど美しかった。ところがこの美しい妃が病に倒れ、自分の終わりが近いと感じると、王を呼んでこう言った。「約束してください。わたしと同じくらい美しくて、わたしのような黄金の髪をした妻に出会わないかぎり、二度と結婚しないと。」そして王が悲しみのうちに望み通りみな約束すると、妃は目を閉じて死んだ。けれども王は慰められず、長いあいだ別の妻を迎えようとは考えもしなかった。けれどもとうとう賢臣たちが言った。「これではいけません。王は再びご結婚なさらねば、われらに妃がおりません。」そこで使いが遠く広く遣わされ、亡き妃と同じくらい美しい花嫁を探した。けれども世界じゅうにそれほど美しい姫はいなかった。そしてもしいたとしても、黄金の髪を持つ者は一人も見つからなかった。それで使いたちは帰って来て、苦労はみな無駄になった。

Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother, and had the same golden hair. And when she was grown up, the king looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he said to his courtiers, ‘May I not marry my daughter? She is the very image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.’ When the courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, ‘Heaven forbid that a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can come.’ And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, ‘Before I marry anyone I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin.’ And thus she thought he would think of the matter no more. But the king made the most skilful workmen in his kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a thousand furs was made.

ところで王には娘があって、母とまったく同じくらい美しく、同じ黄金の髪をしていた。そして娘が大きくなると、王は娘を見て、亡き妃とそっくりだと気づいた。そして廷臣たちに言った。「娘と結婚してはならぬか? この子は死んだ妻の生き写しだ。この子を得られなければ、地上のどこにも花嫁は見つかるまい。それにそなたらは妃が要ると言うではないか。」廷臣たちはこれを聞いて驚き、こう言った。「父が娘と結婚するなど、天がお許しになりません! そのような大罪から、よいものは何ひとつ生まれません。」娘も驚いたが、王がじきにそんな考えを捨てるだろうと期待した。そこで王にこう言った。「誰かと結婚する前に、わたしは衣裳を三着いただかねばなりません。一着は太陽のような黄金、もう一着は月のような輝く銀、三着めは星のようにまばゆいもの。そのほかに、千種類の毛皮を継ぎ合わせた外套がほしいのです。国じゅうの獣が、それぞれ自分の皮を一部ずつ差し出さねばなりません。」こうすれば王はもうこの件を考えなくなるだろうと思ったのである。けれども王は国じゅうで最も腕のよい職人に三着の衣裳を織らせた。一着は太陽のような黄金、もう一着は月のような銀、三着めは星のようにきらめくもの。そして狩人たちには国じゅうの獣を狩り出して、その皮から最も上等な毛皮を取るように命じた。こうして千の毛皮の外套ができ上がった。

When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three dresses--of the sun, the moon, and the stars--up in a nutshell, and wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and besmeared her face and hands with soot. Then she threw herself upon Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole night, till at last she came to a large wood. As she was very tired, she sat herself down in the hollow of a tree and soon fell asleep: and there she slept on till it was midday.

何もかも整うと、王はそれを娘に送った。けれども娘はみなが寝静まった夜中に起き出し、装身具を三つ——黄金の指輪、黄金の首飾り、黄金の飾り留めを取り、太陽と月と星の三着の衣裳を胡桃の殻に詰め込み、ありとあらゆる毛皮でできた外套に身を包み、顔と手を煤で塗りたくった。それから困ったときの助けを天にゆだね、去って行き、一晩じゅう旅して、とうとう大きな森に着いた。たいそう疲れていたので、木のうろに腰を下ろすとまもなく眠り込み、そのまま昼まで眠り続けた。

Now as the king to whom the wood belonged was hunting in it, his dogs came to the tree, and began to snuff about, and run round and round, and bark. ‘Look sharp!’ said the king to the huntsmen, ‘and see what sort of game lies there.’ And the huntsmen went up to the tree, and when they came back again said, ‘In the hollow tree there lies a most wonderful beast, such as we never saw before; its skin seems to be of a thousand kinds of fur, but there it lies fast asleep.’ ‘See,’ said the king, ‘if you can catch it alive, and we will take it with us.’ So the huntsmen took it up, and the maiden awoke and was greatly frightened, and said, ‘I am a poor child that has neither father nor mother left; have pity on me and take me with you.’ Then they said, ‘Yes, Miss Cat-skin, you will do for the kitchen; you can sweep up the ashes, and do things of that sort.’ So they put her into the coach, and took her home to the king’s palace. Then they showed her a little corner under the staircase, where no light of day ever peeped in, and said, ‘Cat-skin, you may lie and sleep there.’ And she was sent into the kitchen, and made to fetch wood and water, to blow the fire, pluck the poultry, pick the herbs, sift the ashes, and do all the dirty work.

さてこの森を領する王がそこで狩りをしていると、犬たちがその木にやって来て、しきりに嗅ぎ回り、ぐるぐる走って吠え立てた。「よく見ろ!」と王は狩人たちに言った。「どんな獲物がそこにいるか見て来い。」そこで狩人たちが木のところへ行き、戻って来てこう言った。「うろの木の中に、これまで見たこともない実に不思議な獣が横たわっております。その皮は千種類の毛皮でできているようですが、そこでぐっすり眠っております。」「さて」と王は言った。「生け捕りにできるなら捕らえよ。連れて行こう。」そこで狩人たちがそれを抱き上げると、娘は目を覚まし、ひどく怯えてこう言った。「わたしは父も母も残っていない哀れな子どもです。憐れんで連れて行ってください。」すると彼らは言った。「そうか、猫の皮のお嬢さん、台所ならおまえに向いている。灰を掃いたり、そういうことができるだろう。」そこで娘を馬車に乗せて、王の宮殿へ連れ帰った。それから階段の下の小さな隅を見せて——そこには日の光が射したためしがなかった——こう言った。「猫の皮や、そこで横になって眠るがいい。」そして娘は台所へやられ、薪と水を運び、火を吹き、鳥の羽をむしり、香草を選び、灰をふるい、汚れ仕事をみなさせられた。

Thus Cat-skin lived for a long time very sorrowfully. ‘Ah! pretty princess!’ thought she, ‘what will now become of thee?’ But it happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king’s castle, so she said to the cook, ‘May I go up a little while and see what is going on? I will take care and stand behind the door.’ And the cook said, ‘Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour’s time, to rake out the ashes.’ Then she took her little lamp, and went into her cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from behind the clouds. She next opened her nutshell, and brought out of it the dress that shone like the sun, and so went to the feast. Everyone made way for her, for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be no less than a king’s daughter. But the king came up to her, and held out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, ‘I never saw any one half so beautiful.’

こうして猫の皮は長いあいだたいそう悲しく暮らした。「ああ、かわいそうな姫!」と娘は思った。「おまえはこれからどうなるのだろう?」ところがある日、王の城で祝宴が開かれることになったので、娘は料理人に言った。「少しだけ上がって、どんな様子か見て来てもいいでしょうか? 戸の後ろに立っているようにしますから。」すると料理人は言った。「ああ、行っていい。だが半時間のうちに戻って灰をかき出せよ。」そこで娘は小さなランプを持って自分の小屋へ行き、毛皮を脱いで、顔と手から煤を洗い落とした。すると雲の陰から現れた太陽のように、その美しさが輝き出た。それから胡桃の殻を開けて、太陽のように輝く衣裳を取り出し、祝宴へ行った。誰もが道をあけた。誰も娘を知らず、きっと王の娘に違いないと思ったからである。けれども王は娘のところへ来て、手を差し伸べて踊った。そして心の中で思った。「これほど美しい人の半分ほども、わたしは見たことがない。」

When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither. The guards that stood at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one. The truth was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress, blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Cat-skin again. When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to rake the ashes, the cook said, ‘Let that alone till the morning, and heat the king’s soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but take care you don’t let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance of never eating again.’

踊りが終わると娘は膝を折ってお辞儀をした。そして王があたりを見回すと、娘はもういなくなっていて、どこへ行ったか誰も知らなかった。城の門に立っていた衛兵が呼ばれたが、誰も見ていなかった。本当のところ、娘は自分の小さな小屋へ走り込んで衣裳を脱ぎ、顔と手を黒く塗り、毛皮の外套をまとって、また猫の皮になっていたのである。娘が台所の仕事に戻って灰をかき始めると、料理人が言った。「それは朝までそのままにして、王さまの吸い物を温めろ。おれもちょっと上がって覗いて来たい。だが髪の毛一本でも落とさないよう気をつけろよ。さもないと二度と飯にありつけなくなるぞ。」

As soon as the cook went away, Cat-skin heated the king’s soup, and toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden ring, and put it into the dish in which the soup was. When the dance was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before. At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for. The cook was frightened when he heard the order, and said to Cat-skin, ‘You must have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good beating.’ Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had cooked the soup. ‘I did,’ answered the cook. But the king said, ‘That is not true; it was better done than you could do it.’ Then he answered, ‘To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Cat-skin did.’ ‘Then let Cat-skin come up,’ said the king: and when she came he said to her, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am a poor child,’ said she, ‘that has lost both father and mother.’ ‘How came you in my palace?’ asked he. ‘I am good for nothing,’ said she, ‘but to be scullion-girl, and to have boots and shoes thrown at my head.’ ‘But how did you get the ring that was in the soup?’ asked the king. Then she would not own that she knew anything about the ring; so the king sent her away again about her business.

料理人が行ってしまうとすぐ、猫の皮は王の吸い物を温め、まずパンを一切れ、できるかぎり上手に焼いた。そして支度ができると、小屋へ行って小さな黄金の指輪を探し出し、吸い物の入った鉢に入れた。踊りが終わると王は吸い物を持って来させた。そしてそれがたいそう気に入って、これほどうまいものは食べたことがないと思った。底に黄金の指輪が横たわっているのが見え、どうしてそこに入ったのか見当もつかないので、料理人を呼べと命じた。料理人はその命を聞いて怯え、猫の皮に言った。「おまえ、吸い物に髪の毛を落としたに違いない。もしそうなら、しこたま殴られるぞ。」そして王の前に出ると、王は誰が吸い物を作ったのかと尋ねた。「わたしが作りました」と料理人は答えた。けれども王は言った。「それは嘘だ。そちにできるよりずっとよくできていた。」そこで料理人は答えた。「本当を申せば、わたしではなく猫の皮が作りました。」「では猫の皮を上がらせよ」と王は言った。そして娘が来ると、王は尋ねた。「そなたは誰だ?」「わたしは父も母も亡くした哀れな子どもです」と娘は言った。「どうしてわしの宮殿に来た?」と王は尋ねた。「わたしは何の役にも立ちません」と娘は言った。「台所の下働きをして、長靴や靴を頭に投げつけられるくらいしか。」「だが吸い物に入っていた指輪はどうして手に入れた?」と王は尋ねた。すると娘は指輪のことは何も知らないと言い張った。それで王は娘をまた仕事へ帰した。

After a time there was another feast, and Cat-skin asked the cook to let her go up and see it as before. ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘but come again in half an hour, and cook the king the soup that he likes so much.’ Then she ran to her little cabin, washed herself quickly, and took her dress out which was silvery as the moon, and put it on; and when she went in, looking like a king’s daughter, the king went up to her, and rejoiced at seeing her again, and when the dance began he danced with her. After the dance was at an end she managed to slip out, so slyly that the king did not see where she was gone; but she sprang into her little cabin, and made herself into Cat-skin again, and went into the kitchen to cook the soup. Whilst the cook was above stairs, she got the golden necklace and dropped it into the soup; then it was brought to the king, who ate it, and it pleased him as well as before; so he sent for the cook, who was again forced to tell him that Cat-skin had cooked it. Cat-skin was brought again before the king, but she still told him that she was only fit to have boots and shoes thrown at her head.

しばらくして、また祝宴があり、猫の皮は前と同じように見に行かせてほしいと料理人に頼んだ。「よかろう」と料理人は言った。「だが半時間で戻って来て、王さまのお気に入りのあの吸い物を作るのだ。」そこで娘は小さな小屋へ走り、急いで体を洗い、月のように銀色の衣裳を取り出して身につけた。そして王の娘のような姿で入って行くと、王は娘のところへ来て、また会えたことを喜び、踊りが始まると娘と踊った。踊りが終わると娘は巧みに抜け出し、あまりにこっそりだったので、王にはどこへ行ったか分からなかった。娘は小さな小屋へ跳び込んで、また猫の皮になり、台所へ吸い物を作りに行った。料理人が二階にいるあいだに、娘は黄金の首飾りを取って吸い物に落とした。そしてそれが王のところへ運ばれ、王は食べて、前と同じくらい気に入った。そこで料理人を呼ぶと、料理人はまたしても、猫の皮が作ったと言わねばならなかった。猫の皮はまた王の前に連れて来られたが、やはり自分は長靴や靴を頭に投げつけられるくらいしか能のない者だと言った。

But when the king had ordered a feast to be got ready for the third time, it happened just the same as before. ‘You must be a witch, Cat-skin,’ said the cook; ‘for you always put something into your soup, so that it pleases the king better than mine.’ However, he let her go up as before. Then she put on her dress which sparkled like the stars, and went into the ball-room in it; and the king danced with her again, and thought she had never looked so beautiful as she did then. So whilst he was dancing with her, he put a gold ring on her finger without her seeing it, and ordered that the dance should be kept up a long time. When it was at an end, he would have held her fast by the hand, but she slipped away, and sprang so quickly through the crowd that he lost sight of her: and she ran as fast as she could into her little cabin under the stairs. But this time she kept away too long, and stayed beyond the half-hour; so she had not time to take off her fine dress, and threw her fur mantle over it, and in her haste did not blacken herself all over with soot, but left one of her fingers white.

けれども王が三度めの祝宴の支度を命じたときも、まったく同じことが起こった。「おまえは魔女に違いない、猫の皮」と料理人は言った。「いつも吸い物に何かを入れて、おれのより王さまのお気に召すようにするのだからな。」それでも料理人は前と同じように娘を行かせた。そこで娘は星のようにきらめく衣裳を着て、それで大広間へ入って行った。そして王はまた娘と踊り、このときほど美しく見えたことはないと思った。そこで踊っているあいだに、娘に気づかれないよう黄金の指輪をその指にはめ、踊りを長く続けるよう命じた。踊りが終わると王は娘の手をしっかり握っていようとしたが、娘は抜け出し、あまりに速く人込みを縫って行ったので、王は見失ってしまった。そして娘はできるかぎり速く、階段の下の小さな小屋へ走った。けれども今度は長く留まりすぎて、半時間を過ぎてしまった。それで立派な衣裳を脱ぐ暇がなく、その上から毛皮の外套を掛け、あわてていたので煤を体じゅうに塗らず、指を一本白いままにしてしまった。

Then she ran into the kitchen, and cooked the king’s soup; and as soon as the cook was gone, she put the golden brooch into the dish. When the king got to the bottom, he ordered Cat-skin to be called once more, and soon saw the white finger, and the ring that he had put on it whilst they were dancing: so he seized her hand, and kept fast hold of it, and when she wanted to loose herself and spring away, the fur cloak fell off a little on one side, and the starry dress sparkled underneath it.

それから娘は台所へ走り、王の吸い物を作った。そして料理人がいなくなるとすぐ、黄金の飾り留めを鉢に入れた。王は底までたどり着くと、もう一度猫の皮を呼べと命じ、まもなくその白い指と、踊っているあいだにはめた指輪を見つけた。そこで娘の手をつかんでしっかり握り、娘が振りほどいて跳びのこうとすると、毛皮の外套が片側に少しずり落ちて、その下から星の衣裳がきらめいた。

Then he got hold of the fur and tore it off, and her golden hair and beautiful form were seen, and she could no longer hide herself: so she washed the soot and ashes from her face, and showed herself to be the most beautiful princess upon the face of the earth. But the king said, ‘You are my beloved bride, and we will never more be parted from each other.’ And the wedding feast was held, and a merry day it was, as ever was heard of or seen in that country, or indeed in any other.

そこで王は毛皮をつかんで引き剥がすと、黄金の髪と美しい姿が現れ、娘はもう身を隠せなくなった。そこで娘は顔から煤と灰を洗い落とし、地上で最も美しい姫であることを示した。すると王は言った。「そなたはわたしのいとしい花嫁だ。もう二度と互いに離れることはない。」そして婚礼の宴が開かれ、その国でも、いやどこの国でも、かつて聞かれも見られもしなかったほど楽しい一日となった。