Snow-white and Rose-red

There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white, and the other Rose-red. They were as good and happy, as busy and cheerful as ever two children in the world were, only Snow-white was more quiet and gentle than Rose-red. Rose-red liked better to run about in the meadows and fields seeking flowers and catching butterflies; but Snow-white sat at home with her mother, and helped her with her housework, or read to her when there was nothing to do.

むかしあるところに、寂しい小屋に住む貧しい寡婦がいた。小屋の前には庭があって、そこに二本の薔薇の木が立っていた。一本は白い薔薇を、もう一本は赤い薔薇をつけた。寡婦には二人の子どもがあって、その二本の薔薇の木のようだった。一人は白雪、もう一人は紅ばらといった。二人はこの世の子どもがかつてそうであったのと同じくらい善良で幸せで、よく働き、明るかった。ただ白雪の方が紅ばらより物静かで穏やかだった。紅ばらは草原や野を駆け回って花を探し、蝶を捕まえるのが好きだったが、白雪は家で母のそばに座って家事を手伝い、することがないときは母に本を読んでやった。

The two children were so fond of one another that they always held each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white said: ‘We will not leave each other,’ Rose-red answered: ‘Never so long as we live,’ and their mother would add: ‘What one has she must share with the other.’

二人の子どもは互いをたいそう好いていたので、一緒に出かけるときはいつも手をつないでいた。そして白雪が「わたしたち、離れないでいようね」と言うと、紅ばらは「生きているかぎり決して」と答え、母はこう付け加えるのだった。「一方が持っているものは、もう一方と分け合うのですよ。」

They often ran about the forest alone and gathered red berries, and no beasts did them any harm, but came close to them trustfully. The little hare would eat a cabbage-leaf out of their hands, the roe grazed by their side, the stag leapt merrily by them, and the birds sat still upon the boughs, and sang whatever they knew.

二人はよく森を二人きりで駆け回り、赤い木の実を摘んだ。けれどもどんな獣も二人に害を加えず、むしろ人なつこく近寄って来た。小さな兎は二人の手からキャベツの葉を食べ、鹿は二人のそばで草を食み、牡鹿は楽しげに跳び越え、鳥たちは枝にじっととまって、知っている歌をみな歌った。

No mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest, and night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and did not worry on their account.

二人に災いは降りかからなかった。森に遅くまでいて夜が来てしまえば、二人は苔の上に寄り添って横になり、朝が来るまで眠った。そして母はそれを知っていて、二人のことを心配しなかった。

Once when they had spent the night in the wood and the dawn had roused them, they saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting near their bed. He got up and looked quite kindly at them, but said nothing and went into the forest. And when they looked round they found that they had been sleeping quite close to a precipice, and would certainly have fallen into it in the darkness if they had gone only a few paces further. And their mother told them that it must have been the angel who watches over good children.

あるとき、二人が森で夜を過ごし、夜明けに起こされると、輝く白い衣を着た美しい子どもが寝床のそばに座っているのが見えた。その子は立ち上がって、たいそう優しく二人を見たが、何も言わずに森へ入って行った。そしてあたりを見回すと、二人はすぐ断崖のそばで眠っていて、暗闇の中であと数歩進んでいたら、きっと落ちていたに違いないと分かった。そして母は、それはよい子を見守る天使だったに違いないと言った。

Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother’s little cottage so neat that it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her mother’s bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the hob. The kettle was of brass and shone like gold, so brightly was it polished. In the evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said: ‘Go, Snow-white, and bolt the door,’ and then they sat round the hearth, and the mother took her spectacles and read aloud out of a large book, and the two girls listened as they sat and spun. And close by them lay a lamb upon the floor, and behind them upon a perch sat a white dove with its head hidden beneath its wings.

白雪と紅ばらは母の小さな小屋をたいそうこざっぱりと保っていて、中を覗くのが楽しいほどだった。夏には紅ばらが家の世話をして、毎朝母が目を覚ます前にその枕もとに花の輪を置いた。その中にはどちらの木の薔薇も一輪ずつ入っていた。冬には白雪が火をおこし、炉の棚に湯沸かしを掛けた。湯沸かしは真鍮で、よく磨かれていたので黄金のように輝いた。夕方、雪が降ると母は言った。「白雪、行って戸に閂をかけておいで。」それから三人は炉のまわりに座り、母は眼鏡を掛けて大きな本を声に出して読み、二人の娘は座って糸を紡ぎながら聞いた。そしてすぐそばの床には子羊が横たわり、後ろの止まり木には白い鳩が翼の下に頭を隠して止まっていた。

One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together, someone knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The mother said: ‘Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking shelter.’ Rose-red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was a poor man, but it was not; it was a bear that stretched his broad, black head within the door.

ある晩、三人がそうして心地よく座っていると、誰かが中へ入れてほしいというように戸を叩いた。母は言った。「早く、紅ばら、戸を開けておやり。宿を求める旅人に違いない。」紅ばらは行って閂を引いた。貧しい人だろうと思ったのである。ところがそうではなかった。熊が広い黒い頭を戸の中へ差し入れたのである。

Rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove fluttered, and Snow-white hid herself behind her mother’s bed. But the bear began to speak and said: ‘Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm! I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside you.’

紅ばらは悲鳴をあげて跳びのき、子羊は鳴き、鳩は羽ばたき、白雪は母の寝床の後ろに隠れた。けれども熊は口をきいてこう言った。「怖がらないで、害は加えません! わたしは半分凍えていて、ただあなたがたのそばで少し暖まりたいだけです。」

‘Poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.’ Then she cried: ‘Snow-white, Rose-red, come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well.’ So they both came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer, and were not afraid of him. The bear said: ‘Here, children, knock the snow out of my coat a little’; so they brought the broom and swept the bear’s hide clean; and he stretched himself by the fire and growled contentedly and comfortably. It was not long before they grew quite at home, and played tricks with their clumsy guest. They tugged his hair with their hands, put their feet upon his back and rolled him about, or they took a hazel-switch and beat him, and when he growled they laughed. But the bear took it all in good part, only when they were too rough he called out: ‘Leave me alive, children,

「かわいそうな熊さん」と母は言った。「火のそばに横になりなさい。ただ毛皮を焦がさないように気をおつけ。」それから母は叫んだ。「白雪、紅ばら、お出で。熊さんは害を加えないよ、悪気はないのだから。」そこで二人とも出て来て、やがて子羊も鳩も近寄って来て、熊を怖がらなかった。熊は言った。「さあ子どもたち、わたしの毛皮から雪を少し叩き落としてくれませんか。」そこで二人は箒を持って来て、熊の毛皮をきれいに掃いた。熊は火のそばに身を伸ばし、満足して心地よさそうにうなった。まもなく二人はすっかりくつろいで、このぶきっちょな客にいたずらを仕掛けるようになった。手で毛を引っ張り、背中に足を載せて転がしたり、榛の枝を取って叩いたりし、熊がうなると二人は笑った。けれども熊はみな気を悪くせずに受け入れ、ただあまり乱暴になると、こう叫ぶのだった。「子どもたち、わたしを生かしておいておくれ、

Snow-white, Rose-red, Will you beat your wooer dead?’

白雪、紅ばら、おまえに言い寄る男を打ち殺す気かい?」

When it was bed-time, and the others went to bed, the mother said to the bear: ‘You can lie there by the hearth, and then you will be safe from the cold and the bad weather.’ As soon as day dawned the two children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into the forest.

寝る時刻になって、ほかの者が寝床に入ると、母は熊に言った。「あなたはそこの炉のそばに横になるといい。そうすれば寒さや悪天候から守られますよ。」夜が明けるとすぐ、二人の子どもは熊を外へ出してやり、熊は雪を横切って森へ駆けて行った。

Henceforth the bear came every evening at the same time, laid himself down by the hearth, and let the children amuse themselves with him as much as they liked; and they got so used to him that the doors were never fastened until their black friend had arrived.

それから熊は毎晩同じ時刻にやって来て、炉のそばに身を横たえ、子どもたちが好きなだけ自分と遊ぶままにさせた。そして二人はすっかり熊に慣れて、黒い友が来るまでは決して戸を閉めなくなった。

When spring had come and all outside was green, the bear said one morning to Snow-white: ‘Now I must go away, and cannot come back for the whole summer.’ ‘Where are you going, then, dear bear?’ asked Snow-white. ‘I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the wicked dwarfs. In the winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to stay below and cannot work their way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the earth, they break through it, and come out to pry and steal; and what once gets into their hands, and in their caves, does not easily see daylight again.’

春が来て外がみな緑になると、ある朝、熊は白雪に言った。「もう行かなければなりません。そして夏のあいだじゅう戻って来られません。」「どこへ行くの、熊さん?」と白雪は尋ねた。「森へ行って、わたしの宝を悪い小人たちから守らねばならないのです。冬、大地が固く凍っているあいだは、彼らは下にとどまるほかなく、掘り進めません。けれどもいま、日が大地を溶かして暖めたので、彼らはそれを突き破って出て来て、嗅ぎ回り盗むのです。そして一度あの者たちの手に、洞穴の中に入ったものは、容易にまた日の目を見ることがありません。」

Snow-white was quite sorry at his departure, and as she unbolted the door for him, and the bear was hurrying out, he caught against the bolt and a piece of his hairy coat was torn off, and it seemed to Snow-white as if she had seen gold shining through it, but she was not sure about it. The bear ran away quickly, and was soon out of sight behind the trees.

白雪は熊が去ることをたいそう悲しんだ。そして戸の閂を外してやり、熊が急いで出て行くとき、熊は閂に引っかかって、毛皮の一部が剥がれた。すると白雪には、そこから黄金が輝いて見えたような気がしたが、確かではなかった。熊は素早く駆け去って、まもなく木々の陰に見えなくなった。

A short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest to get firewood. There they found a big tree which lay felled on the ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. When they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a snow-white beard a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping about like a dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.

それからしばらくして、母は子どもたちを薪を取りに森へ遣わした。そこで二人は、地面に切り倒されて横たわる大きな木を見つけた。そしてその幹のすぐそばで、何かが草の中を前へ後ろへ跳ねていたが、それが何なのか分からなかった。近づいてみると、しなびた老いた顔と、一ヤードもある雪のように白い髭をした小人だった。髭の先が木の割れ目に挟まれていて、この小男は縄につながれた犬のように跳ね回り、どうしてよいか分からずにいた。

He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried: ‘Why do you stand there? Can you not come here and help me?’ ‘What are you up to, little man?’ asked Rose-red. ‘You stupid, prying goose!’ answered the dwarf: ‘I was going to split the tree to get a little wood for cooking. The little bit of food that we people get is immediately burnt up with heavy logs; we do not swallow so much as you coarse, greedy folk. I had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was going as I wished; but the cursed wedge was too smooth and suddenly sprang out, and the tree closed so quickly that I could not pull out my beautiful white beard; so now it is tight and I cannot get away, and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things laugh! Ugh! how odious you are!’

小人は燃えるような赤い目で娘たちを睨みつけて叫んだ。「なぜそこに突っ立っている? こっちへ来て助けられんのか?」「どうしたの、小さいおじさん?」と紅ばらは尋ねた。「この間抜けな詮索好きの阿呆め!」と小人は答えた。「炊事用の薪を少し取ろうと、この木を割ろうとしていたのだ。わしらのような者がありつくわずかな食い物は、太い薪ではすぐ焼けすぎてしまう。おまえたち粗野で食い意地の張った連中ほど、わしらは飲み込まんのだ。くさびをうまく打ち込んで、何もかも思い通りに運んでいた。ところが忌々しいくさびが滑らかすぎて急に跳ね出し、木があまりに速く閉じたので、わしの美しい白い髭を引き抜けなかった。それで挟まったまま逃げられんのに、この馬鹿で小ざっぱりした青二才どもが笑っている! ふん! なんと忌まわしい!」

The children tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out, it was caught too fast. ‘I will run and fetch someone,’ said Rose-red. ‘You senseless goose!’ snarled the dwarf; ‘why should you fetch someone? You are already two too many for me; can you not think of something better?’ ‘Don’t be impatient,’ said Snow-white, ‘I will help you,’ and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the end of the beard.

子どもたちは懸命にやってみたが、髭を引き抜くことはできなかった。あまりにしっかり挟まっていたのである。「わたし、走って誰か呼んで来る」と紅ばらは言った。「この分からず屋の阿呆め!」と小人はうなった。「なぜ誰かを呼びに行く? おまえたち二人でさえ、わしには多すぎるのだ。もっとましなことを思いつけんのか?」「そうせかさないで」と白雪は言った。「わたしが助けてあげる。」そして懐から鋏を取り出し、髭の先を切り落とした。

As soon as the dwarf felt himself free he laid hold of a bag which lay amongst the roots of the tree, and which was full of gold, and lifted it up, grumbling to himself: ‘Uncouth people, to cut off a piece of my fine beard. Bad luck to you!’ and then he swung the bag upon his back, and went off without even once looking at the children.

小人は自由になったと感じるやいなや、木の根のあいだに置いてあった、黄金でいっぱいの袋をつかんで持ち上げ、ぶつぶつ言った。「不作法な連中め、わしの見事な髭を切り落とすとは。ろくなことがないぞ!」そしてその袋を背に担ぎ、子どもたちを一度も見ずに立ち去った。

Some time afterwards Snow-white and Rose-red went to catch a dish of fish. As they came near the brook they saw something like a large grasshopper jumping towards the water, as if it were going to leap in. They ran to it and found it was the dwarf. ‘Where are you going?’ said Rose-red; ‘you surely don’t want to go into the water?’ ‘I am not such a fool!’ cried the dwarf; ‘don’t you see that the accursed fish wants to pull me in?’ The little man had been sitting there fishing, and unluckily the wind had tangled up his beard with the fishing-line; a moment later a big fish made a bite and the feeble creature had not strength to pull it out; the fish kept the upper hand and pulled the dwarf towards him. He held on to all the reeds and rushes, but it was of little good, for he was forced to follow the movements of the fish, and was in urgent danger of being dragged into the water.

しばらくして、白雪と紅ばらは魚を一皿分捕りに行った。小川に近づくと、大きなばったのようなものが水の方へ跳ねていて、いまにも飛び込もうとしているように見えた。二人が駆け寄ってみると、それはあの小人だった。「どこへ行くの?」と紅ばらは言った。「まさか水の中へ入りたいわけじゃないでしょう?」「そこまで馬鹿ではないわ!」と小人は叫んだ。「忌々しい魚がわしを引き込もうとしているのが見えんのか?」小男はそこに座って釣りをしていたのだが、運悪く風が髭を釣り糸に絡ませてしまった。そしてその直後に大きな魚が食いついたが、この弱々しい者にはそれを引き上げる力がなかった。魚の方が上手で、小人を引き寄せたのである。小人は葦も藺草もありったけつかんだが、大して役に立たず、魚の動きに従うほかなく、いまにも水に引き込まれそうな危うさだった。

The girls came just in time; they held him fast and tried to free his beard from the line, but all in vain, beard and line were entangled fast together. There was nothing to do but to bring out the scissors and cut the beard, whereby a small part of it was lost. When the dwarf saw that he screamed out: ‘Is that civil, you toadstool, to disfigure a man’s face? Was it not enough to clip off the end of my beard? Now you have cut off the best part of it. I cannot let myself be seen by my people. I wish you had been made to run the soles off your shoes!’ Then he took out a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without another word he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

娘たちはちょうど間に合った。二人は小人をしっかり押さえ、髭を糸から外そうとしたが、まるで無駄だった。髭と糸はしっかり絡み合っていた。鋏を取り出して髭を切るほかになく、そのために髭の一部がまた失われた。小人はそれを見ると叫んだ。「それが礼儀か、この毒きのこめ、人の顔を台なしにするとは? 髭の先を切り落とすだけでは足りなかったのか? 今度はいちばんよいところを切りおった。もう仲間に顔を見せられん。おまえたち、靴の底をすり減らして走るはめになればよかったのに!」そして藺草の中に置いてあった真珠の袋を取り出し、それきり一言も言わずに引きずって行って、石の陰に消えた。

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. The road led them across a heath upon which huge pieces of rock lay strewn about. There they noticed a large bird hovering in the air, flying slowly round and round above them; it sank lower and lower, and at last settled near a rock not far away. Immediately they heard a loud, piteous cry. They ran up and saw with horror that the eagle had seized their old acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off.

そののちまもなく、母は二人の子どもを町へ遣わして、針と糸、それに紐やリボンを買わせた。道は荒れ野を横切っていて、そこには巨大な岩の塊があちこちに散らばっていた。そこで二人は大きな鳥が空に漂い、頭上をゆっくり輪を描いて飛んでいるのに気づいた。鳥はだんだん低く降りて、とうとう遠からぬ岩のそばに降り立った。すぐに大きな痛ましい叫び声が聞こえた。二人が駆けつけてみると、恐ろしいことに、鷲が顔なじみのあの小人をつかんで、さらって行こうとしていた。

The children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little man, and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let his booty go. As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first fright he cried with his shrill voice: ‘Could you not have done it more carefully! You dragged at my brown coat so that it is all torn and full of holes, you clumsy creatures!’ Then he took up a sack full of precious stones, and slipped away again under the rock into his hole. The girls, who by this time were used to his ingratitude, went on their way and did their business in town.

子どもたちは憐れみでいっぱいになり、すぐさま小男をしっかりつかんで、鷲と長く引っ張り合い、とうとう鷲は獲物を放した。小人は最初の驚きから立ち直るやいなや、甲高い声で叫んだ。「もっと丁寧にやれなかったのか! わしの茶色の上着をあんなに引っ張って、破れて穴だらけではないか、この不器用者どもめ!」そして宝石でいっぱいの袋を取り上げ、また岩の下の穴へすべり込んで行った。娘たちはこのころにはもう小人の恩知らずに慣れていて、そのまま道を行き、町で用事を済ませた。

As they crossed the heath again on their way home they surprised the dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clean spot, and had not thought that anyone would come there so late. The evening sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they glittered and sparkled with all colours so beautifully that the children stood still and stared at them. ‘Why do you stand gaping there?’ cried the dwarf, and his ashen-grey face became copper-red with rage. He was still cursing when a loud growling was heard, and a black bear came trotting towards them out of the forest. The dwarf sprang up in a fright, but he could not reach his cave, for the bear was already close. Then in the dread of his heart he cried: ‘Dear Mr Bear, spare me, I will give you all my treasures; look, the beautiful jewels lying there! Grant me my life; what do you want with such a slender little fellow as I? you would not feel me between your teeth. Come, take these two wicked girls, they are tender morsels for you, fat as young quails; for mercy’s sake eat them!’ The bear took no heed of his words, but gave the wicked creature a single blow with his paw, and he did not move again.

帰り道でまた荒れ野を横切ると、二人は小人を驚かせてしまった。小人はきれいな場所に宝石の袋を空けていて、こんなに遅くに誰かが来るとは思っていなかったのである。夕日が輝く石を照らし、それは色とりどりにあまりに美しくきらめいたので、子どもたちは立ち止まって見入った。「なぜそこで口を開けて突っ立っている?」と小人は叫び、灰色の顔が怒りで赤銅色になった。まだ悪態をついているところへ、大きなうなり声が聞こえて、黒い熊が森からこちらへ駆けて来た。小人は驚いて跳び上がったが、洞穴までたどり着けなかった。熊はもうすぐそばだったからである。そこで小人は心の恐れのうちに叫んだ。「熊の旦那、どうか助けてくだされ、宝をみな差し上げます。ほら、そこに美しい宝石があります! 命だけはお助けを。わしのようなひょろひょろの小男を、どうなさるおつもりです? 歯のあいだに挟まりもしますまい。さあ、この悪い娘を二人お取りなさい。若い鶉のように太って、あなたには柔らかいご馳走です。後生ですから、こいつらをお食べなさい!」熊はその言葉に少しも耳を貸さず、この邪な者を前足で一打ちしただけで、小人は二度と動かなかった。

The girls had run away, but the bear called to them: ‘Snow-white and Rose-red, do not be afraid; wait, I will come with you.’ Then they recognized his voice and waited, and when he came up to them suddenly his bearskin fell off, and he stood there a handsome man, clothed all in gold. ‘I am a king’s son,’ he said, ‘and I was bewitched by that wicked dwarf, who had stolen my treasures; I have had to run about the forest as a savage bear until I was freed by his death. Now he has got his well-deserved punishment.

娘たちは逃げ出していたが、熊は二人に呼びかけた。「白雪、紅ばら、怖がらないで。待って、一緒に行きましょう。」そこで二人はその声に気づいて待った。そして熊が近づいて来ると、突然その熊の皮が脱げ落ちて、そこには黄金ずくめの衣をまとった見目よい男が立っていた。「わたしは王の息子です」と男は言った。「わたしの宝を盗んだあの邪な小人に魔法をかけられていたのです。あの者が死んで自由になるまで、わたしは荒々しい熊として森を駆け回らねばなりませんでした。いまあの者は当然の報いを受けたのです。」

Snow-white was married to him, and Rose-red to his brother, and they divided between them the great treasure which the dwarf had gathered together in his cave. The old mother lived peacefully and happily with her children for many years. She took the two rose-trees with her, and they stood before her window, and every year bore the most beautiful roses, white and red.

白雪はその人と結婚し、紅ばらはその弟と結婚した。そして二人は、小人が洞穴に集めていた大きな宝を分け合った。年老いた母は長年にわたって子どもたちとともに安らかに幸せに暮らした。母は二本の薔薇の木を持って行き、それは母の窓の前に立って、毎年この上なく美しい白と赤の薔薇をつけた。