The Enchanted Mule

There was once a very merry, but very poor hostler in Salamanca. He was so poor that he had to go about his business in rags; and one day when he was attending on the richly caparisoned mule belonging to the Archbishop of Toledo, he gave vent to his feelings in words.

昔、サラマンカに、たいそう陽気だけれどたいそう貧しい馬丁がいた。あまりに貧しかったので、ぼろを着て仕事をしなければならなかった。そしてある日、トレドの大司教の、豪華な飾り馬具をつけたラバの世話をしているとき、胸のうちを言葉にして吐き出した。

“Ah,” said he, “my father was always called a donkey from the day of his marriage; but would to goodness I were the archbishop’s mule! Look at the rich livery he bears; look at his stout sides; see how he drinks up his wine and eats his maize bread! Oh, it would be a merry life, indeed! My father was, they say, an ass, so I would be a mule!”

「ああ」と馬丁は言った。「おやじは結婚したその日から、いつもロバと呼ばれていた。だがいっそ、おれが大司教さまのラバだったらなあ! あの豪華なお仕着せを見ろ。あのたくましい脇腹を見ろ。あいつがワインを飲み干して、トウモロコシのパンを食べるのを見ろ! ああ、そりゃあ本当に楽しい暮らしだろう! おやじは、人の言うにはロバだったんだから、おれはラバになりたいもんだ!」

And then he leant against the manger, and laughed so heartily that the archbishop’s mule stopped eating to look at him.

そう言って飼い葉桶に寄りかかり、あまりに腹の底から笑ったので、大司教のラバは食べるのをやめて馬丁を見た。

“What ho!” said the mule. “Remember that my reverend master, being a corpulent man, is somewhat heavy; but if thou wilt change conditions with me, thou need but take hold of both my ears, and, caramba, a mule thou shalt be, and that in the service of the Archbishop of Toledo!”

「おい!」とラバは言った。「わが尊いご主人は太ったお方だから、いささか重いのを忘れるなよ。だがおれと身の上を取り替えたいなら、おれの両耳をつかみさえすればいい。そうすれば、カランバ(ちくしょう)、お前はラバになる。それもトレドの大司教さまにお仕えするラバにな!」

“And that will I,” answered Pablo the hostler; “for better be a well-fed mule than a starving hostler.” So saying, he seized the mule by the ears, and, looking at him in the face, he was immediately transformed; but, to his surprise, he saw that the quondam mule was changed into a monk. “How now!” cried he. “Wilt thou not bring me some more wine and maize bread, sir monk? Wilt thou not be my hostler?”

「そうするとも」と馬丁のパブロは答えた。「飢えた馬丁より、たっぷり食わせてもらえるラバのほうがましだからな」そう言ってラバの耳をつかみ、その顔を見つめると、パブロはたちまち姿を変えられた。けれども驚いたことに、もとのラバは修道士に変わっていた。「おい、どうした!」とパブロは叫んだ。「ワインとトウモロコシのパンをもっと持ってきてくれないのかい、修道士さん。おれの馬丁になってくれないのかい」

But the monk turned away and left the stable, and Pablo then saw that he had made a mistake. But he resolved that as soon as he was led out into the street he would run off to his old mother, and implore her to intercede on his behalf with the patron St. James of Compostella.

けれども修道士は背を向けて馬屋を出ていった。そこでパブロは、自分が間違いをしでかしたのだとわかった。けれども、通りへ引き出されたらすぐに年老いた母親のところへ走っていって、守護聖人であるコンポステーラの聖ヤコブに、自分のためにとりなしてくれるよう頼んでもらおうと決めた。

When the archbishop had rested, he called for his mule, which was brought out; and, in the absence of the hostler, whom they could not find, one of the attendants was about tightening the girths, when the mule Pablo, seizing the opportunity, bolted away as hard as he could down the road in the direction of his mother’s house.

大司教は休みを終えるとラバを呼び、ラバが引き出されてきた。馬丁が見つからなかったので、その代わりに従者の一人が腹帯を締めようとしていると、ラバのパブロはこの機をとらえて、母親の家のほうへ道を一目散に駆け出した。

The archbishop thought his mule had gone mad, and as the servants followed it, running, and crying out, “Stop the beast—stop it!” the rabble joined in the chase; but Pablo never stopped till he got to his mother’s house.

大司教は自分のラバが気がふれたのだと思った。そして召使いたちが「その獣を止めろ——止めろ!」と叫びながら走って追いかけると、町の者たちも追いかけっこに加わった。けれどもパブロは、母親の家に着くまで一度も止まらなかった。

The old woman was at the door, spinning at her distaff, and as she was very deaf she had not heard the clamour. Pablo, bending over her, tried to kiss her hand, to ask her for her blessing, but his tongue now failed him. So frightened was she at the approach of the animal that she hit him over the head with her distaff, and cried out, “Abernuncio!”

年老いた女は戸口で糸巻き棒で糸を紡いでいたが、耳がひどく遠かったので、騒ぎが聞こえていなかった。パブロは母親の上にかがみ込み、祝福をもらおうとその手に口づけしようとしたが、今度は舌がきかなかった。母親は獣が近づいてきたのにあまりにおびえて、糸巻き棒でパブロの頭を叩き、「アベルヌンシオ(断じてごめんだ)!」と叫んだ。

By this time the servants had surrounded him, and were trying to lead him back, but he would not go. He stood on his hind-legs, and then lay down on his side, and rolled in the dust till the scarlet saddle-cloth was spoilt, and then, suddenly rising, rushed into the cottage, and tried to sit on his accustomed chair.

そのころには召使いたちがパブロを取り囲んで、連れ戻そうとしていたが、パブロは行こうとしなかった。後ろ足で立ち上がり、それから横ざまに寝転がって、緋色の鞍敷きがだめになるまで土ぼこりのなかを転げまわり、それから急に起き上がって小屋に駆け込み、いつもの自分の椅子に座ろうとした。

His mother fled the house, and the rabble entered, and so cudgelled Pablo that he was fain to return to the inn; and, after being groomed, he allowed the archbishop to mount him. However, he had not gone far before he exclaimed, “By St. Iago, this mule hath the pace of a camel!” Pablo, not being accustomed to four legs, did not know how to use them, so that he would move his right fore and hind legs together. This caused the archbishop great inconvenience, for, being a corpulent man, it made him roll about on the saddle like the gold ball on the cathedral of Sevilla, when the west wind loosened it, and the east wind blew it down.

母親は家から逃げ出し、町の者たちが入ってきて、パブロをさんざん棍棒で打ちすえたので、パブロはしかたなく宿屋に戻った。そして手入れをされたあと、大司教を背中に乗せた。けれどもいくらも行かないうちに、大司教は叫んだ。「聖ヤゴにかけて、このラバはラクダの歩き方をしおる!」パブロは四本の脚に慣れていなかったので、その使い方がわからず、右の前脚と右の後ろ脚を一緒に動かしてしまうのだった。これは大司教をたいそう困らせた。太った男だったので、そのために鞍の上で転げまわることになったのである。ちょうどセビリャの大聖堂の金の球が、西風に緩められて東風に吹き落とされたときのように。

Seizing the pommel with both his hands, and raising himself in his shoe stirrups, he looked as if he intended to vault over the head of the mule; and as they were at this moment going through a village, the inhabitants, who had come out to see the archbishop, thought he was about to deliver a sermon. So, surrounding the mule, they uncovered their heads, and knelt awaiting the blessing.

大司教は両手で鞍頭をつかみ、靴型の鐙の上に伸び上がったので、まるでラバの頭を跳び越えようとしているかのように見えた。そしてちょうどそのとき、一行はある村を通り抜けているところだったので、大司教を見に出てきていた村人たちは、大司教が説教を始めようとしているのだと思った。そこで村人たちはラバを取り囲み、帽子を取って、ひざまずいて祝福を待った。

Pablo, forgetting he was a mule, thought the people were doing homage to him, and being of a merry disposition, he gave way to such inward laughter that it brought on a violent fit of coughing, which the faithful—not seeing the face of the archbishop, for they devoutly bent their heads towards the ground—took to be the natural clearing of the throat before speaking. But the archbishop, who was now becoming seriously frightened, and thinking that the evil one had entered the body of his mule, exclaimed, “Exorciso te—abernuncio!” Then did Pablo sit down on his hind-quarters, so that the archbishop slid off the saddle and rolled on the ground, and another “Abernuncio!” in a deeper tone, brought the devout people to their feet. Pablo at this moment got up, and by so doing completely capsized the venerable archbishop, causing him to turn over on to his head. Full of dust and anger, the prelate started to his feet, and carefully examined his mule to see if he could account for this peculiar behaviour. Sorely grieved did Pablo feel at having caused the good archbishop so much annoyance, and, so as to show his contrition, he went down on his fore-legs, thinking to kneel, which so frightened all the people that they instinctively took shelter behind the archbishop. But he was as much afraid as the rest, and had it not been that they held him by his robes, he would have run away.

パブロは自分がラバであることを忘れて、人々が自分に敬意を表しているのだと思った。そして陽気な性分だったので、あまりに腹のなかで笑いこけたために、ひどく咳き込んでしまった。敬虔な村人たちは——うやうやしく地面に頭を垂れていたので大司教の顔が見えず——それを話しはじめる前の当たり前の咳払いだと受け取った。けれども大司教は、今やすっかり恐ろしくなって、悪魔が自分のラバの体に入り込んだのだと思い、叫んだ。「エクソルキソ・テ(汝を祓う)——アベルヌンシオ!」するとパブロは尻を落として座り込んだので、大司教は鞍から滑り落ちて地面を転がった。そしてもう一度、もっと低い声で「アベルヌンシオ!」と言うと、敬虔な人々は立ち上がった。そのときパブロが立ち上がったので、尊い大司教はすっかりひっくり返って、頭から逆さまに転がった。ほこりと怒りにまみれて、高位聖職者は跳ね起き、この奇妙な振る舞いのわけがわからないものかと、ラバを念入りに調べた。パブロはよき大司教にこれほど迷惑をかけたのをひどく心苦しく思って、悔い改めを示そうと、ひざまずくつもりで前脚を折った。これに人々はみなあまりにおびえて、思わず大司教の後ろに隠れた。けれども大司教もほかの者たちと同じくらい怖がっていて、人々が長衣をつかんでいなかったら逃げ出していただろう。

“This beats the mule of Merida,” cried one, “who ran away with the miller’s wife and then regretted the bargain. See, he is craving for pardon.”

「こりゃあメリダのラバより上だ」と一人が叫んだ。「粉屋のおかみさんを連れて逃げて、あとでその取り引きを悔やんだっていうあのラバよりな。見ろ、許しを乞うているぞ」

Pablo the mule rose after kneeling for some time, and, after the fashion of trained animals of this breed, he extended his fore and hind-legs, so as to facilitate the archbishop mounting him, which he soon did, feeling convinced that the mule had intended no harm; but Pablo, regretting his mistake and the loss of time it had caused, set off at a quick amble, which so disconcerted his rider that he had to hold on by the pommel and the crupper; and thus he was hurried out of the village, and the people were done out of the blessing.

ラバのパブロはしばらくひざまずいてから立ち上がり、この種のしつけられた獣のやり方にならって前脚と後ろ脚を広げ、大司教が乗りやすいようにした。大司教は、ラバに悪気はなかったのだと思い込んで、すぐにまたがった。けれどもパブロは、自分の間違いとそれでむだにした時間を悔やんで、急ぎ足の側対歩で駆け出した。そのため乗り手はすっかりうろたえて、鞍頭と尻繋にしがみつかねばならなかった。こうして大司教は村から急き立てられ、人々は祝福をもらいそこねた。

The attendants, who were on foot, tried to keep up with Pablo; but this they could not do, owing to his long strides; and not until they were within sight of Toledo did they get up to their master, who, by this time, was out of breath and countenance. They, fearing that the mule might start off again, placed a man on each side holding the reins, and thus did they approach the eastern gate of the city, at which many priests were waiting with the cross and the sword of the archbishop, in order to give him a fitting welcome, according to the rules of the Church. Pablo, seeing the large silver cross, the emblem of Christianity, slackened his pace, and when within a few yards of it, in obedience to what his mother had taught him as a child, dropped down on his knees, bending his head to the ground; but this he did so suddenly, that the archbishop fell off the saddle on to his neck, and, to break his fall, caught hold of his servants by their ears, nearly tearing them off, and causing them also to tumble. Thinking that the evil one had seized them, they struck out right and left, and nearly stunned their master with the blows and kicks. Pablo, hoping to retrieve his fortune, started to his legs with the archbishop clinging round his neck, and galloped after the two servants with his mouth open, so that, should he catch them, he might bite them. But they, surmising what he meant, sought refuge among the priests, and these in their turn made haste to get into a small chapel close by.

徒歩の従者たちはパブロに遅れまいとしたが、パブロの歩幅が大きいのでついていけなかった。そしてトレドが見えるところまで来て、ようやく主人に追いついた。主人はそのころにはすっかり息が切れ、面目も失っていた。従者たちは、ラバがまた駆け出すのではないかと恐れて、両側に一人ずつ手綱を持たせた。こうして一行は町の東門に近づいた。そこでは教会のしきたりに従ってふさわしい出迎えをするために、大勢の司祭が大司教の十字架と剣を持って待っていた。パブロは、キリスト教のしるしである大きな銀の十字架を見ると歩みを緩め、数ヤードのところまで来ると、子どものころに母親に教わったとおりに、ひざまずいて頭を地面まで垂れた。けれどもあまりに急にそうしたので、大司教は鞍からラバの首の上へ落ち、落ちるのを防ごうと召使いたちの耳をつかんで、あやうくちぎりそうになり、召使いたちまで転ばせてしまった。召使いたちは悪魔につかまれたのだと思って、右へ左へと殴りかかり、殴ったり蹴ったりして主人をあやうく気絶させるところだった。パブロは運を取り戻そうと、大司教を首にしがみつかせたまま跳ね起き、二人の召使いをつかまえたら噛みついてやろうと口を開けて、そのあとを追って駆けた。けれども召使いたちはパブロのつもりを察して司祭たちのなかに逃げ込み、司祭たちはそれで今度は、すぐ近くの小さな礼拝堂へ急いで逃げ込んだ。

“Our archbishop must have changed mules with Beelzebub,” said a fat priest, “for no earthly animal would thus treat a prince of the Church!”

「われらが大司教は、ベルゼブブとラバを取り替えたにちがいない」と太った司祭が言った。「この世のどんな獣も、教会の君侯をこんなふうに扱いはせんからな!」

“Ay,” continued one of the runaway servants; “and if his neck had been a foot longer I should have been dangling in mid-air like the coffin of the false prophet.”

「そうとも」と逃げてきた召使いの一人が続けた。「あいつの首があと一フィート長かったら、わたしは偽預言者の棺みたいに宙にぶら下がっていたでしょうよ」

“I never thought to have run so fast again,” ejaculated a very short and stout priest. “Faith, my legs seemed to grow under me, as our sacristan said after he had been tossed by the abbot’s bull.”

「二度とこんなに速く走ることになるとは思わなかった」と、たいそう背が低くて太った司祭が叫んだ。「まったく、足が体の下で伸びたみたいだった。修道院長の牛に放り上げられたあと、うちの聖具係が言っていたようにな」

“But what has become of the archbishop?” said another. “We must not leave him in his sorry plight.”

「だが大司教さまはどうなったのだ」と別の司祭が言った。「あんな哀れな有様のまま放っておくわけにはいかない」

Saying this, he carefully opened the door of the chapel, and there they saw their prelate swooning on the pavement, and Pablo dashing full tilt among the crowd, trying to wreak his vengeance on as many as he could possibly get hold of.

そう言って、その司祭は礼拝堂の戸を用心深く開けた。すると、高位聖職者が敷石の上で気を失っていて、パブロが群衆のなかへ全速力で突っ込み、手当たりしだいできるだけ多くの者に仕返ししようとしているのが見えた。

Having torn the leather breeches of some half-dozen sightseers, and knocked down and trampled on some score of men and women, he rushed out of the city by the same gate, and never stopped till he arrived at the inn where he had been hostler. The master of the inn, thinking that some mishap had befallen the archbishop, made haste to secure the mule; but as it was already night, he postponed sending off one of his servants till next morning.

半ダースほどの見物人の革ズボンを引き裂き、二十人ほどの男女を突き倒して踏みつけたあと、パブロは同じ門から町を飛び出し、自分が馬丁をしていた宿屋に着くまで一度も止まらなかった。宿屋の主人は、大司教の身に何か災難が起こったのだと思って、急いでラバをつなぎとめた。けれどももう夜だったので、召使いの一人を遣わすのは翌朝まで延ばした。

Once again at the manger, Pablo had time to consider over the mistake he had made, and he would gladly have undergone any punishment, could he but have regained his former shape.

ふたたび飼い葉桶の前に戻って、パブロは自分のしでかした間違いをじっくり考える時間ができた。そしてもとの姿を取り戻せさえするなら、どんな罰でも喜んで受けただろう。

While he was thus musing, he saw the monk approaching, looking very sorrowful indeed.

パブロがこうして思いにふけっていると、修道士がたいそう悲しげな顔で近づいてくるのが見えた。

“Pablo,” said he, “how dost thou like being a mule?”

「パブロ」と修道士は言った。「ラバでいるのはどうだい」

Now, Pablo was cunning, and, not wishing to let the monk know what had happened, he answered—

さて、パブロはずる賢かったので、起こったことを修道士に知られたくなくて、こう答えた——

“As for liking it, I enjoyed carrying the archbishop as much as he liked being carried; but I am not accustomed to such gay trappings and good living, so that I am afraid of injuring my health.”

「気に入ったかと言えば、大司教さまが乗せてもらうのを気に入っていたのと同じくらい、おれも大司教さまを乗せるのを楽しんだよ。だがおれはあんな派手な馬具やぜいたくな暮らしに慣れていないから、体を壊すんじゃないかと心配でね」

“If that be the case,” continued the monk, “hold down thy head, and I will relieve thee of the danger; for, to tell you the truth, I find out that my wife is still living, and she recognized me although I was disguised as a monk. By my faith, I would rather bear my master’s harness to the grave than my wife’s tongue from morning till night! Caramba, I hear her knocking at the door! Dear Pablo, let us again exchange conditions.”

「そういうことなら」と修道士は続けた。「頭を下げな。その危なっかしいのから解き放ってやるよ。本当のことを言うとな、女房がまだ生きているとわかったんだ。修道士に化けていたのに、女房はおれだと見破りやがった。まったく、朝から晩まで女房の舌に耐えるくらいなら、墓場まで主人の馬具を背負っていくほうがましだ! カランバ、女房が戸を叩いているのが聞こえる! なあパブロ、もう一度身の上を取り替えようじゃないか」

And Pablo, when he awoke next morning, was tightly grasping a beam, thinking he was the Archbishop of Toledo clinging on to the mule’s neck.

そしてパブロは次の朝目を覚ますと、梁をしっかり握りしめていた。自分がラバの首にしがみつくトレドの大司教になった気でいたのである。