The Red Ettin

There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time for the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her eldest son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that she might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water he might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that cake was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels.

むかし、農夫から借りた小さな土地に住んでいる後家がいた。後家には息子が二人いて、やがて息子たちを運だめしに送り出す時が来た。そこである日、後家は上の息子に、缶を持っていって井戸から水を汲んでくるように言った。それで息子のためにお菓子を焼くのである。そして息子が水をたくさん持ってくるか少し持ってくるかに応じて、お菓子も大きくなったり小さくなったりする。そして息子が旅に出るとき、後家が息子にやれるのは、そのお菓子きりなのだった。

The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, and then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part of the water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; yet small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the half of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to take the whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, thinking he might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or how he might get other provisions, said he would like to have the whole cake, come of his mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole cake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he might be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him.

若者は缶を持って井戸へ行き、水をいっぱいに汲んで、また家へ帰ってきた。けれども缶が壊れていたので、帰り着く前に水のほとんどが流れ出てしまった。そのため若者のお菓子はとても小さかった。それでも、小さいとはいえ、母親は若者に、母の祝福つきで半分を持っていくかどうかと尋ね、もしまるごと持っていくほうを選ぶなら、母ののろいつきでしか持っていけないと言った。若者は、遠くまで旅をしなければならないかもしれないし、いつどうやってほかの食べ物が手に入るかもわからないと考えて、母ののろいがどんなものであれ、お菓子をまるごともらいたいと言った。そこで母親は若者にお菓子をまるごと、母ののろいも一緒に与えた。それから若者は弟をわきへ呼んで、自分が戻ってくるまで預かっておくように小刀を渡し、毎朝それを見てくれと頼んだ。小刀がくもらずにいるかぎり、持ち主は無事だと思っていい。けれどもくもってさびてきたら、きっと何か悪いことが持ち主にふりかかったのだ、と。

So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to the shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered:

そこで若者は運だめしに出かけた。若者はその日一日じゅう歩き、次の日も一日じゅう歩いて、三日目の午後、羊の群れと一緒に羊飼いが座っているところに来た。若者は羊飼いのところへ行って、この羊は誰のものかと尋ねた。すると羊飼いは答えた。

“The Red Ettin of Ireland Once lived in Ballygan, And stole King Malcolm's daughter The king of fair Scotland.

「アイルランドの赤いエティンは、むかしバリーガンに住んでいて、麗しのスコットランドの王、マルコム王の娘をさらった。

He beats her, he binds her, He lays her on a band; And every day he strikes her With a bright silver wand. Like Julian the Roman, He's one that fears no man.

エティンは姫を打ち、姫を縛り、姫を帯の上に寝かせる。そして毎日、輝く銀の杖で姫を打つ。ローマのユリアヌスのように、誰ひとり恐れぬやつだ。

It's said there's one predestinate To be his mortal foe; But that man is yet unborn, And long may it be so.”

やつを滅ぼす宿敵となる定めの者が一人いるという。だがその者はまだ生まれていない。どうか長く生まれてこぬように。」

This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen.

この羊飼いはまた、次に出会う獣たちに気をつけろと若者に言った。その獣たちは、若者がこれまで見たどんな獣ともまるでちがう種類のものだというのである。

So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he was sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and glad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the door standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for shelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of. The young man would have gone away, but he was afraid of the beasts on the outside of the castle; so he beseeched the old woman to hide him as best she could, and not tell the Ettin he was there. He thought, if he could put over the night, he might get away in the morning, without meeting with the beasts, and so escape. But he had not been long in his hiding-hole, before the awful Ettin came in; and no sooner was he in, than he was heard crying:

そこで若者は先へ進んでいき、やがて、頭が二つあって、どの頭にも角が四本ある、とても恐ろしい獣たちがたくさんいるのが見えた。若者はひどく怖くなって、できるかぎりの速さで獣たちから逃げていった。そして小山の上に建つ城に着いて、戸が壁までいっぱいに開いているのを見たときには、ほっとした。若者は身を隠そうと城に入った。するとそこに、年とった女が台所の火のそばに座っているのが見えた。若者は、長旅で疲れているので、ひと晩泊めてもらえないかと女に尋ねた。女は泊まってもいいと言ったが、ここはおまえさんのいるようなところではないと言った。ここは赤いエティンのもので、エティンは頭の三つあるたいそう恐ろしい獣で、つかまえた人間は一人も生かしておかないというのである。若者は出ていこうとしたが、城の外にいる獣たちが怖かった。そこで若者は年とった女に、できるだけうまく自分を隠して、エティンには自分がここにいることを言わないでくれと頼んだ。ひと晩しのげれば、朝になって獣たちに出会わずに出ていけるかもしれない、そうすれば逃げられるだろうと若者は思った。けれども若者が隠れ穴に入ってまもなく、恐ろしいエティンが入ってきた。そして入ってくるやいなや、こう叫ぶのが聞こえた。

“Snouk but and snouk ben, I find the smell of an earthly man, Be he living, or be he dead, His heart this night shall kitchen my bread.”

「こっちをくんくん、あっちをくんくん、人間のにおいがするぞ。生きていようが死んでいようが、今夜そいつの心臓をおれのパンのおかずにしてやる。」

The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him three questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: “A thing without an end, what's that?” But the young man knew not. Then the second head said: “The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?” But the young man knew it not. And then the third head asked: “The dead carrying the living; riddle me that?” But the young man had to give it up. The lad not being able to answer one of these questions, the Red Ettin took a mallet and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a pillar of stone.

怪物はすぐにかわいそうな若者を見つけて、穴から引っぱり出した。そして引っぱり出すと、もし三つの問いに答えられたら命は助けてやると若者に言った。そこで一つ目の頭が尋ねた。「終わりのないもの、それは何だ。」けれども若者にはわからなかった。すると二つ目の頭が言った。「小さいほど危ないもの、それは何だ。」けれども若者にはそれもわからなかった。それから三つ目の頭が尋ねた。「死んだものが生きたものを運ぶ。このなぞを解いてみろ。」けれども若者はあきらめるほかなかった。若者はこの問いのひとつにも答えられなかったので、赤いエティンは木槌を取って若者の頭を打ち、若者を石の柱に変えてしまった。

On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the knife to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. He told his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon his travels also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for water, that she might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was bringing home the water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and he would see that the water was running out. And he was a young man of sense, and seeing the water running out, he took some clay and patched up the holes, so that he brought home enough water to bake a large cake. When his mother put it to him to take the half cake with her blessing, he took it in preference to having the whole with her malison; and yet the half was bigger than what the other lad had got.

このことが起こった次の朝、弟は小刀を取り出して見てみた。すると小刀がすっかり茶色くさびているのを見て、悲しくなった。弟は母親に、今度は自分が旅に出る時が来たと言った。そこで母親は、お菓子をこしらえるから、缶を持って井戸へ水を汲みに行ってくれと頼んだ。弟は出かけていった。そして水を持って帰ってくると、頭の上でカラスが、よく見てごらん、水が流れ出ているよと鳴いた。弟は分別のある若者だったので、水が流れ出ているのを見ると、粘土を取って穴をふさいだ。それで大きなお菓子を焼くのに十分な水を持って帰れた。母親が、母の祝福つきでお菓子を半分持っていくかと尋ねると、弟は、母ののろいつきでまるごともらうより、そちらを選んだ。それでも、その半分は兄のもらったお菓子より大きかった。

So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his johnny-cake. And he said: “I will gladly do that,” and so he gave her a piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when he asked whose sheep these were, the answer was:

そこで弟は旅に出た。そして遠くまで旅をしたところで、一人の年とった女に出会った。女は、ジョニーケーキを少し分けてくれないかと弟に尋ねた。弟は言った。「喜んで差し上げます。」そして弟は女にジョニーケーキをひとかけらあげた。すると女はそのお礼に、正しく使うよう気をつければ、この先きっと役に立つだろうと、魔法の杖をくれた。それから、妖精だったその年とった女は、弟の身にこれから起こるたくさんのことや、どんなときにどうすればいいかを教えてくれ、そのあとたちまち姿を消した。弟はさらにずっと遠くまで進んでいって、羊の番をしている老人のところに来た。そしてこれは誰の羊かと尋ねると、答えはこうだった。

“The Red Ettin of Ireland Once lived in Ballygan, And stole King Malcolm's daughter, The king of Fair Scotland.

「アイルランドの赤いエティンは、むかしバリーガンに住んでいて、麗しのスコットランドの王、マルコム王の娘をさらった。

“He beats her, he binds her, He lays her on a band; And every day he strikes her With a bright silver wand. Like Julian the Roman, He's one that fears no man.

「エティンは姫を打ち、姫を縛り、姫を帯の上に寝かせる。そして毎日、輝く銀の杖で姫を打つ。ローマのユリアヌスのように、誰ひとり恐れぬやつだ。

“But now I fear his end is near, And destiny at hand; And you're to be, I plainly see, The heir of all his land.”

「だが今や、やつの最期は近く、定めの時は迫っていると思う。そしてはっきりわかるぞ、おまえこそやつの土地をすべて受け継ぐ者だと。」

When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he did not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One came up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with his wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to the Ettin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman who sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been the fate of his brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon came in, saying:

恐ろしい獣たちが立っているところに来ても、弟は立ち止まりも逃げ出しもせず、獣たちのあいだを堂々と通り抜けていった。一頭が口を開けてうなりながら弟を食べようと向かってきたが、弟が杖で打つと、獣はたちまち弟の足もとに倒れて死んだ。まもなく弟はエティンの城に着き、戸を叩いて中に入れてもらった。火のそばに座っていた年とった女は、恐ろしいエティンのことと、兄がどんな目にあったかを話して警告したが、弟はひるまなかった。まもなく怪物が入ってきて言った。

“Snouk but and snouk ben, I find the smell of an earthly man; Be he living, or be he dead, His heart shall be kitchen to my bread.”

「こっちをくんくん、あっちをくんくん、人間のにおいがするぞ。生きていようが死んでいようが、そいつの心臓をおれのパンのおかずにしてやる。」

He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. And then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been told everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the questions. So when the first head asked, “What's the thing without an end?” he said: “A bowl.” And when the second head said: “The smaller the more dangerous; what's that?” he said at once, “A bridge.” And last, the third head said: “When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?” Then the young man answered up at once and said: “When a ship sails on the sea with men inside her.” When the Ettin found this, he knew that his power was gone. The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the monster's three heads. He next asked the old woman to show him where the king's daughter lay; and the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a great many doors, and out of every door came a beautiful lady who had been imprisoned there by the Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's daughter. She also took him down into a low room, and there stood a stone pillar, that he had only to touch with his wand, when his brother started into life. And the whole of the prisoners were overjoyed at their deliverance, for which they thanked the young man. Next day they all set out for the king's court, and a gallant company they made. And the king married his daughter to the young man that had delivered her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; and so they all lived happily all the rest of their days.

エティンはすぐに若者を見つけて、床の上に出てこいと命じた。それから三つの問いを若者に出した。けれども若者はよい妖精から何もかも教わっていたので、どの問いにも答えられた。そこで一つ目の頭が「終わりのないものは何だ」と尋ねると、若者は「お椀」と言った。そして二つ目の頭が「小さいほど危ないもの、それは何だ」と言うと、若者はすぐに「橋」と言った。そして最後に三つ目の頭が「死んだものが生きたものを運ぶのはいつだ。このなぞを解いてみろ」と言った。すると若者はすぐに答えて言った。「人を乗せた船が海を行くときさ。」エティンはこれを知ると、自分の力が消えたことを悟った。そこで若者は斧を取って、怪物の三つの頭を切り落とした。次に若者は、王の娘がどこにいるか教えてくれと年とった女に頼んだ。年とった女は若者を二階へ連れていき、たくさんの戸を開けた。するとどの戸からも、エティンに閉じ込められていた美しい婦人が出てきた。そしてその婦人の一人が王の娘だった。女はまた若者を低い部屋へ連れていった。そこには石の柱が立っていて、若者がそれに杖で触れるだけで、兄がぱっと生き返った。そして捕らわれていた者たちはみんな、救い出されたことを大喜びして、若者に礼を言った。次の日、みんなで王の宮廷へ向けて出発した。それはりっぱな一行だった。そして王は自分の娘を、娘を救い出した若者と結婚させ、その兄には貴族の娘を与えた。そうしてみんなは残りの日々をずっと幸せに暮らした。