The Story of the Rakshasas

There was a poor half-witted Brahman who had a wife but no children. It was only with difficulty he could supply the wants of himself and his wife. And the worst of it was that he was rather lazily inclined. He was averse to taking long journeys, otherwise he might always have had enough, in the shape of presents from rich men, to enable him and his wife to live comfortably. There was at that time a king in a neighbouring country who was celebrating the funeral obsequies of his mother with great pomp. Brahmans and beggars were going from different parts with the expectation of receiving rich presents. Our Brahman was requested by his wife to seize this opportunity and get a little money; but his constitutional indolence stood in the way. The woman, however, gave her husband no rest till she extorted from him the promise that he would go. The good woman, accordingly, cut down a plantain tree and burnt it to ashes, with which ashes she cleaned the clothes of her husband, and made them as white as any fuller could make them. She did this because her husband was going to the palace of a great king, who could not be approached by men clothed in dirty rags; besides, as a Brahman, he was bound to appear neat and clean. The Brahman at last one morning left his house for the palace of the great king. As he was somewhat imbecile, he did not inquire of any one which road he should take; but he went on and on, and proceeded whithersoever his two eyes directed him. He was of course not on the right road, indeed he had reached a region where he did not meet with a single human being for many miles, and where he saw sights which he had never seen in his life. He saw hillocks of cowries (shells used as money) on the roadside: he had not proceeded far from them when he saw hillocks of pice, then successively hillocks of four-anna pieces, hillocks of eight-anna pieces, and hillocks of rupees. To the infinite surprise of the poor Brahman, these hillocks of shining silver coins were succeeded by a large hill of burnished gold-mohurs, which were all as bright as if they had been just issued from the mint. Close to this hill of gold-mohurs was a large house which seemed to be the palace of a powerful and rich king, at the door of which stood a lady of exquisite beauty. The lady, seeing the Brahman, said, "Come, my beloved husband; you married me when I was young, and you never came once after our marriage, though I have been daily expecting you. Blessed be this day which has made me see the face of my husband. Come, my sweet, come in, wash your feet and rest after the fatigues of your journey; eat and drink, and after that we shall make ourselves merry." The Brahman was astonished beyond measure. He had no recollection of having been married in early youth to any other woman than the woman who was now keeping house with him. But being a Kulin Brahman, he thought it was quite possible that his father had got him married when he was a little child, though the fact had made no impression on his mind. But whether he remembered it or not, the fact was certain, for the woman declared that she was his wedded wife,--and such a wife! as beautiful as the goddesses of Indra's heaven, and no doubt as wealthy as she was beautiful. While these thoughts were passing through the Brahman's mind, the lady said again, "Are you doubting in your mind whether I am your wife? Is it possible that all recollection of that happy event has been effaced from your mind--all the pomp and circumstance of our nuptials? Come in, beloved; this is your own house, for whatever is mine is thine." The Brahman succumbed to the loving entreaties of the fair lady, and went into the house. The house was not an ordinary one--it was a magnificent palace, all the apartments being large and lofty and richly furnished. But one thing surprised the Brahman very much, and that was that there was no other person in the house besides the lady herself. He could not account for so singular a phenomenon; neither could he explain how it was that he did not meet with any human being in his morning and evening walks. The fact was that the lady was not a human being. She was a Rakshasi. [10] She had eaten up the king, the queen, and all the members of the royal family, and gradually all his subjects. This was the reason why human beings were not seen in those parts.

あるところに、貧しく少々知恵の足りないバラモンがいた。妻はあったが子はなかった。自分と妻の入用をまかなうのもやっとだった。しかも困ったことに、この男はいささか怠け者の質だった。遠い旅を嫌ったのである。そうでなければ、金持ちからの施しのかたちで、妻ともども不自由なく暮らせるだけのものはいつでも手に入ったろう。そのころ、隣国の王が母の葬いの供養を大がかりに営んでいた。バラモンも物乞いも、たっぷり施しにあずかろうとあちこちから出かけていた。われらがバラモンも妻にこの機会をつかんで少しは金を得てくるよう勧められたが、生まれつきの無精が邪魔をした。それでも女房は夫を休ませず、とうとう行くという約束を取りつけた。そこで気立てのよい女房は芭蕉の木を切り倒して焼き、その灰で夫の着物を洗い、洗い張り屋も及ばぬほど真っ白にした。夫はこれから大きな王の宮殿へ行くのである。垢じみたぼろを着た者が近づけるところではない。そのうえバラモンたる者、身ぎれいでなければならなかった。バラモンはついにある朝、大王の宮殿を目指して家を出た。ところが少々足りない男だったから、どの道を行けばよいか誰にも尋ねなかった。ただひたすら歩き、二つの目の向くほうへ進んでいった。むろん正しい道ではない。それどころか、何マイル歩いても人ひとりに出会わぬ土地に入り込み、生まれてこのかた見たこともないものを目にした。道ばたに子安貝(貨幣に使う貝)の小山があった。そこからいくらも行かぬうちにパイサ銅貨の小山を見、つづいて四アンナ銀貨の小山、八アンナ銀貨の小山、ルピー銀貨の小山を見た。あわれなバラモンが果てしなく驚いたことに、この輝く銀貨の小山のつぎには、磨き上げた金貨の大きな山があった。どれも造幣所から出たばかりのように輝いていた。この金貨の山のすぐそばに大きな屋敷があり、強大で富める王の宮殿のように見えた。その戸口に、たとえようもなく美しい女が立っていた。女はバラモンを見て言った。「おいでなさいませ、いとしい旦那さま。わたくしが幼いころにあなたはわたくしを娶り、婚礼のあとは一度もおいでになりませんでした。毎日お待ちしておりましたのに。夫の顔を見せてくださったこの日こそ、なんと幸いな日でしょう。さあ、おいでなさいませ、なかへお入りになって足を洗い、旅のお疲れをお休めください。召し上がり、お飲みになって、そのあとで楽しく過ごしましょう」。バラモンは驚きに驚いた。いまいっしょに暮らしている女房のほかに、幼いころ誰かと結婚したなどという覚えはまるでない。だがクリーン・バラモンの身であれば、ごく幼いころ父に結婚させられていて、それが心に残っていないということも十分ありうると思った。だが覚えていようがいまいが、事実は確かなのだ。この女が自分は妻だと言っているのだから——しかもこんな妻を! インドラの天の女神たちのように美しく、その美しさに劣らぬ富を持っているにちがいない。こんな思いがバラモンの心をよぎっているあいだに、女がまた言った。「わたくしが妻かどうか、お疑いなのですか。あの幸いな出来事の記憶が、婚礼の華やぎのすべてが、お心からすっかり消えてしまったということがありましょうか。お入りなさいませ、いとしいかた。ここはあなたのお家です。わたくしのものはみなあなたのものなのですから」。バラモンはこの美しい女の愛情こもった懇願に負けて、屋敷へ入っていった。屋敷は並のものではなかった——壮麗な宮殿で、どの部屋も広く高く、豪奢にしつらえてあった。だが一つ、バラモンをたいそう驚かせたことがあった。屋敷にはこの女のほかに誰もいないのである。この奇妙なことのわけが、彼にはわからなかった。また朝夕の散歩でなぜ人ひとりに出会わないのかも、説明がつかなかった。じつはこの女は人間ではなかった。ラクシャシー [10] だったのである。王も后も王家の者をみな食べつくし、さらに少しずつ、民をことごとく食べてしまった。このあたりに人の姿が見えないのは、そのためだった。

The Rakshasi and the Brahman lived together for about a week, when the former said to the latter, "I am very anxious to see my sister, your other wife. You must go and fetch her, and we shall all live together happily in this large and beautiful house. You must go early to-morrow, and I will give you clothes and jewels for her." Next morning the Brahman, furnished with fine clothes and costly ornaments, set out for his home. The poor woman was in great distress; all the Brahmans and Pandits that had been to the funeral ceremony of the king's mother had returned home loaded with largesses; but her husband had not returned,--and no one could give any news of him, for no one had seen him there. The woman therefore concluded that he must have been murdered on the road by highwaymen. She was in this terrible suspense, when one day she heard a rumour in the village that her husband was seen coming home with fine clothes and costly jewels for his wife. And sure enough the Brahman soon appeared with his valuable load. On seeing his wife the Brahman thus accosted her:--"Come with me, my dearest wife; I have found my first wife. She lives in a stately palace, near which are hillocks of rupees and a large hill of gold-mohurs. Why should you pine away in wretchedness and misery in this horrible place? Come with me to the house of my first wife, and we shall all live together happily." When the woman heard her husband speak of his first wife, of hillocks of rupees and of a hill of gold-mohurs, she thought in her mind that her half-witted good man had become quite mad; but when she saw the exquisitely beautiful silks and satins and the ornaments set with diamonds and precious stones, which only queens and princesses were in the habit of putting on, she concluded in her mind that her poor husband had fallen into the meshes of a Rakshasi. The Brahman, however, insisted on his wife's going with him, and declared that if she did not come she was at liberty to pine away in poverty, but that for himself he meant to return forthwith to his first and rich wife. The good woman, after a great deal of altercation with her husband, resolved to go with him and judge for herself how matters stood. They set out accordingly the next morning, and went by the same road on which the Brahman had travelled. The woman was not a little surprised to see hillocks of cowries, of pice, of eight-anna pieces, of rupees, and last of all a lofty hill of gold-mohurs. She saw also an exceedingly beautiful lady coming out of the palace hard by, and hastening towards her. The lady fell on the neck of the Brahman woman, wept tears of joy, and said, "Welcome, beloved sister! this is the happiest day of my life! I have seen the face of my dearest sister!" The party then entered the palace.

ラクシャシーとバラモンは一週間ほどいっしょに暮らしたが、そのころラクシャシーがバラモンに言った。「わたくしの姉さま、あなたのもう一人の奥さまに、どうしてもお会いしたいのです。迎えに行ってくださいまし。みなでこの大きな美しい屋敷でいっしょに幸せに暮らしましょう。明日、早くお発ちください。姉さまのために着物と宝石を持たせます」。翌朝、バラモンは立派な着物と高価な装身具を携えて家路についた。あわれな女房はひどく心を痛めていた。王の母の葬いの式に行ったバラモンも学者もみな施しを山と抱えて帰ってきたのに、夫は帰ってこない——しかも誰も夫の消息を知らない。そこで見かけた者がいなかったのである。そこで女房は、夫は道中で追い剥ぎに殺されたにちがいないと思い込んだ。そんな恐ろしい宙ぶらりんのなかにいたある日、夫が妻のために立派な着物と高価な宝石を持って帰ってくるのを見かけた、という噂を村で耳にした。はたしてまもなく、バラモンはその値打ちものを抱えて現れた。バラモンは女房を見るなりこう切り出した——「いっしょに来てくれ、いとしい女房よ。おれは最初の妻を見つけたのだ。堂々とした宮殿に住んでいて、その近くにはルピー銀貨の小山や金貨の大きな山がある。なぜおまえがこんな恐ろしい場所で惨めにやつれてゆかねばならん。おれといっしょに最初の妻の屋敷へ来い。みなでいっしょに幸せに暮らそう」。女房は夫が最初の妻だの、ルピーの小山だの、金貨の山だのと言うのを聞いて、心のなかで、知恵の足りないこの善人はすっかり気がふれたのだと思った。だが、女王や姫しか身につけぬような、たとえようもなく美しい絹や繻子や、金剛石や宝玉をちりばめた装身具を見ると、あわれな夫はラクシャシーの網にかかったのだと結論した。それでもバラモンは妻にいっしょに来いと言い張り、来ないのなら貧しさのなかでやつれてゆくがよい、自分はすぐにも富める最初の妻のもとへ帰るつもりだ、と言い切った。気立てのよい女房は夫とさんざん言い争ったすえ、いっしょに行って自分の目でどういうことか見定めようと決めた。そこで二人は翌朝発ち、バラモンが行ったのと同じ道を行った。女房は、子安貝の小山、パイサ銅貨の小山、八アンナ銀貨の小山、ルピー銀貨の小山、そしてしまいには金貨の高い山を見て、少なからず驚いた。そしてすぐそばの宮殿から、たいそう美しい女が出てきて、こちらへ急いでくるのも見た。女はバラモンの妻の首に抱きつき、嬉し涙を流して言った。「ようこそ、いとしい姉さま! 今日はわたくしの一生でいちばん幸せな日です! いとしい姉さまのお顔を見られたのですから!」。一同はそれから宮殿に入っていった。

What with the stately mansion in which he was lodged, with the most delectable provisions which seemed to rise as if by enchantment, what with the caresses and endearments of his two wives, the one human and the other demoniac, who vied with each other in making him happy and comfortable, the Brahman had a jolly time of it. He was steeped as it were in an ocean of enjoyment. Some fifteen or sixteen years were spent by the Brahman in this state of Elysian pleasure, during which period his two wives presented him with two sons. The Rakshasi's son, who was the elder, and who looked more like a god than a human being, was named Sahasra Dal, literally the Thousand-Branched; and the son of the Brahman woman, who was a year younger, was named Champa Dal, that is, branch of a champaka tree. The two boys loved each other dearly. They were both sent to a school which was several miles distant, to which they used every day to go riding on two little ponies of extraordinary fleetness.

泊まる堂々とした館といい、魔法のように現れる極上のご馳走といい、一人は人間、一人は魔性という二人の妻が競って心地よく幸せにしてくれるその睦みごとといい、バラモンは愉快な暮らしを送った。いわば享楽の海に浸りきっていた。この極楽のような日々を十五、六年も過ごすうち、二人の妻はそれぞれ息子を一人ずつ産んだ。ラクシャシーの息子は兄で、人間というより神のように見え、サハスラ・ダルすなわち「千の枝」と名づけられた。一つ年下のバラモンの妻の息子は、チャンパ・ダル、すなわちチャンパカの木の枝と名づけられた。二人の少年はたがいを深く慕いあっていた。二人とも数マイル離れた学校へやられ、毎日、並はずれて足の速い二頭の小馬に乗って通っていた。

The Brahman woman had all along suspected from a thousand little circumstances that her sister-in-law was not a human being but a Rakshasi; but her suspicion had not yet ripened into certainty, for the Rakshasi exercised great self-restraint on herself, and never did anything which human beings did not do. But the demoniac nature, like murder, will out. The Brahman having nothing to do, in order to pass his time had recourse to hunting. The first day he returned from the hunt, he had bagged an antelope. The antelope was laid in the courtyard of the palace. At the sight of the antelope the mouth of the raw-eating Rakshasi began to water. Before the animal was dressed for the kitchen, she took it away into a room, and began devouring it. The Brahman woman, who was watching the whole scene from a secret place, saw her Rakshasi sister tear off a leg of the antelope, and opening her tremendous jaws, which seemed to her imagination to extend from earth to heaven, swallow it up. In this manner the body and other limbs of the antelope were devoured, till only a little bit of the meat was kept for the kitchen. The second day another antelope was bagged, and the third day another; and the Rakshasi, unable to restrain her appetite for raw flesh, devoured these two as she had devoured the first. On the third day the Brahman woman expressed to the Rakshasi her surprise at the disappearance of nearly the whole of the antelope with the exception of a little bit. The Rakshasi looked fierce and said, "Do I eat raw flesh?" To which the Brahman woman replied, "Perhaps you do, for aught I know to the contrary." The Rakshasi, knowing herself to be discovered, looked fiercer than before, and vowed revenge. The Brahman woman concluded in her mind that the doom of herself, of her husband, and of her son was sealed. She spent a miserable night, believing that next day she would be killed and eaten up, and that her husband and son would share the same fate. Early next morning, before her son Champa Dal went to school, she gave him in a small golden vessel a little quantity of her own breast milk, and told him to be constantly watching its colour. "Should you," she said, "see the milk get a little red, then conclude that your father has been killed; and should you see it grow still redder, then conclude that I am killed: when you see this, gallop away for your life as fast as your horse can carry you, for if you do not, you also will be devoured."

バラモンの妻は、いろいろな些細なことから、義理の妹は人間ではなくラクシャシーではないかと前から疑っていた。だがその疑いはまだ確信にはなっていなかった。ラクシャシーが自分をよく抑え、人間のしないことは決してしなかったからである。だが魔性というものは、人殺しと同じで、いつかは露見する。バラモンはすることがないので、暇つぶしに狩りを始めた。狩りから帰った最初の日、彼は羚羊を一頭仕留めていた。羚羊は宮殿の中庭に置かれた。その姿を見て、生肉を食らうラクシャシーの口に涎がわいた。台所へ下ろされる前に、彼女はそれを部屋へ運び込み、貪りはじめた。一部始終を隠れて見ていたバラモンの妻は、ラクシャシーの妹が羚羊の脚を一本引きちぎり、その途方もない顎——彼女の目には地から天まで開くかと見えた——を開いて、呑み込むのを見た。こうして羚羊の胴もほかの肢も食い尽くされ、台所に残されたのはほんのひと切れだけだった。二日めにまた羚羊が一頭、三日めにもう一頭仕留められた。ラクシャシーは生肉への食欲を抑えかね、この二頭も最初の一頭と同じように貪り食った。三日めに、バラモンの妻はラクシャシーに、羚羊がひと切れを残してほとんど消えてしまうのはどうしたことかと驚いてみせた。ラクシャシーは険しい顔をして言った。「わたくしが生肉を食べるとでも?」。バラモンの妻は答えた。「そうかもしれませんね、そうでないという証もございませんもの」。ラクシャシーは見破られたと知って、前にもまして険しい顔になり、仕返しを誓った。バラモンの妻は、自分も夫も息子も命運は尽きたと心のうちで結論した。明日は自分が殺されて食われ、夫も息子も同じ目に遭うと思いながら、惨めな一夜を過ごした。翌朝早く、息子チャンパ・ダルが学校へ行く前に、母は小さな黄金の器に自分の乳を少し入れて渡し、その色を絶えず見ているようにと言った。「もし」と母は言った。「乳が少し赤くなったら、父さまが殺されたと思いなさい。それがもっと赤くなったら、母が殺されたと思いなさい。それを見たら、馬の走れるかぎりの速さで命がけで駆け去るのです。そうしなければ、おまえも食われてしまいますよ」

The Rakshasi on getting up from bed--and she had prevented the Brahman overnight from having any communication with his wife--proposed that she and the Brahman should go to bathe in the river, which was at some distance. She would take no denial; the Brahman had therefore to follow her as meekly as a lamb. The Brahman woman at once saw from the proposal that ruin was impending; but it was beyond her power to avert the catastrophe. The Rakshasi, on the river-side, assuming her own proper gigantic dimensions, took hold of the ill-fated Brahman, tore him limb by limb, and devoured him up. She then ran to her house, and seized the Brahman woman, and put her into her capacious stomach, clothes, hair and all. Young Champa Dal, who, agreeably to his mother's instructions, was diligently watching the milk in the small golden vessel, was horror-struck to find the milk redden a little. He set up a cry and said that his father was killed; a few minutes after, finding the milk become completely red, he cried yet louder, and rushing to his pony, mounted it. His half-brother, Sahasra Dal, surprised at Champa Dal's conduct, said, "Where are you going, Champa? Why are you crying? Let me accompany you." "Oh! do not come to me. Your mother has devoured my father and mother; don't you come and devour me." "I will not devour you; I'll save you." Scarcely had he uttered these words and galloped away after Champa Dal, when he saw his mother in her own Rakshasi form appearing at a distance, and demanding that Champa Dal should come to her. He said, "I will come to you, not Champa." So saying, he went to his mother, and with his sword, which he always wore as a young prince, cut off her head.

ラクシャシーは床から起きると——前の晩、夫が妻と話を交わさぬようにしておいたのだが——少し離れた川へ二人で水浴びに行こうと言い出した。断らせようとはしなかったので、バラモンは子羊のようにおとなしく従うほかなかった。バラモンの妻はその申し出を聞いたとたん、破滅が迫っていると悟った。だがその大禍を避けるのは彼女の力の及ぶところではなかった。ラクシャシーは川辺で本来の巨大な姿に戻り、不運なバラモンをつかまえて、その手足を一本ずつ引きちぎり、食い尽くした。それから家へ駆け戻り、バラモンの妻をつかまえて、着物も髪も何もかもろとも、その大きな腹に詰め込んだ。母の言いつけどおり小さな黄金の器の乳をじっと見ていた若きチャンパ・ダルは、乳が少し赤くなるのを見て震え上がった。声をあげて泣き、父が殺されたと言った。数分して乳がすっかり赤くなるのを見ると、いっそう大きな声で泣き、小馬のもとへ駆け寄ってまたがった。異母兄のサハスラ・ダルはチャンパ・ダルの様子に驚いて言った。「どこへ行くのだ、チャンパ。なぜ泣いている。おれもいっしょに行こう」。「ああ! そばに来ないでくれ。おまえの母がおれの父と母を食ったのだ。来ておれまで食わないでくれ」。「おまえを食いはしない。おまえを助けるのだ」。そう言い終わるやいなや、チャンパ・ダルのあとを追って馬を駆ったところで、母がラクシャシーの姿で遠くに現れ、チャンパ・ダルをこちらへよこせと求めているのが見えた。彼は言った。「おれが行く、チャンパではない」。そう言って母のもとへ行き、若き王子としていつも帯びていた剣で、その首を斬り落とした。

Champa Dal had, in the meantime, galloped off a good distance, as he was running for his life; but Sahasra Dal, by pricking his horse repeatedly, soon overtook him, and told him that his mother was no more. This was small consolation to Champa Dal, as the Rakshasi, before being killed, had devoured both his father and mother; still he could not but feel that Sahasra Dal's friendship was sincere. They both rode fast, and as their horses were of the breed of pakshirajes (literally, kings of birds), they travelled over hundreds of miles. An hour or two before sundown they descried a village, to which they made up, and became guests in the house of one of its most respectable inhabitants. The two friends found the members of that respectable family in deep gloom. Evidently there was something agitating them very much. Some of them held private consultations, and others were weeping. The eldest lady of the house, the mother of its head, said aloud, "Let me go, as I am the eldest. I have lived long enough; at the utmost my life would be cut short only by a year or two." The youngest member of the house, who was a little girl, said, "Let me go, as I am young and useless to the family; if I die I shall not be missed." The head of the house, the son of the old lady, said, "I am the head and representative of the family; it is but reasonable that I should give up my life." His younger brother said, "You are the main prop and pillar of the family; if you go the whole family is ruined. It is not reasonable that you should go; let me go, as I shall not be much missed." The two strangers listened to all this conversation with no little curiosity. They wondered what it all meant. Sahasra Dal at last, at the risk of being thought meddlesome, ventured to ask the head of the house the subject of their consultations, and the reason of the deep misery but too visible in their countenances and words. The head of the house gave the following answer: "Know then, worthy guests, that this part of the country is infested by a terrible Rakshasi, who has depopulated all the regions round. This town, too, would have been depopulated, but that our king became a suppliant before the Rakshasi, and begged her to show mercy to us his subjects. The Rakshasi replied, 'I will consent to show mercy to you and to your subjects only on this condition, that you every night put a human being, either male or female, in a certain temple for me to feast upon. If I get a human being every night I will rest satisfied, and not commit any further depredations on your subjects.' Our king had no other alternative than to agree to this condition, for what human beings can ever hope to contend against a Rakshasi? From that day the king made it a rule that every family in the town should in its turn send one of its members to the temple as a victim to appease the wrath and to satisfy the hunger of the terrible Rakshasi. All the families in this neighbourhood have had their turn, and this night it is the turn for one of us to devote himself to destruction. We are therefore discussing who should go. You must now perceive the cause of our distress." The two friends consulted together for a few minutes, and at the conclusion of their consultations, Sahasra Dal, who was the spokesman of the party, said, "Most worthy host, do not any longer be sad: as you have been very kind to us, we have resolved to requite your hospitality by ourselves going to the temple and becoming the food of the Rakshasi. We go as your representatives." The whole family protested against the proposal. They declared that guests were like gods, and that it was the duty of the host to endure all sorts of privation for the comfort of the guest, and not the duty of the guest to suffer for the host. But the two strangers insisted on standing proxy to the family, who, after a great deal of yea and nay, at last consented to the arrangement.

そのあいだチャンパ・ダルは命がけで駆けていたので、だいぶ遠くまで行っていた。だがサハスラ・ダルは馬に何度も鞭をくれて、まもなく追いつき、母はもういないと告げた。ラクシャシーは殺される前に父も母も食べてしまったのだから、これはチャンパ・ダルにとってわずかな慰めにしかならなかった。それでもサハスラ・ダルの友情が偽りでないことは感じずにいられなかった。二人は速く馬を駆った。その馬はパクシラージ(文字どおり鳥の王)の種だったので、何百マイルも旅をした。日の沈む一、二時間前に村を見つけ、そこへ向かって、村でもっとも立派な家の一つに客となった。二人の友は、その立派な一家の者たちが深く沈み込んでいるのに気づいた。明らかに何かがひどく彼らを揺さぶっていた。ひそひそ相談する者もあれば、泣いている者もある。家のいちばん年上の女、当主の母が声高に言った。「わたしが行きましょう、わたしがいちばん年寄りなのですから。もう十分に生きました。せいぜい一年か二年、命が縮むだけのこと」。家のいちばん幼い者、小さな娘が言った。「わたしが行きます、わたしは幼くて家の役に立ちませんもの。わたしが死んでも惜しまれはしません」。家の当主、老女の息子が言った。「わたしはこの家の主であり代表です。わたしが命を差し出すのが道理でしょう」。その弟が言った。「兄さんは家の柱であり支えです。兄さんが行けば一家は滅びます。兄さんが行くのは道理に合いません。わたしが行きましょう、わたしならさほど惜しまれますまい」。二人の客はこの話をすべて、少なからぬ好奇心をもって聞いていた。いったい何のことだろうと訝った。サハスラ・ダルはとうとう、差し出口と思われるのを覚悟で、当主に、何を相談しているのか、その顔にも言葉にもありありと見える深い苦しみのわけは何かと、思いきって尋ねた。当主は次のように答えた。「では申しましょう、尊いお客人。この地方には恐ろしいラクシャシーがはびこっていて、あたり一帯の土地から人を絶やしてしまいました。この町もそうなるはずでしたが、われらが王がラクシャシーの前に嘆願して、民を憐れんでくれと請うたのです。ラクシャシーはこう答えました。『おまえとおまえの民を憐れむのは、この条件でなら承知しよう。毎晩、ある寺に人間を一人、男でも女でもよい、わたしが食べるために置いておくこと。毎晩人間が手に入るなら満足して、これ以上おまえの民を荒らしはすまい』。われらが王にはこの条件を呑むほか道はありませんでした。人間の身でラクシャシーに立ち向かえようはずがないのですから。その日から王は、町のどの家も順番に、恐ろしいラクシャシーの怒りをなだめ飢えを満たす贄として、家の者を一人ずつ寺へ送るという定めを立てました。このあたりの家はみな順番を終え、今夜はわれらのうちの一人が身を滅ぼしに行く番なのです。それで誰が行くかを話し合っておりました。これで嘆きのわけがおわかりでしょう」。二人の友は数分のあいだ相談し、その終わりに、二人の代弁者であるサハスラ・ダルが言った。「まことに尊い御主人、もう悲しまれますな。あなたがたはたいそう親切にしてくださったのですから、そのもてなしに報いるため、われら自身が寺へ行ってラクシャシーの餌食になろうと決めました。われらがあなたがたの身代わりに参ります」。一家はこぞってこの申し出に抗った。客は神のごときもので、客が心地よくあるためにあらゆる欠乏に耐えるのが主人の務めであって、主人のために客が苦しむ道理はない、と言い立てた。だが二人の客は身代わりに立つと言い張り、一家はさんざん言い合ったすえ、ついにこの取り決めに承知した。

Immediately after candle-light, Sahasra Dal and Champa Dal, with their two horses, installed themselves in the temple, and shut the door. Sahasra told his brother to go to sleep, as he himself was determined to sit up the whole night and watch against the coming of the terrible Rakshasi. Champa was soon in a fine sleep, while Sahasra lay awake. Nothing happened during the early hours of the night, but no sooner had the gong of the king's palace announced the dead hour of midnight than Sahasra heard the sound as of a rushing tempest, and immediately concluded, from his knowledge of Rakshasas, that the Rakshasi was nigh. A thundering knock was heard at the door, accompanied with the following words:--

灯がともるとすぐ、サハスラ・ダルとチャンパ・ダルは二頭の馬を連れて寺に入り、戸を閉ざした。サハスラは弟に眠るよう言い、自分は一晩じゅう起きて、恐ろしいラクシャシーが来るのを見張ると心を決めた。チャンパはまもなくぐっすり眠り込み、サハスラは目を覚ましたまま横になっていた。夜の早い時刻には何も起こらなかったが、王の宮殿の鑼が真夜中の死の時刻を告げるやいなや、サハスラは激しい嵐のような音を聞き、ラクシャサの性を知る身として、ラクシャシーが近いとすぐに悟った。雷のような戸を叩く音がして、こんな言葉がつづいた——

"How, mow, khow! A human being I smell; Who watches inside?"

「ハウ、マウ、カウ! 人間の匂いがするぞ。なかで見張っているのは誰だ」

To this question Sahasra Dal made the following reply:--

この問いにサハスラ・ダルは次のように答えた——

"Sahasra Dal watcheth, Champa Dal watcheth, Two winged horses watch."

「サハスラ・ダルが見張る、チャンパ・ダルが見張る、翼ある二頭の馬が見張る」

On hearing this answer the Rakshasi turned away with a groan, knowing that Sahasra Dal had Rakshasa blood in his veins. An hour after, the Rakshasi returned, thundered at the door, and called out--

この答えを聞くと、ラクシャシーはうめき声をあげて去っていった。サハスラ・ダルの血にラクシャサの血が流れていると知ったからである。一時間ののち、ラクシャシーは戻ってきて戸を雷のように叩き、呼ばわった——

"How, mow, khow! A human being I smell; Who watcheth inside?"

「ハウ、マウ、カウ! 人間の匂いがするぞ。なかで見張っているのは誰だ」

Sahasra Dal again replied--

サハスラ・ダルはふたたび答えた——

"Sahasra Dal watcheth, Champa Dal watcheth, Two winged horses watch."

「サハスラ・ダルが見張る、チャンパ・ダルが見張る、翼ある二頭の馬が見張る」

The Rakshasi again groaned and went away. At two o'clock and at three o'clock the Rakshasi again and again made her appearance, and made the usual inquiry, and obtaining the same answer, went away with a groan. After three o'clock, however, Sahasra Dal felt very sleepy: he could not any longer keep awake. He therefore roused Champa, told him to watch, and strictly enjoined upon him, in reply to the query of the Rakshasi, to mention Sahasra's name first. With these instructions he went to sleep. At four o'clock the Rakshasi again made her appearance, thundered at the door, and said--

ラクシャシーはまたうめいて去っていった。二時にも三時にもラクシャシーは幾度も現れ、いつもの問いを発しては、同じ答えを得てうめきながら去った。だが三時を過ぎると、サハスラ・ダルはひどく眠くなり、もう起きていられなくなった。そこでチャンパを起こして見張れと言い、ラクシャシーの問いに答えるときは必ずサハスラの名を先に言うようにと固く言い含めた。そう言いつけて眠りについた。四時にラクシャシーはまた現れ、戸を雷のように叩いて言った——

"How, mow, khow! A human being I smell; Who watches inside?"

「ハウ、マウ、カウ! 人間の匂いがするぞ。なかで見張っているのは誰だ」

As Champa Dal was in a terrible fright, he forgot the instructions of his brother for the moment, and answered--

チャンパ・ダルはひどく怯えていたので、そのとき兄の言いつけを忘れて、こう答えた——

"Champa Dal watcheth, Sahasra Dal watcheth, Two winged horses watch."

「チャンパ・ダルが見張る、サハスラ・ダルが見張る、翼ある二頭の馬が見張る」

On hearing this reply the Rakshasi uttered a shout of exultation, laughed such a laugh as only demons can, and with a dreadful noise broke open the door. The noise roused Sahasra, who in a moment sprung to his feet, and with his sword, which was as supple as a palm-leaf, cut off the head of the Rakshasi. The huge mountain of a body fell to the ground, making a great noise, and lay covering many an acre. Sahasra Dal kept the severed head of the Rakshasi near him, and went to sleep. Early in the morning some wood-cutters, who were passing near the temple, saw the huge body on the ground. They could not from a distance make out what it was, but on coming near they knew that it was the carcase of the terrible Rakshasi, who had by her voracity nearly depopulated the country. Remembering the promise made by the king that the killer of the Rakshasi should be rewarded by the hand of his daughter and with a share of the kingdom, each of the wood-cutters, seeing no claimant at hand, thought of obtaining the reward. Accordingly each of them cut off a part of a limb of the huge carcase, went to the king, and represented himself to be the destroyer of the great raw-eater, and claimed the reward. The king, in order to find out the real hero and deliverer, inquired of his minister the name of the family whose turn it was on the preceding night to offer a victim to the Rakshasi. The head of that family, on being brought before the king, related how two youthful travellers, who were guests in his house, volunteered to go into the temple in the room of a member of his family. The door of the temple was broken open; Sahasra Dal and Champa Dal and their horses were found all safe; and the head of the Rakshasi, which was with them, proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that they had killed the monster. The king kept his word. He gave his daughter in marriage to Sahasra Dal and the sovereignty of half his dominions. Champa Dal remained with his friend in the king's palace, and rejoiced in his prosperity.

この答えを聞くと、ラクシャシーは勝ち誇った叫びをあげ、魔物にしかできぬ笑いを笑い、恐ろしい音を立てて戸を破った。その音にサハスラが目を覚まし、たちまち跳ね起きて、椰子の葉のようにしなやかな剣で、ラクシャシーの首を斬り落とした。山のような巨体は大きな音を立てて地に倒れ、何エーカーもの地を覆って横たわった。サハスラ・ダルは斬り落としたラクシャシーの首をそばに置いて、眠りについた。朝早く、寺の近くを通りかかった木こりたちが、地に横たわる巨体を見つけた。遠くからでは何かわからなかったが、近寄ってみると、その大食で国から人を絶やしかけたあの恐ろしいラクシャシーの骸だとわかった。ラクシャシーを殺した者には王女を与え領国の一部を分けると王が約束していたのを思い出し、名乗り出る者が見あたらないので、木こりたちはめいめい褒美をせしめようと考えた。そこでそれぞれが巨体の手足の一部を切り取って王のもとへ行き、自分こそあの生肉食らいを滅ぼした者だと称して褒美を求めた。王は真の英雄であり救い手である者を突きとめようと、前の晩にラクシャシーへ贄を出す番だった家はどこかと大臣に尋ねた。その家の当主が王の前に引き出され、自分の家に客となっていた二人の若い旅人が、家の者の代わりに寺へ行こうと申し出たいきさつを語った。寺の戸は破られていて、サハスラ・ダルとチャンパ・ダルと二頭の馬は無事に見つかった。そして二人のそばにあったラクシャシーの首が、二人がこの怪物を殺したことを疑いの影もなく証していた。王は約束を守った。王女をサハスラ・ダルに娶らせ、領国の半分の統治を与えた。チャンパ・ダルは王の宮殿で友とともに暮らし、その栄えを喜んだ。

Sahasra Dal and Champa Dal lived together happily for some time, when a misunderstanding arose between them in this wise. There was in the service of the queen-mother a certain maid-servant who was the most useful domestic in the palace. There was nothing which she could not put her hands to and perform. She had uncommon strength for a woman; neither was her intelligence of a mean order. She was a woman of immense activity and energy; and if she were absent one day from the palace, the affairs of the zenana would be in perfect disorder. Hence her services were highly valued by the queen-mother and all the ladies of the palace. But this woman was not a woman; she was a Rakshasi, who had put on the appearance of a woman to serve some purposes of her own, and then taken service in the royal household. At night, when every one in the palace was asleep, she used to assume her own real form, and go about in quest of food, for the quantity of food that is sufficient for either man or woman was not sufficient for a Rakshasi. Now Champa Dal, having no wife, was in the habit of sleeping outside the zenana, and not far from the outer gate of the palace. He had noticed her going about on the premises and devouring sundry goats and sheep, horses and elephants. The maid-servant, finding that Champa Dal was in the way of her supper, determined to get rid of him. She accordingly went one day to the queen-mother, and said, "Queen-mother! I am unable any longer to work in the palace." "Why? what is the matter, Dasi? [11] How can I get on without you? Tell me your reasons. What ails you?" "Why," said the woman, "nowadays it is impossible for a poor woman like me to preserve my honour in the palace. There is that Champa Dal, the friend of your son-in-law; he always cracks indecent jokes with me. It is better for me to beg for my rice than to lose my honour. If Champa Dal remains in the palace I must go away." As the maid-servant was an absolute necessity in the palace, the queen-mother resolved to sacrifice Champa Dal to her. She therefore told Sahasra Dal that Champa Dal was a bad man, that his character was loose, and that therefore he must leave the palace. Sahasra Dal earnestly pleaded on behalf of his friend, but in vain; the queen-mother had made up her mind to drive him out of the palace. Sahasra Dal had not the courage to speak personally to his friend on the subject; he therefore wrote a letter to him, in which he simply said that for certain reasons Champa must leave the palace immediately. The letter was put in his room after he had gone to bathe. On reading the letter Champa Dal, exceedingly grieved, mounted his fleet horse and left the palace.

サハスラ・ダルとチャンパ・ダルはしばらくのあいだ仲よく暮らしたが、やがて二人のあいだに次のようないきさつで行き違いが生じた。太后のもとに一人の侍女がいて、宮殿でいちばん役に立つ召使いだった。手をつけてやってのけられぬことは何一つなかった。女にしては並はずれた力があり、頭の働きも劣ったものではなかった。たいそう機敏で精力に満ちた女で、一日でも宮殿を空ければ後宮の用向きはめちゃくちゃになってしまう。それゆえその働きは太后にも宮殿の女たちにも高く買われていた。だがこの女は女ではなかった。ラクシャシーで、自分の目当てのために女の姿をまとい、王家に仕えていたのである。夜、宮殿の誰もが寝入ると、本来の姿に戻って食べものを探しに出かけるのが常だった。男や女に足りるだけの量では、ラクシャシーには足りないのである。さてチャンパ・ダルは妻がなかったので、後宮の外、宮殿の外門からほど遠からぬところで眠るのが常だった。そして女が敷地内を歩きまわり、山羊や羊、馬や象をあれこれ貪り食うのを見ていた。侍女はチャンパ・ダルが自分の夜食の邪魔だと知って、彼を追い払おうと決めた。そこである日、太后のもとへ行って言った。「太后さま! わたくしはもうこの宮殿でお勤めできません」。「なぜだね。どうしたのだ、ダシ [11]。おまえなしでどうやってやっていける。わけを言っておくれ。何が不足なのだ」。「それが」と女は言った。「近ごろはわたくしのような貧しい女が宮殿で操を守るのは無理でございます。あの婿君のご友人チャンパ・ダルさまが、いつもわたくしに下品な戯れ口をきくのです。操を失うくらいなら、物乞いをして米をいただくほうがましです。チャンパ・ダルさまが宮殿におられるのなら、わたくしは出てゆかねばなりません」。侍女は宮殿になくてはならぬ者だったので、太后はチャンパ・ダルを犠牲にすることに決めた。そこでサハスラ・ダルに、チャンパ・ダルは悪い男だ、身持ちがだらしない、だから宮殿を去らねばならぬと告げた。サハスラ・ダルは友のために懸命に弁じたが無駄だった。太后は彼を宮殿から追い出すと心を決めていた。サハスラ・ダルには友に面と向かってこのことを言う勇気がなかった。そこで手紙を書き、ただ、事情があってチャンパはただちに宮殿を去らねばならぬとだけ記した。手紙は彼が水浴びに行ったあと、その部屋に置かれた。手紙を読んだチャンパ・ダルはひどく嘆き、俊足の馬にまたがって宮殿を去った。

As Champa's horse was uncommonly fleet, in a few hours he traversed thousands of miles, and at last found himself at the gateway of what seemed a magnificent palace. Dismounting from his horse, he entered the house, where he did not meet with a single creature. He went from apartment to apartment, but though they were all richly furnished he did not see a single human being. At last, in one of the side rooms, he found a young lady of heavenly beauty lying down on a splendid bedstead. She was asleep. Champa Dal looked upon the sleeping beauty with rapture--he had not seen any woman so beautiful. Upon the bed, near the head of the young lady, were two sticks, one of silver and the other of gold. Champa took the silver stick into his hand, and touched with it the body of the lady; but no change was perceptible. He then took up the gold stick and laid it upon the lady, when in a trice she woke up, sat in her bed, and eyeing the stranger, inquired who he was. Champa Dal briefly told his story. The young lady, or rather princess--for she was nothing less--said, "Unhappy man! why have you come here? This is the country of Rakshasas, and in this house and round about there live no less than seven hundred Rakshasas. They all go away to the other side of the ocean every morning in search of provisions; and they all return every evening before dusk. My father was formerly king in these regions, and had millions of subjects, who lived in flourishing towns and cities. But some years ago the invasion of the Rakshasas took place, and they devoured all his subjects, and himself and my mother, and my brothers and sisters. They devoured also all the cattle of the country. There is no living human being in these regions excepting myself; and I too should long ago have been devoured had not an old Rakshasi, conceiving strange affection for me, prevented the other Rakshasas from eating me up. You see those sticks of silver and gold; the old Rakshasi, when she goes away in the morning, kills me with the silver stick, and on her return in the evening re-animates me with the gold stick. I do not know how to advise you; if the Rakshasas see you, you are a dead man." Then they both talked to each other in a very affectionate manner, and laid their heads together to devise if possible some means of escape from the hands of the Rakshasas. The hour of the return of the seven hundred raw-eaters was fast approaching; and Keshavati--for that was the name of the princess, so called from the abundance of her hair--told Champa to hide himself in the heaps of the sacred trefoil which were lying in the temple of Siva in the central part of the palace. Before Champa went to his place of concealment, he touched Keshavati with the silver stick, on which she instantly died.

チャンパの馬は並はずれて足が速かったので、数時間で何千マイルもの道を越え、やがて壮麗な宮殿と見える建物の門前に立っていた。馬を下りて屋敷に入ったが、生きものひとつに出会わない。部屋から部屋へと歩いてみたが、どれも豪奢にしつらえてあるのに、人ひとり見あたらない。とうとう脇の部屋の一つで、天女のような美しさの若い娘が見事な寝台に横たわっているのを見つけた。娘は眠っていた。チャンパ・ダルはこの眠れる美女をうっとりと眺めた——これほど美しい女は見たことがなかった。寝台の、娘の頭のそばに、棒が二本、一本は銀、もう一本は金の棒があった。チャンパは銀の棒を手に取り、それで娘の体に触れてみたが、何も変わらなかった。そこで金の棒を取り上げて娘の上に置くと、たちまち娘は目を覚まして床に起き直り、見知らぬ男を見て、あなたは誰かと尋ねた。チャンパ・ダルは身の上を手短に語った。若い娘、いや姫——彼女はまぎれもなく姫だった——は言った。「不運なかた! なぜここへおいでになったのです。ここはラクシャサの国、この屋敷とそのまわりには七百人ものラクシャサが住んでいます。みな毎朝、海の向こう側へ食べものを探しに出かけ、毎晩、暮れる前に帰ってきます。父はかつてこのあたりの王で、数えきれぬほどの民がいて、栄えた町や都に住んでいました。ですが幾年か前にラクシャサが襲ってきて、民をことごとく、父も母も兄弟姉妹も食べてしまいました。国じゅうの家畜も食べてしまいました。このあたりに生きた人間はわたくしのほかにおりません。わたくしもとうに食べられていたでしょうが、年寄りのラクシャシーが妙にわたくしを可愛がって、ほかのラクシャサに食べさせなかったのです。あの銀と金の棒をごらんなさい。年寄りのラクシャシーは朝出かけるとき銀の棒でわたくしを殺し、夕方帰ると金の棒でよみがえらせるのです。あなたにどうお勧めしてよいかわかりません。ラクシャサに見つかれば、あなたは死んだも同然です」。それから二人はたいそう睦まじく語り合い、どうにかしてラクシャサの手から逃れる手だてはないかと額を寄せ合った。七百人の生肉食らいの帰る時刻が刻々と迫ってきた。ケーシャヴァティー——豊かな髪ゆえにそう呼ばれた、それが姫の名である——はチャンパに、宮殿の中ほどにあるシヴァの祠に積まれた聖なる三つ葉の山のなかに隠れるよう言った。チャンパは隠れ場所へ行く前に、銀の棒でケーシャヴァティーに触れ、姫はたちまち息絶えた。

Shortly after sunset Champa Dal heard from beneath the heaps of the sacred trefoil the sound as of a mighty rushing wind. Presently he heard terrible noises in the palace. The Rakshasas had come home from cruising, after having filled their stomachs, each one, with sundry goats, sheep, cows, horses, buffaloes, and elephants. The old Rakshasi, of whom we have already spoken, came to Keshavati's room, roused her by touching her body with the gold stick, and said--

日が沈んでまもなく、チャンパ・ダルは聖なる三つ葉の山の下で、激しく吹きすさぶ風のような音を聞いた。まもなく宮殿に恐ろしい物音が響いた。ラクシャサたちが荒らしまわりから帰ってきたのだ。めいめい山羊、羊、牛、馬、水牛、象をあれこれ腹に詰め込んで。すでに述べた年寄りのラクシャシーはケーシャヴァティーの部屋へ来て、金の棒で体に触れて目覚めさせ、こう言った——

"Hye, mye, khye! A human being I smell."

「ヒェ、ミェ、キェ! 人間の匂いがするぞ」

On which Keshavati said, "I am the only human being here; eat me if you like." To which the raw-eater replied, "Let me eat up your enemies; why should I eat you?" She laid herself down on the ground, as long and as high as the Vindhya Hills, and presently fell asleep. The other Rakshasas and Rakshasis also soon fell asleep, being all tired out on account of their gigantic labours in the day. Keshavati also composed herself to sleep; while Champa, not daring to come out of the heaps of leaves, tried his best to court the god of repose. At daybreak all the raw-eaters, seven hundred in number, got up and went as usual to their hunting and predatory excursions, and along with them went the old Rakshasi, after touching Keshavati with the silver stick. When Champa Dal saw that the coast was clear, he came out of the temple, walked into Keshavati's room, and touched her with the gold stick, on which she woke up. They sauntered about in the gardens, enjoying the cool breeze of the morning; they bathed in a lucid tank which was in the grounds; they ate and drank, and spent the day in sweet converse. They concocted a plan for their deliverance. They settled that Keshavati should ask the old Rakshasi on what the life of a Rakshasa depended, and when the secret should be made known they would adopt measures accordingly. As on the preceding evening, Champa, after touching his fair friend with the silver stick, took refuge in the temple beneath the heaps of the sacred trefoil. At dusk the Rakshasas as usual came home; and the old Rakshasi, rousing her pet, said--

そこでケーシャヴァティーは言った。「ここの人間はわたくしだけです。お望みならわたくしをお食べなさい」。生肉食らいは答えた。「おまえの敵こそ食べてやろう。なぜおまえを食べようか」。そしてヴィンディヤの山々ほども長く高い体を地に横たえ、まもなく眠り込んだ。ほかのラクシャサもラクシャシーも、昼のあいだの巨大な働きにすっかり疲れて、すぐに眠りに落ちた。ケーシャヴァティーも身を横たえて眠った。チャンパは葉の山から出る勇気もなく、なんとか眠りの神を招こうと努めた。夜明けに七百人の生肉食らいはみな起き出し、いつものように狩りと略奪の遠出に出かけた。年寄りのラクシャシーもケーシャヴァティーを銀の棒で触れてから、いっしょに出ていった。チャンパ・ダルは人けがなくなったのを見て祠から出てきて、ケーシャヴァティーの部屋へ行き、金の棒で触れると、姫は目を覚ました。二人は庭をそぞろ歩いて朝の涼しい風を楽しみ、敷地内の澄んだ池で水を浴び、食べ、飲み、睦まじく語り合って一日を過ごした。そして逃れる策を練った。ケーシャヴァティーが年寄りのラクシャシーに、ラクシャサの命は何にかかっているのかと尋ね、その秘密がわかったら、それに応じて手を打とうと決めた。前の晩と同じく、チャンパは美しい友を銀の棒で触れてから、祠の聖なる三つ葉の山の下に身を隠した。日暮れどきにラクシャサたちはいつものように帰ってきて、年寄りのラクシャシーは可愛がっている娘を起こして言った——

"Hye, mye, khye! A human being I smell."

「ヒェ、ミェ、キェ! 人間の匂いがするぞ」

Keshavati answered, "What other human being is here excepting myself? Eat me up, if you like." "Why should I eat you, my darling? Let me eat up all your enemies." Then she laid down on the ground her huge body, which looked like a part of the Himalaya mountains. Keshavati, with a phial of heated mustard oil, went towards the feet of the Rakshasi, and said, "Mother, your feet are sore with walking; let me rub them with oil." So saying, she began to rub with oil the Rakshasi's feet; and while she was in the act of doing so, a few tear-drops from her eyes fell on the monster's leg. The Rakshasi smacked the tear-drops with her lips, and finding the taste briny, said, "Why are you weeping, darling? What aileth thee?" To which the princess replied, "Mother, I am weeping because you are old, and when you die I shall certainly be devoured by one of the Rakshasas." "When I die! Know, foolish girl, that we Rakshasas never die. We are not naturally immortal, but our life depends on a secret which no human being can unravel. Let me tell you what it is that you may be comforted. You know yonder tank; there is in the middle of it a Sphatikasthambha, [12] on the top of which in deep waters are two bees. If any human being can dive into the waters, and bring up to land the two bees from the pillar in one breath, and destroy them so that not a drop of their blood falls to the ground, then we Rakshasas shall certainly die; but if a single drop of blood falls to the ground, then from it will start up a thousand Rakshasas. But what human being will find out this secret, or, finding it, will be able to achieve the feat? You need not, therefore, darling, be sad; I am practically immortal." Keshavati treasured up the secret in her memory, and went to sleep.

ケーシャヴァティーは答えた。「わたくしのほかにどんな人間がここにおりましょう。お望みならわたくしをお食べなさい」。「なぜおまえを食べようか、いとしい子や。おまえの敵をみな食べてやろう」。そしてヒマラヤ山脈の一部かと見える巨体を地に横たえた。ケーシャヴァティーは温めた芥子油の小瓶を手に、ラクシャシーの足もとへ行って言った。「母さま、歩きづめで足がお痛みでしょう。油で揉ませてくださいまし」。そう言って油でラクシャシーの足を揉みはじめた。そうしているうち、その目から涙が幾しずくか、怪物の脚に落ちた。ラクシャシーは唇で涙をなめ、しょっぱい味に気づいて言った。「なぜ泣くのだね、いとしい子や。何が不足なのだ」。姫は答えた。「母さま、わたくしが泣くのは、あなたが年を取っておいでで、亡くなったらきっとラクシャサの誰かに食べられてしまうと思うからです」。「わたしが死んだら、だって! 愚かな娘よ、覚えておくがよい、わたしたちラクシャサはけっして死なぬ。生まれつき不死ではないが、わたしたちの命は、人間には解けぬ秘密にかかっているのだ。おまえが安心するように、それが何かを話してやろう。あそこの池を知っていよう。その真ん中にスファティカスタンバ [12] が立っていて、その先端の深い水のなかに蜂が二匹いる。もし人間が水に潜り、ひと息でその柱から二匹の蜂を岸へ持ち上げ、その血をひとしずくも地に落とさぬように潰して殺したなら、そのときわたしたちラクシャサはきっと死ぬ。だが血がひとしずくでも地に落ちれば、そこから千のラクシャサが立ち上がる。とはいえ、どんな人間がこの秘密を探り当てよう。たとえ探り当てたとして、その業をなしとげられよう。だからいとしい子や、悲しむには及ばぬ。わたしは事実上、不死なのだ」。ケーシャヴァティーはこの秘密を胸にしまい、眠りについた。

Early next morning the Rakshasas as usual went away; Champa came out of his hiding-place, roused Keshavati, and fell a-talking. The princess told him the secret she had learnt from the Rakshasi. Champa immediately made preparations for accomplishing the mighty deed. He brought to the side of the tank a knife and a quantity of ashes. He disrobed himself, put a drop or two of mustard oil into each of his ears to prevent water from entering in, and dived into the waters. In a moment he got to the top of the crystal pillar in the middle of the tank, caught hold of the two bees he found there, and came up in one breath. Taking the knife, he cut up the bees over the ashes, a drop or two of the blood fell, not on the ground, but on the ashes. When Champa caught hold of the bees, a terrible scream was heard at a distance. This was the wailing of the Rakshasas, who were all running home to prevent the bees from being killed; but before they could reach the palace, the bees had perished. The moment the bees were killed, all the Rakshasas died, and their carcases fell on the very spot on which they were standing. Champa and the princess afterwards found that the gateway of the palace was blocked up by the huge carcases of the Rakshasas--some of them having nearly succeeded in getting to the palace. In this manner was effected the destruction of the seven hundred Rakshasas.

翌朝早く、ラクシャサたちはいつものように出かけていった。チャンパは隠れ場所から出てきてケーシャヴァティーを起こし、話しはじめた。姫はラクシャシーから聞き出した秘密を彼に告げた。チャンパはすぐさま、この大事をなしとげる支度にかかった。小刀と灰をたくさん池のほとりに運んだ。衣を脱ぎ、水が入らぬよう両耳に芥子油を一、二滴たらして、水に潜った。たちまち池の真ん中の水晶の柱の先端にたどり着き、そこにいた二匹の蜂をつかんで、ひと息で浮かび上がった。小刀を取り、灰の上で蜂を切り裂くと、血が一、二滴、地にではなく灰の上に落ちた。チャンパが蜂をつかんだとき、遠くで恐ろしい叫び声が起こった。それはラクシャサたちの嘆きだった。蜂が殺されるのを止めようと、みな家へ駆け戻っていたのである。だが宮殿にたどり着く前に、蜂は死んでいた。蜂が殺されたとたん、ラクシャサはみな死に、その骸はそれぞれ立っていたまさにその場所に倒れた。あとになってチャンパと姫は、宮殿の門がラクシャサの巨大な骸で塞がれているのを見つけた——なかにはあと少しで宮殿にたどり着くところだった者もいたのである。こうして七百人のラクシャサの滅びは成しとげられた。

After the destruction of the seven hundred raw-eating monsters, Champa Dal and Keshavati got married together by the exchange of garlands of flowers. The princess, who had never been out of the house, naturally expressed a desire to see the outer world. They used every day to take long walks both morning and evening, and as a large river was hard by Keshavati wished to bathe in it. The first day they went to bathe, one of Keshavati's hairs came off, and as it is the custom with women never to throw away a hair unaccompanied with something else, she tied the hair to a shell which was floating on the water; after which they returned home. In the meantime the shell with the hair tied to it floated down the stream, and in course of time reached that ghat [13] at which Sahasra Dal and his companions were in the habit of performing their ablutions. The shell passed by when Sahasra Dal and his friends were bathing; and he, seeing it at some distance, said to them, "Whoever succeeds in catching hold of yonder shell shall be rewarded with a hundred rupees." They all swam towards it, and Sahasra Dal, being the fleetest swimmer, got it. On examining it he found a hair tied to it. But such hair! He had never seen so long a hair. It was exactly seven cubits long. "The owner of this hair must be a remarkable woman, and I must see her"--such was the resolution of Sahasra Dal. He went home from the river in a pensive mood, and instead of proceeding to the zenana for breakfast, remained in the outer part of the palace. The queen-mother, on hearing that Sahasra Dal was looking melancholy and had not come to breakfast, went to him and asked the reason. He showed her the hair, and said he must see the woman whose head it had adorned. The queen-mother said, "Very well, you shall have that lady in the palace as soon as possible. I promise you to bring her here." The queen-mother told her favourite maid-servant, whom she knew to be full of resources--the same who was a Rakshasi in disguise--that she must, as soon as possible, bring to the palace that lady who was the owner of the hair seven cubits long. The maid-servant said she would be quite able to fetch her. By her directions a boat was built of Hajol wood, the oars of which were of Mon Paban wood. The boat was launched on the stream, and she went on board of it with some baskets of wicker-work of curious workmanship; she also took with her some sweetmeats into which some poison had been mixed. She snapped her fingers thrice, and uttered the following charm:--

七百の生肉食らいの怪物が滅びたのち、チャンパ・ダルとケーシャヴァティーは花の環を取り交わして夫婦となった。屋敷から出たことのなかった姫は、当然のことに外の世を見たいと言った。二人は毎日、朝も夕もゆっくり歩きにゆくようになり、すぐそばに大きな川があったので、ケーシャヴァティーはそこで水を浴びたいと思った。初めて水浴びに行った日、ケーシャヴァティーの髪の毛が一本抜けた。女は髪の毛を何かに添えずに捨てないのが習わしなので、姫はその髪を水に浮かんでいた貝に結びつけた。それから二人は家へ帰った。そのあいだに髪を結びつけた貝は流れを下り、やがてサハスラ・ダルとその仲間たちがいつも水を浴びるあのガート [13] にたどり着いた。貝はサハスラ・ダルと友らが水を浴びているところを通り過ぎた。少し離れたところにそれを見て、彼は仲間に言った。「あの貝をつかまえた者には百ルピーの褒美をやろう」。みなが貝のほうへ泳ぎ、いちばん泳ぎの速いサハスラ・ダルがつかまえた。調べてみると髪の毛が一本結びつけてある。だがその髪の毛ときたら! あれほど長い髪は見たことがなかった。きっかり七キュビットもあった。「この髪の持ち主はただならぬ女にちがいない。ぜひ会わねばならぬ」——それがサハスラ・ダルの決意だった。彼は物思いに沈んで川から帰り、朝餉に後宮へ行かず、宮殿の外まわりにとどまっていた。太后はサハスラ・ダルが憂い顔で朝餉にも来ないと聞いて、彼のもとへ行きわけを尋ねた。彼は髪を見せ、この髪が飾っていた頭の持ち主にぜひ会わねばならぬと言った。太后は言った。「よろしい、その女をできるだけ早く宮殿に迎えましょう。ここへ連れてくると約束します」。太后は、才覚に満ちていると見込んでいたお気に入りの侍女——変装したラクシャシーその人である——に、七キュビットの髪の持ち主である女をできるだけ早く宮殿へ連れてくるようにと命じた。侍女は、きっと連れてこられますと答えた。その指図で、ハジョルの木の舟が造られ、櫂はモン・パバンの木で作られた。舟は流れに浮かべられ、侍女は妙なる細工の柳籠をいくつか積んで乗り込んだ。毒を混ぜた菓子も携えていった。そして三度指を鳴らし、次の呪文を唱えた——

"Boat of Hajol! Oars of Mon Paban! Take me to the Ghat, In which Keshavati bathes."

「ハジョルの舟よ! モン・パバンの櫂よ! わたしを連れてゆけ、ケーシャヴァティーの水浴びするガートへ」

No sooner had the words been uttered than the boat flew like lightning over the waters. It went on and on, leaving behind many a town and city. At last it stopped at a bathing-place, which the Rakshasi maid-servant concluded was the bathing ghat of Keshavati. She landed with the sweetmeats in her hand. She went to the gate of the palace, and cried aloud, "O Keshavati! Keshavati! I am your aunt, your mother's sister. I am come to see you, my darling, after so many years. Are you in, Keshavati?" The princess, on hearing these words, came out of her room, and making no doubt that she was her aunt, embraced and kissed her. They both wept rivers of joy--at least the Rakshasi maid-servant did, and Keshavati followed suit through sympathy. Champa Dal also thought that she was the aunt of his newly married wife. They all ate and drank and took rest in the middle of the day. Champa Dal, as was his habit, went to sleep after breakfast. Towards afternoon, the supposed aunt said to Keshavati, "Let us both go to the river and wash ourselves." Keshavati replied, "How can we go now? my husband is sleeping." "Never mind," said the aunt, "let him sleep on; let me put these sweetmeats, that I have brought, near his bedside, that he may eat them when he gets up." They then went to the river-side close to the spot where the boat was. Keshavati, when she saw from some distance the baskets of wicker-work in the boat, said, "Aunt, what beautiful things are those! I wish I could get some of them." "Come, my child, come and look at them; and you can have as many as you like." Keshavati at first refused to go into the boat, but on being pressed by her aunt, she went. The moment they two were on board, the aunt snapped her fingers thrice and said:--

その言葉が唱えられるやいなや、舟は稲妻のように水の上を飛んだ。町も都もいくつもあとに残して進みに進んだ。そしてついに、ラクシャシーの侍女がケーシャヴァティーの水浴びのガートと見定めた場所に止まった。侍女は菓子を手に上陸した。そして宮殿の門へ行き、大声で叫んだ。「おお、ケーシャヴァティー! ケーシャヴァティー! わたしはおまえの叔母、母さまの妹ですよ。長い年月のすえ、おまえに会いに来たのだよ、いとしい子や。ケーシャヴァティー、おいでかい」。姫はこの言葉を聞いて部屋から出てきて、叔母にちがいないと思い込み、抱きしめて口づけした。二人は嬉し涙を川のように流した——少なくともラクシャシーの侍女は流し、ケーシャヴァティーもつられて泣いた。チャンパ・ダルもまた、この女は新妻の叔母だと思った。一同は食べ、飲み、昼のあいだ休んだ。チャンパ・ダルはいつもの癖で、朝餉のあと眠りについた。午後になって、叔母と称する女がケーシャヴァティーに言った。「二人で川へ行って身を清めましょう」。ケーシャヴァティーは答えた。「いま行くわけにはまいりません。夫が眠っておりますもの」。「かまいませんとも」と叔母は言った。「眠らせておおきなさい。持ってきたこの菓子を枕もとに置いておきましょう。起きたら召し上がるように」。そして二人は舟のあるすぐそばの川辺へ行った。ケーシャヴァティーは少し離れたところから舟のなかの柳籠を見て言った。「叔母さま、なんて美しいものでしょう! いくつかいただけたらいいのに」。「おいで、かわいい子や、来てごらんなさい。好きなだけお取りなさい」。ケーシャヴァティーははじめ舟に乗るのを断ったが、叔母にせがまれて乗り込んだ。二人が乗ったとたん、叔母は三度指を鳴らして言った——

"Boat of Hajol! Oars of Mon Paban! Take me to the Ghat, In which Sahasra Dal bathes."

「ハジョルの舟よ! モン・パバンの櫂よ! わたしを連れてゆけ、サハスラ・ダルの水浴びするガートへ」

As soon as these magical words were uttered the boat moved and flew like an arrow over the waters. Keshavati was frightened and began to cry, but the boat went on and on, leaving behind many towns and cities, and in a trice reached the ghat where Sahasra Dal was in the habit of bathing. Keshavati was taken to the palace; Sahasra Dal admired her beauty and the length of her hair; and the ladies of the palace tried their best to comfort her. But she set up a loud cry, and wanted to be taken back to her husband. At last when she saw that she was a captive, she told the ladies of the palace that she had taken a vow that she would not see the face of any strange man for six months. She was then lodged apart from the rest in a small house, the window of which overlooked the road; there she spent the livelong day and also the livelong night--for she had very little sleep--in sighing and weeping.

この呪いの言葉が唱えられるやいなや、舟は動き出し、矢のように水の上を飛んだ。ケーシャヴァティーは怯えて泣きはじめたが、舟は町も都もあとに残して進みに進み、たちまちサハスラ・ダルがいつも水を浴びるガートに着いた。ケーシャヴァティーは宮殿へ連れてゆかれた。サハスラ・ダルはその美しさと髪の長さに感嘆し、宮殿の女たちは懸命に慰めようとした。だが姫は大声で泣き、夫のもとへ帰してくれと求めた。ついに囚われの身だと悟ると、宮殿の女たちに、半年のあいだ見知らぬ男の顔を見ぬという願を立てているのだと告げた。そこで姫はほかの者たちから離れ、窓が道に面した小さな家に住まわされた。そしてそこで、来る日も、そして来る夜も——ほとんど眠らなかったので——ため息と涙のうちに過ごした。

In the meantime when Champa Dal awoke from sleep, he was distracted with grief at not finding his wife. He now thought that the woman, who pretended to be his wife's aunt, was a cheat and an impostor, and that she must have carried away Keshavati. He did not eat the sweetmeats, suspecting they might be poisoned. He threw one of them to a crow which, the moment it ate it, dropped down dead. He was now the more confirmed in his unfavourable opinion of the pretended aunt. Maddened with grief, he rushed out of the house, and determined to go whithersoever his eyes might lead him. Like a madman, always blubbering "O Keshavati! O Keshavati!" he travelled on foot day after day, not knowing whither he went. Six months were spent in this wearisome travelling when, at the end of that period, he reached the capital of Sahasra Dal. He was passing by the palace-gate when the sighs and wailings of a woman sitting at the window of a house, on the road-side, attracted his attention. One moment's look, and they recognised each other. They continued to hold secret communications. Champa Dal heard everything, including the story of her vow, the period of which was to terminate the following day. It is customary, on the fulfilment of a vow, for some learned Brahman to make public recitations of events connected with the vow and the person who makes it. It was settled that Champa Dal should take upon himself the functions of the reciter. Accordingly, next morning, when it was proclaimed by beat of drum that the king wanted a learned Brahman who could recite the story of Keshavati on the fulfilment of her vow, Champa Dal touched the drum and said that he would make the recitation. Next morning a gorgeous assembly was held in the courtyard of the palace under a huge canopy of silk. The old king, Sahasra Dal, all the courtiers and the learned Brahmans of the country, were present there. Keshavati was also there behind a screen that she might not be exposed to the rude gaze of the people. Champa Dal, the reciter, sitting on a dais, began the story of Keshavati, as we have related it, from the beginning, commencing with the words--"There was a poor and half-witted Brahman, etc." As he was going on with the story, the reciter every now and then asked Keshavati behind the screen whether the story was correct; to which question she as often replied, "Quite correct; go on, Brahman." During the recitation of the story the Rakshasi maid-servant grew pale, as she perceived that her real character was discovered; and Sahasra Dal was astonished at the knowledge of the reciter regarding the history of his own life. The moment the story was finished, Sahasra Dal jumped up from his seat, and embracing the reciter, said, "You can be none other than my brother Champa Dal." Then the prince, inflamed with rage, ordered the maid-servant into his presence. A large hole, as deep as the height of a man, was dug in the ground; the maid-servant was put into it in a standing posture; prickly thorn was heaped around her up to the crown of her head: in this wise was the maid-servant buried alive. After this Sahasra Dal and his princess, and Champa Dal and Keshavati, lived happily together many years.

いっぽうチャンパ・ダルは眠りから覚めて、妻がいないのに嘆きで気も狂わんばかりになった。そして、妻の叔母と偽ったあの女はいかさま師で、ケーシャヴァティーを連れ去ったにちがいないと思った。菓子には毒が入っているかもしれぬと疑って食べなかった。一つを烏に投げてやると、烏は食べたとたん落ちて死んだ。これで叔母と称した女への疑いはいよいよ固まった。嘆きに狂い、彼は家を飛び出して、目の向くほうへどこまでも行こうと決めた。狂人のように「おおケーシャヴァティー! おおケーシャヴァティー!」と泣きわめきながら、どこへ行くとも知らず、来る日も来る日も歩きつづけた。この疲れる旅に半年を費やし、その終わりにサハスラ・ダルの都に着いた。宮殿の門のそばを通りかかったとき、道ばたの家の窓辺に坐った女のため息と嘆きが彼の耳を引いた。ひと目見たとたん、二人はたがいを見分けた。そしてひそかに話を交わしつづけた。チャンパ・ダルは何もかも聞いた。姫の願のことも、その期限が翌日で終わることも。願が満ちたときには、学識あるバラモンが、その願と願を立てた者にまつわる出来事を人前で語るのが習わしである。そこで、チャンパ・ダルがその語り手の役を引き受けることになった。そこで翌朝、ケーシャヴァティーの願が満ちるにあたってその物語を語れる学識あるバラモンを王が求めていると太鼓を打って触れが出されたとき、チャンパ・ダルは太鼓に手を触れ、自分が語ろうと申し出た。翌朝、宮殿の中庭に絹の大きな天蓋を張って、豪奢な集まりが開かれた。老いた王、サハスラ・ダル、廷臣たち、国じゅうの学識あるバラモンがそこに集った。ケーシャヴァティーも、人の無遠慮な目にさらされぬよう、幕の陰にいた。語り手チャンパ・ダルは壇に坐り、ケーシャヴァティーの物語を、われらがここに語ってきたとおりに、初めから語りはじめた。その語り出しはこうだった——「あるところに、貧しく少々知恵の足りないバラモンがいた、云々」。語り進めながら、語り手は幕の陰のケーシャヴァティーに、この話に間違いはないかと折々に尋ねた。そのたびに姫は答えた。「まったくそのとおりです。お続けなさい、バラモンさま」。物語が語られるあいだ、ラクシャシーの侍女は、自分の正体が露見したと悟って青ざめた。サハスラ・ダルは、語り手が自分の生涯の出来事をここまで知っていることに驚いた。物語が終わったとたん、サハスラ・ダルは席から飛び上がり、語り手を抱きしめて言った。「そなたはわが弟チャンパ・ダルにほかならぬ」。それから王子は怒りに燃えて、侍女を前に引き出せと命じた。地に人の背丈ほど深い大きな穴が掘られ、侍女は立った姿のままそこへ入れられ、頭のてっぺんまで棘の茨が積み上げられた。こうして侍女は生きたまま埋められた。そののちサハスラ・ダルとその姫、チャンパ・ダルとケーシャヴァティーは、長い年月を仲よく幸せに暮らした。

Thus my story endeth, The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc.

こうしてわたしの話はおしまい。ナティヤの棘は枯れゆく、云々。