A Ghostly Wife

Once on a time there lived a Brahman who had married a wife, and who lived in the same house with his mother. Near his house was a tank, on the embankment of which stood a tree, on the boughs of which lived a ghost of the kind called Sankchinni. [30] One night the Brahman's wife had occasion to go to the tank, and as she went she brushed by a Sankchinni who stood near; on which the she-ghost got very angry with the woman, seized her by the throat, climbed into her tree, and thrust her into a hole in the trunk. There the woman lay almost dead with fear. The ghost put on the clothes of the woman and went into the house of the Brahman. Neither the Brahman nor his mother had any inkling of the change. The Brahman thought his wife returned from the tank, and the mother thought that it was her daughter-in-law. Next morning the mother-in-law discovered some change in her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law, she knew, was constitutionally weak and languid, and took a long time to do the work of the house. But she had apparently become quite a different person. All of a sudden she had become very active. She now did the work of the house in an incredibly short time. Suspecting nothing, the old woman said nothing either to her son or to her daughter-in-law; on the contrary, she inly rejoiced that her daughter-in-law had turned over a new leaf. But her surprise became every day greater and greater. The cooking of the household was done in much less time than before. When the mother-in-law wanted the daughter-in-law to bring anything from the next room, it was brought in much less time than was required in walking from one room to the other. The ghost, instead of going inside the next room, would stretch a long arm--for ghosts can lengthen or shorten any limb of their bodies--from the door and get the thing. One day the old woman observed the ghost doing this. She ordered her to bring a vessel from some distance, and the ghost unconsciously stretched her hand to several yards' distance, and brought it in a trice. The old woman was struck with wonder at the sight. She said nothing to her, but spoke to her son. Both mother and son began to watch the ghost more narrowly. One day the old woman knew that there was no fire in the house, and she knew also that her daughter-in-law had not gone out of doors to get it; and yet, strange to say, the hearth in the kitchen-room was quite in a blaze. She went in, and, to her infinite surprise, found that her daughter-in-law was not using any fuel for cooking, but had thrust into the oven her foot, which was blazing brightly. The old mother told her son what she had seen, and they both concluded that the young woman in the house was not his real wife but a she-ghost. The son witnessed those very acts of the ghost which his mother had seen. An Ojha [31] was therefore sent for. The exorcist came, and wanted in the first instance to ascertain whether the woman was a real woman or a ghost. For this purpose he lighted a piece of turmeric and set it below the nose of the supposed woman. Now this was an infallible test, as no ghost, whether male or female, can put up with the smell of burnt turmeric. The moment the lighted turmeric was taken near her, she screamed aloud and ran away from the room. It was now plain that she was either a ghost or a woman possessed by a ghost. The woman was caught hold of by main force and asked who she was. At first she refused to make any disclosures, on which the Ojha took up his slippers and began belabouring her with them. Then the ghost said with a strong nasal accent--for all ghosts speak through the nose--that she was a Sankchinni, that she lived on a tree by the side of the tank, that she had seized the young Brahmani and put her in the hollow of her tree because one night she had touched her, and that if any person went to the hole the woman would be found. The woman was brought from the tree almost dead; the ghost was again shoebeaten, after which process, on her declaring solemnly that she would not again do any harm to the Brahman and his family, she was released from the spell of the Ojha and sent away; and the wife of the Brahman recovered slowly. After which the Brahman and his wife lived many years happily together and begat many sons and daughters.

むかしむかし、妻を娶り、母と同じ家に住んでいた一人のバラモンがいた。家の近くに溜め池があり、その堤に一本の木が立っていて、その枝にはサンクチンニと呼ばれる類の女の亡霊が住んでいた。[30] ある夜、バラモンの妻が溜め池へ行く用があり、通りしなに、そばに立っていたサンクチンニをかすめてしまった。それで女の亡霊はひどく腹を立て、妻の喉をつかんで木によじ登り、幹の洞へ押し込んだ。妻は恐ろしさのあまり半ば死んだようになって、そこに横たわっていた。亡霊は妻の着物をまとってバラモンの家に入った。バラモンも母も、入れ替わりにはまるで気づかなかった。バラモンは妻が溜め池から戻ったと思い、母は嫁が帰ったと思った。翌朝、姑は嫁の様子が変わったことに気づいた。嫁はもともと体が弱く物憂げで、家の仕事にひどく手間取るのを姑は知っていた。ところが見るからに別人のようになっている。急にきびきびと働くようになったのだ。信じられぬほど短い時間で家の仕事を片づけてしまう。姑は何も疑わず、息子にも嫁にも何も言わなかった。それどころか、嫁が心を入れ替えたのだと内心喜んでいた。しかし驚きは日ごとに大きくなっていった。炊事にかかる時間は以前よりずっと短い。姑が隣の部屋から何か持ってくるように言いつけると、部屋から部屋へ歩くのに要る時間よりもずっと早く持ってくる。亡霊は隣の部屋へ入る代わりに、戸口から長い腕を伸ばして——亡霊は体のどの部分でも伸ばしたり縮めたりできるのだ——それを取っていたのである。ある日、姑は亡霊がそうするのを見てしまった。少し離れたところから器を持ってくるように命じると、亡霊はうっかり何ヤードも手を伸ばし、一瞬で持ってきた。姑はその光景に肝をつぶした。嫁には何も言わず、息子に話した。母と息子は、亡霊をより注意深く見張りはじめた。ある日、姑は家に火の気がないことを知っており、嫁が火をもらいに外へ出ていないことも知っていた。それなのに、不思議なことに台所の炉は赤々と燃えている。入ってみると、驚いたことに嫁は炊事に薪をまるで使わず、竈に自分の足を突っ込んでいて、それが明るく燃えていた。老いた母が見たままを息子に告げ、二人は、家にいる若い女は本当の妻ではなく女の亡霊だという結論に達した。息子も、母が見たのと同じ振る舞いを目の当たりにした。そこでオージャー(祈祷師)が呼ばれた。[31] 祈祷師が来て、まずこの女が本当の女なのか亡霊なのかを確かめようとした。そのために、ウコンの一片に火をつけ、女とされているものの鼻の下に差し出した。これは絶対に外れぬ試しであった。男であれ女であれ、亡霊はウコンの焼ける匂いに耐えられないからである。火のついたウコンが近づけられた瞬間、女は金切り声をあげて部屋から逃げ出した。これで、女が亡霊であるか、亡霊に憑かれた女であるかが明らかになった。女は力ずくで捕らえられ、何者かと問われた。はじめは何も明かそうとしなかったが、そこでオージャーは履物を取り上げ、それで女を打ちはじめた。すると亡霊は、強い鼻声で——亡霊はみな鼻から声を出すのだ——こう言った。自分はサンクチンニであり、溜め池のそばの木に住んでいる。ある夜あの若いバラモンの妻に触れられたので、彼女を捕らえて木の洞に押し込んだ。あの洞へ行けば女は見つかるだろう、と。妻は木から連れ出されたときには半ば死んだようであった。亡霊はふたたび履物で打たれ、その後、二度とバラモンとその家族に害をなさぬと厳かに誓ったので、オージャーの術から解かれて追い払われた。そしてバラモンの妻はゆっくりと回復した。その後、バラモンと妻は長年ともに幸せに暮らし、多くの息子と娘をもうけた。

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

ここでわたしの話はおしまい。ナティヤの棘は枯れゆく、云々。