The Mirror of Matsuyama a Story of Old Japan

Long years ago in old Japan there lived in the Province of Echigo, a very remote part of Japan even in these days, a man and his wife. When this story begins they had been married for some years and were blessed with one little daughter. She was the joy and pride of both their lives, and in her they stored an endless source of happiness for their old age.

遠いむかし、古い日本の越後の国——今でも日本のたいそう辺鄙な土地である——に、一組の夫婦が住んでいた。この話の始まるころ、二人は結婚して何年かたっていて、小さな娘を一人授かっていた。娘は二人の生涯の喜びであり誇りであり、二人はこの子に、老いの日のための尽きることのない幸せの源を蓄えていた。

What golden letter days in their memory were these that had marked her growing up from babyhood; the visit to the temple when she was just thirty days old, her proud mother carrying her, robed in ceremonial kimono, to be put under the patronage of the family’s household god; then her first dolls festival, when her parents gave her a set of dolls and their miniature belongings, to be added to as year succeeded year; and perhaps the most important occasion of all, on her third birthday, when her first OBI (broad brocade sash) of scarlet and gold was tied round her small waist, a sign that she had crossed the threshold of girlhood and left infancy behind. Now that she was seven years of age, and had learned to talk and to wait upon her parents in those several little ways so dear to the hearts of fond parents, their cup of happiness seemed full. There could not be found in the whole of the Island Empire a happier little family.

娘が赤子から育っていくあいだに刻まれた、二人の記憶のなかの黄金の日々よ。生まれてちょうど三十日目の宮参りには、誇らしげな母が晴れ着を着せた娘を抱いて、家の氏神の加護のもとに置いた。それから初めての雛祭りには、両親が雛人形とその小さな道具ひとそろいを贈り、それは年を追うごとに増えていった。そしておそらく何より大切な日は三つの誕生日で、緋と金の初めての帯(幅の広い錦の帯)がその小さな腰に結ばれた。それは娘が女の子の敷居をまたぎ、赤子であることをあとにしたしるしであった。今や七つになり、話すことも、親の心にうれしいあれこれの小さなやり方で親に仕えることも覚えて、二人の幸せの杯は満ちたかに見えた。この島国じゅうを探しても、これほど幸せな小さな一家は見つからなかったろう。

One day there was much excitement in the home, for the father had been suddenly summoned to the capital on business. In these days of railways and jinrickshas and other rapid modes of traveling, it is difficult to realize what such a journey as that from Matsuyama to Kyoto meant. The roads were rough and bad, and ordinary people had to walk every step of the way, whether the distance were one hundred or several hundred miles. Indeed, in those days it was as great an undertaking to go up to the capital as it is for a Japanese to make a voyage to Europe now.

ある日、家のなかは大騒ぎになった。父が急に用事で都へ召し出されたからである。汽車や人力車やそのほか速い旅の手だてのある今の世では、松山から京都への旅がどれほどのことか、思い描くのは難しい。道は荒れて悪く、並みの人々は一歩ずつ歩かねばならなかった。その道のりが百マイルであろうと数百マイルであろうと同じである。まことに当時、都へ上ることは、今の日本人がヨーロッパへ渡るのと同じくらいの大事であった。

So the wife was very anxious while she helped her husband get ready for the long journey, knowing what an arduous task lay before him. Vainly she wished that she could accompany him, but the distance was too great for the mother and child to go, and besides that, it was the wife’s duty to take care of the home.

それで妻は、長い旅の支度を手伝いながらたいそう心配していた。夫の前にどれほど骨の折れる務めが待っているかを知っていたからである。一緒に行けたらとむなしく願ったが、母と子が行くには道のりが遠すぎたし、そのうえ家を守るのは妻の務めであった。

All was ready at last, and the husband stood in the porch with his little family round him.

とうとう支度が整い、夫は玄関に立って小さな家族に囲まれていた。

“Do not be anxious, I will come back soon,” said the man. “While I am away take care of everything, and especially of our little daughter.”

「案ずるな、すぐに帰ってくる」と男は言った。「留守のあいだ、何もかも、とりわけ娘のことを頼む。」

“Yes, we shall be all right—but you—you must take care of yourself and delay not a day in coming back to us,” said the wife, while the tears fell like rain from her eyes.

「はい、わたしたちは大丈夫です——けれどもあなたは、あなたこそお体を大事にして、一日も遅れずに帰ってきてくださいませ」と妻は言い、その目からは雨のように涙が落ちた。

The little girl was the only one to smile, for she was ignorant of the sorrow of parting, and did not know that going to the capital was at all different from walking to the next village, which her father did very often. She ran to his side, and caught hold of his long sleeve to keep him a moment.

ただ一人笑っていたのは小さな娘だった。別れの悲しみを知らず、都へ行くことが、父がしょっちゅう歩いていく隣の村へ行くのと何か違うとは思わなかったからである。娘は父のそばへ駆け寄り、長い袖をつかんでひととき引きとめた。

“Father, I will be very good while I am waiting for you to come back, so please bring me a present.”

「父上、帰ってくるのを待つあいだ、とてもよい子にしています。だからお土産を持ってきてください。」

As the father turned to take a last look at his weeping wife and smiling, eager child, he felt as if some one were pulling him back by the hair, so hard was it for him to leave them behind, for they had never been separated before. But he knew that he must go, for the call was imperative. With a great effort he ceased to think, and resolutely turning away he went quickly down the little garden and out through the gate. His wife, catching up the child in her arms, ran as far as the gate, and watched him as he went down the road between the pines till he was lost in the haze of the distance and all she could see was his quaint peaked hat, and at last that vanished too.

父は、泣いている妻と、微笑んで目を輝かせる子を最後にひと目見ようと振り返ったとき、誰かに髪をつかんで引き戻されるように感じた。二人を置いていくのがそれほど辛かったのである。今まで離れたことがなかったからだ。けれども行かねばならぬと分かっていた。その召しは断れぬものだった。大きな努力をして考えるのをやめ、きっぱりと背を向けて、小さな庭を足早に下り、門から出ていった。妻は子を腕に抱き上げて門まで走り、夫が松のあいだの道を下っていって、遠くの霞に消えるまで見送った。最後に見えたのは、あの風変わりな尖った笠だけで、とうとうそれも消えてしまった。

“Now father has gone, you and I must take care of everything till he comes back,” said the mother, as she made her way back to the house.

「さあ、父上が行ってしまわれた。帰ってくるまで、おまえとわたしで何もかも守らねばね」と母は家へ戻りながら言った。

“Yes, I will be very good,” said the child, nodding her head, “and when father comes home please tell him how good I have been, and then perhaps he will give me a present.”

「はい、とてもよい子にします」と子はうなずいて言った。「そして父上が帰ってきたら、わたしがどんなによい子だったか話してください。そうすればきっとお土産をくださるでしょう。」

“Father is sure to bring you something that you want very much. I know, for I asked him to bring you a doll. You must think of father every day, and pray for a safe journey till he comes back.”

「父上はきっと、おまえの欲しいものを持ってきてくださるよ。知っているのだよ、お人形を買ってきてくださいとお願いしたからね。毎日父上のことを思って、帰ってくるまで道中のご無事をお祈りするのですよ。」

“O, yes, when he comes home again how happy I shall be,” said the child, clapping her hands, and her face growing bright with joy at the glad thought. It seemed to the mother as she looked at the child’s face that her love for her grew deeper and deeper.

「ああ、はい。父上が帰ってきたら、わたしはどんなに幸せでしょう」と子は手を打って言い、そのうれしい思いにその顔は喜びで明るくなった。母には、子の顔を見ていると、この子への愛がますます深くなっていくように思われた。

Then she set to work to make the winter clothes for the three of them. She set up her simple wooden spinning-wheel and spun the thread before she began to weave the stuffs. In the intervals of her work she directed the little girl’s games and taught her to read the old stories of her country. Thus did the wife find consolation in work during the lonely days of her husband’s absence. While the time was thus slipping quickly by in the quiet home, the husband finished his business and returned.

それから母は、三人の冬の着物を作る仕事にかかった。素朴な木の糸車を据えて糸を紡ぎ、それから布を織りはじめた。仕事の合間には、小さな娘の遊びを導き、この国の古い物語を読むことを教えた。こうして妻は、夫の留守の寂しい日々を仕事に慰めを見いだして過ごした。静かな家でこうして時が足早に過ぎていくあいだに、夫は用を済ませて帰ってきた。

It would have been difficult for any one who did not know the man well to recognize him. He had traveled day after day, exposed to all weathers, for about a month altogether, and was sunburnt to bronze, but his fond wife and child knew him at a glance, and flew to meet him from either side, each catching hold of one of his sleeves in their eager greeting. Both the man and his wife rejoiced to find each other well. It seemed a very long time to all till—the mother and child helping—his straw sandals were untied, his large umbrella hat taken off, and he was again in their midst in the old familiar sitting-room that had been so empty while he was away.

よく知らぬ者には、その人だと見分けるのは難しかったろう。全部でひと月ほど、日ごとにあらゆる天気にさらされて旅をし、日に焼けて銅色になっていた。けれども慕う妻と子はひと目で分かり、両側から駆け寄って、はやる挨拶にそれぞれ片方の袖をつかんだ。夫も妻も、互いの無事を見て喜んだ。母と子が手伝って草鞋の紐を解き、大きな笠を取り、夫が留守のあいだあんなにも空虚だったあの見慣れた居間にふたたび三人そろうまでが、三人にはたいそう長く感じられた。

As soon as they had sat down on the white mats, the father opened a bamboo basket that he had brought in with him, and took out a beautiful doll and a lacquer box full of cakes.

白い畳に腰を下ろすとすぐ、父は持ち込んできた竹の籠を開けて、美しい人形と、菓子の詰まった蒔絵の箱を取り出した。

“Here,” he said to the little girl, “is a present for you. It is a prize for taking care of mother and the house so well while I was away.”

「ほら」と父は小さな娘に言った。「これはおまえへの土産だ。わたしの留守のあいだ、母と家をよく守ってくれた褒美だぞ。」

“Thank you,” said the child, as she bowed her head to the ground, and then put out her hand just like a little maple leaf with its eager wide-spread fingers to take the doll and the box, both of which, coming from the capital, were prettier than anything she had ever seen. No words can tell how delighted the little girl was—her face seemed as if it would melt with joy, and she had no eyes and no thought for anything else.

「ありがとうございます」と子は言って地に頭をつけ、それから、指を広げた小さな楓の葉のような手を差し出して、人形と箱を受け取った。どちらも都から来たもので、今まで見たどんなものより美しかった。小さな娘がどれほど喜んだかは言葉では言えない——その顔は喜びで溶けてしまいそうで、ほかのものは目にも心にも入らなかった。

Again the husband dived into the basket, and brought out this time a square wooden box, carefully tied up with red and white string, and handing it to his wife, said:

夫はふたたび籠に手を入れ、こんどは赤と白の紐で丁寧に結わえた四角い木の箱を取り出して、妻に手渡しながら言った。

“And this is for you.”

「そしてこれはおまえにだ。」

The wife took the box, and opening it carefully took out a metal disk with a handle attached. One side was bright and shining like a crystal, and the other was covered with raised figures of pine-trees and storks, which had been carved out of its smooth surface in lifelike reality. Never had she seen such a thing in her life, for she had been born and bred in the rural province of Echigo. She gazed into the shining disk, and looking up with surprise and wonder pictured on her face, she said:

妻は箱を受け取り、丁寧に開けて、柄のついた金属の円盤を取り出した。片面は水晶のように明るく輝き、もう一方の面には松と鶴の浮き彫りがあって、そのなめらかな面から生き写しのように彫り出されていた。こんなものは生まれてこのかた見たことがなかった。越後の田舎の国に生まれ育ったからである。妻は輝く円盤をのぞき込み、驚きと不思議を顔に浮かべて見上げ、こう言った。

“I see somebody looking at me in this round thing! What is it that you have given me?”

「この丸いもののなかから、誰かがわたしを見ています! いったい何をくださったのですか。」

The husband laughed and said:

夫は笑って言った。

“Why, it is your own face that you see. What I have brought you is called a mirror, and whoever looks into its clear surface can see their own form reflected there. Although there are none to be found in this out of the way place, yet they have been in use in the capital from the most ancient times. There the mirror is considered a very necessary requisite for a woman to possess. There is an old proverb that ‘As the sword is the soul of a samurai, so is the mirror the soul of a woman,’ and according to popular tradition, a woman’s mirror is an index to her own heart—if she keeps it bright and clear, so is her heart pure and good. It is also one of the treasures that form the insignia of the Emperor. So you must lay great store by your mirror, and use it carefully.”

「なに、おまえが見ているのはおまえ自身の顔だ。わたしが持ってきたのは鏡というもので、その澄んだ面をのぞく者は誰でも、自分の姿がそこに映っているのが見える。こんな辺鄙な場所には一つもないが、都ではたいそう古い時代から使われている。あちらでは、鏡は女が持つべきたいそう大切なものと考えられているのだ。『刀は侍の魂、鏡は女の魂』という古い諺があって、世に伝わるところでは、女の鏡はその心を映すものなのだという——明るく澄ませておけば、その心もまた清らかで善良なのだ、と。鏡はまた、帝の御しるしをなす宝のひとつでもある。だからおまえもこの鏡を大切にして、心して使うのだよ。」

The wife listened to all her husband told her, and was pleased at learning so much that was new to her. She was still more pleased at the precious gift—his token of remembrance while he had been away.

妻は夫の言うことをみな聞いて、自分の知らなかったことをこれほど多く学べたのを喜んだ。そしてこの貴い贈り物——留守のあいだ自分を思っていてくれたしるし——をいっそう喜んだ。

“If the mirror represents my soul, I shall certainly treasure it as a valuable possession, and never will I use it carelessly.” Saying so, she lifted it as high as her forehead, in grateful acknowledgment of the gift, and then shut it up in its box and put it away.

「鏡がわたしの魂を表すのなら、これはきっと大切な宝として扱い、決してぞんざいには使いますまい。」そう言って、妻は贈り物への感謝のしるしにそれを額の高さまで押しいただき、それから箱に収めてしまっておいた。

The wife saw that her husband was very tired, and set about serving the evening meal and making everything as comfortable as she could for him. It seemed to the little family as if they had not known what true happiness was before, so glad were they to be together again, and this evening the father had much to tell of his journey and of all he had seen at the great capital.

妻は夫がたいそう疲れているのを見て、夕餉の支度にかかり、できるかぎり心地よく過ごせるように整えた。この小さな一家には、これまで本当の幸せというものを知らなかったかのように思われた。ふたたび一緒になれたのがそれほどうれしかったのである。そしてその晩、父は旅のこと、大きな都で見てきたことを、話しきれぬほど語った。

Time passed away in the peaceful home, and the parents saw their fondest hopes realized as their daughter grew from childhood into a beautiful girl of sixteen. As a gem of priceless value is held in its proud owner’s hand, so had they reared her with unceasing love and care: and now their pains were more than doubly rewarded. What a comfort she was to her mother as she went about the house taking her part in the housekeeping, and how proud her father was of her, for she daily reminded him of her mother when he had first married her.

穏やかな家で時は過ぎ、両親は娘が幼子から十六の美しい娘へと育つのを見て、最も深い望みが叶うのを見た。値のつけようもない宝玉が誇らしげな持ち主の手に握られるように、二人は絶えぬ愛と心配りで娘を育てた。そして今、その苦労は倍にも増して報われた。娘は家のことを引き受けて立ち働き、母にとってどれほどの慰めであったことか。父はどれほど誇らしかったことか。娘は日ごと、初めて妻を迎えたころの母の姿を父に思い出させたのである。

But, alas! in this world nothing lasts forever. Even the moon is not always perfect in shape, but loses its roundness with time, and flowers bloom and then fade. So at last the happiness of this family was broken up by a great sorrow. The good and gentle wife and mother was one day taken ill.

けれども、ああ! この世に永遠に続くものはない。月でさえいつも満ちているわけではなく、時とともに丸さを失い、花は咲いてやがてしぼむ。こうしてとうとう、この一家の幸せは大きな悲しみによって破られた。善良で優しい妻であり母である人が、ある日病にかかったのである。

In the first days of her illness the father and daughter thought that it was only a cold, and were not particularly anxious. But the days went by and still the mother did not get better; she only grew worse, and the doctor was puzzled, for in spite of all he did the poor woman grew weaker day by day. The father and daughter were stricken with grief, and day or night the girl never left her mother’s side. But in spite of all their efforts the woman’s life was not to be saved.

病の初めのころ、父と娘はただの風邪だと思って、さして案じていなかった。けれども日が過ぎても母はよくならず、悪くなるばかりで、医者も首をひねった。何をしても哀れな女は日ごとに弱っていったからである。父と娘は悲しみに打ちひしがれ、娘は昼も夜も母のそばを離れなかった。けれども力を尽くしても、この人の命を救うことはできなかった。

One day as the girl sat near her mother’s bed, trying to hide with a cheery smile the gnawing trouble at her heart, the mother roused herself and taking her daughter’s hand, gazed earnestly and lovingly into her eyes. Her breath was labored and she spoke with difficulty:

ある日、娘が母の床のそばに座り、胸を蝕む苦しみを明るい微笑みで隠そうとしていると、母が身を起こし、娘の手を取って、その目を切なくいとおしげに見つめた。息は苦しく、話すのも難しかった。

“My daughter. I am sure that nothing can save me now. When I am dead, promise me to take care of your dear father and to try to be a good and dutiful woman.”

「わが娘よ。もう何をしても母は助かるまい。母が死んだら、大切な父上の世話をして、善良で孝行な女になるようにつとめると約束しておくれ。」

“Oh, mother,” said the girl as the tears rushed to her eyes, “you must not say such things. All you have to do is to make haste and get well—that will bring the greatest happiness to father and myself.”

「ああ、母上」と娘は涙をあふれさせて言った。「そんなことをおっしゃらないでください。母上はただ早くよくなってくださればよいのです——それこそが父上とわたしにいちばんの幸せをもたらすのですから。」

“Yes, I know, and it is a comfort to me in my last days to know how greatly you long for me to get better, but it is not to be. Do not look so sorrowful, for it was so ordained in my previous state of existence that I should die in this life just at this time; knowing this, I am quite resigned to my fate. And now I have something to give you whereby to remember me when I am gone.”

「そうだね、分かっているよ。おまえがどれほど母によくなってほしいと願っているかを知るのは、この最期の日々の慰めです。けれどもそうはならぬのです。そんなに悲しい顔をおしでない。母がこの世でちょうど今死ぬことは、前の世で定められていたのだから。そう知っているから、母はこの定めをすっかり受け入れています。さて、母が逝ったあとに母を思い出すよすがとして、おまえに渡したいものがあります。」

Putting her hand out, she took from the side of the pillow a square wooden box tied up with a silken cord and tassels. Undoing this very carefully, she took out of the box the mirror that her husband had given her years ago.

母は手を伸ばして、枕もとから絹の紐と房で結わえた四角い木の箱を取った。たいそう丁寧にそれを解いて、箱のなかから、何年も前に夫がくれたあの鏡を取り出した。

“When you were still a little child your father went up to the capital and brought me back as a present this treasure; it is called a mirror. This I give you before I die. If, after I have ceased to be in this life, you are lonely and long to see me sometimes, then take out this mirror and in the clear and shining surface you will always see me—so will you be able to meet with me often and tell me all your heart; and though I shall not be able to speak, I shall understand and sympathize with you, whatever may happen to you in the future.” With these words the dying woman handed the mirror to her daughter.

「おまえがまだ小さな子どもだったころ、父上が都へ上って、この宝を土産に母に持ち帰ってくださった。これは鏡というものです。母が死ぬ前に、これをおまえに渡します。母がこの世を去ったのち、おまえが寂しくて、ときおり母に会いたくなったら、この鏡を取り出しなさい。その澄んで輝く面に、いつも母が見えるでしょう——そうすればおまえは幾度でも母に会って、心のうちをみな話せます。母は口をきけずとも、この先おまえに何が起ころうと、分かって、心を寄せていますからね。」こう言って、死にゆく女は鏡を娘に手渡した。

The mind of the good mother seemed to be now at rest, and sinking back without another word her spirit passed quietly away that day.

善良な母の心は、これで安らいだようであった。それきりひと言も言わずに沈み込み、その魂はその日、静かに去っていった。

The bereaved father and daughter were wild with grief, and they abandoned themselves to their bitter sorrow. They felt it to be impossible to take leave of the loved woman who till now had filled their whole lives and to commit her body to the earth. But this frantic burst of grief passed, and then they took possession of their own hearts again, crushed though they were in resignation. In spite of this the daughter’s life seemed to her desolate. Her love for her dead mother did not grow less with time, and so keen was her remembrance, that everything in daily life, even the falling of the rain and the blowing of the wind, reminded her of her mother’s death and of all that they had loved and shared together. One day when her father was out, and she was fulfilling her household duties alone, her loneliness and sorrow seemed more than she could bear. She threw herself down in her mother’s room and wept as if her heart would break. Poor child, she longed just for one glimpse of the loved face, one sound of the voice calling her pet name, or for one moment’s forgetfulness of the aching void in her heart. Suddenly she sat up. Her mother’s last words had rung through her memory hitherto dulled by grief.

残された父と娘は悲しみに我を忘れ、苦い嘆きに身を委ねた。今まで二人の生涯を満たしてくれた愛する人に別れを告げ、その体を土に委ねることは、とてもできそうになかった。けれどもこの激しい悲しみの発作も過ぎ、二人は打ちひしがれながらも、あきらめのうちに自分の心を取り戻した。それでも娘には、自分の暮らしが荒れ果てたものに思えた。死んだ母への愛は時とともに薄れることなく、思い出はあまりに鮮やかで、日々のどんなことも、雨が降ることも風が吹くことさえも、母の死と、二人が愛しともに過ごしたすべてを思い出させた。ある日、父が出かけていて、娘が一人で家の務めを果たしていると、その寂しさと悲しみが、とても耐えられぬほどに思われた。娘は母の部屋に身を投げ出し、胸が張り裂けるように泣いた。哀れな子は、ただひと目、愛する顔を見たかった。ひと声、自分の愛称を呼ぶ声を聞きたかった。ひとときでも胸のうずく虚ろを忘れたかった。突然、娘は身を起こした。悲しみに鈍っていた記憶のなかを、母の最期の言葉が響きわたったのである。

“Oh! my mother told me when she gave me the mirror as a parting gift, that whenever I looked into it I should be able to meet her—to see her. I had nearly forgotten her last words—how stupid I am; I will get the mirror now and see if it can possibly be true!”

「ああ! 母上は別れの贈り物に鏡をくださったとき、のぞけばいつでも母上に会える——母上が見えるとおっしゃった。あの最期の言葉をほとんど忘れていたなんて——わたしはなんて愚かなのだろう。いま鏡を出して、本当かどうか見てみよう!」

She dried her eyes quickly, and going to the cupboard took out the box that contained the mirror, her heart beating with expectation as she lifted the mirror out and gazed into its smooth face. Behold, her mother’s words were true! In the round mirror before her she saw her mother’s face; but, oh, the joyful surprise! It was not her mother thin and wasted by illness, but the young and beautiful woman as she remembered her far back in the days of her own earliest childhood. It seemed to the girl that the face in the mirror must soon speak, almost that she heard the voice of her mother telling her again to grow up a good woman and a dutiful daughter, so earnestly did the eyes in the mirror look back into her own.

娘は急いで涙をぬぐい、戸棚へ行って鏡の入った箱を取り出し、期待に胸を高鳴らせながら鏡を持ち上げて、そのなめらかな面をのぞき込んだ。見よ、母の言葉は本当だった! 目の前の丸い鏡のなかに、母の顔が見えたのである。それも、ああ、なんという喜ばしい驚き! それは病にやつれ痩せた母ではなく、自分がいちばん幼かったころの、遠い日の記憶にある若く美しい母であった。娘には、鏡のなかの顔が今にも口をききそうに思われた。いや、また善良な女、孝行な娘に育つようにと告げる母の声が聞こえるほどであった。鏡のなかの目が、それほど切に自分の目を見返していたからである。

“It is certainly my mother’s soul that I see. She knows how miserable I am without her and she has come to comfort me. Whenever I long to see her she will meet me here; how grateful I ought to be!”

「これはきっと母上の魂だ。母上は、母上なしでわたしがどれほどみじめかをご存じで、慰めに来てくださったのだ。母上に会いたいと願えばいつでも、ここで会ってくださる。わたしはどれほど感謝すべきだろう!」

And from this time the weight of sorrow was greatly lightened for her young heart. Every morning, to gather strength for the day’s duties before her, and every evening, for consolation before she lay down to rest, did the young girl take out the mirror and gaze at the reflection which in the simplicity of her innocent heart she believed to be her mother’s soul. Daily she grew in the likeness of her dead mother’s character, and was gentle and kind to all, and a dutiful daughter to her father.

そしてこのときから、悲しみの重みはその若い心にとってずいぶん軽くなった。毎朝、その日の務めに立ち向かう力を得るために、そして毎晩、休む前の慰めのために、若い娘は鏡を取り出し、その無垢な心の素朴さから母の魂だと信じていた映る姿を見つめた。娘は日ごとに死んだ母の人柄に似ていき、誰にも優しく親切で、父には孝行な娘となった。

A year spent in mourning had thus passed away in the little household, when, by the advice of his relations, the man married again, and the daughter now found herself under the authority of a step-mother. It was a trying position; but her days spent in the recollection of her own beloved mother, and of trying to be what that mother would wish her to be, had made the young girl docile and patient, and she now determined to be filial and dutiful to her father’s wife, in all respects. Everything went on apparently smoothly in the family for some time under the new regime; there were no winds or waves of discord to ruffle the surface of every-day life, and the father was content.

こうして喪に服する一年がこの小さな家で過ぎたころ、親族の勧めで男はふたたび妻を迎え、娘は継母の下に置かれることになった。それは難しい立場であった。けれども愛する実の母を思い出し、その母が望むであろう者になろうとつとめて過ごした日々が、この若い娘を素直で辛抱強くしていた。娘は今、何事につけ父の妻に孝行に仕えようと心を決めた。しばらくのあいだ、この新しい体制のもとで家のことはすべて順調に運ぶように見えた。日々の暮らしの面を波立たせる不和の風も波もなく、父は満足していた。

But it is a woman’s danger to be petty and mean, and step-mothers are proverbial all the world over, and this one’s heart was not as her first smiles were. As the days and weeks grew into months, the step-mother began to treat the motherless girl unkindly and to try and come between the father and child.

けれども、けちで浅ましくなるのは女の陥りやすいところで、継母というものは世界じゅうで諺になっている。この人の心も、最初の微笑みのようではなかった。日が週になり月になるにつれて、継母は母のないこの娘に冷たく当たり、父と子のあいだを裂こうとしはじめた。

Sometimes she went to her husband and complained of her step-daughter’s behavior, but the father knowing that this was to be expected, took no notice of her ill-natured complaints. Instead of lessening his affection for his daughter, as the woman desired, her grumblings only made him think of her the more. The woman soon saw that he began to show more concern for his lonely child than before. This did not please her at all, and she began to turn over in her mind how she could, by some means or other, drive her step-child out of the house. So crooked did the woman’s heart become.

ときには夫のところへ行って、継娘のふるまいについて不平を言ったが、父はそういうことはあるものだと知っていたので、この意地の悪い不平を取り合わなかった。女が望んだように娘への情が薄れるどころか、そのぐちはかえって父に娘のことをいっそう思わせた。女はまもなく、夫が前にも増して寂しい娘を気にかけはじめたことに気づいた。これはまったく気に入らず、どうにかして継子をこの家から追い出せないものかと思いめぐらしはじめた。女の心はそれほど歪んでしまった。

She watched the girl carefully, and one day peeping into her room in the early morning, she thought she discovered a grave enough sin of which to accuse the child to her father. The woman herself was a little frightened too at what she had seen.

女は娘を注意深く見張っていて、ある日の早朝、その部屋をのぞき込んで、父に娘の罪として訴えるに足る重い咎を見つけたと思った。女自身も、見たものに少し怯えていた。

So she went at once to her husband, and wiping away some false tears she said in a sad voice:

そこですぐに夫のところへ行き、嘘の涙をぬぐいながら悲しげな声で言った。

“Please give me permission to leave you today.”

「どうか今日かぎりお暇をくださいませ。」

The man was completely taken by surprise at the suddenness of her request, and wondered whatever was the matter.

男はこの願いの突然さにすっかり不意を突かれ、いったい何事かといぶかった。

“Do you find it so disagreeable,” he asked, “in my house, that you can stay no longer?”

「わたしの家にいることが」と男は尋ねた。「それほど嫌になって、もういられぬというのか。」

“No! no! it has nothing to do with you—even in my dreams I have never thought that I wished to leave your side; but if I go on living here I am in danger of losing my life, so I think it best for all concerned that you should allow me to go home!”

「いいえ、いいえ! あなたのせいではございません——夢にさえ、あなたのおそばを去りたいと思ったことはございません。けれどもここに住みつづければ、わたしは命を落としかねないのです。ですから、みなのためにも、里へ帰ることをお許しくださるのがいちばんかと存じます!」

And the woman began to weep afresh. Her husband, distressed to see her so unhappy, and thinking that he could not have heard aright, said:

そして女はまた泣きはじめた。夫は妻がこれほど不幸そうなのを見て心を痛め、聞き違いではないかと思って言った。

“Tell me what you mean! How is your life in danger here?”

「どういうことか話しなさい。ここでおまえの命がどうして危ういのだ。」

“I will tell you since you ask me. Your daughter dislikes me as her step-mother. For some time past she has shut herself up in her room morning and evening, and looking in as I pass by, I am convinced that she has made an image of me and is trying to kill me by magic art, cursing me daily. It is not safe for me to stay here, such being the case; indeed, indeed, I must go away, we cannot live under the same roof any more.”

「お尋ねですから申し上げましょう。お嬢さまはわたしを継母として嫌っておいでです。このところしばらく、朝も晩も部屋に閉じこもっておられ、通りがかりにのぞきますと、わたしの形代をこしらえて、日ごとに呪いをかけ、呪術でわたしを殺そうとしておられるとしか思えません。そうである以上、ここにいるのは危のうございます。まことに、まことに、行かねばなりません。もう同じ屋根の下には住めませぬ。」

The husband listened to the dreadful tale, but he could not believe his gentle daughter guilty of such an evil act. He knew that by popular superstition people believed that one person could cause the gradual death of another by making an image of the hated one and cursing it daily; but where had his young daughter learned such knowledge?—the thing was impossible. Yet he remembered having noticed that his daughter stayed much in her room of late and kept herself away from every one, even when visitors came to the house. Putting this fact together with his wife’s alarm, he thought that there might be something to account for the strange story.

夫はこの恐ろしい話を聞いたが、優しい娘がそのような邪な行いをするとはとても信じられなかった。人が憎む相手の形代を作って日ごとに呪えば、じわじわとその者を死に至らしめられる——そう世に信じられていることは知っていた。けれども、若い娘がどこでそんな知識を覚えたというのか——それはありえないことだ。それでも、このところ娘が部屋にこもりがちで、客が来たときでさえ人前に出ようとしないのに気づいていたことを思い出した。この事実を妻の恐れと重ね合わせると、この奇妙な話にも何か根があるのかもしれないと思われた。

His heart was torn between doubting his wife and trusting his child, and he knew not what to do. He decided to go at once to his daughter and try to find out the truth. Comforting his wife and assuring her that her fears were groundless, he glided quietly to his daughter’s room.

男の心は妻を疑うことと子を信じることのあいだで引き裂かれ、どうしてよいか分からなかった。すぐに娘のところへ行って真相を探ろうと決めた。妻を慰め、その恐れは根も葉もないものだと請け合ってから、そっと娘の部屋へ滑っていった。

The girl had for a long time past been very unhappy. She had tried by amiability and obedience to show her goodwill and to mollify the new wife, and to break down that wall of prejudice and misunderstanding that she knew generally stood between step-parents and their step-children. But she soon found that her efforts were in vain. The step-mother never trusted her, and seemed to misinterpret all her actions, and the poor child knew very well that she often carried unkind and untrue tales to her father. She could not help comparing her present unhappy condition with the time when her own mother was alive only a little more than a year ago—so great a change in this short time! Morning and evening she wept over the remembrance. Whenever she could she went to her room, and sliding the screens to, took out the mirror and gazed, as she thought, at her mother’s face. It was the only comfort that she had in these wretched days.

娘はこのところ長いあいだ、たいそう不幸であった。愛想よく従順にふるまって善意を示し、新しい妻の心をやわらげ、継親と継子のあいだにたいてい立ちはだかる偏見と誤解の壁を崩そうとつとめてきた。けれどもまもなく、その努力がむだであることを知った。継母は決して娘を信じず、そのふるまいをすべて曲げて取るようで、哀れな子は、継母がしばしば情け知らずの偽りの話を父に告げていることをよく知っていた。今の不幸な身の上を、実の母が生きていたほんの一年余り前と比べずにはいられなかった——この短いあいだになんという変わりようだろう! 朝も晩も娘はその思い出に泣いた。できるときにはいつも自分の部屋へ行き、襖を閉めて、鏡を取り出して、母の顔だと思うものを見つめた。それがこのみじめな日々における唯一の慰めであった。

Her father found her occupied in this way. Pushing aside the fusama, he saw her bending over something or other very intently. Looking over her shoulder, to see who was entering her room, the girl was surprised to see her father, for he generally sent for her when he wished to speak to her. She was also confused at being found looking at the mirror, for she had never told any one of her mother’s last promise, but had kept it as the sacred secret of her heart. So before turning to her father she slipped the mirror into her long sleeve. Her father noting her confusion, and her act of hiding something, said in a severe manner:

父は娘がこうしているところを見つけた。襖を押し開けると、娘が何かの上に熱心にかがみ込んでいるのが見えた。誰が部屋に入ってきたのかと肩越しに見て、娘は父だったことに驚いた。話があるときには、たいてい呼びに人をよこしたからである。また、鏡を見ているところを見つかって、うろたえもした。母の最期の約束を誰にも話したことがなく、心の聖なる秘密として守ってきたからである。それで父のほうを向く前に、鏡を長い袖のなかへ滑り込ませた。父はその困惑と、何かを隠す仕草に目をとめて、厳しい調子で言った。

“Daughter, what are you doing here? And what is that that you have hidden in your sleeve?”

「娘よ、ここで何をしている。そして袖に隠したものは何だ。」

The girl was frightened by her father’s severity. Never had he spoken to her in such a tone. Her confusion changed to apprehension, her color from scarlet to white. She sat dumb and shamefaced, unable to reply.

娘は父の厳しさに怯えた。こんな調子で話しかけられたことは一度もなかった。困惑は不安に変わり、顔色は緋から白へと変わった。娘は口もきけず恥じ入って座り、答えることができなかった。

Appearances were certainly against her; the young girl looked guilty, and the father thinking that perhaps after all what his wife had told him was true, spoke angrily:

見た目は確かに娘に不利であった。若い娘は後ろ暗いように見え、父は、やはり妻の言ったことは本当だったのかと思って、怒って言った。

“Then, is it really true that you are daily cursing your step-mother and praying for her death? Have you forgotten what I told you, that although she is your step-mother you must be obedient and loyal to her? What evil spirit has taken possession of your heart that you should be so wicked? You have certainly changed, my daughter! What has made you so disobedient and unfaithful?”

「では、おまえが日ごとに継母を呪い、その死を祈っているというのは本当なのか。継母とはいえ従い忠実であれと言ったのを忘れたのか。どんな悪しき霊がおまえの心に取り憑いて、これほど邪なことをさせるのだ。おまえは確かに変わってしまった、わが娘よ! 何がおまえをこれほど不従順で不実にしたのだ。」

And the father’s eyes filled with sudden tears to think that he should have to upbraid his daughter in this way.

そして父の目には、こんなふうに娘を責めねばならぬのかと思って、突然涙があふれた。

She on her part did not know what he meant, for she had never heard of the superstition that by praying over an image it is possible to cause the death of a hated person. But she saw that she must speak and clear herself somehow. She loved her father dearly, and could not bear the idea of his anger. She put out her hand on his knee deprecatingly:

娘のほうは、父が何を言っているのか分からなかった。形代に祈ることで憎い相手を死なせられるという俗信を、聞いたこともなかったからである。けれども、何とか口をきいて身の潔白を示さねばならぬと悟った。父を深く愛していて、その怒りを思うと耐えられなかった。娘は父の膝に手を置いて訴えた。

“Father! father! do not say such dreadful things to me. I am still your obedient child. Indeed, I am. However stupid I may be, I should never be able to curse any one who belonged to you, much less pray for the death of one you love. Surely some one has been telling you lies, and you are dazed, and you know not what you say—or some evil spirit has taken possession of YOUR heart. As for me I do not know—no, not so much as a dew-drop, of the evil thing of which you accuse me.”

「父上! 父上! そんな恐ろしいことをおっしゃらないでください。わたしは今も父上の従順な子でございます。まことにそうなのです。どれほど愚かでありましても、父上に連なる方を呪うことなど決してできません。まして父上の愛される方の死を祈るなど。きっと誰かが父上に偽りを申し上げたのです。それで父上は惑わされ、ご自分の言われることが分からなくなっておいでなのです——あるいは悪しき霊が父上の心に取り憑いたのでしょう。わたしはと申せば、父上がお責めになるその邪なことを、露ほども存じません。」

But the father remembered that she had hidden something away when he first entered the room, and even this earnest protest did not satisfy him. He wished to clear up his doubts once for all.

けれども父は、自分が部屋に入ったとき娘が何かを隠したことを覚えていて、この切な訴えにも満足しなかった。疑いを一度ですっかり晴らしたかったのである。

“Then why are you always alone in your room these days? And tell me what is that that you have hidden in your sleeve—show it to me at once.”

「ではなぜこのところいつも部屋に一人でいる。そして袖に隠したものは何だ——すぐに見せなさい。」

Then the daughter, though shy of confessing how she had cherished her mother’s memory, saw that she must tell her father all in order to clear herself. So she slipped the mirror out from her long sleeve and laid it before him.

そこで娘は、母の思い出をどれほど慈しんできたかを打ち明けるのは恥ずかしかったが、身の潔白を示すには父にすべてを話さねばならぬと悟った。そこで長い袖から鏡を滑り出させ、父の前に置いた。

“This,” she said, “is what you saw me looking at just now.”

「これが」と娘は言った。「いま父上がご覧になった、わたしの見ていたものでございます。」

“Why,” he said in great surprise, “this is the mirror that I brought as a gift to your mother when I went up to the capital many years ago! And so you have kept it all this time? Now, why do you spend so much of your time before this mirror?”

「なんと」と父はたいそう驚いて言った。「これは何年も前にわたしが都へ上ったとき、おまえの母への贈り物に持ち帰った鏡ではないか! ではおまえはこれをずっと持っていたのか。ではなぜ、この鏡の前でそんなに長い時を過ごすのだ。」

Then she told him of her mother’s last words, and of how she had promised to meet her child whenever she looked into the glass. But still the father could not understand the simplicity of his daughter’s character in not knowing that what she saw reflected in the mirror was in reality her own face, and not that of her mother.

そこで娘は母の最期の言葉と、鏡をのぞけばいつでも子に会おうと約束してくれたことを話した。けれども父にはまだ、鏡に映って見えるものが実は自分自身の顔であって母の顔ではないと知らぬ、娘の素朴な心が理解できなかった。

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I do not understand how you can meet the soul of your lost mother by looking in this mirror?”

「どういう意味だ」と父は尋ねた。「この鏡をのぞいて、どうして亡くなった母の魂に会えるのか、わたしには分からぬ。」

“It is indeed true,” said the girl: “and if you don’t believe what I say, look for yourself,” and she placed the mirror before her. There, looking back from the smooth metal disk, was her own sweet face. She pointed to the reflection seriously:

「まことでございます」と娘は言った。「わたしの申すことが信じられぬなら、ご自分でご覧ください。」そう言って鏡を自分の前に置いた。そこには、なめらかな金属の円盤から、自分自身の愛らしい顔が見返していた。娘は真剣にその映る姿を指さした。

“Do you doubt me still?” she asked earnestly, looking up into his face.

「まだわたしをお疑いですか」と娘は切に尋ね、父の顔を見上げた。

With an exclamation of sudden understanding the father smote his two hands together.

突然すべてを悟った父は、声をあげて両の手を打ち合わせた。

“How stupid I am! At last I understand. Your face is as like your mother’s as the two sides of a melon—thus you have looked at the reflection of your face all this time, thinking that you were brought face to face with your lost mother! You are truly a faithful child. It seems at first a stupid thing to have done, but it is not really so, It shows how deep has been your filial piety, and how innocent your heart. Living in constant remembrance of your lost mother has helped you to grow like her in character. How clever it was of her to tell you to do this. I admire and respect you, my daughter, and I am ashamed to think that for one instant I believed your suspicious step-mother’s story and suspected you of evil, and came with the intention of scolding you severely, while all this time you have been so true and good. Before you I have no countenance left, and I beg you to forgive me.”

「わたしはなんと愚かだったのか! やっと分かった。おまえの顔は瓜二つに母の顔と似ている——だからおまえはこのあいだじゅう自分の顔の映りを見て、亡くなった母と顔を合わせているのだと思っていたのだな! おまえはまことに孝行な子だ。初めは愚かなことをしたように見えるが、実はそうではない。それはおまえの孝の心がどれほど深く、その心がどれほど無垢であるかを示している。亡き母をたえず思い出しながら生きることが、おまえをその人柄に似せて育てたのだ。母がおまえにそうせよと言ったのは、なんと賢いことだったろう。わが娘よ、わたしはおまえを立派だと思い、敬う。そしてひとときでもあの疑い深い継母の話を信じ、おまえを邪だと疑って、厳しく叱ろうと思ってここへ来たことを恥じる。このあいだじゅう、おまえはずっとまことに真実で善良だったというのに。おまえの前に合わせる顔もない。どうか許しておくれ。」

And here the father wept. He thought of how lonely the poor girl must have been, and of all that she must have suffered under her step-mother’s treatment. His daughter steadfastly keeping her faith and simplicity in the midst of such adverse circumstances—bearing all her troubles with so much patience and amiability—made him compare her to the lotus which rears its blossom of dazzling beauty out of the slime and mud of the moats and ponds, fitting emblem of a heart which keeps itself unsullied while passing through the world.

そしてここで父は泣いた。この哀れな娘がどれほど寂しかったか、継母の仕打ちのもとでどれほど苦しんだかを思ったのである。こうした逆境のただなかで娘が信と素朴さを固く守り——あらゆる苦しみをあれほどの辛抱と優しさで耐えてきたことが、父に、堀や池の泥と汚れのなかから目もあやな美しい花を掲げる蓮を思わせた。それは、世を渡りながら身を汚されずにいる心にふさわしい姿であった。

The step-mother, anxious to know what would happen, had all this while been standing outside the room. She had grown interested, and had gradually pushed the sliding screen back till she could see all that went on. At this moment she suddenly entered the room, and dropping to the mats, she bowed her head over her outspread hands before her step-daughter.

継母は何が起こるかを知りたくて、このあいだじゅう部屋の外に立っていた。話に引き込まれて、少しずつ襖を押し開けていき、とうとう中の様子がすっかり見えるようになっていた。このとき継母は突然部屋に入ってきて、畳に身を落とし、継娘の前に両手をついて頭を下げた。

“I am ashamed! I am ashamed!” she exclaimed in broken tones. “I did not know what a filial child you were. Through no fault of yours, but with a step-mother’s jealous heart, I have disliked you all the time. Hating you so much myself, it was but natural that I should think you reciprocated the feeling, and thus when I saw you retire so often to your room I followed you, and when I saw you gaze daily into the mirror for long intervals, I concluded that you had found out how I disliked you, and that you were out of revenge trying to take my life by magic art. As long as I live I shall never forget the wrong I have done you in so misjudging you, and in causing your father to suspect you. From this day I throw away my old and wicked heart, and in its place I put a new one, clean and full of repentance. I shall think of you as a child that I have borne myself. I shall love and cherish you with all my heart, and thus try to make up for all the unhappiness I have caused you. Therefore, please throw into the water all that has gone before, and give me, I beg of you, some of the filial love that you have hitherto given to your own lost mother.”

「恥ずかしゅうございます! 恥ずかしゅうございます!」と継母は声を震わせて言った。「あなたがこれほど孝行なお子だとは存じませんでした。あなたには何の咎もないのに、継母の妬みの心から、わたしはずっとあなたを嫌っておりました。自分がこれほど憎んでいるのですから、あなたも同じ気持ちだろうと思うのは当たり前でした。それで、あなたがたびたび部屋に引きこもるのを見てあとをつけ、毎日長いあいだ鏡を見つめておられるのを見て、わたしがあなたを嫌っているのを知って、その仕返しに呪術でわたしの命を取ろうとしているのだと思い込んだのです。生きているかぎり、あなたをこれほど誤解し、父上にあなたを疑わせるという過ちを犯したことを忘れません。きょうからは古い邪な心を捨て、その代わりに清らかで悔い改めに満ちた新しい心を置きます。あなたを自分が産んだ子だと思いましょう。心をこめて愛し慈しみ、これまであなたに与えた不幸を償うようつとめます。ですからどうか、過ぎたことはみな水に流して、これまで亡き母上に注いでこられた孝の心を、どうかいくらかわたしにも分けてくださいませ。」

Thus did the unkind step-mother humble herself and ask forgiveness of the girl she had so wronged.

こうして情け知らずの継母は身を低くして、あれほど不当に扱った娘に許しを乞うた。

Such was the sweetness of the girl’s disposition that she willingly forgave her step-mother, and never bore a moment’s resentment or malice towards her afterwards. The father saw by his wife’s face that she was truly sorry for the past, and was greatly relieved to see the terrible misunderstanding wiped out of remembrance by both the wrong-doer and the wronged.

娘の気立ての優しさは、継母を快く許すほどのもので、その後も一瞬たりとも恨みも悪意も抱かなかった。父は妻の顔を見て、過去をまことに悔いていることを知り、この恐ろしい誤解が、過ちを犯した者にも受けた者にも記憶から拭い去られたのを見て、大いに安堵した。

From this time on, the three lived together as happily as fish in water. No such trouble ever darkened the home again, and the young girl gradually forgot that year of unhappiness in the tender love and care that her step-mother now bestowed on her. Her patience and goodness were rewarded at last.

このときから三人は、水を得た魚のように幸せに暮らした。二度とこのような災いがこの家を暗くすることはなく、若い娘は、継母が今や注いでくれる優しい愛と心配りのなかで、あの不幸な一年を次第に忘れていった。その辛抱と善良さは、ついに報われたのである。