The Fearless Captain

There was formerly a soldier, Yee Man-ji of Yong-nam, a strong and muscular fellow, and brave as a lion. He had green eyes and a terrible countenance. Frequently he said, "Fear! What is fear?" On a certain day when he was in his house a sudden storm of rain came on, when there were flashes of lightning and heavy claps of thunder. At one of them a great ball of fire came tumbling into his home and went rolling over the verandah, through the rooms, into the kitchen and out into the yard, and again into the servants' quarters. Several times it went and came bouncing about. Its blazing light and the accompanying noise made it a thing of terror.

昔、嶺南(ヨンナム)のイ・マンジという兵士がいた。力が強く筋骨たくましく、獅子のように勇敢だった。緑の目をして、恐ろしい面構えをしていた。よく「恐れだと! 恐れとは何だ」と言っていた。ある日、男が家にいると、突然激しい雨が降りだし、稲妻がひらめいて大きな雷鳴がとどろいた。そのひとつで、大きな火の玉が家のなかに転がり込んできて、縁側を転がり、部屋を抜け、台所へ入って庭へ出て、また召し使いの住まいへ入った。何度も火の玉は跳ねまわって行ったり来たりした。そのまばゆい光と、それに伴う音で、恐ろしいものだった。

Yee sat in the outer verandah, wholly undisturbed. He thought to himself, "I have done no wrong, therefore why need I fear the lightning?" A moment later a flash struck the large elm tree in front of the house and smashed it to pieces. The rain then ceased and the thunder likewise.

イは外の縁側に座って、少しも動じなかった。イは心のなかで思った。「わしは何も悪いことをしていない。だから何で稲妻を恐れる必要がある。」次の瞬間、稲妻が家の前の大きな楡の木を打って粉々にした。それから雨がやみ、雷もやんだ。

Yee turned to see how it fared with his family, and found them all fallen senseless. With the greatest of difficulty he had them restored to life. During that year they all fell ill and died, and Yee came to Seoul and became a Captain of the Right Guard. Shortly after he went to North Ham-kyong Province. There he took a second wife and settled down. All his predecessors had died of goblin influences, and the fact that calamity had overtaken them while in the official quarters had caused them to use one of the village houses instead.

イが家族のようすを見ようと振り向くと、みな気を失って倒れていた。やっとのことで家族を正気に戻した。その年のうちに家族はみな病気になって死に、イはソウルに上って右衛の隊長になった。まもなくイは咸鏡北道に赴任した。そこで後妻をめとって腰を落ち着けた。イの前任者はみな化け物の祟りで死んでいて、官舎にいるあいだに災いにあったので、代わりに村の家を使うようになっていた。

Yee, however, determined to live down all fear and go back to the old quarters, which he extensively repaired.

けれどもイは恐れをすっかり打ち消そうと決めて、古い官舎に戻り、それを大がかりに修繕した。

One night his wife was in the inner room while he was alone in the public office with a light burning before him. In the second watch or thereabout, a strange-looking object came out of the inner quarters. It looked like the stump of a tree wrapped in black sackcloth. There was no outline or definite shape to it, and it came jumping along and sat itself immediately before Yee Man-ji. Also two other objects came following in its wake, shaped just like the first one. The three then sat in a row before Yee, coming little by little closer and closer to him. Yee moved away till he had backed up against the wall and could go no farther. Then he said, "Who are you, anyhow; what kind of devil, pray, that you dare to push towards me so in my office? If you have any complaint or matter to set right, say so, and I'll see to it."

ある夜、妻が奥の部屋にいて、イは一人で役所の部屋にいて、前に明かりを灯していた。二更ごろ、奥の住まいから奇妙な姿のものが出てきた。それは黒い麻布に包まれた木の切り株のようだった。はっきりした輪郭も形もなく、それは跳ねながら来て、イ・マンジのすぐ前に座った。そのあとからほかに二つのものがついてきて、形は最初のものとまったく同じだった。三つはイの前に一列に並んで座り、少しずつイに近づいてきた。イはあとずさりして壁に背がつき、もうそれ以上下がれなくなった。そこでイは言った。「いったいお前たちは何者だ。どういう悪霊だというのだ、わしの役所でこんなふうにわしに迫ってくるとは。何か訴えや正すべきことがあるなら言え。そうすれば取り計らってやる。」

The middle devil said in reply, "I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry."

まんなかの悪霊が答えた。「腹が減った、腹が減った、腹が減った。」

Yee answered, "Hungry, are you? Very well, now just move back and I'll have food prepared for you in abundance." He then repeated a magic formula that he had learned, and snapped his fingers. The three devils seemed to be afraid of this. Then Man-ji suddenly closed his fist and struck a blow at the first devil. It dodged, however, most deftly and he missed, but hit the floor a sounding blow that cut his hand.

イは答えた。「腹が減っているのか。よかろう、少し下がれ。そうすれば食べ物をたっぷり用意してやる。」それからイは覚えていた呪文を唱えて指を鳴らした。三つの悪霊はこれを恐れたようだった。するとマンジは突然こぶしを握って、最初の悪霊に一撃を加えた。けれどもそれはたいそう巧みに身をかわしたので外れ、こぶしは床を強く打って手を切ってしまった。

Then they all shouted, "We'll go, we'll go, since you treat guests thus." At once they bundled out of the room and disappeared.

するとみなが叫んだ。「帰るぞ、帰るぞ、客をこんなふうに扱うのなら。」たちまちそれらは部屋から転がり出て消えた。

On the following day he had oxen killed and a sacrifice offered to these devils, and they returned no more.

次の日、イは牛を殺させて、この悪霊たちに供え物をしたので、それらは二度と戻ってこなかった。

Note.--Men have been killed by goblins. This is not so much due to the fact that goblins are wicked as to the fact that men are afraid of them. Many died in North Ham-kyong, but those again who were brave, and clove them with a knife, or struck them down, lived. If they had been afraid, they too would have died.

注——人は化け物に殺されてきた。これは化け物が邪悪だからというより、人が化け物を恐れるからである。咸鏡北道では多くの者が死んだが、勇敢で化け物を刀で斬ったり打ち倒したりした者は生き延びた。もし恐れていたら、その者たちも死んでいただろう。

Im Bang.

任埅(イム・バン)