The Awful Little Goblin

There was an occasion for a celebration in the home of a nobleman of Seoul, whereupon a feast, to which were invited all the family friends, was prepared. There was a great crowd of men and women. In front of the women's quarters there suddenly appeared an uncombed, ugly-looking boy about fifteen years of age. The host and guests, thinking him a coolie who had come in the train of some visitor, did not ask specially concerning him, but one of the women guests, seeing him in the inner quarters, sent a servant to reprimand him and put him out. The boy, however, did not move, so the servant said to him, "Who are you, anyway, and with whom did you come, that you enter the women's quarters, and even when told to go out do not go?"

ソウルのある貴人の家で祝い事があって、宴が用意され、家の知り合いがみな招かれた。男も女も大勢集まった。女たちの住まいの前に、突然、髪もとかさない醜い顔の十五歳ほどの男の子が現れた。主人も客も、どこかの客の供をしてきた人足だろうと思って、特に尋ねもしなかった。けれども女の客の一人が、その子が奥の住まいにいるのを見て、召し使いをやって叱りつけて追い出させようとした。けれども男の子は動かなかったので、召し使いは言った。「いったいお前は誰で、誰と一緒に来て、女の住まいに入り込み、出ていけと言われても出ていかないのだ。」

The boy, however, stood stock-still, just as he had been, with no word of reply.

けれども男の子は、ひと言も答えずに、そのままじっと立っていた。

The company looked at him in doubt, and began to ask one another whose he was and with whom he had come. Again they had the servant make inquiry, but still there was no reply. The women then grew very angry, and ordered him to be put out. Several took hold of him and tried to pull him, but he was like a fixed rock, fast in the earth, absolutely immovable. In helpless rage they informed the men.

一同はいぶかしんで男の子を見つめ、誰の子で誰と来たのかと互いに尋ねはじめた。また召し使いに問いただせたが、やはり答えはなかった。女たちはひどく怒って、追い出せと命じた。何人かが男の子をつかんで引っぱろうとしたが、男の子は地面にしっかり据わった岩のように、まったく動かなかった。どうしようもなく怒って、女たちは男たちに知らせた。

The men, hearing this, sent several strong servants, who took hold all at once, but he did not budge a hair. They asked, "Who are you, anyway?" but he gave no reply. The crowd, then enraged, sent ten strong men with ropes to bind him, but like a giant mountain he remained fast, so that they recognized that he could not be moved by man's power.

男たちはこれを聞くと、力の強い召し使いを何人かやって、みなで一度につかませたが、男の子は髪の毛一本ほども動かなかった。「いったいお前は誰だ」と尋ねても答えなかった。怒った一同は、今度は屈強な男十人に縄を持たせて縛らせようとしたが、男の子は巨大な山のように動かなかったので、人の力では動かせないとわかった。

One guest remarked, "But he, too, is human; why cannot he be moved?" They then sent five or six giant fellows with clubs to smash him to pieces, and they laid on with all their might. It looked as though he would be crushed like an egg-shell, while the sound of their pounding was like reverberating thunder. But just as before, not a hair did he turn, not a wink did he give.

一人の客が言った。「だが、あいつも人間だ。どうして動かせないのだ。」そこで一同は、大男を五、六人、棍棒を持たせてやって、粉々に打ち砕かせようとし、大男たちは力いっぱい打ちすえた。男の子は卵の殻のように砕けてしまいそうに見え、打つ音はとどろく雷のようだった。けれどもやはり前と同じように、男の子は髪の毛一本動かさず、まばたきひとつしなかった。

Then the crowd began to fear, saying, "This is not a man, but a god," so they entered the courtyard, one and all, and began to bow before him, joining their hands and supplicating earnestly. They kept this up for a long time.

すると一同は恐ろしくなって言った。「これは人間ではない、神だ。」そこで一同はそろって中庭に入り、男の子の前にお辞儀をしはじめ、手を合わせて熱心に拝んだ。長いあいだそれを続けた。

At last the boy gave a sarcastic smile, turned round, went out of the gate and disappeared.

とうとう男の子は皮肉な笑みを浮かべ、向きを変えて門を出ていき、姿を消した。

The company, frightened out of their wits, called off the feast. From that day on, the people of that house were taken ill, including host and guests. Those who scolded him, those who tied him with ropes, those who pounded him, all died in a few days. Other members of the company, too, contracted typhus and the like, and died also.

一同は肝をつぶして宴を取りやめた。その日から、主人も客も含めて、その家の人々は病にかかった。男の子を叱った者、縄で縛った者、打った者は、みな数日のうちに死んだ。一同のほかの者も、チフスなどにかかってやはり死んだ。

It was commonly held that the boy was the Too-uk Spirit, but we cannot definitely say. Strange, indeed!

男の子はトゥウク神だと一般には言われていたが、確かなことは言えない。まことに奇妙なことだ!

Note.--When the time comes for a clan to disappear from the earth, calamity befalls it. Even though a great spirit should come in at the door at such a feast time, if the guests had done as Confucius suggests, "Be reverent and distant," instead of insulting him and making him more malignant than ever, they would have escaped. Still, devils and men were never intended to dwell together.

注——一族がこの世から消える時が来ると、災いがふりかかる。たとえ宴の時に大いなる霊が戸口から入ってきても、客たちが孔子の言う「敬して遠ざける」ようにしていれば、侮辱してますます悪意をつのらせたりせずにいれば、難を逃れただろう。それでもやはり、鬼神と人とはもともと一緒に暮らすようにはできていないのである。

Im Bang.

任埅(イム・バン)