The Female Quail

スリランカ(Sri Lanka) ／本文の言語英語／原話の言語 si ／出典の刊年 1910 ／ 1,210 語

出典と権利

出典の本	Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume 1
提供	Project Gutenberg ／ https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56614
採集・編者	Henry Parker
翻訳	Henry Parker
刊年の根拠	扉に『LONDON LUZAC & CO … 1910』
権利状態	Public Domain (United States)(US)／確認日 2026-09-14
地図上の位置	緯度 7.9 / 経度 80.7(精度 `culture_region`)。話の舞台でも採集地でもなく、この本が扱う文化圏のおおよその中心である。

本文

Project Gutenberg の本文から、PG のヘッダ・フッタ・商標文言を除いたもの。段落は原文のままである。

A female Quail having laid an egg on a rock, went to eat food. Then the [overhanging] rock closed over it, and when the bird returned there was no egg. "Ando! There is no egg," she said.

Well then, she went to the Mason. The Mason said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is [the use of] sitting and staying? What is [the use of] betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? Cut the rock, and give me the egg, O Mason," she said.

The Mason said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Village Headman. [73] The Village Headman said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Village Headman, tie up the house-door [74] of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Village Headman said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Pig. The Pig said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Pig, feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Pig said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Vaedda. The Vaedda said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Vaedda, shoot (with bow and arrow) the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Vaedda said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Timbol creeper. [75] The Timbola said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Timbola, prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Timbola said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Fire. The Fire said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Fire, burn the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Fire said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Water-pot. The Water-pot said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Water-pot, quench the Fire, the Fire that did not burn the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Water-pot said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Elephant. The Elephant said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Elephant, make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot that did not quench the Fire, the Fire that did not burn the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Elephant said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Rat. The Rat said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Rat, creep into the ear of the Elephant, the Elephant who did not make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot that did not quench the Fire, the Fire that did not burn the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Rat said, "I will not."

From there she went to the Cat. The Cat said, "Sit down, O Bird."

"What is the use of sitting and staying? What is the use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed? O Cat, eat the Rat, the Rat who did not creep into the ear of the Elephant, the Elephant who did not make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot that did not quench the Fire, the Fire that did not burn the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Cat said "Ha" (Yes).

Well then, the Cat went to catch the Rat, the Rat went to creep into the ear of the Elephant, the Elephant went to make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot went to quench the Fire, the Fire went to burn the Timbola, the Timbola went to prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda went to shoot the Pig, the Pig went to feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman went to tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason went to cut the rock, and take and give the egg.

Here the story ends. "Was the egg given?" I asked. "It would be given," the narrator said. "No, he gave it," said a listener.

本に付いていた註

North-western Province.



In a variant which I heard in the Southern Province, a bird laid two
eggs in a crevice between two stones, which drew close together. She
went to a Mason or Stone-cutter; (2) to a Pig; (3) to a Hunter;
(4) to an Elephant, which she requested to kill him; (5) to a Lizard
(Calotes), which she told to crawl up the Elephant's trunk into its
brain; (6) to a Jungle Hen, which she told to peck and kill the Lizard;
(7) to a Jackal, who, when requested to kill the Jungle Hen, at once
agreed, and said, "It is very good," and set off after her.



In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 209--Tales of the Punjab,
p. 195--there is a variant. While a farmer's wife was winnowing corn,
a crow carried off a grain, and perched on a tree to eat it. She threw
a clod at it, and knocked it down, but the grain of corn rolled into
a crack in the tree, and the crow, though threatened with death in
case of failure, was unable to recover it.

It went for assistance, and requested (1) a Woodman to cut the tree;
(2) a King to kill the man; (3) a Queen to coax the King; (4) a Snake
to bite the Queen; (5) a Stick to beat the Snake; (6) Fire to burn the
Stick; (7) Water to quench the Fire; (8) an Ox to drink the water;
(9) a Rope to bind the Ox; (10) a Mouse to gnaw the Rope; (11) a
Cat to catch the Mouse. "The moment the Cat heard the name Mouse,
she was after it, for the world would come to an end before a Cat
would leave a Mouse alone." In the end the Crow got the grain of corn,
and saved its life.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 53, there is an allied variant. A
bird had bought three grains of corn for three cowries, and while
she was on a new cart eating them one fell into a joint of the cart
where she was unable to get it.

She appealed to (1) the Carpenter to take the cart to pieces, so that
she might obtain it; (2) the King to make him do it; (3) the Queen
to persuade the King; (4) a Deer to graze in the Queen's garden;
(5) the Stick to beat the Deer; (6) the Fire to burn the Stick;
(7) the Lake to quench the Fire; (8) the Rats to fill up the Lake;
(9) the Cat to attack the Rats; (10) the Elephant to crush the Cat;
(11) an Ant to crawl into the Elephant's ear; (12) the Crow, "the
most greedy of all creatures," to eat the Ant. The Crow consented,
and the usual result followed.

緊張のうつりかわり

本文を 12 等分し、張りつめた語(死・血・恐れ・剣…)から和らいだ語(祝い・眠り・婚礼…)を引いて、話の中で 0〜1 に均したもの。自前の辞書である。翻訳を経た本文を測っているので、これは原話ではなくこの訳の性質である。

縦は緊張度(この話の中での相対値。話をまたいで比べられる量ではない)、横は本文の進行。上端の小さな字は、その区画で不釣り合いに多く出た出来事語である。

出来事の並び(数え上げ)

区画ごとに、コーパス全体の出現率に対して不釣り合いに多く出た引き金語を採っている。生の回数で採ると、`father`/`mother` を持つ Family がほぼ全区画で勝つ(実測)。

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似ている民話

多言語 Embedding のコサイン近傍。類似度は歴史的な起源や伝播を証明する値ではない。同じ本の話は文体を共有するぶん必ず似るので、そう分かるよう印を付けてある。

#	題名	文化圏	類似度	出典
1	The Aet-kanda Leniya [103]	スリランカ	0.926	同じ本
2	The Black Storks' Girl	スリランカ	0.924	同じ本
3	The Turtle Dove	スリランカ	0.920	同じ本
4	The Seven Princesses	スリランカ	0.919	同じ本
5	The Boy with the Moon on his Forehead	ベンガル	0.919	別の本
6	Strike but Hear	ベンガル	0.919	別の本
7	The Millet Trader	スリランカ	0.919	同じ本
8	The White Turtle	スリランカ	0.918	同じ本
9	Kurulu-gama Appu, the Sooth-sayer	スリランカ	0.917	同じ本
10	The Story of a Brahmadaitya	ベンガル	0.917	別の本
11	The Prince and the Princess	スリランカ	0.917	同じ本
12	The Golden Kaekiri Fruit	スリランカ	0.917	同じ本

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