The Kadambawa Men and the Hares

The Kadambawa men having gone to set nets, a great many hares were caught in the nets. Afterwards the men, having seized the hares, doubled up the hind legs of the hares at the joints, and the fore-legs at the joints, and threw them on the ground, in order to make a heap of them in one place afterwards. Then all the hares ran away into the jungle.

カダンバワの男たちが網を仕掛けに行くと、兎がたくさん網にかかった。そこで男たちは兎をつかまえ、あとで一か所に積み上げるつもりで、兎の後ろ脚を関節のところで折り曲げ、前脚も関節のところで折り曲げて、地面に放り投げておいた。すると兎はみな、ジャングルへ逃げていってしまった。

After all the hares in the nets had been finished, when they looked for the dead hares there was not even one hare. Then the men were astonished at the coming to life of the hares which they had killed, saying, "How thoroughly we killed the hares!" After having become fixed like stone [with astonishment] until nightfall, they went in the evening to their houses.

網の中の兎を片づけ終わってから、死んだ兎を探してみると、一匹もいなかった。男たちは「あんなにしっかり殺したのに!」と言って、殺したはずの兎が生き返ったことに驚いた。そして日が暮れるまで[驚きのあまり]石のように固まっていたあと、夕方になってそれぞれの家へ帰っていった。