The Nikini Story [100]

In a certain country there are a man and a woman, it is said. There is a girl (daughter) of those two persons.

ある国に男と女がいたという。その二人には娘がある。

The girl was asked [in marriage] for a Gamarala of another country who had much wealth in money. The girl having been summoned, and having gone to the Gamarala, and been with him for a long time, he went to chop jungle [for making a chena]. There he met with a fawn, and having returned home said to the girl, "Bolan, there was a fawn in the chena."

その娘は、別の国の、金の財をたくさん持つガマラーラ(村長)に〔嫁として〕望まれた。娘は迎えられてガマラーラのもとへ行き、長いこといっしょにいたが、あるとき男は〔焼畑をこしらえるために〕藪を切りに行った。そこで小鹿に出会い、家に帰って娘に言った。「ボラン、焼畑に小鹿がいた」

The girl said, "Ane! After you have gone to-morrow bring it." On the following day the Gamarala brought it.

娘は言った。「アネ! 明日行ったら連れてきてください」。翌日、ガマラーラはそれを連れてきた。

When the girl had reared it for a long time, a longing came to her, and she lay down. Afterwards the Gamarala asked the Deer, "What, Deer, is thy elder sister's illness?"

娘が長いことそれを育てていると、娘に物ほしみの気が起こって、横になった。そこでガマラーラは鹿に尋ねた。「鹿よ、おまえの姉さんの病は何だ」

Then the Deer said, "Our elder sister has a longing."

すると鹿は言った。「姉さんには物ほしみの気が起こったのです」

The Gamarala said, "What can she eat for it?"

ガマラーラは言った。「それには何を食べればよいのだ」

The Deer replied, "Our elder sister can eat the stars in the sky."

鹿は答えた。「姉さんは空の星なら食べられます」

Afterwards the Gamarala, having gone to seek the stars, and to seek for the corner of the sky [where it joined the earth, so as to ascend to them], searched until he became aged, but was unable to find the corner; and the Gamarala died.

そのあとガマラーラは星を求めに、そして〔星に登るために〕空の隅〔空と地が合わさるところ〕を求めに行き、老いるまで探したが隅を見つけられず、ガマラーラは死んだ。

Then the girl, having sold the Gamarala's village, took the money that was obtained there, and the wealth that he possessed [and left]. While the girl and the Deer were going on their way they met with a King. He asked the Deer, "Where, Deer, are ye going?"

すると娘はガマラーラの村を売って、そこで得た金と、男の持っていた〔残した〕財を取った。娘と鹿が道を行くと、王に出会った。王は鹿に尋ねた。「鹿よ、おまえたちはどこへ行く」

The Deer said, "Our elder sister on account of thirst is going to seek a little water."

鹿は言った。「姉さんが渇いているので、水を少し求めに行くところです」

Then the King said, "Wilt thou give thy elder sister to me [in marriage]?"

すると王は言った。「おまえの姉をわしに〔嫁に〕くれるか」

The Deer said "Ha"; so having placed the Deer and the Deer's elder sister on the back of the King's elephant, they went to the palace.

鹿は「よし」と言った。そこで鹿と鹿の姉を王の象の背に乗せて、宮殿へ行った。

When a long time had passed, a longing came again to the girl, and she lay down.

長い時がたって、娘にまた物ほしみの気が起こり、横になった。

The King asked the Deer, "What is thy elder sister's illness?"

王は鹿に尋ねた。「おまえの姉さんの病は何だ」

The Deer said, "Our elder sister has a longing."

鹿は言った。「姉さんには物ほしみの気が起こったのです」

The King asked, "What can she eat for it?"

王は尋ねた。「それには何を食べればよいのだ」

The Deer said, "Should you bring for our elder sister the sand which is at the bottom of the ocean, if she slept upon it she would be well."

鹿は言った。「大海の底にある砂を姉さんのために持ってきてくださって、その上で眠れば治ります」

Afterwards, when the King was going to the bottom of the sea to take the sand, he was soaked with the water, and died.

そのあと王が砂を取りに海の底へ行くと、水に浸かって死んだ。

After this, when the Deer and the Deer's elder sister, taking all the King's things, and cooking a bundle of rice, were on their way again, they met with a man. The man asked the Deer, "Where, Deer, are ye going?"

そのあと、鹿と鹿の姉が王の品をすっかり取り、飯をひと包み炊いて、また道を行くと、ある男に出会った。男は鹿に尋ねた。「鹿よ、おまえたちはどこへ行く」

The Deer said, "We are going to seek a man for our elder sister."

鹿は言った。「姉さんのために夫を探しに行くところです」

The man said, "If so, give thy elder sister to me."

男は言った。「それなら、おまえの姉をわたしにくれ」

The Deer said "Ha," and the Deer and the Deer's elder sister went to the man's house.

鹿は「よし」と言い、鹿と鹿の姉はその男の家へ行った。

When they had been there a long time, a longing came to the woman, and she lay down. The man asked, "What, Deer, is thy elder sister's illness?"

長いことそこにいると、女に物ほしみの気が起こり、横になった。男は尋ねた。「鹿よ、おまえの姉さんの病は何だ」

The Deer said, "Our elder sister has a longing."

鹿は言った。「姉さんには物ほしみの気が起こったのです」

The man asked, "What can she eat for it?"

男は尋ねた。「それには何を食べればよいのだ」

The Deer said, "Our elder sister must eat Nikini. Should she not eat it, it will not only be very difficult for her [to recover]; her life will be lost." Now the sort called "Nikini" is not in any place whatever in the world. That ignorant man, not knowing of its non-existence, on account of the love that he bore for his wife went away on a search for Nikini.

鹿は言った。「姉さんはニキニを食べねばなりません。食べなければ、〔治るのが〕たいそう難しいどころか、命を落とします」。さて「ニキニ」というものは、この世のどこにもない。その無知な男はそれが存在しないことを知らず、妻への愛ゆえにニキニを求めて出かけていった。

Afterwards, when the foolish man was on his way to seek for Nikini, a man was ploughing. The man who was ploughing asked, "Where are you going?"

そのあと、愚かな男がニキニを求めて道を行くと、ある男が鋤いていた。鋤いていた男は尋ねた。「どこへ行くのだ」

This man said, "I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

この男は言った。「ニキニを少し求めに行くところです」

Then the man said to this man, "If so, come here [and help me to plough]."

するとその男はこの男に言った。「それならこちらへ来い〔鋤くのを手伝ってくれ〕」

Those two having ploughed during the whole of that day, went in the evening to the house of the man who had been ploughing. Both of them having eaten cooked rice, the man who went to seek for Nikini asked that man, "Ane! Now then, tell me the place where there is Nikini."

二人はその日一日じゅう鋤いて、夕方に鋤いていた男の家へ行った。二人とも炊いた飯を食べてから、ニキニを求めに行く男はその男に尋ねた。「アネ! さあ、ニキニのある場所を教えてください」

The man said, "Ane! I don't know. Go you away."

男は言った。「アネ! 知らぬ。行ってしまえ」

After that, when he had slept there that night, that man gave him a little cooked rice. Having eaten a little, while he was going on his way to seek for Nikini, a man was chopping earthen ridges in a rice field. The man asked, "Where are you going?"

そのあと、その夜そこで眠ると、その男は炊いた飯を少し渡した。少し食べて、ニキニを求めて道を行くと、ある男が田の土の畦を刻んでいた。男は尋ねた。「どこへ行くのだ」

This man said, "I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

この男は言った。「ニキニを少し求めに行くところです」

Then that man said, "If so, come here [and help me]."

するとその男は言った。「それならこちらへ来い〔手伝ってくれ〕」

After those two persons had chopped the ridges during the whole day, they went in the evening to the man's house. While they were [there], having eaten cooked rice this man who went to seek for Nikini said, "Ane! Tell me the site where there is Nikini."

二人は一日じゅう畦を刻んでから、夕方にその男の家へ行った。そこで炊いた飯を食べてから、ニキニを求めに行くこの男は言った。「アネ! ニキニのある場所を教えてください」

The man said, "Ane! I don't know. Go and ask at the hand of another person."

男は言った。「アネ! 知らぬ。ほかの者に尋ねてみろ」

When this man had slept there that day night, on the next day that man gave him a little cooked rice. Having eaten it he set off to go and seek Nikini. Then a man was sowing a rice field. The man asked him, "Where are you going?"

この男がその日の夜そこで眠ると、翌日その男は炊いた飯を少し渡した。それを食べて、ニキニを求めに出かけた。すると男が田に種を蒔いていた。男は尋ねた。「どこへ行くのだ」

This man said, "I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

この男は言った。「ニキニを少し求めに行くところです」

The man asked, "What for?"

男は尋ねた。「何のために」

This man replied, "A longing has come to our house-mistress, so she told me to go and bring a little Nikini."

この男は答えた。「うちの家内に物ほしみの気が起こって、ニキニを少し取ってこいと言われたのです」

The man said, "If so, come here and sow."

男は言った。「それならこちらへ来て種を蒔け」

For the whole of that day those two sowed. In the evening they came to the man's house, and both of them having eaten cooked rice, while they were there this man said, "Now then, tell me the place where there is Nikini."

その日一日じゅう二人は種を蒔いた。夕方に男の家へ来て、二人とも炊いた飯を食べ、そこでこの男は言った。「さあ、ニキニのある場所を教えてください」

Then the man said, "Yako, [101] that was not [asked for] through want of Nikini. That was said through wanting to cause you to be killed. Your wife has a paramour."

すると男は言った。「ヤコー [101]、それはニキニがほしくて〔頼まれた〕のではない。おまえを殺させようとして言ったのだ。おまえの妻には情夫がいる」

The man quarrelled with him, saying, "Not in any way. My wife is very good. She has great love for me. If you again say such a thing as that one is there, I shall strike you."

男は言い争って言った。「そんなことはない。わたしの妻はたいそうよい女だ。わたしをたいそう愛している。そんな者がいるなどともう一度言ったら、殴るぞ」

The other man asked, "What will you give me to catch that paramour for you?"

もう一方の男は尋ねた。「その情夫を捕らえてやったら、わたしに何をくれる」

The person who went on the search for Nikini said, "I have a gem which has continued with us from generation to generation. I will give you that gem." [The man accepted this offer].

ニキニを求めに行った者は言った。「代々伝わってきた宝玉がある。その宝玉をやろう」。〔男はその申し出を受けた。〕

Then the two persons made a cage called, "The Cage of the God Sivalinga," and tied white cloth in it [as a lining], and trimmed a wooden cudgel and placed it inside. The man [who had gone for Nikini] was also placed inside the cage with a cloth on his shoulders, and closed in with similar cloths. Men having been fetched [and engaged to carry it]--saying that he was bringing the God Sivalinga--took it on their shoulders, and going off with it they went to a Hettirala's shop.

そこで二人は「シヴァリンガ神の籠」という籠をこしらえ、そのなかに白い布を〔裏張りとして〕張り、木の棍棒を削ってなかに入れた。〔ニキニを求めに行った〕男も肩に布をかけて籠のなかに入り、同じような布で覆い隠された。人を呼〔んで担ぐよう頼〕んで——シヴァリンガ神を運ぶのだと言って——肩に担がせ、それを持ってヘッティラーラ(商人)の店へ行った。

Then that man said [to the person inside the cage], "After I have placed it inside the shop, take the cash-box which is in it, and put it inside the cage."

そしてその男は〔籠のなかの者に〕言った。「わたしがこれを店のなかに置いたら、なかにある銭箱を取って籠のなかに入れろ」

The Hettirala asked, "What is that cage?"

ヘッティラーラは尋ねた。「その籠は何だ」

The man said, "Our deity, the God Sivalinga."

男は言った。「われらの神、シヴァリンガ神です」

The Hettirala asked, "What is it, then, that is necessary for offering to that deity?"

ヘッティラーラは尋ねた。「それでは、その神に供えるのに何が要るのだ」

The man said, "The cooked rice from two quarts of raw rice, and sweet plantains are wanted."

男は言った。「生米二クォートで炊いた飯と、甘い芭蕉の実が要ります」

So the Hettirala brought and gave him the cooked rice from two quarts of raw rice, and ripe sweet plantains. After that, the man gave to the man in the cage the cooked rice from a quart of the raw rice, and half the plantains. The other man ate the rice from the other quart, and the remaining plantains.

そこでヘッティラーラは生米二クォートで炊いた飯と、熟れた甘い芭蕉の実を持ってきて渡した。そのあと男は籠のなかの男に、生米一クォート分の飯と芭蕉の実の半分を渡した。もう一方の男はもう一クォート分の飯と残りの芭蕉の実を食べた。

In the evening the man gave the cage into the hands of the Hettiya, and told him to place it in the house. So the Hettiya put the cage in the house. [During the night the man inside it stole the cash-box.] When it got near midnight the man asked for the cage, saying, "Hetti-elder-brother, give me my cage so that I may go." The Hettirala gave it.

夕方、男は籠をヘッティヤの手に渡して、家のなかに置いてくれと言った。そこでヘッティヤは籠を家に置いた。〔夜のあいだに、なかの男は銭箱を盗んだ。〕真夜中近くになると、男は籠を求めて言った。「ヘッティの兄さん、行きたいのでわたしの籠を返してください」。ヘッティラーラは渡した。

As the man, taking the cage, was going along he met with a city. Then that man said [to the man in the cage], "After I have taken this cage and placed it in the palace, you get the things in it and put them inside the cage." Having said this they went to the palace. The King asked, "What is that?"

男が籠を持って歩いていくと、ある都に来た。そしてその男は〔籠のなかの男に〕言った。「この籠を宮殿に置いたら、なかの品を取って籠のなかに入れろ」。そう言って二人は宮殿へ行った。王は尋ねた。「それは何だ」

The man said, "Our deity, the God Sivalinga. We are able to say sooth and the like."

男は言った。「われらの神、シヴァリンガ神です。占いなどもできます」

The King asked, "What do you require for him?"

王は尋ねた。「その神には何が要るのだ」

The man said, "Rice cooked from raw rice, and sweet plantains are necessary."

男は言った。「生米で炊いた飯と、甘い芭蕉の実が要ります」

So the King gave him cooked rice and sweet plantains. The man having given [a share of them] to the man in the cage, said, "It is necessary to place this cage inside the palace [for the night]."

そこで王は炊いた飯と甘い芭蕉の実を渡した。男は籠のなかの男に〔その分け前を〕渡してから言った。「この籠は〔今夜のあいだ〕宮殿のなかに置かねばなりません」

The King having said "Ha," he brought it, and placed it inside the palace. As it was becoming light the man said, "Now then, I want the cage in order to worship the deity." So the King gave him the cage.

王が「よし」と言うと、男はそれを運んで宮殿のなかに置いた。夜が明けかけると男は言った。「さあ、神を拝むために籠が要ります」。そこで王は籠を渡した。

Afterwards, as the man was taking the cage near a tank it became light. He remained there until it was night, and then went to the house of the man who went to seek Nikini, and found that the woman had called in another man who was there. That man asked, "What is that?"

そのあと男が籠を持って溜池の近くまで来ると明るくなった。夜になるまでそこにいて、それからニキニを求めに行った男の家へ行くと、女は別の男を呼び入れていて、その男がそこにいた。その男は尋ねた。「それは何だ」

The man said, "This is our deity, the God Sivalinga. We are able to tell sooth."

男は言った。「これはわれらの神、シヴァリンガ神です。占いができます」

The man said, "Ha. It is good. There is a sooth that we, too, require to ask about."

男は言った。「よし。それはよい。われらも尋ねたい占いがある」

Then the [pretended] Kapurala, whom the God Sivalinga was [supposed to be] goading [102] to it, became possessed. When he was saying sooth, the wife of the man who went to seek Nikini and the false husband who had joined her, came with their arms interlaced, and saying to the deity that a long time had elapsed since her husband had gone in search of Nikini, they asked, "Has anything happened to him now?"

すると〔偽りの〕カプラーラ(神官)は、シヴァリンガ神に〔そうするよう〕突き動かされて [102]、憑かれた状態になった。占いを言っていると、ニキニを求めに行った男の妻と、その女と連れ添った偽りの夫が、腕を組んで来て、夫がニキニを求めて行ってから長い時がたったと神に言い、こう尋ねた。「あの人にいま何か起きたでしょうか」

At that time the God Sivalinga said through the person possessed by Sivalinga, "The man has now become blind. Besides that, he will not be permitted to return to his village. He will die while in that state."

そのときシヴァリンガ神は、シヴァリンガに憑かれた者を通して言った。「あの男はいまや目が見えなくなった。そのうえ、村へ帰ることも許されぬ。そのありさまのまま死ぬだろう」

Then because he said this in the manner that was in the mind of the woman, she took the food off the fire, and together with the false husband brought the deity to her house, and gave the rice cooked from two quarts of raw rice, and sweet plantains, in order that the Kapurala might present an offering.

すると女の思いどおりのことを言ったので、女は火から食べ物を下ろし、偽りの夫とともに神を家へ迎え、カプラーラが供物を捧げられるように、生米二クォートで炊いた飯と甘い芭蕉の実を渡した。

That night, when he had eaten, the Kapurala said, "We must place this our cage inside that [room]."

その夜、食べ終わるとカプラーラは言った。「われらのこの籠を、その〔部屋〕のなかに置かねばなりません」

"You may do it," they said, and they placed it in the house.

「そうしてください」と二人は言い、籠を家のなかに置いた。

Then when the wife of the man who was inside the cage and the false husband were spreading mats [to lie upon], and making ready for sleeping, the Kapurala who remained outside said, "Except that [cage], there is no room for two." Thereupon the man who was inside the cage came out, and beat the false husband even on the cheeks with the cudgel that he had taken. So the man died.

そして籠のなかの男の妻と偽りの夫が莚を敷い〔て横になろうとし〕、寝る支度をしていると、外にいたカプラーラは言った。「その〔籠〕を除けば、二人の場所はない」。するとなかにいた男が出てきて、持っていた棍棒で偽りの夫の頬までも打ちすえた。そしてその男は死んだ。

After that, the man, as it was becoming light, went and threw the Deer's elder sister into the river. Having returned, and gone to the village with the Deer, the man who went for Nikini cooked for the other man, and gave him to eat. Then the two divided the money, and he gave the man the gem which he had, as a present for him, and sent that man back to his village.

そのあと男は、夜が明けかけるころ、鹿の姉を川に投げ込んだ。帰ってきて、鹿とともに村へ行き、ニキニを求めに行った男はもう一方の男のために煮炊きをして食べさせた。そして二人は金を分け、男は持っていた宝玉を礼として渡し、その男を村へ帰した。

Afterwards this man, taking another wife, remained there. [According to another version, however, he became a Buddhist monk.]

そのあとこの男は別の妻を娶って、そこで暮らした。〔だが別の語りでは、仏教の僧になったという。〕