The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull

Effiong Edem was a native of Cobham Town. He had a very fine daughter, whose name was Afiong. All the young men in the country wanted to marry her on account of her beauty; but she refused all offers of marriage in spite of repeated entreaties from her parents, as she was very vain, and said she would only marry the best-looking man in the country, who would have to be young and strong, and capable of loving her properly. Most of the men her parents wanted her to marry, although they were rich, were old men and ugly, so the girl continued to disobey her parents, at which they were very much grieved. The skull who lived in the spirit land heard of the beauty of this Calabar virgin, and thought he would like to possess her; so he went about amongst his friends and borrowed different parts of the body from them, all of the best. From one he got a good head, another lent him a body, a third gave him strong arms, and a fourth lent him a fine pair of legs. At last he was complete, and was a very perfect specimen of manhood.

エフィオン・エデムはコブハム・タウンの生まれだった。エフィオン・エデムにはアフィオンという名の、たいそう美しい娘がいた。国じゅうの若者がみな、その美しさゆえに娘と結婚したがった。けれども娘は、両親が何度も頼んでも、結婚の申し出をみな断った。娘はたいそう見栄っ張りで、この国でいちばん見目のよい男としか結婚しない、その男は若く強く、自分をきちんと愛せる者でなければならない、と言うのである。両親が結婚させたがった男たちのほとんどは、金持ちではあっても年寄りで醜かった。そこで娘は親に逆らい続け、両親はそれをたいそう嘆いた。霊の国に住む髑髏が、このカラバルの乙女の美しさのことを聞いて、自分のものにしたいと思った。そこで髑髏は友だちのあいだを回って、体のあちこちの部分を借りた。どれもいちばんよいものだった。ある者からはよい頭を、別の者は胴を貸してくれ、三人目は強い腕をくれ、四人目は立派な脚を一対貸してくれた。とうとう髑髏は完全な姿になり、まったく申し分のない男ぶりになった。

He then left the spirit land and went to Cobham market, where he saw Afiong, and admired her very much.

それから髑髏は霊の国を出てコブハムの市場へ行き、そこでアフィオンを見て、たいそう心を惹かれた。

About this time Afiong heard that a very fine man had been seen in the market, who was better-looking than any of the natives. She therefore went to the market at once, and directly she saw the Skull in his borrowed beauty, she fell in love with him, and invited him to her house. The Skull was delighted, and went home with her, and on his arrival was introduced by the girl to her parents, and immediately asked their consent to marry their daughter. At first they refused, as they did not wish her to marry a stranger, but at last they agreed.

そのころアフィオンは、土地のどの男よりも見目のよい、たいそう立派な男が市場で見かけられたと聞いた。そこですぐに市場へ行き、借り物の美しさをまとった髑髏を見たとたんに恋をして、自分の家へ招いた。髑髏は大喜びで娘と一緒に家へ行き、着くと娘に両親を紹介されて、すぐに娘と結婚する許しを求めた。初め両親は、娘をよそ者と結婚させたくないので断ったが、とうとう承知した。

He lived with Afiong for two days in her parents' house, and then said he wished to take his wife back to his country, which was far off. To this the girl readily agreed, as he was such a fine man, but her parents tried to persuade her not to go. However, being very headstrong, she made up her mind to go, and they started off together. After they had been gone a few days the father consulted his Ju Ju man, who by casting lots very soon discovered that his daughter's husband belonged to the spirit land, and that she would surely be killed. They therefore all mourned her as dead.

髑髏は娘の両親の家でアフィオンと二日暮らし、それから、妻を自分の国へ連れ帰りたい、それは遠いところだと言った。髑髏がたいそう立派な男だったので、娘は喜んで承知したが、両親は行かないよう説き伏せようとした。けれども娘はたいそう強情だったので行くと心を決め、二人は一緒に出発した。二人が出ていって数日すると、父親はジュジュ使いに相談した。ジュジュ使いは籤を投げて、娘の夫が霊の国の者であり、娘はきっと殺されるだろうとたちまち見抜いた。そこで一家はみな娘を死んだものとして嘆いた。

After walking for several days, Afiong and the Skull crossed the border between the spirit land and the human country. Directly they set foot in the spirit land, first of all one man came to the Skull and demanded his legs, then another his head, and the next his body, and so on, until in a few minutes the skull was left by itself in all its natural ugliness. At this the girl was very frightened, and wanted to return home, but the skull would not allow this, and ordered her to go with him. When they arrived at the skull's house they found his mother, who was a very old woman quite incapable of doing any work, who could only creep about. Afiong tried her best to help her, and cooked her food, and brought water and firewood for the old woman. The old creature was very grateful for these attentions, and soon became quite fond of Afiong.

何日か歩いて、アフィオンと髑髏は霊の国と人間の国の境を越えた。霊の国に足を踏み入れたとたん、まず一人の男が髑髏のところへ来て脚を返せと求め、次の男は頭を、その次は胴を求め、そうしてほんの数分のうちに、髑髏はもとのままの醜さだけになってしまった。これに娘はたいそうおびえて家へ帰りたがったが、髑髏はそれを許さず、一緒に来るよう命じた。髑髏の家に着くと、そこには髑髏の母親がいた。たいそう年老いた女で、まったく何の仕事もできず、這いまわることしかできなかった。アフィオンは精いっぱい母親を助け、食べ物を作り、水と薪を運んでやった。年老いた者はこの心づかいをたいそうありがたがって、まもなくアフィオンをたいそうかわいがるようになった。

One day the old woman told Afiong that she was very sorry for her, but all the people in the spirit land were cannibals, and when they heard there was a human being in their country, they would come down and kill her and eat her. The skull's mother then hid Afiong, and as she had looked after her so well, she promised she would send her back to her country as soon as possible, providing that she promised for the future to obey her parents. This Afiong readily consented to do. Then the old woman sent for the spider, who was a very clever hairdresser, and made him dress Afiong's hair in the latest fashion. She also presented her with anklets and other things on account of her kindness. She then made a Ju Ju and called the winds to come and convey Afiong to her home. At first a violent tornado came, with thunder, lightning and rain, but the skull's mother sent him away as unsuitable. The next wind to come was a gentle breeze, so she told the breeze to carry Afiong to her mother's house, and said good-bye to her. Very soon afterwards the breeze deposited Afiong outside her home, and left her there.

ある日、年老いた女はアフィオンに、たいそう気の毒に思うけれど、霊の国の者はみな人食いで、自分たちの国に人間がいると聞いたら、降りてきて殺して食べてしまうだろうと告げた。それから髑髏の母親はアフィオンを隠し、アフィオンがよく世話をしてくれたので、これから先は両親に従うと約束するなら、できるだけ早く国へ帰してやると約束した。アフィオンは喜んでそう約束した。それから年老いた女は、たいそう腕のよい髪結いであるクモを呼び寄せて、アフィオンの髪をいちばん新しい形に結わせた。親切にしてくれたお礼に、足輪やそのほかの品も贈った。それから女はジュジュを行って、風たちを呼び、アフィオンを家へ運ばせようとした。初めに来たのは雷と稲妻と雨をともなう激しい大風だったが、髑髏の母親はふさわしくないとして帰らせた。次に来た風はやさしいそよ風だったので、女はそよ風にアフィオンを母親の家へ運ぶよう言いつけ、アフィオンに別れを告げた。まもなくそよ風はアフィオンを家の外に下ろして去っていった。

When the parents saw their daughter they were very glad, as they had for some months given her up as lost. The father spread soft animals' skins on the ground from where his daughter was standing all the way to the house, so that her feet should not be soiled. Afiong then walked to the house, and her father called all the young girls who belonged to Afiong's company to come and dance, and the feasting and dancing was kept up for eight days and nights. When the rejoicing was over, the father reported what had happened to the head chief of the town. The chief then passed a law that parents should never allow their daughters to marry strangers who came from a far country. Then the father told his daughter to marry a friend of his, and she willingly consented, and lived with him for many years, and had many children.

両親は娘を見るとたいそう喜んだ。何か月ものあいだ死んだものとあきらめていたからである。父親は、娘が立っているところから家までずっと、地面に柔らかい獣の皮を敷きつめた。娘の足が汚れないようにである。それからアフィオンは家まで歩いていき、父親はアフィオンの仲間の若い娘たちをみな呼んで踊らせ、宴と踊りは八日八晩続いた。喜びの祝いが終わると、父親は起こったことを町の大首長に報告した。首長は、親は決して娘を遠い国から来たよそ者と結婚させてはならないという法を定めた。それから父親は娘に、自分の友だちと結婚するよう言い、娘は喜んで承知して、その男と何年も暮らし、たくさんの子どもをもうけた。