How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus

The elephant and the hippopotamus always used to feed together, and were good friends.

象とカバはいつも一緒に草を食べていて、仲のよい友だちだった。

One day when they were both dining together, the tortoise appeared and said that although they were both big and strong, neither of them could pull him out of the water with a strong piece of tie-tie, and he offered the elephant ten thousand rods if he could draw him out of the river the next day. The elephant, seeing that the tortoise was very small, said, "If I cannot draw you out of the water, I will give you twenty thousand rods." So on the following morning the tortoise got some very strong tie-tie and made it fast to his leg, and went down to the river. When he got there, as he knew the place well, he made the tie-tie fast round a big rock, and left the other end on the shore for the elephant to pull by, then went down to the bottom of the river and hid himself. The elephant then came down and started pulling, and after a time he smashed the rope.

ある日、二頭が一緒に食事をしていると、亀が現れて、二頭とも大きくて力は強いけれど、丈夫なタイタイ(蔓の綱)を使っても、どちらも自分を水から引き出すことはできないと言った。そして、もし明日自分を川から引き出せたら、象に一万ロッドを払おうと申し出た。象は亀がたいそう小さいのを見て言った。「お前を水から引き出せなかったら、わしがお前に二万ロッドをやろう」そこで次の朝、亀はたいそう丈夫な綱を手に入れて自分の脚に結びつけ、川へ降りていった。着くと、亀はその場所をよく知っていたので、綱を大きな岩にしっかり結びつけ、もう一方の端を象が引けるように岸に残して、川の底へ降りて身を隠した。それから象がやって来て引きはじめ、しばらくすると綱を引きちぎってしまった。

Directly this happened, the tortoise undid the rope from the rock and came to the land, showing all people that the rope was still fast to his leg, but that the elephant had failed to pull him out. The elephant was thus forced to admit that the tortoise was the winner, and paid to him the twenty thousand rods, as agreed. The tortoise then took the rods home to his wife, and they lived together very happily.

そうなるとすぐに、亀は綱を岩からほどいて陸へ上がり、綱がまだ自分の脚に結ばれていること、象が自分を引き出せなかったことを、みなに見せた。こうして象は亀の勝ちを認めるほかなく、約束どおり二万ロッドを払った。それから亀はそのロッドを家へ持って帰り、妻と一緒にたいそう幸せに暮らした。

After three months had passed, the tortoise, seeing that the money was greatly reduced, thought he would make some more by the same trick, so he went to the hippopotamus and made the same bet with him. The hippopotamus said, "I will make the bet, but I shall take the water and you shall take the land; I will then pull you into the water."

三か月たって、金がずいぶん減ったのを見た亀は、同じ手でもっと稼ごうと考えた。そこでカバのところへ行って、同じ賭けを持ちかけた。カバは言った。「その賭けを受けよう。だがわしが水を取って、お前が陸を取るのだ。わしがお前を水のなかへ引き込んでやる」

To this the tortoise agreed, so they went down to the river as before, and having got some strong tie-tie, the tortoise made it fast to the hippopotamus' hind leg, and told him to go into the water. Directly the hippo had turned his back and disappeared, the tortoise took the rope twice round a strong palm-tree which was growing near, and then hid himself at the foot of the tree.

これに亀は承知した。そこで二匹は前と同じように川へ降りていった。丈夫な綱を手に入れると、亀はそれをカバの後ろ脚に結びつけて、水に入るよう言った。カバが背を向けて姿を消すとすぐ、亀は綱を、近くに生えていた丈夫な椰子の木に二重に巻きつけ、それから木の根もとに隠れた。

When the hippo was tired of pulling, he came up puffing and blowing water into the air from his nostrils. Directly the tortoise saw him coming up, he unwound the rope, and walked down towards the hippopotamus, showing him the tie-tie round his leg. The hippo had to acknowledge that the tortoise was too strong for him, and reluctantly handed over the twenty thousand rods.

カバは引くのに疲れると、鼻の穴から水を空に吹き上げ、荒い息をつきながら上がってきた。カバが上がってくるのを見るとすぐ、亀は綱をほどいて、脚に結んだ綱を見せながらカバのほうへ歩いていった。カバは、亀が自分より強いと認めるほかなく、しぶしぶ二万ロッドを渡した。

The elephant and the hippo then agreed that they would take the tortoise as their friend, as he was so very strong; but he was not really so strong as they thought, and had won because he was so cunning.

それから象とカバは、亀はたいそう強いのだから友だちにしようと決めた。けれども亀はほんとうは二頭が思うほど強くはなく、勝ったのはずる賢かったからだった。

He then told them that he would like to live with both of them, but that, as he could not be in two places at the same time, he said that he would leave his son to live with the elephant on the land, and that he himself would live with the hippopotamus in the water.

それから亀は二頭に、両方と一緒に住みたいけれど、同時に二つの場所にはいられないから、息子を陸で象と一緒に住まわせ、自分は水でカバと一緒に住もうと言った。

This explains why there are both tortoises on the land and tortoises who live in the water. The water tortoise is always much the bigger of the two, as there is plenty of fish for him to eat in the river, whereas the land tortoise is often very short of food.

これが、陸に住む亀と水に住む亀の両方がいるわけである。水の亀のほうがいつもずっと大きい。川には食べる魚がたっぷりあるからで、陸の亀はたびたび食べ物にひどく困っているのである。