The Master-smith

Once on a time, in the days when our Lord and St Peter used to wander on earth, they came to a smith’s house. He had made a bargain with the Devil, that the fiend should have him after seven years, but during that time he was to be the master of all masters in his trade, and to this bargain both he and the Devil had signed their names. So he had stuck up in great letters over the door of his forge: “Here dwells the Master over all Masters.”

むかしむかし、われらの主と聖ペテロが地上を歩いておられたころ、お二人は鍛冶屋の家に来られた。その鍛冶屋は悪魔と取引をしていて、七年たったら悪魔が自分を連れていってよい、だがそのあいだは自分がこの稼業の親方のなかの親方であること、という約束だった。そしてこの取引には、鍛冶屋も悪魔も署名していた。そこで彼は鍛冶場の戸の上に大きな字でこう掲げていた。《ここに親方のなかの親方住まう》

Now when our Lord passed by and saw that, he went in.

さて、われらの主が通りかかってそれをご覧になり、中へ入られた。

“Who are you?” he said to the Smith.

「おまえは何者だ」と主は鍛冶屋に言われた。

“Read what’s written over the door”, said the Smith; “but maybe you can’t read writing. If so, you must wait till some one comes to help you.”

「戸の上に書いてあるのを読みなされ」と鍛冶屋は言った。「だがもしかすると字が読めんのかもしれん。それなら誰か助けてくれる者が来るまで待つことだ。」

Before our Lord had time to answer him, a man came with his horse, which he begged the Smith to shoe.

われらの主がお答えになる間もなく、一人の男が馬を連れてきて、蹄鉄を打ってくれと鍛冶屋に頼んだ。

“Might I have leave to shoe it?” asked our Lord.

「わたしに打たせてもらえまいか」とわれらの主は尋ねられた。

“You may try, if you like”, said the Smith; “you can’t do it so badly that I shall not be able to make it right again.”

「やってみたければやってみなされ」と鍛冶屋は言った。「わしが直せんほどひどくしくじることはできまいからな。」

So our Lord went out and took one leg off the horse, and laid it in the furnace, and made the shoe red-hot; after that, he turned up the ends of the shoe, and filed down the heads of the nails, and clenched the points; and then he put back the leg safe and sound on the horse again. And when he was done with that leg, he took the other fore-leg and did the same with it; and when he was done with that, he took the hind-legs—first, the off, and then the near leg, and laid them in the furnace, making the shoes red-hot, turning up the ends; filing the heads of the nails, and clenching the points; and after all was done, putting the legs on the horse again. All the while, the Smith stood by and looked on.

そこでわれらの主は外へ出て、馬の脚を一本外して炉に入れ、蹄鉄を赤く焼かれた。そのあと蹄鉄の端を曲げ、釘の頭をやすりで削り、先を打ち曲げた。それから脚を無事に馬に戻された。そしてその脚が済むと、もう一方の前脚を取って同じようにされた。それが済むと後ろ脚を——まず向こう側、それから手前の脚を取って炉に入れ、蹄鉄を赤く焼き、端を曲げ、釘の頭を削り、先を打ち曲げた。そして何もかも済むと、脚を馬に戻された。そのあいだずっと、鍛冶屋はそばに立って見ていた。

“You’re not so bad a smith after all”, said he.

「あんたもそう悪い鍛冶屋ではないな」と鍛冶屋は言った。

“Oh, you think so, do you?” said our Lord.

「ほう、そう思うか」とわれらの主は言われた。

A little while after came the Smith’s mother to the forge, and called him to come home and eat his dinner; she was an old, old woman with an ugly crook on her back, and wrinkles in her face, and it was as much as she could do to crawl along.

しばらくして鍛冶屋の母親が鍛冶場に来て、家へ帰って昼餉を食べろと息子を呼んだ。母親は年老いた老婆で、背中が醜く曲がり、顔には皺が寄っていて、這うようにしか歩けなかった。

“Mark now, what you see”, said our Lord.

「よく見ておくがよい」とわれらの主は言われた。

Then he took the woman and laid her in the furnace, and smithied a lovely young maiden out of her.

そして主はその老婆を取って炉に入れ、そこから美しい若い乙女を鍛え出された。

“Well”, said the Smith, “I say now, as I said before, you are not such a bad smith after all. There it stands over my door. Here dwells the Master over all Masters ; but for all that, I say right out, one learns as long as one lives”; and with that he walked off to his house and ate his dinner.

「なるほど」と鍛冶屋は言った。「前にも言ったとおり、あんたはそう悪い鍛冶屋ではない。戸の上に書いてあるとおり、《ここに親方のなかの親方住まう》だがな。それでもはっきり言おう、人は生きているかぎり学ぶものだ。」。そう言って彼は家へ歩いていき、昼餉を食べた。

So after dinner, just after he had got back to his forge, a man came riding up to have his horse shod.

そして昼餉のあと、鍛冶場へ戻ったちょうどそのとき、一人の男が馬の蹄鉄を打ってもらいに乗ってきた。

“It shall be done in the twinkling of an eye”, said the Smith, “for I have just learnt a new way to shoe; and a very good way it is when the days are short.”

「またたく間に済ませてやろう」と鍛冶屋は言った。「ちょうど新しい打ち方を習ったところでな。日の短い時分にはたいそう具合のよいやり方だ。」

So he began to cut and hack till he had got all the horse’s legs off, for he said, I don’t know why one should go pottering backwards and forwards—first, with one leg, and then with another.

そう言って彼は馬の脚をすっかり切り落とすまで切り刻んだ。まず一本、それからもう一本と、行ったり来たりしてもたもたする必要がどこにあろう、と言うのである。

Then he laid the legs in the furnace, just as he had seen our Lord lay them, and threw on a great heap of coal, and made his mates work the bellows bravely; but it went as one might suppose it would go. The legs were burnt to ashes, and the Smith had to pay for the horse.

それから主が入れられるのを見たとおりに脚を炉に入れ、炭を山と投げ入れて、弟子たちに力いっぱい鞴を吹かせた。だが結果はお察しのとおりになった。脚は灰になるまで焼けてしまい、鍛冶屋は馬の代を払わねばならなかった。

Well, he didn’t care much about that, but just then an old beggar-woman came along the road, and he thought to himself, “better luck next time”; so he took the old dame and laid her in the furnace, and though she begged and prayed hard for her life, it was no good.

さて、彼はそれについては大して気にしなかった。だがちょうどそのとき、年老いた物乞いの女が道を通りかかった。そこで「次はうまくいくだろう」と思って、その老婆を取って炉に入れた。そして老婆がどれほど必死に命乞いをしても無駄だった。

“You’re so old, you don’t know what is good for you”, said the Smith; “now you shall be a lovely young maiden in half no time, and for all that, I’ll not charge you a penny for the job.”

「あんたはあまりに年寄りで、自分に何がよいかもわかっておらん」と鍛冶屋は言った。「さあ、たちまち美しい若い乙女にしてやる。しかもこの仕事に一銭も取りはせんぞ。」

But it went no better with the poor old woman than with the horse’s legs.

だが哀れな老婆の結果は、馬の脚と何も変わらなかった。

“That was ill done, and I say it”, said our Lord.

「それは悪い行いだ、わたしはそう言おう」とわれらの主は言われた。

“Oh! for that matter”, said the Smith, “there’s not many who’ll ask after her, I’ll be bound; but it’s a shame of the Devil, if this is the way he holds to what is written up over the door.”

「なに、それについては」と鍛冶屋は言った。「あの婆さんを訪ねる者はそう多くはあるまいよ、まったく。だが悪魔のほうこそ恥知らずだ、戸の上に書いてあることをこんなふうに守るというのならな。」

“If you might have three wishes from me”, said our Lord, “what would you wish for?”

「もしわたしから三つの願いを聞いてもらえるとしたら」とわれらの主は言われた。「おまえは何を願う。」

“Only try me”, said the Smith, “and you’ll soon know.”

「試してみなされ」と鍛冶屋は言った。「すぐにわかるさ。」

So our Lord gave him three wishes.

そこでわれらの主は三つの願いを与えられた。

“Well”, said the Smith, “first and foremost, I wish that any one whom I ask to climb up into the pear-tree that stands outside by the wall of my forge, may stay sitting there till I ask him to come down again. The second wish I wish is, that any one whom I ask to sit down in my easy chair which stands inside the workshop yonder, may stay sitting there till I ask him to get up. Last of all, I wish that any one whom I ask to creep into the steel purse which I have in my pocket, may stay in it till I give him leave to creep out again.”

「では」と鍛冶屋は言った。「まず第一に、鍛冶場の壁の外に立っている梨の木に登れとわしが言った者は、下りてこいとわしが言うまでそこに坐ったままでいること。第二の願いは、あそこの仕事場のなかにあるわしの安楽椅子に坐れとわしが言った者は、立てとわしが言うまでそこに坐ったままでいること。そして最後に、わしが隠しに持っている鋼の財布のなかへ這い込めとわしが言った者は、出てよいとわしが許すまでそのなかにいること。」

“You have wished as a wicked man”, said St Peter; “first and foremost, you should have wished for God’s grace and goodwill.”

「おまえは邪な者の願い方をした」と聖ペテロは言われた。「まず何より、神の恵みと御心を願うべきであったのに。」

“I durstn’t look so high as that”, said the Smith; and after that our Lord and St Peter bade him “good-bye”, and went on their way.

「そんな高いところへ目を向ける度胸はない」と鍛冶屋は言った。そのあとわれらの主と聖ペテロは彼に「さらば」と言われて、旅を続けられた。

Well, the years went on and on, and when the time was up, the Devil came to fetch the Smith, as it was written in their bargain.

さて、年は過ぎに過ぎて、期限が来ると、取引に書いてあったとおり、悪魔が鍛冶屋を迎えに来た。

“Are you ready?” he said, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the forge.

「支度はできたか」と悪魔は鍛冶場の戸から鼻を突き入れて言った。

“Oh”, said the Smith, “I must just hammer the head of this tenpenny nail first; meantime, you can just climb up into the pear-tree, and pluck yourself a pear to gnaw at; you must be, both hungry and thirsty after your journey.”

「ああ」と鍛冶屋は言った。「まずこの十ペニー釘の頭を打たねばならん。そのあいだ、あんたは梨の木に登って梨をもいでかじっていなされ。旅のあとで腹も減って喉も渇いておろう。」

So the Devil thanked him for his kind offer, and climbed up into the pear-tree.

そこで悪魔は親切な申し出に礼を言って、梨の木に登った。

“Very good”, said the Smith; “but now, on thinking the matter over, I find I shall never be able to have done hammering the head of this nail till four years are out at least, this iron is so plaguey hard; down you can’t come in all that time, but may sit up there and rest your bones.”

「よろしい」と鍛冶屋は言った。「だがよく考えてみると、この釘の頭を打ち終えるには少なくとも四年はかかりそうだ。この鉄はいまいましいほど硬いのでな。そのあいだあんたは下りてこられんが、そこに坐って骨を休めていなされ。」

When the Devil heard this, he begged and prayed till his voice was as thin as a silver penny that he might have leave to come down; but there was no help for it. There he was, and there he must stay. At last he had to give his word of honour not to come again till the four years were out, which the Smith had spoken of, and then the Smith said, “Very well, now you may come down.”

悪魔はこれを聞くと、声が銀貨のように細くなるまで、下ろしてくれと頼み込んだ。だがどうしようもなかった。そこにいるほかなく、そこにいるしかなかった。とうとう悪魔は、鍛冶屋の言った四年が過ぎるまで二度と来ないと名誉にかけて約束せねばならなくなった。そこで鍛冶屋は言った。「よろしい、では下りてきてよい。」

So when the time was up, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith.

そうして期限が来ると、悪魔はまた鍛冶屋を迎えに来た。

“You’re ready now, of course”, said he; “you’ve had time enough to hammer the head of that nail, I should think.”

「今度こそ支度はできておろう」と悪魔は言った。「あの釘の頭を打つ時間はたっぷりあったはずだ。」

“Yes, the head is right enough now”, said the Smith; “but still you have come a little tiny bit too soon, for I haven’t quite done sharpening the point; such plaguey hard iron I never hammered in all my born days. So while I work at the point, you may just as well sit down in my easy chair and rest yourself; I’ll be bound you’re weary after coming so far.”

「ああ、頭のほうはもう仕上がった」と鍛冶屋は言った。「だがそれでもあんたはほんの少し早く来すぎた。まだ先を尖らせ終わっておらんのだ。こんないまいましく硬い鉄は、生まれてこのかた打ったことがない。だから先を仕上げるあいだ、わしの安楽椅子に坐って休んでいなされ。あれほど遠くから来て、さぞ疲れておろう。」

“Thank you kindly”, said the Devil, and down he plumped into the easy chair; but just as he had made himself comfortable, the Smith said, on second thoughts, he found he couldn’t get the point sharp till four years were out. First of all, the Devil begged so prettily to be let out of the chair, and afterwards, waxing wroth, he began to threaten and scold; but the Smith kept on, all the while excusing himself, and saying it was all the iron’s fault, it was so plaguy hard, and telling the Devil he was not so badly off to have to sit quietly in an easy chair, and that he would let him out to the minute when the four years were over. Well, at last there was no help for it, and the Devil had to give his word of honour not to fetch the Smith till the four years were out; and then the Smith said:

「ありがたいことだ」と悪魔は言って、安楽椅子にどすんと坐り込んだ。ところが居心地よく落ち着くやいなや、鍛冶屋は、よく考えてみると四年たたねば先を尖らせられそうにないと言った。はじめ悪魔はそれはそれは可愛らしく椅子から出してくれと頼み、そのあと腹を立てて脅したり罵ったりしはじめた。だが鍛冶屋はそのまま仕事を続け、そのあいだじゅう言い訳をして、何もかも鉄のせいだ、いまいましいほど硬いのだと言い、あんたは安楽椅子に静かに坐っていられるのだからそう悪い身分ではない、四年が過ぎたらきっかりその時に出してやると言った。さて、とうとうどうしようもなくなって、悪魔は四年が過ぎるまで鍛冶屋を迎えに来ないと名誉にかけて約束せねばならなくなった。そこで鍛冶屋は言った。

“Well now, you may get up and be off about your business”, and away went the Devil as fast as he could lay legs to the ground.

「よろしい、では立って自分の用に行きなされ。」。そして悪魔は脚の続くかぎりの速さで駆け去った。

When the four years were over, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith, and he called out, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the forge:

四年が過ぎると、悪魔はまた鍛冶屋を迎えに来て、鍛冶場の戸から鼻を突き入れてこう叫んだ。

“Now, I know you must be ready.”

「さあ、今度こそ支度はできておろう。」

“Ready, aye, ready”, answered the Smith; “we can go now as soon as you please; but hark ye, there is one thing I have stood here and thought, and thought, I would ask you to tell me. Is it true what people say, that the Devil can make himself as small as he pleases?”

「できているとも、ああ、できている」と鍛冶屋は答えた。「お望みならいつでも行ける。だが聞いてくれ、一つだけここに立ってずっと考えていて、あんたに尋ねようと思っていたことがある。悪魔は好きなだけ小さくなれるという話は本当かね。」

“God knows, it is the very truth”, said the Devil.

「神がご存じだ、まったく本当のことだ」と悪魔は言った。

“Oh!” said the Smith; “it is true, is it? then I wish you would just be so good as to creep into this steel purse of mine, and see whether it is sound at the bottom, for to tell you the truth, I’m afraid my travelling money will drop out.”

「ほう!」と鍛冶屋は言った。「本当なのか。では一つ、このわしの鋼の財布のなかへ這い込んで、底がしっかりしているかどうか見てくれんか。正直に言うと、旅の金が落ちてしまわんかと心配でな。」

“With all my heart”, said the Devil, who made himself small in a trice, and crept into the purse; but he was scarce in when the Smith snapped to the clasp.

「よろこんで」と悪魔は言って、たちまち小さくなって財布のなかへ這い込んだ。ところが入るか入らないかのうちに、鍛冶屋は留め金をぱちんと閉めた。

“Yes”, called out the Devil inside the purse; “it’s right and tight everywhere.”

「うむ」と財布のなかから悪魔が叫んだ。「どこもしっかりして具合がよいぞ。」

“Very good”, said the Smith; “I’m glad to hear you say so, but ‘more haste the worse speed’, says the old saw, and ‘forewarned is forearmed’, says another; so I’ll just weld these links a little together, just for safety’s sake”; and with that he laid the purse in the furnace, and made it red-hot.

「よろしい」と鍛冶屋は言った。「そう言ってもらえてうれしい。だが『急がば回れ』と古い諺にも言うし、『備えあれば憂いなし』とも言う。だから念のためにこの留め金を少し溶接しておこう。」。そう言って財布を炉に入れ、赤く焼いた。

“AU! AU!” screamed the Devil, “are you mad? don’t you know I’m inside the purse?”

「あう! あう!」と悪魔は悲鳴をあげた。「気でも狂ったか。わしが財布のなかにいるのを知らんのか。」

“Yes, I do!” said the Smith; “but I can’t help you, for another old saw says, ‘one must strike while the iron is hot’”; and as he said this, he took up his sledge-hammer, laid the purse on the anvil, and let fly at it as hard as he could.

「ああ、知っているとも!」と鍛冶屋は言った。「だが助けてやれん。もう一つ古い諺に『鉄は熱いうちに打て』と言うのでな。」。そう言いながら大槌を取り上げ、財布を金床に置いて、力のかぎり打ちつけた。

“AU! AU! AU!” bellowed the Devil, inside the purse. “Dear friend, do let me out, and I’ll never come near you again.”

「あう! あう! あう!」と悪魔は財布のなかで吠えた。「なあお友だち、どうか出してくれ。もう二度とあんたに近づかんから。」

“Very well!” said the Smith; “now, I think, the links are pretty well welded, and you may come out”; so he unclasped the purse, and away went the Devil in such a hurry that he didn’t once look behind him.

「よろしい!」と鍛冶屋は言った。「さて、留め金もよく溶接できたと思う。出てきてよいぞ。」。そう言って財布の留め金を外すと、悪魔は一度も振り返らぬほどの慌てぶりで駆け去った。

Now, some time after, it came across the Smith’s mind that he had done a silly thing in making the Devil his enemy, for, he said to himself:

さてしばらくして、鍛冶屋はふと、悪魔を敵に回したのは愚かなことだったと思い至った。こうひとりごちたのである。

“If, as is like enough, they won’t have me in the kingdom of Heaven, I shall be in danger of being houseless, since I’ve fallen out with him who rules over Hell.”

「もしありそうなことだが、天の国で迎えてもらえなかったら、わしは宿なしになる恐れがある。地獄を治める者と仲違いしてしまったのだからな。」

So he made up his mind it would be best to try to get either into Hell or Heaven, and to try at once, rather than to put it off any longer, so that he might know how things really stood. Then he threw his sledge-hammer over his shoulder and set off; and when he had gone a good bit of the way, he came to a place where two roads met, and where the path to the kingdom of Heaven parts from the path that leads to Hell, and here he overtook a tailor, who was pelting along with his goose in his hand.

そこで彼は、地獄か天か、どちらかに入れるよう試してみるのがいちばんよい、それも先延ばしにせずいますぐ試して、実際どうなっているかを知っておこうと心を決めた。そして大槌を肩に担いで出かけた。そしてだいぶ道を行ったところで、二つの道が出会うところに着いた。そこは天の国へ行く道と地獄へ行く道が分かれるところで、そこで彼は、鵞鳥鏝を手にして急ぎ足で行く仕立屋に追いついた。

“Good day”, said the Smith; “whither are you off to?”

「こんにちは」と鍛冶屋は言った。「どちらへ行かれる。」

“To the kingdom of Heaven”, said the Tailor, “if I can only get into it”—“but whither are you going yourself?”

「天の国へ」と仕立屋は言った。「入れてもらえさえすればですが。あなたご自身はどちらへ。」

“Oh, our ways don’t run together”, said the Smith; “for I have made up my mind to try first in Hell, as the Devil and I know something of one another, from old times.”

「ああ、わしらの道はいっしょではない」と鍛冶屋は言った。「わしはまず地獄を試そうと心を決めているのでな。悪魔とわしは昔からいささか知り合いなのだ。」

So they bade one another “Good-bye”, and each went his way; but the Smith was a stout, strong man, and got over the ground far faster than the tailor, and so it wasn’t long before he stood at the gates of Hell. Then he called the watch, and bade him go and tell the Devil there was some one outside who wished to speak a word with him.

そこで二人は「さらば」と言い合って、それぞれの道を行った。だが鍛冶屋は頑丈で力の強い男で、仕立屋よりはるかに速く進んだ。そのためまもなく地獄の門に立っていた。そこで門番を呼び、外に話をしたい者がいると悪魔に伝えてこいと言った。

“Go out”, said the Devil to the watch, “and ask him who he is?” So that when the watch came and told him that, the Smith answered:

「出ていって」と悪魔は門番に言った。「そいつが何者か訊いてこい。」。そこで門番が来てそう告げると、鍛冶屋はこう答えた。

“Go and greet the Devil in my name, and say it is the Smith who owns the purse he wots of; and beg him prettily to let me in at once, for I worked at my forge till noon, and I have had a long walk since.”

「わしの名で悪魔に挨拶して、こう言ってくれ。あんたの知っているあの財布の持ち主の鍛冶屋だ、と。そしてすぐに入れてくれるよう丁重に頼んでくれ。昼まで鍛冶場で働いて、そのあと長いこと歩いてきたのでな。」

But when the Devil heard who it was, he charged the watch to go back and lock up all the nine locks on the gates of Hell.

ところが悪魔はそれが誰かを聞くと、門番に戻って地獄の門の九つの錠をすっかり閉めろと言いつけた。

“And, besides”, he said, “you may as well put on a padlock, for if he only once gets in, he’ll turn Hell topsy-turvy!”

「そのうえ」と悪魔は言った。「南京錠もかけておけ。あいつがひとたび入ったら、地獄をひっくり返してしまうからな!」

“Well!” said the Smith to himself, when he saw them busy bolting up the gates, “there’s no lodging to be got here, that’s plain; so I may as well try my luck in the kingdom of Heaven”; and with that he turned round and went back till he reached the cross-roads, and then he went along the path the tailor had taken. And now, as he was cross at having gone backwards and forwards so far for no good, he strode along with all his might, and reached the gate of Heaven just as St Peter was opening it a very little, just enough to let the half-starved tailor slip in. The Smith was still six or seven strides off the gate, so he thought to himself, “Now there’s no time to be lost”; and, grasping his sledge-hammer, he hurled it into the opening of the door just as the tailor slunk in; and if the Smith didn’t get in then, when the door was ajar, why I don’t know what has become of him.

「なるほど!」と鍛冶屋は、みなが忙しく門を閉ざしているのを見てひとりごちた。「ここには泊まるところはなさそうだ。それははっきりしている。ならば天の国で運を試すほかあるまい。」。そう言って向きを変えて引き返し、辻まで戻って、仕立屋の行った道を進んだ。そしていまや、無駄に行ったり来たりしたのが腹立たしくて、力のかぎり大股で歩き、聖ペテロが痩せこけた仕立屋を滑り込ませるだけの隙間をほんの少し開けたちょうどそのとき、天の門に着いた。鍛冶屋は門からまだ六歩か七歩のところにいた。そこで「いまこそ一刻の猶予もない」とひとりごちて、大槌をつかみ、仕立屋がこっそり入ったちょうどそのとき、戸の隙間へそれを投げ込んだ。そして戸が半開きのそのときに鍛冶屋が入れなかったのなら、そのあと彼がどうなったのか、わたしは知らない。