The Poor Fisherman and His Wife

Ilocano

イロカノ

Many, many years ago a poor fisherman and his wife lived with their three sons in a village by the sea. One day the old man set his snare in the water not far from his house, and at night when he went to look at it, he found that he had caught a great white fish. This startled the old man very much, for he had never seen a fish like this before, and it occurred to him that it was the priest of the town.

ずっとずっと昔、貧しい漁師とその妻が三人の息子とともに海辺の村に住んでいた。ある日、老人は家から遠くない水に罠を据え、そして夜にそれを見に行くと、大きな白い魚が捕れているのを見つけた。これは老人をたいそう驚かせた。こんな魚をこれまで見たことがなかったからである。そして彼は、それが町の司祭なのだと思い込んだ。

He ran to his wife as fast as he could and cried:

彼はできるだけ速く妻のもとへ走って叫んだ。

"My wife, I have caught the priest."

「妻よ、司祭を捕らえてしまった。」

"What?" said the old woman, terrified at the sight of her frightened husband.

「何ですって」と老女は、怯えた夫の様子に恐れおののいて言った。

"I have caught the priest," said the old man again.

「司祭を捕らえてしまった」と老人はもう一度言った。

They hurried together to the river where the snare was set, and when the old woman saw the fish, she cried:

二人はともに罠を据えた川へ急ぎ、そして老女がその魚を見ると、こう叫んだ。

"Oh, it is not the priest but the governor."

「ああ、これは司祭ではなく知事です。」

"No, it is the priest," insisted the old man, and they went home trembling with fear.

「いや、司祭だ」と老人は言い張り、そして二人は恐れに震えながら家へ帰った。

That night neither of them was able to sleep for thought of the terrible thing that had happened and wondering what they should do. Now the next day was a great holiday in the town. At four o'clock in the morning cannons were fired and bells rang loudly. The old man and woman, hearing all the noise and not knowing the reason for it, thought that their crime had been discovered, and the people were searching for them to punish them, so they set out as fast as they could to hide in the woods. On and on they went, stopping only to rest so as to enable them to resume their flight.

その夜、二人はどちらも眠れなかった。起きてしまった恐ろしいことを思い、どうしたらよいかと思い巡らしていたからである。さて次の日は町の大きな祭りの日だった。朝の四時に大砲が撃たれ、鐘が高く鳴った。老人と老女は、この物音をみな聞いてその理由を知らないので、自分たちの罪が見つかって人々が罰するために探しているのだと思い、そこで森に隠れるためにできるだけ速く出かけた。二人はどこまでも進み、逃げるのを続けられるようにするためだけに休んで止まった。

The next morning they reached the woods near Pilar, where there also was a great holiday, and the sexton was ringing the bells to call the people to mass. As soon as the old man and woman heard the bells they thought the people there had been notified of their escape, and that they, too, were trying to catch them. So they turned and started home again.

次の朝、二人はピラルの近くの森に着いた。そこでもまた大きな祭りの日で、堂守が人々をミサに呼ぶために鐘を鳴らしていた。老人と老女はこの鐘を聞くとすぐに、そこの人々も自分たちの逃亡を知らされていて、彼らもまた自分たちを捕らえようとしているのだと思った。そこで二人は向きを変えてまた家へ向かった。

As they reached their house, the three sons came home with their one horse and tied it to the trunk of the caramay tree. Presently the bells began to ring again, for it was twelve o'clock at noon. Not thinking what time of day it was, the old man and woman ran out of doors in terror, and seeing the horse jumped on its back with the intention of riding to the next town before anyone could catch them. When they had mounted they began to whip the horse. In their haste, they had forgotten to untie the rope which was around the trunk of the caramay tree. As the horse pulled at the rope fruit fell from the tree upon the old man and woman. Believing they were shot, they were so frightened that they died. [150]

家に着くと、三人の息子が一頭の馬とともに帰ってきて、それをカラマイの木の幹に繋いだ。ほどなく鐘がまた鳴り始めた。真昼の十二時だったからである。時刻のことを考えず、老人と老女は恐れて戸の外へ走り出た。そして馬を見ると、誰かに捕らえられる前に次の町まで乗っていこうという心づもりで、その背に跳び乗った。乗ると二人は馬に鞭を当て始めた。急いでいたので、二人はカラマイの木の幹に回した綱を解くのを忘れていた。馬が綱を引くと、木から実が老人と老女の上に落ちた。撃たれたと思い込んで、二人はあまりに怯えて死んでしまった。[150]