Mansumandig

Visayan

ビサヤ

One day a man said to his wife: "My wife, we are getting very poor and I must go into business to earn some money."

ある日、男が妻に言った。「妻よ、われらはたいそう貧しくなってきた。だから金を稼ぐために商いに出なければならない。」

"That is a good idea," replied his wife. "How much capital have you?"

「それはよい考えです」と妻は答えた。「元手はいくらありますか。」

"I have twenty-five centavos," [165] answered the man; "and I am going to buy rice and carry it to the mines, for I have heard that it brings a good price there."

「二十五センタボある」[165] と男は答えた。「そして米を買って鉱山へ運ぶつもりだ。あそこではよい値がつくと聞いたからな。」

So he took his twenty-five centavos and bought a half-cavan of rice which he carried on his shoulder to the mine. Arriving there he told the people that he had rice for sale, and they asked eagerly how much he wanted for it.

そこで彼は二十五センタボを取って半カバンの米を買い、それを肩に担いで鉱山へ運んだ。着くと人々に売る米があると告げ、そして人々はいくらほしいのかと夢中で尋ねた。

"Why, have you forgotten the regular price of rice?" asked the man. "It is twenty-five centavos."

「なんと、米の決まった値を忘れたのか」と男は尋ねた。「二十五センタボだ。」

They at once bought the rice, and the man was very glad because he would not have to carry it any longer. He put the money in his belt and asked if they would like to buy any more.

人々はすぐにその米を買い、そして男はもうそれを担がなくてよいのでたいそう喜んだ。彼は金を帯に入れて、もっと買いたいかと尋ねた。

"Yes," said they, "we will buy as many cavans as you will bring."

「そうだ」と人々は言った。「持ってくるだけのカバンを買おう。」

When the man reached home his wife asked if he had been successful.

男が家に着くと、妻は首尾よくいったかと尋ねた。

"Oh, my wife," he answered, "it is a very good business. I could not take the rice off my shoulder before the people came to buy it."

「ああ、妻よ」と彼は答えた。「たいそうよい商いだ。人々が買いに来る前に肩から米を下ろすこともできなかったよ。」

"Well, that is good," said the wife; "we shall become very rich."

「まあ、それはよいことです」と妻は言った。「われらはたいそう豊かになりますね。」

The next morning the man bought a half-cavan of rice the same as before and carried it to the mine and when they asked how much it would be, he said:

次の朝、男は前と同じように半カバンの米を買って鉱山へ運び、そしていくらかと尋ねられると、こう言った。

"It is the same as before--twenty-five centavos." He received the money and went home.

「前と同じだ——二十五センタボだ。」彼は金を受け取って家へ帰った。

"How is the business today?" asked his wife.

「今日の商いはどうでした」と妻は尋ねた。

"Oh, it is the same as before," he said. "I could not take the rice off my shoulder before they came for it."

「ああ、前と同じだ」と彼は言った。「取りに来る前に肩から米を下ろすこともできなかったよ。」

And so he went on with his business for a year, each day buying a half-cavan of rice and selling it for the price he had paid for it. Then one day his wife said that they would balance accounts, and she spread a mat on the floor and sat down on one side of it, telling her husband to sit on the opposite side. When she asked him for the money he had made during the year, he asked:

そうして彼は一年のあいだ商いを続け、毎日半カバンの米を買って、それを払った値で売った。それからある日、妻が勘定を合わせようと言い、そして床に蓆を広げてその片側に座り、夫に向かい側に座るよう告げた。この一年で稼いだ金をくれと言うと、夫は尋ねた。

"What money?"

「どの金だ。」

"Why, give me the money you have received," answered his wife; "and then we can see how much you have made."

「なんと、受け取った金をくださいな」と妻は答えた。「そうすればいくら稼いだか見られるでしょう。」

"Oh, here it is," said the man, and he took the twenty-five centavos out of his belt and handed it to her.

「ああ、ここにある」と男は言い、帯から二十五センタボを取り出して妻に渡した。

"Is that all you have received this year?" cried his wife angrily. "Haven't you said that rice brought a good price at the mines?"

「今年受け取ったのはそれだけですか」と妻は腹を立てて叫んだ。「鉱山では米によい値がついたと言ったではありませんか。」

"That is all," he replied.

「それだけだ」と彼は答えた。

"How much did you pay for the rice?"

「米にいくら払ったのです。」

"Twenty-five centavos."

「二十五センタボだ。」

"How much did you receive for it?"

「それをいくらで売ったのです。」

"Twenty-five centavos."

「二十五センタボだ。」

"Oh, my husband," cried his wife, "how can you make any gain if you sell it for just what you paid for it."

「ああ、あなた」と妻は叫んだ。「払ったのとちょうど同じ値で売って、どうして儲けが出るというのです。」

The man leaned his head against the wall and thought. Ever since then he has been called "Mansumandig," a man who leans back and thinks.

男は壁に頭を寄りかけて考えた。それからずっと彼は「マンスマンディグ」、すなわち寄りかかって考える男と呼ばれている。

Then the wife said, "Give me the twenty-five centavos, and I will try to make some money." So he handed it to her, and she said, "Now you go to the field where the people are gathering hemp and buy twenty-five centavos worth for me, and I will weave it into cloth."

それから妻は言った。「二十五センタボをください。わたしが金を稼いでみましょう。」そこで彼は渡し、そして妻は言った。「では人々が麻を集めている野へ行って、わたしのために二十五センタボ分を買ってきてください。それを織って布にしましょう。」

When Mansumandig returned with the hemp she spread it in the sun, and as soon as it was dry she tied it into a long thread and put it on the loom to weave. Night and day she worked on her cloth, and when it was finished she had eight varas. This she sold for twelve and a half centavos a vara, and with this money she bought more hemp. She continued weaving and selling her cloth, and her work was so good that people were glad to buy from her.

マンスマンディグが麻を持って帰ると、妻はそれを日に広げ、そして乾くとすぐに長い糸に撚って機に掛けて織った。夜も昼もその布に働き、そしてでき上がると八バラあった。これを一バラ十二センタボ半で売り、そしてその金でもっと麻を買った。彼女は布を織って売り続け、そしてその出来があまりによいので人々は喜んで買った。

At the end of a year she again spread the mat on the floor and took her place on one side of it, while her husband sat on the opposite side. Then she poured the money out of the blanket in which she kept it upon the mat. She held aside her capital, which was twenty-five centavos, and when she counted the remainder she found that she had three hundred pesos. Mansumandig was greatly ashamed when he remembered that he had not made cent, and he leaned his head against the wall and thought After a while the woman pitied him, so she gave him the money and told him to buy carabao.

一年の終わりに、彼女はまた床に蓆を広げてその片側に座り、一方、夫は向かい側に座った。それから金をしまっていた毛布からそれを蓆の上に注ぎ出した。元手である二十五センタボを脇に取り分け、そして残りを数えてみると、三百ペソあると分かった。マンスマンディグは、自分が一銭も稼がなかったことを思い出してたいそう恥じ、壁に頭を寄りかけて考えた。しばらくして妻は彼を憐れみ、そこで金を渡してカラバオを買うよう告げた。

He was able to buy ten carabao and with these he plowed his fields. By raising good crops they were able to live comfortably all the rest of their lives.

彼はカラバオを十頭買うことができ、それで自分の畑を鋤いた。よい作物を育てることで、二人は残りの生涯ずっと心地よく暮らすことができた。