Why Dogs Sniff

The Story of the Dogs' Dinner Party

犬たちの晩餐会の話

Once upon a time the dogs gave a dinner party. All the dogs were invited and all the dogs accepted the invitation. There were big dogs and little dogs and middle-sized dogs. There were black dogs and white dogs and brown dogs and gray dogs and yellow dogs and spotted dogs. There were dogs with long tails and dogs with short tails and dogs with no tails at all. There were dogs with little sharp-pointed ears and dogs with big flat drooping ears. There were dogs with long slender noses and dogs with short fat turn-up noses. All these dogs came to the party.

むかしむかし、犬たちが晩餐会を開いた。犬という犬が招かれ、犬という犬が招きに応じた。大きな犬も、小さな犬も、中くらいの犬もいた。黒い犬も、白い犬も、茶色い犬も、灰色の犬も、黄色い犬も、ぶちの犬もいた。尻尾の長い犬も、尻尾の短い犬も、尻尾のまったくない犬もいた。小さな尖った耳の犬も、大きな平たい垂れ耳の犬もいた。すらりと長い鼻の犬も、ずんぐり短い上向きの鼻の犬もいた。こうした犬たちがみな晩餐会にやってきた。

Now the dinner was a most elaborate affair. Everything had been arranged with the utmost care. All the good things to eat were spread out upon the rocks by the sea. A gay sparkling little brook brought water to drink. The sun was shining brightly and a soft gentle little breeze was blowing. Everything seemed absolutely perfect.

さて晩餐はたいそう凝ったものであった。何もかもこの上なく念入りに整えられていた。美味しいものがみな、海辺の岩の上に並べられていた。陽気にきらめく小川が飲み水を運んできた。日は明るく照り、柔らかでやさしいそよ風が吹いていた。何もかもが申し分なく見えた。

But there was a cross fussy old dog who came to the party. She was a yellow dog, they say. Nothing ever suited her. Whenever she went to a party she always found fault with something. Sometimes there was too little to eat and sometimes there was too much. Sometimes the hot things were not hot enough and sometimes the cold things were not cold enough. Sometimes the hot things were so hot they burned her mouth and the cold things so cold that they gave her indigestion. There was always something wrong.

ところが晩餐会には、怒りっぽくて口うるさい年寄りの犬が一匹来ていた。黄色い犬だったという。何ひとつ気に入ることがない。晩餐会に行くと、いつも何かに文句をつけるのだった。食べ物が少なすぎることもあれば、多すぎることもある。熱い料理が十分に熱くないこともあれば、冷たい料理が十分に冷たくないこともある。熱い料理が熱すぎて口を火傷することもあれば、冷たい料理が冷たすぎて胃がもたれることもある。いつも何かしら具合の悪いところがあった。

At this party, however, there was not too much to eat and there was not too little to eat. The hot things were all just hot enough and the cold things were all just cold enough. Everything seemed to be exactly as it should be.

ところがこの晩餐会では、食べ物は多すぎも少なすぎもしなかった。熱い料理はみなちょうどよく熱く、冷たい料理はみなちょうどよく冷たかった。何もかもが、まさにあるべきとおりであるように見えた。

"How good everything tastes!" remarked the big black dog between polite mouthfuls.

「何もかもなんて美味しいのでしょう!」と、大きな黒い犬が行儀よく一口食べる合間に言った。

"Everything is seasoned exactly right," added the black and white spotted dog between mouthfuls which were entirely too large to be polite.

「どれも味つけがまさにちょうどいい」と、行儀よくするにはあまりに大きすぎる一口の合間に、黒と白のぶちの犬が付け加えた。

That was an unfortunate remark. The cross fussy yellow dog heard it. She noticed immediately that the big juicy bone she was eating had not been seasoned with pepper.

それはまずいひと言であった。怒りっぽくて口うるさい黄色い犬がそれを聞いたのである。黄色い犬はすぐさま、自分の食べている汁気たっぷりの大きな骨に胡椒がふってないことに気づいた。

"Will somebody please pass the pepper?" she asked.

「どなたか胡椒を回してくださらない?」と黄色い犬は言った。

All the black dogs and white dogs and brown dogs and yellow dogs and gray dogs and spotted dogs fell over each other trying to find the pepper to pass. There was not a single bit of pepper at that dinner party.

黒い犬も、白い犬も、茶色い犬も、黄色い犬も、灰色の犬も、ぶちの犬もみな、回す胡椒を探そうとして、互いにつまずき合った。その晩餐会には胡椒がひとかけらもなかったのである。

"I can't eat a mouthful until I have some pepper," whined the yellow dog.

「胡椒をもらうまで、一口も食べられないわ」と黄色い犬は鼻を鳴らした。

"I'll go into the city and get some pepper," said one of the dogs. Nobody ever knew which dog it was.

「わたしが町へ行って胡椒を取ってきましょう」と一匹の犬が言った。それがどの犬だったのか、誰にも分からなかった。

The dog who went into the city to get the pepper never came back. Nobody ever knew what became of him.

胡椒を取りに町へ行った犬は、二度と戻らなかった。その犬がどうなったのか、誰にも分からなかった。

Whenever two dogs meet they always sniff at each other. If one of them should happen to be the dog who went into the city to get the pepper, he would surely smell of pepper.

二匹の犬が出会うと、きまって互いの匂いを嗅ぐ。もしそのどちらかが、胡椒を取りに町へ行ったあの犬だったなら、きっと胡椒の匂いがするはずだからである。