The Table, the Sifter and the Pinchers

The Story of the King's Laborer and His Wages

王に雇われた男とその給金の話

Once upon a time there was a man who was very poor. He had so many children it was difficult to earn money enough to provide for them all. Accordingly, he left home and hired out to the king of a distant land.

むかしむかし、たいそう貧しい男がいた。子どもがあまりに多くて、みんなを養うだけの金を稼ぐのが難しかった。そこで男は家を出て、遠い国の王に雇われた。

At the end of a year's time he went to the king and said: "I have served you faithfully for a whole year. Now I wish to return to my wife and children. Pay me, I pray you, what you owe me for my work."

一年たつと、男は王のところへ行って言った。「わたしはまる一年、忠実にお仕えしました。これから妻と子どものところへ帰りたいと思います。どうか、働いた分の給金をお払いください」

The king said: "I will not reward you in money. I will give you something better than money. Here is a table. When you are hungry all you have to do is to say, 'Table, set yourself.' Then the table will immediately be spread with food."

王は言った。「金で報いるつもりはない。金よりもよいものをやろう。ここにテーブルがある。腹がすいたら、『テーブルよ、支度をせよ』と言いさえすればよい。そうすれば、テーブルにはたちまち食べ物が並ぶ」

"Thank you, good king," replied the man. "With this table it will be easy enough to provide food even for all my large family."

「ありがとうございます、よき王さま」と男は答えた。「このテーブルがあれば、大家族みんなの食べ物もたやすくまかなえます」

When the man had started home with his table he soon grew hungry. He put it down by the roadside under a leafy tree and said, "Table, set yourself." Immediately it was full of the most delicious food. The man ate all he could and gave the rest away to some beggars who passed that way.

男はテーブルを持って家路についたが、じきに腹がすいてきた。男はテーブルを道ばたの葉の茂った木の下に置いて言った。「テーブルよ、支度をせよ」たちまちテーブルは、このうえなくおいしい食べ物でいっぱいになった。男は食べられるだけ食べ、残りは通りかかった物乞いたちにやった。

"It is a lucky day for us," said the beggars as they thanked him.

「今日はついている日だ」と物乞いたちは礼を言いながら言った。

That night the man stopped at an inn. He was so delighted with the magic powers of his table that he foolishly told the innkeeper about it.

その夜、男は宿屋に泊まった。男はテーブルの魔法の力にあまりに浮かれていたので、愚かにもそのことを宿屋の主人に話してしまった。

"That would be a most excellent table for me to possess," thought the innkeeper. "With this in my possession I would soon be a rich man. I could charge my guests a price in proportion to the rich food I would serve them, and I'd never have to spend a cent of my money to buy supplies."

「そいつはわしが持つのにうってつけのテーブルだ」と宿屋の主人は思った。「あれがあれば、わしはじきに金持ちになれる。出すごちそうに見合った値を客から取って、仕入れに一文も使わずにすむ」

That night the innkeeper stole the table and substituted another for it which looked exactly like it. Early in the morning the man loaded the table on his back and hurried home to his wife and children.

その夜、宿屋の主人はテーブルを盗み、そっくりに見える別のテーブルとすり替えた。朝早く、男はテーブルを背負って、妻と子どものもとへ急いで帰った。

"We'll never be hungry again!" he cried as he embraced his wife. "Never again shall our children call for food when we have nothing to give them!"

「もう二度とひもじい思いはしないぞ!」と男は妻を抱きしめて叫んだ。「子どもたちが食べ物をねだっても何もやれない、なんてことは二度とないんだ!」

"How much did the king pay you?" asked his wife in surprise. The good woman well knew how much it cost to buy food enough to keep all their children from going hungry.

「王さまはいくら払ってくださったの」と妻は驚いて尋ねた。よき女は、子どもたちみんなをひもじくさせないだけの食べ物を買うのにどれほどかかるか、よく知っていたのである。

"The king did not pay me in money. He gave me something better than money," replied the man. "Do you see this table? Call the children. I want to show you something."

「王さまは金では払ってくださらなかった。金よりもよいものをくださったんだ」と男は答えた。「このテーブルが見えるか。子どもたちを呼んでおいで。見せたいものがあるんだ」

The man's wife and children all gathered about the table, watching it curiously.

男の妻と子どもたちはみなテーブルのまわりに集まって、珍しそうに見守った。

"Table, set yourself," said the man.

「テーブルよ、支度をせよ」と男は言った。

The table remained standing in the center of the floor just as it was.

テーブルは床のまんなかに、そのまま立っていた。

"What trick is this?" asked the good wife. She had been a bit suspicious from the moment she had heard that there was no money in her husband's pockets.

「これはいったい何のいたずら?」とよき妻は尋ねた。夫のポケットに金が入っていないと聞いたときから、妻は少し怪しんでいたのである。

"I'll get the beggars I fed to prove to you what this table provided yesterday," he said when he had told all the story.

「わしが食べさせてやった物乞いたちを連れてきて、きのうこのテーブルが何を出したか証明してもらうよ」と男は、話をすっかりしてから言った。

"You'd better go back to the king as fast as you can," advised the wife. "Take back this good-for-nothing table which he has imposed upon you and ask for some real money instead."

「できるだけ早く王さまのところへ戻ったほうがいいわ」と妻は勧めた。「押しつけられたこの役立たずのテーブルを返して、代わりにほんとうのお金をもらってきなさいな」

The man did as his wife advised. The king was thoughtful for a moment. He guessed that the man had been robbed.

男は妻の勧めどおりにした。王はしばらく考え込んだ。男が盗まれたのだと察したのである。

At last he said: "I'll give you a sifter this time. Then when you need money all you have to do is to say, 'Sifter, sift!' It will sift out money as freely as if it were flour."

とうとう王は言った。「今度はふるいをやろう。金が要るときは、『ふるいよ、ふるえ!』と言いさえすればよい。粉をふるうようにたやすく、金をふるい出してくれる」

The man was delighted with the sifter. He sifted his pockets full of money immediately and hurried home. On the way he again spent the night at the inn.

男はふるいに大喜びした。男はすぐにポケットいっぱいに金をふるい出して、急いで家路についた。途中、男はまたあの宿屋に泊まった。

"When I brought my table home it wouldn't work," he told the innkeeper. "I took it back and got something in its place which is all right."

「テーブルを家に持って帰ったら、動かなかったんだ」と男は宿屋の主人に言った。「それで返しに行って、代わりにちゃんとしたものをもらってきたんだ」

The innkeeper watched him sift out money.

宿屋の主人は、男が金をふるい出すのを見ていた。

"Why don't I get that sifter?" thought the innkeeper. "I work very hard serving my guests even though the table provides the food for them. If I had this sifter I wouldn't have to work. I'd close the inn and pass the rest of my life enjoying the money I'd sift into my pockets so easily."

「あのふるいを手に入れない手はないだろう」と宿屋の主人は思った。「テーブルが客の食べ物を出してくれるといっても、客の世話にはずいぶん骨が折れる。このふるいがあれば働かなくてすむ。宿屋を閉めて、ポケットにたやすくふるい出す金を楽しんで一生を過ごせる」

That night he stole the sifter and substituted another which looked exactly like it.

その夜、宿屋の主人はふるいを盗み、そっくりに見える別のふるいとすり替えた。

When the man reached home there was plenty of money in his pockets and his wife and children were happy for a little while. However, he soon wanted to display the magic gifts of his new sifter. Accordingly, he called his family together.

男が家に帰り着いたとき、ポケットには金がたっぷり入っていたので、妻と子どもたちはしばらくのあいだ幸せだった。けれども男は、じきに新しいふるいの魔法の力を見せびらかしたくなった。そこで男は家族を呼び集めた。

"Sifter, sift," he commanded.

「ふるいよ、ふるえ」と男は命じた。

The sifter behaved just like any ordinary sifter.

ふるいは、どこにでもあるふるいとまったく同じだった。

"You have been tricked again!" cried his wife. She was very cross indeed and told her husband exactly what she thought of him.

「まただまされたのね!」と妻は叫んだ。妻はほんとうにかんかんになって、夫のことをどう思っているかを遠慮なくぶちまけた。

Home was not a comfortable place for him that day, so he decided to hurry back to the king after he had emptied all the money in his pockets into his wife's lap.

その日、家は男にとって居心地のよい場所ではなかったので、男はポケットの金をみな妻の膝にあけてから、急いで王のもとへ戻ることにした。

"This will supply you for a while," he said. "It is quite as much as any ordinary husband would have brought home for a year's work."

「これでしばらくはまかなえるだろう」と男は言った。「一年働いてふつうの亭主が持って帰る分と、まったく同じくらいはあるよ」

"A woman hates to have her husband made a fool of," replied the woman as she rolled up the money and tucked it away carefully.

「女は亭主が笑いものにされるのが大嫌いなのよ」と妻は答えながら、金をくるくる包んで大事にしまい込んだ。

When the king had heard the story he was entirely convinced that the man had an enemy who had stolen both the table and the sifter.

話を聞くと、王は、男には敵がいてテーブルとふるいの両方を盗んだのだとすっかり確信した。

"Where did you spend the night?" he asked.

「どこで夜を過ごしたのだ」と王は尋ねた。

The man told of passing the night in the inn.

男は宿屋で夜を過ごしたことを話した。

"I've heard that innkeeper is going to retire from business, he has become so rich," said the king. "You'd better hurry there as fast as you can before he leaves town."

「あの宿屋の主人は、ずいぶん金持ちになったので商売をやめるそうだ」と王は言った。「主人が町を出ていく前に、できるだけ急いでそこへ行くがよい」

The laborer nodded his head thoughtfully, a wise look creeping into his eyes.

雇われ人は考え深げにうなずき、その目には賢そうな色が浮かんできた。

"Take these pinchers," ordered the king. "Use them on that innkeeper until he gives back the table and the sifter."

「このやっとこを持っていけ」と王は命じた。「あの宿屋の主人がテーブルとふるいを返すまで、これを使ってやれ」

When the innkeeper was sore and black and blue from the pinchers he gave back the table and the sifter.

宿屋の主人は、やっとこでつねられて体じゅうが痛み、青あざだらけになると、テーブルとふるいを返した。

After that there were prosperous days indeed for the king's laborer. Whenever the children were hungry, he would say: "Table, set yourself," and immediately the table would be full of the most delicious food. Whenever his wife said, "I need some money," he would call out, "Sifter, sift," and the sifter would sift out money as freely and easily as if it were flour.

それからというもの、王の雇われ人にはまさしく豊かな日々が続いた。子どもたちが腹をすかせるたびに、男は「テーブルよ、支度をせよ」と言い、たちまちテーブルはこのうえなくおいしい食べ物でいっぱいになった。妻が「お金が要るわ」と言うたびに、男は「ふるいよ、ふるえ」と呼びかけ、ふるいは粉をふるうようにたやすく金をふるい出した。

As for the pinchers, they proved to be quite as useful as the other gifts he received from the king. Whenever the children were naughty he had only to glance in the direction of those pinchers. The children would immediately behave as they should.

やっとこについて言えば、それも王からもらったほかの贈り物とまったく同じくらい役に立った。子どもたちがいたずらをするたびに、男はそのやっとこのほうをちらりと見さえすればよかった。子どもたちはたちまち行儀よくなったのである。