The Daughter of the King of Naples

The Story of a Prince's Quest

王子の探索の話

There was once a king who had an only son. The years passed by and he did not marry, so one day his father called him before him and said:

むかし、ひとり息子を持つ王がいた。年月が過ぎても息子が結婚しないので、ある日、父親は息子を前に呼んで言った。

"The time has come when you should marry, my son. You are now at the age when you should no longer wait to choose your bride. Why is it that you have not already done this?"

「息子よ、お前が結婚すべき時が来た。お前はもう、花嫁を選ぶのを待っていてはならない年ごろだ。どうしてまだ選んでいないのだ」

The prince replied:

王子は答えた。

"I will wed no one except the daughter of the king of Naples."

「わたしはナポリの王の娘のほかは、誰とも結婚しません」

"Do you know that the king of Naples has a daughter?" asked the father.

「ナポリの王に娘がいることを知っているのか」と父親は尋ねた。

"No," answered the son. "I do not know."

「いいえ」と息子は答えた。「知りません」

"I should advise you to find out whether or not the king of Naples happens to have a daughter before you decide to marry her," remarked the king dryly.

「その娘と結婚すると決める前に、ナポリの王にほんとうに娘がいるのかどうか確かめたほうがいいと思うがね」と王はそっけなく言った。

"That is good advice," replied the prince. "I thank you."

「それはよいご忠告です」と王子は答えた。「ありがとうございます」

Accordingly, he asked everybody he met whether the king of Naples had a daughter. There was no person to be found who knew anything about it.

そこで、王子は会う人ごとに、ナポリの王に娘がいるかどうか尋ねた。そのことを何か知っている者は一人も見つからなかった。

"You'll have to go to Naples to obtain this information," advised the king. "It is a long journey, but if you are determined to marry nobody except the daughter of the king of Naples there seems to be no way except to go there and learn whether or not he has a daughter."

「それを知るには、ナポリへ行かねばなるまい」と王は勧めた。「長い旅だが、ナポリの王の娘のほかは誰とも結婚しないと決めているのなら、そこへ行って娘がいるかどうか確かめるほか道はなさそうだ」

Accordingly, a ship was prepared and the prince sailed for Naples. It was a difficult, stormy voyage, but finally they arrived safely. The moment they landed the beggars came crowding about them. The prince distributed alms among them most generously.

そこで、船が用意され、王子はナポリへ船出した。つらい嵐の航海だったが、とうとう一行は無事に着いた。上陸したとたん、物乞いたちがまわりに押し寄せてきた。王子はたいそう気前よく施しを分け与えた。

Then he asked: "Does any one know whether or not the king of Naples has a daughter?"

それから王子は尋ねた。「ナポリの王に娘がいるかどうか、誰か知っている者はいないか」

There was nobody who knew. Finally, however, an old woman said that once she passed by the royal palace and there was a beautiful face at the window.

知っている者は誰もいなかった。けれども、とうとう一人の老婆が、以前王宮のそばを通りかかったとき、窓に美しい顔が見えたと言った。

"I think that perhaps this was the daughter of the king of Naples, but I do not know," she added.

「たぶんあれがナポリの王さまの娘さんだったと思うけれど、わからないねえ」と老婆はつけ加えた。

"Go at once and find out," ordered the prince. "You shall be richly rewarded."

「すぐに行って確かめてこい」と王子は命じた。「たっぷり褒美をやるぞ」

The old woman hastened to the royal palace. She saw the same lovely face at the window which she had seen before.

老婆は急いで王宮へ行った。前に見たのと同じ愛らしい顔が窓に見えた。

"Lovely lady, I want to talk to you!" she called out.

「愛らしいお嬢さま、お話がしたいのですよ!」と老婆は呼びかけた。

Now it happened that day that the princess was feeling decidedly bored and out of tune with life. It looked like an interesting diversion to talk with the old woman. Thus it came to pass that she opened the window graciously.

さて、たまたまその日、王女はすっかり退屈して、何もかもつまらなく感じていた。老婆と話すのはおもしろい気晴らしに思えた。そういうわけで、王女は愛想よく窓を開けた。

"What do you wish, good mother?" she asked.

「何のご用、おばあさん」と王女は尋ねた。

"Are you the daughter of the king of Naples?" questioned the old woman.

「あなたさまはナポリの王さまの娘さんですか」と老婆は尋ねた。

"I am," replied the princess.

「そうよ」と王女は答えた。

"May I come some day to sell you pretty things?" asked the old woman.

「いつか、きれいな品物を売りに伺ってもよろしいですか」と老婆は尋ねた。

The princess appointed an hour the next day when she might come with her wares. Then the old woman hurried back to the waiting prince.

王女は、次の日、老婆が品物を持ってくる時刻を決めてやった。それから老婆は待っている王子のもとへ急いで戻った。

"The king of Naples has a daughter!" she cried. "A very beautiful daughter, too!"

「ナポリの王さまには娘さんがいますよ!」と老婆は叫んだ。「それも、たいそう美しい娘さんが!」

The prince showered the old woman with gold. He was so delighted that at last he had found this out that he could well afford to be generous.

王子は老婆に金貨を浴びせるほど与えた。とうとうそれがわかったのがあまりにうれしくて、いくら気前よくしてもかまわなかったのである。

The old woman thanked him. "I did something else for you, kind sir," she said. "I made an appointment to see the princess to-morrow. I am going to the palace at four o'clock to sell pretty things to her."

老婆は礼を言った。「ほかにもひとつ、旦那さまのためにしてさしあげたことがあるんですよ」と老婆は言った。「明日、王女さまにお会いする約束をしてきたんです。四時に宮殿へ伺って、きれいな品物をお売りすることになっているんですよ」

"Well done, good mother!" cried the prince, again thrusting his hand into his purse. "Let me go in your place!"

「でかしたぞ、おばあさん!」と王子は叫んで、また財布に手を突っ込んだ。「わたしを代わりに行かせてくれ!」

The old woman gladly consented, and the prince dressed himself as a peddler. The next afternoon at four o'clock he went to the palace of the king of Naples.

老婆は喜んで承知し、王子は行商人に変装した。次の日の午後四時、王子はナポリの王の宮殿へ出かけた。

"It is a peddler with many interesting wares for sale," said the servant who answered his knock. "He speaks of an appointment with your Royal Highness."

「おもしろい品物をたくさん売りに来た行商人でございます」と、戸を叩く音に応えた召使いが言った。「王女殿下とお約束があると申しております」

"Yes," said the princess. "A peddler was to come to-day at four o'clock with pretty things for me to buy."

「そうよ」と王女は言った。「今日の四時に、行商人がきれいな品物を売りに来ることになっていたの」

Accordingly, the prince was admitted to the presence of the daughter of the king of Naples. If she were surprised to find the peddler a handsome young man instead of the old woman with whom she had talked the day before she did not show it.

そこで、王子はナポリの王の娘の前に通された。王女は、行商人が前の日に話した老婆ではなく美しい若者だったのに驚いたとしても、それを顔には出さなかった。

"What lovely things you have!" she cried as she examined the tray full of ribbons and beads and trinkets.

「なんてすてきな品物でしょう!」と王女は、リボンやビーズや小物のいっぱい載った盆を調べながら叫んだ。

She selected a number of the wares and then she asked, "What is the price of these?"

王女は品物をいくつも選んで、それから尋ねた。「これはおいくら?」

The prince would not set a price.

王子は値をつけようとしなかった。

"If your Royal Highness is pleased with these," said he, "I have many more things at home which you will like even better. I'll bring them to you to-morrow."

「殿下がこれをお気に召したのでしたら」と王子は言った。「家にはもっとお気に召すような品物がたくさんございます。明日お持ちいたしましょう」

"That will be splendid!" cried the princess. "Come again to-morrow at this hour."

「すばらしいわ!」と王女は叫んだ。「明日のこの時刻にまた来てちょうだい」

The next day the prince again dressed himself as a peddler, but underneath the outer garments he wore his own rich clothing. When he was admitted to the royal palace he laid aside his peddler's disguise and stood before the princess looking like the true prince he was. He was very handsome in his rich suit of crimson velvet, with his hat with the long plume in his hand. The princess was so surprised that she turned pale.

次の日、王子はまた行商人に変装したが、上着の下には自分の豪華な服を着ていた。王宮に通されると、王子は行商人の変装を脱ぎ捨てて、ほんとうの王子そのままの姿で王女の前に立った。深紅のビロードの豪華な服を着て、長い羽根飾りのついた帽子を手にした王子は、たいそう美しかった。王女はあまりに驚いて青ざめた。

"Who are you?" she cried. "You surely are not the peddler who came here yesterday!"

「あなたは誰なの」と王女は叫んだ。「まさか、きのうここへ来た行商人ではないでしょう!」

The prince smiled into her eyes, and, even without the peddler's garments which were rolled up on the tray, she would have recognized him.

王子は王女の目を見てほほえんだ。盆の上に丸めてある行商人の服がなかったとしても、王女には王子だとわかっただろう。

He told her of the quest which had led him there, and she admired all the patience and diligence he had shown in finding out her existence. When he asked her to marry him at once, she readily consented. They planned that she should steal down the staircase at night and go away with him on his ship.

王子はここへ来ることになった探索のことを話し、王女は、自分がいることを突き止めるために王子が示した根気と熱心さにすっかり感心した。王子がすぐに結婚してほしいと頼むと、王女は喜んで承知した。二人は、王女が夜に階段をそっと降りてきて、王子と一緒に王子の船で逃げていく計画を立てた。

All this sounded very romantic to the daughter of the king of Naples. She had never dreamed that a thing like this would ever happen. All her life she had been so closely guarded that stealing out of the palace and sailing away in the prince's ship seemed the most wonderful thing in the world.

ナポリの王の娘には、これはみなたいそうロマンチックに聞こえた。こんなことがいつか起こるなんて、夢にも思っていなかった。生まれてこのかた、あまりにきびしく見張られてきたので、宮殿を抜け出して王子の船で逃げていくのは、世界でいちばんすばらしいことに思えたのである。

The next night had been agreed on, and long ahead of the appointed hour the prince sat on horseback at the foot of the stairway down which the princess would steal. He was very weary with all the excitement of the past three days, and as he waited he fell asleep. A robber passed by and saw his sleeping form hanging limply on the saddle.

次の夜と決められていて、約束の時刻のずっと前から、王子は王女がそっと降りてくる階段のふもとで馬に乗って待っていた。王子はこの三日間の興奮ですっかり疲れていたので、待っているうちに眠り込んでしまった。泥棒が一人通りかかって、王子の眠っている体が鞍の上にぐったり垂れ下がっているのを見た。

"I'll gently deposit him on the ground and get away with his horse and saddle," thought the thief, as he stopped and regarded the horse with a critical eye.

「こいつをそっと地面に下ろして、馬と鞍をいただいていこう」と泥棒は立ち止まって、とがめるような目で馬を眺めながら思った。

Just then, however, he saw something which made him change his mind about hurrying away after he had deposited the prince's sleeping form beneath a tree. There was the loveliest maiden he had ever seen creeping silently down the stairway. She came straight up to him.

けれどもちょうどそのとき、泥棒は、王子の眠っている体を木の下に下ろしたあとで急いで立ち去ろうという考えを変えさせるものを見た。これまで見たなかでいちばん愛らしい娘が、階段をそっと降りてくるのである。娘はまっすぐ泥棒のところへやって来た。

"I'm ready, beloved," were her words.

「支度はできたわ、いとしい人」と娘は言った。

The robber silently lifted her behind him on the horse's back and together they rode away.

泥棒は黙って娘を自分の後ろの馬の背に乗せ、二人は一緒に駆け去った。

"Where is your boat?" asked the princess after they had ridden together for some time without speaking.

「あなたの船はどこ?」と、しばらく黙って一緒に馬に乗っていったあとで王女は尋ねた。

"So it is a boat which the fair lady is looking for," thought the thief. "I was expecting this good horse to carry us the whole distance. A boat is a bit difficult to arrange, but it can be done if necessary. There ought to be a boat around somewhere for me to steal."

「するとこの美しいお嬢さんは船をお探しなのか」と泥棒は思った。「この上等な馬で、ずっと二人を運んでいくつもりだったんだが。船を用意するのはちょっと骨だが、どうしてもというならできないことはない。どこかそのへんに盗める船があるはずだ」

He left the daughter of the king of Naples on the shore while he went to steal a boat. When he returned the light shone upon his face and the girl thought that he did not look the same as the day before.

泥棒はナポリの王の娘を岸に残して、船を盗みに行った。泥棒が戻ってくると、明かりがその顔を照らして、娘には泥棒が前の日とはちがう顔に見えた。

"Of course, I've seen him only twice," she told herself in an effort to gain assurance. "It must be the prince, my own true love."

「もちろん、あの方には二度しか会っていないのだし」と王女は、安心しようとして自分に言い聞かせた。「きっと王子さま、わたしのほんとうの恋人よ」

"Here is our boat," said the robber, and together they embarked.

「これがおれたちの船だ」と泥棒は言い、二人は一緒に乗り込んだ。

As the morning light shone upon the robber the princess saw that he was not in the least like the prince who had come a-peddling. The robber laughed.

朝の光が泥棒を照らすと、王女は泥棒が行商に来た王子に少しも似ていないのがわかった。泥棒は笑った。

"Does my lady know with whom she is going away?" he asked.

「お嬢さんは誰と逃げているのかご存じかな」と泥棒は尋ねた。

"I thought I was going with the prince who is my lover," she replied, bursting into bitter tears.

「わたしの恋人の王子さまと一緒に行くのだと思っていたのに」と王女は答えて、わっと激しく泣き出した。

Running away was not half so romantic and delightful as she had pictured it. She heartily wished that she were back in the royal palace.

駆け落ちは、思い描いていたほどロマンチックでも楽しくもなかった。王女は王宮に戻れたらと心から願った。

As for the prince, he soon awoke and looked about the palace garden where he was lying under the tree.

王子はといえば、じきに目を覚まして、木の下に横たわっていた宮殿の庭を見まわした。

"How did I get here?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

「どうしてこんなところにいるのだろう」と王子は眠そうに目をこすりながら尋ねた。

There was none to tell him, so he decided that his horse must have thrown him off and run away.

教えてくれる者は誰もいなかったので、王子は馬が自分を振り落として逃げていったにちがいないと決めた。

"It is queer that my fall did not awaken me," he said to himself. "It is a bit awkward to lose my horse. However, if the princess only keeps her promise and comes to me we shall manage to get to our ship somehow."

「落ちても目が覚めなかったとは妙だな」と王子は独りごとを言った。「馬をなくしたのは少々困った。けれども、王女さえ約束を守って来てくれれば、なんとか船までたどり着けるだろう」

He waited very patiently for a time and then he began to fear that the princess had repented of her promise to run away. He did not give her up, however, until it was almost daylight. Then he sorrowfully returned to his waiting ship.

王子はしばらくたいそう辛抱強く待ったが、それから、王女が逃げる約束を悔やんだのではないかと心配になりはじめた。けれども王子は、ほとんど夜が明けるまで王女をあきらめなかった。それから悲しげに、待っている船へ戻った。

"I have at least found out that the king of Naples has a daughter and that she is the most beautiful princess in the whole world," he said. "If she prefers not to have a run-away marriage it will doubtless be better for me to sail home and tell my father to make arrangements with the king of Naples for our wedding. There are some advantages in this more dignified method."

「少なくとも、ナポリの王に娘がいて、その娘が世界じゅうでいちばん美しい王女だということはわかった」と王子は言った。「駆け落ちの結婚がいやだというのなら、国へ船で帰って、父上にナポリの王とわたしたちの婚礼の取り決めをしてもらうほうがきっとよいだろう。こちらのもっと威厳のあるやり方にも、よいところはあるのだから」

Thus it happened that the prince sailed away for his own country, never dreaming that the princess had kept her promise to steal down the stairway in the night and that she was then in the hands of the wicked robber.

こういうわけで、王子は自分の国へ船出していった。王女が約束を守って夜に階段をそっと降りてきたことも、王女がそのとき悪い泥棒の手中にあることも、夢にも思わなかったのである。

The daughter of the king of Naples sobbed and cried so loud when she found that it was not her own prince with whom she was sailing that the robber became quite disgusted with her.

ナポリの王の娘は、一緒に船に乗っているのが自分の王子ではないとわかると、あまりに大声で泣きじゃくったので、泥棒はすっかりうんざりしてしまった。

"I thought you were a pretty little maid," he said, "when I first saw you, but now I've changed my mind about you."

「初めて見たときは、かわいい娘だと思ったんだがな」と泥棒は言った。「今じゃ考えが変わったよ」

Indeed no person with good eyesight would have called the princess pretty at that moment, with her face all red and swollen with much weeping.

実際、泣きはらして顔じゅう真っ赤に腫れ上がったそのときの王女を、目のよい者なら誰もかわいいとは言わなかっただろう。

The robber decided that he did not want to bother with her any longer, so he landed in the country of the Junqueiras and left her there. The princess wandered about the place until night came without seeing a single soul,--nothing but the sea, sky and rocks.

泥棒はもうこの娘にかかずらうのはごめんだと決めて、ジュンケイラスの国に上陸して、娘をそこに置き去りにした。王女は夜になるまであたりをさまよったが、人っ子ひとり見かけなかった——海と空と岩のほかは何もなかった。

She was really, however, not far from the hut in which there lived the wife and daughter of a poor fisherman. In the stillness of the night they heard a cry.

けれども実は、王女は、貧しい漁師の妻と娘が住む小屋からそう遠くないところにいた。夜の静けさのなかで、母娘は泣き声を聞いた。

"Some one is in trouble outside, mother," said the daughter.

「外で誰かが困っているわ、母さん」と娘が言った。

"Perhaps the pirates have come and by this cry are trying to lure us out," answered her mother cautiously. There were often pirate ships which stopped there. The daughter listened carefully.

「海賊がやって来て、この泣き声でわたしたちをおびき出そうとしているのかもしれないよ」と母親は用心深く答えた。そこにはたびたび海賊船が立ち寄ったのである。娘は注意深く耳を澄ました。

"No, mother," she insisted. "I'm sure this is a girl's cry."

「ちがうわ、母さん」と娘は言い張った。「きっと女の子の泣き声よ」

The two women opened their door and crept out in the darkness. The sobs of the princess soon led them to the place upon the rocks where she lay crying as if her heart would break. They lifted her tenderly and carried her home.

二人の女は戸を開けて、暗闇のなかへそっと出ていった。王女のすすり泣きをたどっていくと、じきに、胸が張り裂けそうに泣いている王女が倒れている岩の上に着いた。二人は王女をやさしく抱き起こして家へ運んでいった。

The fisherman's daughter gave the princess some of her own clothes to wear and they lived together as if they were sisters. Together they did all the work of the little house and the princess was too busy to weep. Sometimes, however, she cried in the night when the fisherman's wife and daughter were asleep. She wept for her lost love and for the royal palace of the king of Naples which had always been her home.

漁師の娘は自分の服を王女に着せてやり、二人は姉妹のように一緒に暮らした。二人は一緒に小さな家の仕事をみなこなしたので、王女は泣いている暇もなかった。けれどもときどき、漁師の妻と娘が眠っている夜に、王女は泣いた。失った恋人のために、そしてずっと住まいだったナポリの王の宮殿のために泣いたのである。

Now it happened that the prince's ship encountered a great storm and was driven about by the sea. At last it was blown by the gales to the land of the Junqueiras.

さて、たまたま王子の船は大嵐に遭って、海に翻弄された。とうとう船は強風に吹き流されて、ジュンケイラスの国へやって来た。

The prince saw the fisherman's daughter and the princess standing on the rocks by the sea. He stared hard at the princess. Then he spoke in a voice which shook.

王子は、漁師の娘と王女が海辺の岩の上に立っているのを見た。王子は王女をじっと見つめた。それから震える声で言った。

"You remind me of some one I used to know," he said. "Tell me your name, I pray you, fair maid."

「あなたを見ていると、以前知っていた人を思い出す」と王子は言った。「どうか名前を教えてください、美しい娘さん」

The princess looked down at the garments of the fisher maid which she wore. She blushed. The prince she had recognized the very moment she had seen him.

王女は自分の着ている漁師の娘の服を見下ろした。王女は頬を赤らめた。王女は王子を見た瞬間に王子だとわかっていた。

"I am the daughter of the king of Naples," she said.

「わたしはナポリの王の娘です」と王女は言った。

The fisherman's daughter stared at her in amazement.

漁師の娘は仰天して王女を見つめた。

"She is no king's daughter!" she cried. "She is a poor abandoned maid who came to us out of the sea. We found her upon these very rocks. It is my own dress that she is wearing. A king's daughter, indeed! She is no more the daughter of the king of Naples than I am!"

「この子は王さまの娘なんかじゃないわ!」と漁師の娘は叫んだ。「海から来た、かわいそうな捨てられた娘よ。わたしたちがまさにこの岩の上で見つけたのよ。着ているのはわたしの服よ。王さまの娘だなんて! この子がナポリの王さまの娘なら、わたしだってそうだわ!」

But the prince had taken the daughter of the king of Naples in his arms. As soon as they returned to the palace their wedding was celebrated with great joy and they lived together as God lives with the angels.

けれども王子は、ナポリの王の娘を腕に抱きしめていた。二人が王宮に戻るとすぐに婚礼が大きな喜びのうちに祝われ、二人は神さまが天使たちと暮らすように一緒に暮らしたのである。