The Horse-devil and the Witch

There was once upon a time a Padishah who had three daughters. One day the old father made him ready for a journey, and calling to him his three daughters straightly charged them to feed and water his favourite horse, even though they neglected everything else. He loved the horse so much that he would not suffer any stranger to come near it.

むかしむかし、三人の娘を持つ王(パーディシャー)がいた。ある日、年老いた父は旅の支度をし、三人の娘を呼んで、ほかのことはすべておろそかにしてもよいから、自分の愛馬には必ず餌と水をやるようにと固く言いつけた。王はその馬をあまりに愛していたので、よそ者を一人も近づけさせなかったのである。

So the Padishah went on his way, but when the eldest daughter brought the fodder into the stable the horse would not let her come near him. Then the middling daughter brought the forage, and he treated her likewise. Last of all the youngest daughter brought the forage, and when the horse saw her he never budged an inch, but let her feed him and then return to her sisters. The two elder sisters were content that the youngest should take care of the horse, so they troubled themselves about it no more.

こうして王は旅立ったが、長女が飼い葉を厩へ運んでいくと、馬は長女を近寄らせなかった。次に次女が飼い葉を運ぶと、馬は同じようにした。最後に末娘が飼い葉を運ぶと、馬は末娘を見て一寸も動かず、餌をやらせてから姉たちのもとへ帰らせた。姉二人は、末娘が馬の世話をすれば済むことに満足して、もうそのことで煩わされなかった。

The Padishah came home, and the first thing he asked was whether they had provided the horse with everything. “He wouldn’t let us come near him,” said the two elder sisters; “it was our youngest sister here who took care of him.”

王が帰ってきて、まず尋ねたのは、馬に何もかも与えたかということであった。「あの馬はわたしたちを近寄らせませんでした」と二人の姉は言った。「世話をしたのは、ここにいる末の妹です。」

No sooner had the Padishah heard this than he gave his youngest daughter to the horse to wife, but his two other daughters he gave to the sons of his Chief Mufti and his Grand Vizier, and they celebrated the three marriages at a great banquet, which lasted forty days. Then the youngest daughter turned into the stable, but the two eldest dwelt in a splendid palace. In the daytime the youngest sister had only a horse for a husband and a stable for a dwelling; but in the night-time the stable became a garden of roses, the horse-husband a handsome hero, and they lived in a world of their own. Nobody knew of it but they two. They passed the day together as best they could, but eventide was the time of their impatient desires.

これを聞くやいなや、王は末娘をその馬に妻として与えた。ほかの二人の娘は、宗教長官(ムフティー)の息子と大宰相の息子に与えた。そして三つの婚礼を、四十日続く盛大な宴で祝った。それから末娘は厩に移り住んだが、上の二人は壮麗な宮殿に住んだ。昼のあいだ、末娘には夫といっても馬しかなく、住まいといっても厩しかなかった。ところが夜になると、厩は薔薇の園となり、馬の夫は美しい勇士となって、二人は自分たちだけの世界で暮らした。それを知る者は二人のほかに誰もいなかった。昼はできるかぎりともに過ごしたが、夕べこそ、待ちきれぬ思いの募る時であった。

One day the Padishah held a tournament in the palace. Many gallant warriors entered the lists, but none strove so valiantly as the husbands of the Sultan’s elder daughters.

ある日、王は宮殿で馬上槍試合を催した。多くの勇ましい戦士が試合場に出たが、王の上の娘たちの夫ほど勇敢に戦う者はいなかった。

“Only look now!” said the two elder daughters to their sister who dwelt in the stable, “only look now! how our husbands overthrow all the other warriors with their lances; our two lords are not so much lords as lions! Where is this horse-husband of thine, prythee?”

「ほら、ごらんなさい!」と上の二人の娘は、厩に住む妹に言った。「ほら、ごらんなさい! わたしたちの夫が槍でほかの戦士をみな打ち倒していくのを。わたしたちの二人の殿は、殿というより獅子ですわ! あなたの馬の夫は、いったいどこにいるのかしら?」

On hearing this from his wife, the horse-husband shivered all over, turned into a man, threw himself on horseback, told his wife not to betray him on any account, and in an instant appeared within the lists. He overthrew every one with his lance, unhorsed his two brothers-in-law, and re-appeared in the stable again as if he had never left it.

妻からこれを聞くと、馬の夫は全身を震わせて人の姿になり、馬に跳び乗って、決して自分のことを明かしてはならぬと妻に言いつけ、たちまち試合場に現れた。槍で一人残らず打ち倒し、二人の義兄を馬から突き落とし、それからまるで一度も出ていかなかったかのように、また厩に戻っていた。

The next day, when the sports began again, the two elder sisters mocked as before, but then the unknown hero appeared again, conquered and vanished. On the third day the horse-husband said to his wife: “If ever I should come to grief or thou shouldst need my help, take these three wisps of hair, burn them, and it will help thee wherever thou art.” With that he hastened to the games again and triumphed over his brothers-in-law. Every one was amazed at his skill, the two elder sisters likewise, and again they said to their younger sister: “Look how these heroes excel in prowess! They are very different to thy dirty horse-husband!”

翌日、試合がまた始まると、上の二人の姉は前と同じように嘲ったが、そこへまた見知らぬ勇士が現れ、勝ち、消えた。三日目、馬の夫は妻に言った。「もしわたしが災いに遭ったり、お前がわたしの助けを必要としたりしたら、この三本の毛を取って燃やしなさい。お前がどこにいようと、それが助けてくれるだろう。」そう言うと急いでまた試合に出て、義兄たちに勝った。誰もがその腕前に驚嘆し、上の二人の姉も同じであった。そしてまた妹に言った。「ごらんなさい、あの勇士たちの武勇の見事なこと! あなたの薄汚い馬の夫とは大違いだわ!」

The girl could not endure standing there with nothing to say for herself, so she told her sisters that the handsome hero was no other than her horse-husband--and no sooner had she pointed at him than he vanished from before them as if he had never been. Then only did she call to mind her lord’s command to her not to betray her secret, and away she hurried off to the stable. But ’twas all in vain, neither horse nor man came to her, and at midnight there was neither rose nor rose-garden.

娘は、何も言い返せずに立っているのが耐えられなくなり、あの美しい勇士こそ自分の馬の夫にほかならないと姉たちに告げてしまった——そして彼を指さしたとたん、彼ははじめからいなかったかのように、みなの前から消え失せた。そのときになって娘はようやく、秘密を明かしてはならぬという夫の言いつけを思い出し、厩へ急いで駆けていった。けれどもすべては無駄であった。馬も男も来ず、真夜中になっても、薔薇も薔薇の園もなかった。

“Alas!” wept the girl, “I have betrayed my lord, I have broken my word, what a crime is mine!” She never closed an eye all that night, but wept till morning. When the red dawn appeared she went to her father the Padishah, complained to him that she had lost her horse-husband, and begged that she might go to the ends of the earth to seek him. In vain her father tried to keep her back, in vain he pointed out to her that her husband was now most probably among devils, and she would never be able to find him--turn her from her resolution he could not. What could he do but let her go on her way?

「ああ!」と娘は泣いた。「わたしは夫を裏切った、約束を破った、なんという罪を犯したのだろう!」その夜、娘は一睡もせず、朝まで泣き続けた。赤い暁が現れると、父である王のもとへ行き、馬の夫を失ったと訴え、地の果てまで夫を探しに行かせてほしいと願った。父は引き止めようとしたが無駄であった。夫はいまはおそらく悪魔たちのあいだにいて、決して見つけられまいと説いたが無駄であった——娘の決心を翻すことはできなかった。行かせるほかに、王に何ができただろう。

With a great desire the damsel set out on her quest, she went on and on till her tender body was all aweary, and at last she sank down exhausted at the foot of a great mountain. Then she called to mind the three hairs, and she took out one and set fire to it--and lo! her lord and master was in her arms again, and they could not speak for joy.

大きな望みを抱いて乙女は探索に出かけ、やわらかな体がすっかり疲れ果てるまで歩き続け、とうとう大きな山のふもとで力尽きて倒れ込んだ。そこで三本の毛のことを思い出し、一本を取り出して火をつけた——すると、なんと! 彼女の夫が、ふたたびその腕の中にいた。二人は嬉しさのあまり口もきけなかった。

“Did I not bid thee tell none of my secret?” cried the youth sorrowfully; “and now if my hag of a mother see thee she will instantly tear thee to pieces. This mountain is our dwelling-place. She will be here immediately, and woe to thee if she see thee!”

「わたしの秘密を誰にも言うなと言ったではないか」と若者は悲しげに叫んだ。「いま、もし鬼婆のわたしの母がお前を見たら、たちまちお前を八つ裂きにするだろう。この山がわたしたちの住まいなのだ。母はすぐにここへ来る。お前が見られたら、ただでは済まぬ!」

The poor Sultan’s daughter was terribly frightened, and wept worse than ever at the thought of losing her lord again, after all her trouble in finding him. The heart of the devil’s son was touched at her sorrow: he struck her once, changed her into an apple, and put her on the shelf. The hag flew down from the mountain with a terrible racket, and screeched out that she smelt the smell of a man, and her mouth watered for the taste of human flesh. In vain her son denied that there was any human flesh there, she would not believe him one bit.

哀れな王女はひどく怯え、あれほど苦労して見つけた夫をまた失うのかと思って、いっそう激しく泣いた。悪魔の息子の心は彼女の嘆きに動かされた。彼は彼女を一度打って林檎に変え、棚の上に置いた。鬼婆は恐ろしい騒音とともに山から飛び降りてきて、人間の匂いがする、人の肉の味に口の中が唾でいっぱいだと金切り声をあげた。息子は人の肉などここにはないと否んだが無駄であった。鬼婆は少しも信じなかった。

“If thou wilt swear by the egg not to be offended, I’ll show thee what I’ve hidden,” said her son. The hag swore, and her son gave the apple a tap, and there before them stood the beautiful damsel. “Behold my wife!” said he to his mother. The old mother said never a word, what was done could not be undone. “I’ll give the bride something to do all the same,” thought she.

「腹を立てないと卵にかけて誓ってくださるなら、隠しているものをお見せしましょう」と息子は言った。鬼婆が誓うと、息子は林檎を軽く叩いた。すると二人の前に美しい乙女が立った。「これがわたしの妻です!」と彼は母に言った。年老いた母は何も言わなかった。起きてしまったことは取り消せない。「それでも、この嫁には何か仕事を言いつけてやろう」と鬼婆は思った。

They lived a couple of days together in peace and quiet, but the hag was only waiting for her son to leave the house. At last one day the youth had work to do elsewhere, and scarcely had he put his foot out of doors when the hag said to the damsel: “Come, sweep and sweep not!” and with that she went out and said she should not be back till evening. The girl thought to herself again and again: “What am I to do now? What did she mean by ‘sweep and sweep not’?” Then she thought of the hairs, and she took out and burned the second hair also. Immediately her lord stood before her and asked her what was the matter, and the girl told him of his mother’s command: “Sweep and sweep not!” Then her lord explained to her that she was to sweep out the chamber, but not to sweep the ante-chamber.

二人は数日、平穏に静かに暮らしたが、鬼婆は息子が家を離れるのをひたすら待っていた。とうとうある日、若者はよそで用があって、戸口から一歩出たとたん、鬼婆は乙女に言った。「さあ、掃いて、掃くな!」そう言って出ていき、夕方まで戻らないと言った。娘は何度も何度も考えた。「さてどうしたらよいのだろう。『掃いて、掃くな』とはどういう意味だろう。」そこで毛のことを思い出し、二本目の毛も取り出して燃やした。たちまち夫が目の前に立ち、どうしたのかと尋ねた。娘は、義母の言いつけ「掃いて、掃くな」のことを話した。すると夫は、奥の部屋は掃くが、控えの間は掃くなという意味だと説き明かした。

The girl did as she was told, and when the hag came home in the evening she asked the girl whether she had accomplished her task. “Yes, little mother,” replied the bride, “I have swept and I have not swept.”--“Thou daughter of a dog,” cried the old witch, “not thine own wit but my son’s mouth hath told thee this thing.”

娘は言われたとおりにした。夕方、鬼婆が帰ってきて、仕事は済んだかと娘に尋ねた。「はい、お義母さま」と嫁は答えた。「掃きましたし、掃きませんでした。」——「この犬の娘め」と年老いた魔女は叫んだ。「お前自身の知恵ではなく、わしの息子の口がそれを教えたのだな。」

The next morning when the hag got up she gave the damsel vases, and told her to fill them with tears. The moment the hag had gone the damsel placed the three vases before her, and wept and wept, but what could her few teardrops do to fill them? Then she took out and burned the third hair.

翌朝、鬼婆は起きると乙女に壺を渡し、それを涙で満たせと言った。鬼婆が出ていったとたん、乙女は三つの壺を前に置いて泣きに泣いた。けれどもわずかな涙のしずくで、どうしてそれを満たせよう。そこで三本目の毛を取り出して燃やした。

Again her lord appeared before her, and explained to her that she must fill the three vases with water, and then put a pinch of salt in each vase. The girl did so, and when the hag came home in the evening and demanded an account of her work, the girl showed her the three vases full of tears. “Thou daughter of a dog!” chided the old woman again, “that is not thy work; but I’ll do for thee yet, and for my son too.”

ふたたび夫が目の前に現れ、三つの壺を水で満たし、それぞれの壺に塩をひとつまみ入れればよいと説き明かした。娘はそのとおりにした。夕方、鬼婆が帰ってきて仕事の報告を求めると、娘は涙でいっぱいの三つの壺を見せた。「この犬の娘め!」と老婆はまた叱りつけた。「それはお前の仕事ではない。だが、いまに見ておれ、お前も、わしの息子も、ただでは済まさぬぞ。」

The next day she devised some other task for her to do; but her son guessed that his mother would vex the wench, so he hastened home to his bride. There the poor thing was worrying herself about it all alone, for the third hair was now burnt, and she did not know how to set about doing the task laid upon her. “Well, there is now nothing for it but to run away,” said her lord, “for she won’t rest now till she hath done thee a mischief.” And with that he took his wife, and out into the wide world they went.

翌日、鬼婆はまた別の仕事を考え出した。けれども息子は、母がこの娘を苛めるだろうと察して、急いで花嫁のもとへ帰った。哀れな娘は、三本目の毛ももう燃やしてしまったので、言いつけられた仕事にどう取りかかればよいか分からず、ひとりきりで思い悩んでいた。「さて、もう逃げるほかない」と夫は言った。「母は、お前に何か害を加えるまでは、もう休まないだろうから。」そう言って妻の手を取り、二人は広い世界へ出ていった。

In the evening the hag came home, and saw neither her son nor his bride. “They have flown, the dogs!” cried the hag, with a threatening voice, and she called to her sister, who was also a witch, to make ready and go in pursuit of her son and his bride. So the witch jumped into a pitcher, snatched up a serpent for a whip, and went after them.

夕方、鬼婆が帰ってくると、息子の姿も花嫁の姿も見えなかった。「逃げたな、あの犬どもめ!」と鬼婆は脅すような声で叫び、やはり魔女である妹を呼んで、支度をして息子と花嫁を追いかけるよう言った。そこで魔女は水瓶に跳び乗り、蛇を掴んで鞭にして、二人の後を追った。

The demon-lover saw his aunt coming, and in an instant changed the girl into a bathing-house, and himself into a bath-man sitting down at the gate. The witch leaped from the pitcher, went to the bath-keeper, and asked him if he had not seen a young boy and girl pass by that way.

悪魔の恋人は叔母がやってくるのを見て、たちまち娘を浴場に変え、自分は門のところに座る浴場番に変わった。魔女は水瓶から跳び降り、浴場番のところへ行って、若い男と娘がこの道を通らなかったかと尋ねた。

“I have only just warmed up my bath,” said the youth, “there’s nobody inside it; if thou dost not believe me, thou canst go and look for thyself.” The witch thought: “‘Tis impossible to get a sensible word out of a fellow of this sort,” so she jumped into her pitcher, flew back, and told her sister that she couldn’t find them. The other hag asked her whether she had exchanged words with any one on the road. “Yes,” replied the younger sister, “there was a bath-house by the roadside, and I asked the owner of it about them; but he was either a fool or deaf, so I took no notice of him.”

「わしはいま風呂を沸かしたばかりでな」と若者は言った。「中には誰もおらん。信じないなら、自分で行って見てくればいい。」魔女は「こんな男からまともな言葉を引き出すのは無理だ」と思って、水瓶に跳び乗って飛んで帰り、二人は見つからなかったと姉に告げた。姉の鬼婆は、道中で誰かと言葉を交わさなかったかと尋ねた。「ええ」と下の妹は答えた。「道端に浴場があって、その主に二人のことを尋ねたけれど、馬鹿か耳が遠いかで、相手にしなかったわ。」

“‘Tis thou who wert the fool,” snarled her elder sister. “Didst thou not recognize in him my son, and in the bath-house my daughter-in-law?” Then she called her second sister, and sent her after the fugitives.

「馬鹿はお前のほうだ」と姉は唸った。「その男がわしの息子で、浴場がわしの嫁だと気づかなかったのか。」そう言って二番目の妹を呼び、逃げた二人の後を追わせた。

The devil’s son saw his second aunt flying along in her pitcher. Then he gave his wife a tap and turned her into a spring, but he himself sat down beside it, and began to draw water out of it with a pitcher. The witch went up to him, and asked him whether he had seen a girl and a boy pass by that way.

悪魔の息子は、二番目の叔母が水瓶に乗って飛んでくるのを見た。そこで妻を軽く叩いて泉に変え、自分はそのそばに座って、水瓶で水を汲みはじめた。魔女は彼に近づき、娘と若者がこの道を通らなかったかと尋ねた。

“There’s drinkable water in this spring,” replied he, with a vacant stare, “I am always drawing it.” The witch thought she had to do with a fool, turned back, and told her sister that she had not met with them. Her sister asked her if she had not come across any one by the way. “Yes, indeed,” replied she, “a half-witted fellow was drawing water from a spring, but I couldn’t get a single sensible word out of him.”

「この泉の水は飲めるよ」と彼はうつろな目つきで答えた。「おいらはいつも汲んでいるんだ。」魔女は相手が馬鹿だと思って引き返し、二人には会えなかったと姉に告げた。姉は、道中で誰かに出くわさなかったかと尋ねた。「ええ、ほんとうに」と妹は答えた。「頭の足りない男が泉で水を汲んでいたけれど、まともな言葉は一つも引き出せなかったわ。」

“That half-witted fellow was my son, the spring was his wife, and a pretty wiseacre thou art,” screeched her sister. “I shall have to go myself, I see,” and with that she jumped into her pitcher, snatched up a serpent to serve her as a whip, and off she went.

「その頭の足りない男がわしの息子で、泉がその妻だ。お前もずいぶんな物知りだこと」と姉は金切り声をあげた。「どうやら、わし自身が行かねばならぬようだ。」そう言って水瓶に跳び乗り、蛇を掴んで鞭にして、出かけていった。

Meanwhile the youth looked back again, and saw his mother coming after them. He gave the girl a tap and changed her into a tree, but he himself turned into a serpent, and coiled himself round the tree. The witch recognized them, and drew near to the tree to break it to pieces; but when she saw the serpent coiled round it, she was afraid to kill her own son along with it, so she said to her son: “Son, son! show me, at least, the girl’s little finger, and then I’ll leave you both in peace.” The son saw that he could not free himself from her any other way, and that she must have at least a little morsel of the damsel to nibble at. So he showed her one of the girl’s little fingers, and the old hag wrenched it off, and returned to her domains with it. Then the youth gave the girl a tap and himself another tap, put on human shape again, and away they went to the girl’s father, the Padishah. The youth, since his talisman had been destroyed, remained a mortal man, but the diabolical part of him stayed at home with his witch-mother and her kindred. The Padishah rejoiced greatly in his children, gave them a wedding-banquet with a wave of his finger, and they inherited the realm after his death.

そのあいだに若者はまた振り返り、母が追ってくるのを見た。彼は娘を軽く叩いて木に変え、自分は蛇になって、その木に巻きついた。魔女は二人に気づき、木を叩き壊そうと近づいた。けれども蛇が巻きついているのを見ると、実の息子もいっしょに殺してしまうのを恐れて、息子に言った。「息子よ、息子よ! せめて娘の小指だけでも見せておくれ。そうしたら二人とも放っておいてやろう。」息子は、ほかに母から逃れる手立てはなく、母には少なくとも乙女のほんのひとかけらでも噛ませてやらねばならないと悟った。そこで娘の小指の一本を見せると、老いた鬼婆はそれをもぎ取り、持って自分の領分へ帰っていった。それから若者は娘を軽く叩き、自分も軽く叩いて、ふたたび人の姿をまとい、二人は娘の父である王のもとへ向かった。若者は、護符が壊されてしまったので、死すべき人間のままであった。けれども彼の中の悪魔の部分は、魔女の母とその一族のもとに残った。王は子どもたちをたいそう喜び、指を一振りして婚礼の宴を開いてやった。そして二人は、王の死後、その国を受け継いだのである。