The Cinder-youth

Once upon a time that was no time, in the days when the servants of Allah were many and the misery of man was great, there lived a poor woman who had three sons and one daughter. The youngest son was half-witted, and used to roll about all day in the warm ashes.

いつとも知れぬむかし、アッラーのしもべがたくさんいて人のみじめさが大きかったころ、息子が三人と娘が一人いる貧しい女が住んでいた。いちばん下の息子は頭が足りなくて、一日じゅうあたたかい灰のなかを転げまわっていた。

One day the two elder brothers went out to plough, and said to their mother: “Boil us something, and send our sister out with it into the field.”--Now the three-faced devil had pitched his tent close to this field, and in order that the girl might not come near them he determined to persuade her to go all round about instead of straight to them.

ある日、上の二人の兄が畑を耕しに出かけて、母に言った。「何か煮て、妹に畑まで持たせてよこしてくれ。」——さて、三つの顔を持つ悪魔がこの畑のすぐ近くに天幕を張っていて、娘を兄たちに近づけないように、まっすぐ行かずにぐるりと遠回りさせようと決めた。

The mother cooked the dinner and the girl went into the field with it, but the devil contrived to make her lose her road, so that she wandered further and further away from the place where she wanted to go. At last, when her poor head was quite confused, the devil’s wife appeared before her and asked the terrified girl what she meant by trespassing there. Then she talked her over and persuaded her to come home with her, that she might hide her from the vengeance of the devil, her husband.

母は昼食をこしらえ、娘はそれを持って畑へ出かけたが、悪魔は娘に道を迷わせたので、娘は行きたいところからどんどん遠く離れていった。とうとう娘のかわいそうな頭がすっかり混乱したとき、悪魔の妻が娘の前に現れて、おびえた娘に、ここに踏み込んでどういうつもりかと尋ねた。それから悪魔の妻は娘を言いくるめて、夫の悪魔の仕返しから隠してやるから、一緒に家へおいでと説き伏せた。

But the three-faced devil had got home before them, and when they arrived the old woman told the girl to make haste and get something ready to eat while her maid-servant stirred up the fire. But scarcely had she begun to get the dish ready than the devil crept stealthily up behind her, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the girl whole, clothes and all.

けれども三つの顔の悪魔は二人より先に家に帰っていて、二人が着くと、年とった女は娘に、女中が火をかきたてているあいだに急いで何か食べるものを支度しなさいと言った。ところが娘が料理を支度しはじめるやいなや、悪魔がそっとうしろから忍び寄り、口を大きく開けて、娘を着物ごと丸呑みにしてしまった。

Meanwhile her brothers were waiting in the field for their dinner, but neither the damsel nor the victuals appeared. Afternoon came and went and evening too, and then the lads went home, and when they heard from their mother that their sister had gone to seek them early in the morning they suspected what had happened--their little sister must have fallen into the hands of the devil. The two elder brothers did not think twice about it, but the elder of them set off at once to seek his sister.

そのあいだ、兄たちは畑で昼食を待っていたが、娘も食べ物も現れなかった。午後が来て過ぎ、夕方も来て過ぎたので、若者たちは家に帰った。そして母から、妹は朝早く兄たちを探しに出かけたと聞くと、何が起こったのか察した——小さな妹は悪魔の手に落ちたにちがいない。上の二人の兄はあれこれ考えず、そのうちの年長の兄がすぐに妹を探しに出かけた。

He went on and on, puffing at his chibook, sniffing the perfume of flowers and drinking coffee, till he came to an oven by the wayside. By the oven sat an old man, who asked the youth on what errand he was bent. The youth told him of his sister’s case, and said he was going in search of the three-faced devil, and would not be content till he had killed him.--“Thou wilt never be able to slay the devil,” said the man, “till thou hast eaten of bread that has been baked in this oven.”--The youth thought this no very difficult matter, took the loaves out of the oven, but scarcely had he bitten a piece out of one of them than the oven, the man, and the loaves all disappeared before his eyes, and the bit he had taken swelled within him so that he nearly burst.

兄はチブクをふかし、花の香りをかぎ、コーヒーを飲みながらどんどん進んでいき、道ばたのかまどのところに来た。かまどのそばには年とった男が座っていて、若者に何の用で行くのかと尋ねた。若者は妹のことを話して、三つの顔の悪魔を探しに行くところで、悪魔を殺すまでは気がすまないと言った。——「このかまどで焼いたパンを食べないかぎり、おまえはけっして悪魔を殺せないだろう」と男は言った。——若者はそれがたいして難しいこととは思わず、かまどからパンを取り出したが、そのひとつをひと口かじるやいなや、かまども男もパンもみな目の前から消えてしまい、かじったひと口が腹のなかでふくれ上がって、若者ははち切れそうになった。

The youth hadn’t gone two steps further on when he saw on the highway a large cauldron, and the cauldron was full of wine. A man was sitting in front of the cauldron, and he asked him the way, and told him the tale of the devil. “Thou wilt never be able to cope with the devil,” said the man, “if thou dost not drink of this wine.” The youth drank, but: “Woe betide my stomach, woe betide my bowels!” for so plagued was he that he could not have stood upright if he had not seen two bridges before him. One of these bridges was of wood and the other was of iron, and beyond the two bridges were two apple-trees, and one bore unripe bitter apples and the other sweet ripe ones.

若者が二歩も進まないうちに、街道に大きな大鍋があるのが見え、その大鍋にはぶどう酒がいっぱい入っていた。大鍋の前に一人の男が座っていたので、若者は道を尋ね、悪魔の話をした。「このぶどう酒を飲まなければ、おまえはけっして悪魔に太刀打ちできないだろう」と男は言った。若者は飲んだが、「ああ、腹が痛い、ああ、はらわたが痛い!」あまりに苦しくて、目の前に二つの橋が見えなかったら、まっすぐ立っていられなかっただろう。橋の一方は木で、もう一方は鉄だった。そして二つの橋の向こうには二本のりんごの木があって、一本には熟していない苦いりんごが、もう一本には熟した甘いりんごがなっていた。

The three-faced devil was waiting on the road to see which bridge he would choose, the wooden or the iron one, and which apples he would eat, the sour or the sweet ones. The youth went along the iron bridge, lest the wooden one might break down, and plucked the sweet apples, because the green ones were bitter. That was just what the devil wanted him to do, and he at once sent his mother to meet the youth and entice him into his house as he had done his sister, and it was not long before he also found his way into the devil’s belly.

三つの顔の悪魔は道で待ち構えて、若者がどちらの橋を選ぶか、木の橋か鉄の橋か、そしてどちらのりんごを食べるか、酸っぱいりんごか甘いりんごかを見ていた。若者は、木の橋は崩れるかもしれないと思って鉄の橋を渡り、青いりんごは苦いので甘いりんごをもいだ。それこそまさに悪魔が若者にさせたかったことで、悪魔はすぐに母親を若者を迎えにやって、妹にしたように若者を家におびき寄せさせた。そしてまもなく、若者もまた悪魔の腹のなかへ入ってしまった。

And next in order, the middling brother, not wishing to be behind-hand, also went in search of his kinsmen. He also could not eat of the bread his inside also was plagued by the wine, he went across the iron bridge and ate of the sweet apples, and so he also found his way into the devil’s belly. Only the youngest brother who lay among the ashes remained. His mother besought him not to forsake her in her old age. If the others had gone he at least could remain and comfort her, she said. But the youth would not listen. “I will not rest,” said Cinderer, “till I have found the three lost ones, my two brothers and my sister, and slain the devil.” Then he rose from his chimney corner, and no sooner had he shaken the ashes from off him than such a tempest arose that all the labourers at work in the fields left their ploughs where they stood, and ran off as far as their eyes could see. Then the youngest son gathered together the ploughshares and bade a blacksmith make a lance of them, but a lance of such a kind as would fly into the air and come back again to the hand that hurled it without breaking its iron point. The smith made the lance, and the youth hurled it. Up into the air flew the lance, but when it came down again on to the tip of his little finger it broke to pieces. Then the youth shook himself still more violently in the ashes, and again the labourers in the field fled away before the terrible tempest which immediately arose, and the youth gathered together a still greater multitude of ploughshares and took them to the smith. The smith made a second lance, and that also flew up into the air and broke to pieces when it came down again. Then the youth shook himself in the ashes a third time, and such a hurricane arose that there was scarce a ploughshare in the whole country-side that was not carried away. It was only with great difficulty that the smith could make the third lance, but when that came down on the youth’s finger it did not break in pieces like the others. “This will do pretty well,” said the youth, and catching up the lance he went forth into the wide world.

そして次の番として、二番目の兄も遅れをとるまいと身内を探しに出かけた。二番目の兄もパンを食べられず、その腹もぶどう酒で苦しみ、鉄の橋を渡って甘いりんごを食べ、こうして悪魔の腹のなかへ入ってしまった。灰のなかに寝そべっているいちばん下の弟だけが残った。母は、年老いた自分を見捨てないでくれと弟に頼んだ。ほかの子たちが行ってしまったのだから、せめておまえは残って慰めておくれ、と母は言った。けれども若者は耳を貸さなかった。「三人の行方知れずの者たち、二人の兄と妹を見つけて、悪魔を殺すまでは、おれは休まない」と灰坊は言った。それから若者は炉ばたの隅から起き上がり、体から灰を払い落とすやいなや、すさまじい嵐が起こったので、畑で働いていた人夫たちはみな鋤をその場に放り出して、目の届くかぎり遠くへ逃げていった。そこでいちばん下の息子は鋤の刃をかき集め、鍛冶屋にそれで槍をこしらえるよう言いつけた。ただし、空に飛んでいって、鉄の穂先を折らずに投げた者の手に戻ってくるような槍である。鍛冶屋は槍をこしらえ、若者はそれを投げた。槍は空へ飛んでいったが、若者の小指の先に落ちてくると、こなごなに砕けてしまった。そこで若者は灰のなかでもっと激しく身を震わせた。すると、たちまち起こった恐ろしい嵐の前に、畑の人夫たちはまた逃げていき、若者はさらにたくさんの鋤の刃をかき集めて鍛冶屋のところへ持っていった。鍛冶屋は二本目の槍をこしらえたが、それもまた空に飛んで、落ちてくるとこなごなに砕けた。そこで若者が三度目に灰のなかで身を震わせると、とてつもない大あらしが起こって、そのあたり一帯で吹き飛ばされなかった鋤の刃はほとんどなかった。鍛冶屋はやっとのことで三本目の槍をこしらえたが、それが若者の指に落ちてきても、ほかの槍のようには砕けなかった。「これならなかなかいい」と若者は言って、槍をつかむと広い世界へ出ていった。

He went on and on and on till he also came to the oven and the cauldron. The men who guarded the oven and the cauldron stopped him and asked him his business, and on finding out that he was going to kill the devil, they told the youth that he must first eat the bread of the oven and then drink the wine in the cauldron if he could. The son of the cinders wished for nothing better. He ate the loaves that were baked in the oven, drank all the wine, and further on he saw the wooden bridge and the iron bridge, and beyond the bridges the apple-trees.

若者はどんどん、どんどん進んでいって、やはりかまどと大鍋のところに来た。かまどと大鍋の番をしている男たちが若者を止めて用を尋ね、悪魔を殺しに行くところだとわかると、できるものならまずかまどのパンを食べて、それから大鍋のぶどう酒を飲まなければならないと若者に言った。灰の息子にはこれ以上の望みはなかった。若者はかまどで焼いたパンを平らげ、ぶどう酒をすっかり飲み干して、さらに先へ行くと木の橋と鉄の橋が見え、橋の向こうにりんごの木が見えた。

The devil had observed the youth from afar, and his courage began to ooze out of him when he saw the deeds of the son of the ashes. “Any fool can go across the iron bridge,” thought the youth, “I’ll go across the wooden one,” and as it was no very great feat to eat the sweet apples he ate the sour ones.--“There will be no joking with this one,” said the devil, “I see I must get ready my lance and measure my strength with him.”

悪魔は遠くから若者を見ていたが、灰の息子のしわざを見ると、勇気がだんだん抜けていった。「鉄の橋なんか、どんなばかだって渡れる」と若者は思った。「おれは木の橋を渡ろう。」そして甘いりんごを食べるのはたいした手柄ではないので、酸っぱいりんごを食べた。——「こいつは冗談ではすまないぞ」と悪魔は言った。「どうやら槍を支度して、こいつと力比べをしなければならんようだ。」

The son of the ashes saw the devil from afar, and full of the knowledge of his own valour went straight up to him.

灰の息子は遠くから悪魔を見つけ、自分の武勇に自信満々で、まっすぐ悪魔のところへ向かっていった。

“If thou doest not homage to me, I’ll swallow thee straight off,” cried the devil.

「わしにひれ伏さなければ、すぐさま呑み込んでやるぞ」と悪魔は叫んだ。

“And if thou doest not homage to me, I’ll knock thee to pieces with my lance,” replied the youth.

「おまえがおれにひれ伏さなければ、この槍でおまえを粉々にしてやる」と若者は答えた。

“Oh ho! if we’re so brave as all that,” cried the three-faced monster, “let us out with our lances without losing any more time.”

「おうおう! そんなに勇ましいのなら」と三つの顔の怪物は叫んだ。「これ以上ぐずぐずしないで、槍を出そうじゃないか。」

So the devil out with his lance, whirled it round his head, and aimed it with all his might at the youth, who gave but one little twist with his finger, and crick-crack! the devil’s lance broke all to bits. “Now it’s my turn,” cried the son of the cinders; and he hurled his lance at the devil with such force that the devil’s first soul flew out of his nose.--“At it again once more, if thou art a man,” yelled the devil, with a great effort. “Not I,” cried the youth, “for my mother only bore me once,” whereupon the devil breathed forth his last soul also. Then the youth went on to seek the devil’s wife. Her also he chased down the road after her husband, and when he had cut them both in two, lo and behold! all three of his kinsfolk stood before him, so he turned back home and took them with him. Now his brothers and sister had grown very thirsty in the devil’s belly, and when they saw a large well by the wayside, they asked their brother Cinder-son to draw them a little water. Then the youths took off their girdles, tied them together, and let down the biggest brother, but he had scarcely descended more than half-way down when he began to shriek unmercifully: “Oh, oh, draw me up, I have had enough,” so that they had to pull him up and let the second brother try. And with him it fared the same way. “Now ’tis my turn,” cried Cinder-son, “but mind you do not pull me

そこで悪魔は槍を出して頭の上でぐるぐる振り回し、力いっぱい若者めがけて投げた。けれども若者が指をちょいとひねっただけで、ぱきん、ぽきん! 悪魔の槍はこなごなに砕けた。「今度はおれの番だ」と灰の息子は叫んだ。そして若者がものすごい力で悪魔めがけて槍を投げたので、悪魔のひとつ目の魂が鼻から飛び出した。——「男ならもう一度やってみろ」と悪魔は必死にわめいた。「やるものか」と若者は叫んだ。「おれの母さんはおれを一度しか産まなかったからな。」すると悪魔は最後の魂も吐き出してしまった。それから若者は悪魔の妻を探しに行った。若者は妻も夫のあとを追わせて道を追いかけ、二人ともまっぷたつに切ると、なんと! 三人の身内がみな目の前に立っていた。そこで若者は三人を連れて家へ引き返した。さて、兄たちと妹は悪魔の腹のなかでひどくのどが渇いていたので、道ばたに大きな井戸を見つけると、弟の灰坊に水を少し汲んでくれと頼んだ。そこで若者たちは帯をほどいて結び合わせ、いちばん上の兄を下ろした。ところが兄は半分も下りないうちに、「おうおう、引き上げてくれ、もうたくさんだ」と情け容赦なくわめきはじめたので、みんなは兄を引き上げて、二番目の兄にやらせなければならなかった。そして二番目の兄も同じことになった。「今度はおれの番だ」と灰坊は叫んだ。「だが、いくら大声でわめいても、おれを引き上げては

up, however loudly I holloa.” So they let down the youngest brother, and he too began to holloa and bawl, but they paid no heed to it, and let him down till he stood on the dry bottom of the well. A door stood before him, he opened it, and there were three lovely damsels sitting in a room together, and each of them shone like the moon when she is only fourteen days old. The three damsels were amazed at the sight of the youth. How durst he come into the devil’s cavern? they asked--and they begged and besought him to escape as he valued dear life. But the youth would not budge at any price, till he had got the better of this devil also. The end of the matter was that he slew the devil and released the three damsels, who were Sultan’s daughters, and had been stolen from their fathers and kept here for the last seven years. The two elder princesses he intended for his two brothers, but the youngest, who was also the loveliest, he chose for himself, and filling the pitcher with water he brought the damsels to the bottom of the well, right below the mouth of it.

だめだぞ。」そこでみんなはいちばん下の弟を下ろした。弟もまたわめいて叫びはじめたが、みんなは気にもとめずに、弟が井戸の乾いた底に立つまで下ろした。目の前に扉があったので、弟がそれを開けると、部屋に三人の美しい娘が一緒に座っていて、三人ともそれぞれ十四夜の月のように輝いていた。三人の娘は若者を見て驚いた。どうして悪魔のほら穴に来る勇気があったのかと娘たちは尋ね、命が惜しいなら逃げてくれと頼みに頼んだ。けれども若者は、この悪魔もやっつけるまではてこでも動こうとしなかった。とどのつまり、若者は悪魔を殺して三人の娘を救い出した。娘たちはスルタンの娘たちで、父親のもとからさらわれて、この七年のあいだここに閉じ込められていたのである。上の二人の王女を若者は二人の兄に与えるつもりだったが、いちばん下の、いちばん美しい王女を自分のために選んだ。そして水差しに水を満たすと、娘たちを井戸の底の、ちょうど井戸の口の真下へ連れていった。

First of all he let them draw up the eldest princess for his eldest brother, then he made them pull up the middling princess for his middling brother, and then it came to the youngest damsel’s turn. But she desired that the youth should be drawn up at all hazards and herself afterwards. “Thy brethren,” she explained, “will be wroth with thee for keeping the loveliest damsel for thyself, and will not draw thee out of the well for sheer jealousy.”

まず若者は、いちばん上の兄のためにいちばん上の王女を引き上げさせ、それから二番目の兄のために二番目の王女を引き上げさせて、それからいちばん下の娘の番になった。けれども娘は、何としても若者を先に引き上げてもらい、自分はそのあとにしたいと言った。「あなたのお兄さまたちは」と娘はわけを話した。「あなたがいちばん美しい娘を自分のものにしたことを怒って、ただねたましさから、あなたを井戸から引き上げないでしょう。」

“I’ll find my way out even then,” answered the youth, and though she begged and besought him till there was no more soul in her, he would not listen to her. Then the damsel drew from her breast a casket and said to the youth: “If any mischief befall thee, open this casket. Inside it is a piece of flint, and if thou strike it once a negro efrit will appear before thee and fulfil all thy desires. If thy brethren leave thee in the well, go to the palace of the devil and stand by the well. Two rams come there every day, a black one and a white one; if thou cling fast to the white one, thou wilt come to the surface of the earth, but if thou cling on to the black one thou wilt sink down into the seventh world.”

「それでも抜け出す道は見つけるさ」と若者は答えた。娘が魂の抜けるほど頼みに頼んでも、若者は耳を貸さなかった。そこで娘は胸もとから小箱を取り出して若者に言った。「もし何か災いがふりかかったら、この小箱を開けてください。なかに火打ち石がひとつ入っていて、それを一度打てば黒人のイフリートが現れて、あなたの望みをみなかなえてくれます。もしお兄さまたちがあなたを井戸に置き去りにしたら、悪魔の宮殿へ行って井戸のそばに立ってください。そこには毎日二頭の雄羊が来ます。黒いのと白いのです。白いほうにしがみつけば地の上に出られますが、黒いほうにしがみつけば第七の世界へ沈んでいってしまいます。」

Then he let them draw up the youngest damsel, and no sooner did his brethren see their brother’s bride and perceive that she was the loveliest of all, than jealousy overtook them, and in their wrath they left him in the well and went home with the damsels.

それから若者はいちばん下の娘を引き上げさせた。兄たちは弟の花嫁を見て、それがいちばん美しい娘だと気づくやいなや、ねたましさにとらわれ、怒って弟を井戸に置き去りにしたまま、娘たちを連れて家に帰ってしまった。

So what else could the poor youth at the bottom of the well do than go back to the devil’s palace, stand by the well, and wait for the two rams? Not very long afterwards a white ram came bounding along before him, and after that a black ram, and the youth, instead of catching hold of the white ram, seized the black one and immediately perceived that he was at the bottom of the seventh world.... He went on and on, he went for a long time and he went for a short time, he went by day and he went by night, he went up hill and down dale till he could do no more, and stopped short by a large tree to take a little rest. But what was that he saw before him? A large serpent was gliding up the trunk of the tree and would have devoured all the young birds on the tree if Cinder-son had let him. But the youth quickly drew forth his lance and cut the serpent in two with a single blow. Then, like one who has done his work well, he lay down at the foot of the tree, and inasmuch as he was tired and it was warm he fell asleep at once.

そこで井戸の底のかわいそうな若者には、悪魔の宮殿へ戻って井戸のそばに立ち、二頭の雄羊を待つほかに何ができただろう。まもなく白い雄羊が若者の前に跳んできて、そのあとから黒い雄羊が来た。若者は白い雄羊をつかむ代わりに黒い雄羊をつかんでしまい、たちまち第七の世界の底にいるのに気づいた……。若者はどんどん進んでいき、長いあいだ行き、短いあいだ行き、昼も夜も行き、丘を越え谷を下って、もう歩けなくなるまで行き、少し休もうと大きな木のそばで立ち止まった。ところが目の前に見えたのは何だっただろう。大きな蛇が木の幹をするすると登っていて、灰坊が放っておいたら、木の上のひな鳥をみな食べてしまうところだった。けれども若者はすばやく槍を抜いて、ひと打ちで蛇をまっぷたつに切った。それから、ひと仕事をりっぱにやり終えた者のように木の根もとに横になり、疲れていて暖かかったので、すぐに眠り込んだ。

Now while he slept the emerald Anka, who is the mother of the birds and the Padishah of the Peris, passed by that way, and when she saw the sleeping youth she fancied him to be her enemy, who was wont to destroy her children year by year. She was about to cut him to pieces, when the birds whispered to her not to hurt the youth, because he had killed their enemy the serpent. It was only then that the Anka perceived the two halves of the serpent. And now, lest anything should harm the sleeping youth, she hopped round and round him, and touched him softly and sheltered him with both her wings lest the sun should scorch him, and when he awoke from his sleep the wing of the bird was spread over him like a tent. And now the Anka approached him and said she would fain reward him for his good deed, and he might make a request of her. Then replied the youth: “I would fain get to the surface of the earth again.”

さて、若者が眠っているあいだに、鳥たちの母でペリたちの王(パーディシャー)であるエメラルドのアンカがそこを通りかかった。そして眠っている若者を見ると、毎年自分の子どもたちを殺していく敵だと思い込んだ。アンカが若者をずたずたにしようとすると、鳥たちが、この若者は自分たちの敵の蛇を殺してくれたのだから傷つけないでとささやいた。そのときはじめて、アンカは蛇の二つに切れた体に気づいた。そして今度は眠っている若者に何も害がないように、そのまわりをぴょんぴょん跳びまわり、そっと触れ、日に焼けないように両方の翼で覆ってやった。若者が眠りから覚めると、鳥の翼が天幕のように若者の上に広げられていた。そしてアンカは若者に近づいて、よい行いに報いたいから何か願いを言ってくれと言った。すると若者は答えた。「地の上にまた戻りたいのです。」

“Be it so,” said the emerald bird, “but first thou must get forty tons of ox-flesh and forty pitchers of water and sit on my back with them, so that when I say ‘Gik!’ thou mayest give me to eat, and when I say ‘Gak!’ thou mayest give me to drink.”

「そうしよう」とエメラルドの鳥は言った。「だがまず、牛の肉を四十トンと水を四十がめ手に入れて、それを持ってわたしの背に乗りなさい。わたしが『ギク!』と言ったら食べ物をくれ、『ガク!』と言ったら飲み物をくれなければならない。」

Then the youth bethought him of his casket, took the flint-stone out of it, and struck it once, and immediately a black efrit with a mouth as big as the world stood before him and said: “What dost thou command, my Sultan?”--“Forty tons of ox-flesh, and forty pitchers of water,” said the youth. In a short time the efrit brought the flesh and the water, and the youth packed it all up together and mounted on the wing of the bird. Off they went, and whenever the Anka cried “Gik!” he gave her flesh, and whenever she cried “Gak!” he gave her water. They flew from one layer of worlds to the next, till in a short time they got above the surface of the earth again, and he dismounted from the bird’s back and said to her: “Wait here a while, and in a short time I shall be back.”

そこで若者は小箱のことを思い出し、そこから火打ち石を取り出して一度打った。するとたちまち、世界ほども大きな口をした黒いイフリートが目の前に立って言った。「何をお命じですか、わがスルタンさま。」——「牛の肉を四十トンと、水を四十がめ」と若者は言った。まもなくイフリートは肉と水を持ってきて、若者はそれをみなまとめて鳥の翼に乗った。一同は飛び立ち、アンカが「ギク!」と叫ぶたびに若者は肉を与え、「ガク!」と叫ぶたびに水を与えた。一同は世界の層から層へと飛んでいき、まもなく地の上に出た。若者は鳥の背から降りて言った。「しばらくここで待っていてください。すぐに戻ってきます。」

Then the youth took out his coffer, struck the flint-stone, and bade the black bounding efrit get him tidings of the three sisters. In a short time the efrit re-appeared with the three damsels, who were preparing a banquet for the brothers. He made them all sit on the bird’s back, took with him again forty tons of ox-flesh and forty pitchers of water, and away they all went to the land of the three damsels. Every time the Anka said “Gik!” he gave her flesh to eat, and every time she said “Gak!” he gave her water to drink. But as the youth now had three with him besides himself, it came to pass that the flesh ran short, so that when the Anka said “Gik!” once more he had nothing to give her. Then the youth drew his knife, cut a piece of flesh out of his thigh, and stuffed it into the bird’s mouth.[10] The Anka perceived that it was human flesh and did not eat it, but kept it in her mouth, and when they had reached the realm of the three damsels, the bird told him that he might now go in peace.

それから若者は小箱を取り出して火打ち石を打ち、跳びはねる黒いイフリートに、三人の姉妹の消息を知らせるよう命じた。まもなくイフリートが三人の娘を連れて戻ってきた。娘たちは兄弟のために宴の支度をしているところだった。若者は娘たちをみな鳥の背に座らせ、また牛の肉を四十トンと水を四十がめ持って、一同は三人の娘の国へ飛んでいった。アンカが「ギク!」と言うたびに若者は肉を食べさせ、「ガク!」と言うたびに水を飲ませた。けれども今度は若者のほかに三人乗っていたので、肉が足りなくなって、アンカがもう一度「ギク!」と言ったとき、何もやるものがなかった。そこで若者は小刀を抜いて自分のももから肉を切り取り、鳥の口に押し込んだ。[10] アンカはそれが人の肉だと気づいて食べず、口のなかにとっておいた。そして三人の娘の国に着くと、鳥は若者に、もう安心して行ってよいと言った。

But the poor youth could not move a step because of the smart in his leg. “Thou go on first,” he said to the bird, “but I will first rest me here a while.”

けれどもかわいそうな若者は、足の痛みのせいで一歩も動けなかった。「先に行ってください」と若者は鳥に言った。「わたしはまずここでしばらく休みます。」

“Nay, but thou art a droll rogue,” quoth the bird, and with that it spit out of its mouth the piece of human flesh and put it back in its proper place just as if it had never been cut out.

「いやはや、おまえはおかしなやつだね」と鳥は言った。そう言うと鳥は口から人の肉のかけらを吐き出して、まるで一度も切り取られなかったかのように、もとの場所にはめ戻してやった。

The whole city was amazed at the sight of the return of the Sultan’s daughters. The old Padishah could scarce believe his own eyes. He looked and looked and then he embraced the first princess; he looked and looked and then he kissed the second princess, and when they had told him the story he gave his whole kingdom and his three daughters to Cinder-son. Then the youth sent for his mother and his sister, and they all sat down to the banquet together. Moreover he found his sister a husband who was the son of the Vizier, and for forty days and forty nights they were full of joyfulness.

スルタンの娘たちが帰ってきたのを見て、都じゅうが驚いた。年とった王は自分の目がほとんど信じられなかった。王はじっと見て、それから一人目の王女を抱きしめた。じっと見て、それから二人目の王女に口づけした。そして娘たちから話を聞くと、国をまるごとと三人の娘を灰坊に与えた。それから若者は母と妹を呼び寄せ、みんなで一緒に宴の席に着いた。そのうえ若者は妹に大臣の息子という夫を見つけてやり、四十日四十夜、みな喜びにあふれた。