Oahunui

On the plateau lying between Ewa and Waialua, on the island of Oahu, and about a mile off, and mauka of the Kaukonahua bridge, is the historical place called Kukaniloko. This was the ancient birthplace of the Oahu kings and rulers. It was incumbent on all women of the royal line to retire to this place when about to give birth to a child, on pain of forfeiting the rank, privileges, and prerogatives of her expected offspring, should that event happen in a less sacred place.

オアフ島のエワとワイアルアのあいだに横たわる台地の、カウコナフア橋から一マイルほど離れたマウカ(山側)に、ククアニロコと呼ばれる由緒ある場所がある。ここはいにしえのオアフの王と支配者たちの生まれた地であった。王家の血筋の女はみな、子を産もうとするときにはこの地に退くことが定めであった。もしそれより聖ならぬ場所で産が起これば、生まれてくる子の位と特権と大権を失うことになるからである。

The stones were still standing some years ago, and perhaps are yet undisturbed, where the royal accouchements took place. In ancient times this locality was taboo ground, for here the high priest of the island had his headquarters. Himself descended from the chief families, and being, in many instances, an uncle or younger brother of the reigning king, or connected by marriage with those of the royal line, and being also at the head of a numerous, well organized, and powerful priesthood, his influence was hardly second to that of the king, and in some matters his authority was paramount.

王家の出産が行われた場所の石は数年前まで立っていたし、おそらく今も動かされてはいないだろう。いにしえにはこの土地はカプの地であった。ここに島の大祭司が本拠を置いていたからである。大祭司自身も首長の家々の血を引き、多くの場合、治める王の叔父か弟であるか、王家の血筋の者と婚姻で結ばれていた。また数多く、よく整い、力ある祭司団の頭でもあったので、その力は王のそれにほとんど劣らず、事によってはその権威が王を上回った。

A few miles mauka of Kukaniloko, toward the Waimea Mountains, is Helemano, where the last of the cannibal chiefs from the South Seas finally settled when driven from the plains of Mokuleia and Waialua by the inhabitants of those districts; for the people had been exasperated by the frequent requisitions on the kamaainas (original inhabitants) by the stranger chiefs to furnish material for their cannibal feasts.

ククアニロコから数マイルのマウカ、ワイメアの山々のほうにヘレマノがある。ここは、南の海から来た人食いの首長たちの最後の者が、モクレイアとワイアルアの平地からその地方の住人たちに追われて、ついに落ち着いた場所である。人々は、よそ者の首長たちがカマアイナ(元からの住人)に、人食いの宴のための材料を差し出せとたびたび求めることに、腹を据えかねていたのである。

To the east of Helemano, and about the same distance from Kukaniloko, is Oahunui (Greater Oahu), another historical place. This was the residence of the kings of the island. Tradition has it that previous to the advent of the cannibal strangers the place was known by another name.

ヘレマノの東、ククアニロコからほぼ同じ距離のところに、オアフヌイ(大いなるオアフ)という、これもまた由緒ある場所がある。ここは島の王たちの住まいであった。言い伝えでは、人食いのよそ者が来る前には、この場所は別の名で知られていたという。

When the Lo Aikanaka, as the last of the man-eating chiefs are called, were constrained to take up their residence in upper Helemano, a district just outside of the boundaries of those reserved for the royal and priestly residences, a young man called Oahunui was king. An elder sister named Kilikiliula, who had been as a mother to him, was supposed to share equally with him the royal power and prerogative. This sister was married to a chief named Lehuanui, of the priestly line, but one not otherwise directly connected with royalty, and was the mother of three children; the two eldest being boys and the youngest a girl. They all lived together in the royal enclosure, but in separate houses, according to ancient custom.

人食いの首長たちの最後の者はロ・アイカナカと呼ばれるが、彼らが、王家と祭司の住まいのために取り分けられた境のすぐ外にあたるヘレマノの上手に住まわされたとき、オアフヌイという若者が王であった。キリキリウラという名の姉があって、この人は王にとって母のような存在であり、王権と大権を王と等しく分かち持つものと見なされていた。この姉は祭司の血筋のレフアヌイという首長に嫁いでいた。もっともレフアヌイはそれ以外に王家と直接のつながりを持たなかった。姉には三人の子があり、上の二人は男の子、末は女の子であった。一家はみな王家の囲いのなかに住んでいたが、いにしえの習わしに従って別々の家に住んでいた。

Now, the Lo Aikanaka, on establishing themselves in upper Helemano, had at first behaved very well. They had been circumspect and prudent in their intercourse with the royal retainers, and had visited the young King to render their homage with every appearance of humility.

さて、ロ・アイカナカはヘレマノの上手に落ち着いたころ、はじめのうちはたいそう行儀よくふるまっていた。王家の家臣たちとの付き合いでは慎重で思慮深く、若い王のもとへは、あらゆるへりくだりのさまを見せて敬意を表しに参上した。

Oahunui was quite captivated by the plausible, suave manners of the ingratiating southern chief and those of his immediate retainers, and he invited them to a feast.

オアフヌイは、この人あたりのよい南の首長とその側近たちの、もっともらしくなめらかな物腰にすっかり心を奪われ、彼らを宴に招いた。

This civility was reciprocated, and the King dined with the strangers. Here it was strongly suspected that the dish of honor placed before the King was human flesh, served under the guise of pork.

この礼はやがて返され、王はよそ者たちのもとで食事をした。このとき、王の前に置かれた誉れの料理は、豚肉に見せかけた人の肉であったと強く疑われている。

The King found the dish very much to his liking, and intimated to the Lo Aikanaka chief that his aipuu-puu (chief cook or steward) understood the preparation and cooking of pork better than the royal cook did.

王はこの料理をたいそう気に入り、ロ・アイカナカの首長に、そちらのアイププ・プウ(料理頭、すなわち膳部の長)は王家の料理人よりも豚肉の下ごしらえと焼き方をよく心得ている、とほのめかした。

The Lo Aikanaka took the hint, and the young King became a very frequent guest at the Southerner's board--or rather, mat table. Some excuse or other would be given to invite the royal guest, such as a challenge to the King to a game of konane (a game like checkers); or a contest of skill in the different athletic and warlike sports would be arranged, and Oahunui would be asked to be the judge, or simply invited to view them. As a matter of course, it would be expected that the King would remain after the sports and partake of food when on friendly visits of this nature. Thus with one excuse or another he spent a great deal of his time with his new subjects and friends.

ロ・アイカナカはこのほのめかしを察し、若い王は南の者の食卓——というより敷物の膳——にたびたび招かれる客となった。王家の客を招くのに、何やかやと口実が設けられた。コナネ(西洋碁に似た遊び)の勝負を王に挑むとか、さまざまな体技や武技の腕くらべを催して、オアフヌイに審判を頼むとか、ただ見物に来るよう招くとかである。当然ながら、こうした親しい訪いの折には、王は競技のあとも残って食事を相伴するものと思われていた。こうして王は、何やかやと口実をつけては、新しい臣下であり友でもある者たちと多くの時を過ごした。

To supply the particular dainty craved by the royal visitor, the Lo Aikanaka had to send out warriors to the passes leading to Waianae from Lihue and Kalena, and also to the lonely pathway leading up to Kalakini, on the Waimea side, there to lie in ambush for any lone traveller, or belated person after la-i, aaho, or ferns. Such a one would fall an easy prey to the Lo Aikanaka stalwarts, skilful in the art of the lua (to kill by breaking the bones).

王家の客が求めるこのとりわけの珍味を用意するため、ロ・アイカナカは戦士たちを、リフエとカレナからワイアナエへ通じる峠や、ワイメア側のカラキニへ上る人気のない小道へ送り出さねばならなかった。そこで一人旅の者や、ラ・イやアアホや羊歯を採りに来て遅くなった者を待ち伏せるのである。そうした者は、ルア(骨を折って殺す技)に長けたロ・アイカナカの屈強な者たちの、たやすい獲物となった。

This went on for some time, until the unaccountable disappearance of so many people began to be connected with the frequent entertainments by the southern chief. Oahunui's subjects began to hint that their young King had acquired the taste for human flesh at these feasts, and that it was to gratify his unnatural appetite for the horrid dish that he paid his frequent visits to those who were his inferiors, contrary to all royal precedent.

これがしばらく続いたが、やがて、かくも多くの人が訳もなく消えることと、南の首長のたび重なるもてなしとが、結びつけて考えられるようになった。オアフヌイの臣下たちは、若い王はこの宴で人の肉の味を覚えたのだ、この忌まわしい料理への人にあるまじき食欲を満たすためにこそ、王家のならわしにことごとく背いて、身分の下の者のもとへたびたび通うのだ、とささやきはじめた。

The people's disapproval of the intimacy of Oahunui with his new friends was expressed more and more openly, and the murmurs of discontent grew loud and deep. His chiefs and high priest became alarmed, and begged him to discontinue his visits, or they would not be answerable for the consequences. The King was thereby forced to heed their admonitions and promised to keep away from Lo's, and did so for quite a while.

オアフヌイと新しい友らとの親しさに対する人々の不満はますますあからさまに口にされ、不平のつぶやきは大きく深くなった。首長たちと大祭司は不安になり、訪いをやめてくださらねば、その先のことは請け合えませんと願い出た。王はその諫めを聞き入れざるをえず、ロの家には近づかぬと約束し、しばらくのあいだはそのとおりにした。

Now, all the male members of the royal family ate their meals with the King when he was at home. This included, among others, Lehuanui, his sister's husband, and their two sons--healthy, chubby little lads of about eight and six years of age. One day after breakfast, as the roar of the surf at Waialua could be distinctly heard, the King remarked that the fish of Ukoa pond at Waialua must be pressing on to the makaha (floodgates) and he would like some aholehole.

さて、王家の男たちはみな、王が家にいるときには王と食事をともにした。そのなかには、ほかの者に交じって、姉の夫レフアヌイと、その二人の息子——八歳と六歳ほどの、健やかでまるまるとした男の子たち——がいた。ある日の朝食のあと、ワイアルアの波の轟きがはっきりと聞こえたので、王は、ワイアルアのウコア池の魚がマカハ(水門)に押し寄せているにちがいない、アホレホレが食べたいものだ、と言った。

This observation really meant a command to his brother-in-law to go and get the fish, as he was the highest chief present except his two royal nephews, too small to assume such duties.

この言葉は実のところ、魚を取りに行けという義兄への命令であった。その場にいる者のなかで、そうした務めを負うには幼すぎる二人の王甥をのぞけば、レフアヌイが最も位の高い首長だったからである。

Lehuanui, Kilikiliula's husband, accordingly went to Waialua with a few of his own family retainers and a number of those belonging to the King. They found the fish packed thick at the makaha, and were soon busily engaged in scooping out, cleaning, and salting them. It was quite late at night when Lehuanui, fatigued with the labors of the day, lay down to rest. He had been asleep but a short time when he seemed to see his two sons standing by his head. The eldest spoke to him: "Why do you sleep, my father? While you are down here we are being eaten by your brother-in-law, the King. We were cooked and eaten up, and our skulls are now hanging in a net from a branch of the lehua-tree you are called after, and the rest of our bones are tied in a bundle and buried under the tree by the big root running to the setting sun."

そこでキリキリウラの夫レフアヌイは、自分の家の家来を数人と、王に属する者を幾人か連れてワイアルアへ行った。マカハには魚がびっしりと詰まっていて、一同はまもなくそれをすくい出し、はらわたを抜き、塩をするのに忙しく立ち働いた。夜もかなり更けてから、その日の働きに疲れたレフアヌイは横になって休んだ。眠って間もなく、二人の息子が枕もとに立っているのが見えるように思われた。兄のほうが言った。「父上、なぜ眠っておいでなのですか。あなたがここにおられるあいだに、ぼくたちはあなたの義兄の王に食べられてしまいました。ぼくたちは煮られて食べられ、頭の骨は今、父上の名のもとであるレフアの木の枝から網に入れて吊るされています。ほかの骨は束にして、その木の下の、日の沈むほうへ伸びた大きな根の下に埋められています。」

Then they seemed to fade away, and Lehuanui started up, shivering with fear. He hardly knew whether he had been dreaming or had actually seen an apparition of his little sons. He had no doubt they were dead, and as he remembered all the talk and innuendoes about the King's supposed reasons for visiting the strangers and the enforced cessation of those visits at the urgent request of the high priest and the chiefs, he came to the conclusion that the King had expressed a desire for fish in his presence only to send him out of the way. He reasoned that no doubt the King had noticed the chubby forms and rounded limbs of the little lads, and being debarred a chance of partaking surreptitiously of human flesh, had compelled his servants to kill, cook, and serve up his own nephews. In satisfying his depraved appetite, he had also got rid of two who might become formidable rivals; for it was quite within the possibilities that the priests and chiefs in the near future, should he be suspected of a desire for a further indulgence in cannibal diet, might depose him, and proclaim either one of the young nephews his successor.

そして二人は消えてゆくように見え、レフアヌイは恐ろしさに震えながら跳ね起きた。夢を見ていたのか、幼い息子たちの幻を現に見たのか、自分でもよく分からなかった。二人が死んでいることは疑いようがなかった。そして、王がよそ者のもとへ通う本当の理由についてのあらゆる噂とあてこすり、そして大祭司と首長たちの強い願いによってその訪いがやめさせられたことを思い返し、王が自分の前で魚が欲しいと言ったのは、ただ自分を遠ざけるためだったのだという結論に至った。王はきっと幼い子らのまるまるとした体つきと丸みのある手足に目をつけていて、こっそり人の肉を口にする機会を断たれたので、家来たちに命じて自分の甥たちを殺させ、煮させ、膳に出させたにちがいない、と考えたのである。そのゆがんだ食欲を満たすとともに、王は手ごわい競争相手になりかねない二人を除いたのでもあった。近い将来、王が人食いの食事にさらにふけりたがっていると疑われれば、祭司と首長たちが王を退位させ、若い甥のどちらかを跡継ぎと宣することも、十分ありえたのだから。

The father was so troubled that he aroused his immediate body servant, and the two left Waialua for home shortly after midnight. They arrived at the royal enclosure at dawn, and went first to the lehua-tree spoken of by the apparition of the child, and on looking up amid the branches, sure enough there dangled two little skulls in a large-meshed fishing-net. Lehuanui then stooped down and scraped away the leaves and loose dirt from the root indicated, and out rolled a bundle of tapa, which on being opened was found to contain the bones of two children. The father reached up for the net containing the skulls, and putting the bundle of tapa in it, tied the net around his neck. The servant stood by, a silent and grieved spectator of a scene whose meaning he fully understood.

父はひどく心を乱し、身近に仕える者を起こして、真夜中過ぎにワイアルアを発って家へ向かった。二人は夜明けに王家の囲いに着き、まず子の幻が告げたレフアの木のところへ行った。枝のあいだを見上げると、果たして目の粗い漁網のなかに二つの小さな頭の骨がぶら下がっていた。レフアヌイは身をかがめ、告げられた根から落ち葉とゆるい土をかき除けた。すると樹皮布の包みが転がり出て、開いてみると、二人の子どもの骨が入っていた。父は手を伸ばして頭の骨の入った網を取り、そのなかに樹皮布の包みを入れて、網を首に結わえつけた。家来はかたわらに立ち、その意味をすべて悟りながら、黙って悲しげにこの光景を見ていた。

The father procured a stone adze and went to the King's sleeping-house, the servant still following. Here every one but an old woman tending the kukui-nut candle was asleep. Oahunui was stretched out on a pile of soft mats covered with his paiula, the royal red kapa of old. The cruel wretch had eaten to excess of the hateful dish he craved, and having accompanied it with copious draughts of awa juice, was in a heavy, drunken sleep.

父は石の手斧を手に取り、王の寝所へ向かった。家来はなおも従った。ここではククイの実の灯りの番をする老女のほかは、みな眠っていた。オアフヌイは柔らかい敷物を重ねた上に長々と横たわり、いにしえの王家の赤い樹皮布であるパイウラを掛けていた。このむごい下衆は、求めてやまぬ忌まわしい料理を食べ過ぎ、それにアヴァの汁をたっぷりあおったので、重い酔いの眠りに沈んでいた。

Lehuanui stood over him, adze in hand, and called, "O King, where are my children?" The stupefied King only stirred uneasily, and would not, or could not, awake. Lehuanui called him three times, and the sight of the drunken brute, gorged with his flesh and blood, so enraged the father that he struck at Oahunui's neck with his stone adze, and severed the head from the body at one blow.

レフアヌイは手斧を手にその上に立ち、「おお王よ、わたしの子らはどこだ」と呼んだ。呆けた王はただ寝苦しそうに身じろぎするばかりで、目を覚まそうとしないのか、覚ませないのか、起きなかった。レフアヌイは三度呼んだ。そして、わが子の肉と血を腹いっぱいに詰め込んだ酔いどれの獣を目の前にして、父は激しい怒りに駆られ、石の手斧でオアフヌイの首を打ち、一撃でその頭を胴から切り離した。

The father and husband then strode to his own sleeping-house, where his wife lay asleep with their youngest child in her arms. He aroused her and asked for his boys. The mother could only weep, without answering. He upbraided her for her devotion to her brother, and for having tamely surrendered her children to satisfy the appetite of the inhuman monster. He reminded her that she had equal power with her brother, and that the latter was very unpopular, and had she chosen to resist his demands and called on the retainers to defend her children, the King would have been killed and her children saved.

父であり夫であるレフアヌイは、それから大股に自分の寝所へ行った。そこでは妻が末の子を腕に抱いて眠っていた。レフアヌイは妻を起こし、息子たちはどこだと尋ねた。母はただ泣くばかりで答えられなかった。夫は、弟にばかり尽くすこと、そして人でなしの怪物の食欲を満たすために子どもたちをむざむざと差し出したことを責めた。おまえは弟と等しい力を持っていたのだ、弟はたいそう人望がなかったのだから、その求めに逆らって家来たちに子を守れと呼びかけていたなら、王は殺され、子らは助かっていたはずだ、と言った。

He then informed her that, as she had given up his children to be killed for her brother, he had killed him in retaliation, and, saying, "You have preferred your brother to me and mine, so you will see no more of me and mine," he tore the sleeping child from her arms and turned to leave the house.

それからレフアヌイは、おまえが弟のためにわが子を殺させたのだから、その仕返しに弟を殺したと告げ、「おまえはわたしとわたしの子より弟を選んだ。だからもう、わたしとわたしの子には二度と会えぬ」と言って、眠っている子を妻の腕からもぎ取り、家を出ようと向き直った。

The poor wife and mother followed, and, flinging herself on her husband, attempted to detain him by clinging to his knees; but the father, crazed by his loss and the thought of her greater affection for a cruel, inhuman brother than for her own children, struck at her with all his might, exclaiming, "Well, then, follow your brother," and rushed away, followed by all his retainers.

哀れな妻であり母である女は追いすがり、夫の体に身を投げかけ、膝にしがみついて引きとめようとした。けれども父は、子を失った悲しみと、妻がわが子よりもむごい人でなしの弟をより深く愛したのだという思いに狂い、力のかぎり妻を打って「ならば弟のあとを追え」と叫び、家来をみな従えて走り去った。

Kilikiliula fell on the side of the stream opposite to where the lehua-tree stood, and is said to have turned to stone. The stone is pointed out to this day, balanced on the hillside of the ravine formed by the stream, and is one of the objects for the Hawaiian sightseer.

キリキリウラは、レフアの木の立つ側とは川を隔てた向こう岸に倒れ、石に変わったと言われている。その石は今日も、川の作った谷の斜面に釣り合いを取って載っているのを指し示され、ハワイを訪れる者の見物のひとつとなっている。

The headless body of Oahunui lay where he was killed, abandoned by every one. The story runs that in process of time it also turned to stone, as a witness to the anger of the gods and their detestation of his horrible crime. All the servants who had in any way been concerned, in obedience to royal mandate, in killing and cooking the young princes were, at the death of Kilikiliula, likewise turned to stone, just as they were, in the various positions of crouching, kneeling, or sitting. All the rest of the royal retainers, with the lesser chiefs and guards, fled in fear and disgust from the place, and thus the once sacred royal home of the Oahuan chiefs was abandoned and deserted.

オアフヌイの首のない体は、殺された場所に、誰にも見捨てられて横たわっていた。話によれば、それもやがて石に変わり、神々の怒りと、その恐ろしい罪への神々の憎しみの証となったという。王の命に従って若い王子たちを殺し、煮ることに何らかの形で関わった家来たちもみな、キリキリウラの死とともに、うずくまり、ひざまずき、あるいは座ったさまざまな姿のまま、そっくり石に変えられた。ほかの王家の家臣たちも、下位の首長や衛士たちとともに、恐れと嫌悪のあまりこの場所から逃げ去った。こうして、かつて聖なるものであったオアフの首長たちの王家の住まいは、打ち捨てられ、人影を失った。

The great god Kane's curse, it is believed, still hangs over the desolate spot, in proof of which it is asserted that, although all this happened hundreds of years ago, no one has ever lived there since.

偉大な神カネの呪いは今もこの荒れ果てた場所にかかっていると信じられている。その証として、これらがみな何百年も前の出来事であるのに、それ以来そこに住んだ者は一人もいないのだと言われている。