The Discovery of the Upper World

The Minnatarees, and all the other Indians who are not of the stock of the grandfather of nations, were once not of this upper air, but dwelt in the bowels of the earth. The Good Spirit, when he made them, meant, no doubt, at a proper time to put them in enjoyment of all the good things which he had prepared for them upon earth, but he ordered that their first stage of existence should be within it. They all dwelt underground, like moles, in one great cavern. When they emerged it was in different places, but generally near where they now inhabit. At that time few of the Indian tribes wore the human form. Some had the figures or semblances of beasts. The Paukunnawkuts were rabbits, some of the Delawares were ground-hogs, others tortoises, and the Tuscaroras, and a great many others, were rattlesnakes. The Sioux were the hissing-snakes, but the Minnatarees were always men. Their part of the great cavern was situated far towards the mountains of snow.

ミンナタリー族と、諸民族の祖父の血筋でないほかのインディアンたちはみな、かつてはこの上の空気のなかの者ではなく、大地のはらわたに住んでいた。善い霊は彼らを造ったとき、まちがいなく、しかるべき時に、大地の上に用意したあらゆる善いものを楽しませるつもりだったが、生のはじめの段階は大地のなかで過ごすよう定めた。彼らはみな、モグラのように地の下の一つの大きな洞窟に住んでいた。出てきたときにはさまざまな場所から出てきたが、たいていは今住んでいるあたりの近くだった。そのころは人の姿をしたインディアンの部族はわずかだった。獣の姿や似姿をしている者もいた。パウクンナウクト族はウサギで、デラウェア族のある者はウッドチャック、ほかの者は亀で、タスカローラ族やそのほか大勢はガラガラヘビだった。スー族はシューッと鳴くヘビだったが、ミンナタリー族はいつも人間だった。大洞窟のなかの彼らの住む区域は、ずっと雪の山々のほうにあった。

The great cavern in which the Indians dwelt was indeed a dark and dismal region. In the country of the Minnatarees it was lighted up only by the rays of the sun which strayed through the fissures of the rock and the crevices in the roof of the cavern, while in that of the Mengwe all was dark and sunless. The life of the Indians was a life of misery compared with that they now enjoy, and it was endured only because they were ignorant of a fairer or richer world, or a better or happier state of being.

インディアンの住んでいた大洞窟は、まことに暗く陰鬱なところだった。ミンナタリー族の地では、岩の割れ目や洞窟の天井のすきまからさまよい込む日の光だけが明かりだったが、メングウェ族の地はすっかり暗く、日の差さないところだった。インディアンの暮らしは、今楽しんでいる暮らしに比べればみじめな暮らしで、人々がそれに耐えていたのは、もっと美しく豊かな世界や、もっとよく幸せな生のありようを知らなかったからにすぎなかった。

There were among the Minnatarees two boys, who, from the hour of their birth, showed superior wisdom, sagacity, and cunning. Even while they were children they were wiser than their fathers. They asked their parents whence the light came which streamed through the fissures of the rock and played along the sides of the cavern, and whence and from what descended the roots of the great vine. Their father could not tell them, and their mother only laughed at the question, which appeared to her very foolish. They asked the priest, but he could not tell them; but he said he supposed the light came from the eyes of some great wolf. The boys asked the king tortoise, who sulkily drew his head into his shell, and made no answer. When they asked the chief rattlesnake, he answered that he knew, and would tell them all about it if they would promise to make peace with his tribe, and on no account kill one of his descendants. The boys promised, and the chief rattlesnake then told them that there was a world above them, a beautiful world, peopled by creatures in the shape of beasts, having a pure atmosphere and a soft sky, sweet fruits and mellow water, well-stocked hunting-grounds and well-filled lakes. He told them to ascend by the roots, which were those of a great grape-vine. A while after the boys were missing; nor did they come back till the Minnatarees had celebrated their death, and the lying priest had, as he falsely said, in a vision seen them inhabitants of the land of spirits.

ミンナタリー族のなかに二人の少年がいて、生まれたときからすぐれた知恵と賢さと抜け目なさを見せていた。子どものうちから父たちより賢かった。二人は親に、岩の割れ目から流れ込んで洞窟の壁に戯れる光はどこから来るのか、あの大きな蔓の根はどこから、何から垂れ下がっているのかと尋ねた。父は答えられず、母はその問いをひどく馬鹿げたものに思ってただ笑うばかりだった。二人は祭司に尋ねたが、祭司も答えられず、ただ、その光はどこかの大きな狼の目から来るのだろうと言った。二人は亀の王に尋ねたが、亀の王はむっつりと頭を甲羅に引っ込めて何も答えなかった。ガラガラヘビの頭に尋ねると、頭は、知っている、自分の部族と和睦して、決して自分の子孫を一匹も殺さないと約束するなら、すっかり話してやろうと答えた。少年たちが約束すると、ガラガラヘビの頭は、自分たちの上には世界がある、美しい世界で、獣の姿をした生き物が住み、澄んだ空気と柔らかな空、甘い実と芳醇な水、獲物の豊かな狩り場と魚の満ちた湖がある、と話した。そして根を伝って昇っていけと言った。それは大きなブドウの蔓の根だったのである。しばらくすると少年たちの姿が見えなくなった。そしてミンナタリー族が二人の死を弔い、嘘つきの祭司が、自分で偽って言うには幻のなかで二人が霊の国の住人になっているのを見たと告げたあとになるまで、二人は戻ってこなかった。

The Indians were surprised by the return of the boys. They came back singing and dancing, and were grown so much, and looked so different from what they did when they left the cavern, that their father and mother scarcely knew them. They were sleek and fat, and when they walked it was with so strong a step that the hollow space rang with the sound of their feet. They were covered with the skins of animals, and had blankets of the skins of racoons and beavers. They described to the Indians the pleasures of the upper world, and the people were delighted with their story. At length they resolved to leave their dull residence underground for the upper regions. All agreed to this except the ground-hog, the badger, and the mole, who said, as they had been put where they were, they would live and die there. The rabbit said he would live sometimes above and sometimes below.

インディアンたちは少年たちが戻ってきたのに驚いた。二人は歌い踊りながら戻ってきて、洞窟を出ていったときとはあまりに大きくなり、見違えるほどだったので、父も母もほとんど見分けられなかった。二人はつやつやと太っていて、歩くとあまりに力強い足取りなので、空洞に足音が響きわたった。二人は獣の皮をまとい、アライグマとビーバーの皮の毛布を持っていた。二人はインディアンたちに上の世界の楽しさを語り、人々はその話に大喜びした。とうとう人々は、地の下の退屈な住まいを出て上の世界へ行こうと決めた。みなこれに賛成したが、ウッドチャックとアナグマとモグラだけは、自分たちはこの場所に置かれたのだから、ここで生きて死ぬと言った。ウサギは、ときには上で、ときには下で暮らすと言った。

When the Indians had determined to leave their habitations underground, the Minnatarees began, men, women, and children, to clamber up the vine, and one-half of them had already reached the surface of the earth, when a dire mishap involved the remainder in a still more desolate captivity within its bowels.

インディアンたちが地の下の住まいを出ようと決めると、ミンナタリー族は男も女も子どもも蔓をよじ登りはじめた。そしてもう半分が大地の表に着いたとき、恐ろしい災難が起こって、残りの者たちは大地のはらわたのなかで、さらにわびしい囚われの身になってしまった。

There was among them a very fat old woman, who was heavier than any six of her nation. Nothing would do but she must go up before some of her neighbours. Away she clambered, but her weight was so great that the vine broke with it, and the opening, to which it afforded the sole means of ascending, closed upon her and the rest of her nation.

そのなかに、同族の誰を六人合わせたよりも重い、たいそう太った老婆が一人いた。老婆は何がなんでも近所の者たちより先に登らなければ気がすまなかった。老婆はよじ登っていったが、その重さがあまりに大きかったので蔓はぷつりと切れ、登るただひとつの手立てだった蔓の通じる出口は、老婆と残りの同族の上に閉じてしまった。