The Snail and the Beaver

The father of the Osage nation was a snail. It was when the earth was young and little. It was before the rivers had become wide or long, or the mountains lifted their peaks above the clouds, that the snail found himself passing a quiet existence on the banks of the River Missouri. His wants and wishes were but few, and well supplied, and he was happy.

オセージ族の父はカタツムリだった。それは大地が若く小さかったころのことである。川が広くも長くもならず、山々が雲の上に峰をそびえさせる前、カタツムリはミズーリ川の岸で静かに暮らしていた。望みも欲しいものもわずかで、それはよく満たされていて、カタツムリは幸せだった。

At length the region of the Missouri was visited by one of those great storms which so often scatter desolation over it, and the river, swollen by the melted snow and ice from the mountains, swept away everything from its banks, and among other things the drowsy snail. Upon a log he drifted down many a day's journey, till the river, subsiding, left him and his log upon the banks of the River of Fish. He was left in the slime, and the hot sun beamed fiercely upon him till he became baked to the earth and found himself incapable of moving. Gradually he grew in size and stature, and his form experienced a new change, till at length what was once a snail creeping on the earth ripened into man, erect, tall, and stately. For a long time after his change to a human being he remained stupefied, not knowing what he was or by what means to sustain life. At length recollection returned to him. He remembered that he was once a snail and dwelt upon another river. He became animated with a wish to return to his old haunts, and accordingly directed his steps towards those parts from which he had been removed. Hunger now began to prey upon him, and bade fair to close his eyes before he should again behold his beloved haunts on the banks of the river. The beasts of the forest were many, but their speed outstripped his. The birds of the air fluttered upon sprays beyond his reach, and the fish gliding through the waves at his feet were nimbler than he and eluded his grasp. Each moment he grew weaker, the films gathered before his eyes, and in his ears there rang sounds like the whistling of winds through the woods in the month before the snows. At length, wearied and exhausted, he laid himself down upon a grassy bank.

やがてミズーリのあたりを、しばしばそこに荒廃をまき散らすあの大嵐のひとつが襲った。山々の雪と氷が溶けて水かさの増した川は、岸のあらゆるものを押し流し、そのなかに眠たげなカタツムリもいた。カタツムリは丸太に乗って何日もの道のりを流され、やがて水が引くと、丸太ごと魚の川の岸に取り残された。カタツムリは泥のなかに置き去りにされ、熱い日がじりじりと照りつけて、とうとう地面に焼きつけられて動けなくなった。少しずつ体は大きくなって背丈が伸び、姿も新しく変わって、とうとうかつて地面を這っていたカタツムリは、まっすぐに立つ背の高い堂々とした人間に熟した。人間に変わってから長いあいだ、男はぼうっとして、自分が何者なのか、どうやって命をつなげばよいのかわからなかった。とうとう記憶がよみがえった。男は自分がかつてカタツムリで、別の川に住んでいたことを思い出した。男は昔住んでいたところへ戻りたいという思いにかき立てられ、自分の運び去られてきたあたりへと足を向けた。やがて飢えが男をさいなみはじめ、川岸のいとしい住みかをふたたび見る前に、男の目を閉じさせてしまいそうだった。森の獣はたくさんいたが、男より速かった。空の鳥は手の届かない小枝の上で羽ばたき、足もとの波をすべる魚は男より身軽で、つかもうとする手を逃れた。刻一刻と男は弱り、目の前には膜がかかり、耳には雪の前の月に森を吹き抜ける風のような音が鳴り響いた。とうとう疲れ果てて、男は草の生えた土手に身を横たえた。

As he lay the Great Spirit appeared to him and asked--

男が横たわっていると、偉大な霊が現れて尋ねた——

"Why does he who is the kernel of the snail look terrified, and why is he faint and weary?"

「カタツムリの芯である者が、なぜ怯えたようすをしているのか。なぜ弱り疲れているのか。」

"That I tremble," answered he, "is because I fear thy power. That I faint is because I lack food."

「わたしが震えているのは」と男は答えた。「あなたの力を恐れているからです。弱っているのは、食べ物がないからです。」

"As regards thy trembling," answered the Great Spirit, "be composed. Art thou hungry?"

「震えについては」と偉大な霊は答えた。「落ち着くがよい。腹が減っているのか。」

"I have eaten nothing," replied the man, "since I ceased to be a snail."

「カタツムリでなくなってから、何も食べていません」と男は答えた。

Upon hearing this the Great Spirit drew from under his robe a bow and arrow, and bade the man observe what he did with it. On the topmost bough of a lofty tree sat a beautiful bird, singing and fluttering among the red leaves. He placed an arrow on the bow, and, letting fly, the bird fell down upon the earth. A deer was seen afar off browsing. Again the archer bent his bow and the animal lay dead, food for the son of the snail.

これを聞くと、偉大な霊は衣の下から弓と矢を取り出し、自分がそれで何をするかよく見ているよう男に言った。高い木のいちばん上の枝に美しい鳥がとまって、赤い葉のあいだで歌いながら羽ばたいていた。霊が弓に矢をつがえて放つと、鳥は地面に落ちてきた。遠くで鹿が一頭草を食んでいるのが見えた。射手がまた弓を引くと、獣は死んで横たわり、カタツムリの息子の食べ物になった。

"There are victuals for you," said the Spirit, "enough to last you till your strength enables you to beat up the haunts of the deer and the moose, and here is the bow and arrow."

「これがお前の食べ物だ」と霊は言った。「お前に力がついて、鹿やヘラジカの住みかを狩り立てられるようになるまで十分もつだろう。そしてここに弓と矢がある。」

The Great Spirit also taught the man how to skin the deer, and clothed him with the skin. Having done this, and having given the beasts, fishes, and all feathered creatures to him for his food and raiment, he bade the man farewell and took his departure.

偉大な霊はまた、鹿の皮のはぎ方を男に教え、その皮を男に着せた。そうして、獣や魚や羽のあるあらゆる生き物を男の食べ物と衣として与えると、男に別れを告げて去っていった。

Strengthened and invigorated, the man pursued his journey towards the old spot. He soon stood upon the banks of his beloved river. A few more suns and he would sit down upon the very spot where for so many seasons he had crawled on the slimy leaf, so often dragged himself lazily over the muddy pool. He had seated himself upon the bank of the river, and was meditating deeply on these things, when up crept from the water a beaver, who, addressing him, said in an angry tone--

力をつけ元気を取り戻して、男は昔の場所へ向かって旅を続けた。まもなく男はいとしい川の岸に立った。あと幾日かすれば、何年ものあいだぬるぬるした葉の上を這い、何度もぬかるんだ水たまりをのろのろと体を引きずって越えたまさにその場所に腰を下ろせるのだった。男が川岸に座ってこうしたことを深く思いめぐらしていると、水から一匹のビーバーが這い上がってきて、怒った口調で男に言った——

"Who are you?"

「お前は何者だ。」

"I am a snail," replied the Snail-Man. "Who are you?"

「わたしはカタツムリだ」とカタツムリ男は答えた。「お前は何者だ。」

"I am head warrior of the nation of beavers," answered the other. "By what authority have you come to disturb my possession of this river, which is my dominion?"

「わたしはビーバー族の戦士の頭だ」ともう一方は答えた。「何の権利があって、わたしの領地であるこの川をわたしが持っているのを邪魔しに来た。」

"It is not your river," replied the Wasbasha. "The Great Being, who is over man and beast, has given it to me."

「これはお前の川ではない」とワスバシャは答えた。「人と獣の上に立つ大いなる者が、この川をわたしにくださったのだ。」

The beaver was at first incredulous; but at length, convinced that what the man said was true, he invited him to accompany him to his home. The man agreed, and went with him till they came to a number of small cabins, into the largest of which the beaver conducted him. He invited the man to take food with him, and while the beaver's wife and daughter were preparing the feast, he entertained his guest with an account of his people's habits of life. Soon the wife and daughter made their appearance with the food, and sitting down the Snail-Man was soon at his ease amongst them. He was not, however, so occupied with the banquet that he had not time to be enchanted with the beauty of the beaver's daughter; and when the visit was drawing to a close, so much was he in love, that he asked the beaver to give her to him for his wife. The beaver-chief consented, and the marriage was celebrated by a feast, to which all the beavers, and the animals with whom they had friendly relations, were invited. From this union of the Snail-Man and the Beaver-Maid sprang the tribe of the Osages,--at least so it is related by the old men of the tribe.

ビーバーは初めは信じなかったが、とうとう男の言うことがほんとうだと納得して、自分の家へ一緒に来るよう男を招いた。男は承知してビーバーについていき、小さな小屋がたくさん並ぶところに着くと、ビーバーはそのいちばん大きな小屋へ男を案内した。ビーバーは男に一緒に食事をしようと誘い、ビーバーの妻と娘がごちそうの支度をしているあいだ、客に自分の一族の暮らしぶりを語って聞かせた。まもなく妻と娘が食べ物を持って現れ、腰を下ろすと、カタツムリ男はすぐにみなのなかでくつろいだ。けれども男はごちそうに夢中になっていながらも、ビーバーの娘の美しさにうっとりする暇はあった。そして訪問が終わりに近づくころには、すっかり恋に落ちていたので、ビーバーに娘を妻にくれと頼んだ。ビーバーの首長は承知し、婚礼は宴で祝われて、ビーバーたちみなと、ビーバーと仲のよい獣たちが招かれた。このカタツムリ男とビーバーの娘の結びつきから、オセージ族が生まれた——少なくとも部族の老人たちはそう語っている。