The Red Bear

On the tundra south of the mouth of the Yukon River an orphan boy once lived with his aunt. They were all alone with no house within sight; but the boy had heard that there were people living farther up the river. One summer day he got into his kayak and rowed up the river hoping to find other human beings. He traveled on until he came to a large village where he saw many people moving about. There he landed and began calling to the people expecting to make friends with them.

ユーコン川の河口の南のツンドラに、昔、一人のみなしごの少年がおばと暮らしていた。見わたすかぎりほかに家は一軒もなく、二人きりだった。けれども少年は、川をもっと上ったところに人々が住んでいると聞いていた。ある夏の日、少年はカヤックに乗り込み、ほかの人間を見つけたいと願って川を漕ぎ上っていった。旅を続けていくと大きな村に着き、そこには大勢の人々が動きまわっているのが見えた。少年はそこに舟を着け、友だちになれると思って人々に呼びかけはじめた。

But instead of being friendly, they disliked all strangers and, running down to the shore, they seized him, broke his kayak to pieces, tore his clothing off him, and beat him badly. Then they took him up into the village and kept him there all summer, beating and ill-treating him very often. In the fall one of the men took pity on him and made him a kayak, and helped him to escape. He went down the river and arrived at home after a long absence.

けれども人々は親切にするどころか、よそ者をみな嫌っていて、岸へ駆け下りてくると少年をつかまえ、カヤックを粉々に壊し、着物をはぎ取り、ひどく殴りつけた。それから村へ連れていってひと夏そこに留め置き、何度も殴ってはひどい目にあわせた。秋になると、男たちの一人が少年を哀れに思ってカヤックをこしらえてやり、逃げるのを手伝った。少年は川を下り、長いあいだ留守にしたあとで家に帰り着いた。

During the summer other people had built houses near the home of his aunt and there was a small village instead of the one lone hut. He walked among the buildings until he found his aunt's house; but when he entered, he frightened her very much, for at first glance she thought it was a skeleton, he had been starved and beaten so long.

夏のあいだに、ほかの人々がおばの家の近くに家を建てていて、ぽつんと一軒だった小屋のかわりに小さな村ができていた。少年は建物のあいだを歩いておばの家を見つけた。けれどもなかへ入ると、おばをひどく怖がらせてしまった。あまりに長く飢えさせられ殴られていたので、ひと目見たとき、おばは骸骨だと思ったのである。

When his aunt recognized him and had heard his story, she said, "Oh, you poor boy! What you must have suffered! I am full of rage at those cruel villagers. I shall find some way to revenge your wrongs!"

少年だとわかって話を聞くと、おばは言った。「まあ、かわいそうに。どんなにつらい目にあったことか。あのむごい村人たちには腹が煮えくり返るよ。お前の受けたひどい仕打ちの仕返しを、何とかしてしてやるからね」

She sat thinking a while and then said to him, "Bring me a piece of a small log."

おばはしばらく座って考えていたが、やがて少年に言った。「小さな丸太の切れ端を持っておいで」

He brought the piece of wood and she whittled and rubbed it into the form of an animal with long teeth and long, sharp claws, and painted it white on the throat and red on the sides. Then they took the image to the edge of the stream and placed it in the water.

少年が木切れを持ってくると、おばはそれを削ってこすり、長い歯と長く鋭い爪を持つ獣の形にして、喉を白く、脇腹を赤く塗った。それから二人はその像を流れの縁へ持っていき、水のなかに置いた。

"Go now," she said to it, "and kill everyone you find in the village where my boy was beaten."

「さあ行って」とおばは像に言った。「わたしの子が殴られた村で、見つけた者をみな殺しておいで」

The image did not move.

像は動かなかった。

She took it out of the water and cried over it, letting her tears fall upon it; and the warm tears brought it to life and made it feel sorry for her and the boy. She put it back into the water.

おばはそれを水から取り出し、その上で泣いて涙を落とした。すると温かい涙が像に命を与え、おばと少年を気の毒に思う気持ちにさせた。おばはそれをまた水に戻した。

"Now, go and kill the bad people who beat my boy," she said.

「さあ、行って、わたしの子を殴った悪い者たちを殺しておいで」とおばは言った。

At this the image floated across the creek and crawled up on the other side, where it began to grow, soon becoming a large red bear. It turned and looked at the woman till she called out, "Go, and spare no one."

すると像は小川を浮かんで渡り、向こう岸に這い上がって、そこで大きくなりはじめ、まもなく大きな赤い熊になった。熊は振り返って女を見つめていたが、やがて女が叫んだ。「行け、だれも容赦するな」

The bear went away and came to the village on the big river, the one to which the boy had gone. There the first one he met was a man going for water. This one was quickly torn in pieces, and one after another of the villagers met the same fate; for the bear stayed near the village until he had destroyed one-half of the people, and the rest were so terrified that they began moving away.

熊は去っていき、少年が行ったあの大河の村に着いた。そこで最初に出会ったのは、水汲みに行く男だった。この男はたちまち八つ裂きにされ、村人たちは一人また一人と同じ運命にあった。熊は村人の半分を殺してしまうまで村の近くにとどまり、残りの者たちはあまりに怯えて、よそへ移りはじめたからである。

Then he swam across the Yukon and went over the tundra to the farther side of another river, killing everyone he met. For he had become so bloodthirsty that the least sign of life seemed to fill him with fury until he had destroyed it.

それから熊はユーコン川を泳いで渡り、ツンドラを越えて別の川の向こう岸へ行き、出会う者をみな殺した。あまりに血に飢えるようになっていたので、ほんのわずかな命のしるしにも猛り狂い、それを滅ぼすまでやまなかったのである。

From there he turned back, and one day came to the place on the river where he had first come to life. Seeing the people on the opposite side he became furious, tearing the ground with his claws and growling, and starting to cross the river to get at them. When the villagers saw this, they were much frightened, and ran about saying, "Here is the old woman's dog! We shall all be killed!" "Tell the old woman to stop her dog!" They had never seen a bear and they thought it was a dog she had made.

そこから熊は引き返し、ある日、自分が初めて命を得た川のほとりに来た。向こう岸に人々がいるのを見ると、熊は猛り狂い、爪で地面を引き裂いてうなり、人々のところへ行こうと川を渡りはじめた。村人たちはそれを見るとひどく怯えて、走りまわりながら言った。「ばあさんの犬が来たぞ。みんな殺されてしまう」「ばあさんに犬を止めるよう言ってくれ」人々は熊を見たことがなかったので、女がこしらえた犬だと思ったのである。

The woman went to meet the bear which did not try to hurt her, but was passing by her to get at the other people when she caught him by the hair on the back of his neck.

女は熊を迎えに行った。熊は女を傷つけようとはせず、そばを通り過ぎてほかの人々のところへ行こうとしたが、女は熊の首の後ろの毛をつかまえた。

"Do not hurt these people," she said; "they have been kind to me and have given me food when I was hungry."

「この人たちを傷つけてはいけないよ」と女は言った。「この人たちはわたしに親切で、わたしが腹をすかせていたときに食べ物をくれたのだから」

She led the bear into her house, and still holding on to him, she talked to him kindly.

女は熊を家のなかへ連れていき、なおもつかまえたまま、優しく話しかけた。

"You have done my bidding well, and I am pleased with you," she said; "but you must not overdo it. Hereafter you must injure no one unless he tries to hurt or injure you."

「お前はわたしの言いつけをよく果たしてくれた。うれしく思うよ」と女は言った。「でも、やりすぎてはいけない。これからは、傷つけたり害を加えたりしようとする者のほかは、だれも傷つけてはいけないよ」

When she had finished talking, she led him to the door and sent him away over the tundra. Before she made him there had never been any of his kind, but since then there have always been red bears.

話し終えると、女は熊を戸口へ連れていき、ツンドラの向こうへ送り出した。女が熊をこしらえるまでその仲間は一頭もいなかったが、それからは赤い熊がいつもいるようになった。