Raven Makes an Ocean Voyage

One day Raven was sitting on a cliff near the sea when he saw a large whale passing close along the shore.

ある日、ワタリガラスが海の近くの崖に座っていると、大きな鯨が岸すれすれを通り過ぎていくのが見えた。

"I have an idea!" said he. "I'm going to try something new." Then he called out to the whale, "When you come up again, shut your eyes and open your mouth wide, and I'll put something in it."

「いいことを思いついた」と彼は言った。「何か新しいことを試してみよう」それから鯨に呼びかけた。「今度浮かび上がったら、目を閉じて口を大きく開けておけ。何か入れてやるから」

Then he drew down his mask, put his drill for making fire under his wing, and flew out over the water. Very soon the whale came up again and did as he had been told. Raven, seeing the wide open mouth, flew straight down the whale's throat. The whale closed his mouth, gave a great gulp, and down he went to the bottom of the sea.

それからワタリガラスは仮面を下ろし、火をおこす錐を翼の下にはさんで、水の上へ飛び出した。まもなく鯨がまた浮かび上がって、言われたとおりにした。ワタリガラスは大きく開いた口を見ると、まっすぐ鯨の喉へ飛び込んだ。鯨は口を閉じ、大きくごくりと飲み込むと、海の底へ潜っていった。

Raven stood up, pushed up his beak, and looking about, found himself at the entrance to a fine room, at one end of which burned a lamp. He went in and was surprised to see a beautiful young woman sitting there. The place was clean and dry, the roof being supported by the whale's spine, while its ribs formed the walls. The lamp was supplied from a tube that extended along the whale's backbone, from which oil constantly but slowly dripped into the lamp.

ワタリガラスは立ち上がってくちばしを押し上げ、あたりを見まわすと、立派な部屋の入口にいた。部屋の奥ではランプが燃えていた。なかへ入ってみると、驚いたことに美しい若い女がそこに座っていた。そこは清潔で乾いていて、屋根は鯨の背骨に支えられ、肋骨が壁になっていた。ランプには鯨の背骨に沿って走る管から油が送られ、そこから油が絶え間なく、けれどもゆっくりとランプにしたたり落ちていた。

When Raven stepped in, the woman started up in alarm and cried out, "How came you here? You are the first man who ever came into my house."

ワタリガラスが入っていくと、女は驚いて跳び上がり、叫んだ。「どうやってここへ来たの。わたしの家に入ってきた男はあなたが初めてよ」

"I came in through the whale's throat," said Raven as politely as he knew how, for the woman was young and fair to look upon. Moreover, he had already guessed that she was the inua or spirit of the whale. "I should like to stay a while."

「鯨の喉から入ってきたのです」とワタリガラスは知るかぎりのていねいさで言った。女は若く、見目がよかったからである。そのうえ、ワタリガラスは女が鯨のイヌア、つまり霊だとすでに見当をつけていた。「しばらくここにいたいのですが」

"As you cannot get out at present, it seems that you will have to stay. Whether you like it, or whether I like it, you appear to be my guest, so I must prepare food for you."

「今は出ていけないのだから、いるしかなさそうね。あなたが好むと好まざるとにかかわらず、わたしが好むと好まざるとにかかわらず、あなたはわたしのお客らしいから、食べ物を用意しなければね」

She brought food which she served with berries and oil. "These are berries which I gathered last summer," she said.

女は食べ物を持ってきて、木の実と油を添えて出した。「これは去年の夏に摘んだ木の実よ」と女は言った。

For four days he remained there as the guest of the whale's spirit, and found it a very pleasant experience; but he continually wondered what the tube was that ran along the roof of the house. Whenever the spirit woman left the room she said, "You must on no account touch that tube," and that only served to make him the more curious.

四日のあいだワタリガラスは鯨の霊の客としてそこにとどまり、たいそう楽しい思いをした。けれども家の屋根に沿って走っているあの管は何だろうと、絶えず不思議に思っていた。霊の女は部屋を出るたびに「あの管にはけっして触ってはいけないわ」と言ったので、それはかえって彼の好奇心をつのらせるばかりだった。

On the fifth day, when she left the room, he went to the lamp and caught a drop of the oil which he licked up with his tongue. It tasted so sweet that he began to catch other drops as fast as they fell. This soon became too slow to suit him, for he was hungry, so he reached up and tore a piece from the side of the tube and ate it. As soon as this was done a great rush of oil poured into the room and put out the light, while the room itself began to roll wildly about.

五日目、女が部屋を出ていくと、ワタリガラスはランプのところへ行って油のしずくを一滴受け止め、舌でなめた。あまりに甘かったので、落ちてくるそばから次々としずくを受け止めはじめた。けれども腹がすいていたので、それではまもなくのろすぎて気がすまなくなり、手を伸ばして管の脇からひと切れ引きちぎって食べた。そうするとすぐに油がどっと部屋に流れ込んで明かりを消し、部屋そのものが激しく転がりはじめた。

This continued for four days, and Raven was nearly dead from exhaustion and the bruises which he received. Then the room became still and the whale was dead, for Raven had torn off part of one of the heart vessels. The inua never came back to the room, and the whale drifted upon the shore.

これが四日のあいだ続き、ワタリガラスは疲れと、受けた打ち身とで死にそうになった。それから部屋は静まり、鯨は死んだ。ワタリガラスが心臓の血管の一部を引きちぎってしまったからである。イヌアは二度と部屋に戻らず、鯨は岸へ漂い着いた。

Raven now found himself a prisoner and was saying to himself, "Now I am in a pretty boat! I have enjoyed the trip, but how is one to get out of a kayak like this?"

ワタリガラスは今や自分が囚われの身になったことに気づき、独りごちた。「さて、わしは本当に結構な舟に乗っているぞ。旅は楽しかったが、こんなカヤックからどうやって出ればいいのだ」

Presently he said, "Hark! What is that I hear? As I live, it is someone walking on the roof of the house!"

まもなく彼は言った。「おや、あれは何の音だ。まちがいない、だれかが家の屋根の上を歩いているぞ」

And he was right, for two men were walking on top of the dead whale and calling to their village mates to come and help cut it up. Very soon there were many people at work cutting a hole through the upper side of the whale's body.

そのとおりだった。二人の男が死んだ鯨の上を歩きながら、村の仲間に、切り分けるのを手伝いに来いと呼びかけていたのである。まもなく大勢の人々が、鯨の体の上側に穴を切りあける仕事にとりかかった。

Raven quickly pulled down his mask, becoming a bird, and crouched close in the farthest corner. When the hole was large enough, he watched his chance and while everybody was carrying a load of meat to the shore, he flew out and alighted on the top of a hill close by without being noticed.

ワタリガラスはすばやく仮面を下ろして鳥になり、いちばん奥の隅にぴったりうずくまった。穴が十分大きくなると、機会をうかがい、みなが肉を浜へ運んでいるあいだに飛び出して、だれにも気づかれずに近くの丘の頂にとまった。

"Ah, my good fire-drill; I have forgotten it," he exclaimed, remembering that he had left it behind.

「ああ、わしの大事な火きり錐。忘れてきた」と彼は叫んだ。置いてきたことを思い出したのである。

He quickly pushed up his beak and removed his raven coat, becoming a young man again. He started along the shore toward the whale. The people working on the dead animal saw a small, dark-colored man in a strangely made deerskin coat coming toward them, and they looked at him curiously.

ワタリガラスはすばやくくちばしを押し上げ、カラスの上着を脱いで、ふたたび若い男の姿になった。そして浜づたいに鯨のほうへ歩きだした。死んだ獣の上で働いていた人々は、奇妙な仕立てのトナカイ皮の上着を着た、小柄で色の黒い男がこちらへやって来るのを見て、不思議そうに眺めた。

"Ho, you have found a fine, large whale," said he as he drew near. "I will help you to cut him up."

「やあ、立派な大きな鯨を見つけたね」と彼は近づきながら言った。「切り分けるのを手伝おう」

He rolled up his sleeves and set to work. Very soon a man cutting on the inside of the whale's body called out, "Ah, see what I have found! A fire-drill inside a whale!"

ワタリガラスは袖をまくり上げて仕事にとりかかった。まもなく、鯨の体の内側を切っていた男が叫んだ。「おい、見ろ、何を見つけたと思う。鯨のなかに火きり錐があったぞ」

At once the wily Raven rolled down his sleeves and quit work, saying, "That is a bad sign, for my daughter has told me that if a fire-drill is found in a whale and people try to cut up that whale, many of them will die. I shall run away before the inua of the whale catches me." And away he ran.

すぐさまずる賢いワタリガラスは袖を下ろして仕事をやめ、言った。「それは悪いしるしだ。鯨のなかで火きり錐が見つかったのに、人がその鯨を切り分けようとすると、大勢が死ぬと娘が言っていた。鯨のイヌアにつかまる前に、わしは逃げるぞ」そして彼は駆け去った。

When he was gone the people looked at one another and said, "Perhaps he is right; we'd better go too." And away they all ran, each one trying to rub the oil from his hands as he went.

彼がいなくなると、人々は顔を見合わせて言った。「あいつの言うとおりかもしれない。わしらも行ったほうがいい」そしてみな、行きながら手についた油をこすり落とそうとしながら、駆け去っていった。

From his hiding-place Raven looked on and laughed as he saw the people running away. Then he went back for his raven coat and when he had put it on and pulled down his beak he flew to the carcass and began to cut it up and fly with chunks of the flesh to a cave on the shore. He did not dare go to it as a man lest the villagers should see him and, discovering the trick he had played them, should come back for the meat. As he chuckled over the feast in store for him he said, "Thanks, Ghost of the whale, both for the boat ride and for the feast."

隠れ場からワタリガラスは眺めていて、人々が逃げていくのを見て笑った。それから戻ってカラスの上着を取り、それを着てくちばしを下ろすと、鯨のなきがらへ飛んでいって切り分けはじめ、肉のかたまりを浜の洞穴へ運んでいった。人の姿でそこへ行こうとはしなかった。村人に見つかって、自分の仕掛けたいたずらがばれ、肉を取りに戻ってこられてはたまらないからである。自分を待っているご馳走を思ってくすくす笑いながら、彼は言った。「ありがとう、鯨の霊よ。舟旅のお礼も、ご馳走のお礼もな」