Even a Grass Plant Can Become Someone If It Tries

Near the mouth of the Yukon grows a tall, slender kind of grass which the women gather and dry in the fall and use for braiding mats and baskets and for pads in the soles of skin boots.

ユーコン川の河口の近くに、背が高くほっそりした種類の草が生えていて、女たちは秋にそれを集めて干し、敷物や籠を編んだり、皮の長靴の底に敷く中敷きにしたりする。

One of these grass stalks that had been almost pulled out by the roots when the women were gathering others, did not like the fate in store for it.

女たちがほかの草を集めていたとき、根こそぎ抜かれかけたこの草の茎の一本が、自分を待つ運命を嫌がった。

"Why should I stay on in this shape and never become anything but a pad in the sole of a boot to be trodden on forever? It must be nicer to be the one who treads on the pad; but since I cannot be that, I will at least be something better than grass."

「どうしてこの姿のままでいて、いつまでも踏みつけられる長靴の底の中敷きのほかに何にもなれないのだろう。中敷きを踏むほうの者になれたら、そのほうがいいに決まっている。でもそれにはなれないのだから、せめて草よりはましなものになろう」

Looking about, it spied a bunch of herbs growing close by, looking so quiet and unmolested that the grass stem said, "I will be an herb; that is a higher and safer life than this."

あたりを見まわすと、すぐ近くに薬草がひと株生えていて、いかにも静かで、だれにも邪魔されていないように見えたので、草の茎は言った。「薬草になろう。そのほうがこれより高くて安全な暮らしだ」

At once it was changed into an herb like those it had envied, and for a time it remained in peace. But one day the women came back with baskets and picks and began to dig up these herbs and eat some of the roots, putting others into the baskets to take home. The changed plant was left standing when the women went home toward evening, but it had seen the fate of its companions.

たちまち草は、うらやんでいたのと同じような薬草に変わり、しばらくは安らかにしていた。けれどもある日、女たちが籠と掘り棒を持って戻ってきて、この薬草を掘り起こし、根の一部を食べ、残りを家へ持ち帰るために籠に入れはじめた。女たちが夕方近くに家へ帰ったとき、姿を変えた草は残されて立っていたが、仲間の運命を見てしまった。

"This is not very safe either, for now I should be eaten. I wish I had chosen some other form," it said.

「これもあまり安全ではないな。今度は食べられてしまう。何かほかの姿を選べばよかった」と草は言った。

Looking down, it saw a tiny, creeping vine clinging close to the ground. "That is the thing to be," it said. "That is so obscure and lowly that the women will never notice it. I will be a vine like that."

下を見ると、地面にぴったりしがみついて這う小さなつる草があった。「あれになるのがいい」と草は言った。「あれはとても目立たなくて低いから、女たちは気づきもしないだろう。あんなつる草になろう」

Without delay it became a little squawberry vine nestling under the dead leaves. It had not lived in peace and seclusion very long before the women came and tore up many of the vines, stopping just before they reached the changeling, and saying, "We will come back to-morrow and get the rest."

草はすぐさま、枯れ葉の下に身をひそめる小さなガンコウランのつるになった。ところが静かに隠れて暮らしはじめてまもなく、女たちがやって来てそのつるをたくさん引き抜き、姿を変えた草のすぐ手前で手を止めて言った。「明日また来て、残りを採りましょう」

The one-time grass plant was filled with fear, and changed itself quickly into a small tuber-bearing plant like some that were growing near. Scarcely had the change been made when a small tundra mouse came softly through the grass and began digging at a neighboring plant, holding up the tuber in its paws and nibbling it, after which the mouse crept on again.

もとは草だったものは恐ろしくなり、すぐに、近くに生えているのと同じような、小さな塊茎をつける草に姿を変えた。変わるが早いか、ツンドラの小さな鼠が草のあいだをそっとやって来て、隣の草を掘りはじめ、塊茎を前足で持ち上げてかじり、それからまた忍び足で去っていった。

"To be safe, I must be a mouse," thought the changeling. "Animals are a higher kind of being than plants, anyway. I will be a mouse."

「安全でいるには、鼠にならなければ」と姿を変えた草は思った。「それにどのみち、獣は草より上の生きものだ。鼠になろう」

Instantly it became a mouse and ran off, glad of the change. Now and then it would pause to dig up a tuber, or would sit up on its hind feet to look around on the new scenes that came into view.

たちまち草は鼠になって、変わったことを喜びながら駆けていった。ときどき立ち止まって塊茎を掘り出したり、後ろ足で立ち上がって、目に入ってくる新しい景色を見まわしたりした。

"This is much more delightful than being a plant and always staying in one place and never seeing anything of the world," it said.

「草でいて、いつも一つところにいて世の中を何も見ないより、こっちのほうがずっと楽しい」と鼠は言った。

While traveling nimbly along in this manner, the mouse observed a strange white animal coming through the air toward it, which kept dropping down upon the ground, and after stopping to eat something, it would fly on again.

こうして身軽に旅をしていると、鼠は奇妙な白い獣が宙を飛んでこちらへやって来るのに気づいた。その獣はときどき地面に降りては何かを食べ、また飛んでいくのだった。

When it came near, the mouse saw that it was a great white owl. At the same moment the owl saw the mouse and swooped down upon it. Darting off, the mouse was fortunate enough to escape by running into a hole made by one of its kind, and the owl flew off.

近くまで来ると、それが大きな白いフクロウだとわかった。同じ瞬間にフクロウも鼠を見つけて、さっと舞い降りてきた。鼠は駆け出して、運よく仲間の掘った穴に逃げ込んで助かり、フクロウは飛び去った。

After a while the mouse ventured to come out of its shelter, though its heart still beat painfully from its recent fright. "I will be an owl, and in that way be safe," thought the mouse, and with the wish it was changed into a beautiful white owl.

しばらくして、鼠は怖い思いをしたばかりで心臓がまだ痛いほど打っていたが、思い切って隠れ場から出てきた。「フクロウになろう。そうすれば安全だ」と鼠は思い、そう願うと美しい白いフクロウに変わった。

"Oh, this is fine!" he said. "It is glorious to fly through the air, and go up almost to the sky where I can look down on all the world. I'm glad that I was not content to stay always down in the dirt."

「ああ、これはすばらしい」と彼は言った。「空を飛んで、ほとんど天の近くまで上がって、世界じゅうを見下ろせるなんて、すてきだ。いつまでも泥のなかにいることに満足しなくてよかった」

With slow, noiseless wing flaps the owl set off toward the north, pausing every now and then to catch and eat a mouse. After a long flight Sledge Island came in view and the owl thought it would go there. When far out at sea its untried wings became so tired that only with the greatest difficulty did it manage to reach the shore, where it perched upon a piece of driftwood that stood up in the sand.

ゆっくりと音もなく羽ばたいて、フクロウは北へ向かって出発し、ときどき立ち止まっては鼠を捕まえて食べた。長いあいだ飛ぶとスレッジ島が見えてきたので、フクロウはそこへ行こうと思った。はるか沖に出たとき、慣れない翼がひどく疲れてしまい、やっとのことで岸にたどり着いて、砂に突き立った流木の上にとまった。

In a short time it saw two fine-looking men pass along the shore, and the old feeling of discontent arose again. "Those men were talking in a better-sounding language than mine. They seemed to understand each other, and they laughed and were having a good time. I will be a man."

まもなく、見目のよい二人の男が浜を通り過ぎるのが見え、昔の不満がまた湧き起こった。「あの男たちは、わしのよりもよい響きの言葉で話していた。互いにわかり合っているようで、笑って楽しそうにしていた。人間になろう」

With a single flap of wing it stood upon the ground, where it changed immediately into a fine young man. But, of course, the feathers were gone and the Man had no clothing. Night came down upon the earth soon after, and the Man sat down with his back against the stick of wood on which, as an owl, he had perched, and slept till morning. He was awakened by the sun shining in his eyes, and upon arising, felt stiff and lame from the cold night air.

翼をひと振りすると地面に立ち、たちまち立派な若者に変わった。けれども、もちろん羽根はなくなり、人間は着るものを何も持っていなかった。まもなく大地に夜が降りてきて、人間は、フクロウのときにとまっていた木の棒に背をもたせて座り、朝まで眠った。目に照りつける太陽で目を覚まし、起き上がると、夜の冷たい空気で体がこわばり、痛んだ。

He found some of the same grass which he had once been, and braided it into a kind of mantle which kept out a little of the cold. Seeing a reindeer grazing, he felt a sudden desire to kill it and eat its flesh. He crept close on his hands and knees, and, springing forward, seized it by the horns and broke its neck with a single effort.

人間は、かつて自分がそうだったのと同じ草を見つけて、それをマントのようなものに編むと、寒さがいくらかしのげた。トナカイが草を食んでいるのを見ると、急にそれを殺して肉を食べたくなった。手と膝で這ってそっと近寄り、跳びかかって角をつかみ、ひとひねりで首を折った。

He felt all over its body and found that its skin formed a covering through which he could not push his fingers. For a long time he tried to think how to remove the skin, and finally noticed a stone with a sharp edge with which he managed to cut through the hide. Then he quickly stripped the animal with his hands, and tore out a piece of flesh which he tried to swallow as he had swallowed mice when he was an owl. He found that he could not do this easily, so he tore off small bits and ground them with his teeth.

体じゅうをさわってみると、皮が覆いになっていて、指で突き通せなかった。長いあいだどうすれば皮をはげるか考えていたが、とうとう鋭い縁のある石に気づき、それでどうにか皮を切り裂いた。それから手ですばやく獣の皮をはぎ、肉をひと切れ引きちぎって、フクロウだったときに鼠を丸呑みしたように呑み込もうとした。けれどもたやすくはできないとわかったので、小さく引きちぎって歯ですりつぶした。

He had already discovered that by striking two stones together they grew warm and felt good to his cold hands. So now he struck them together until sparks came with which he lighted some dry weeds and brush and had a fire to cook his meat and to warm himself.

人間はもう、石を二つ打ち合わせると温かくなって冷えた手に心地よいことに気づいていた。そこで今度は火花が出るまで打ち合わせ、その火花で乾いた雑草や柴に火をつけ、肉を焼き、体を温める火をこしらえた。

The next morning he killed another reindeer and the day following two more and wrapped himself in their skins from head to foot, with the raw side next his own flesh, as the animals had worn them. The skins soon dried on him and became like a part of his body.

翌朝また一頭トナカイを殺し、その次の日にはさらに二頭殺して、獣たちが着ていたとおりに生の側を自分の肌に当てて、その皮で頭から足までくるまった。皮はまもなく体の上で乾いて、体の一部のようになった。

As the nights grew colder and colder, he collected a quantity of driftwood from the shore, with which he built him a rude hut, which he found very comfortable. Walking over the hills one day he came near to a strange, black animal eating berries from the bushes. He crept up to it and grasped it by its hind legs. With an angry growl it turned to face him, showing its white teeth. He knew then that he must not let go his hold of it, so he swung it high over his head and brought it down on the ground with such force that the bear lay dead.

夜がどんどん寒くなってくると、人間は浜から流木をたくさん集めて、それで粗末な小屋を建てた。小屋はたいそう居心地がよかった。ある日丘を越えて歩いていると、茂みの木の実を食べている見慣れない黒い獣の近くに来た。忍び寄って後ろ脚をつかむと、獣は怒ってうなり、白い歯をむいて振り向いた。人間はつかんだ手を放してはならないと悟り、獣を頭上高く振りまわして地面にあまりの勢いで叩きつけたので、熊は死んで横たわった。

In skinning the bear he saw that it contained much fat, and that he might have a light in his house if he could find something that would hold the grease and yet not take fire itself. Going along the beach he found a long, flat stone with a hollow in one surface, and in this the oil remained very well, and with a lighted moss wick he found it much pleasanter to get about his house at night. The bearskin he hung up for a curtain to his door to keep out the cold wind.

熊の皮をはいでいると、脂がたっぷりあるのがわかり、脂を入れておけてしかも自分は燃えないものが見つかれば、家に明かりがともせるだろうと思った。浜を歩いていくと、片面に窪みのある長く平たい石が見つかり、そのなかに油はよくたまった。火をつけた苔の灯心を使うと、夜に家のなかを動きまわるのがずっと楽しくなった。熊の皮は、冷たい風を防ぐために戸口の垂れ幕として掛けた。

In this way he lived for many days, but he was a human being now, and needed human society. He remembered the two young men he had seen on the beach when, as an owl, he sat on the post on the shore.

こうして人間は何日も暮らしたが、今や人間になったので、人との交わりが必要だった。フクロウだったとき浜の杭にとまっていて見かけた、あの二人の若者のことを思い出した。

"Two men passed here once, and I liked them," said he. "They may live not far from here. I should like to see someone like myself. I will go seek them."

「前に二人の男がここを通って、わしは気に入った」と彼は言った。「ここからそう遠くないところに住んでいるかもしれない。自分と同じような者に会いたい。探しに行こう」

He went in search of people. Wandering along the coast for some distance he came to two fine new kayaks lying at the foot of a hill, and in the kayaks were spears, lines, floats, and other hunting implements. After examining these curiously, he noticed a path leading up to a hill. He followed the path and on the top of the hill he found a house with two storehouses near it and several recently killed white whales and many skulls around it.

人間は人を探しに出かけた。海岸に沿ってしばらくさまよい歩くと、丘のふもとに立派な新しいカヤックが二艘置いてあり、カヤックのなかには銛や綱や浮きや、そのほかの狩りの道具が入っていた。不思議に思ってそれらを調べたあと、丘の上へ続く小道があるのに気づいた。小道をたどっていくと、丘の頂に家があり、その近くには食料倉が二つあって、家のまわりには最近殺したシロイルカが何頭かと、たくさんの頭骨があった。

Wishing to see the people in the house before showing himself, he went with noiseless steps into the entrance way and up to the door. Cautiously lifting one corner of the skin curtain that hung in the doorway, he looked in. Opposite the doorway was a young man sitting at work on some arrows, while a bow lay beside him. He dropped the curtain and stood for some time in doubt as to how to proceed.

姿を見せる前に家のなかの人々を見ておきたかったので、人間は足音を立てずに入口の通路へ入り、戸口まで行った。戸口に垂れた皮の幕の片隅を用心深く持ち上げて、なかをのぞいた。戸口の向かいに一人の若者が座って矢をこしらえていて、そのそばに弓が置いてあった。人間は幕を下ろし、どうしたものかと迷ってしばらく立っていた。

"If I enter the house he may shoot me before I have time to make known my good will," thought he. But in the end he thought, "If I enter and say, 'I have come, brother,' he will not hurt me." So, raising the curtain quickly, he entered.

「家に入ったら、こちらの好意を知らせる暇もなく射られるかもしれない」と彼は思った。けれども結局こう思った。「入って『来たよ、兄弟』と言えば、傷つけはしないだろう」そこで幕をさっと上げて、なかへ入った。

The householder at once seized the bow and drew an arrow to the head just as the intruder said, "I have come, brother." At this the bow and arrow were dropped and the young man cried out with delight, "Are you my brother? Come and sit beside me."

家の主はすぐさま弓をつかんで矢を目いっぱい引き絞ったが、ちょうどそのとき入ってきた者が言った。「来たよ、兄弟」すると弓と矢は落とされ、若者は喜んで叫んだ。「わしの兄弟なのか。来て、わしのそばに座れ」

This the newcomer very gladly did, and the householder showed his pleasure and asked, "Are you really my brother? I am very glad to see you, brother, for I always believed I had one somewhere, though I never could find him. Where have you lived? Have you known any parents? How did you grow up?"

新しく来た者はたいそう喜んでそうし、家の主はうれしそうに尋ねた。「本当にわしの兄弟なのか。会えてとてもうれしいよ、兄弟。どこかに兄弟がいるとずっと信じていたが、見つけることができなかったのだ。どこに住んでいた。親を知っているか。どうやって育った」

"No, I have never known any parents. I never was born and never grew up. I just found myself a man standing on the seashore. There I built me a house and made myself as comfortable as I could; but I was lonely, so I came to find you."

「いや、親は知らない。生まれたこともなければ、育ったこともない。気がついたら海辺に立っている人間だったのだ。そこに家を建てて、できるだけ居心地よく暮らしていたが、寂しかったので、あんたを探しに来たのだ」

"I also never had any parents that I can recall. My earliest recollection was of finding myself alone in this house, where I have lived ever since, killing game for food. I was alone until this friend came to stay with me. Now you, my brother, shall live here too, and we will never be parted again."

「わしも、覚えているかぎり親はいなかった。いちばん古い記憶は、この家に一人きりでいることに気づいたことで、それからずっとここに住んで、獲物を殺して食べてきた。この友が一緒に住みに来るまでは一人きりだった。これからはお前も、兄弟よ、ここに住むのだ。わしらはもう二度と離れはしない」