綴じられた目| The Eyes Which Were SewedMariko Sugano | 菅野まり子 | marikosugano.com

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昔或るところに若者が在った。方々で桃を採っては市で売り、ささやかな生活の足しにしていた。或る時、老木に見事な果実を見つけ、いつものようにそれを採ろうと手を伸ばすと、虫が喰ったような跡が見えた。ふと見入ると、虫喰いと思われたその箇所は、あたかも紅玉に穿たれた細工物のように見事な楼閣となっている。怪しんで更に目を凝らすと、その内の門扉と思しきあたりに、まことに小さな蛟（みずち）のような虫があって、その実をくねらせる様は、手招きをするようであった。驚いたその刹那に、彼はもうその楼の中に居た。

楼内の暮らしはおもしろく、仙境に遊ぶとは此の事であった。幾晩か逗留したところで、彼はそろそろ家に帰りたいと願い出たが、それは決して許されぬという。驚き慌てて、何としてでも戻りたい、老いた両親が案ぜられてならぬと、泣き通して懇願した。それでは致し方あるまい、此の楼内で見たことが漏れぬようにと、両目をきつく糸で綴じられ、ついに帰される事となった。

村では既に永い歳月が流れていた。案じた両親も、鄙びた我が家も、その気配すら残っていなかったが、辛うじて彼のことを見知っていた者が、気の毒に思って世話を焼いてくれた。これまでの所在や、縫い塞がれた目のことを問い質しはしたが、彼は黙って何も答えず、誰も見たことがないような微笑を浮かべた。

やがて、その人品と風格の常ならぬ様子が知れ渡り、寒村に導師現るとの評判が立った。地頭や役人、学士や官吏、果ては貴顕紳士や高僧まで来訪し、あれこれと質問していった。終には、時の帝も繰り返し遣いを寄越し、不老長寿の秘薬を授けよと厳命した。彼は、しかし、透けるような声で「身に憶えの無いこと」と答えるだけだった。そのうちに、いずこともなく、彼の塞がれた目に秘策が隠されているという噂が立ちはじめた。

手ぶらでは帰れぬ皇帝の遣いであったのか、仙丹製造の術を獲て千金を得ようと企む者であったのか、あるいは世の真を知り尽くしたいと願う求道の狂徒であったのかは、分からない。ある晩、何者かが、彼の寝首を切って落とし、ついにその目を抉じ開けた。一閃、雷光を束ねたような光明がその両目より放たれ、地が深みより轟いた。そして、世のものみなを悉く、真っ白に焼き尽くしてしまった。

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以下は、作者による試訳につき、文法的な間違いなど、コメント欄にご指摘いただけたら幸いです ------菅野まり子

The Eyes Which Were Sewed

 

 

Once upon a time, there was a young man, who plucked peaches here and there to sell them in the market and to cover his modest living expenses. One day, he found a huge peach in an old peach tree. He reached his hand to pick it up, and then he saw the mark like a moth-eaten hole. He checked and realized that it was not a worm hole but a fine building of palace which was like an exquisite handicraft. He wondered at it and tried to strain his eyes into the palace. He noticed a little worm was wiggling about the door, and it was as if he was beckoned into the palace. As soon as surprised, he was already inside it.

The sojourn in that palace was amusing. It was truly an enchanted land. After staying for some nights, he asked to be back now. However they said that was simply unacceptable. He was frightened out of his wits, cried and entreated, " I have to go home by all means, my old parents won't be able to live without me". "If so, there's no choice for it," they replied, "but we must prevent what you had seen here from leaking". Then his eyes were sewed tightly, and finally he could go home.

Many years had been gone in his village. His parents had already passed away. As to his rustic house, not even a sign existed. However a villager who had barely remembered of him felt pity and looked after him. Although he was asked about where he was and also about why his eyes were sewed, he answered nothing in silence with a smile that no one has ever seen before.

Before long, his unusual appearance and character became widely known, people said a respectable guru appeared in the lonesome village. Land stewards, officers, scholars, civil servants, notables and even high priests visited him and asked him many kind of questions. In the end, the emperor at that time sent messengers repeatedly with his strict orders, wishing for a miraculous medicine of perennial youth and longevity. However he only replied "I know nothing".  Eventually, a rumor that the secret measures were hidden inside his sewed eyes was arising from nowhere.

Was it emperor's messengers who couldn't go back with empty hands? Someone who planned to get the way of producing elixir and to make megabucks? Or an insane student who was longing for full knowledge of the truth? Nobody knows who did it. One night, someone cut off his head while he was sleeping, and break opened his eyes. A flash like a bundle of lightnings was beamed, and the ground thundered from its depth. Then, everything in the world was entirely destroyed to become white.

 

 

translated by myself, let me know or leave your comments if you find some grammatical errors, please. Thank you.