SNOW WOMAN

なんで急に雪女？と思われるでしょうが、一週間前に古田秀さんと開いたスペースで取り上げた恩田侑布子先生の俳句

釘付けにしておくりょうと雪女

これを取り上げたときに、本当に松谷みよこさんの絵本が頭に浮かんでたんですよね。雪女が愛する夫と別れるシーン。あの時の彼女の本音はこうだったんじゃないか、と素直に納得できる一句だったので。
で、原本探したんだけど、見つからない。代わりに見つけたのが、私が数年前に翻訳したものでした。それではつたない翻訳ではありますが、どうぞ。

SNOW WOMAN

Once upon a time, there were two hunters living at the foot of Mt. Shirouma (White Horse). They were Mosaku the father and Minokichi the son.
 
One autumn day, they went hunting together, though, they couldn’t catch any game. They got deep inside the mountain without knowing it.
 
Suddenly, it got dark and gusts of wind shook the whole mountain. How cold the gust is! They thought it could snow and rushed into a hut.
 
They decided to stay there overnight. They lit a fire in the hearth, and fell asleep. The son, Minokichi, was awake when the door opened, then, he saw a beautiful woman slip into the hut.
 
He tried to say something but couldn’t. Furthermore, he couldn’t move even a finger. The woman came to Mosaku and exhaled a freezing breath, then turned to Minokichi and said,
“You can’t talk about what you’ve seen tonight. If you dare to break the promise, I’ll kill you. You’re so handsome that I don’t do that now.” No sooner had she finished than she vanished.
 
“Father! Father!” Minokichi jumped up and shook Mosaku, but there was no reply. He was dead.
 
The next morning, Minokichi went back home and told the villagers about his father’s death. After the funeral, he was doomed to live all alone.

One winter night the next year, someone knocked on the door of Minokichi’s house. He opened the door to find a beautiful young woman standing amid of the snowstorm. She said she’s a traveler and lost in the storm. He felt sorry for her and let her in.
The woman, with no one to depend on, eventually settled in the village. Before long, they got married.
 
She’s a good wife. The couple had many children and lived happily. But one strange thing was that the wife didn’t like the hot shining sun and never went outside during the daytime. In the evening, she went outside and sang lullabies to hush her children.
 
Several years passed. One winter night, she was sewing a kimono for her children. A blizzard was blowing harshly around their little house. Lying down on the floor, gazing at his wife’s beautiful face, Minokichi was reminded of the night his father passed away.
 
“I still remember the night well.” he said.
“The night?” She looked up and stared back at him.
“The night my father died…”Once he started, he couldn’t stop talking. He told the whole story for the first time and finally said,
“I wonder why…you look like the woman that night. Face as white as snow, rich brunette hair, rosy red lips… But wasn’t that a snow woman?”
 
Just as he said that, the wife stood up, dropping the kimono on the floor.
“You finally told the secret. You broke the promise. We have already had children so that I can’t kill you, but we’re done. I am the very woman that visited the hut that night. I’m a snow woman, the incarnation of snow.”
 
With a quivering voice and wet eyes, her figure gradually disappeared. Only dancing powdery snow was left. Then, that also disappeared.
 
底本は松谷みよこさんの「ゆきおんな」ポプラ社刊

最近の絵本は楽しいものが多くて、もちろんいいことなんだけど、図書ボラしてた時も、みんな民話は知らないの。 子どもの頃実家で読んで、大人になって図書館のリサイクル本で再会した本。高校のPTA英会話の課題で翻訳したもの(ネイティブの先生に添削してもらった完全版)がPCに残ってたんでのっけて置きます。この時の課題、オーストラリア出身のネイティブの先生が日本の昔話を聞きたいとのことで、絵本を元に翻訳、その後、添削されたもので、文法的には信用できます。文学的にもネイティブ目線で及第点なはず中学校レベルの英語ですから、ちょっとした息抜きにどうぞ。

録音はこちら
https://x.com/hiru_hi_haiku/status/1885236630778446127?s=46