A simple Child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
(無垢な子、息を弾ませ、生き生きとしていて、死について何を知っているだろう)
I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered round her head.
(小屋に住む女の子に会った。彼女は八歳と答えた。ふさふさの巻き毛が頭を包んでいた)
She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
—Her beauty made me glad.
(彼女は田舎の森の子で、荒れた服を着ていた。綺麗な、とても綺麗な目をしていて、嬉しくなるほど美しかった)
“Sisters and brothers, little Maid,
How many may you be?”
“How many? Seven in all,” she said,
And wondering looked at me.
(兄弟は?何人いるの?その子は「七人」と答えて、不思議そうに私を見た)
“And where are they? I pray you tell.”
She answered, “Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea.
(みんなはどこにいるの?七人のうち二人はコンウェイに住んでいて、二人は海に行ってるの)
“Two of us in the church-yard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the church-yard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother.”
(二人は教会の庭に寝てるの。教会の庭の小屋、そのそばで母と暮らしているの)
“You say that two at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet ye are seven! I pray you tell,
Sweet Maid, how this may be.”
(二人はコンウェイ、二人は海、それで七人、どういうこと?)
Then did the little Maid reply,
“Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree.”
(その子は答えた。あとの二人は教会の庭に寝てるの、教会の庭の木の下で)
“You run about, my little Maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the church-yard laid,
Then ye are only five.”
(君は走れて体も元気、二人がお墓で寝てるなら、五人だよね?)
“Their graves are green, they may be seen,”
The little Maid replied,
“Twelve steps or more from my mother’s door,
And they are side by side.
(その子は答えた。お墓は緑でよく見えて、母のドアから十二歩くらいで、隣どうし寝てるの)
“My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit,
And sing a song to them.
(靴下を編んで、ハンカチを縫って、地面に座って、歌をうたってあげるの)
“And often after sun-set, Sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.
(夕方でも、明るく天気が良いときは、お皿を持ってって、ご飯をたべるの)
“The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain;
And then she went away.
(最初にジェーンが死んだの。ベッドで苦しんで寝てて、神様が痛みから解放してくれて、いっちゃったの。)
“So in the church-yard she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I.
(だから教会の庭に寝ているの。草が乾いているとき、お墓のまわりで、ジョンと一緒に遊んだの)
“And when the ground was white with snow,
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side.”
(地面が雪で白くなって、走って滑って遊んでいて、そしたらジョンもいっちゃって、ジェーンのとなりで寝ているの)
“How many are you, then,” said I,
“If they two are in heaven?”
Quick was the little Maid’s reply,
“O Master! we are seven.”
(それで今何人いるの?二人が天国にいるのなら?その子は即答した、「七人」よ)
“But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!”
’Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, “Nay, we are seven!”
(でも死んだ、二人は死んだ!魂は天国にあるんだよね!吐き捨てる言葉、言っても無駄で、考え曲げずにその子は言った。「七人」よ)