1 MOMOTARO, OR THE STORY OF THE SON OF A PEACH
1 桃太郎
2 Long, long ago there lived, an old man and an old woman; they were peasants, and had to work hard to earn their daily rice. The old man used to go and cut grass for the farmers around, and while he was gone the old woman, his wife, did the work of the house and worked in their own little rice field.
2 昔々、おじいさんとおばあさんが住んでいました。彼らは農民であり、毎日の米を稼ぐために一生懸命働かなければなりませんでした。おじいさんは周りの農夫たちのために草刈りに出かけていました。彼が留守の間、おばあさんは家の仕事をし、自分たちの小さな田んぼで働きました。
3 One day the old man went to the hills as usual to cut grass and the old woman took some clothes to the river to wash.
3 ある日、おじいさんはいつものように草を刈るために丘へ行き、おばあさんは川に洗濯物を持って行きました。
4 It was nearly summer, and the country was very beautiful to see in its fresh greenness as the two old people went on their way to work. The grass on the banks of the river looked like emerald velvet, and the pussy willows along the edge of the water were shaking out their soft tassels.
4 もうすぐ夏で、二人のおじいさんが仕事に行く途中、新緑がとても美しい国でした。川岸の草はエメラルド色のベルベットのように見え、水辺のネコヤナギは柔らかい房を振り回していました。
5 The breezes blew and ruffled the smooth surface of the water into wavelets, and passing on touched the cheeks of the old couple who, for some reason they could not explain, felt very happy that morning.
5 そよ風が吹いて滑らかな水面を波打たせ、通り過ぎる老夫婦の頬に触れた.どういうわけか説明できないが、その朝はとても幸せだった.
6 The old woman at last found a nice spot by the river bank and put her basket down. Then she set to work to wash the clothes; she took them one by one out of the basket and washed them in the river and rubbed them on the stones. The water was as clear as crystal, and she could see the tiny fish swimming to and fro, and the pebbles at the bottom.
6 おばあさんはついに川岸のいいところを見つけ、かごを下に置きました。それから彼女は服を洗うために働き始めました。彼女はカゴからそれらを一つずつ取り出し、川で洗い、石にこすりつけました。水は水晶のように澄んでいて、小さな魚があちこち泳いでいるのと、底の小石が見えました。
7 As she was busy washing her clothes a great peach came bumping down the stream. The old woman looked up from her work and saw this large peach. She was sixty years of age, yet in all her life she had never seen such a big peach as this.
7 彼女が忙しく服を洗っていると、大きな桃が小川にぶつかってきました。おばあさんが仕事から顔を上げると、大きな桃が見えました。彼女は 60 歳でしたが、人生でこれほど大きな桃を見たことがありませんでした。
8 “How delicious that peach must be!” she said to herself. “I must certainly get it and take it home to my old man.”
8「あの桃、なんて美味しいんだろう！」彼女は自分自身に言いました。 「必ず手に入れて、おじいさんのところに持って帰らなければなりません。」
9 She stretched out her arm to try and get it, but it was quite out of her reach. She looked about for a stick, but there was not one to be seen, and if she went to look for one she would lose the peach.
9 彼女はそれを手に入れようと腕を伸ばしましたが、手の届かないところにありました。彼女は棒を探しましたが、見られる棒はありませんでした。そして、棒を探しに行くと桃をなくしてしまいます。
10 Stopping a moment to think what she would do, she remembered an old charm-verse. Now she began to clap her hands to keep time to the rolling of the peach down stream, and while she clapped she sang this song:
10 少し立ち止まって自分が何をするかを考えていると、彼女は古いお守りの詩を思い出しました。今、彼女は下流の桃の転がりに間に合うように手を叩き始めました。拍手しながら、彼女はこの歌を歌いました。
11 “Distant water is bitter, The near water is sweet; Pass by the distant water And come into the sweet.”
11 遠い水は苦く、近くの水は甘い。遠い水のそばを通り過ぎて、スイートに入ってください。」
12 Strange to say, as soon as she began to repeat this little song the peach began to come nearer and nearer the bank where the old woman was standing, till at last it stopped just in front of her so that she was able to take it up in her hands. The old woman was delighted. She could not go on with her work, so happy and excited was she, so she put all the clothes back in her bamboo basket, and with the basket on her back and the peach in her hand she hurried homewards.
12 奇妙なことに、彼女がこの小さな歌を繰り返し始めるとすぐに、桃はおばあさんが立っている土手にどんどん近づき始め、とうとうおばあさんの目の前で止まったので、おばあさんはそれをとることができました。彼女の手に。おばあさんは大喜びでした。彼女は仕事を続けることができませんでした。とてもうれしくて興奮していたので、すべての服を竹かごに戻し、かごを背中に置き、桃を手に持って急いで家に帰りました。
13 It seemed a very long time to her to wait till her husband returned. The old man at last came back as the sun was setting, with a big bundle of grass on his back—so big that he was almost hidden and she could hardly see him. He seemed very tired and used the scythe for a walking stick, leaning on it as he walked along.
13 夫が帰ってくるまで待つのは、彼女にはとても長い時間のように思えた.太陽が沈む頃、おじいさんは背中に大きな草の束を背負って戻ってきました。彼はとても疲れているようで、大鎌を杖代わりにして、それに寄りかかって歩いていました。
14 As soon as the old woman saw him she called out:
14 おばあさんは彼を見るやいなや、大声で叫びました。
15 “O Fii San! (old man) I have been waiting for you to come home for such a long time to-day!”
15「フィーサンよ！ （おじいさん）今日はずっとあなたの帰りを待っていました！」
16 “What is the matter? Why are you so impatient?” asked the old man, wondering at her unusual eagerness. “Has anything happened while I have been away?”
16 「どうしたの？どうしてそんなにせっかちなの？」老人は彼女の異常な熱意に驚いて尋ねた。 「留守中に何かあったの？」
17 “Oh, no!” answered the old woman, “nothing has happened, only I have found a nice present for you!”
17「いやいや！」おばあさんは答えました。
18 “That is good,” said the old man. He then washed his feet in a basin of water and stepped up to the veranda.
18 「いいですね」と老人は言った。その後、洗面器で足を洗い、ベランダに出た。
19 The old woman now ran into the little room and brought out from the cupboard the big peach. It felt even heavier than before. She held it up to him, saying:
19 おばあさんは小さな部屋に駆け込み、戸棚から大きな桃を取り出しました。以前よりさらに重く感じました。彼女はそれを彼に差し出して言った：
20 “Just look at this! Did you ever see such a large peach in all your life?”
20「これ見て！人生でこんなに大きな桃を見たことがありますか？」
