41 “Oh! my mother told me when she gave me the mirror as a parting gift, that whenever I looked into it I should be able to meet her—to see her. I had nearly forgotten her last words—how stupid I am; I will get the mirror now and see if it can possibly be true!”
41「ああ！母は私に別れの贈り物として鏡をくれたとき、私がそれを見るときはいつでも彼女に会えるはずだと言いました。私は彼女の最後の言葉をほとんど忘れていました。今すぐ鏡を手に入れて、それが本当かどうか見てみます!」
42 She dried her eyes quickly, and going to the cupboard took out the box that contained the mirror, her heart beating with expectation as she lifted the mirror out and gazed into its smooth face. Behold, her mother’s words were true! In the round mirror before her she saw her mother’s face; but, oh, the joyful surprise! It was not her mother thin and wasted by illness, but the young and beautiful woman as she remembered her far back in the days of her own earliest childhood. It seemed to the girl that the face in the mirror must soon speak, almost that she heard the voice of her mother telling her again to grow up a good woman and a dutiful daughter, so earnestly did the eyes in the mirror look back into her own.
彼女はすぐに目を乾かし、食器棚に行って鏡が入っている箱を取り出しました。鏡を持ち上げて滑らかな顔を見つめると、彼女の心は期待で鼓動しました。見よ、彼女の母親の言葉は真実だった！目の前の丸い鏡に、母親の顔が見えた。しかし、ああ、うれしい驚きです！それは彼女の母親ではなく、若くて美しい女性だった.鏡の中の顔がすぐに話さなければならないように思えた. 母親が彼女にもう一度良い女性と忠実な娘に成長するように言っている声を聞いた.自分の。
43 “It is certainly my mother’s soul that I see. She knows how miserable I am without her and she has come to comfort me. Whenever I long to see her she will meet me here; how grateful I ought to be!”
43 「私が見ているのは確かに私の母の魂です。彼女は私が彼女なしでどれほど惨めであるかを知っていて、私を慰めに来ました.私が彼女に会いたいと思うときはいつでも、彼女はここで私に会います。私はどれほど感謝すべきでしょうか！
44 And from this time the weight of sorrow was greatly lightened for her young heart. Every morning, to gather strength for the day’s duties before her, and every evening, for consolation before she lay down to rest, did the young girl take out the mirror and gaze at the reflection which in the simplicity of her innocent heart she believed to be her mother’s soul. Daily she grew in the likeness of her dead mother’s character, and was gentle and kind to all, and a dutiful daughter to her father.
44 そしてこの時から、彼女の若い心にとって悲しみの重さは大いに軽減されました。毎朝、彼女の前にあるその日の義務のために力を集めるために、そして毎晩、彼女が休むために横になる前の慰めのために、少女は鏡を取り出して、彼女の純粋な心の単純さの中で信じていた反射を見つめました.彼女の母親の魂になります。毎日、彼女は亡くなった母親の性格に似て成長し、誰にでも優しく親切で、父親に忠実な娘でした.
45 A year spent in mourning had thus passed away in the little household, when, by the advice of his relations, the man married again, and the daughter now found herself under the authority of a step-mother. It was a trying position; but her days spent in the recollection of her own beloved mother, and of trying to be what that mother would wish her to be, had made the young girl docile and patient, and she now determined to be filial and dutiful to her father’s wife, in all respects. Everything went on apparently smoothly in the family for some time under the new regime; there were no winds or waves of discord to ruffle the surface of every-day life, and the father was content.
45 喪に服して過ごした一年がこの小さな家で過ぎ去ったとき、親族の勧めで男は再婚し、娘は今や継母の権威の下にいることに気がついた。それはつらい立場でした。しかし、自分の最愛の母親を思い出して過ごし、その母親が望んでいるような人になろうと努力したことで、少女は従順で忍耐強くなり、今では父親の妻に孝行し、忠実であると決心しました。あらゆる点で。新しい体制の下でしばらくの間、家族の中ですべてが順調に進んでいるように見えました。日常生活の表面を波立たせる不和の風や波はなく、父親は満足していました。
46 But it is a woman’s danger to be petty and mean, and step-mothers are proverbial all the world over, and this one’s heart was not as her first smiles were. As the days and weeks grew into months, the step-mother began to treat the motherless girl unkindly and to try and come between the father and child.
46 しかし、ささいで意地悪であることは女性の危険であり、継母は世界中でよく知られていますが、この母親の心は彼女の最初の笑顔のようではありませんでした.数日から数週間が数ヶ月になると、継母は母親のいない少女を無愛想に扱い、父と子の間に介入しようとし始めました。
47 Sometimes she went to her husband and complained of her step-daughter’s behavior, but the father knowing that this was to be expected, took no notice of her ill-natured complaints. Instead of lessening his affection for his daughter, as the woman desired, her grumblings only made him think of her the more. The woman soon saw that he began to show more concern for his lonely child than before. This did not please her at all, and she began to turn over in her mind how she could, by some means or other, drive her step-child out of the house. So crooked did the woman’s heart become.
47 時々、彼女は夫のところに行き、義理の娘の行動について不平を言ったが、父親はこれが当然のことだと知っていたので、彼女の不機嫌な不平には注意を払わなかった。女性が望むように、彼の娘への愛情を弱める代わりに、彼女の不平は彼に彼女のことをもっと考えさせるだけでした.その女性はすぐに、彼が孤独な子供のことを以前よりも気遣うようになったことに気づきました。これは彼女をまったく喜ばせず、彼女はどうすれば義理の子供を家から追い出すことができるのか頭をひねり始めました。女の心はとても曲がった。
48 She watched the girl carefully, and one day peeping into her room in the early morning, she thought she discovered a grave enough sin of which to accuse the child to her father. The woman herself was a little frightened too at what she had seen.
48 彼女はその少女を注意深く観察し、ある日の早朝、自分の部屋をのぞいてみると、父親に子供を告発するのに十分な重大な罪を発見したと思った。女性自身も、自分が見たものに少しおびえていました。
49 So she went at once to her husband, and wiping away some false tears she said in a sad voice:
49 そこで彼女はすぐに夫のところに行き、偽りの涙をぬぐいながら、悲しげな声で言った。
50 “Please give me permission to leave you today.”
50「今日はお別れの許可をください」
51 The man was completely taken by surprise at the suddenness of her request, and wondered whatever was the matter.
51 男は彼女の突然の要求に完全に驚き、どうしたものかと思った。
52 “Do you find it so disagreeable,” he asked, “in my house, that you can stay no longer?”
52 「あなたは私の家にいるのがとても不快だと思いますか?」と彼は尋ねた。
53 “No! no! it has nothing to do with you—even in my dreams I have never thought that I wished to leave your side; but if I go on living here I am in danger of losing my life, so I think it best for all concerned that you should allow me to go home!”
53「ダメ！いいえ！あなたとは何の関係もない、あなたのそばを離れたいと思ったことは夢の中でも一度もありません。でも、このままここにいたら命を落としかねないので、家に帰らせてもらったほうがいいと思います！」
54 And the woman began to weep afresh. Her husband, distressed to see her so unhappy, and thinking that he could not have heard aright, said:
54 女はまた泣き出した。彼女の夫は、彼女がとても不幸であるのを見て心を痛め、自分には聞き取れなかったと思い、こう言いました。
55 “Tell me what you mean! How is your life in danger here?”
55「言ってみろよ！ここであなたの命はどのように危険にさらされていますか？
56 “I will tell you since you ask me. Your daughter dislikes me as her step-mother. For some time past she has shut herself up in her room morning and evening, and looking in as I pass by, I am convinced that she has made an image of me and is trying to kill me by magic art, cursing me daily. It is not safe for me to stay here, such being the case; indeed, indeed, I must go away, we cannot live under the same roof any more.”
56「聞かれるから教えてあげる。あなたの娘さんは継母として私を嫌っている.しばらくの間、彼女は朝晩自分の部屋にこもり、私が通り過ぎるのを見て、私は彼女が私のイメージを作り、魔法の芸術で私を殺そうとしていると確信し、毎日私を呪いました.私がここにいるのは安全ではありません。私たちはもう同じ屋根の下で暮らすことはできません。」
57 The husband listened to the dreadful tale, but he could not believe his gentle daughter guilty of such an evil act. He knew that by popular superstition people believed that one person could cause the gradual death of another by making an image of the hated one and cursing it daily; but where had his young daughter learned such knowledge?—the thing was impossible. Yet he remembered having noticed that his daughter stayed much in her room of late and kept herself away from every one, even when visitors came to the house. Putting this fact together with his wife’s alarm, he thought that there might be something to account for the strange story.
57 夫は恐ろしい話を聞いたが、優しい娘がそのような悪事を働くとは信じられなかった。彼は、人気のある迷信によって、嫌われている人のイメージを作成し、それを毎日呪うことによって、ある人が別の人を徐々に死に至らしめることができると人々が信じていることを知っていました。しかし、彼の幼い娘はどこでそのような知識を学んだのだろうか？それでも彼は、娘が最近ずっと自分の部屋にこもり、訪問者が家に来たときでさえ、誰にも近づかないようにしていたことに気づいたことを思い出した。この事実と妻の警鐘を合わせると、この奇妙な話には何か説明があるのではないかと彼は考えた。
58 His heart was torn between doubting his wife and trusting his child, and he knew not what to do. He decided to go at once to his daughter and try to find out the truth. Comforting his wife and assuring her that her fears were groundless, he glided quietly to his daughter’s room.
58 彼の心は、妻を疑うことと子供を信頼することの間で引き裂かれ、どうしたらよいかわかりませんでした。彼はすぐに娘のところに行き、真実を見つけようと決心しました。妻を慰め、彼女の恐れには根拠がないことを保証すると、彼は静かに娘の部屋に滑りました。
59 The girl had for a long time past been very unhappy. She had tried by amiability and obedience to show her goodwill and to mollify the new wife, and to break down that wall of prejudice and misunderstanding that she knew generally stood between step-parents and their step-children. But she soon found that her efforts were in vain. The step-mother never trusted her, and seemed to misinterpret all her actions, and the poor child knew very well that she often carried unkind and untrue tales to her father. She could not help comparing her present unhappy condition with the time when her own mother was alive only a little more than a year ago—so great a change in this short time! Morning and evening she wept over the remembrance. Whenever she could she went to her room, and sliding the screens to, took out the mirror and gazed, as she thought, at her mother’s face. It was the only comfort that she had in these wretched days.
59 少女は長い間とても不幸だった。彼女は親しみやすさと従順さによって、彼女の善意を示し、新しい妻をなだめ、継父母とその継子の間に一般的に立っていることを彼女が知っていた偏見と誤解の壁を打ち破ろうとしました。しかし、彼女はすぐに自分の努力が無駄であることに気付きました。継母は決して彼女を信用せず、彼女のすべての行動を誤解しているようでした.彼女は自分の現在の不幸な状態を、自分の母親が生きていたわずか 1 年余り前の時と比較せずにはいられませんでした。朝と夕方、彼女はその思い出に泣きました。彼女はできる限り自分の部屋に行き、スクリーンをスライドさせて鏡を取り出し、思ったように母親の顔を見つめました。それは、この惨めな日々の中で彼女が得た唯一の慰めでした。
60 Her father found her occupied in this way. Pushing aside the fusama, he saw her bending over something or other very intently. Looking over her shoulder, to see who was entering her room, the girl was surprised to see her father, for he generally sent for her when he wished to speak to her. She was also confused at being found looking at the mirror, for she had never told any one of her mother’s last promise, but had kept it as the sacred secret of her heart. So before turning to her father she slipped the mirror into her long sleeve. Her father noting her confusion, and her act of hiding something, said in a severe manner:
60 彼女の父親は、彼女がこのように忙しくしているのを見つけた.フサマを押しのけると、彼女が何かにかがみこんでいるのが見えた。彼女の肩越しに、誰が自分の部屋に入ってきたのかを見ると、少女は父親に会って驚いた。彼女はまた、鏡を見ているのが見つかったことにも戸惑いました。なぜなら、彼女は母親の最後の約束を誰にも話さなかったからです。それで、彼女は父親に向かう前に、鏡を長袖に滑り込ませました.彼女の混乱と何かを隠している彼女の行動に気づいた彼女の父親は、厳しい態度で言った：
