柳田国男『カマド神の起り』
―― まえがき ――
ＷＥＢ絵本『カマド神の起り』
絵・訳：茜町春彦
原作：柳田国男
概要：絵本です．原作は日本の昔話（新潮文庫）の中の1話です．英訳しております．
A Japanese folk tale
Title: "The Origin of the Kitchen-Stove Deity"
Illustrated and translated by: Akanemachi Haruhiko.
Original author: Yanagida Kunio
―― ０１ ――
Long long ago, a farmer lived in a village.
昔々、或る村に１人の百姓がありました．
―― ０２ ――
On a return trip, the farmer was caught in a shower at an evening.
旅から帰って来る途中で、夜に入って、にわか雨が降って来たので・・・
―― ０３ ――
And so, he took shelter from the rain at a woods for a while.
There was a statue of the Safety-Travel Deity on the roadside.
・・・しばらく路傍の道禄神の森の陰に雨宿りをしておりました．
―― ０４ ――
Then, someone came riding a horse in front of the woods and spoke to a person in the dark.
"Hi, Safety-Travel Deity! Are you here now? Tonight, two babies will be born at X village. Let's go to determine the babies' fates, shall we?" the rider said.
"It's very kind of you to call for me. But now, I have a visitor taking shelter from the rain. So, I'm busy. I would like to leave the matter to you," the other answered in the woods.
"Oh, I see! So, I shall go alone," the rider said.
The clatter of the horse's hoofs went away.
そうすると、その森の前を馬に乗って行く人があって、暗い所から声をかけました．
道禄神はお宿ですか、今夜は何村にお産がふたつあります．これから御一緒に生れ子の運を決めに参りましょうと言いました．
森の中から、また返事をして、折角お誘い下さったけれども、今は丁度雨宿りの客があって手が離せませんから宜しく願います．
左様ならば１人で行ってきますと言って、馬の足音が遠くなりました．
―― ０５ ――
X village was the place the farmer lived.
So, he wondered at this thing and was paying attention to what would happen.
After a while, the rider returned back and spoke to the person from the road.
"A baby boy was born at the main family. A baby girl was born at its branch family. She has good fortunes. But he doesn't have good fortunes. If they get married, they will prosper because of her good fortunes," the rider said and went back.
何村と云うのは自分の所のことですから、これは不思議なことだと気を付けておりますと、わずかばかり後に、その馬の主は帰って来て、また表の往来から声をかけて行きました．
本家の方は男の子、分家の方は女の子、女は福分があって男は運がありません．これを夫婦にすれば女房の運で栄えるでしょうと言いました．
―― ０６ ――
Unexpectedly, the farmer listened to their talk for determining the babies' fates.
And, he went back to his village quickly.
百姓は思いがけず、今日の赤子の運定めの話を立ち聞きしまして、急いで村に帰って見ますと・・・
―― ０７ ――
A baby boy was just born at his house. And a baby girl was born at the next house of his branch family.
So, he was surprised.
Then, they had a talk about these babies promptly and promised the future marriage between the next-door neighbors.
・・・ちょうど自分の家に男の子が産まれ、隣りの分家では女の子が産まれていましたので、すっかり驚いてしまいました．
それで早速に相談をして隣りどうしで今から縁組の約束をしました．
―― ０８ ――
The two grew up and got married.
２人が大きくなって夫婦になりますと・・・
―― ０９ ――
Surely, their family prospered more and more.
・・・なるほど、家は段々に繁昌しましたが・・・
―― １０ ――
But, the busband couldn't continue to think that his wife's good fortunes contributed to their prosperity.
Afterward, uncomfortable things increased gradually.
And so, he cooked red-bean rice and tied it on a red ox.
・・・それを女房の運が良い御蔭だと、思っていることは亭主には出来ませんでした．
後には追々と気にいらぬ事ばかり多くなったので、赤飯を炊いて赤牛に結わえつけ・・・
―― １１ ――
And then, he made her ride on the red ox and sent away her toward a faraway field against her will.
その赤牛に女房を乗せて、強いて遠くの野原へ追い放してしまったそうであります．
―― １２ ――
The wife was crying and riding on the red ox.
She left her way to the ox.
女房は泣きながら、その赤牛に乗って、何処へでも牛の行くなりに任せておりますと・・・
―― １３ ――
They slowly went up a mountain.
・・・段々と山に入って・・・
―― １４ ――
And they stopped in front of a solitary house in the mountain.
・・・山中の一軒家の前に来て止まりました．
―― １５ ――
The man of the house was kind and nice.
He took good care of her and she had no place to go.
And so, she finally became the housewife of this solitary house.
その家の主人は親切な男で、色々と世話をしてくれますので、他に行く所もないから、とうとう其の一軒家の嫁になりました．
―― １６ ――
Their living conditions got better and better rapidly.
Further, they employed a lot of manservants and maidservants.
They were well-off.
そうすると、見ているうちに、この家の暮らしが都合良くなって来ました．後には数多の男女を使って何不自由のない身分になりました．
―― １７ ――
Bad things happened continuously around that time in the main family, where the husband had kicked out the wife.
So, the family business of the husband went downhill gradually.
He lost his ancestral farm and became very poor.
In the end, he became a basket seller.
そのちょうど同じ頃から、女房を追いだした本家の方では損をするような事ばかり続いて、次第に身上が左前になり、仕舞いには親代々の田畑まで無くして、零落してザル売りになってしまいました．
―― １８ ――
The basket seller peddled here and there.
そのザル売りが、そちこちを売り歩いているうちに・・・
―― １９ ――
One day, he happened to visit the great solitary house in the mountain.
And he got all of his baskets bought.
After that day, he came to the solitary house in the mountain almost everyday because he could sell nothing anywhere else.
And he begged purchase of his baskets.
・・・ある時ヒョッコリ山の中の立派な一軒家にやって来て、持っていたザルを残らず買ってもらいました．
それから後も他へ行っては少しも売れないので、毎日のように、この山中の一軒家に来て頼んでザルを買ってもらうことにしていましたが・・・
―― ２０ ――
One other day, the housewife gazed at the face of the basket seller and said "Why did you fall into poverty like this? Have you forgotten your divorced wife?"
Then he noticed that she was surely his wife, who he kicked out with the red ox at the previous year.
He was terribly shocked at this fact.
And he suddenly died frothing at the mouth.
・・・ある日、その家のおかみさんが、つくづくとザル売りの顔を見ていて、どうしてお前さんはそのように落ちぶれたか、元の女房も見忘れてしまったかと言うので、初めて気が付いて見ると、なるほど前の年、赤牛に乗せて追い出してしまった自分の妻であったので、ビックリ仰天して泡を吹いて死んでしまったそうであります．
―― ２１ ――
The housewife looked at his death and felt pity for him.
And so, she calmly buried his body in the dirt floor behind the kitchen stove without being noticed by anyone.
女房はそれを見て可哀想に思いました．そうして誰も知らぬうちに、ソットその死骸をかまどの後ろの土間に埋めて・・・
―― ２２ ――
And she cooked rice pudding with red-bean paste and offered it to his spirit.
・・・自身で牡丹餅をこしらえて供えました．
―― ２３ ――
At that day, the houseworkers (maidservants, manservants, etc) came back.
Then she said "Today, I made the holy table for the Kitchen-Stove Deity behind the kitchen stove. And I cooked the rice pudding with red-bean paste for its celebration. Please help yourselves to the pudding."
People say that they cook rice pudding with red-bean past in order to worship the Kitchen-Stove Deity at farmhouses from then onward.
(Kazusa province Choseigun county)
その日、外に出ていた家の人たち下女下男などが帰って来ますと、今日はカマドの後ろに荒神様を祀って、その御祝いに牡丹餅をこしらえたから、幾らでも食べるようにと言いました．
それが始まりで今でも百姓の家では牡丹餅をこしらえて竈の神の御祭をするのだそうであります．
（上総長生郡）
―― あとがき ――
この本はパブーで公開した電子書籍、英訳昔話「カマド神の起り」を加筆修正したものです．
