ＷＥＢ絵本「お天道さん金ん綱」
Once upon a time in a village, there lived a mother and her three children.
昔々ある村に、母と３人の子とが住んでおりました．
The mother had the children stay home.
And she went to a temple for worship.
母が３人の子に留守番をさせて、寺参りに出かけた後で・・・
After that, an Ogress disguised herself as their mother.
And the Ogress came to the home.
山姥が母に化けて帰って来ました．
If you touch the hands of ogresses, you can instantly find them out.
But this Ogress wound her hands with stems of potatoes in order to trick the children.
ヤマンバの手は、さわって見ると直ぐに分かるのですが、子供をだますつもりで芋がらを巻いて来たので・・・
So, the children considered the Ogress's hands as their mother's hands.
They opened the door and allowed her to come in.
・・・子供は母の手だと思って戸を開けて中へ入れました．
The Ogress held the youngest child in her arm.
And she went to bed in the inner room.
山姥は３人の子の一番小さいのを抱いて、奥の間に入って寝ました．
And then, the Ogress gnawed and ate the child.
The other two children were staying in the next room.
And they heard of that sound and asked to the Ogress.
"What are you eating?"
She threw in a little finger from the inner room.
The moment they saw it, they realized she was an ogress.
次の間に寝ていた2人の子は、その音を聞いて何を食べているのかと山姥に尋ねますと、小さな1本の指を奥の間から投げてよこしました．
それを見ると直ぐに山姥だと云う事が分かって・・・
The two elder children talked about escape.
At first, the second child said "I want to go to the toilet!"
The Ogress said to the eldest brother "Open the door for him!"
And so, the two children got out of the house.
・・・2人の大きな子は逃げて出る相談をしました．
最初に2番目の子が便所に行くと言いますと、山姥が兄の方に戸を開けてやれと言いました．
それで、2人は家の外に出て・・・
With a hatchet, they notched a peach tree near the well.
And they climbed the tree using notches.
・・・井戸端の桃の木に鉈で切り目をつけて、それを伝って木の上に登りました．
The Ogress pursued them and looked everywhere for them.
When she looked into the well, she could find the children on the peach tree.
山姥は後を追っかけて方々を探しているうちに、井戸を覗いて見たので桃の木の上にいる子が見つかりました．
"How did you climb the tree?" the Ogress said.
"We smeared hair oil on the tree and climbed up," the eldest child said and deceived her.
どうして、その木へ登ったかと山姥が尋ねます．
鬢付け油を塗って登ったと、頭の子が嘘をつきました．
The Ogress fetched hair oil.
And she smeared it on the peach tree.
山姥はビンツケ油を持って来て桃の木に塗りますと・・・
She couldn't climb up because it was slippery.
The second child laughed at her.
"You can't climb up with hair oil! To climb up, you need notch the tree with the hatchet!" he said.
・・・つるつると滑って、どうしても登ることが出来ません．
2番目の子がそれを見て笑って、鬢付け油をつけて登れるものか、ナタで切り目を付けて登るのだと言いました．
The Ogress heard his words and she climbed up notching the tree with the hatchet.
The two children panicked.
山姥は、それを聞いて、鉈で切り目を付けて登って来ます．
2人の子は困ってしまって・・・
They looked up at the sky and shouted "Hey, Sol! Give a metal rope!"
Then, an iron chain came down from the sky with a rattling.
・・・空を見上げて、天道さん金ん綱と大きな声で叫びますと、ガラガラと音がして天から鉄の鎖が下がって来ました．
The children held it and climbed up toward the sky.
After that, the Ogress shouted the same word.
それにつかまって子供たちは天に登りました．
山姥も、その後から、同じように怒鳴りましたが・・・
But, at this time, a rotted rope came down from the sky.
The Ogress held it and tried to climb up.
・・・今度は天から腐れ縄が下がって来て、それを捕まえて登ろうとした山姥は・・・
Then she fell down from a high place.
・・・高い所から落ちて来て・・・
Her head crashed against a stone in a buckwheat field.
And the Ogress died.
People say that the stems of buckwheat are red because the stems stained with the blood of the Ogress at that time.
(Higo province Amakusa county)
・・・ソバ畑の中で石に頭を打ち割って死んでしまいました．
蕎麦の茎は、その山姥の血に染まって、その時からあのように真っ赤になったのだそうであります．
（肥後天草郡）
―― 奥付 ――
ＷＥＢ絵本「お天道さん金ん綱」
絵・訳：茜町春彦
原作：柳田国男
A Picture Book : "Hey, Sol! Give a Metal Rope"
Illustrated and translated by : Akanemachi Haruhiko
Original author : Yanagida Kunio
昔話を絵本にしました．
参考文献：
日本の昔話 2005年10月25日36刷 柳田国男著 新潮文庫
初出：
『英訳昔話「お天道さん金ん網」』 2014年9月15日発行 2014年9月16日改訂
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