Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Onmyōza Hyakumonogatari Story XXIV "Wedge of Ice"

(Kōri no Kusabi begins at 16:27)

In a raging blizzard a man laid still[1], sure that he was a going to die. While on the way back to the village from the charcoal burning hut located in the mountains, he had seen the first snowfall of that year. In no time at all the snow had piled up and covered the whole area with white. The extraordinary amount of snow made the man realize that it had to be the doing of a snow woman. Around the region there were frightening legends of a snow woman that would lead astray passing men and then freeze them to death. The man had heard those legends when he was a child.

The roaring wind blew up the snow, and when the man was unable to keep his eyes open any longer, it became all quiet around him. Strangely, the snow had suddenly stopped falling, and he could no longer feel the piercing cold. The man nervously opened his eyes. He saw a woman with long black hair who was dressed in a snow-white kimono looking down at him.

"Are you the snow woman?"

Thinking that his life was over, with complete resignation, the man blurted out: "Why do you kill men? Do you hold some grudge against them? You are just going to kill me now, right? In that case, wouldn't you at least let me know before I die?"

The snow woman gazed sadly at the man and soon started talking sotto voce.
"In that case I shall tell you. Indeed I am the snow woman. As you can see, not even blood flows in my cold body, and I have spent hundreds of years hiding here. However, once there was a time when I fell in love with one of the men who come to this charcoal burning hut. Although I did fall in love, neither could we become man and wife nor even embrace each other, as my breath freezes everything and my body chills everyone who touches it. We could only gaze at each other from a distance, but nevertheless we understood each other."

"However, one day he said to me: 'I can no longer live without you. If we cannot be wedded, my heart's only desire is to be killed by you.' He then tightly embraced my body. That was his end. My loved one froze all the way to his heart and never opened his eyes again."

As the snow woman paused, the snowstorm started raging again. An even worse coldness attacked the man.

"You have been buried in the snow for quite some time. At this rate you will be done for. However, there is a way to save yourself."
The snow woman's words were drowned out by the howling blizzard and the man soon lost consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside his charcoal burning hut. He was lying in a properly laid futon and a mouth-watering pot of miso soup hung over the hearth. Under the pot the charcoal burned in crimson, warming the whole hut. The man sprung to his feet and rubbed his eyes in disbelief when he noticed a large puddle nestled close to the futon.

Could this be what had become of that snow woman? The man's family were the only ones who had been burning charcoal in that region, and they had been doing it for generations.

Had the snow woman saved a descendant of the man he loved and thus set herself free from her karma? The man had no way of knowing.

[1] Literally the word means: "without a wink of sleep".


陰陽座百物語 第廿肆話「氷の楔」


吹き荒ぶ吹雪の中、男はまんじりとも動けず、最早死を覚悟した。山間に在る炭焼き小屋から村へ帰る途中、男は今年初めての雪が舞うのを見た。すると雪は見る見るうちに降り積もり、辺り一面を真っ白に覆い隠したのだ。尋常ならざる雪の様子に男は、これは雪女の仕業だ、と悟った。この辺りには古くから雪女が道行く男を迷わせ、凍らせて殺してしまうという恐ろしい言い伝えがあり、自分も子供のときからよく聞かされていたのだった。

轟々と鳴る風が雪をより一層強く巻き上げ、いよいよ目も開けていられない状態になった時、ふと辺りから音が消えた。不思議な事に雪はぱったりと止み、身を切る様な寒さすら感じなくなっている。男は恐る恐るその目を開けた。するとそこには真っ白な着物を着た長い黒髪の女がこちらを見下ろして立っていた。

「お前が雪女か?」

最早我が命これまでと思うとすっかり覚悟が出来て、言葉は口を衝いて出た。
「お前は何故人を殺めるのだ?人間の男に何か怨みでもあるのか?どうせわしは、ここでお前に殺されるのだろう?ならば、冥土の土産に聞かせてはくれぬか?」

男はそう言うと雪女は悲しげに男を見詰め、やがて静かに話し始めた。
「それならば聞かせてやろう。いかにも妾は雪女。この通り、血も通わぬ冷たい体で、もう何百年もここに身を潜めておった。しかし、この近くの炭焼き小屋かに通うてくる男と、一度だけ恋仲になったのじゃ。とゆうても、夫婦になる事も、抱き合う事も叶わぬ。妾の息は全てを凍り付かせ、この体は触れる者を凍えさせる。遠くから見詰めるだけではあったが、それでも心は通うておったのじゃ。」

「しかし、或る時男はゆうた。わしはもう御前無しでは生きては行けぬ、夫婦になれぬのなら、御前に殺されるのが本望じゃ。そして男は、妾の体をしっかりと抱き締めた。しかしそれが最期。愛しい人は、心の臓まで凍り付き、その儘目を開ける事は無かった」

雪女が言葉を切ると再び辺りは吹雪。先程より一層強い寒さが男を襲った。

「お前はもう随分長い事雪に埋まっておる。この儘では命が助かるまい。しかし、一つ手立てが有る」
雪女の言葉は唸りを上げる吹雪に掻き消され 男の意識はやがた遠退ていった。

男が目を覚ますとそこは自分の炭焼き小屋の中であった。しかもきちんと敷かれた布団に寝かされており、囲炉裏には美味そうな味噌汁が掛けてあった。鍋の下では炭が真っ赤に燃え、小屋をしっかりと暖めていた。男は跳ね起き、先程の光景は夢だったのかと目を擦ると、布団の側に寄り添う様に出来た大きな水溜りがあるのを見付けた。

果たしてこれは雪女の変わり果てた姿なのであろうか?この辺りで代々炭焼きをやっているのは 男の家計只一つである。

雪女は愛した男の子孫を助け、また自らもその業を断ち切ったのか、今や男にそれを知る術も無かった。

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for all your translations,your job is simply amazing
    thank you very much!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for all your translations,your job is simply amazing
    thank you very much!!

    ReplyDelete