ある日の暮方の事である。一人の下人《げにん》が、羅生門《らしょうもん》の下で雨やみを待っていた。
It was the late afternoon of a certain day. A lone servant was waiting for the rain to stop under the Rashomon gate.
広い門の下には、この男のほかに誰もいない。ただ、所々丹塗《にぬり》の剥《は》げた、大きな円柱《まるばしら》に、蟋蟀《きりぎりす》が一匹とまっている。羅生門が、朱雀大路《すざくおおじ》にある以上は、この男のほかにも、雨やみをする市女笠《いちめがさ》や揉烏帽子《もみえぼし》が、もう二三人はありそうなものである。それが、この男のほかには誰もいない。
Besides this man, there was no one under the wide gate. Only a single cricket was perched on one of the large, round pillars, where the vermilion paint had peeled off in places. Given that Rashomon was on Suzaku Avenue, there should have been two or three other people waiting for the rain to stop, wearing sedge hats and soft headgear. Yet, besides this man, there was no one.
何故かと云うと、この二三年、京都には、地震とか辻風《つじかぜ》とか火事とか饑饉とか云う災《わざわい》がつづいて起った。そこで洛中《らくちゅう》のさびれ方は一通りではない。旧記によると、仏像や仏具を打砕いて、その丹《に》がついたり、金銀の箔《はく》がついたりした木を、路ばたにつみ重ねて、薪《たきぎ》の料《しろ》に売っていたと云う事である。洛中がその始末であるから、羅生門の修理などは、元より誰も捨てて顧る者がなかった。するとその荒れ果てたのをよい事にして、狐狸《こり》が棲《す》む。盗人《ぬすびと》が棲む。とうとうしまいには、引取り手のない死人を、この門へ持って来て、棄てて行くと云う習慣さえ出来た。そこで、日の目が見えなくなると、誰でも気味を悪るがって、この門の近所へは足ぶみをしない事になってしまったのである。
The reason was that, for the past two or three years, disasters such as earthquakes, whirlwinds, fires, and famines had continuously occurred in Kyoto. As a result, the desolation of the capital was extraordinary. According to old records, people had smashed Buddhist statues and implements and piled up the wood, which had traces of vermilion paint or gold and silver foil, along the roadside to sell as firewood. Since the capital was in such a state, no one, of course, gave a second thought to repairing the Rashomon gate. Taking advantage of its ruined condition, foxes and tanuki had begun to live there. Thieves also inhabited it. Finally, a custom even developed of bringing unclaimed corpses to the gate and abandoning them there. Consequently, when daylight faded, everyone felt uneasy and avoided going near the gate.
その代りまた鴉《からす》がどこからか、たくさん集って来た。昼間見ると、その鴉が何羽となく輪を描いて、高い鴟尾《しび》のまわりを啼きながら、飛びまわっている。ことに門の上の空が、夕焼けであかくなる時には、それが胡麻《ごま》をまいたようにはっきり見えた。鴉は、勿論、門の上にある死人の肉を、啄《ついば》みに来るのである。――もっとも今日は、刻限《こくげん》が遅いせいか、一羽も見えない。ただ、所々、崩れかかった、そうしてその崩れ目に長い草のはえた石段の上に、鴉の糞《ふん》が、点々と白くこびりついているのが見える。下人は七段ある石段の一番上の段に、洗いざらした紺の襖《あお》の尻を据えて、右の頬に出来た、大きな面皰《にきび》を気にしながら、ぼんやり、雨のふるのを眺めていた。
Instead, crows gathered in large numbers from somewhere. When one looked during the day, countless crows could be seen circling the high decorative roof finials, crying as they flew around. Especially when the sky above the gate turned red at sunset, they could be seen clearly, like sprinkled sesame seeds. The crows, of course, came to peck at the flesh of the corpses on the gate. – However, perhaps because it was late in the day, not a single one could be seen today. Only, here and there, on the crumbling stone steps where long grass grew in the cracks, the white stains of crow droppings were visible. The servant, sitting with the hem of his washed-out dark blue kimono on the top step of the seven steps, absentmindedly gazed at the falling rain, preoccupied with a large pimple on his right cheek.
作者はさっき、「下人が雨やみを待っていた」と書いた。しかし、下人は雨がやんでも、格別どうしようと云う当てはない。ふだんなら、勿論、主人の家へ帰る可き筈である。所がその主人からは、四五日前に暇を出された。前にも書いたように、当時京都の町は一通りならず衰微《すいび》していた。今この下人が、永年、使われていた主人から、暇を出されたのも、実はこの衰微の小さな余波にほかならない。だから「下人が雨やみを待っていた」と云うよりも「雨にふりこめられた下人が、行き所がなくて、途方にくれていた」と云う方が、適当である。その上、今日の空模様も少からず、この平安朝の下人の Sentimentalisme に影響した。申《さる》の刻《こく》下《さが》りからふり出した雨は、いまだに上るけしきがない。そこで、下人は、何をおいても差当り明日《あす》の暮しをどうにかしようとして――云わばどうにもならない事を、どうにかしようとして、とりとめもない考えをたどりながら、さっきから朱雀大路にふる雨の音を、聞くともなく聞いていたのである。
The author wrote earlier that “the servant was waiting for the rain to stop.” However, even if the rain stopped, the servant had no particular place to go. Normally, he would, of course, return to his master's house. However, his master had dismissed him four or five days ago. As mentioned before, the town of Kyoto was in a state of extreme decline at the time. The fact that this servant was dismissed by his master, whom he had served for many years, was, in fact, nothing more than a minor ripple of this decline. Therefore, rather than saying “the servant was waiting for the rain to stop,” it would be more accurate to say, “the servant, trapped by the rain, had nowhere to go and was at a loss.” Moreover, the day's weather also had no small effect on this Heian-era servant's sentimentality. The rain, which had begun falling after the hour of the monkey, showed no sign of stopping. Therefore, the servant, trying to somehow manage his living for tomorrow – or rather, trying to somehow manage what was unmanageable – listened to the sound of the rain falling on Suzaku Avenue, without really hearing it, as he drifted through aimless thoughts.
雨は、羅生門をつつんで、遠くから、ざあっと云う音をあつめて来る。夕闇は次第に空を低くして、見上げると、門の屋根が、斜につき出した甍《いらか》の先に、重たくうす暗い雲を支えている。
The rain enveloped Rashomon, gathering the sound of “zaa” from afar. The evening darkness gradually lowered in the sky, and when he looked up, the roof of the gate, at the tips of the diagonally protruding tiles, seemed to be supporting heavy, dim clouds.
どうにもならない事を、どうにかするためには、手段を選んでいる遑《いとま》はない。選んでいれば、築土《ついじ》の下か、道ばたの土の上で、饑死《うえじに》をするばかりである。そうして、この門の上へ持って来て、犬のように棄てられてしまうばかりである。選ばないとすれば――下人の考えは、何度も同じ道を低徊《ていかい》した揚句《あげく》に、やっとこの局所へ逢着《ほうちゃく》した。しかしこの「すれば」は、いつまでたっても、結局「すれば」であった。下人は、手段を選ばないという事を肯定しながらも、この「すれば」のかたをつけるために、当然、その後に来る可き「盗人《ぬすびと》になるよりほかに仕方がない」と云う事を、積極的に肯定するだけの、勇気が出ずにいたのである。
In order to do something about the unmanageable, one did not have the leisure to choose means. If one were to choose, one would simply starve to death under a mud wall or on the dirt of the roadside. And then, one would simply be brought up to this gate and abandoned like a dog. If one were not to choose – after wandering through the same path of thought many times, the servant finally arrived at this point. However, this “if one were to” remained just that, “if one were to,” no matter how long he pondered. Even while affirming that he would not choose his means, the servant lacked the courage to actively affirm what should logically follow: “There is no other way than to become a thief,” in order to settle this “if one were to.”
下人は、大きな嚔《くさめ》をして、それから、大儀《たいぎ》そうに立上った。夕冷えのする京都は、もう火桶《ひおけ》が欲しいほどの寒さである。風は門の柱と柱との間を、夕闇と共に遠慮なく、吹きぬける。丹塗《にぬり》の柱にとまっていた蟋蟀《きりぎりす》も、もうどこかへ行ってしまった。
The servant sneezed loudly, and then, with a weary air, stood up. Kyoto, with its evening chill, was already cold enough to make one want a brazier. The wind blew freely through the space between the gate's pillars, along with the evening darkness. The cricket that had been on the vermilion pillar had also gone somewhere.
下人は、頸《くび》をちぢめながら、山吹《やまぶき》の汗袗《かざみ》に重ねた、紺の襖《あお》の肩を高くして門のまわりを見まわした。雨風の患《うれえ》のない、人目にかかる惧《おそれ》のない、一晩楽にねられそうな所があれば、そこでともかくも、夜を明かそうと思ったからである。すると、幸い門の上の楼へ上る、幅の広い、これも丹を塗った梯子《はしご》が眼についた。上なら、人がいたにしても、どうせ死人ばかりである。下人はそこで、腰にさげた聖柄《ひじりづか》の太刀《たち》が鞘走《さやばし》らないように気をつけながら、藁草履《わらぞうり》をはいた足を、その梯子の一番下の段へふみかけた。
The servant, hunching his neck, raised the shoulders of his dark blue kimono, layered over a yellow-brown unlined garment, and looked around the gate. If there were a place where he could sleep comfortably for the night, free from the worry of rain and wind, and not exposed to the eyes of others, he thought he would somehow spend the night there. Then, fortunately, he noticed a wide, vermilion-painted ladder leading up to the gate's loft. Up there, even if there were people, they would only be corpses anyway. Thereupon, while being careful not to let the sacred hilt of the sword at his waist slip out of its sheath, the servant placed his straw-sandaled foot on the bottom rung of the ladder.
それから、何分かの後である。羅生門の楼の上へ出る、幅の広い梯子の中段に、一人の男が、猫のように身をちぢめて、息を殺しながら、上の容子《ようす》を窺っていた。楼の上からさす火の光が、かすかに、その男の右の頬をぬらしている。短い鬚の中に、赤く膿《うみ》を持った面皰《にきび》のある頬である。下人は、始めから、この上にいる者は、死人ばかりだと高を括《くく》っていた。それが、梯子を二三段上って見ると、上では誰か火をとぼして、しかもその火をそこここと動かしているらしい。これは、その濁った、黄いろい光が、隅々に蜘蛛《くも》の巣をかけた天井裏に、揺れながら映ったので、すぐにそれと知れたのである。この雨の夜に、この羅生門の上で、火をともしているからは、どうせただの者ではない。
Some minutes later, on the middle of the wide ladder that led to the top of Rashomon, a man was crouching like a cat, holding his breath, while peering at the situation above. The light from a fire coming from the top of the loft faintly illuminated the right cheek of this man. It was a cheek with a red, pus-filled pimple amongst its short beard. From the beginning, the servant had assumed that those above were all corpses. However, as he climbed two or three steps of the ladder, he saw that someone was lighting a fire above, and that the fire seemed to be moving from place to place. He quickly realized this, as the muddy, yellow light was reflecting, swaying, on the cobweb-covered ceiling in the corners. On this rainy night, someone who was lighting a fire on top of Rashomon was definitely no ordinary person.
下人は、守宮《やもり》のように足音をぬすんで、やっと急な梯子を、一番上の段まで這うようにして上りつめた。そうして体を出来るだけ、平《たいら》にしながら、頸を出来るだけ、前へ出して、恐る恐る、楼の内を覗《のぞ》いて見た。
The servant, moving as silently as a gecko, finally crawled up the steep ladder to the top step. Then, keeping his body as flat as possible, and extending his neck as far forward as possible, he cautiously peered into the loft.
見ると、楼の内には、噂に聞いた通り、幾つかの死骸《しがい》が、無造作に棄ててあるが、火の光の及ぶ範囲が、思ったより狭いので、数は幾つともわからない。ただ、おぼろげながら、知れるのは、その中に裸の死骸と、着物を着た死骸とがあるという事である。勿論、中には女も男もまじっているらしい。そうして、その死骸は皆、それが、かつて、生きていた人間だと云う事実さえ疑われるほど、土を捏《こ》ねて造った人形のように、口を開《あ》いたり手を延ばしたりして、ごろごろ床の上にころがっていた。しかも、肩とか胸とかの高くなっている部分に、ぼんやりした火の光をうけて、低くなっている部分の影を一層暗くしながら、永久に唖《おし》の如く黙っていた。
Inside the loft, as the rumors had said, several corpses were carelessly abandoned, but because the area illuminated by the fire was smaller than he had imagined, he couldn't tell exactly how many there were. However, what he could vaguely discern was that some of the corpses were naked, and some were clothed. Of course, there seemed to be both women and men mixed in. And all of the corpses, so much so that one doubted even the fact that they were once living humans, were lying scattered on the floor like clay dolls, with their mouths open or their hands outstretched. And, with the firelight dimly illuminating the raised parts of their shoulders or chests, intensifying the shadows of the lower parts, they remained eternally silent, as if they were mute.
下人《げにん》は、それらの死骸の腐爛《ふらん》した臭気に思わず、鼻を掩《おお》った。しかし、その手は、次の瞬間には、もう鼻を掩う事を忘れていた。ある強い感情が、ほとんどことごとくこの男の嗅覚を奪ってしまったからだ。
The servant involuntarily covered his nose because of the putrid odor of the rotting corpses. However, in the next instant, his hand had already forgotten about covering his nose. A strong emotion had almost completely robbed the man of his sense of smell.
下人の眼は、その時、はじめてその死骸の中に蹲《うずくま》っている人間を見た。檜皮色《ひわだいろ》の着物を着た、背の低い、痩《や》せた、白髪頭《しらがあたま》の、猿のような老婆である。その老婆は、右の手に火をともした松の木片《きぎれ》を持って、その死骸の一つの顔を覗きこむように眺めていた。髪の毛の長い所を見ると、多分女の死骸であろう。
At that moment, the servant’s eyes saw for the first time a human being crouching amongst the corpses. It was a hunched-over, short, thin, white-haired old woman, like a monkey, wearing a cypress-bark colored kimono. The old woman was holding a lit pine splinter in her right hand and peering at the face of one of the corpses, as if she were examining it. Judging by the length of its hair, it was probably a woman’s corpse.
下人は、六分の恐怖と四分の好奇心とに動かされて、暫時《ざんじ》は呼吸《いき》をするのさえ忘れていた。旧記の記者の語を借りれば、「頭身《とうしん》の毛も太る」ように感じたのである。すると老婆は、松の木片を、床板の間に挿して、それから、今まで眺めていた死骸の首に両手をかけると、丁度、猿の親が猿の子の虱《しらみ》をとるように、その長い髪の毛を一本ずつ抜きはじめた。髪は手に従って抜けるらしい。
Moved by six parts fear and four parts curiosity, the servant had even forgotten to breathe for a moment. Borrowing the words of the chronicler, he felt as if “the hair on his body stood on end.” Then, the old woman inserted the pine splinter into a gap in the floorboards, and then, putting both her hands on the neck of the corpse she had been examining, began to pull out its long hair, one strand at a time, just like a mother monkey grooming lice from her child. The hair seemed to come out easily in her hands.
その髪の毛が、一本ずつ抜けるのに従って、下人の心からは、恐怖が少しずつ消えて行った。そうして、それと同時に、この老婆に対するはげしい憎悪が、少しずつ動いて来た。――いや、この老婆に対すると云っては、語弊《ごへい》があるかも知れない。むしろ、あらゆる悪に対する反感が、一分毎に強さを増して来たのである。この時、誰かがこの下人に、さっき門の下でこの男が考えていた、饑死《うえじに》をするか盗人《ぬすびと》になるかと云う問題を、改めて持出したら、恐らく下人は、何の未練もなく、饑死を選んだ事であろう。それほど、この男の悪を憎む心は、老婆の床に挿した松の木片《きぎれ》のように、勢いよく燃え上り出していたのである。
As each strand of hair was pulled out, the fear gradually receded from the servant's heart. And at the same time, an intense hatred towards this old woman gradually stirred. – No, perhaps it would be a misstatement to say it was towards this old woman. Rather, it was a revulsion towards all evil that grew stronger by the minute. At this moment, if someone had presented the servant again with the question he had been pondering under the gate just a while ago – whether to starve to death or become a thief – the servant would probably have chosen to starve to death without any hesitation. Such was the fervor of his hatred for evil, which was now blazing like the pine splinter the old woman had stuck into the floorboards.
下人には、勿論、何故老婆が死人の髪の毛を抜くかわからなかった。従って、合理的には、それを善悪のいずれに片づけてよいか知らなかった。しかし下人にとっては、この雨の夜に、この羅生門の上で、死人の髪の毛を抜くと云う事が、それだけで既に許すべからざる悪であった。勿論、下人は、さっきまで自分が、盗人になる気でいた事なぞは、とうに忘れていたのである。
The servant, of course, did not know why the old woman was pulling out the hair of the dead. Therefore, logically, he did not know whether to categorize it as good or evil. However, for the servant, the very act of pulling out the hair of a dead person on top of Rashomon on this rainy night was already an unforgivable evil. Of course, the servant had long forgotten that, until just a while ago, he had been considering becoming a thief himself.
そこで、下人は、両足に力を入れて、いきなり、梯子から上へ飛び上った。そうして聖柄《ひじりづか》の太刀に手をかけながら、大股に老婆の前へ歩みよった。老婆が驚いたのは云うまでもない。
Therefore, the servant put strength into both his legs and suddenly leaped up from the ladder. Then, placing his hand on the sacred hilt of his sword, he strode towards the old woman. It goes without saying that the old woman was surprised.
老婆は、一目下人を見ると、まるで弩《いしゆみ》にでも弾《はじ》かれたように、飛び上った。
The old woman, the moment she saw the servant, leaped up as if she had been shot by a crossbow.
「おのれ、どこへ行く。」
“You, where do you think you are going?”
下人は、老婆が死骸につまずきながら、慌てふためいて逃げようとする行手を塞《ふさ》いで、こう罵《ののし》った。老婆は、それでも下人をつきのけて行こうとする。下人はまた、それを行かすまいとして、押しもどす。二人は死骸の中で、しばらく、無言のまま、つかみ合った。しかし勝敗は、はじめからわかっている。下人はとうとう、老婆の腕をつかんで、無理にそこへ｜
《ね》じ倒した。丁度、鶏《にわとり》の脚のような、骨と皮ばかりの腕である。
The servant blocked the path of the old woman, who was stumbling over the corpses as she tried to flee in panic, and shouted at her. The old woman still tried to push past the servant. The servant, not allowing her to pass, pushed her back. The two of them grappled in silence for a while, amongst the corpses. However, the outcome was clear from the start. The servant finally grabbed the old woman’s arm and forcibly twisted her down to the ground. It was an arm that was just skin and bones, like the leg of a chicken.
「何をしていた。云え。云わぬと、これだぞよ。」
“What were you doing? Speak! If you don’t speak, I’ll do this to you!”
下人は、老婆をつき放すと、いきなり、太刀の鞘《さや》を払って、白い鋼《はがね》の色をその眼の前へつきつけた。けれども、老婆は黙っている。両手をわなわなふるわせて、肩で息を切りながら、眼を、眼球《めだま》が｜
《まぶた》の外へ出そうになるほど、見開いて、唖のように執拗《しゅうね》く黙っている。これを見ると、下人は始めて明白にこの老婆の生死が、全然、自分の意志に支配されていると云う事を意識した。そうしてこの意識は、今までけわしく燃えていた憎悪の心を、いつの間にか冷ましてしまった。後《あと》に残ったのは、ただ、ある仕事をして、それが円満に成就した時の、安らかな得意と満足とがあるばかりである。そこで、下人は、老婆を見下しながら、少し声を柔らげてこう云った。
The servant released the old woman, and then, suddenly drawing his sword from its sheath, thrust the white steel before her eyes. However, the old woman remained silent. Her hands trembled, and she was gasping for breath, while her eyes were wide open, as if her eyeballs would pop out of their sockets, stubbornly silent like a mute. Seeing this, the servant realized clearly for the first time that the old woman’s life or death was completely under his control. And this realization, before he knew it, had cooled the anger that had been blazing fiercely. What remained was only a tranquil sense of triumph and satisfaction at having completed a task successfully. Therefore, the servant, looking down at the old woman, said, softening his voice slightly, “I am not an official of the Office of the Police Commissioners. I am a traveler who just happened to pass under this gate. Therefore, I am not going to tie you up and do anything to you. However, what were you doing on this gate at this hour? Just tell me that.”
「己《おれ》は検非違使《けびいし》の庁の役人などではない。今し方この門の下を通りかかった旅の者だ。だからお前に縄《なわ》をかけて、どうしようと云うような事はない。ただ、今時分この門の上で、何をして居たのだか、それを己に話しさえすればいいのだ。」
“You, where do you think you are going?”
すると、老婆は、見開いていた眼を、一層大きくして、じっとその下人の顔を見守った。｜《まぶた》の赤くなった、肉食鳥のような、鋭い眼で見たのである。それから、皺で、ほとんど、鼻と一つになった唇を、何か物でも噛んでいるように動かした。細い喉で、尖った喉仏《のどぼとけ》の動いているのが見える。その時、その喉から、鴉《からす》の啼くような声が、喘《あえ》ぎ喘ぎ、下人の耳へ伝わって来た。
Then, the old woman widened her eyes further and stared intently at the servant’s face. She looked with sharp eyes, like a bird of prey, her eyelids red. Then, she moved her lips, which were so wrinkled that they were almost one with her nose, as if she were chewing something. Her thin throat and pointed Adam’s apple could be seen moving. At that moment, from her throat, a voice like the cry of a crow reached the servant’s ears, panting and wheezing.
「この髪を抜いてな、この髪を抜いてな、鬘《かずら》にしようと思うたのじゃ。」
“I was pulling out this hair, yes, pulling out this hair, because I wanted to make a wig.”
下人は、老婆の答が存外、平凡なのに失望した。そうして失望すると同時に、また前の憎悪が、冷やかな侮蔑《ぶべつ》と一しょに、心の中へはいって来た。すると、その気色《けしき》が、先方へも通じたのであろう。老婆は、片手に、まだ死骸の頭から奪った長い抜け毛を持ったなり、蟇《ひき》のつぶやくような声で、口ごもりながら、こんな事を云った。
The servant was disappointed that the old woman's answer was surprisingly ordinary. And as he was disappointed, the previous anger, together with a chilling contempt, came into his heart again. Then, that change of mood must have also been felt by the other party. The old woman, still holding the long strands of hair she had taken from the corpse’s head in one hand, said, while stammering in a croaking voice, something like this.
「成程な、死人《しびと》の髪の毛を抜くと云う事は、何ぼう悪い事かも知れぬ。じゃが、ここにいる死人どもは、皆、そのくらいな事を、されてもいい人間ばかりだぞよ。現在、わしが今、髪を抜いた女などはな、蛇を四寸《しすん》ばかりずつに切って干したのを、干魚《ほしうお》だと云うて、太刀帯《たてわき》の陣へ売りに往《い》んだわ。疫病《えやみ》にかかって死ななんだら、今でも売りに往んでいた事であろ。それもよ、この女の売る干魚は、味がよいと云うて、太刀帯どもが、欠かさず菜料《さいりよう》に買っていたそうな。わしは、この女のした事が悪いとは思うていぬ。せねば、饑死をするのじゃて、仕方がなくした事であろ。されば、今また、わしのしていた事も悪い事とは思わぬぞよ。これとてもやはりせねば、饑死をするじゃて、仕方がなくする事じゃわいの。じゃて、その仕方がない事を、よく知っていたこの女は、大方わしのする事も大目に見てくれるであろ。」
“Indeed, pulling the hair of a dead person might be a very bad thing to do. But, all the dead here are people who deserve to have such things done to them. Now, the woman whose hair I just pulled out, she would cut snakes into four-inch pieces, dry them, and sell them to the Tachi-waki garrison, calling them dried fish. If she hadn’t died of the plague, she’d probably still be selling them now. And also, the dried fish this woman sold were said to have a good flavor, so the Tachi-waki men would buy them as a side dish without fail. I don’t think what this woman did was wrong. She did it out of necessity because she’d have starved to death otherwise. Therefore, I don’t think what I’m doing now is wrong either. This is also something I have to do out of necessity, because I’d starve to death otherwise. So, this woman, who knew well that she had no other choice, would probably be lenient towards what I’m doing.”
老婆は、大体こんな意味の事を云った。
The old woman said something along these lines.
下人は、太刀を鞘《さや》におさめて、その太刀の柄《つか》を左の手でおさえながら、冷然として、この話を聞いていた。勿論、右の手では、赤く頬に膿を持った大きな面皰《にきび》を気にしながら、聞いているのである。しかし、これを聞いている中に、下人の心には、ある勇気が生まれて来た。それは、さっき門の下で、この男には欠けていた勇気である。そうして、またさっきこの門の上へ上って、この老婆を捕えた時の勇気とは、全然、反対な方向に動こうとする勇気である。下人は、饑死をするか盗人になるかに、迷わなかったばかりではない。その時のこの男の心もちから云えば、饑死などと云う事は、ほとんど、考える事さえ出来ないほど、意識の外に追い出されていた。
The servant, putting his sword back into its sheath, and holding the hilt of the sword with his left hand, listened to this story coldly. Of course, with his right hand, he was preoccupied with the large, pus-filled pimple on his red cheek as he listened. However, as he listened to this, a certain courage was born in the servant's heart. It was a courage that the man had been lacking under the gate earlier. And it was a courage that was moving in a completely opposite direction from the courage he had when he climbed up to this gate and captured the old woman. The servant not only did not hesitate between starving to death and becoming a thief, but judging by the feelings of the man at that time, the idea of starving to death had been pushed so far out of his consciousness that it was almost unimaginable.
「きっと、そうか。」
“Is that really so?”
老婆の話が完《おわ》ると、下人は嘲《あざけ》るような声で念を押した。そうして、一足前へ出ると、不意に右の手を面皰《にきび》から離して、老婆の襟上《えりがみ》をつかみながら、噛みつくようにこう云った。
When the old woman finished her story, the servant pressed her for confirmation in a mocking tone. Then, taking a step forward, he suddenly moved his right hand away from the pimple, grabbed the old woman by the collar, and said as if he were biting her, “Then you won’t resent me for robbing you, will you? I too have to do it or I will starve to death.”
「では、己《おれ》が引剥《ひはぎ》をしようと恨むまいな。己もそうしなければ、饑死をする体なのだ。」
“Then, I will not be angry with you for stripping me bare since I too will starve to death if I don't.”
下人は、すばやく、老婆の着物を剥ぎとった。それから、足にしがみつこうとする老婆を、手荒く死骸の上へ蹴倒した。梯子の口までは、僅に五歩を数えるばかりである。下人は、剥ぎとった檜皮色《ひわだいろ》の着物をわきにかかえて、またたく間に急な梯子を夜の底へかけ下りた。
The servant quickly stripped off the old woman's clothes. Then, he kicked the old woman, who was trying to cling to his legs, roughly onto the corpses. The mouth of the ladder was only about five steps away. The servant, carrying the stripped cypress-bark colored kimono under his arm, quickly ran down the steep ladder into the darkness of the night.
しばらく、死んだように倒れていた老婆が、死骸の中から、その裸の体を起したのは、それから間もなくの事である。老婆はつぶやくような、うめくような声を立てながら、まだ燃えている火の光をたよりに、梯子の口まで、這って行った。そうして、そこから、短い白髪《しらが》を倒《さかさま》にして、門の下を覗きこんだ。外には、ただ、黒洞々《こくとうとう》たる夜があるばかりである。
It was not long after that the old woman, who had been lying motionless as if dead, raised her naked body from among the corpses. While making a muttering, moaning sound, the old woman crawled to the mouth of the ladder, using the still-burning fire as a guide. And from there, with her short white hair pointing downwards, she peered out from under the gate. Outside, there was only the pitch-black night.
下人の行方《ゆくえ》は、誰も知らない。
No one knows where the servant went.
（大正四年九月）
(September, Year 4 of the Taisho Era)
底本：「芥川龍之介全集1」ちくま文庫、筑摩書房
Source: “Ryunosuke Akutagawa Complete Works 1,” Chikuma Bunko, Chikuma Shobo
1986（昭和61）年9月24日第1刷発行
First printing published September 24, 1986 (Showa 61)
1997（平成9）年4月15日第14刷発行
14th printing published April 15, 1997 (Heisei 9)
底本の親本：「筑摩全集類聚 芥川龍之介全集第一巻」筑摩書房
Original source: "Chikuma Complete Collection of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Volume 1", Chikuma Shobo
1971（昭和46）年3月5日初版第1刷発行
First edition, first printing published March 5, 1971 (Showa 46)
初出：「帝国文学」
First appearance: "Teikoku Bungaku"
1915（大正4）年11月号
November 1915 (Taisho 4) issue
※底本の編者による脚注は省略しました。
*Footnotes by the editor of the source text have been omitted.
入力：平山誠、野口英司
Input: Makoto Hirayama, Eiji Noguchi
校正：もりみつじゅんじ
Proofreading: Morimitsu Junji
1997年10月29日公開
Published October 29, 1997
2022年7月16日修正
Revised July 16, 2022
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This file was created by Aozora Bunko, an internet library (https://www.aozora.gr.jp/). Input, proofreading, and production were done by volunteers.
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