Part 6 of 6 · JLPT N2
蜘蛛となめくじと狸 Kumo to Namekuji to Tanuki, part 6: The Tanuki's Sermon and Its Reward
In this part
With the rabbit already swallowed, the tanuki lies to a frightened wolf who has come to him for a sermon, then eats him too. Inside the tanuki's belly the wolf finds the rabbit's bones. Some time later the tanuki falls ill, swells into a dark globe full of mud and water, and burns up and dies. The narrator concludes that the spider, the slug and the tanuki had all been running a marathon race to Hell.
AI translation · independently checked
狸はもうなみだで身体もふやけそうに泣いたふりをしました。The tanuki pretended to cry so hard that it looked as if his whole body might go soggy with tears.
「なまねこ、なまねこ。私のようなとてもかなわぬあさましいものでも、お役にたてて下されますか。ああありがたや。なまねこなまねこ。おぼしめしのとおり。むにゃむにゃ。」"Namaneko, Namaneko. Even a hopeless, wretched creature such as I, may I truly be of use? Oh, blessings be! Namaneko, Namaneko. As His will ordains. Mumble, mumble."
兎はすっかりなくなってしまいました。The rabbit was completely gone.
そこで狸のおなかの中で云いました。And so, from inside the tanuki's belly, the rabbit spoke.
「すっかりだまされた。お前の腹の中はまっくろだ。ああくやしい。」"You fooled me good and proper. Your insides are pitch black. Oh, how bitter this is!"
狸は怒って云いました。The tanuki grew angry and said:
「やかましい。はやく消化しろ。」"Pipe down. Hurry up and get digested."
そして狸はポンポコポンポンとはらつづみをうちました。Then the tanuki drummed on his belly: pon-poko-pon-pon.
それから丁度二ヶ月たちました。After that, exactly two months went by.
ある日、狸は自分の家で、例のとおりありがたいごきとうをしていますと、狼がお米を三升さげて来て、どうかお説教をねがいますと云いました。One day, while the tanuki was at home saying his holy prayers as usual, a wolf came carrying three measures of rice and said, "Please, I beg you for a sermon."
そこで狸は云いました。So the tanuki said:
「みんな山ねこさまのおぼしめしじゃ。お前がお米を三升もって来たのも、わしがお前に説教するのもじゃ。"'Tis all the will of the Lord Wildcat, so it be. Thy bringing three measures of rice, and my preaching to thee, too.
山ねこさまはありがたいお方じゃ。兎はおそばに参って、大臣になられたげな。お前もものの命をとったことは、五百や千では利くまいに、早うざんげさっしゃれ。The Lord Wildcat is a blessed one indeed. They say the rabbit went to serve at His side and has been made a minister. Thou, too, hast taken the lives of living things, and not five hundred or a thousand times, I'll warrant, so make haste and repent thy sins.
でないと山ねこさまにえらい責苦にあわされますぞい。おお恐ろしや。なまねこ。なまねこ。」Else the Lord Wildcat shall see thee put to dreadful torments, mark me. Oh, how fearsome! Namaneko. Namaneko."
狼はおびえあがって、きょろきょろしながらたずねました。The wolf was terrified, and asked, glancing nervously about:
「そんならどうしたら助かりますかな。」"Then what must I do to be saved?"
狸が云いました。The tanuki said:
「わしは山ねこさまのお身代りじゃで、わしの云うとおりさっしゃれ。なまねこ。なまねこ。」"I stand in the Lord Wildcat's stead, so do just as I tell thee. Namaneko. Namaneko."
「どうしたらようございましょう。」と狼があわててききました。"What should I do, then?" the wolf asked in a flurry.
狸が云いました。The tanuki said:
「それはな。じっとしていさしゃれ。な。わしはお前のきばをぬくじゃ。な。お前の目をつぶすじゃ。"Well now. Keep thee still. There. I'll pull out thy fangs. There. I'll put out thine eyes.
な。それから。なまねこ、なまねこ、なまねこ。お前のみみを一寸かじるじゃ。なまねこ。There. And then. Namaneko, Namaneko, Namaneko. I'll take a little nibble of thine ears. Namaneko.
なまねこ。こらえなされ。お前のあたまをかじるじゃ。むにゃ、むにゃ。なまねこ。堪忍が大事じゃぞえ。Namaneko. Bear it now. I'll nibble thy head. Mumble, mumble. Namaneko. Patience is what matters most, mark ye.
なま……。むにゃむにゃ。お前のあしをたべるじゃ。うまい。なまねこ。むにゃ。むにゃ。Nama... Mumble, mumble. I'll eat thy legs. Tasty. Namaneko. Mumble. Mumble.
おまえのせなかを食うじゃ。うまい。むにゃむにゃむにゃ。」I'll eat thy back. Tasty. Mumble, mumble, mumble."
狼は狸のはらの中で云いました。Inside the tanuki's belly, the wolf said:
「ここはまっくらだ。ああ、ここに兎の骨がある。誰が殺したろう。殺したやつは狸さまにあとでかじられるだろうに。」"It's pitch dark in here. Oh, here are the rabbit's bones. Who could have killed him? Whoever did it will surely get gnawed on by Master Tanuki later."
狸は無理に「ヘン。」と笑っていました。The tanuki forced out a laugh: "Hmph."
さて蜘蛛はとけて流れ、なめくじはペロリとやられ、そして狸は病気にかかりました。Well then: the spider melted and trickled away, the slug was gobbled up in one lick, and the tanuki fell ill.
それはからだの中に泥や水がたまって、無暗にふくれる病気で、しまいには中に野原や山ができて狸のからだは地球儀のようにまんまるになりました。It was an illness where mud and water built up inside his body and made him swell up beyond all reason, until in the end fields and mountains formed inside him and the tanuki's body grew perfectly round, like a globe of the world.
そしてまっくろになって、熱にうかされて、Then he turned pitch black and, raving with fever,
「うう、こわいこわい。おれは地獄行きのマラソンをやったのだ。うう、切ない。」といいながらとうとう焦げて死んでしまいました。he cried, "Ugh, I'm scared, I'm scared. I've been running a marathon to Hell. Ugh, the agony!" and at last he burned to a crisp and died.
＊*
なるほどそうしてみると三人とも地獄行きのマラソン競争をしていたのです。Indeed, looked at this way, all three of them had been running a marathon race to Hell.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| ふやけふやける | to swell and go soft from soakingdictionary form: ふやけるUsed of things left too long in water, such as fingers in a bath or soggy rice. | — |
| あさましいあさましい | wretched, base, shamefulOften used of greedy or contemptible behaviour. Here it is false modesty. | N1 |
| おぼしめしおぼしめし | (divine or noble) will, intentiondictionary form: 思し召しHonorific word for the wishes of a god or superior. It is a key word in the tanuki's sermons. | — |
| 消化しょうか | digestion; to digest (with する) | N2 |
| はらつづみはらつづみ | drumming on one's bellydictionary form: 腹鼓In folklore, tanuki drum on their bellies. The phrase also suggests eating one's fill. | — |
| ごきとうきとう | prayer, religious incantationdictionary form: 祈祷ご is honorific. 祈祷 usually means formal prayers or rites performed by a priest. | — |
| 説教せっきょう | sermon; (also) a scolding lecture | — |
| ざんげざんげ | repentance, confession of sinsdictionary form: 懺悔 | — |
| 責苦せめく | torment, torturedictionary form: 責め苦Often used of the punishments of Hell. | — |
| おびえあがっておびえあがる | to be terrified out of one's witsdictionary form: 怯え上がる〜あがる after a verb of fear intensifies it, as in 震え上がる. | — |
| 身代りみがわり | substitute, stand-indictionary form: 身代わり | — |
| 堪忍かんにん | patience, forbearanceAlso used in 堪忍して, meaning 'forgive me' (Kansai flavour). | — |
| 無暗むやみ | excessively, recklessly (as 無暗に)dictionary form: 無闇The kanji are ateji. The word is usually written in kana today. | — |
| 熱にうかされてねつにうかされる | to be delirious with feverdictionary form: 熱に浮かされる | — |
Grammar
〜ふりをする N3 to pretend to do
A plain past or dictionary verb plus ふりをする means acting as if something were true. The tanuki only acts out his tears.
狸はもうなみだで身体もふやけそうに泣いたふりをしました。
The tanuki pretended to cry so hard that it looked as if his whole body might go soggy with tears.
〜ぬ N2 classical negative (= ない)
かなわぬ is the old-fashioned form of かなわない. It gives the tanuki's speech a pious, archaic sound.
私のようなとてもかなわぬあさましいものでも
even a hopeless, wretched creature such as I
〜げな N1 dialectal hearsay: 'they say', 'I hear'
げな is a western Japanese dialect form that reports hearsay, like 〜そうだ. It adds to the tanuki's rustic preacher voice.
兎はおそばに参って、大臣になられたげな。
They say the rabbit went to serve at His side and has been made a minister.
〜まい N2 negative conjecture: 'surely not'
利くまい means 'would surely not suffice'. Five hundred or a thousand lives would not cover the wolf's killings, so there were even more.
五百や千では利くまいに
not five hundred or a thousand times, I'll warrant
〜にあわされる N2 to be made to suffer (some experience)
〜目にあう means to undergo something unpleasant. The causative-passive あわされる means someone else inflicts it on you.
山ねこさまにえらい責苦にあわされますぞい。
The Lord Wildcat shall see thee put to dreadful torments, mark me.
〜ていますと N4 while/when (doing), then ...
The と conditional after a ている form sets the scene, and the next clause tells what happened unexpectedly at that moment.
例のとおりありがたいごきとうをしていますと、狼がお米を三升さげて来て
while he was saying his holy prayers as usual, a wolf came carrying three measures of rice