Part 5 of 6 · JLPT N1
桃太郎（五） Momotarō, part 5: The Hero's Bitter Homecoming
In this part
Momotarō returns home in triumph with his animals, the oni child he took hostage and a cart of treasure, but his happiness does not last. The oni child kills the pheasant and flees, the monkey is murdered, and surviving oni raid Momotarō's house again and again. Meanwhile, on Onigashima, young oni quietly build coconut bombs and plan their island's independence.
AI translation · independently checked
日本一の桃太郎は犬猿雉の三匹と、人質に取った鬼の子供に宝物の車を引かせながら、得々と故郷へ凱旋した。Momotarō, the Best in Japan, returned to his hometown in smug triumph, having the three animals (the dog, the monkey and the pheasant) and the oni child he had taken hostage pull the cart of treasure.
――これだけはもう日本中の子供のとうに知っている話である。This much is a story that every child in Japan has long since known.
しかし桃太郎は必ずしも幸福に一生を送った訣ではない。But it does not necessarily follow that Momotarō lived out his life in happiness.
鬼の子供は一人前になると番人の雉を噛み殺した上、たちまち鬼が島へ逐電した。Once the oni child had grown to manhood, he bit his keeper, the pheasant, to death and then promptly absconded to Onigashima.
のみならず鬼が島に生き残った鬼は時々海を渡って来ては、桃太郎の屋形へ火をつけたり、桃太郎の寝首をかこうとした。What is more, the oni who had survived on Onigashima would now and then cross the sea to set fire to Momotarō's mansion or to try to cut his throat in his sleep.
何でも猿の殺されたのは人違いだったらしいという噂である。From what one hears, the rumour is that the monkey seems to have been killed in a case of mistaken identity.
桃太郎はこういう重ね重ねの不幸に嘆息を洩らさずにはいられなかった。Faced with this succession of misfortunes, Momotarō could not help heaving a sigh.
「どうも鬼というものの執念の深いのには困ったものだ。」"These oni and their deep-rooted grudges are a sore trial indeed."
「やっと命を助けて頂いた御主人の大恩さえ忘れるとは怪しからぬ奴等でございます。」"To forget even the great debt they owe the master who so barely spared their lives! They are an outrageous lot, my lord."
犬も桃太郎の渋面を見ると、口惜しそうにいつも唸ったものである。And the dog, whenever he saw Momotarō's sour face, would always growl with indignation.
その間も寂しい鬼が島の磯には、美しい熱帯の月明りを浴びた鬼の若者が五六人、鬼が島の独立を計画するため、椰子の実に爆弾を仕こんでいた。Meanwhile, on the lonely shore of Onigashima, five or six young oni, bathed in the lovely tropical moonlight, were packing coconuts with explosives as they plotted Onigashima's independence.
優しい鬼の娘たちに恋をすることさえ忘れたのか、黙々と、しかし嬉しそうに茶碗ほどの目の玉を赫かせながら。Perhaps they had forgotten even to fall in love with the gentle oni maidens; they worked in silence, yet gladly, their eyes, each as big as a rice bowl, shining all the while.
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Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| 人質ひとじち | hostage人質に取る = to take someone hostage. | N1 |
| 得々とくとく | smugly, with self-satisfactionLiterary; usually 得々と. Here it adds irony to the hero's return. | — |
| 凱旋がいせん | triumphal return (from war)凱旋する; a grand Sino-Japanese word used here for mock-heroic effect. | — |
| 一人前いちにんまえ | grown up, fully adultAlso means 'one serving' of food; here, coming of age. | — |
| 逐電ちくでん | absconding, running awayOld-fashioned; used of someone who flees and disappears. | — |
| 寝首をかこうねくびをかく | to kill someone in their sleepdictionary form: 寝首をかくLiterally 'to cut off a sleeping head'; figuratively, to catch someone off guard. | — |
| 人違いひとちがい | mistaken identity人違いだった = they got the wrong person. | — |
| 嘆息たんそく | sigh (of grief or dismay)Literary; 嘆息を洩らす = to let out a sigh. | — |
| 執念しゅうねん | tenacity, deep-rooted grudge執念深い = vindictive, never letting go. | — |
| 怪しからぬけしからん | outrageous, disgracefuldictionary form: 怪しからんぬ is the old negative; modern form けしからん, used to scold. | — |
| 渋面じゅうめん | sour face, frownAlso read しぶづら; 渋 = astringent, bitter. | — |
| 口惜しそうくやしい | vexed, indignantdictionary form: 口惜しいOlder spelling of 悔しい. | N2 |
| 仕こんでしこむ | to load, pack (something inside)dictionary form: 仕込むAlso 'to train' or 'to stock up'; here, hiding bombs in coconuts. | — |
| 黙々もくもく | silently, without a wordUsually 黙々と, as when working quietly and steadily. | — |
Grammar
〜に〜させながら N4 while making someone do something
The causative 引かせる ('make pull') marks the animals and the oni child with に as the ones made to act, and ながら shows this happens during the return. Momotarō does not pull the cart himself.
宝物の車を引かせながら、得々と故郷へ凱旋した
returned home in smug triumph, having them pull the cart of treasure
必ずしも〜わけではない N3 it is not necessarily the case that…
わけではない denies a conclusion the reader might draw, and 必ずしも softens it to 'not necessarily'. 訣 is an old spelling of 訳.
桃太郎は必ずしも幸福に一生を送った訣ではない
it does not necessarily follow that Momotarō lived out his life in happiness
〜た上（で） N2 and on top of that / after doing…
〜た上 can express two different things. 〜た上で means 'after doing…, (then)…'. 〜(た)上(に) is additive: 'not only…, but on top of that…'. Here 噛み殺した上 is the additive use with に omitted, as is common in literary prose: 'he bit the pheasant guard to death and, on top of that, promptly fled to Onigashima.' Do not confuse this with 〜た上で 'after doing'.
番人の雉を噛み殺した上、たちまち鬼が島へ逐電した
he bit his keeper, the pheasant, to death and then promptly absconded to Onigashima
〜ては N2 repeatedly do… (and each time…)
Verb-て + は with 時々 describes an action repeated again and again, each time followed by the next action. Here it shows the oni raiding over and over.
時々海を渡って来ては、桃太郎の屋形へ火をつけたり
would now and then cross the sea and set fire to Momotarō's mansion
〜ずにはいられない N2 cannot help doing…
ず is the literary negative, so the phrase literally means 'cannot be without doing'. It expresses an urge the speaker cannot hold back.
嘆息を洩らさずにはいられなかった
could not help heaving a sigh
〜たものである（〜たものだ） N3 used to… / would (habitually)…
After a past-tense verb, ものだ describes a habit in the past. With いつも it means the dog growled like this every time.
口惜しそうにいつも唸ったものである
would always growl with indignation