Part 3 of 8 · JLPT N2
藪の中（検非違使に問われたる放免の物語） Yabunonaka, part 3: The Constable Identifies the Bandit
In this part
A constable tells the magistrate how he caught the notorious bandit Tajōmaru, whom he found groaning on a stone bridge at Awataguchi, apparently after falling from his horse. Tajōmaru was carrying the dead samurai's bow and arrows, and the horse was the dead man's, so the constable is sure the bandit is the killer. He adds that Tajōmaru is known as a womaniser and is said to have committed an earlier murder, and he asks that the missing wife's fate be investigated too.
AI translation · independently checked
わたしが搦め取った男でございますか？The man I captured, my lord?
これは確かに多襄丸と云う、名高い盗人でございます。This is certainly the notorious robber called Tajōmaru.
もっともわたしが搦め取った時には、馬から落ちたのでございましょう、粟田口の石橋の上に、うんうん呻って居りました。Mind you, when I captured him he must have fallen from his horse, for he lay groaning on the stone bridge at Awataguchi.
時刻でございますか？The time, my lord?
時刻は昨夜の初更頃でございます。The time was about the first watch of the night, yesterday evening.
いつぞやわたしが捉え損じた時にも、やはりこの紺の水干に、打出しの太刀を佩いて居りました。Once before, when I failed to catch him, he was wearing this same dark-blue suikan and had a hammered long sword at his side.
ただ今はそのほかにも御覧の通り、弓矢の類さえ携えて居ります。Now, as you can see, he even has a bow and arrows and such with him besides.
さようでございますか？Is that so, my lord?
あの死骸の男が持っていたのも、――では人殺しを働いたのは、この多襄丸に違いございません。Those belonged to the dead man too? Then the one who did the killing must surely be this Tajōmaru.
革を巻いた弓、黒塗りの箙、鷹の羽の征矢が十七本、――これは皆、あの男が持っていたものでございましょう。A leather-bound bow, a black-lacquered quiver, seventeen war arrows fletched with hawk feathers: no doubt all of these belonged to that man.
はい。Yes, my lord.
馬もおっしゃる通り、法師髪の月毛でございます。The horse too, just as you say, is a pale-gold dun with a cropped mane.
その畜生に落されるとは、何かの因縁に違いございません。To be thrown by that beast must surely be some kind of fate.
それは石橋の少し先に、長い端綱を引いたまま、路ばたの青芒を食って居りました。It was a little way past the stone bridge, trailing its long halter and eating the green pampas grass at the roadside.
この多襄丸と云うやつは、洛中に徘徊する盗人の中でも、女好きのやつでございます。This fellow Tajōmaru, among all the robbers who prowl the capital, is one who is especially fond of women.
昨年の秋鳥部寺の賓頭盧の後の山に、物詣でに来たらしい女房が一人、女の童と一しょに殺されていたのは、こいつの仕業だとか申して居りました。Last autumn, on the hill behind the Binzuru statue at Toribedera, a lady who seemed to have come on a pilgrimage was found killed together with her young maidservant, and I heard it said that this fellow was responsible.
その月毛に乗っていた女も、こいつがあの男を殺したとなれば、どこへどうしたかわかりません。If this fellow killed that man, there is no knowing where the woman riding that dun horse has gone or what has become of her.
差出がましゅうございますが、それも御詮議下さいまし。Forgive me for being so forward, my lord, but I beg you to look into that as well.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| 搦め取ったからめとる | to seize and tie up, to capturedictionary form: 搦め取るOld-fashioned word for catching a criminal and binding him with rope. | — |
| 名高いなだかい | famous, notoriousLiterally 'name-high'. | N1 |
| 盗人ぬすびと | thief, robberOlder form of 泥棒. Also read ぬすっと. | — |
| 呻ってうなる | to groan, to moandictionary form: 呻るUsually written 唸る today. うんうん imitates the groaning sound. | N3 |
| 初更しょこう | the first watch of the night (roughly 7–9 p.m.)The night was traditionally divided into five watches (更). | — |
| 水干すいかん | suikan, a simple hunting-style robe worn by commoners and lower-ranking menNo English equivalent; a loose, round-collared robe of the Heian period. | — |
| 佩いてはく | to wear at the waist; to gird on (here, a sword)dictionary form: 佩くUsed only for swords; different kanji from 履く (shoes). | N5 |
| 携えてたずさえる | to carry (with one), to have on one's persondictionary form: 携える | — |
| 死骸しがい | corpse, dead body | — |
| 月毛つきげ | pale-gold or dun-coloured horseLiterally 'moon-coat', a classical name for a horse's colour. | — |
| 因縁いんねん | fate, karmic connectionA Buddhist idea: events are tied together by causes from the past. | — |
| 徘徊するはいかいする | to roam, to prowl | — |
| 仕業しわざ | deed, (someone's) doingUsually used for bad acts: 〜の仕業だ 'it was X's doing'. | — |
| 詮議せんぎ | investigation, inquiry (into a crime)Formal and old-fashioned. 御 makes it respectful toward the magistrate. | — |
Grammar
〜でございます N3 humble/very polite 'to be'
でございます is a very polite, formal equivalent of です (teineigo, not humble kenjōgo). The constable uses it throughout when speaking to the magistrate, and でございますか echoes the magistrate's question back respectfully.
これは確かに多襄丸と云う、名高い盗人でございます。
This is certainly the notorious robber called Tajōmaru.
〜損じる N1 to fail to do, to miss doing
Attached to a verb stem, 損じる (a literary equivalent of the more common 損なう) means the action was attempted but failed. 捉え損じた means 'failed to catch'.
いつぞやわたしが捉え損じた時にも
Once before, when I failed to catch him
〜に違いございません N3 must surely be, there is no doubt that
This is the humble form of 〜に違いない and expresses strong certainty. The speaker is sure that Tajōmaru is the killer.
人殺しを働いたのは、この多襄丸に違いございません。
The one who did the killing must surely be this Tajōmaru.
〜とは N2 that (something) should happen… (surprise)
とは marks a surprising or remarkable situation, and a comment follows. That Tajōmaru should be thrown by that beast (the dead man's horse) strikes the constable as the work of fate.
その畜生に落されるとは、何かの因縁に違いございません。
To be thrown by that beast must surely be some kind of fate.
〜となれば N2 if it is the case that, if it comes to
This conditional assumes a situation is true and draws a consequence from it. If Tajōmaru killed the husband, the wife's whereabouts become unknown and worrying.
こいつがあの男を殺したとなれば、どこへどうしたかわかりません。
If this fellow killed that man, there is no knowing where she has gone or what has become of her.
〜がましい N1 -ish, savouring of (something improper)
Attached to a noun or stem, 〜がましい means 'having the air of' something unwelcome. 差出がましい means 'forward, presumptuous'. Here the form 差出がましゅうございます is the old polite form of the adjective (〜しい → 〜しゅうございます).
差出がましゅうございますが、それも御詮議下さいまし。
Forgive me for being so forward, my lord, but I beg you to look into that as well.