翻訳勉強の教材は三島由紀夫の『潮騒』
しばらく休んでいた翻訳勉強を再開しよう。翻訳勉強用の小説は三島由紀夫の『潮騒』です。三島由紀夫が豊富な語彙を駆使した他の作品と違い、簡素で読みやすい青春純愛物語です。ボケ防止という言い方は好きではありません。しかし継続的な学習は頭の体操になることは間違いありません。それに『潮騒』は自分の少年時代を懐古させてくれます。
物語のモデルとなった島は、伊勢湾の入り口にある小さな島、神島です。1953年頃に三島由紀夫は神島に取材のために滞在しています。吉永小百合と浜田光夫が主演する映画『潮騒』(1964年）をアマゾンのプライムビデオで観ました。映画を通して神島の風景を知ることができ、今でも小説に描かれている風景が残っているのではないかと思います。
今の若い人の恋はどのようなものでしょうか。私の少年時代（1960年代）は、『潮騒』に近いものでした。しかし、昔だからと言って恋愛が窮屈だったわけではなく、私が育った田舎は寛容だったように感じます。
中学生の頃、何人かと若い女性教師の下宿に遊びに行ったことがありました。すると先生が、皆に薄いウィスキーの水割りを作って「誰が好きなのか、順番に言いなさい」と白状させられたことがあります。女生徒が遊びに行くと、同じようなことを聞いていたと思います。当時はそういったことが問題になるような時代ではありませんでした。正義論だけを振りかざす時代でもありませんでした。当然スマートフォンなど便利なものはありませんでした。「夜神社の境内で待っているから」と直接伝えなければなりません。夜は暗く、恋愛には良い時代でした。
小説からいくつかパラグラフを抜き出して英語に置き換えました。スラスラ書けるほどの英語力はありません。英和、和英辞典、英辞郎を行ったり、来たりして１パラグラムの翻訳に数時間かけています。
私の翻訳
小説の冒頭、島の情景が説明されています。
Utajima (the Song Island) is a small island with a population of less than fourteen thousand.
The island boasts two of the most beautiful viewing spots in the area. One of them is the Yashiro Shrine, which faces the north-west and is situated near the highest cliff on the island. As the island is located at the entrance of the Ise Gulf, visitors can enjoy a stunning view of the inside of the Gulf. To the north lies the Chita Peninsula, while the Atsumi Peninsula stretches from the east to the north. To the west, visitors can catch glimpses of the coastline from Ujiyamada to Yokkaichi in Tsu.
To reach the torii of the shrine, visitors must ascend two hundred stone steps guarded by a pair of stone Chinese lions. Upon reaching the top and turning back, the view of the Ise sea surrounded by such a distant landscape is simply breathtaking and appears unchanged and eternal.
１８歳の漁師の新冶が島の灯台守りの夫婦に捕った魚を届けに行く。
After the sun has set, a young fisherman carrying a big flatfish is hurrying up the mountain road from the village to the lighthouse.
He graduated from junior high school only two years ago, so he is still eighteen. He is tall and has a strong body, but only his childlike face corresponds to his age. His skin is over-tanned and his lips are chapped. The good shape of his nose is one of the peculiarities of the islander. His blackish eyes are clear, which is a gift of the sea for fishermen living on the sea, but they are not particularly intelligent or sharp. His school record was notably poor. He is still wearing working clothes – his deceased father’s old trousers and a worn-out jacket.
新冶は島では見かけたことがない浜辺で働く少女を目にします。初江です。
One strange girl, he has never seen, fixes heavy wood frames called Soroban in the sand, and rest leaning her body against them. The frames are used to pull up fishing boats on the beach by a winch. The frames are means to place under boats, on which a boat is moved one after another. The girl seems to have just finished this work and taken a rest.
Her face is sweating and her cheek is burning. A cold west wind is strong, but she seems to enjoy exposing her flushed face and streaming her hair in the wind.
She wears a sleeveless wadded jacket and a loose work pant, and stained work gloves.Her healthy skin color is almost same as the other girls of the land, but her eyes are quite clear and her eyebrows are thin. Her eyes gaze at the eastern sky, where between the pile of dark clouds, one red point of the sun is setting.
新治は初江のことが気になってしかたがありません。恋です、しかし彼には頑強な体と泳ぎ以外の魅力はありません。まして話しかける勇気はありません。
Until then, the boy had been living in poverty but in relative peace. However, he became tortured by anxiety and sunk in deep thought. He was anxious for himself, knowing that he had no charm to attract Hatsue. Although he was quite healthy and had never been seriously ill except for the measles, he didn’t think his exceptional swimming skills, including being able to swim five times around Uta-island, or his unmatched brute strength, would capture Hatsue’s heart.
Afterwards, he didn’t get a chance to meet Hatsue and whenever he returned from fishing, he would look around the shore for her. Even if he found her working busily, he couldn’t muster the courage to talk to her.
これからがいいところです。新冶と初枝は、嵐で休漁の日に、戦争中に観的哨だった廃墟で会う約束をしていた。ついにその嵐の日がやってきた。今ではどうってことない逢い引きのシーンでしょう。しかし、半世紀前、中学生だった頃は、この箇所だけ何度も読み返していた。
The rainwater cascaded down in torrents on the uphill path to the lighthouse, sweeping around the boy’s feet. The wind howled through the tops of the pine trees. His long rubber boots were notoriously difficult to walk in. As he trudged through the rain without an umbrella, he felt the water running down his short-cropped hair and streaming into his open collar.
But the young boy lifted his face to the storm and continued to climb. It wasn’t that he was fighting against the storm, but rather that he was confirming a harmony between his peaceful happiness and the quiet nature around him. In some way, he felt a close connection to the uproarious nature in his heart.
先に着いた新冶は廃墟にあった松葉を集めて火をつけた。焚き火で体が温まり、初枝を待つうちに眠り込んでしまった。
When Shinji woke up, the fire was still burning steadily before his eyes. An unfamiliar shadow stood across the flames. Shinji wondered if he was dreaming. Then, he saw a naked girl standing with her head down, drying her wet white underwear at the fire. As she held the lower part of the underwear, she exposed the whole upper half of her body.
Realizing that it was not a dream, Shinji came up with a cunning idea. He decided to pretend to stay asleep and open his eyes slightly. However, it was too difficult for him to keep staring at her without moving, as her naked body was supremely beautiful.
嵐の廃墟のなかで焚火の炎を挟んで、真っ裸で向かい合う新治と初江.。クライマックスです。
”Hatsue!” the boy cried.
”Come here and jump across the fire. If you jump over the fire…” The girl was out of breath, but her voice was clear and excited.
The naked boy didn’t hesitate. Gathering momentum on tiptoes, his body, shining in the fire, dashed and jumped into the flames. In a moment, he was standing in front of the girl, his chest lightly touching hers.
”This soft elasticity, this is what I imagined under her red sweater one day,” the young man remembered, feeling the deepest emotion. The two embraced, and the girl softly fell to the floor.
新冶と初枝のうわさは父親の照吉に知れることになり、二人は会うことができなくなった。照吉は初枝の気持ちは知っていた。自分が所有する大型船の船長を呼んで、初枝の婿の候補として考えている安夫と初枝が好いてる新冶を一緒の船に乗せ、二人の度量を確かめることを頼んだ。船で新治は初江からの封筒を開く。なかには八代神社のお守り、初江の写真、手紙が入っていた。
The Kamikaze-maru was sailing on through a light rain. The captain and Yasuo have already slept lying down on the tatami. Since getting on the ship, Yasuo never spoke to Shinji.
The boy closed his face to the round window on which rain drops were rolling down, and in a soft light through the window, he opened Hastsue’s envelope and examined the contents. There contained an amulet of Yashiro Shrine, one Hatsue’s picture and a letter. The letter said that….
“Every day from now on, I am going to Yashiro Shrine to pray for Shunji-san’s safety. My heart is yours. I hope you get back safe and sound. I am enclosing my picture so that I can sail with you together. It is the picture taken at Daio Mountain.
Although my father doesn’t say anything about this sailing, I think, he has some reasons why he has to let Shinji and Yasuo board together on his owned ship. I feel I can see a glimmer of hope for our future. Please keep holding your dream. “
The letter encouraged the young boy. He felt his arms being filled with power and his body were bursting with life.
本ブログは2016年に８回にわたって投稿した記事を見直し、まとめたものです。
