In the Yanaka district of Edo, there was a temple called Kannoji. Its head priest, the old and gentle Roen, had long wished to build a five-storied pagoda there, and at last enough money had been collected. Everyone expected that the work would go to Genta of Kawagoe, the most famous master carpenter in Edo. He was a generous, bold man who was loved by his workers, and he had worked for the temple for many years.
江戸の谷中に、感応寺という寺があった。住職の朗円上人は年老いた穏やかな人で、長いあいだ、この寺に五重塔を建てたいと願っていた。その寄付が、ようやく集まった。工事は川越の源太が引き受けるものと、誰もが思っていた。源太は江戸でいちばん名の知れた大工の棟梁である。気前がよく、度胸もあって、職人たちに慕われていた。この寺の仕事も、もう長年まかされてきた。
But there was another carpenter who wanted the work. His name was Jubei. He was a fine craftsman, but he was so slow in speech and movement that people called him Slowpoke Jubei. He was clever with his hands but clumsy with people, and so he had never been given an important job. He lived in a poor house in a back street with his wife Onami and their little son. He had often worked under Genta, and Genta had helped him many times.
ところが、もう一人、この仕事を望む大工がいた。名を十兵衛という。腕はたしかだったが、口のききかたも身のこなしもひどくのろいので、人から「のっそり十兵衛」と呼ばれていた。手先は器用でも、人づきあいは不器用で、だから大きな仕事をまかされたことが一度もなかった。裏通りの貧しい家に、女房のお浪と幼い息子と三人で暮らしていた。十兵衛はたびたび源太の下で働き、源太にはこれまで何度も助けてもらっていた。
When Jubei heard about the pagoda, he could think of nothing else. Night after night, he carefully made a small model of the pagoda out of wood. Then one day he went to the temple and asked to see the head priest. The young monks laughed at the shabby carpenter and tried to send him away, but the old priest heard the noise and came out. Jubei bowed his head to the floor.
五重塔の話を聞いてから、十兵衛はそのことしか考えられなくなった。毎晩毎晩、木で小さな五重塔のひな形を、心をこめて作った。そしてある日、寺へ出かけて、上人にお目にかかりたいと願い出た。若い僧たちは、みすぼらしい大工を笑って追い返そうとした。だが、その騒ぎを聞きつけて、老いた上人が出てきた。十兵衛は、床に額をすりつけた。
"Please let me build the pagoda," he said, stammering. "I am poor, and no one knows my name. All my life I have built only small houses and repaired fences, while men with less skill build temples. If I could build just one great thing, I would not mind dying afterward. Please, let me build it." The priest looked at the model and saw that it was very fine. Then he looked at Jubei's face and saw that the man was honest. "I understand," he said quietly.
「どうか、私に塔を建てさせてください」と、十兵衛はつかえつかえ言った。「私は貧乏で、名も知られておりません。腕の劣る者が寺を建てているというのに、私はこれまで、小さな家を建てたり垣根を直したりするばかりでした。たった一つでも大きなものを建てられたら、そのあとは死んでもかまいません。どうか、建てさせてください」上人はひな形を見て、それがたいそうみごとな出来であることを見てとった。それから十兵衛の顔を見て、この男がうそのない人間であることを知った。「わかった」と、上人は静かに言った。
A few days later, the priest called both Genta and Jubei to the temple. "There is only one pagoda," he said, "and two of you wish to build it. I cannot decide between you. Talk it over between yourselves, and I will accept whatever you decide." Then, over a cup of tea, he told them a story he had read in an old Buddhist book.
数日後、上人は源太と十兵衛の二人を寺に呼んだ。「塔は一つしかない。それを建てたいという者が二人いる。わしには、どちらとも決められぬ。二人でよく相談してくれ。決まったとおりにしよう」それから上人は、茶をすすめながら、古いお経の中で読んだという話を二人に聞かせた。
"Once a rich man took his two sons out into the fields. They came to a river, and in the middle of it was a beautiful island, with stones shaped like lotus flowers and sand that shone like gold. The father jumped across, and laid a log over the water as a bridge for his sons. But the brothers fought over who should cross first. The older one threw the younger down and started across. The younger one shook the log, and his brother fell into the water. Then the older one shook the log, and the younger fell in too. When they crawled onto the island, wet and miserable, the stones and the sand had turned ordinary and dull."
「昔、ある長者が二人の息子を連れて野に出た。川へ来てみると、その中ほどに美しい中洲があった。石は蓮の花の形をしており、砂は金のように光っている。長者はひょいと飛び越えると、息子たちのために、丸太を一本、橋としてかけてやった。ところが兄弟は、どちらが先に渡るかでけんかになった。兄は弟を投げ倒して、先に渡りはじめた。弟が丸太を揺すると、兄は川へ落ちた。今度は兄が丸太を揺すり、弟も川へ落ちた。二人がずぶぬれになって、みじめなありさまで中洲へはい上がってみると、石も砂も、ただのくすんだものに変わってしまっていた」
"The brothers were ashamed of themselves. They helped each other wring out their wet clothes. When their father laid the log across the next stream, each said to the other, 'You go first,' and each held the log steady for the other. On the far side, the stones were lotus flowers and the sand was gold once again, and the father gave each of them a true treasure." The priest smiled. "It sounds like a story for children, doesn't it? But think about it carefully."
「兄弟は、自分たちを恥じた。そして、たがいにぬれた着物をしぼってやった。父親が次の流れに丸太をかけると、二人はそれぞれ『先に渡りなさい』と言いあい、相手のために丸太が揺れないよう押さえてやった。向こう岸に着くと、石はふたたび蓮の花になり、砂は金に戻っていた。そして父親は、二人にそれぞれ本物の宝を与えたという」上人はほほえんだ。「子どもだましの話のようじゃろう。だが、よく考えてみることじゃ」
Genta went home and thought hard. He was proud, and he wanted to build the pagoda very much. But that evening he went to Jubei's poor house. "Jubei," he said, "I know how you feel. You are a fine carpenter, and you have been unlucky all your life. So let us build the pagoda together. I will be the master, and you will be my partner."
源太は家へ帰って、じっと考えこんだ。誇り高い男で、塔は何としても自分で建てたかった。それでもその晩、源太は十兵衛の貧しい家をたずねた。「十兵衛、おまえの気持ちはよくわかる。おまえは腕のいい大工なのに、生まれてこのかた運に恵まれなかった。だから、塔は二人で建てようじゃないか。おれが棟梁で、おまえが相棒だ」
Onami burst into tears of gratitude. "Thank him!" she cried, shaking her husband's knee. But Jubei sat silent with his head down. At last he said, "No. I don't want that."
お浪はありがたさに泣き出した。「お礼を申しあげなさい」と、夫のひざを揺さぶった。けれども十兵衛は、うつむいたまま黙っていた。そして、とうとう口を開いた。「いやです。それはお断りします」
Genta could hardly believe his ears. "Then I will be your partner," he said. "You can be the master." "No," said Jubei. "Two men cannot build one tower together, whether I am the master or the partner. Please build it alone, Master. I will give it up."
源太は耳を疑った。「それなら、おれが相棒になろう。おまえが棟梁でいい」「いやです」と十兵衛は言った。「一つの塔を二人で建てることはできません。私が棟梁でも相棒でも同じことです。どうか親方お一人でお建てください。私は身を引きます」
"You fool!" Genta shouted, his face red with anger. "You don't understand kindness at all!" And he left the house.
「この大ばか者め」と、源太は顔を真っ赤にしてどなった。「人の情けというものが、まるでわからないのか」そう言い捨てて、源太は帰っていった。
The next day, Jubei went to the temple and, with tears in his eyes, told the priest that he was giving up the work. But a few days later, the temple called him again. To everyone's surprise, the old priest had decided to give the pagoda to Jubei after all.
次の日、十兵衛は寺へ行き、涙ながらに、仕事はあきらめますと上人に申し出た。ところが数日後、十兵衛はふたたび寺に呼ばれた。驚いたことに、上人は結局、塔を十兵衛にまかせると決めたのである。
Genta swallowed his pride. He invited Jubei to dinner, apologized for his angry words, and even offered him all the drawings and plans he had worked on for so long. "Use them," he said. "They may help you." But Jubei bowed and refused. "Thank you," he said, "but I want to build it with my own ideas." Genta's face grew dark, but he said nothing more.
源太は誇りをぐっとのみこんだ。十兵衛を食事に招き、先日の荒い言葉をわび、長いあいだかけて作りあげた図面や下絵まで、そっくり差し出した。「使ってくれ。何かの役に立つだろう」けれども十兵衛は頭を下げて、それを断った。「ありがとうございます。ですが、私は自分の考えで建てたいのです」源太の顔はくもったが、それ以上は何も言わなかった。
The work began, and Jubei worked from dawn until night. He forgot his wife, his child, and himself, and thought only of the pagoda. The workers who had once laughed at him began to respect him. But one of Genta's young men, a hot-headed fellow named Seikichi, could not forgive him for insulting his master. One evening, he came running to the building site with an adze, a sharp carpenter's tool, and swung it at Jubei's head. Jubei turned just in time, but the blade cut off his left ear and wounded his shoulder. A big man who happened to pass by knocked Seikichi down and took the tool away from him.
工事が始まると、十兵衛は夜明けから夜まで働いた。女房のことも子どものことも、自分のことさえ忘れて、ただ塔のことだけを考えた。かつて十兵衛を笑っていた職人たちも、しだいに一目置くようになった。だが、源太の若い弟子に、清吉という血の気の多い男がいた。清吉は、十兵衛が自分の親方の顔をつぶしたことが許せなかった。ある夕方、清吉は手斧という鋭い大工道具をつかんで仕事場にかけこみ、十兵衛の頭めがけてふり下ろした。十兵衛はとっさに身をかわしたが、刃は左の耳を切り落とし、肩に傷を負わせた。ちょうど通りかかった大男が清吉をなぐり倒し、手斧を取り上げた。
The next morning, Onami begged her husband to stay in bed. But Jubei got up at his usual hour, wrapped a cloth around his head, and went to work. "If I stay in bed," he said, "the workers will grow lazy. The pagoda will not wait." When the workers saw him, they were deeply moved, and they worked harder than ever.
次の朝、お浪は寝ていてくれと夫に頼みこんだ。けれども十兵衛はいつもの時刻に起き、頭に布を巻いて仕事に出た。「おれが寝ていたら、職人たちがなまける。塔は待ってはくれない」その姿を見た職人たちは深く心を打たれ、それまで以上に熱心に働いた。
At last the pagoda was finished. It rose high above the trees of Yanaka, beautiful and strong. But just before the ceremony to celebrate it, a terrible storm struck Edo. The wind howled all night long. Roofs flew off, trees fell, and even a great hall of a famous temple came down. The tall pagoda swayed in the wind, and its top shook wildly against the black sky.
ついに塔ができあがった。谷中の木々の上に高くそびえる、美しくがっしりとした塔だった。ところが落成式を目の前にして、江戸を恐ろしい嵐がおそった。風は一晩じゅううなりをあげた。屋根は吹き飛び、木々は倒れ、有名な寺の大きなお堂までくずれ落ちた。高い塔も風にあおられて揺れ、そのてっぺんは黒い空を背に激しく揺れ動いた。
The temple officials were terrified, and they sent a man to bring Jubei. Jubei refused to come. "My pagoda will not fall," he said. But the man came back again. "The head priest himself is calling for you!" he shouted.
寺の役僧たちはおびえきって、十兵衛を呼びに人をやった。十兵衛は行こうとしなかった。「おれの塔は倒れはしない」ところが使いの者は、また戻ってきた。「上人様じきじきのお召しだぞ」と、使いはどなった。
When Jubei heard this, his face changed. "So even the priest doubts my work," he said bitterly. "If my pagoda falls, I will not live." He went out into the wild storm and climbed to the top floor of the pagoda.
それを聞いて、十兵衛の顔色が変わった。「上人様までが、おれの仕事を疑っておいでなのか」と、十兵衛はくやしそうに言った。「塔が倒れたら、おれは生きてはいない」そして荒れくるう嵐の中へ出ていき、塔のいちばん上の階まで上っていった。
There, in the howling wind and the rain that struck his face like stones, he held on to the railing with a chisel in his hand. The pagoda rocked like a small boat on rough waves. Jubei stood there quietly, waiting for heaven to decide. If the pagoda fell, he would throw himself down from its top. All through the night, far below him in the storm, one man walked around and around the pagoda without stopping. It was Genta.
そこでは、風がうなり、雨がつぶてのように顔を打った。その中で、十兵衛はのみを握りしめ、手すりにつかまっていた。塔は、荒波にもまれる小舟のように揺れた。十兵衛は静かにそこに立ち、天の決めるところを待っていた。塔が倒れたら、てっぺんから身を投げるつもりだった。そして一晩じゅう、はるか下の嵐の中を、塔のまわりをぐるぐると休まず歩きまわる男が一人いた。源太だった。
When morning came, the storm had passed. All over the city, buildings had been damaged, but on the pagoda of Kannoji, not a single nail had loosened and not a single board had come off. People talked of nothing else. "That Jubei is a true master," they said.
朝が来ると、嵐は去っていた。町じゅうで建物が壊れていたが、感応寺の塔だけは、釘一本ゆるまず、板一枚はがれていなかった。人々は寄るとさわるとその話をした。「あの十兵衛というのは、本物の名人だ」
On the day of the ceremony, the head priest called both Genta and Jubei and climbed the pagoda with them. There, with a thick brush, he wrote these words: "Built by Jubei of Edo. Completed by Genta of Kawagoe." Then he turned and smiled at them. The two men could not speak. They only bowed low before him. The pagoda stood against the sky for more than a hundred years, and people still tell its story.
落成式の日、上人は源太と十兵衛の二人を呼び、一緒に塔に上った。そして太い筆で、こう書きしるした。「江戸の十兵衛これを造り、川越の源太郎これを成す」書き終えると、上人は二人をふり返ってほほえんだ。二人とも言葉が出なかった。ただ、上人の前に深く頭を下げるばかりだった。塔はそれから百年あまりも空にそびえ、その話は今も語りつがれている。
