7 幻影
魘されるオーブリー。ちょうどその頃、アテネに着いたラッスェン卿が駆けつけ、付き添う。しかし回復しても、イアンテの幻が付き纏うアテネ近辺にはもう居られない。
寝込んだオーブリーは、これまでになく高い熱を出し、うわ言しばしば。その合間にラッスェン卿にイアンテに呼ばわった……曰く言い難い組み合わせで、愛していた存在から引き裂かないでくれと以前の道連れに取縋るかのように。かと思うと、その頭に禍あれと、加害者なりとして呪ったり。
Aubrey being put to bed was seized with a most violent fever, and was often delirious; in these intervals he would call upon Lord Ruthven and upon Ianthe—by some unaccountable combination he seemed to beg of his former companion to spare the being he loved. At other times he would imprecate maledictions upon his head, and curse him as her destroyer.
折しもこの時アテネに到着したラッスェン卿は、オーブリーの状態を聞いて、すぐに同じ家に投宿し、付き添ってやった。後者が錯乱から回復すると。今や自分の内でその印象が吸血鬼に重なっていた、その男が目の前に！びっくりドッキリ。対するラッスェン卿は優しい声言葉、決別に至った過ちについてほとんど悔い改めるかのようで、なお一層気にかけ、心配し、世話を焼いてみせ、あっさり宥めた。
Lord Ruthven chanced at this time to arrive at Athens, and, from whatever motive, upon hearing of the state of Aubrey, immediately placed himself in the same house, and became his constant attendant. When the latter recovered from his delirium, he was horrified and startled at the sight of him whose image he had now combined with that of a Vampyre; but Lord Ruthven, by his kind words, implying almost repentance for the fault that had caused their separation, and still more by the attention, anxiety, and care which he showed, soon reconciled him to his presence.
閣下は人が変わったようだった。もはやオーブリーをあれほど魂消させたような人でなしには見えなかった。しかし、回復が軌道に乗るや、徐々にではあれ、元の木阿弥。もうオーブリーは以前と違うものとは受け取れなくなった、ただ時々ぎょっとしたのは、悪そうなニヤつきを口元に上せつつ、じっと人の顔を覗き込んでいる事があり、意味が判らない、この笑顔がまた気色悪い。怪我人の再起もいよいよ間近となると、もう涼しいそよ風で漣が起きるのを眺めていたり、地球と同様、動かざる太陽を巡る歩みをなす球体を見つけ出したりする方に傾くラッスェン卿であった。実にひっそりと、人目を避けるように。
His lordship seemed quite changed; he no longer appeared that apathetic being who had so astonished Aubrey; but as soon as his convalescence began to be rapid, he again gradually retired into the same state of mind, and Aubrey perceived no difference from the former man, except that at times he was surprised to meet his gaze fixed intently upon him, with a smile of malicious exultation playing upon his lips: he knew not why, but this smile haunted him. During the last stage of the invalid's recovery, Lord Ruthven was apparently engaged in watching the tideless waves raised by the cooling breeze, or in marking the progress of those orbs, circling, like our world, the moveless sun;—indeed, he appeared to wish to avoid the eyes of all.
この衝撃によってオーブリーの心はすっかり衰弱し、かつて彼を際立たせていた精神の弾みは今や永遠に去ってしまったようだった。今の彼はラッスェン卿と同じくらい孤独と沈黙を愛し、しかしそう都合よくは孤独になれず、アテネ近辺に心治まる地はなかった。以前頻繁に訪れた廃墟の中に行ってみると、イアンテの幻がそばに立つ。森の中へ行ってみると、彼女の軽い足取りが、慎ましいスミレを求めて、下生えの中でさまようように見え。そこでふと振り返ると、その想像力が見せるのは、青白い顔と傷ついた喉、唇には穏やかな微笑みを浮かべ。
Aubrey's mind, by this shock, was much weakened, and that elasticity of spirit which had once so distinguished him now seemed to have fled for ever. He was now as much a lover of solitude and silence as Lord Ruthven; but much as he wished for solitude, his mind could not find it in the neighbourhood of Athens; if he sought it amidst the ruins he had formerly frequented, Ianthe's form stood by his side—if he sought it in the woods, her light step would appear wandering amidst the underwood, in quest of the modest violet; then suddenly turning round, would show, to his wild imagination, her pale face and wounded throat, with a meek smile upon her lips.
何を見ても、心の中にこんな苦い連想を生み出すしかない思い出を振り払おうと決心した。病に伏せっていた間に何くれとなく世話になっていたラッスェン卿に提案してみた、2人ともまだ見たことがないギリシャの田舎に行ってみようと。
He determined to fly scenes, every feature of which created such bitter associations in his mind. He proposed to Lord Ruthven, to whom he held himself bound by the tender care he had taken of him during his illness, that they should visit those parts of Greece neither had yet seen.
those orbs, :1781年にハーシェルが天王星を、1801年にピアッツィが小惑星ケレスを、1846年にはルヴェリエの計算によりガレとダレストが海王星を発見した。そのような時代を背景として、球体 orb とは天体、特に惑星を指すのかもしれない。
his wild imagination:デュオダティ荘の百物語でパーシー・シェリーが錯乱した1件を参照。
