8
翌日、フランシスは小庭の購入者のところに駆けつけ、買戻しを提案した。この土地は特に価値があるわけでもなく、むしろ飽き始めていたため、購入者は喜んでこの土地を手放すことを承諾した。二人はすぐに購入の条件に合意し、すぐに契約書にサインをしに行った。
代金の半分は、カバンの中にあったルメルスブルク公からの餞別から支払った。そして、地面に穴を掘るのに必要な道具を調達し、庭に運び、月が昇るのを待った。そして、乞食の老人がくれた指示を忠実に守り、作業を開始すると、不運な冒険も何事もなく、フランシスは秘宝を手に入れることができたのである。
The following day he ran to the purchaser of the little garden, and proposed to re-purchase it. The latter, to whom this property was of no particular value, and indeed who began to be tired of it, willingly consented to part with it. They very soon agreed as to the conditions of the purchase, and went immediately to sign the contract: with the money he had found in his bag, as a gift from the lord of Rummelsbourg, Francis paid down half the price: he then procured the necessary tools for digging a hole in the earth, conveyed them to the garden, waited till the moon was up, strictly adhered to the instructions given him by the old beggar, set to work, and without any unlucky adventure he obtained the hidden treasure.
フランシスの父は、万一に備えて、この金を埋めておいたのである。この遺産を息子から奪うつもりは毛頭なかった。
しかし、突然の死によって、その秘密は墓場まで持ち去られ、この失われた宝物を本来の持ち主に戻すには、幸運な状況が重なるしかなかったという次第。
His father, as a precaution against necessity, had buried this money, without any intention to deprive his son of this considerable portion of his inheritance; but dying suddenly, he had carried the secret to his grave, and nothing but a happy combination of circumstances could have restored this lost treasure to its rightful owner.
ずっしりと金貨を詰めた宝箱は重すぎて、人の手を借りない事には宿まで持ち運べそうにない。とはいえ、また世間話のネタにされるのも嫌だったので、庭にある夏の別荘に隠し、小分けして何度も取りに行くことにした。3日目には、小さな裏通りにある彼の宿舎に無事運び込まれた。
The chest filled with gold pieces was too heavy for Francis to remove to his lodging without employing some person to assist him: and feeling unwilling to become a topic of general conversation, he preferred concealing it in the summer-house belonging to the garden, and fetching it at several times. On the third day the whole was safely conveyed to his lodging in the little back street.
フランシスは最上に身嗜みを整え、教会に出向いて、司祭に、それまで捧げて貰っていた祈りを、無事に仕事を終えて祖国に帰れた旅人の、感謝の祈りに代えてもらうよう依頼した。
彼は隅に身を隠し、人知れずメタを見遣っていた。司祭が感謝の言葉を捧げたとき、彼女の頬が美しく染まり、目が輝いているのを見たとき、彼は言いようのない喜びを覚えた。
かねてからの打ち合わせ通りに密会が実現し、メタの顔色はその影響を強く受け、無関心な人でもその原因を察せられた程であった。
Francis dressed himself in the best possible style, and went to the church to request that the priest would substitute for the prayers which had been previously offered up, a thanksgiving for the safe return of a traveller to his native country, after having happily terminated his business. He concealed himself in a corner, where, unseen, he could observe Meta. The sight of her gave him inexpressible delight, especially when he saw the beautiful blush which overspread her cheeks, and the brilliancy of her eyes, when the priest offered up the thanksgiving. A secret meeting took place as had been formerly arranged; and so much was Meta affected by it, that any indifferent person might have divined the cause.
フランシスは取引所に戻り、再び商売を始め、短期間のうちに十分な仕事をこなせるようになった。彼の幸運は日を追うごとに知られるようになり、隣人たちは、父の債権を回収する旅で、彼の分別というより運に恵まれたに違いないと断じた。
町の一番いい場所に大きな家を借り、事務員を雇い、賞賛に値する不屈の努力で事業を継続した。最大限の礼儀正しさと賢明さをもって行動し、かつて彼を破滅に追いやった愚かな浪費は控えた。
Francis repaired to the Exchange, set up again in business, and in a very short time had enough to do; his fortune each succeeding day becoming better known, his neighbours judged that he had had greater luck than sense in his journey to collect his father’s debts. He hired a large house in the best part of the town, engaged clerks, and continued his business with laudable and indefatigable assiduity; he conducted himself with the utmost propriety and sagacity, and abstained from the foolish extravagancies which had formerly been his ruin.
フランシスの財産が回復したことが話題となった。外国旅行の成功に誰もが驚いたが、彼の富の名声が広まるにつれ、メタの平穏と幸福は減少していった。
沈黙を守っていた恋人が、今や堂々と名乗りを上げられる状態になったように思えたのに、依然として口を閉ざしたまま、教会から出てきたときに、例によってばったり出会した風の愛を表現しただけだった。そして、このような逢瀬の頻度さえも少なくなり、それは彼の愛情の低下を示しているように思われた。
The re-establishment of Francis’s fortune formed the general topic of conversation. Every one was astonished at the success of his foreign voyage: but in proportion to the spreading fame of his riches, did Meta’s tranquillity and happiness diminish; for it appeared that her silent lover was now in a condition to declare himself openly, and yet he remained dumb, and only manifested his love by the usual rencontre on coming out of church; and even this species of rendezvous became less frequent, which appeared to evince a diminution of his affection.
不誠実なフランシスが、他の美女に言い寄っているのではと考えてしまったメタの心は、嫉妬でズタズタになりそうだった。
そもそも彼女は、愛する男の運勢の変化を知って、密かに喜びを感じていた。ツキが上向いてきたフランシスに自分も乗りたいなどという浅ましい動機からではなく、金持ちの醸造家との結婚が失敗して以来、この世で幸福や安らぎを享受することに絶望しているように見えた母親への愛情からだった。
フランシスの誠実を疑ってしまったら、彼のために教会で捧げた祈りが聞き入れられず、彼の旅がこれほどまでに成功を収めなければ、などとつい願ってしまう程だった。もし彼が食うや食わずの生活を続けていたら、生活必需品すら彼女と分かち合っていたのではないか。
Poor Meta’s heart was now torn by jealousy; for she imagined that the inconstant Francis was offering up his vows to some other beauty. She had experienced secret transports of delight on learning the change of fortune of the man she loved, not from interested motives and the wish to participate in his bettered fortune herself, but from affection to her mother, who, since the failure of the match with the rich brewer, absolutely seemed to despair of ever enjoying happiness or comfort in this world. When she thought Francis faithless, she wished that the prayers put up for him in the church had not been heard, and that his journey had not been attended with such entire success; for had he been reduced to means merely sufficient to procure the necessaries of life, in all probability he would have shared them with her.
母ブリジットは、娘の不安な気持ちを察せない筈もなく、その原因は容易に想像がついた。というのも、彼女は隣人の驚くべき帰還を聞いていたし、彼が今や勤勉な知的商人とみなされていることも知っていたからだ。という事は、もし彼の娘に対する愛が在るべきものなら、彼がこんなにも公表を躊躇うこともないだろう。しかし、娘の気持ちを傷つけたくないという思いから、娘にはこの話をしないようにしていた。
しかし、娘は悲しみを自分の胸に押し込めることができなくなり、母にそのことを話し、すべてを打ち明けたのだった。
Mother Bridget failed not to perceive her daughter’s uneasiness, and easily guessed the cause; for she had heard of her old neighbour’s surprising return, and she knew he was now considered an industrious intelligent merchant; therefore she thought if his love for her daughter was what it ought to be, he would not be thus tardy in declaring it; for she well knew Meta’s sentiments towards him. However, feeling anxious to avoid the probability of wounding her daughter’s feelings, she avoided mentioning the subject to her: but the latter, no longer able to confine her grief to her own bosom, disclosed it to her mother, and confided the whole to her.
母ブリジットは、娘の過去の行いをとがめず、弁舌の限りを尽くして娘を慰め、すべての希望を失おうとも、勇気をもって立ち上がるよう促した。
Mother Bridget did not reproach her daughter for her past conduct, but employed all her eloquence to console her, and entreated her to bear up with courage under the loss of all her hopes:
「彼のことは、諦めるしかないでしょう」と彼女は言った。
「目の前に現れた幸運を軽く見過ぎましたね。今は、振り出しに戻ったというところかしら。
経験が教えるところでは、堅固に組まれた基礎に見える希望に限って、人を裏切るものなのよ。私に倣って、もう人に心を許さないように。自分の境遇が良くなるなんて期待してはいけない、今ある境遇に満足しないと。
生活の手段を生産するこの紡ぎ車に敬意を表しましょう、そうすれば運も富もどうでもよくなるでしょう。」
“You must resign him,” said she: “you scorned at the happiness which presented itself to your acceptance, therefore you must now endeavour to be resigned at its departure. Experience has taught me that those hopes which appear the best founded are frequently the most delusive; follow my example, and never again deliver up your heart. Do not reckon on any amelioration of your condition, and you will be contented with your lot. Honour this spinning-wheel which produces the means of your subsistence, and then fortune and riches will be immaterial to you: you may do without them.”
そう言って、母ブリジットは、会話の時間を取り戻すために、倍速で糸繰車を回転させた。彼女は娘に真実しか話さなかった。
失った快適さを取り戻せると期待していた時期が過ぎてしまったため、現在の欲求と将来の生活設計を簡素化し、運命の力でそれらに大きな狂いが生じないようにしたのである。
しかし、メタはまだそれほど哲学者ではなかったので、母の励ましや慰め、教義は、彼女に対して、その意図とはまったく異なる影響を与えた。
メタは、母が抱いていた嬉しい希望を打ち砕くのは自分自身だと考えていた。しかし、意中の人が大きな財産を手に入れたという知らせを聞いてから、彼女の視野は広がり、自分の選択によって母の望みを実現できるかもしれないと、喜びを感じていた。
Thus saying, mother Bridget turned her wheel round with redoubled velocity, in order to make up for the time lost in conversation. She spoke nothing but the truth to her daughter: for since the opportunity was gone by when she hoped it was possible to have regained her lost comforts, she had in such a manner simplified her present wants and projects of future life, that it was not in the power of destiny to produce any considerable derangement in them. But as yet Meta was not so great a philosopher; so that her mother’s exhortations, consolations, and doctrines, produced a precisely different effect on her from what they were intended. Meta looked on herself as the destroyer of the flattering hopes her mother had entertained. Although she did not formerly accept the offer of marriage proposed to her, and even then could not have reckoned on possessing beyond the common necessaries of life; yet, since she had heard the tidings of the great fortune obtained by the man of her heart, her views had become enlarged, and she anticipated with pleasure that by her choice she might realize her mother’s wishes.
しかし、この黄金の夢は消え去ってしまった。フランシスは訪ねて来なくなった。それどころか、街では、彼とアンヴェルスの非常に裕福な若い女性との間で婚約が結ばれようとしているとさえ言われる有様。
この知らせは、貧しいメタにとって致命的なものだった。彼女は彼を自分の心から追い出してやると誓ったが、作ったものを涙で濡らさずに居られなかった。
Now, however, this golden dream had vanished: Francis would not come again; and indeed they even began to talk in the city of an alliance about to take place between him and a very rich young lady of Anvers. This news was a death-blow to poor Meta: she vowed she would banish him from her thoughts; but still moistened her work with her tears.
