I travell’d thro’ a land of men, A land of men and women too; And heard and saw such dreadful things As cold earth-wanderers never knew. 人の地を我、旅したもの。 男達の土地に女達の土地、 見聞せしは恐ろしく畏るべき事共、 凍こごえ彷徨さまよえる者等も知り得なかった。 For there the Babe is born in joy That was begotten in dire woe; Just as we reap in joy the fruit Which we in bitter tears did sow. とある処、赤子は喜びの内に生る そは艱難辛苦かんなんしんくの始まりなりき。 喜びの内に果実の収穫をなすは 辛い涙の種まきに因よるが如く。 And if the Babe is born a boy He’s given to a Woman Old, Who nails him down upon a rock, Catches his shrieks in cups of gold. して、生まれたこの子が男の子なら 彼は老女に引き渡されて。 女は彼を岩に釘付け、 苦鳴を黄金こがねの杯に受け。 She binds iron thorns around his head, She pierces both his hands and feet, She cuts his heart out at his side, To make it feel both cold and heat. 鉄の茨を頭に縛いましめ、 両手両足打ち貫つらぬき。 脇に心臓抉えぐり出す、 暑さ寒さを知らしめるべく。 Her fingers number every nerve, Just as a miser counts his gold; She lives upon his shrieks and cries, And she grows young as he grows old. 女が指先、筋という筋なぶる、 守銭奴の銭を数えるが如し。 彼が苦痛と悲鳴に女は居座り、 彼が年取るや女の若返り。 Till he becomes a bleeding Youth, And she becomes a Virgin bright; Then he rends up his manacles, And binds her down for his delight. 遂に男は血も滴したたる青年となり、 女は輝く処女となり。 即ち男は枷を引き裂き、 喜びに満ちて女を縛り倒す。 He plants himself in all her nerves, Just as a husbandman his mould; And she becomes his dwelling-place And garden fruitful seventyfold. 女の筋という筋に男のものを植え付ける、 農夫が畑にするように。 かくて女は男の住まう場所、 70倍に実る庭となる。 An agèd Shadow, soon he fades, Wandering round an earthly cot, Full fillèd all with gems and gold Which he by industry had got. 老いたる影、消え行く彼、 平屋の周りを歩き回る、 家じゅう満杯宝石黄金 彼が勤めの齎もたらした。 And these are the gems of the human soul, The rubies and pearls of a love-sick eye, The countless gold of the aching heart, The martyr’s groan and the lover’s sigh. これなる宝石、人の魂にして 紅玉真珠は愛と病の目、 計り知れぬ黄金は苦痛の心臓、 殉教の呻き、恋人のため息。 They are his meat, they are his drink; He feeds the beggar and the poor And the wayfaring traveller: For ever open is his door. そは彼が糧かて、そは彼が飲み物、 男が恵むは乞食貧民 及び徒歩かちせる旅行者にも。 いつまでも開くは彼の扉。 His grief is their eternal joy; They make the roofs and walls to ring; Till from the fire on the hearth A little Female Babe does spring. 彼が苦しみこそ彼等が尽きざる宴、 屋根を壁を鳴り響かす。 やがて暖炉のその火から 女の赤子が弾け出るまで。 And she is all of solid fire And gems and gold, that none his hand Dares stretch to touch her baby form, Or wrap her in his swaddling-band. そは燃え盛る焔の女 宝石黄金から成る、誰もその手を 伸べて赤子の身体に触れようとも、 産着に包んでやろうともせぬほどの。 But she comes to the man she loves, If young or old, or rich or poor; They soon drive out the Agèd Host, A beggar at another’s door. されど女は愛する男の元へ走る、 老若貧富もお構い無し。 やがて二人は老いたる主を追い出し、 他所の戸口で物乞いさせる。 He wanders weeping far away, Until some other take him in; Oft blind age-bent, sore distrest, Until he can a Maiden win. 男は泣きつつ遥か彷徨う、 誰か迎え入れてくれるまで。 ほぼ目はかすみ腰は曲がり、辛苦が苛さいなむ、 男が乙女を勝ち得るまでは。 And to allay his freezing age, The poor man takes her in his arms; The cottage fades before his sight, The garden and its lovely charms. 寄る年波を和らげるべく、 哀れな男は女をかき抱く。 かの小屋、彼が眼前に消え行く、 その庭もその心地良さも。 The guests are scatter’d thro’ the land, For the eye altering alters all; The senses roll themselves in fear, And the flat earth becomes a ball; 地のおもてに散らさる客人たち、 変わり行く目が全てを変える。 五感は彼等を恐怖に堕とす、 平らな大地も丸くなる。 The stars, sun, moon, all shrink away A desert vast without a bound, And nothing left to eat or drink, And a dark desert all around. 星、月、太陽、みな縮みゆき 沙漠は広く限りなく、 食べるものも飲むものも何も残らず、 暗い沙漠が広がるばかり。 The honey of her infant lips, The bread and wine of her sweet smile, The wild game of her roving eye, Does him to infancy beguile; 女の無邪気な唇の蜜、 女の微笑みパンと葡萄酒、 悪戯っぽくくるくる回る目、 男を思わずその気にさせる。 For as he eats and drinks he grows Younger and younger every day; And on the desert wild they both Wander in terror and dismay. 男が飲み食い歳重ねるに 段々と日々若返りゆく。 さても厳しき沙漠に二人して 恐怖と不安に彷徨える。 Like the wild stag she flees away, Her fear plants many a thicket wild; While he pursues her night and day, By various arts of love beguil’d; 野の鹿の如くに女は逃げ回り、 怖れのあまりに山ほど茂みを作る。 夜も昼も女を男が追いかけるからには、 ありとあらゆる愛の手管に惑わされ。 By various arts of love and hate, Till the wide desert planted o’er With labyrinths of wayward love, Where roams the lion, wolf, and boar. ありとあらゆる愛憎の手管を以て、 広い沙漠も埋め立てらるる 気まぐれな愛の迷宮に。 そこに彷徨うろつく獅子やら狼やら大蛇やら。 Till he becomes a wayward Babe, And she a weeping Woman Old. Then many a lover wanders here; The sun and stars are nearer roll’d; 遂に男が頑是無い赤子と成るや、 女はすすり泣く老女と化す。 此処に恋人たちは多く彷徨い。 太陽や星の巡りも近くなり。 The trees bring forth sweet ecstasy To all who in the desert roam; Till many a city there is built, And many a pleasant shepherd’s home. 木々は甘美な恍惚齎す 沙漠を彷徨さまよえる者全てに。 やがてそこに多く街が建ち、 愉快な羊飼いたちの家も多く建つ。 But when they find the Frowning Babe, Terror strikes thro’ the region wide: They cry ‘The Babe! the Babe is born! And flee away on every side. しかし彼の顰しかめ面な赤子が見つかるや、 辺り一帯恐怖が打ちのめす。 「赤子が！彼の赤子生る！」皆絶叫し 四方八方逃げ散らす。 For who dare touch the Frowning Form, His arm is wither’d to its root; Lions, boars, wolves, all howling flee, And every tree does shed its fruit. 彼の顰め面な身体に触れんとした者は、 その腕、根から枯らさるる。 獅子や大蛇や狼の皆が吼え猛り、 木という木はその果実を落す。 And none can touch that Frowning Form, Except it be a Woman Old; She nails him down upon the rock, And all is done as I have told. 彼の顰め面な身体に触るる者なし、 独りとある老女あるのみ。 女は男を岩に釘付け、 以上に我が語れる全てが復また為さる。 By William Blake（翻訳：萩原學）