A
Sound-Glass Artisan
(Jan. 1991)
Translated
by Shizuko Okajima
Edited by Jennifer A. Dunn
(Mar. 2003）
At the eastern end of the state Haminn was a little town named Kanotourugh. It was a very beautiful town near the sea, and in this beautiful town there lived a glassworker who had great skill.
One day when the summer had passed away and the air had become cool and fresh, the glassworker took a walk along the seashore; the clear blue sea always inspired his next piece of work. And when the sun had nearly gone down past the horizon, he happened to find a blue box made of glass. He picked it up and compared it with the sea without thinking; the mysterious blue color of the box was the same hue as that of the sea. The glassworker was happy to have found such a good thing. Just as he came to a rocky tract, all of a sudden, some strange feeling fiercely ran throughout him, and unexpectedly he dropped the glass box onto the rocks.
Then strangely enough, out of the broken glass, a song, sung in an unknown language, was heard floating through the air."farutahmo, lululycuitess, myaunlittmiasto,
werutahmo, yuyuidoppom, hyzukuindettmiasto,
..............................................................................................."The glassworker decided that it must be a bottled-up sound, which was released when he broke the glass. With his eyes closed he listened to the sweet song. And in time the pieces of the glass ceased to sing. Then after picking up all the pieces that he could find, the glassworker brought them with him to his own little workshop.
On the following day, the glassworker went over to the biggest port town, Haminn, in the state of Haminn, so as to visit a merchant who was an acquaintance of his.
He took with him the glass box he had restored, by putting the pieces back together, and showed it to the merchant.
"Have you ever seen such a thing?"
"Ah, it's a sound-glass work, isn't it?"
The merchant asked him how he had gotten it, and he answered that he had found it on the seashore.
"It's too bad! If it had not broken, it could have been sold at a high price!"
"I wish I could get two or three more such things..."
"No kidding; sound-glass is very expensive! It's not the type of item in which an ordinary merchant like me can deal."
The glassworker wanted to get some other boxes so as to study sound-glass and to make a sound-glass box all on his own. But he got discouraged; he was very skillful as a glassworker, but like many artisans he was very poor.
After coming home, he called on a famous singer he was acquainted with. He had decided that since he could not afford to buy any other sound-glass boxes he would invent one based on his only sample, the restored sound-glass box.
He explained his plan to the singer and the singer agreed to help him with his undertaking. From that day on, keeping himself in his workshop, he was absorbed in studying the art of making sound-glass.
After one year had passed, a sound a little similar to a singing voice could somehow be heard when the sound-glass he had made was broken.
After three years had passed, his sound-glass could sing half as beautifully as the sound-glass he had once heard on the sand.
After five years had passed, his sound-glass could sing three quarters as beautifully. The singer began to think that the glassworker's dream had been almost completely fulfilled, but the glassworker wouldn't agree.
Then after eight years had passed, at last his sound-glass could sing four fifths as beautifully as the singing voice. The glassworker still wasn't satisfied, but the singer deserted him, thinking that she could not help him any more, and left Haminn for some place far away.
Even this, however, couldn't lead the glassworker to give up. He told the whole sound-glass story to all the singers in Kanotourugh, and he asked them for help; and there were a lot of singers who offered cooperation. The glassworker thought he could keep doing his work.
But things didn't work out well. None of the boxes he had made with the help of other singers slightly even made a sound. The sound waves of the singers' voices didn't seem to be in tune with the glass. In spite of all this, the glassworker desperately tried and tried for two more years.
And one day, after those two years had passed, the glassworker suddenly disappeared from Kanotourugh. His workshop had been left empty; all of his unfinished glass boxes had been taken away.
＊
A sailing boat bound for the capital of November Kingdom Chererouta left the port of Meph. On the boat were different people from different states.
One morning, two or more days after the departure, the boat was caught in a bad storm. A storm in that area was known to be extraordinarily destructive, and what's worse the vessel was not big enough to struggle against it. All the people on the boat including the crew didn't think that they could escape from the storm. As the wind blew more furiously, the boat rolled in the squall more, until it was about to be swallowed by the waves.
Just at that moment a miracle occurred!
"Clank!"
It was the sound of glass breaking. And, as if urged by the sound, a song began to be heard flowing from nowhere. It was a beautiful song. The wildness of the storm was slightly surpassed by the gentle and soothing singing voice; it seemed to begin to slowly calm down the storm.
At first the people had no other alternative but to idly watch the battle between the voice and the storm occur right before their eyes. But in the meantime the voice began to push the storm back, and encouraged by this, the people joined in singing the song. And as the beautiful voice was fading out, before the passengers knew it, their song gradually became stronger, swelled and swelled, and finally overwhelmed the storm. It was not long before the storm was completely gone.
A young man, one of the passengers, picked up a piece of the broken glass with tears in his eyes. He stepped out toward an old man on board, saying,
"Old man, where did you get this sound-glass?"
The old man remained silent as if he could not hear anything.
"Your attitude lets me know. It is you that made this. How wonderful! I have never seen nor heard such brilliant sound-glass as this. Excuse me, but you aren't a person from Chererouta, are you? I am very surprised that such a masterly skillful sound-glass artisan as you is in a foreign state! In my own state, a sound-glass box is only a trivial thing."
The lad took out a blue tinted glass box.
"Clank!"
The pieces began to sing a song. The old man had heard the song before somewhere; he thought ― it is the very song I heard on the seashore in Kanotourugh! This box is the same as the one I found there!"farutahmo, lululycuitess, myaunlittmiasto,
werutahmo, yuyuidoppom, hyzukuindettmiasto,
.............................................................................................."The old man realized that the song from the box he found on the beach had not been so beautiful. Suddenly the sound which he had idealized for decades since he had heard it on the sand instantly vanished away from the old manﾕs mind.
The old man gently shed tears. He was thinking of the singer, his friend, who had already died. He was also thinking of the glass box which was broken just now, whose song he had thought was only four fifths as beautiful. He murmured,
"The singer, my friend, saved me and this boat..."
The sea was dead silent. The boat was peacefully making its way to the destination.
The old man was gazing out at the sea from the deck.
For a long, long time he did nothing but gaze.
音の細工師 ＜原文＞
国家ハミンの東のはずれに、カノトゥールフという小さな町があります。カノトゥールフの町は、海のそばにあるとても美しい町でした。この美しい町に、大変優れた腕を持つ一人のガラス細工師が住んでいました。
夏が過ぎ、ようやく涼しくなってきた頃、そのガラス細工師が浜辺を散歩していました。澄みわたった海の青さは、細工師にとっていい刺激になったのです。そして、陽も沈み切ろうとしていたそのとき、細工師は青いガラスの箱を見つけました。細工師はそれを拾いあげて、思わず海の色と見比べました。箱の不思議な色合いは、まるで海の色のようだったのです。いいものを拾った、と細工師は嬉しくなりました。そのとき、なにか不思議な衝撃が細工師を襲ったのでした。彼は不意に、ガラスの箱を岩の上に落としてしまったのです。ふぁるたーも るるりくいてす みやうんりっみあすと
うぇるたーも ゆゆいどっぽむ ひずくぃんでっみあすと
……………………………割れたガラスの箱の中から、こんな知らない国の言葉の歌が聞こえてきたのです。音の瓶詰めだったんだ、と細工師は思いました。そしてやがて、ふつりと、ガラスの破片はなにも言わなくなりました。そこで細工師はその瓶の破片をできるだけ全部拾うと、自分の小さな工場に持って帰ったのです。
次の日細工師は、国家ハミンの中で一番大きな港町の、都市ハミンに出掛けました。知り合いの商人の家を訪ねたのです。
細工師は、あの破片をつなぎ合わせて復元した青いガラスの箱を持って行きました。そしてそれを、商人に見せたのです。
「こういうものを見たことないかい」
「ああ、これは音細工じゃあないか」
商人はこれを手に入れたわけを尋ねたので、細工師は浜で拾ったと答えました。
「ああ、それは惜しいことをした。割っていなかったら、高く売れたのに」
「僕はこれと同じものが二つ三つ欲しいんだ」
「馬鹿をいっちゃあいけない。音細工は大変高価なものなんだ。私のようなふつうの商人が扱う品じゃあないんだよ」
細工師はがっかりしました。彼はガラス細工師としては、腕はよかったのですが、貧乏だったのでした。
家に戻った細工師は、知り合いの歌うたいの家を訪ねました。お金で手に入れることができないなら、自分で作るしかないと考えたので した。
細工師が歌うたいにわけを話すと、歌うたいもそれに賛成しました。細工師はその日から工場にこもって、ガラスの箱の研究を始めました。
それから一年たって、ガラスの箱を割ったとき、どうやら歌声のような音が聞こえるようになりました。
それから三年たって、歌声の半分くらいの美しさが、ガラスの破片から聞こえるようになりました。
それから五年たって、歌声の四分の三くらいの美しさが、ガラスの破片から聞こえるようになりました。歌うたいは、もうそろそろいいんじゃないかと思い始めていましたが、細工師は納得しませんでした。
それから八年たって、歌声の五分の四くらいの美しさが、ガラスの破片から聞こえてくるようになったのです。細工師はまだまだ納得が いきませんでしたが、歌うたいはこれ以上つきあいきれないと、どこか遠くに行ってしまいました。
しかしこのくらいのことでは、細工師はあきらめ切れませんでした。彼は カノトゥールフに住む全ての歌うたいにわけを話し、協力を求めました。応じる者は大勢いました。細工師はまだまだ仕事が続けられると思いました。
ところがうまくいかなかったのです。箱はどれもうんともすんとも言わなかったのです。歌声の波長とガラスのなにかが、うまく噛み合 わないようでした。それでも細工師は二年の間がんばりました。
そしてある日、細工師は カノトゥールフの町から消えてしまいました。工場からは、未完成のガラスの箱が全て消え失せていたのでした。
＊
十一月王国チェレルータの都に向かう船が、港町メフを出発しました。船にはいろいろな国々のいろいろな人々が乗り込んでいました。 出港して二日たったある朝、船は嵐に巻き込まれたのです。もう誰 もが、もはやこれまでだと思いました。船はあまり大きくなかったし、この辺りの嵐は尋常なものではなかったのです。風はますます強くなり、船もますます大きく揺れ、いまにも波に呑まれそうになりました。
そしてそのときに、奇跡が起こったのです。
「チャリン」
それはガラスの割れる音でした。この音を合図に、歌声がどこからともなく聞こえてきたのでした。それは、とても美しい歌声でした。その穏やかな、なぐさめるような歌声は、嵐の狂暴さにわずかに勝っていたのです。嵐は小さくなり始めました。
はじめ、人々はこの歌声と嵐との闘いを、ただじっと見ているだけでした。その間にも、歌声は嵐を押しやり始めました。そして、それ に勇気付けられた人々は、ガラスの歌声に加わりました。美しく澄んだガラスの歌声は、いつの間にか聞こえなくなっていましたが、人々 の元気で力強い歌声は嵐を圧倒しました。やがて、嵐は過ぎ去ってい ったのです。
一人の若者が涙を浮かべて、割れたガラスの一片を拾いあげました。若者はゆっくりとある老人の方に歩みより、言いました。
「老いた御方よ。あなたはこの音細工をどうなさったのですか」
老人は何も聞いていないかのように黙っていました。
「それで分かりました。これを作ったのはあなたです。なんということだ。僕はこれほど美しい音細工を見たことも聞いたこともなかった。失礼ですが、あなたはチェレルータの御仁ではない。そうでしょう。こんなすばらしい細工師が、外国にいたなんて。僕の国にはこんなものしかないんですよ」
若者は青いガラスの箱を取り出しました。いつか浜辺で拾ったそれ でした。
「チャリン」
青い破片のうたう歌はどこかで聞いた歌。そうです。浜辺のあのときの歌でした。
ふぁるたーも るるりくいてす みやうんりっみあすと
うぇるたーも ゆゆいどっぽむ ひずくぃんでっみあすと
……………………………それは、それほど美しい歌声ではなかったのです。老人の心の中で何十年もの間に理想化されていた浜辺の歌声は、一瞬のうちに壊れてしまいました。今聞いているガラスの歌声は、歌うたいも、ガラス細 工師も、浜辺のものと同じであることには間違いなかったのでした。
老人は静かに涙を流しました。老人は、死んだ友達の歌うたいのことを考えていました。それから、さっき割った五分の四の美しさの箱 のことを考えていました。そして、そっとつぶやいたのです。
「あいつが私とこの船をすくったんだ」海はすっかり静まりかえっています。船は港に近づいていきます。
老人はずっと海を眺めていました。
そう、いつまでも、眺めていたのです。