The divine comedy — Page 3
When him in that great desert I espied,
あの広大な荒野で彼を見かけたとき、
"Have mercy on me!" cried I out aloud,
「我に慈悲を!」と私は大声で叫んだ、
"Spirit! or living man! what e'er thou be!"
「霊よ!それとも生ける人間よ!汝は何者なりとも!」
He answer'd: "Now not man, man once I was,
彼は答えた。「今は人間にあらず、かつては人間であった、
And born of Lombard parents, Mantuana both
ロンバルディア人の両親のもとに生まれ、両親ともに
By country, when the power of Julius yet
故郷はマントヴァ、ユリウスの権勢がいまだ
Was scarcely firm. At Rome my life was past
定まらぬ頃のことであった。ローマで私は生を過ごした
Beneath the mild Augustus, in the time
温和なアウグストゥスの治世のもと、その時代に
Of fabled deities and false. A bard
虚偽の神々の伝説が語られた時代に。詩人であった
Was I, and made Anchises' upright son
私は、アンキーセスの高潔なる息子を
The subject of my song, who came from Troy,
わが歌の主題と定めた、その者はトロイアより来たりし者、
When the flames prey'd on Ilium's haughty towers.
炎がイーリオンの高き塔々を喰らいし時のことである。
But thou, say wherefore to such perils past
されど汝よ、いかなる理由あってかかる過ぎ去りし危難へと
Return'st thou? wherefore not this pleasant mount
汝は戻るのか?なぜにこの麗しき山へと
Ascendest, cause and source of all delight?"
登らぬのか、あらゆる喜びの因にして源なる山へ?」
"And art thou then that Virgil, that well-spring,
「では汝こそはかのウェルギリウス、その泉、
From which such copious floods of eloquence
そこより滔々たる雄弁の奔流が
Have issued?" I with front abash'd replied.
湧き出でたるあの泉か?」と私は顔を赤らめて答えた。
"Glory and light of all the tuneful train!
「詩歌の徒すべての栄光よ、光よ!
May it avail me that I long with zeal
長き年月にわたり熱意をもって
Have sought thy volume, and with love immense
汝の書を求め、深き愛をもって
Have conn'd it o'er. My master thou and guide!
それを読み耽ってきたことが私の助けとなりますように。汝は我が師、我が導き手!
Thou he from whom alone I have deriv'd
汝こそは私がただひとりそこから汲み取った者、
That style, which for its beauty into fame
その美しさゆえに名声へと
Exalts me. See the beast, from whom I fled.
私を高めてくれたあの文体を。見よ、私が逃げてきたあの獣を。
O save me from her, thou illustrious sage!
おお、あの獣から私を救い給え、汝高名なる賢者よ!
"For every vein and pulse throughout my frame
「あの獣は私の全身の血管という血管、脈という脈を
She hath made tremble." He, soon as he saw
震えさせたのだ。」彼は、私が
That I was weeping, answer'd, "Thou must needs
泣いているのを見るや否や答えた、「汝はどうしても
Another way pursue, if thou wouldst 'scape
別の道を行かねばならぬ、もしも逃れたいならば
From out that savage wilderness.
あの荒々しき荒野から抜け出すために。
Vocabulary
- あの
- ano — That (over there); used to indicate distant thing.
- 広大
- kōdai — Vast, expansive, enormous in scale.
- な
- na — Adjectival linking particle; also negative imperative.
- 荒野
- kōya — Wilderness, wasteland, barren open land.
- で
- de — Particle indicating location of action or means.
- 彼
- kare — He, him; third-person masculine pronoun.
- を
- wo — Object marker particle indicating direct object.
- 見かけ
- mikake — Caught sight of; happened to notice someone.
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb ending.
- とき
- toki — Time, moment, when something occurs.
- 我
- ware — I, me; archaic or literary first-person pronoun.
- に
- ni — Particle indicating direction, location, or recipient.
- 慈悲
- jihi — Mercy, compassion, benevolence toward others.
- と
- to — Quotation particle; also conjunctive meaning 'and/with'.
- 私
- watashi — I, me; standard first-person singular pronoun.
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle highlighting sentence subject.
- 大声
- ōgoe — Loud voice; shouting at high volume.
- 叫ん
- sakеbn — Shouted, cried out loudly (stem form of 叫ぶ).
- だ
- da — Copula; plain form of 'to be'.
- 霊
- rei — Spirit, soul, ghost, supernatural entity.
- よ
- yo — Sentence-final particle adding emphasis or address.
- それとも
- soretomo — Or, or else; presenting an alternative option.
- 生ける
- ikeru — Living, alive; existing in the living world.
- 人間
- ningen — Human being, person, mankind.
- 汝
- nanji — You; archaic or literary second-person pronoun.
- 何者
- nanimono — Who, what kind of person or being.
- 答え
- kotae — Answer, reply, response to a question.
- 今
- ima — Now, at this moment, the present time.
- かつて
- katsute — Once, formerly, in the past at some point.
- あっ
- a(tte) — Was, existed; connective past form of ある.
- 人
- hito — Person, people, human individual.
- の
- no — Possessive/linking particle connecting nouns.
- 両親
- ryōshin — Both parents, mother and father together.
- もと
- moto — Under, origin; beneath the care or influence of.
- 生まれ
- umare — Birth, being born; origin of one's life.
- とも
- tomo — Even if, though; concessive conjunctive particle.
- 故郷
- kokyō — Hometown, native place, one's home region.
- が
- ga — Subject marker particle; also conjunctive 'but'.
- いまだ
- imada — Still, yet, not yet; used with negatives.
- 定まら
- sadamara — Not yet settled, undecided (negative stem of 定まる).
- 頃
- koro — Around that time, approximately that period.
- こと
- koto — Thing, fact, matter; nominalizer particle.
- 生
- sei/shō — Life; living, existence, lifetime.
- 過ごし
- sugoshi — Spent time, passed days (connective form of 過ごす).
- 温和
- onwa — Gentle, mild, moderate in temperament or climate.
- その
- sono — That (near listener); demonstrative determiner.
- 時代
- jidai — Era, age, period of history or time.
- 神々
- kamigami — Gods, deities; plural of god (神).
- 伝説
- densetsu — Legend, myth, traditional story passed down.
- 語ら
- katara — Told, narrated (stem of 語る, to tell/speak).
- れ
- re — Passive auxiliary verb suffix indicating passive voice.
- 詩人
- shijin — Poet; person who writes poetry.
- 高潔
- kōketsu — Noble, upright, of high moral character.
- なる
- naru — Becoming; attributive form linking adjective to noun.
- 息子
- musuko — Son, one's male child.
- わが
- waga — My, our; literary possessive first-person form.
- 歌
- uta — Song, poem, verse, lyrical composition.
- 主題
- shudai — Theme, main subject, central topic of work.
- 定め
- sadame — Decided upon, set as; connective form of 定める.
- 者
- mono — Person, one who does something; agent noun.
- より
- yori — From, since; comparative particle meaning 'than'.
- し
- shi — Past attributive auxiliary; also conjunctive listing.
- 炎
- honō — Flame, fire, blaze, burning conflagration.
- 喰らい
- kurai — Devoured, consumed (connective form of 喰らう).
- 時
- toki — Time, moment, occasion, when something happens.
- ある
- aru — To exist, there is/are; to have (inanimate).
- 理由
- riyū — Reason, cause, rationale for something.
- て
- te — Connective particle linking clauses or actions.
- 過ぎ去り
- sugisari — Passed away, gone by (connective form of 過ぎ去る).
- へ
- e — Directional particle indicating movement toward something.
- 戻る
- modoru — To return, go back to a previous place.
- か
- ka — Question particle indicating interrogative sentence.
- なぜ
- naze — Why, for what reason, what cause.
- この
- kono — This (near speaker); demonstrative determiner.
- 山
- yama — Mountain, hill, peak rising from the earth.
- 登ら
- nobora — Climb, ascend (negative/conditional stem of 登る).
- あらゆる
- arayuru — Every, all, any possible kind or type.
- 喜び
- yorokobi — Joy, delight, happiness, gladness.
- して
- shite — By means of; connective form of する (to do).
- 源
- minamoto — Source, origin, fountainhead of something.
- では
- dewa — Well then, in that case; topic/contrast marker.
- こそ
- koso — Emphatic particle stressing the preceding word.
- 泉
- izumi — Spring, fountain, source of flowing water.
- そこ
- soko — There, that place near the listener.
- 雄弁
- yūben — Eloquence, oratory, persuasive and fluent speech.
- 顔
- kao — Face, facial expression of a person.
- 赤らめ
- akarame — Blushed, flushed red (connective form of 赤らめる).
- 詩歌
- shika — Poetry and song; literary verse composition.
- すべて
- subete — All, everything, every single one.
- 栄光
- eikō — Glory, honor, brilliant fame and splendor.
- 光
- hikari — Light, radiance, brightness, shining illumination.
- 年月
- toshitsuki — Years and months; long passage of time.
- わたり
- watari — Over, spanning, throughout a period of time.
- 熱意
- netsui — Enthusiasm, zeal, passionate dedication and eagerness.
- もっ
- mo(tte) — With, by means of (connective form of 持つ).
- 書
- sho — Writing, book, literary work, written document.
- 求め
- motome — Sought, searched for (connective form of 求める).
- 愛
- ai — Love, deep affection, strong emotional attachment.
- それ
- sore — That, it; demonstrative pronoun near listener.
- 読み
- yomi — Reading; connective form of 読む (to read).
- 助け
- tasuke — Help, assistance, aid, support given to someone.
- ます
- masu — Polite verb ending indicating formal register.
- よう
- yō — Seems like, in order to; modal/purposive expression.
- 我が
- waga — My, our; literary possessive first-person modifier.
- 師
- shi — Teacher, master, mentor, one's guide or instructor.
- 導き
- michibiki — Guidance, leading the way, showing direction.
- 手
- te — Hand; also means method or means of doing.
- ただひとり
- tada hitori — Completely alone, solely by oneself, just one person.
- から
- kara — From, because; indicating source or reason.
- 汲み取っ
- kumitotte — Drew out, extracted meaning (connective of 汲み取る).
- 美し
- utsukushi — Beautiful; stem/literary form of 美しい.
- さ
- sa — Nominalizing suffix turning adjective into noun.
- ゆえ
- yue — Because, therefore, for the reason that.
- 名声
- meisei — Fame, reputation, renown, well-known status.
- 高め
- takame — Raised, elevated (connective form of 高める).
- くれ
- kure — Give me; connective/imperative form of くれる.
- 文体
- buntai — Writing style, literary style, manner of expression.
- 逃げ
- nige — Flee, run away (connective form of 逃げる).
- 獣
- kemono — Beast, wild animal, creature of the wild.
- おお
- ō — Oh! Exclamation of wonder, awe, or address.
- 救い
- sukui — Salvation, rescue, deliverance from danger or sin.
- 高名
- kōmei — High reputation, great fame, widely known renown.
- 賢者
- kenja — Wise person, sage, one possessing great wisdom.
- 全身
- zenshin — Whole body, entire physical being from head to toe.
- 血管
- kekkan — Blood vessel, vein or artery carrying blood.
- いう
- iu — Say, call, known as; to speak or name.
- 脈
- myaku — Pulse, vein, throbbing rhythm of blood flow.
- 震え
- furue — Trembling, shaking, quivering from emotion or cold.
- させ
- sase — Causative auxiliary making someone do something.
- 泣い
- naite — Crying, weeping (connective/te-form of 泣く).
- いる
- iru — To exist (animate); progressive auxiliary verb.
- 見る
- miru — To see, look at, observe with one's eyes.
- や
- ya — Sentence particle; also 'and' listing nouns.
- どうしても
- dōshitemo — No matter what, absolutely must, by all means.
- 別
- betsu — Different, separate, another, distinct from this.
- 道
- michi — Road, path, way, route to follow.
- 行か
- ika — Go; negative/conditional stem form of 行く.
- なら
- nara — If, in that case; conditional copula particle.
- もし
- moshi — If, supposing that; conditional opening word.
- も
- mo — Also, too, even; additive or inclusive particle.
- 逃れ
- nogare — Escape, flee from (connective form of 逃れる).
- たい
- tai — Want to do; desiderative auxiliary verb suffix.
- ば
- ba — Conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'when'.
- 抜け出す
- nukedasu — To escape from, slip out of, break free.
- ため
- tame — For the sake of, in order to, for a purpose.
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