The talented young herbalist named Xu Xian was in trouble. It should have been a victorious moment– he had just opened his very own medicine shop. But he bought his supplies from his former employer, and the resentful man sold him rotten herbs.
許仙という才ある若い漢方医は 困っていました 自分の漢方の店を開いたばかりで 勝利の美酒に酔うはずでした 昔の奉公先から 品物を仕入れたものの 腹を立てた旦那さんが 腐った薬草を売りつけたのでした
As Xu Xian wondered what to do with this useless inventory, patients flooded into his shop. A plague had stricken the city, and he had nothing to treat them. Just as he was starting to panic, his wife, Bai Su Zhen, produced a recipe to use the rotten herbs as medicine. Her remedy cured all the plague-afflicted citizens immediately. Xu Xian’s former boss even had to buy back some of the rotten herbs to treat his own family.
許仙が使い物にならない薬草を どうしようかと考えあぐねていると 患者が店に押し寄せて来ました 町で疫病が流行しており 許仙には患者に施すための 薬がなかったのです 許仙がパニックになりかけた時 妻の白娘子が 腐った薬草を調合して薬を作り たちどころに 町の人々の病気を治しました 許仙の昔の旦那さんでさえ 家族の病気を治すために その腐った薬草を 買い戻さなくてはなりませんでした
Shortly after, a monk named Fa Hai approached Xu Xian, warning him that there was a demon in his house. The demon, he said, was Bai Su Zhen. Xu Xian laughed. His kindhearted, resourceful wife was not a demon.
すぐに 法海という禅師が 許仙の所にきて 彼の家に化け物が憑いており その化け物が白娘子だと言うのでした 許仙は笑いました 優しく 賢い妻が化け物で あろうはずがありません
Fa Hai insisted. He told Xu Xian to serve his wife realgar wine on the 5th day of the 5th month, when demons’ powers are weakest. If she wasn’t a demon, he explained, it wouldn’t hurt her.
法海はなおも言いました 「化け物の力が一番弱くなる5月5日に 白娘子に雄黃酒を飲ませなさい 化け物でないなら害はない」と言いました
Xu Xian dismissed the monk politely, with no intention of serving Bai Su Zhen the wine. But as the day approached, he decided to try it.
許仙は丁重にお断りし 白娘子に雄黃酒を 飲ますつもりもなかったのですが その日が近づいてくると 許仙は試してみることにしました
As soon as the wine touched Bai Su Zhen’s lips, she ran to the bedroom, claiming she wasn’t feeling well. Xu Xian prepared some medicine and went to check on her. But instead of his wife, he found a giant white serpent with a bloody forked tongue in the bed. He collapsed, killed by the shock.
白娘子が雄黃酒を口にしたとたん 体調が悪いと寝室に駆け込みました 許仙は薬を用意して 様子を見に行きましたが 病床にいたのは 妻ではなく 真っ赤な二股に分かれた舌の 大きな白蛇でした 許仙はショックのあまり 倒れこみ 死んでしまいました
When Bai Su Zhen opened her eyes, she realized immediately what must have happened. The truth was that Bai Su Zhen was an immortal snake with formidable magical powers. She had used her powers to take a human form and improve her and her husband’s fortunes.
白娘子が目を覚ました時 何が起きたかを刹那に悟りました 実は白娘子は不死の蛇で 強大な魔力がありました その力で人の姿になり 自分や夫の運勢を 良くしていました
Her magic couldn’t revive Xu Xian, but she had one more idea to save him: an herb that could grant longevity and even bring the dead back to life, guarded by the Old Man of the South Pole in the forbidden peaks of the Kun Lun Mountains. She rode to the mountains on a cloud, then continued on foot passed gateways and arches until she reached one marked “beyond mortals” hanging over a silver bridge.
その魔力でも許仙を生き返らすことは 叶いませんでしたが 白娘子には 夫を救う秘策がありました 長寿を与え 死者を蘇らせさえする薬草です この薬は南極老人が 崑崙山脈の禁断の山頂で 守っていました 死者は雲に乗って 崑崙山脈に向かい そこからは 歩いて門やアーチ橋を通って行き ようやく 銀橋の上に 「隔凡橋」と表札が掛けてある所に たどり着きました
On the other side, two of the Old Man’s disciples guarded the herb. Bai Su Zhen disguised herself as a monk and told them she’d come to invite the Old Man to a gathering of the gods. While they relayed her message, she plucked some leaves from the herb and ran.
橋の向こう側には 南極老人の弟子の2人が 薬草を守っておりました 白娘子は禅師に化けて 神々の集いに南極老人を招くために 来たと弟子たちに言いました 弟子たちが伝言を伝えている間に 白娘子は薬草の葉を摘み取り 逃げました
The servants realized they had been tricked and chased her. Bai Su Zhen coughed up a magic ball and threw it at one. As the other closed in on her, she put the herb under her tongue for safekeeping, but its magic forced both of them into their true forms. As the crane’s long beak clamped around her, the Old Man appeared. Why, he asked, would she risk her life to steal his herb when she was already immortal?
騙されたことに気づいた弟子たちは 白娘子を追いかけました 白娘子は魔法の玉を口から吐き出し 弟子の1人に投げました もう1人が近づいて来たので 薬草を守るために 自分舌の下に置きましたが その魔法により 皆が 真の姿に戻りました 鶴の長いくちばしで 白娘子を動けなくしたところで 南極老人が現れ 白娘子は不死だと言うのに 命を危険にさらしてまで 薬草を盗んだわけを尋ねました
Bai Su Zhen explained her love for Xu Xian. Even if he didn’t want to be with her now that he knew she was a demon, she was determined to bring him back to life. The two had a karmic connection dating back more than a thousand years. When Bai Su Zhen was a small snake, a beggar was about to kill her, but a kind passerby rescued her. Her rescuer was Xu Xian in a past life. Touched by her willingness to risk her life for him, the Old Man permitted her to leave the mountain with the immortal herb.
白娘子は許仙への愛を語りました 自分が化け物だと知って 許仙が一緒に暮らさないとしても 白娘子は許仙を生き返らすと 心に決めていました この2人には千年以上も前に 前世の因縁がありました 白娘子は小さな蛇で 乞食に殺されかけていた時 優しい行きずりの人に 助けられたのです 前世の許仙が助けたのでした 許仙のために命も厭わない 白娘子に心をうたれ 南極老人は白娘子に不死の薬草を持って 山を下りることを許しました
Bai Su Zhen returned home to revive Xu Xian. When he opened his eyes, the terrified look frozen on his face became a smile. Demon or not, he was still happy to see his wife.
白娘子は家に戻り 許仙を生き返らせました 許仙が目を開けたとき 恐怖で強張っていた顔から 笑みがこぼれました 化け物であろうが なかろうが 妻に会えたので 許仙は幸せだったのです