むかしむかし、年老いた夫婦がおりました。夫は酒を飲むと三悪道楽で、手の着けられないような男でしたが、妻は心の優しい信仰心の強い人でしたので、夫が外に出るたびに、  観音様に「夫が真面目になってくれますように。」と一心に合掌するのでした。ある日、いつものように観音様を拝んでいると、その日に限って少し早めに仕事から帰った夫が、後ろに立っていました。 妻が慌てて観音様を懐に隠したのを、見とがめて、「いま、懐さ隠したもの何だば、見せろ（めへれ）」 「いや、何でもね。」のやり取りが始まり、一言と二言話している内に喧嘩となりました。 カッとなった夫は、「それなら、こうしてやる」と、妻の頭を側にあった薪で叩きましたので、妻は死んでしまいました。 さすがの性悪男も、困ったことをしたと思い、夜の明け切らないうちに、裏の竹藪に妻を埋めてしまいました。竹藪から帰って来ると、不思議なことに、さっき竹藪に埋めてきたばかりの妻が家にいるではありませんか。そんなはずはと、竹藪を掘り返してみると死人がいません。すると家にいるのは、殺したはずの妻だと思ったとたん、ヘナヘナと尻餅を着きました。 膝をガクガクさせながら、震える足でようやく家に戻り、自分の妻そっくりの女の人に尋ねました。  すると、女の人は、「さっき、薪で叩かれて死んだ、おめ（お前）のかが（妻）です。」と答えました。男は心臓が止まるほどどってん（仰天）しました。死んだはずの妻が目の前で喋っているのですから。ガタガタ震えている夫に、「あんだは、我ごと疑って殺したけれど、我は毎日毎日、観音様にあんだが真面目になるように願掛けていだんだ。薪で我ごと叩いたけれど、普段信じている観音様が身代わりになってくれだんだ。」と、そう言って懐から観音様を出しました。観音様の頭には深い傷がありました。 この話を聞いた夫は改心をして、毎日観音様を拝むようになりました。すると、自然と心も和み、それからは夫婦仲良く暮らしましたとさ。 トッツパレコピー |
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Once upon a time somewhere in Japan, there lived an old couple． The old husband loved to drink sake and he always drank too much．He also loved gambling and women; the three worse vices or 'san aku doraku' (three bad things and a wild life)． The husband and wife always fought but the wife was a gentle and religious person and every time her husband went out, she prayed to Kannon-sama (the goddess of mercy) that her husband would change． One day she was praying to Kannon-sama when her husband came home earlier than usual． He surprised her and she hurriedly put the small figure of Kannon-sama into the top folds of her kimono．(It is a Buddhist custom that praying should be secret, if someone hears or sees you praying, Buddha's power will disappear and whatever you prayed for will not happen．) Her husband immediately accused her of hiding something from him．He said "What did you put in your kimono? Show me now!" But she said "Nothing! Nothing!" They started to fight again but the husband was so angry that he grabbed a nearby log of wood and hit his wife on the head with it．He hit her so hard that it killed her． The husband realised he had done something terrible and he carried his wife's body to a bamboo thicket at the back of their house and buried her there．It was just before dawn．He then went back to the house． But when he got there he was shocked to see his wife still there and alive．He thought he was dreaming and ran back to the bamboo thicket to see if his wife was still here．He quickly undug the grave but he soon discovered that it was empty． He couldn't believe his eyes．He thought his wife must be a goblin cat．He had killed her just a few hours ago but now she was alive and back in the house．He fell into a cold sweat． He went back into the house and tried to talk to the woman who appeared to be his wife． She said "Yes, I am your wife whom you hit on the head with a log of wood．" The man's heart almost stopped beating with fear, but he said "How can you be here speaking to me if you're dead?" The wife said "I prayed to Kannon-sama every day that you would change your ways but you didn't and you killed me．However, my faithful Kannon-sama substituted a vision of me for the real me, so you didn't kill me at all．" (Kannon-sama will substitute herself for a person in need．) On saying this the wife pulled-out the Kannon-sama from her kimono, it had a deep dent on it's head． After all that had happened, the husband changed dramatically．He too began to pray to Kannon-sama every day．He also became gentle and caring and he and his wife lived happily from this time on． Tottsuparekkopiｰｰｰｰ！ |
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