27 竹取物語
（前略）
まとめられたのは、和歌ばかりではありません。国文の物語が出来ました。竹取物語
、伊勢物語、土佐日記、宇津保物語、落窪物語、そしてやがて枕草子と源氏物語、これ
等の物語が大体清和天皇の貞観年間から、一条天皇の寛弘年間まで、凡そ百五十年間ほ
どの間に、つぎつぎに作られて行きました。これはまことに壮観です。殊にその最もす
ぐれたものが、女性の手に作られたと云う事は、前にも例がなく、後にも類の無い事で
す。
一番古いと思われる竹取物語は、美しいかぐや姫を主人公とした小説です。
今は昔、竹取の翁といふものありけり。野山なる竹をとりて、よろづの事につかひけ
り。
と書き出して、その翁が、竹の中に光のあるのを見つけ、何だろうと近寄って見ると、
三寸ばかりの美しい稚児であったので、家へもって帰り、妻にあずけて養育したが、そ
れより後は、竹の中に黄金のあるのを見つける事が多く、翁は段々と富裕になった。稚
児はすくすくと大きくなって、三月ほどのうちに、立派に成人した。その美しい事、世
に類なく、家の中には、光が充ち満ちた。翁はこれにかぐや姫と名づけた。その姫に結
婚を申し込んできた人多い中に、最後まで残った熱心な人が五人あった。あまりに強い
られるので、姫は、「私のほしい物を持って来た人と結婚しましょう」と云う。そして
一人には仏の石の鉢、次の人には蓬莱山にあるところの、根は銀、幹は金、実は真珠と
云う珍しい木の一枝、次には支那にある火鼠の皮衣、次の人には龍の首にある五色の珠
、最後の一人には燕の子安貝、どれもどれも手に入れ難い物ばかりを注文する。（中略
）
求婚者五人は、すべて失敗したが、その後、この噂をお聞きになって、帝よりお召し
があった。然し姫は、八月十五日の夜には、月の都よりお迎えが来るので、父母の許へ
帰らねばならないと云って、竹取の翁との別れを悲しんで泣く。勅使が二千人の兵士を
ひきいて、竹取の家を守り、月の都の迎えを遮ろうとするが、いよいよお迎えが来ると
、皆々酔い心地になって、力を失う。姫は迎えの車に乗り、百人ばかりの天人に守られ
て天へ昇った。帝は、姫より献上した不死の薬と、姫への手紙とを、富士山のいただき
にて、火をつけて燃やせと仰せつけられる。そして、
その不死の薬を焼きてけるより後は、かの山をば、ふじの山とは名づけける。いまだ
、その煙、雲の中へ立ち昇るとぞいひ伝へたる。
で終わっています。（以下略）
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27 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari)
(an omission)
Not just poetry collections were compiled; Japanese tales also appeared. The
Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari), Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari),
The Tosa Diary (Tosa Nikki), The Tale of Utsubo (Utsubo Monogatari), The Tale
of Ochikubo (Ochikubo Monogatari), followed by The Pillow Book of Sei Shounagon
(Makura no Soushi) and The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), developed in
turn. This occurred in a period of one hundred abd fifty years, from Jougan era
during the reign of Emperor Seiwa (r. 858-876) to Kankou era during the reign
of Emperor Ichijou (r. 986-1011). This must indeed have been a glorioes era.
In particular, for the first time the best works were created by women;
something not yet repeated.
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari), considered to be the
oldest of the above, is a novel with beautiful Kaguya Hime as the heroine. It
starts:
"Once upon a time, there was an old bamboo cutter who went into the mountains
and fields, cut bamboo, and put the stalks to all kinds of uses."
The old man found a bamboo that emanated a glow from inside. Upon inspection,
he found a beautiful little child, 3 sun (10 cm) tall, whom he took home, to be
raised by his wife. Subsequently the old man often found gold inside the
bamboo trees, which made him wealthy. Meanwhile in three months, the little
girl grew swiftly into a charming young woman of incomparable beauty, filling
the household with light. The old man named the child Kaguya Hime, meaning
Radiant Maiden of the Pliant Bamboo.
Many men proposed marriage to her, and among them were five persistent and
devoted men, who were so forceful that Kaguya Hime said: "I shall marry the one
who brings me what I wish to have." Her requests were all unobtainable objects
: the stone begging bowl used in India by the historical Buddha; a branch of a
tree with silver roots, a golden trunk, and jeweled fruit from Penglai, the
legendary Isle of the Immortals; a robe made of the fireproof fur of the
mythical Chinese fire-rat; a five-colored jewel from a dragon's head; and one
of the easy-birth shells supposedly possessed by swallows. (an omission)
In the end all five suitors met with failure.
Subsequently the Emperor heard of this, and invited Kaguya Hime to the court.
But she said that she would be met by the people of the Moon, whom her parents
would send to fetch her, on the 15th day of the 8th month. She was filled with
great sorrow at the prospect of leaving the elderly couple.
An imperial messenger arrived with an army of two thousand men, to protect the
mansion and intercept the envoy from the Moon. But when the envoy procession
arrived, everyone became as if intoxicated and powerless. Riding on a
palanquin, and guarded by a hundred Moon guards, Kaguya Hime ascended to the
heavens. The Emperor was presented with an elixir of life which she left for
him. But he decreed that both the elixir and the letter he wrote to Kaguya Hime
be taken up to the top of Mt. Fuji, and burnt. The tale ends:
"After the elixir of life was burnt, the mountain came to be called Mount
Fiji, meaning the mountain of immortality. It is said that even now, its smoke still
rises into the clouds."
(Rest omitted)
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少年日本史 (平泉澄)
The story of Japan （Hiraizumi Kiyoshi)
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