今から千数百年も前のこと、北方の異民族が国境を越えてしきりに攻め込んでくるようになった。皇帝は国を守るため、ついに全国の家々に対し、家ごとに男子を一人ずつ差し出すよう徴兵の命を下した。
More than a thousand years ago, in ancient China, the tribes of the north began crossing the border again and again, pressing their attacks against the empire. At last, in order to defend the realm, the emperor issued an order of conscription throughout the land — every household was to send forth one man.
一通の召集令状が、辺境のとある村にある木蘭の家にも届いた。家族は皆、その紙を握りしめながら長く黙り込むほかなかった。
One such conscription notice reached the home of a young woman called Hua Mulan, in a small village out on the frontier. Holding the paper between them, the family fell silent for a long time and could find nothing to say.
木蘭の家には、年老いて病がちな父と、年老いた母、そしてまだ年端もいかない弟しかいなかった。「父上を戦場へ送り出すなど、できようはずがない。かといって、皇帝の命に背くわけにもいかない」と、木蘭は幾晩も眠れぬ夜を過ごした。
In the Hua household there were only an aging, ailing father, an elderly mother, and a little brother who was still no more than a child. "Sending Father onto the battlefield is unthinkable — and yet it is no more possible to defy the emperor's command," Mulan whispered to herself, and for many nights she lay sleepless.
悩み抜いた末に、木蘭はある重大な決断を下した。驚くべきことに、彼女は男に身をやつし、父に代わって戦場へ赴こうと決意したのである。
At length, after agonizing back and forth, Mulan reached a momentous decision. Astonishingly, she resolved to disguise herself as a man and go to the front in her father's place.
「お前がそのようなことを口にするとは思いも寄らなかった。どうか思いとどまっておくれ」と、両親は涙を流して止めにかかった。しかし「たとえこの命を落とそうとも、家族だけは守ってみせる」という木蘭の覚悟は、もはや揺らぐことはなかった。
"We never dreamed we should hear such words from your lips. Please — give up this idea," her parents pleaded in tears, doing everything in their power to stop her. But Mulan's resolve — "even if I should fall in battle, I will see this family kept safe" — would not be shaken.
翌朝、木蘭は市場へ出向き、駿馬と鞍、そして弓と剣を一そろい買い揃えた。長く伸びた髪をばっさりと切り落とし、父の若い頃の鎧を身につけたその姿は、見間違うほどに凛々しい一人の若武者そのものであった。
The next morning, Mulan went to the marketplace, where she chose a fine horse and saddle, a bow, and a sword. She cut her long hair short at a single stroke, put on her father's old armor from his youth, and to look at her was to see a young warrior so noble and proud that no one would have guessed otherwise.
父と母にひざまずいて別れを告げると、木蘭はためらうことなく馬に飛び乗り、軍の集結地に向けて故郷の村を後にした。彼女のその行いは、家族への深い愛情と父への孝心にほかならなかった。
Kneeling, she said her farewells to her father and mother, then sprang into the saddle without hesitation and rode out of her village toward the army's mustering ground. That she could do such a thing was, in the end, owed to nothing other than her deep love for her family and her devotion to her father.
戦場での暮らしは、女の身としては想像を絶するほど過酷なものであった。日中は厳しい訓練にしごかれ、夜は凍てつくような寒さの中で野営を強いられた。
Life on the frontier was, for a woman, harsh beyond imagining. By day she was driven through grueling training; by night she was forced to camp out in the bitter cold.
それでも木蘭は決して弱音を吐くことなく、誰よりも早く起き、誰よりも遅く眠った。剣術や馬術にかけては並ぶ者がなく、その腕前はすぐに上官の目に留まるようになった。
Even so, Mulan never let a word of complaint pass her lips; she rose earlier than anyone and slept later than anyone. In swordsmanship and horsemanship, she had no equal, and her skill very soon caught the eye of the officers above her.
戦いは長く続いた。十二年もの歳月の間、彼女は北方の荒野や山岳地帯を転戦し、数え切れぬほどの戦に身を投じた。
The war went on and on. For twelve long years she fought across the northern wastes and through the mountain ranges, throwing herself into more battles than she could count.
出陣のたびに功を立て、味方を救い、敵将を討ち取った。やがて彼女は若い指揮官として軍中に名をとどろかせるようになり、兵士たちは絶大な信頼を寄せるようになった。
In every engagement she distinguished herself — saving comrades, cutting down enemy generals. Before long her name as a young commander rang out through the army, and the soldiers under her gave her their absolute trust.
それほどまでに勇ましく振る舞いながらも、彼女が実は女であることを見抜く者は、ついに一人として現れなかったのである。
And for all that courage and dash with which she carried herself, there was not a single soul among them who saw through to the truth — that their captain was, in fact, a woman.
長い戦いがついに勝利のうちに終わり、軍は意気揚々と都へ凱旋した。皇帝は木蘭の輝かしい武功を称え、高い官位と数々の褒美を授けようとした。
The long war at last drew to a close in victory, and the army returned to the capital in triumph. The emperor wished to praise her dazzling deeds by bestowing on her high office and rich reward.
しかし木蘭は皇帝の前にひざまずき、「私には官位など望むところではございません。ただ、一刻も早く故郷へ帰り、年老いた父母にこの顔を見せてやりたいだけにございます」と申し述べた。
But Mulan knelt before the throne and said, "I have no wish for office. All I desire is to hurry back to my homeland as quickly as I may, and to show my face once again to my aged father and mother."
木蘭のひたむきな孝心に深く心を打たれた皇帝は、無理に引き止めることをせず、代わりに千里を駆けるという駿馬を一頭、はなむけとして贈ってくださった。
Deeply moved by her selfless filial devotion, the emperor would not press her to remain, but instead gave her, as a parting gift, a magnificent steed said to run a thousand leagues in a day.
故郷へ戻った木蘭は、戸口で待っていた両親と弟に駆け寄って抱き合った。それから自室にこもって長年身にまとっていた鎧を脱ぎ、本来の女性の装いに着替えた。
When Mulan reached her home, she ran straight into the arms of her parents and brother, who had been waiting for her at the door. Then she shut herself in her room, took off the armor she had worn so long, and put on once more the dress of a young woman.
ほどなくして、戦友たちが噂を聞きつけて木蘭の家を訪ねてきた。出迎えた美しい娘が、つい先日まで肩を並べて戦った将軍その人だと知った時の彼らの驚きといったら、まさに筆舌に尽くしがたいものであった。
Not long afterward, her old comrades-in-arms came to her house, having caught wind of her return. The astonishment they felt at being met by a beautiful young woman — and learning that this was the very general beside whom they had fought, only the other day — was beyond anything that words could describe.
「十数年も共に戦ってきた我らが将軍が、まさか女性であったとは」と、誰もがしばしの間、自分の耳を疑ったのであった。
"Our captain, with whom we shared so many years of war — to think that all along she was a woman!" Each of them, for some moments, could scarcely believe his own ears.
木蘭の物語は、親思いの孝行と、女としての勇気を兼ね備えた美談として、世代を問わず長く語り継がれていくこととなった。
The story of Mulan, in which a daughter's devotion and a woman's courage were bound up together, has been told and retold from generation to generation, and is told still.