夜空にうっすらと白く輝く天の川。その川のほとりには、はるか昔から一人の偉大な天の神様が住んでおられた。
The Milky Way that gleams faintly white across the night sky — by the banks of that great river of stars, since time out of mind, there had dwelt a single great god of Heaven.
神様には織姫という美しい娘がいた。彼女は朝から晩まで機の前に座って、神々や天人たちが身にまとう絹の着物をせっせと織り続けていた。
This god had a beautiful daughter named Orihime. From morning till night she sat at her loom, weaving the silken robes that the gods and the heavenly beings wore.
一方、天の川の向こう岸には、彦星という働き者の青年がいた。彼は天界の牛たちの世話をするのが仕事で、一頭一頭の体を磨き、餌をたっぷり与えてはかわいがっていた。
Meanwhile, on the far bank of the Milky Way, there lived a hardworking young man called Hikoboshi. His task was to tend the cattle of Heaven, brushing each one until its coat shone, giving them their fill of fodder, and caring for them as for his own.
二人それぞれの仕事ぶりについては、すでに天界中で評判であった。神様も「二人とも、これほど真面目な働き手はそうそういない」と、日頃から深く感心しておられたのである。
Each of them, in their own duties, was already well known throughout the heavens. "You will not find two such diligent workers as those two anywhere else," the god himself often remarked with deep admiration.
そんなある日、神様は「これほどの働き者同士なら、夫婦にすればさぞ幸せに暮らすであろう」と、二人を引き合わせることに決めた。初めて会った織姫と彦星は、互いに一目で深い愛情を抱き、まもなくめでたく夫婦となった。
One day the god thought to himself, "If two such tireless workers were to be married, they would surely live in great happiness together," and he arranged for them to meet. The moment Orihime and Hikoboshi laid eyes on each other, they fell deeply in love, and before long they were happily joined as husband and wife.
ところが、結婚を契機に、二人の暮らしぶりはがらりと変わってしまった。一緒にいるのがあまりに楽しすぎるあまり、二人はすっかり仕事の手を止めてしまったのである。
But once the wedding was past, everything about how the two of them lived changed completely. So sweet was their joy in being together that, before they knew it, they had let their work fall entirely from their hands.
織姫は機の前に座っても、すぐに席を立っては彦星に会いに行ってしまうばかりであった。神々の着物はみるみるうちにすり切れ、新しい一着すら織り上がらない有様であった。
Even when Orihime sat at her loom, she would jump up again at once and go off to be with Hikoboshi, and that was all she did. The robes of the gods grew threadbare before everyone's eyes, and not a single new garment was completed.
彦星もまた、牛の世話を放り出して、毎日織姫と笑い興じる始末であった。世話をされなくなった牛たちは、痩せ細って次々に病に倒れていった。
Hikoboshi too had thrown over the care of the cattle, and spent his days laughing and idling with Orihime. The cattle, neglected as they now were, grew thin, and one after another they fell sick.
「夫婦になったまではよかったものの、このままでは天界の暮らしそのものが成り立たなくなりかねない」と、他の神々も顔を見合わせ、頭を抱えはじめた。
"It was well enough that the two of them were married, but at this rate the very life of the heavens may not be able to go on," the other gods murmured to one another, holding their heads in dismay.
神様は二人に幾度も注意を与えたが、いっこうに態度を改める様子は見られなかった。ついに我慢が限界に達した神様は、声を震わせて怒りをぶちまけた。
Again and again the god warned the two of them, but they showed no sign whatsoever of mending their ways. At last his patience reached its limit, and his voice shaking with anger, he loosed his fury upon them.
「これほど言っても改めぬのなら、お前たちを引き離すほかない。今日この時を境に、二人は天の川を挟んでそれぞれ別の岸に住むがよい」と、神様は厳かに告げた。
"If even all this saying will not turn you back, then I have no choice but to part you. From this very hour, the two of you shall live on opposite banks of the Milky Way," the god proclaimed in solemn anger.
そう宣言するや否や、神様は二人をあっという間に天の川の東と西へと引き離してしまった。広く深い天の川を、人の力で渡ることは到底できそうになかった。
No sooner had he uttered the words than he swept Orihime and Hikoboshi apart in an instant, to the east and the west sides of the great river of stars. Wide and deep was the Milky Way; there was no possibility of crossing it by any mortal strength.
二人は来る日も来る日も、川の対岸を見つめては涙にくれるばかりであった。当然のことながら、悲しみのあまり仕事に身が入るどころではなく、織姫の機織りもまた、ぴたりと止まってしまった。
Day after day, the two of them gazed across to the far bank and could do nothing but weep. As one might expect, their grief was so great that work was the last thing on their minds; Orihime's loom too came to an abrupt and complete halt.
あまりの嘆きように、神様もさすがに胸を痛めた末に、ある約束を交わすことにした。「もし以前のようにきちんと働くというのなら、年に一度だけ、七月七日の夜に限って会うことを許そう」と告げたのである。
At length, the god, moved at last by the depth of their sorrow, agreed to make them a certain promise. "If you will only return to working as faithfully as you used to, then once a year — and only on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month — I shall allow the two of you to meet," he declared.
その約束を心の支えに、織姫と彦星は再び以前のように、いや、以前にも増して懸命に働くようになった。再会の日を指折り数えて待つことこそが、二人にとって生きる希望にほかならなかったのである。
With that promise as the support of their hearts, Orihime and Hikoboshi went back to working as hard as they had before — no, harder than before. To live for the day of their reunion, counting down to it on their fingers, was nothing other than the very hope by which they now lived.
そしてついに、待ちに待った七月七日の夜が訪れた。すると、どこからともなく無数のカササギが飛んできて、互いに翼を並べ、天の川の上に一本の白い橋を架けてくれたのである。
At last the long-awaited night of the seventh of the seventh month came. From who knew where, a great flock of magpies came flying in and, lining up their wings, made for them a single white bridge across the Milky Way.
二人はその橋の上で、一年に一度きりの幸せな再会を果たすことができた。涙ながらに抱き合う二人の姿は、夜空のどこからでも見ることができたという。
Upon that bridge the two of them were able to keep their once-a-year reunion at last. The figures of the two embracing through their tears, it is said, could be seen from any point in the night sky.
しかし、もし七夕の夜に雨が降ろうものなら、天の川の水かさが増し、橋を架けることがかなわず、二人はその年の再会を諦めるほかない。だからこそ、人々は毎年七月七日が近づくたびに、夜空に向かって晴れることをひたすら祈るのである。
But if it should happen to rain on the night of Tanabata, the waters of the Milky Way swell, the bridge cannot be made, and the two have no choice but to give up their meeting for that year. That is why people, every time the seventh of the seventh draws near, send up their prayers to the night sky for the rain to hold off.