時の巫女たち／１．帰 郷　The Maidens of Time／1. Homecoming

　アオイのすぐ左手で、滝がごうごうと音を立てて流れ落ち、水しぶきと滝つぼから湧き上がる飛沫が白い幕となってアオイの行く手を閉ざしていた。足元のかずら橋は、滝の鳴動と共振しつづけ、たっぷり水分を含んだ重く冷たい空気が、アオイを取り巻いていた。

   At Aoi's left, a waterfall was gushing down, making a roaring noise. The spray from the waterfall and the droplets rising from the pool formed a white curtain that enveloped Aoi's path in hazy white light. The narrow suspension bridge made of veins her feet continued to tremble as if in sympathy with the roar of the waterfall. A heavy, cold air, full of moisture, surrounded Aoi.

　「でも、母とこの橋を渡ったときは、こんなものじゃなかった」アオイは、母に連れられこの吊り橋を渡った幼い日を、昨日のことのように覚えていた。あの時、この滝は、はるか天上から地上めがけて突き刺さった巨大な水の柱のようで、足元のかずら橋は、滝から吹き付ける風に巻かれ揺れ動く木の葉のようだった。アオイは母の腰にしがみつき、泣きながら、この橋を渡った。
　今は、滝の高さがおよそ十五メートルと目測することができ、揺れる吊り橋の上でも、しっかりと身体を安定させていることができる。山も、滝も、かずら橋も、川も、すべてが二回りも三回りも小さくなって感じられた。そのことが、あれからアオイが刻んだ時の流れを物語っていた。 

 "But when I crossed this bridge with my mother, it wasn't like this."Aoi murmured to herself. Aoi remembered, as if it were yesterday, the day she, still a small chiled,  had been taken by her mother across this bridge. At that time, the waterfall looked like a huge pillar of water piercing the earth from high in the sky.  The bridge at her feet was trembling like leaves swaying in the wind. Aoi clung to her mother's waist and cried as she crossed the bridge.   Now, Aoi could estimate the height of the waterfall to be about 15 meters, and could keep her body stable even on the swaying suspension bridge. The mountain, the waterfall, the bridge, the river, everything seemed two or three times smaller. This told Aoi her change in the last 17 years.

　かずら橋を渡り切ると、行方を閉ざしていた水の幕が消え、目の前に細い山道が現れた。左右から差し掛かる木々の葉に光を遮られた、その道筋は、山体にうがたれた暗緑色のトンネルのように見えた。
　アオイは立ち止まった。母に連れられこの山道をたどったときは、ちょうど、この場所で疲れて動けなくり、母に背負われたのだ。そこからどのような道をたどって「郷」にたどり着いたか、母の背中で眠っていたアオイには記憶がない。気づいた時には、畳敷きのがらんとした大きな部屋の真ん中で、母の胸に抱かれていた。息が苦しくなるほど強く母の胸に引き寄せられていたことを覚えている。
　あれ以来、今日まで「郷」を訪れることはなかった。ここから先の道を、アオイは初めて自らの足でたどり、母の生まれ育った「郷」――母が愛しかつ憎んだ「郷」――を訪れる。アオイが望んだものでないにせよ、それは、14年ぶりの帰郷だった。
   Once she had crossed the bridge, the curtain of water that had enveloped her path disappeared. A narrow mountain path appeared. The light was blocked by the leaves of the trees lining the path on both sides, and the path looked like a dark green tunnel carved into the mountain.
   Aoi stopped. When her mother had taken her down this mountain path, she had gotten tired and been unable to move at this exact spot, so her mother carried her on her back.  Aoi, who had been asleep on her mother's back, had no memory of how she got to "Homeland." When she woke up, she was in the middle of a large, empty room with tatami mats, held in her mother's arms. She remembered being pulled so tightly into her mother's arms that it became hard to breathe.
  Since then, until today, Aoi had never visited "Homeland". She was goint to  travel the road ahead for the first time on her own two feet, visiting "Homeland" where her mother was born and raised, the place her mother both loved and hated,  her mother loved and hated at the same time, the hometown in. Although it was not what Aoi wanted, it was her first homecoming in 14 years.

　アオイは、目を閉じ、一つ、大きく息をついた。今から三年前、自らに残された時間が長くはないと悟った母が語った言葉が、耳によみがえった。
「あなたが、『郷』と関わらずに人生を送れることを祈っています。ですが、もし、『郷』から呼びだされたら、その時は、逃げてはいけません。逃げることは、あなたに一層の禍を招くだけです。『郷』の人々は、あなたを呼びだしておきながら、決して、あなたを温かくは迎えないでしょう。それでも、あなたは、胸を張って彼らの前に立つのです。あなたは、宇宙の永遠の歴史の中で、後にも先にもただ一度だけ現れた、かけがえのないひとつの命なのだから。大丈夫、あなたなら、それが出来ます。私は、あなたを信じています」
「お母さん、『郷』で何が私を待っているのか、まったく分かりません。それを考えると、恐ろしく、また、不安です。けれども、私は、胸を張り、顔を上げて、郷の人々の前に立ちます。そのことだけは、約束します」
亡き母にそう誓って、アオイは一歩を踏み出した。
　山道は、アオイの左手の山肌にからみつきながら、きびしい角度でアオイを高みへと導いていった。息が上がり、全身が火照って汗が流れた。しかし、立ち止まって休むと陽の射さない山中の空気がたちまち汗を冷やしアオイを震えさせるので、ただ、歩き続けるしかなかった。

   Aoi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The words her mother told in her death bed came back to Aoi's ears."I pray that you can live your life without involvement with 'Homeland'. However, if you are called out from 'Homeland', then do not run away. Running away will only make things worse.  The people of 'Homeland' will never welcome you warmly, even though they call out to you. Even so, you stand before them with your head held high. You are an irreplaceable life that has appeared only once in the eternal history of the ever-changing universe. Don't worry, you can do it. I believe in you.""Mom, I have no idea what awaits me in 'Homeland'. The thought of it makes me scared and anxious. But I will stand before the people of 'Homeland with my head held high, I promise you that." Aoi swore to her late mother and took a step forward.   The mountain path wrapped around the mountainside to Aoi's left, led her higher and higher. Her breath was out, her whole body was hot, and she was dripping with sweat. But if she stopped to rest, the sunless mountain air would instantly cool her sweat and make Aoi shiver, so she had no choice but to keep walking.

　一時間ほども登り続けただろうか。右手前方に、ここまで上ってきた山肌と重なり合うように別の山肌が現れた。足元の道が、二つの山肌に挟まれて続いていくのが見える。これまで上る一方だった山道が急に下りに変わり、その下り坂を、前のめりに足をもつれさせて進んでいくと、突然、目の前に、平坦な地面の広がりが現れた。ざっと見て、サッカー場ほどの広さの楕円形の平地を縁取るように茅葺屋根の民家が連なり、中央の奥まったところに、神社の社のようでも寺の本堂のようでもある奇妙な建物が、周囲の民家を圧する存在感をもって建っていた。 
「来た」
アオイは声に出して自分に言い聞かせた。エネルギーと力が自分を満たしていくのがわかった。   

   When Another mountainside appeared ahead to her right, she must have continued climbing for about an hour.  The new mountainside verlapped with the mountainside she had climbed up to this point, and she could see the path beneath her feet continuing as if to mark the boundary between the two mountains.    The mountain path, which had only been going up until then, suddenly turned downward, and as she continued down the slope, her feet tangling as she leaned forward.   Then, a flat expanse of ground suddenly appeared before her. At a glance, the area was oval-shaped, about the size of a soccer field, with a row of thatched-roof houses lined up around it. Set deep in the center was a strange building that resembled either a shrine or the main hall of a temple, with a presence that dwarfed the surrounding houses."Here I've come." Aoi said to herself aloud. She felt energy and strength are filling her.

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