bubble50 DH Freelance 中翻英 英翻中

      This story is from the Kojiki, the Japanese "Record of Ancient Things". The Kojiki was compiled in the 500s to 700s A.D., at the direction of various emperors intent on standardizing and preserving Japan's mythic history. The Kojiki does not tell the story of the origin of the world and its peoples per se, but it is the story of the origin of Japan and of Japan's aristocratic families.

      這個故事來自於《古事記》，它是日本「古代事物的記錄」。《古事記》是西元六世紀到八世紀間，在各個天皇的指示之下所編制而成的，它的目的是為了規範和保存日本的神話歷史。《古事記》本身並沒有講述世界和人類的起源，而是講述日本和日本皇室家族的起源。

The Origin of Japan and her People[1]

日本與其人民的起源

      When heaven and earth began, three deities came into being, The Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, The August Wondrously Producing Spirit, and the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor. These three were invisible. The earth was young then, and land floated like oil, and from it reed shoots sprouted. From these reeds came two more deities. After them, five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean "The Male Who Invites" and "The Female who Invites".

天地開闢之時，三位神靈誕生，他們分別是天之御中主神、高御產巢日神，以及神產巢日神。這三位神靈是無影無形的。當時大地還很年輕，土地就像油一樣漂浮著，蘆葦的芽從中萌發而出。從這些蘆葦中又出現了兩個神靈。在他們之後，又出現了五、六對神靈，最後一對是伊邪那岐和伊邪那美，他們名字的意思是「邀請的男性」和「邀請的女性」。

      The first five deities commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and solidify the land of Japan, and they gave the young pair a jeweled spear. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped it in the ocean brine and stirred. They pulled out the spear, and the brine that dripped of it formed an island to which they descended. On this island they built a palace for their wedding and a great column to the heavens.

      前五位神吩咐伊邪那岐和伊邪那美創造並穩固好日本的土地，他們給這對年輕的神一把鑲有寶石的長矛。他們站在天浮橋上並將它浸入大海中攪拌。在他們拔出長矛後，從上滴下來的鹽水形成了一個島嶼，這個島嶼就是他們之後繁衍後代的地方。為了婚禮，他們在這個島上建造一座宮殿和一根通往天上的柱子。

      Izanami examined her body and found that one place had not grown, and she told this to Izanagi, who replied that his body was well-formed but that one place had grown to excess. He proposed that he place his excess in her place that was not complete and that in doing so they would make new land. They agreed to walk around the pillar and meet behind it to do this. When they arrive behind the pillar, she greeted him by saying "What a fine young man", and he responded by greeting her with "What a fine young woman". They procreated and gave birth to a leech-child, which they put in a basket and let float away. Then they gave birth to a floating island, which likewise they did not recognize as one of their children.

      伊邪那美仔細地看了看自己的身體，發現有一個地方沒有長齊全，她將這件事告訴伊邪那岐，他則回答說他的身體結構良好，但是有一個地方多長出一塊。他提議說把他多出來的部分放入她不完整的地方，這樣一來，他們就能創造出新的土地。隨後，他們決定去柱子周圍走走，並約定在柱子後面碰面做這件事。當他們在柱子後面碰面時，她先對他說:「多麼棒的男人」，而他則回應她說:「多麼美的女人」。他們交配並生下了水蛭子，但卻把它放在一個籃子裡，讓它隨著流水飄走。然後他們又生下了一個漂浮的島嶼，同樣地，他們也不把這個認為是他們的孩子。

      Disappointed by their failures in procreation, they returned to Heaven and consulted the deities there. The deities explained that the cause of their difficulties was that the female had spoken first when they met to procreate. Izanagi and Izanami returned to their island and again met behind the heavenly pillar. When they met, he said, "What a fine young woman," and she said "What a fine young man". They mated and gave birth to the eight main islands of Japan and six minor islands. Then they gave birth to a variety of deities to inhabit those islands, including the sea deity, the deity of the sea-straits, and the deities of the rivers, winds, trees, and mountains. Last, Izanami gave birth to the fire deity, and her genitals were so burned that she died.

      由於對生育的失敗感到失望，他們回到了天上，詢問那裡的神靈。神靈解釋說，因為當他們碰面要交配時，是由女的先說話，所以才會遇到困難。伊邪那岐和伊邪那美回到他們的島嶼，再次到天之御柱後會面。當他們碰面時，他說: 「多麼美的女人」，而她說: 「多麼棒的男人」。之後他們交配並生下了日本八個主要島嶼和六個小島嶼。然後他們又生下了各種的神靈居住在這些島嶼上，包括海神、海峽神，以及河神、風神、樹神和山神。最後，伊邪那美生下了火神，但是她的生殖器卻因此被燒毀，隨後她就死了。

      Izanagi grieved over Izanami, and a deity was born from his tears. Distraught after burying Izanami, he used his long sword to behead his son, the deity of fire, whose birth had killed Izanami. From the blood on the sword came three deities of rocks, two deities of fire, and one of water, all of which are needed to make a sword. Eight more deities arose from the body of Izanagi and Izanami's slain son.

      伊邪那岐為伊邪那美的死感到悲痛，甚至從他的眼淚中誕生了一位神靈。在埋葬伊邪那美之後，他發狂的用長劍斬首他的兒子火神，就是因為他的出生才導致伊邪那美的死亡。從劍上的鮮血中出現了三個岩石神、兩個神火和一個水神，這些都是製造一把劍所需要的材料。然後又有八個神靈從被殺的火神身體中出現。

      Izanagi still longed for Izanami, and he went to the underworld in search of her. Finding her in the darkness, he called to her and asked her to come back to the land of the living with him. She promised him that she would go ask the gods of the underworld, but she begged him to not look at her as she did so. She was gone long, however, and eventually he broke off the end of a comb in his hair and set it afire for a light. He found her body with maggots consuming it, and these maggots were the eight deities of thunder. Ashamed to be seen in this condition, Izanami chased Izanagi out of the underworld. First she sent the thunder deities after him, and then she herself pursued him. At last he grasped a huge rock and used it to close the passage to the underworld. Enraged, she shouted to him that she would each day strangle one thousand people of Japan. He responded that if she did so, he would each day cause fifteen hundred Japanese people to be born. This is why fifteen hundred children are born each day and one thousand people die each day.

      因為伊邪那岐仍然想念伊邪那美，所以就到黃泉去尋找她。在黑暗中找到了她之後，他呼喚了她並要求她和他一同回到人世間。她答應他說她會去問黃泉的眾神，但她懇求他不要在她這麼做的時候看著她。但是因為她離開的時間太長，最後他折斷了髮髻上配戴的一根梳子的末端，並將它點燃好能產生光線。結果他發現她的身體上有蛆蟲在腐蝕它，這些蛆蟲就是八個雷神。羞憤於在這種情況下被看到，伊邪那美追趕在伊邪那岐後面。她先派出雷神追在他後面，然後是她自己追趕在他後面。最後，他抓住了一塊巨大的岩石，用它來關閉通往黃泉的通道。憤怒地之下，她叫喊著她每天都會去殺一千名日本人。他回答說，如果她這樣做，他每天都會讓一千五百名日本人出生。這就是為什麼每天有一千五百名兒童出生和每天有一千個人死亡的原因。

      Izanagi returned to his home and bathed to purify himself after this terrible experience. As he disrobed, new deities arose from his clothing, and more arose from the water as he bathed. Three of these were ancestors of Japanese families. The last of the deities was a son, Susa-nš-wo, who became the deity of the sea. He was eventually exiled to earth for his behavior in the heavens, but he and his sister, the Goddess of the Sun, parented eight deities. Among these was the ancestor of Yamato family that ruled Japan, and two others were ancestors of nineteen of its highest families.

      在這個可怕的經歷之後，伊邪那岐回到家沐浴淨身。當他脫掉衣服時，他的衣服上出現了新的神靈，並有更多的神靈在他沐浴時從水中出現。其中三個是日本家族的祖先。而最後一個神靈是他的兒子，海神須佐之男(也稱素盞嗚)。須佐之男最終因為在天上的行為而被放逐到地上，但是他和他的姐姐天照大神，生了八位神靈，其中包括統治日本的大和家族的祖先，另外兩個是日本最顯赫的家族中的十九個家族的祖先。

      When the deities had pacified the land, the Goddess of the Sun dispatched Japan's first ruler from the heavens to the earth. Descending from the Floating Bridge of Heaven to the mountain tops, he built his palace. Eventually he met a beautiful young woman, Princess Brilliant Blossoms, and asked her to marry him. She deferred to her father's judgment, and her father gave him both Princess Brilliant Blossoms and her older sister, Princess Long as the Rocks. The new emperor refused the older sister, however, because of her ugliness. When the father heard this, he explained that he had offered Princess Long as the Rocks because her children would have lived eternally. Instead, the children of Princess Brilliant Blossoms were mortal, which is why the emperors have never had long lives.

      當神靈撫慰了這片土地之後，天照大神將日本的第一位統治者從天上派遣到地上。他從天浮橋上落到一座山的山頂，並在那裡建造了他的宮殿。最後，他遇到了一位美麗的年輕女子木花開耶姬，並要求她嫁給他，而她也服從了她父親的決定。她的父親想將木花開耶姬和她的姐姐磐長姬都嫁給他。但是，因為姐姐長的醜，所以新天皇拒絕了。當她的父親聽到這個消息時，他說他把磐長姬嫁給他是因為她的孩子能獲得永生，而木花開耶姬的孩子卻只是凡人。這就是為什麼天皇都活不久的原因。

      Princess Brilliant Blossoms was soon with child, so soon that the emperor could hardly believe that she bore his children. To prove herself, she built a palace and shut herself in it and set fire to it, knowing as he did that the children of anyone but the emperor could not survive the flames. Amidst the flames she gave birth to three deities, and ultimately their descendants were the imperial family of Japan.

    木花開耶姬很快就有了孩子，快到天皇不敢相信她懷的是他的孩子。為了證明自己，她建了一座宮殿並將自己關在裡面，然後放火燒了它，因為他們都知道除了天皇以外，任何人的孩子都無法倖免於火焰。最後在火焰之中，她生了三個神，他們的後代就是日本的皇室家族。