ＷＥＢ絵本『猿の尾はなぜ短い』

Long long ago, monkeys' tails were 33 yards long.
A Monkey was tricked by a Bear. And its tail became short like the present monkey tail.
One day, the Monkey visited the Bear and asked how to get a lot of river fish.
The Bear answered, "At a cold night like tonight, you should sit on a rock near the deep of a river somewhere and sink your tail in the water."
Further, the Bear said, "Many kinds of small fish will surely come and stick to your tail."

昔の昔の大昔、猿の尻尾は３３尋あったそうです．

それが熊のために騙されて、あのような短い尻尾になってしまいました．

或時、猿は熊のうちへ訪ねて行って、どうすれば沢山の川の魚を、捕ることが出来るだろうかと相談しました．

そうすると熊が言うには、今晩のような寒い晩に、どこか深い淵の上の岩に坐って、その尻尾を水の中へ漬けて置いてごらん．

きっと色々な雑魚が来てくっつくからと教えてくれました．

The Monkey joyfully followed the advice and was waiting for fish.
As the night went on, its tail got heavier.
The fact was that the river had frozen over.
But the Monkey believed that fish had come and sticked to its tail.

猿は大喜びで教えてもらった通りにして待っていますと、夜が更けて行くうちに、段々と尻尾が重くなりました．

それは氷が張って来たのでしたが、お猿は雑魚が来てくっついたのだと思っていました．

The Monkey thought, "I have caught enough fish. And, it's very cold! I should go back to home."
Then, the Monkey tried to pull up its tail.
But the Monkey could not pull out the tail.
The Monkey was panicked at the serious situation.
And, the Monkey pulled up its tail by exessive force.
Then, the tail snapped near the bottom.

もう是くらい捕れたら十分だ．

あんまり冷たいから還りましょうと思って、尻尾を引き上げようとしたけれどもなんとしても抜けません．

これは大変だと大騒ぎをして、無理に引張ったところが、其尻尾が根元からぷっつりと切れました．

Some people say that monkeys' faces are red because the Monkey pulled hard at that time.
(Izumo Province)

猿の顔の真赤なのも、その時あまりに力を籠めて引張った為だと言っている人があります．
（出雲）

――　奥付　――
ＷＥＢ絵本『猿の尾はなぜ短い』
絵・訳：茜町春彦
原作：柳田国男

A Picture Book : "Why are monkey tails short?"
Illustrated and translated by : Akanemachi Haruhiko
Original author : Yanagida Kunio

参考文献：
日本の昔話（2005年10月25日36刷　柳田国男著　新潮文庫）