CHAPTER I
The storm had descended swiftly, sweeping in suddenly from the sea, driving across the downs to the hills at high speed, blotting out the faint rays of a crescent moon and hiding the country-side beneath a pall of blackness, which was forked at intervals by flashes of lightning.
嵐は海から突然吹き荒れ、あっという間に丘陵地帯を高速で横切り、三日月の微かな光を消し去り、辺りを漆黒の闇で覆った。闇の中、時折稲妻が閃いた。
The darkness was so impenetrable, and the fury of the storm so fierce, that Harry Marsland pulled his hat well over his eyes and bent over his horse’s neck to shield his face from the driving rain, trusting to the animal’s sagacity and sure-footedness to take him safely down the cliff road in the darkness, where a slip might plunge them into the breakers which he could hear roaring at the foot of the cliffs.
暗闇は深く、嵐の猛威は激しかったため、ハリー・マースランドは帽子を目深にかぶり、馬の首に覆いかぶさるようにして、顔に吹きつける雨から身を守った。断崖の道を安全に降りられるよう、馬の賢明さと確かな足取りに身を任せた。一歩間違えれば、崖の下で轟音を立てている砕け波に投げ出されるかもしれない。
Hardly had Marsland done so when his horse swerved violently right across the road—fortunately to the side opposite the edge of the cliffs—slipped and almost fell, but recovered itself and then stood still, snorting and trembling with fear.
マースランドがそう思った矢先、彼の馬は道を横切って大きく右にそれた。幸いにも崖の反対側だった。馬は滑ってほとんど転びそうになったが、すぐに体勢を立て直し、恐怖で鼻を鳴らし震えながら立ち止まった。
He patted and spoke to the horse, wondering what had frightened it. He had seen or heard nothing, but the darkness of the night and the roar of the gale would have prevented him, even if his face had not been almost buried in his horse’s neck. However, the rain, beating with sharp persistence on his face and through his clothes, reminded him that he was some miles from shelter on a lonely country road, with only a vague idea of his whereabouts.
そこで、彼はさらに数回のなだめるような言葉をかけ、再び馬を駆り立てた。馬は快く応じたが、動き出した途端、マースランドは愕然とした。馬の後ろ足が不自由になっていたのだ。彼はすぐに、馬が急に方向転換したときに足をくじいたに違いないことに気づいた。
So, with a few more soothing words, he urged his horse onward again. The animal responded willingly enough, but as soon as it moved Marsland discovered to his dismay that it was lame in the off hind leg. The rider was quick to realize that it must have sprained itself in swerving.
彼は馬を撫でながら、何が馬を怖がらせたのか不思議に思った。彼には何も見えなかったし、聞こえなかったが、夜の暗闇と疾風の轟音は、たとえ彼の顔が馬の首にほとんど埋もれていなくても、彼には何も見えなかっただろう。しかし、容赦なく顔に打ちつけ、服を貫く雨は、彼が人里離れた道のどこにいるのか、おおよその見当しかつかないまま、何マイルも離れた場所にいることを思い出させた。
He slipped out of his saddle and endeavoured to feel the extent of the horse’s injury, but the animal had not entirely recovered from its fright, and snorted as his master touched it. Marsland desisted, and gently pulled at the bridle.
彼は鞍から降り、馬の怪我の程度を調べようとしたが、馬はまだ完全に恐怖から立ち直っておらず、飼い主が触ると鼻を鳴らした。マースランドは手を止め、優しく手綱を引いた。
The horse struggled onwards a few paces, but it was badly lamed, and could not be ridden. It thrust a timid muzzle against its master’s breast, as though seeking refuge from its fears and the fury of the storm. Marsland patted its head caressingly, and, facing the unpleasant fact that he was on an unknown lonely road with a lame horse in the worst storm he had ever seen, drew the bridle over his arm and started to walk forward.
馬は何歩か進もうとしたが、足がひどく不自由で、乗ることはできなかった。まるで恐怖と嵐の猛威から逃れる場所を求めるかのように、臆病な鼻先を飼い主の胸に押し付けた。マースランドは愛情を込めて馬の頭を撫で、見知らぬ寂しい道で、今まで見たこともないようなひどい嵐の中、足の不自由な馬といるという不愉快な事実に直面し、手綱を腕にかけて歩き始めた。
He found it difficult to make progress in the teeth of the gale, but he realized that it would be useless to retrace his steps with the wind at his back, for only the bleak bare downs he had ridden over that afternoon lay behind, and the only house he had seen was a shepherd’s cottage on the hill-side where he had stopped to inquire his way before the storm came on.
強風に向かって進むのは困難だったが、風を背に引き返すのは無駄だと悟った。彼の後ろには、その日の午後に乗ってきた荒涼とした裸の丘陵地帯しかなく、唯一見た家は、嵐が来る前に道を尋ねた丘の中腹にある羊飼いの小屋だけだった。
There was nothing to be done but face the gale and go forward, following the cliff road which skirted the downs, or to seek shelter for himself and his horse at the way-side house until the fury of the storm had abated. Prudence and consideration for his horse dictated the latter course, but in the blackness of the night—which hung before him like a cloud—he was unable to discern a twinkle of light denoting human habitation.
強風に立ち向かい、丘陵地帯を縁取る崖の道を進むか、嵐の猛威が収まるまで道端の家で自分と馬の避難場所を探すしかない。馬への配慮から後者を選んだが、目の前に雲のように垂れ込める夜の闇の中では、人の住まいを示す光の瞬きも見つけることができなかった。
The storm seemed to gather fresh force, rushing in from the sea with such fury that Marsland was compelled to stand still and seek shelter beside his horse. As he stood thus, waiting for it to abate, a vivid flash of lightning ran across the western sky, revealing lividly the storm clouds flying through the heavens, the mountainous yellow-crested sea, and the desolate, rain-beaten downs; but it revealed, also, a farm-house standing in the valley below, a little way back from the road which wound down towards it from where Marsland stood.
嵐は新たな力を増し、猛烈な勢いで海から吹き荒れ、マースランドは立ち止まり、馬のそばで避難せざるを得なかった。嵐が弱まるのを待ちながら、西の空を走る鮮烈な稲妻が、空を駆け抜ける嵐雲、山のような黄色い波頭を持つ海、荒涼とした雨に打たれる丘陵地帯をまざまざと浮かび上がらせた。しかし、それはまた、マースランドの立っている場所から曲がりくねって降りていく道の少し奥、谷間にある農家も明らかにした。
The lightning died away, the scene it had illumined disappeared, and a clap of thunder followed. Marsland heaved a sigh of relief. He judged that the house was less than a half a mile down the hill, a large, gaunt, three-storied stone building, with steeply sloping roof, standing back from the road, with a barn beside it. Doubtless it was the home of a sheep-farmer of the downs, who would at any rate afford shelter to himself and his horse till the violence of the storm had passed.
稲妻は消え、照らし出された景色は消え、雷鳴が轟いた。マースランドは安堵のため息をついた。彼は家が丘を下って半マイルも離れていないと判断した。大きく、やせ細った3階建ての石造りの建物で、急勾配の屋根を持ち、道路から奥まったところにあり、隣には納屋があった。間違いなく、羊飼いの家だろう。少なくとも嵐の猛威が過ぎるまで、彼と馬に避難場所を提供してくれるだろう。
The horse responded to an encouraging appeal as though it fully understood, and Marsland doggedly resumed his battle with the storm. The road slanted away slightly from the cliff when horse and rider had covered another hundred yards, and wound through a long cutting on the hill which afforded some protection from the gale, enabling them to make quicker progress. But still Marsland could not see a yard in front of him. Even if his eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, the heavy rain, beating almost horizontally on his face, would have prevented him seeing anything.
馬は励ましの声に、まるで完全に理解しているかのように反応し、マースランドは嵐との戦いを再び決意した。馬と騎手がさらに100ヤード進むと、道は崖からわずかに離れ、丘の長い切通しを通り抜け、強風からある程度の保護を受け、より速く進むことができた。しかし、マースランドはまだ自分の前を1ヤードも見ることができなかった。たとえ彼の目が暗闇に慣れていても、顔にほとんど水平に打ちつける激しい雨は、彼が何かを見るのを妨げていただろう。
He had matches in his pocket, but it was useless to attempt to strike them in such a wind, and he reproached himself for having come away without his electric torch. Slowly and cautiously he made his way down the road, feeling his footsteps as he went, the tired horse following obediently. The cutting seemed a long one, but at length a sudden blast of wind, roaring in from the sea, told him that he had emerged into the open again. He counted off another hundred paces, then paused anxiously.
彼のポケットにはマッチがあったが、こんな風の中で火をつけようとするのは無駄だった。彼は、懐中電灯を持たずに来てしまったことを後悔した。ゆっくりと慎重に、彼は道を進み、足元を確認しながら歩いた。疲れた馬は従順についてきた。切通しは長いように思えたが、ついに海から吹き荒れる突風が、彼が再び開けた場所に出たことを告げた。彼はさらに100歩数え、不安げに立ち止まった。