UBAZAKURA（乳母ざくら）
2 Three hundred years ago, in the village called Asamimura, in the district called Onsengōri, in the province of Iyō, there lived a good man named Tokubei. This Tokubei was the richest person in the district, and the _muraosa_, or headman, of the village. In most matters he was fortunate; but he reached the age of forty without knowing the happiness of becoming a father. Therefore he and his wife, in the affliction of their childlessness, addressed many prayers to the divinity Fudō Myō Ō, who had a famous temple, called Saihōji, in Asamimura.
3 At last their prayers were heard: the wife of Tokubei gave birth to a daughter. The child was very pretty; and she received the name of Tsuyu. As the mother’s milk was deficient, a milk-nurse, called O-Sodé, was hired for the little one.
3 とうとう彼らの願いは聞き届けられ、徳兵衛の妻は娘を産んだ。その子はとても可愛かった。そして彼女はつゆの名前を受け取りました。母乳が不足していたので、O-Sode と呼ばれる乳母が子供のために雇われました。
4 O-Tsuyu grew up to be a very beautiful girl; but at the age of fifteen she fell sick, and the doctors thought that she was going to die. In that time the nurse O-Sodé, who loved O-Tsuyu with a real mother’s love, went to the temple Saihōji, and fervently prayed to Fudō-Sama on behalf of the girl. Every day, for twenty-one days, she went to the temple and prayed; and at the end of that time, O-Tsuyu suddenly and completely recovered.
5 Then there was great rejoicing in the house of Tokubei; and he gave a feast to all his friends in celebration of the happy event. But on the night of the feast the nurse O-Sodé was suddenly taken ill; and on the following morning, the doctor, who had been summoned to attend her, announced that she was dying.
6 Then the family, in great sorrow, gathered about her bed, to bid her farewell. But she said to them:—
7 “It is time that I should tell you something which you do not know. My prayer has been heard. I besought Fudō-Sama that I might be permitted to die in the place of O-Tsuyu; and this great favor has been granted me. Therefore you must not grieve about my death… But I have one request to make. I promised Fudō-Sama that I would have a cherry-tree planted in the garden of Saihōji, for a thank-offering and a commemoration. Now I shall not be able myself to plant the tree there: so I must beg that you will fulfill that vow for me… Good-bye, dear friends; and remember that I was happy to die for O-Tsuyu’s sake.”
7 「あなたが知らないことを、私があなたに話さなければならない時が来ました。私の祈りは聞き届けられました。私は不動様に、お露の代わりに死ぬことを許してくれるよう懇願した。そして、この大きな恩恵が私に与えられました。ですから、私の死を悲しんではなりません…しかし、一つだけお願いがあります。私は不動様に感謝と記念に西芳寺の庭に桜の木を植える約束をしました。今、私はそこに木を植えることができなくなります。ですから、あなたが私のためにその誓いを果たせるように頼まなければなりません… さようなら、親愛なる友人。お露の為に喜んで死んでくれたことを思い出してください。」
8 After the funeral of O-Sodé, a young cherry-tree,—the finest that could be found,—was planted in the garden of Saihōji by the parents of O-Tsuyu. The tree grew and flourished; and on the sixteenth day of the second month of the following year,—the anniversary of O-Sodé’s death,—it blossomed in a wonderful way. So it continued to blossom for two hundred and fifty-four years,—always upon the sixteenth day of the second month;—and its flowers, pink and white, were like the nipples of a woman’s breasts, bedewed with milk. And the people called it _Ubazakura_, the Cherry-tree of the Milk-Nurse.
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