The Tortoise and the Hare3/Aesop翻訳

The Tortoise and the Hare
Aesop

Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying you’re swift, but even you can be beaten!” The hare squealed with laughter.
嘗て或る時、或る所に、他の誰よりどれだけ速く走る事が出来るかを誇るばかりの兎がいて、遅いからと言っては、延々と亀をからかっていました。そこで、或る日、怒りに駆られた亀は、口答えをして、「お前、何様のつもり？お前が速いと認めないものは何処にもいない。それでも、お前だってやっつけられるんだ！」
兎は、高笑いをしながら言い返しました。

17:16 2017/01/29日

“Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there’s nobody in the world that can win against me, I’m so speedy. Now, why don’t you try?”
「競走でやっつけられる？誰に？お前じゃないよな、まさか！きっと僕に勝てる奴なんて、世界にー人もいないと思うよ、それくらい僕は速いんだ。ところで、どうしてお前は挑まないの？

21:06 2017/01/31火

Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. “Take your time!” he said. “I’ll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute.”
随分、自慢して怒らせたので、亀は、挑戦に応じる事にしました。走路が定められました。そして次の日夜が明けて、彼らは、出発ラインに立ちました。兎は、大人しい亀が、離れた所をゆっくりと重い足取りで歩くので、眠くて欠伸をしました。彼のライヴァルが、どんなにうんざりする程遅いかを兎は目の当たりにして、彼は決めました、足取りも半ば眠っているかのようだし、ちょっとうたた寝しよう。「休けいしようっと！」彼は、言いました。「僕が、ちょっと転寝（うたたね）したところで、直ぐお前に追い着くさ。」

21:44 2017/02/01水

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise’s face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring happily. The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise a speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he’d be first at the finish. But the hare’s last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.

“Slowly does it every time!” he said.