Mononoke Soushi 1

[page 3]
Chapter 1:　The tiger-eaten soul

[page 4.]
あっしは”手の目”だ
先見や千里眼で酒の席を取り持つ芸人だ
Girl:I am the "Hand's Eye"
A performer with the gift of foresight or clairvoyance who wanders between sake houses.

[page 5.]
今日も料亭に呼ばれて出てきたンだが
妙ちきりんなことにこの竹林からなかなか出られねえ
急がねえとお座敷におくれちまう
Girl:Today again I was called to an inn and came to perform, but...
Surely, nothing suspicious will come out of this bamboo thicket.
If I don't hurry, I'll be late to the reception.

・・・てえ。ところに声をかけてきた兄さんは何者でい？
Girl: Oh? Was it your voice I heard? Who are you?

[page 6.]
そうかい。姉さんは芸人さんかい
Kochou: Is that so? You're an actor, missy?

心配すんな。俺怪しい者じゃねえ。
Kochou: Don't worry. I'm not a suspicious person.

おきやがれ。”俺は怪しい者だ”って名乗る奴が何処に居る
Girl:Get real. Where is it that there are people who announce "I am a suspicious person?"

へへ。威勢のいい姉さんだがここらは最近物騒だ。
俺で良けりゃ道行きの相方をつとめるがね。
Kochou: Hehe, you're an authoritative girl. But lately these parts have been dangerous.
If you'd like, I could serve as your companion on the road.

[page 7.]
とかなんとかいって
送り狼に化けるンじゃねえのかい？
Girl:That's what you say.
Sure you won't change into a wolf who just wants a bite of me?*

*okuriookami is a word that specifically refers to men who pretend to be nice and walk girls home but are really just trying to be invited upstairs. However, the animal imagery is important, so I kept it in the English.

へへ狼どころか
ここらは最近虎が出る
Kochou: Hehe, a wolf?　Not at all.
Around here, lately it's been a tiger.

虎！？
Girl: a tiger!?

化け物みてえにでかい虎がな
人を襲って食い殺すのさ
Kochou: Yes, a monstrous huge tiger.
one that hunts down, kills and eats people.

[page 8.]
まさかね.支那の山奥じゃあるめえし
ここは場末といっても帝都の端っこだ
虎なんか居る道理がねえ
Girl: Yeah right. This isn't the deep mountain crags of china.
This may be a rundown district, but it's the edge of the imperial capital.
There's no reason for a tiger to be here.

それがいるんだから仕方ねえ
もう何人も虎の餌食になってるんだ
Kochou: But there is one, so it can't be helped.
I wonder how many people have already become the tiger's meal...

ハッ！
Girl: Ah!

[page 9]
獣に生きたまま腸を食われるのは
あんまりたのしいこっちゃねえぞ。
Kochou:To have your innards eaten by a beast while still alive...
it's not a very fun prospect.

こんな物騒な竹林は
はやく通り抜けるに限るぜ。
A dangerous bamboo grove like this...
Quickly. Let's cut through here.

[page 10]
ふん
Girl: hm

なんでえ
まだ俺が信用ならねえか
Kochou: What is it?
You still don't have any trust in me?

信用も何も
さっきからオレらは竹林の中グルグル回ってるだけじゃねえ。
Girl:not trust, not anything.
Just now, you've only been turning us around in circles inside the grove, am I right?

なあ、兄さん。
支那じゃ虎に食われて死ぬと
人の魂は“虎倀”になって虎の奴隷になるっていわれてるらしいな
You know, mister.
In China, it seems they say if someone is eaten by a tiger and dies,
their soul becomes a kochou, a slave to the tiger.

こちとら最初からわかってたさ
Girl:We've both known all along

[page 11]
てめえは血だらけ傷からけで
腸くり抜かれた,死骸じゃねえか
Girl: That you are covered with blood and wounds.
Your guts have been gouged out. You're nothing but a corpse.

”手の目”の刺青は伊達じゃねえ
すっかりお見通しだぜ！
"The Hand's Eye" tattoo is not for show.
It lets me see through everything!

[page 12]
ひひひ。そうさ。その通りさ
Kochou: Heeheehee. That's right. Exactly.

虎の旦那に新しい獲物を献上すりゃあ
入れ替わりに俺は成仏できるんだ!
If I were to provide Master Tiger with new spoils,
they would take my place and I could die in peace!!

[page 13]
後ろか！！
Girl: from behind?!

[page 14]
虎だ！？
本当に虎だった！？
Girl: A tiger?
It was truly a tiger?

[page 15]
確かに手応えはあったぜ
のど笛を掻っ切ってやったんだが。。。
Girl: well, that was quite the reaction.
I got it by cutting its windpipe, but...

おっと?こりゃなんだ？
oh? What's this?

あれ?
手の目かい！？
Proprietess:ah?
The Hand's Eye?

へ？
女将？
Girl:eh?
The shop mistress?

[page 16]
あんた遅いよ！
何やってたんだい！？
Proprietess: You're late.
What have you been doing?

今頃きて
座敷をしくじるよ！
Coming here at a time like this...
The reception is ruined.

なんでえ。
ここは。。。料亭の庭じゃねえか
Girl:What?
This... Isn't this the inn's garden?

[page 17]
あんたその引き摺ってきたのは
いったいなんだい？
Proprietess:That thing you've dragged with you,
What in the world is it?

こりゃ。。。屏風じゃないのかえ？
なんでそんな物持ってくるのさ
That's...a folding screen, isn't it?
Why are you carrying such a thing?

こいつかい？
ああ。。。
Girl:This?
Well...

こりゃとらの絵屏風だ。
This is a screen painted with a tiger.

[page 18]
ふん。どっかに落ちてたのを拾ってきたのかい？
汚らしいねえ。
Proprietess: Hmph. Where did you pick that off the ground?
It looks awfully dirty.

おまえ、あたしにそれをうりつけようてえきじゃあるまいね？
そんな。。。破れかぶれの虎の絵なんか誰が要るもんかい
You don't want to sell that thing to me, do you?
Who needs a ripped-up painting of a tiger?

おわり
fin