The Secret · American Version Page 30
Page 30 of the American edition of The Secret
Plate · page 30, American edition Zoom Full-size scan

THE SECRET

(Could it be that they believed Peter Minuit’s glass baubles possessed the same worth as the Alven’ s Treasure-Stone?) For slow centuries, the exotic Dracs and Fadas from the Riviera had sported and dozed on the beaches of newfound Florida. Perhaps the metal- clashing landfall of the Conquistadores took them by surprise, and they fled without taking time to disenchant their Fountain of Youth …. Can you imagine the host of Fair People in flight across the wide, wild continent, scuttling inland like crabs from the rising tide, dashing like foxes before an inexorable pack of hounds? Can you picture Yo-Rib and his companions standing, at length, in a few small, heartbroken bands, their backs to the Pacific, as the sky darkens with the oncoming smoke of trains, and trade, and towns until the last of the Fair People vanish from the New World, as they had from the Old? No. Of course not. Eagles and cougars and buf- falo may die. Pawnee, Cheyenne, and Apache may die. Rivers and forests and mountains may die. But Fairies live on! The Fair People of the first Passage simply vanished from the eyes of Man into the environ- ment, determined to reside unseen in the safety of the great wilderness of the New World-mountain, desert, everglade, forest. With· these original emigres went the Fair Peo- ple’s treasure: the wonderstohes of their Litany, encased and protected in treasure casques fashioned by the Nordic Elves. These too would be hidden from the eyes of Man.

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Page 30 of the American edition of The Secret
American edition page 30
Page 30 as printed in the Japanese edition
日本語版 · Japanese edition

日本語版の本文

The Japanese text with an English back-translation.

Japanese text

に新世界からも消えてしまったのだ。もちろん、 想像などできないだろう。 ワシやカメやバッファローは死に絶え、 シャイアン族やアパッチ族は死滅するかもしれない。川や森、 山は絶滅するかもしれないことを。しかし、妖精たちは永遠に生きつづけるということを最初に移住してきた妖精たちは、人間の目から逃れて周囲の自然のなかへ消えてしまった。 山、 砂漠、 湿地、 森といった新世界の偉大なる未開地に、 姿を見せぬまま安全に暮そうと決心し、移り住んだのだ。しかし、 妖精たちの姿が消えると同時に、妖精たちの財宝も消えてしまった。 スカンディナビア出身の小妖精エルフがつくった宝箱に入れてまもられた宝石も、人間の目から隠されてしまったのだ。それ以来、 妖精たちはわたしたち人間の脇、頭上、 足もとで姿を消したままわたしたちを見つめ、からかい、あるいは手だすけをしつづけている。それは妖精の誇り高き伝統で、人間にたいする陽気な悪ふざけであったり、ときおり見せる慈悲心であったりするのだ。柔軟性のないコチコチ頭のイギリス人や、 フランス人の気どり屋、 西部へ富をもとめて行つた愚か者などの新世界にやってきた人間にいたずらをしてやろうという誘惑には、 妖精たちも勝てなかったらしい。 安全な未開の地から、 彼らはその楽しみをもとめて文明の世界へ出かけることもあったのだから。長いあいだ、 旧世界から新世界への移住者の波が着くごとに、 おおぜいの妖精たちがやってきた。 人間と同様、 頑固なまでに旧世界の習慣をまもるものが多いなかで、 混じりあうものもあった。 ピクシィとエルフは結婚し、フォレッティはトロールと結婚した。 ……すばらしい結果が生まれた。 しかし、だれもが最初の移住者たちとの約束をまもった。 いかに人間の近くに住むことを選ぼうとも、 けつして姿を見せることはなかったのだ。とはいえ、 悲しいかな新世界は急速に変貌していった。 ヨーリブの同胞は殺され、 かつては友であった川はコンクリートの堤防に

English back-translation

…and vanished from the New World just as they had from the Old. Of course, you cannot imagine it. That eagles, turtles, and buffalo might die out. That the Cheyenne and Apache might perish. That rivers, forests, and mountains might become extinct. But the fairies live on forever. The first immigrants among the Fair People vanished into the surrounding nature, away from human eyes — resolved to live safely and unseen in the great wilderness of the New World: mountains, deserts, wetlands, forests. But when the fairies disappeared, their treasures disappeared with them. The jewels — protected in casques crafted by the Scandinavian Elves — were hidden from human eyes as well. Ever since, the fairies have remained invisible beside us, above us, beneath us — watching us, teasing us, and occasionally lending a hand. This is the proud fairy tradition: sometimes playful mischief toward humans, sometimes a glimpse of mercy. The temptation to play tricks on the new arrivals — the rigid English, the pretentious French, the fools who went west seeking fortune — proved irresistible to the fairies. From the safety of the wilderness, they would venture out into the civilized world for their own amusement. Over the long years, with each new wave of immigrants from the Old World to the New, many fairies came too. Like their human counterparts, most stubbornly maintained their Old World ways — while others intermingled. Pixies married Elves, Folletti wed Trolls… wonderful results were born. But all kept the promise made by the first immigrants — however close to humans they chose to live, they would never be seen. And yet — sadly — the New World was changing rapidly. Yo-Rib’s people were killed, and the rivers that had once been friends were walled in concrete… 54-55

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