俊足の牡鹿 II ―― ジョン・デヴィッドソン

A Runnable Stag II

By perilous paths in coomb and dell,
The heather, the rocks, and the river-bed,
The pace grew hot, for the scent lay well,
And a runnable stag goes right ahead,
The quarry went right ahead--
Ahead, ahead, and fast and far;
His antler'd crest, his cloven hoof,
Brow, bay and tray and three aloof,
The stag, the runnable stag.

For a matter of twenty miles and more,
By the densest hedge and the highest wall,
Through herds of bullocks lie baffled the lore
Of harbourer, huntsman, hounds and all,
Of harbourer, hounds and all
The stag of warrant, the wily stag,
For twenty miles, and five and five,
He ran, and he never was caught alive,
This stag, this runnable stag.

When he turn'd at bay in the leafy gloom,
In the emerald gloom where the brook ran deep
He heard in the distance the rollers boom,
And he saw In a vision of peaceful sleep
In a wonderful vision of sleep,
A stag of warrant, a stag, a stag,
A runnable stag in a jewell'd bed,
Under the sheltering ocean dead,
A stag, a runnable stag.

So a fateful hope lit up his eye,
And he open'd his nostrils wide again,
And he toss'd his branching antlers high
As he headed the hunt down the Charlock glen,
As he raced down the echoing glen
For five miles more, the stag, the stag,
For twenty miles, and five and five,
Not to be caught now, dead or alive,
The stag, the runnable stag.

Three hundred gentleman, able to ride,
Three hundred horses as gallant and free,
Beheld him escape on the evening tide,
Far out till he sank in the Severn Sea,
Till he sank in the depths of the sea
The stag, the buoyant stag, the stag
That slept at last in a jewell'd bed
Under the sheltering ocean spread,
The stag, the runnable stag.

John Davidson (1857–1909),

俊足の牡鹿 II

険しい谷の危険な小道
ヒース、岩、川床の脇を
足は速くなる、臭いはよく残り
俊足の牡鹿は真っ直ぐに進む
獲物は真っ直ぐに進む――
前へ、前へ、速く、遠く。
牡鹿の角の生やした頭、牡鹿の割れた蹄
ブラウ、ベイ、トレイ、サーロイヤル
牡鹿、俊足の牡鹿。

20マイル以上もあるだろうか
濃い生垣と高い塀のそばを通り
まごつく雄牛の群れをくぐる
猟師と猟犬と全員の伝承
猟師と猟犬と全員の伝承
正真正銘の牡鹿、老獪な牡鹿
20マイル、さらに５マイル、さらに５マイル
牡鹿は走り、生け捕りにならない
この牡鹿、この俊足の牡鹿。

待ち受けられ、引き返す草深い暗闇
小川が深くなったエメラルドの暗闇
牡鹿は遠くに大波の響きを聞き
のどかな眠りの夢を見る
すばらしい眠りの夢を見る
正真正銘の牡鹿、牡鹿、牡鹿
俊足の牡鹿は宝石の床の中
大洋の底、死の避難所
牡鹿、俊足の牡鹿。

運命を決める希望で牡鹿の目は輝き
鼻の孔をもう一度広く開き
枝角を高く揺さぶり
チャーロックの谷へと急ぐ
こだまする谷へと急ぐ
さらに５マイル、牡鹿、牡鹿
20マイル、さらに５マイル。さらに５マイル
生きるも死ぬも、捕まるものか
牡鹿、俊足の牡鹿。

300人の騎乗した紳士たち
300頭の勇敢な馬が見つめる
夜の潮に乗って逃走し
彼方のセバンの海に沈む牡鹿。
牡鹿、浮いている牡鹿、牡鹿
ついに宝石の床で眠った
広がる大洋の底、死の避難所
牡鹿、俊足の牡鹿。

ジョン・デヴィッドソン(1857–1909),