XXIV. — DOWN INTO DARKNESS ／
訳：小川温
JANE'S thoughts had been far away as she swung along the trail behind Tibbs and Brown that afternoon; they had been far to the west where a little, time-worn cabin stood near the shore of a landlocked cove on the west coast. There had centered many of the important events and thrilling adventures of her life; there she had met that strange demi-god of the forest whom she had later come to know as Tarzan of the Apes.
Where was he now? Had he received her cablegram? If he had, he was already searching for her. The thought gave her renewed hope. She longed for the sanctuary of those mighty arms, for the peace and safety that his strength and jungle-craft afforded.
As her thoughts re-explored the winding back-trail of time her pace slowed and she dropped still farther in the rear of her companions. For the moment they were forgotten; she was alone in the great jungle of her memories.
But she was not alone. Eyes watched her every move; from the foliage of the trees above, they watched her, ever keeping pace with her.
Presently she felt an unaccountable urge to turn back. She wondered why. Was it a woman's intuition directing her for her best good? Was it a beneficent or a malign influence? She could only wonder.
At first this peculiar urge was only a faint suggestion; then it became more pronounced, became a force beyond her power to deny. At last she ceased to wonder or to question. Tibbs and Brown seemed very far away. She thought of calling to them, but she knew that it would be useless. For just an instant longer she hesitated, striving to force her will to drive her along the trail in an effort to overtake them; then she surrendered. A power stronger than she controlled her, and she turned docilely back away from them.
It was as though some one was calling to her in a voice that she could not hear but that she must obey. It offered her nothing, nor did it threaten her. She had neither hope nor fear because of it.
When the noose of the Kavuru dropped about her she felt no surprise, no terror—her sensibilities were numbed. She looked into the savage, painted face of the white man who drew her to a limb beside him and removed the noose from about her. It all seemed perfectly natural, as though it were something that had been foreordained since the beginning of time.
The man lifted her to a shoulder and started off through the trees toward the east away from the trail that ran in a northeasterly direction at that point. He did not speak, nor did she. It all seemed quite in order. This state of mind persisted for a matter of an hour or so; then it gradually commenced to fade as she slowly emerged from the state of hypnosis that had deadened her sensibilities. Slowly the horror of her situation dawned upon her. She realized that she was in the clutches of a strange, savage creature that was also a white man. She knew now that she had been hypnotized, the victim of a strange power that turned her will to its own purposes yet left her conscious of all that transpired.
She felt that she must do something about it, but what was there to do? From the ease with which the man carried her, she knew that his strength was abnormal—far beyond any that she could pit against it in an effort to escape. Her only hope lay in evolving some stratagem that would permit her to elude him when he was off guard. This she could never hope to do as long as he carried her.
She wondered where he was taking her and to what fate. If she could only carry on a conversation with him she might discover, but what language would such a creature speak? Well, she could only try.
"Who are you?" she asked in English. "What are you going to do with me?"
The man grunted and then mumbled in a Bantu dialect with which she was familiar, "I do not understand."
Jane experienced a moment of elation that was great by contrast with the hopelessness of her situation when she realized that he spoke a language she was familiar with.
"I understand you," she said in the same dialect that he had used. "Now tell me who you are and why you have taken me. I am not an enemy of your people, but if you keep me or harm me my people will come and destroy your village; they will kill many of you."
"Your people will not come. No one ever comes to the village of the Kavuru. If any did, they would be killed."
"You call yourselves Kavuru? Where is your village?"
"You will see."
"What are you going to do with me?"
"I take you to Kavandavanda."
"Who is Kavandavanda?" she demanded.
"He is Kavandavanda." The man spoke as though that were sufficient explanation. It was as though one said, "God is God."
"What does he want of me? What is he going to do with me? If he wants ransom, if you want ransom, my people will pay much to have me back unharmed."
"You talk too much," snapped the Kavuru. "Shut up." For a while Jane was silent; then she tried again, spurred on by the discomfort of the position in which she was being carried.
"Put me down," she said. "I can travel through the trees quite as well as you. There is no reason why you should carry me. It will be easier for us both if you let me walk."
At first the Kavuru appeared to ignore the suggestion; but at last he put her down. "Do not try to escape," he warned. "If you do try to, I may have to kill you. No one must ever escape from a Kavuru."
Jane stretched her cramped muscles and surveyed her captor. He was indeed a savage appearing specimen; but how much of that was due to his natural countenance and how much to the paint, the nose ornament and the ear rings she could not guess. Like many savage or primitive people, his age was undeterminable by his appearance; yet somehow she felt that he was a young man.
"What is your name?" she asked.
"Ogdli," he replied.
"You are a chief, of course," she said, hoping to make a favorable impression by flattery.
"I am not a chief," he replied. "There is only one chief, and that is Kavandavanda."
She tried to draw him on into a conversation; but he was short and taciturn at first, finally becoming ugly.
"Shut up, or I will cut your tongue out," he snapped. "Kavandavanda does not need your tongue."
Thereafter, Jane was silent; for there was that about her captor and the tone in which he made the threat that told her it was no idle one.
That night he bound her securely with his rope while he lay down to sleep, and the next morning they were on their way again. At the halt he had gathered some fruit and nuts, and these formed the only breakfast that they had.
In the middle of the forenoon they came suddenly to the end of the forest and looked out across a narrow plain to a lofty mountain at the foot of which Jane thought that she discerned what appeared to be a palisade built close to a perpendicular cliff.
The plain was strewn with large boulders and cut by several washes; so that as they advanced across it toward the mountain the palisade was sometimes in view and sometimes hidden from their sight.
As they approached more closely, Jane saw that the palisade was a massive affair of stone and that it formed three sides of a rectangle the rear wall of which was evidently the face of the mighty cliff that loomed high above them.
A small river followed a winding course across the plain from the very foot of the palisade, as though it were born there; though when she came closer she saw that it flowed from beneath the stone wall through an opening left for that purpose.
Her captor shouted as he approached the palisade, and a moment later one of the two massive gates swung open a little way to admit them. Beyond was a narrow street flanked by small stone houses, the flat roofs of which suggested that this was a country of little rain. They were houses similar in design to those built of stone and adobe by the prehistoric builders of the ancient pueblos of southwestern America.
Savage warriors loitered before tiny doorways or tended cooking fires built in little outdoor ovens. Like Ogdli, they were all young men, their ornaments, apparel, and weapons being almost identical to his.
Some of them gathered around Jane and her captor, examining her and asking questions of Ogdli.
"You and Ydeni have all the luck," grumbled one. "He captured a black girl and a white girl all during the full of the moon."
"The black girl got away from him," said another.
"Yes, but he went right back into the forest and caught a white girl."
"He will get no teeth for the black girl."
"No, but he will get a fine string for the white one; and Ogdli will get another row of teeth—that will make four for Ogdli. Kavandavanda will think well of him."
"He should," said Ogdli. "I am the greatest warrior among the Kavuru."
A big fellow grunted derisively. "You have but three rows of teeth," he taunted. "I have seven," and he tapped his chest where it joined his throat.
Jane, listening to this strange conversation, made little of it until this gesture of the speaker called her attention to the necklaces of human teeth about his throat; then she saw that there were seven rows of them and that about Ogdli's neck were three similar strands. She glanced at some of the other warriors. Some had one or two, others had none. These necklaces were evidently a sign of greatness, evidencing the prowess of the individual and his success in capturing women.
Suddenly she became aware of a marked peculiarity of her surroundings—here she was in an isolated village of a war-like people far removed from other villages, a village in which there were many men in the prime of life; yet she had seen neither women nor children.
What could it mean? Did some strange custom require that women and children remain indoors at certain hours or upon certain occasions, or were there no women nor children? If the latter were true, then what became of the women captives of which they boasted? But it could not be true; there must be women and children. But if there were women, why did the men attend the cooking fires? That was no fit work for warriors.
These observations and thoughts passed quickly through Jane's mind as she was led along the narrow street by Ogdli. At an intersection her captor turned into a narrow alley and led her to a low, circular building that lent to her surroundings a still greater similitude to the ancient villages of the pueblos; for this was a windowless structure against which leaned a primitive wooden ladder leading to the roof. If it were not a ceremonial kiva its appearance belied its purpose.
With a grunt, Ogdli motioned her to precede him up the ladder; and when she gained the roof she found still further evidence of kivalike attributes, for here the top of a second ladder protruded from a small, rectangular opening.
Ogdli pointed to it. "Go down," he commanded; "and stay down. Do not try to escape. It will be worse for you if you do try."
Jane looked down through the aperture. She could see nothing—just a black pit.
"Hurry!" admonished Ogdli.
The girl placed a foot upon a rung of the ladder and started slowly down into the black, mysterious void. She was no coward, but her courage was tested to its utmost as she forced her unwilling feet down that shaky, primitive ladder. Uppermost in her mind was the fact that she had seen no women in the village of the Kavuru. What had been the fate of the captives of which the warriors had boasted? Had they, too, descended this ladder? Had they gone down into this dark abyss never to return?その日の午後ティブズとブラウンの後ろで道を歩いていた時ジェーンの気持ちは離れた所にあった。そこは少し西のかなたにあり、風化した丸太小屋が西海岸の陸に囲まれた入江の海岸近くに建っていた。それは彼女の生涯に起こった重要な事件やぞくぞくするような冒険の真っ只中だった。そこで彼女は後に類猿人ターザンであることを知ることになる不思議な森の半神に出会ったのだ。
彼は今どこに居るのだろう？ 自分の海外電報は受け取ったろうか？ もし受け取っていたら、彼はもう自分を探しているはず。そう考えたら希望が沸いてきた。彼女はあの力強い腕の安らぎに、また彼の力とジャングルでの技術がもたらす平和と安全に思いこがれていた。
彼女の思いが時間を遡って巡り探っていたので歩くスピードが遅くなり仲間たちの遥か後ろにまで離れてしまった。しばらく二人は忘れられていた。彼女は自分の思い出の中で広大なジャングルで一人きりだった。
しかし彼女は一人ではなかった。眼が彼女の一挙手一投足を見ていた。頭上の樹々の群葉から、彼女を見ていた、彼女のスピードに合わせて。
やがて彼女は戻らなければという奇妙な衝動に駆られた。彼女はなぜだろうかと思った。それが彼女を最善に導く女の直感だったのか？ それは有益な力なのか有害な力なのか？ 彼女は不思議に思うばかりだった。
最初この奇妙な衝動はかすかな思いつきだった。そしてだんだんはっきりとしたものになり、ついには打ち消し難い力になった。ついに彼女は不思議に思ったり疑問に思ったりすることをやめた。ティブズとブラウンは相当離れているらしい。二人に呼びかけることを考えたが、無駄だと分かっていた。彼女が躊躇（ちゅうちょ）しているその瞬間ごとに、彼女が二人に追い付こうと道を急ぐ気持ちを押さえつける力が働いていた。彼女の意志より強い力が彼女を制御して、彼女は二人から離れる方向に向きを変えた。
それはまるで誰かが耳には聞えないのに従わざるを得ない声で彼女に呼びかけているようだった。それは彼女に何か仕掛けているわけでも、彼女を脅しているわけでもなかった。彼女は従って何かして欲しいことがあるわけでもなかったし恐怖心もなかった。
カヴルーの罠が自分のまわりに落ちてきた時彼女は驚きも恐怖も感じなかった---女の神経は麻痺していた。ジェーンは彼女を自分のかたわらの大枝まで引き上げ罠を外している白人の男の野蛮な彩色された顔を見た。そのできごとは全く普通に思われた、まるで以前から予定されていることのように。
その男は彼女を肩に担ぎ上げ樹々の中をその地点で東北に続いている道を東に向かって出発した。彼は無言だったが、彼女も無言だった。全く何事もないようだった。こんな精神状態が一時間かそこら続いた。それからゆっくり彼女が感覚を鈍らせていた催眠状態から目覚めるとその精神状態はしだいに消えはじめた。彼女はゆっくりと自分の置かれた状況の怖さが分かってきた。自分が白人でありながら奇妙な野蛮人の手中にあることに気付いた催眠術を掛けられ、自分の意識を全て保ちながらも相手の意のままになる不思議な力の思いのままになっていたことが今分かった。
彼女は何かしなければと思ったが、しかしここで何をするべきか？ 自分をこうして簡単に運んでいる様子からして、この男の能力に尋常でないものを感じた---自分がこの状態から逃れようとしても到底太刀打ちできないものを。今はただこの男が警戒を解いた時に逃れられるような何らかの戦略を少しずつ蓄えておくことだった。従って今この男が自分を運んでいる間は何もできることはなかった。
この男は自分をどこへ連れて行きどうするつもりだろうかと彼女は考えた。もし話が通じさえしたら分かるのだが、どんな言葉をこのような生き物はしゃべるのか？ なにしろ、試してみることだ。
「あなたは誰？」と彼女は英語で訊いた。「私をどうするつもりなの？」
その男は口ごもりそして彼女もよく知っているバントゥ語でつぶやいた、「分からない」
ジェーンはこの男が自分も使える言葉で話すのが分かった時自分の先の見えなかった状況が一変して一気に気分が高まるのを経験した。
「私はあなたの言ってることが分かるわ」と相手の使ったのと同じ言葉で言った。「あなたは誰でなぜ私を連れてて行くのか教えてちょうだい。私はあなた達の敵じゃないけど、もしあなたが私をさらったり危害を加えたりしたら私の仲間達がやってきてあなた達の村を襲うわ。大勢殺されるわよ」
「お前の仲間は来ない。誰もカヴルーの村には来たことがない。もし来たら、殺される」
「あなたたちはカヴルーと言うのね？ 村はどこにあるの？」
「もうすぐ分かる」
「私をどうするつもりなの？」
「カヴァンダヴァンダの所に連れて行く」
「カヴァンダヴァンダって誰？」と彼女は尋ねた。
「それがカヴァンダヴァンダだ」男はこの言葉で事足りるはずだというように言った。 「神は神だ」という言い方だった。
「それは私の何を望んでるの？ 私をどうするつもり？ 私の代償が望みなの、もしそうなら、私の仲間は何もしないで帰せば沢山払うわよ」
「お前はしゃべり過ぎる」とそのカヴルーはピシッと言った。「しゃべるな」しばらくジェーンは口を開かなかった。やがて自分が運ばれている姿勢が苦しくて我慢できなくなったので、再びしゃべってみた。
「降ろして」と彼女は言った。「あなたと同じくらいには樹を渡れるわ。あなたが私を運ぶことないわ。私を自由にしてくれたら二人とも楽よ」
最初カヴルーはその提案を無視しようとした。しかしついに彼はジェーンを降ろした。「逃げるなよ」と警告した。「もし逃げようとしたら、殺さなければならない。カヴルーから逃げた者はいないのだ」
ジェーンは固まった筋肉をほぐし捕獲者をつくづくと眺めた。見るからに野蛮人のようだったが、彼本来の顔がどんなものか、彩色、鼻飾り、耳飾りがどれほど顔を変えているか、分からなかった。大抵の野蛮人や原住民がそうなのだが、彼の年齢も見かけからは判然としなかった。彼女には若者に見えたが。
「あなたの名前は？」と彼女は訊いた。
「オグドゥリ」と応えた。
「あなたはもちろん酋長よね」とおだてて印象を良くしようとして、彼女は言った。
「俺は酋長ではない」と彼は応えた。「酋長は一人だけだ、それがカヴァンダヴァンダだ。」
彼女は彼を会話に引き込もうとしたが、彼は最初短気で無口だった。しまいには機嫌が悪くなった。
「しゃべるな、そうじゃないと舌を切るぞ」と無愛想に言った。「カヴァンダヴァンダはお前の舌を必要とはしてないんだ」
このあと、ジェーンは口を閉ざした。というのも彼女の捕獲者の様子と彼女を脅した口調にまんざら口先だけではないものを感じたのだ。
その夜彼は横になって眠る間ジェーンをロープでしっかりと縛り、次の朝二人は再び先に進んだ。途中停止して彼は果物と木の実を集めて来て、それだけが二人の朝食になった。
午前中の中頃二人は突然森の端に来てその切り立った崖に接して柵が巡らされている何かが見える高い山までの狭い平地を見渡した。
その平地は何本かの水流で別れていた。そのため二人が山に向かって進むにつれて柵は見え隠れした。
二人がさらに近づいた時、ジェーンは柵が頑丈な石造りで長方形の三辺をなし背後は二人の上にそそり立つ巨大な崖になっているのを見た。
一本の小川が柵の真下から、まるでそこから生まれたように、平地を湾曲しながら流れていた。しかしながら近くに来た時彼女はそれが石壁の下から作られた水路を通って流れ出ているのを見た。
彼女の捕獲者は柵に近づいた時大声をあげ、そのすぐあと二人を入れるために二つの頑丈な扉の一つが少し開いた。その先は小さな石造りの家並にはさまれた狭い通路があった。その家々の屋根は平たくなっていてこの地方には雨が少ないことを示唆していた。アメリカ南西部のプエブロインディアンの有史前の建造による石と干しレンガで建てられたのと同じ造りの家々だった。
野蛮人の戦士達は小さな戸口でぶらぶらしているか戸口の小さなかまどの料理用の火に向かっているかだった。オグドゥリのように、みんな若者だった。それぞれの飾り、衣装、武器はオグドゥリのものと同じだった。
何人かがジェーンとその捕獲者の周りに寄ってきて、彼女をじろじろ見たりオグドゥリに質問したりしていた。
「お前とイデニは全く運が良いな」と一人かつぶやいた。「あいつは黒人娘と白人娘を月が満ちている間に捕まえた」
「黒人娘は逃げてしまったぞ」と別のが言った。
「ああ、しかしあいつはすぐに森に戻って白人娘を捕らえた」
「黒人娘の歯は取ってなかったな」
「ああ、だが白人の方のは良い歯飾りができるな。それにオグドゥリも別の飾りが取れる－－オグドゥリのは四本できるぞ。カヴァンダヴァンダの受けが良くなるぞ」
「多分な」とオグドゥリが言った。「俺はカヴルーで一番の戦士だ」
大男が嘲るようにうなった。「三本しか取れんさ」とからかった。「俺は七本持ってる」と言って喉に続く自分の胸を叩いた。
ジェーンは、その風変わりな会話を聞きながら、話し手の身振りでその男の首の周りにあるのが人間の歯でできた首飾りだと自分に気付かせるまで殆ど理解していなかった。あらためて彼女はそれが七本ありオグドゥリの首には同じような三本があるのを見た。この首飾りは明らかにそれぞれの武勇と女性捕獲の成果を示す、偉大さの象徴だった。
突然彼女は周りの著しい特徴に気づいた---自分は他の村とは離れた臨戦体制にある孤立した村に居るということ、大勢の人生真っ盛りの男達が居る村に。しかしながら女と子供は一人も見かけなかった。
それはどういうことなのか？ 何か女子供をある時間あるいは特別の理由で戸外に出さない変わった慣習があるのか、それとも女や子供は本当に居ないのか？ もしそうなら、それで女を捕獲するのを自慢するようになったのか？ しかしまさかそんなことが。女や子供は居るに違いない。しかし女が居るなら、なぜ男達が料理の火に向かっているのだろう？ 戦士には似つかわしくない仕事なのに。
こうした観察や考えがオグドゥリに狭い道を引き立てられる時にジェーンの心によぎっていった。道が交差した所で彼女の捕獲者は狭い路地に曲がり彼女をプエブロインディアンの古い村に酷似した周りのものにさらにそれらしいものを加える低い円形の建物に導いた。こちらはその屋根まで粗末な木製の梯子が立て掛けられた窓のない構造になっていた。それがもし儀式用の地下広間でなければ目的にそぐわないと思えた。
一声出して、オグドゥリは彼女に先に梯子を上るよう促した。そして彼女は屋上に着いた時まさに儀式用地下広間を表すものを見つけた。小さな矩形（くけい）の穴から二つ目の梯子の上部がのぞいていたのだから。
オグドゥリはそれを指さした。「下りろ」と彼は命令した。「そして下でおとなしくしていろ。逃げようと思うな。逃げようとしたら酷い目に会うぞ」
ジェーンは入り口から下を覗（のぞ）き込んだ。何も見えなかった－－ただ暗い穴だった。
「早くしろ！」とオグドゥリはせき立てた。
ジェーンは梯子の横木に足を置き、ゆっくりと黒い謎の空間に下り始めた。彼女は臆病ではなかったが、無理やり揺れる粗末な梯子を下りさせられる時彼女の勇気は最大限に試されていた。彼女が一番気になっているのはカヴルーの村で女を一人も見ていないという事実だった。戦士達が自慢していた捕虜の運命は何なのか？ 自分以外の者も、こんなふうに、この梯子を下りたのか？ 誰もこの暗い深淵から戻らなかったのか？