Japan's scariest ghost story - Kit Brooks

譯者: Ng Kai Yuan 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

Looking at her father’s brutally murdered body,

看著父親被粗暴殺害的軀體，

Oiwa was sick with despair.

阿岩絕望至極。

Her father had been Oiwa’s only hope for ending her marriage

丈夫伊右衛門品行下流卑賤，

要與他離婚，父親是唯一的希望。

to the cruel and dishonorable samurai Iemon.

And now, while her husband and brother-in-law vowed to find the culprit,

如今，丈夫和大伯誓言要找出凶手，

Oiwa was trapped in her unhappy home with only the household servant Kohei

阿岩卻困在這悲傷的家裏，

陪伴她的只有僕人康平， 眼睜睜的看著她痛苦。

to witness her suffering.

What the grieving woman couldn’t guess,

然而，這哀悼中的女人沒法料到的是

however, was just how close the killer was.

凶手就近在咫尺。

After Oiwa’s father tried to end the marriage,

在阿岩的父親試圖結束這段婚姻後，

it was Iemon who murdered him in cold blood.

是冷血的伊右衛門親手殺死他。

Hearing of her troubles,

得知阿岩的困境，

Oiwa’s wealthy doctor neighbor sent some medicine to soothe her.

她的鄰居，一個有錢的醫生， 送來一些藥物安慰她。

However, when Iemon went to offer thanks,

然而，當伊右衛門登門答謝時，

the doctor revealed his gift was part of a sordid scheme.

醫生才透露這禮物是陰謀的一部分。

His beautiful young granddaughter was madly in love with Iemon,

他年輕漂亮的孫女 已經被伊右衛門迷得無法自拔，

and if the samurai left Oiwa for her, the doctor would offer him great riches.

如果武士爲了她離開阿岩， 醫生將會給他一筆巨款。

Iemon happily accepted this bargain, and eager to marry his new bride,

伊右衛門爽快地接受了這筆交易， 並盼著與他的新歡成婚，

he sent a man called Takuetsu to dispose of his poisoned wife.

派一名叫武藏的男子 去除掉他已中毒的妻子。

But when Takuetsu arrived in Oiwa’s room, he was appalled.

但是當武藏進入 小岩的房間時，他大為震驚。

The poison had swollen her eye

她的眼睛因中毒而腫脹，

and her hair fell to the floor in bloody clumps.

頭髮成血塊大把大把地掉落在地上。

Taking pity, Takuetsu told Oiwa about the doctor’s scheme.

武藏心生憐憫，將事實全盤托出。

Furious, Oiwa lunged for a sword.

小岩聽完陷入狂怒，舉劍攻擊武藏。

Takuetsu wrestled it away and flung the blade across the room.

一番搏鬥後，武藏把劍 擲到房間另一頭。

But when Oiwa ran to confront her husband, she stumbled,

但當阿岩衝出門，要與丈夫對質時，

她摔倒在插在牆壁的劍上。

falling against the sword.

Wounded and poisoned, Oiwa cursed Iemon’s name

受了重傷又中毒，身體負荷不住，

as the life left her body.

她臨死前詛咒了伊右衛門。

At the discovery of his wife's demise,

一得知妻子去世，

Iemon arranged to remarry that very night—

伊右衛門立即安排當天晚上再婚，

but not before killing his servant Kohei, who heard Oiwa’s death.

在這之前，知情的僕人康平 也被他殺掉了。

While Iemon celebrated his wedding,

伊右衛門慶祝婚禮的同時，

his friends nailed both corpses to a heavy door

他的朋友將這兩具屍體 一前一後釘在一道笨重的門上，

and sunk them in a nearby river.

隨後投入江中。

That night, Iemon reveled in his successful scheme.

那晚，伊右衛門沉浸在 計劃成功的喜悅中。

But suddenly his bride’s sleeping face

突然，新娘的睡臉

shifted into Oiwa’s tortured features.

變成小岩受盡折磨的面容。

Iemon acted on his violent instincts, slashing her throat.

出於本能，伊右衛門一刀往她脖子砍。

But when his fear subsided, he realized that he’d killed his new wife.

直到恐懼消退， 他才意識到殺害的是新婚妻子。

He stumbled out of the room and into another monstrous figure

他倉促失措地離開新房， 而前方等待他的是

wearing the face of his deceased servant.

戴著僕人康平臉皮的怪人。

The samurai ran his sword through the man—

武士之劍剌穿這個男人，

only to discover he’d slain his new grandfather-in-law as well.

卻發現他殺害的正是岳父。

Iemon fled the house, running frantically until he came upon a moonlit river.

伊右衛門逃離這個家, 來到月光河才停下脚步。

Here, he stopped to plot his next move, fishing as he thought.

他停下來策劃他的下一步，一邊釣魚。

Soon his fishing rod began to twitch,

片刻，釣竿開始有動靜，

but the harder he pulled, the heavier his catch became.

但他拉得越用力，釣竿就越重。

Finally, a wooden door broke the river’s surface—

最後，一道木門衝出河道水面，

with Oiwa’s writhing body on one side and Kohei’s on the other.

上面是阿岩扭曲的身體， 而另一側是康平。

Iemon ran for days,

伊右衛門逃了好幾天，

finally taking shelter in a mountain hermitage.

最終躲在山上的隱居處。

Over the following months,

在接下來的幾個月中，

he tried to convince himself these horrible visions were just illusions—

他試圖說服自己， 先前可怕的景象只是幻像，

but his nightmares never relented.

但每晚還是惡夢纏身。

One night, as he attempted to walk off another bad dream,

有一晚，他又做了惡夢， 想用散步來忘掉它。

a nearby lantern began to crackle and tear.

臨近的燈籠開始噼啪作響， 紙面也漸漸裂開。

The paper stretched larger and larger

紙張越張越大，

until Oiwa’s ghost appeared in a blaze of fire.

直到阿岩的鬼魂出現在火焰之中。

Iemon begged for mercy, but Oiwa had none to offer.

伊右衛門跪地求饒， 但阿岩可沒有這麽善良。

Over just 24 hours, the spirit slaughtered his parents and friends,

僅 24 小時，這冤魂 就將他父母朋友全數屠殺，

and tortured the samurai with ravenous rats.

還用飢餓的老鼠來折磨伊右衛門。

Only when Iemon was truly hopeless did Oiwa enlist her brother-in-law

直到伊右衛門真的精神崩潰， 阿岩才假手於大伯，

to secure bloody justice for her and her father.

爲她和父親報了血仇。

In the 19th century, Oiwa’s quest for vengeance

19 世紀，阿岩尋求復仇的故事

was one of the most popular kabuki theater performances,

是最有名的歌舞伎表演之一，

renowned for its grisly narrative and groundbreaking special effects.

以其恐怖的敘事手法 和開創性的特效聞名。

To depict Oiwa’s iconic transformation,

為了呈現阿岩的標誌性變身，

designers hid bags of fake blood in her wig.

設計師會在假髮中藏一袋假血。

And for her grand, ghostly entrance,

而那幕詭異駭人的登場畫面，

Oiwa’s actor really would emerge from a flaming lantern,

阿岩的演員真的會 從燃燒中的燈籠裏出現，

doing an assisted handstand to look as though she’s descending from above.

且有人協助倒立， 讓她看起來好像從上方出現。

Today, Oiwa is considered Japan’s most famous ghost,

現今，阿岩是日本最著名的女鬼，

and her image continues to inspire counterparts in film and television.

其形象依舊激發著電影 和影視作品的創作靈感。

But those who retell her story still tread carefully,

但是重述她故事的人， 總是很小心謹慎，

often asking her spirit’s permission at her rumored grave in Tokyo.

常到東京她傳聞的墳上， 向她的魂魄請求敘事的許可。

In this way, modern storytellers continue to give Oiwa

就這樣，現代説書人繼續為世人傳承

the respect— and fear—

阿岩應得的敬畏。

she so rightfully deserves.