夜長姫と耳男

by 坂口 安吾

長者の娘・夜長姫の為に護身仏を彫るよう命じられた耳男だが、容姿を嘲けられ化け物を彫ることに決める。しかし、夜長姫も狂気に近い闇があった。

兎のように長い耳を持つ耳男は飛騨随一と云われる匠の弟子である。師匠に代わって長者の娘・夜長姫の護身仏を彫ることになった。
しかし姫に耳を笑われ、馬のような顔だと言われたとき、恐ろしい馬の化け物を彫ってやろうと決意を固める。他にも二人の名人が呼ばれ、三人を競わせて勝った者には美しい機織り奴隷娘の江奈古を与えるということであった。
酒宴がもうけられ、お江奈古に引き合わされるが、耳男はつい、江奈古を怒らせるようなことを言ってしまう。
江奈古はお返しに耳男の容姿を嘲り、耳男は江奈古の郷里を馬鹿にした為、江奈古は耳男の片耳を切り落す。数日後、耳男は呼び出され、江奈古の首をはねてよいと言われる。

坂口安吾（さかぐち・あんご）
小説家。新潟市西大畑町に生まれる。幼稚園の頃より不登校になり、餓鬼大将として悪戯のかぎりを尽くす。
1926年、求道への憧れが強まり、東洋大学印度哲学科に入学するも、過酷な修行の末、悟りを放棄する。1930年、友人らと同人雑誌「言葉」を創刊。1946年、戦後の本質を鋭く把握洞察した『堕落論』『白痴』の発表により、一躍人気作家として表舞台に躍り出る。
戦後世相を反映した小説やエッセイ、探偵小説、歴史研究など、多彩な執筆活動を展開する一方、国税局と争ったり、競輪の不正事件を告発したりと、実生活でも世間の注目を浴び続けた。1955年、脳溢血により急死。享年48歳。

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

妖しくて残酷で狂気的でひきこまれる話だった。挿絵と相まって美しいラスト。
坂口安吾作品はまだ本作と『桜の森の満開の下』しか読んだことないけど結構好き。

[Yoshinobu Yamakawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Yonaga and Mimio is a short story published by Sakaguchi Ango in 1952. The protagonist of the story is Mimio, a mysterious young man with long ears and a horse's face. He ends up carving a Buddhist statue for Princess Yonaga, the daughter of a wealthy man in the village of Yonaga, but after being mocked by the princess, he decides to carve an image of a terrifying monster. However, the princess takes a liking to the monster's image and falls for Mimio. Mimio also carves a statue of Miroku, which depicts the princess's smiling face, but the princess begins to sip the snake's blood, enjoying the death of the villagers who have succumbed to a plague that will soon hit the village. Mimio tries to kill the princess to free her from this world, but ・・・

The theme of this book is beauty and ugliness. Mimio is ashamed of his appearance, but Princess Yonaga has a beautiful face and an ugly heart. Mimio finds the princess's smile beautiful, but her smile delights in death and destruction. Mimio carves an image of a monster, which is revered as a god by the villagers. Thus, this book describes the relativity and contradiction of beauty and ugliness.

When I read this book, I felt a subtle fear. The fear is against the cruelty and madness of Princess Nacho. She lives according to her own desires, cutting off Ear Man's ears, sipping snake blood, and enjoying the death of villagers. She has no respect for the lives and feelings of others. Furthermore, she says she loves Ear Man, but that is love as her own possession. To top it all off, she even allows Ear Man to kill her, but she laughs until she dies, and her mad smile is not only frightening but even beautiful.

The relationship between Ear Man and Princess described in this book is one that fluctuates between love and hate. While they are attracted to each other, they hurt each other, and while they try to understand each other, they reject each other. I felt that this unique feature of this book shows the complexity and mystery of human emotions.