土佐中浜万次郎漂流記 - 翻刻

翻刻

　候へとも銀銭にては相嵩み弁利不宜候に付砂金取溜
　置折々引替申候由
一耕作之事畑地有之候へ共新開の場所にて一もし
　は植付有之其外之品は見懸不申候由
一祝儀之事相祝ひ候様子見掛不申候由
一寺院躰之所見懸不申候由
一漂流人万次郎儀は拾三歳之節正月五日為漁
　業国元出船逢難風無人島へ漂流し在嶋中北アメリ
　カ船に而被助揚り夫ゟ外国所々乗廻り候者に有之一躰
　漁夫之悴に而も幼年之頃より浜辺に相育海業の
　致罷在出国被得迄に万事聢与弁も無之外国人之
　撫育を受成人仕候儀に御坐候得は日本之諸品器物其外
　草木鳥獣に至迄相覚候儀も薄く全若年之内ゟ
　船中乗組自然とアメリカ言語相覚候儀有之去る
　戌年十月オアホ出帆琉球国へ上陸同所逗留中
　薩州之者に出会日本仮名字等不相覚中絶致
　追々和語も相分り候次第に付外国之模様抔相尋
　候節都而其形似寄大概是迄引競見相例候儀
　合点難仕相困り候由見聞に随ひ追々相分り候儀
　に付外国之様子申立方不行届之廉も可有之

現代語訳

けれども銀銭では嵩張って便利が悪いので、砂金を取り溜めておき、時々引き替えたという。

一、耕作について：畑地はあるけれども新開の場所で、トウモロコシの植え付けはあるが、その他の品は見かけなかったという。

一、祝儀について：祝い事をする様子は見かけなかったという。

一、寺院体の所は見かけなかったという。

一、漂流人万次郎については、十三歳の時、正月五日に漁業のため国元から出船し、難風に遭って無人島へ漂流し、在島中に北アメリカ船によって助け上げられ、それより外国の所々を乗り回った者である。もともと漁夫の息子で、幼年の頃より浜辺で育ち海の仕事をしていたが、出国するまでに万事しっかりとした分別もなく、外国人の養育を受けて成人したことであるので、日本の諸品や器物、その他草木鳥獣に至るまで覚えていることも薄く、全く若年のうちから船中に乗り組み、自然とアメリカの言語を覚えることがあった。去る戌年十月にオアフ（ハワイ）を出帆し琉球国へ上陸、同所逗留中に薩摩の者に出会ったが、日本の仮名字等を覚えておらず中絶していた。追々和語も分かるようになった次第なので、外国の模様などを尋ねる際、すべてその形や似寄った大概のことをこれまで引き比べて見て例えた事柄について合点し難く困ったという。見聞に随って追々分かることなので、外国の様子を申し立てる際に行き届かない点もあるだろう。

英語訳

However, since silver coins were bulky and inconvenient, he would accumulate placer gold and exchange it from time to time.

1. Regarding agriculture: There were cultivated fields, but they were newly developed areas with corn planted, though no other crops were observed.

1. Regarding celebrations: No celebratory activities were observed.

1. No temple-like buildings were observed.

1. Regarding the castaway Manjiro: At the age of thirteen, he departed from his home country on the fifth day of the New Year for fishing, encountered a storm, and drifted to an uninhabited island. While on the island, he was rescued by a North American ship and thereafter sailed around various foreign countries. Originally the son of a fisherman, he was raised by the seashore from his youth and engaged in maritime work. However, since he had no proper understanding of worldly matters before leaving the country and was raised to adulthood under the care of foreigners, his memory of Japanese goods, utensils, and even plants, trees, birds, and beasts was thin. Having been aboard ships from a young age, he naturally learned the American language. In the year of the Dog (1850), he departed from Oahu in October and landed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. During his stay there, he met people from Satsuma, but he had forgotten Japanese kana characters and other writing, which had been interrupted. As he gradually came to understand Japanese again, when asked about foreign conditions, he found it difficult to comprehend all the forms and similar general matters that had been compared and exemplified up to that point, and was troubled by this. Since understanding comes gradually through observation and experience, there may be inadequacies in his account of foreign conditions.