THIS, O my Best Beloved, is a story—a new and a wonderful story—a story quite different from the other stories—a story about The Most Wise Sovereign Suleiman-bin-Daoud—Solomon the Son of David.
best beloved：諸賢。Sovereign：国王。Suleiman-bin-Daoud：スレイマン・ビン・ダウド／ダヴィデ王（聖書に記されたイスラエル王国の二代目の王）の息子（Suleiman-bin-DaoudはSolomon-ben-David／son of Davidのイスラム教の表記）／ソロモン。
There are three hundred and fifty-five stories about Suleiman-bin-Daoud; but this not one of them. It is not the story of the Lapwing who found the Water; or the Hoopoe who shaded Suleiman-bin-Daoud from the heat. It is not the story of the Glass Pavement, or the Ruby with the Crooked Hole, or the Gold Bars of Balkis. It is the story of the Butterfly that Stamped.
lapwing：タゲリ（鳥の一種）。hoopoe：ヤツガシラ（鳥の一種）。shaded：（光や熱を）避けた（防いだ）。pavement：（舗装した）歩道（イギリス英語）。ruby：ルビー（宝石の一種）。crooked hole：曲がった穴。gold bars：金の延べ棒。Balkis：バルキス（聖書に記されたシバ国の女王）。stamped：踏み付けた。
Now attend all over again and listen!
attend：良く聞け。all over again：もう一度（繰り返して）。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was wise. He understood what the beasts said, what the birds said, what the fishes said, and what the insects said. He understood what the rocks said deep under the earth when they bowed in towards each other and groaned; and he understood what the trees said when they rustled in the middle of the morning. He understood everything, from the bishop on the bench to the hyssop on the wall, and Balkis, his Head Queen, the Most Beautiful Queen Balkis, was nearly as wise as he was.
bowed in towards each other：互いに曲がり（減り込み）合った。groaned：軋んだ。rustled：さらさらと音を立てる。in the middle of the morning：午前の間に。bishop：高位聖職者。on the bench：判事席の。hyssop：ヒソップ（薄荷の一種）。Head Queen：第一王妃。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud was strong. Upon the third finger of the right hand he wore a ring. When he turned it once, Afrits and Djinns came out of the earth to do whatever he told them. When he turned it twice, Fairies came down from the sky to do whatever he told them; and when he turned it three times, the very great angel Azrael of the Sword came dressed as a water-carrier, and told him the news of the three worlds,—Above—Below—and Here.
third finger：三番目の指（薬指）。afrits：アフリート（アラビア神話の鬼神で、五階層から成るジン／精霊の中で、二番目に強い力を有する）。djinns：ジン（アラビア神話の精霊）。fairies：妖精。azrael：アズラエル（ユダヤ教、キリスト教、イスラム教で人間の死を司るとされる天使）。sword：剣（争い）。water-carrier：水運搬人。
And yet Suleiman-bin-Daoud was not proud. He very seldom showed off, and when he did he was sorry for it. Once he tried to feed all the animals in all the world in one day, but when the food was ready an Animal came out of the deep sea and ate it up in three mouthfuls. Suleiman-bin-Daoud was very surprised and said, 'O Animal, who are you?' And the Animal said, 'O King, live for ever! I am the smallest of thirty thousand brothers, and our home is at the bottom of the sea. We heard that you were going to feed all the animals in all the world, and my brothers sent me to ask when dinner would be ready.' Suleiman-bin-Daoud was more surprised than ever and said, 'O Animal, you have eaten all the dinner that I made ready for all the animals in the world.' And the Animal said, 'O King, live for ever, but do you really call that a dinner? Where I come from we each eat twice as much as that between meals.' Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud fell flat on his face and said, 'O Animal! I gave that dinner to show what a great and rich king I was, and not because I really wanted to be kind to the animals. Now I am ashamed, and it serves me right.' Suleiman-bin-Daoud was a really truly wise man, Best Beloved. After that he never forgot that it was silly to show off; and now the real story part of my story begins.
proud：高慢な。very seldom：滅多に〜しない。showed off：自分を誇示した。feed：食べ物を与える。in three mouthfuls：三口（三度）で。dinner：正餐。twice as much as：〜の二倍の。fell flat on his face：（彼が）ばったり倒れた。serves me right：（私の）身から出た錆だ（正しく報われる）。wise man：賢人。silly：愚かな。show off：自分を誇示する。
Illustration
This is the picture of the Animal that came out of the sea and ate up all the food that Suleiman-bin-Daoud had made ready for all the animals in all the world. He was really quite a nice Animal, and his Mummy was very fond of him and of his twenty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine other brothers that lived at the bottom of the sea. You know that he was the smallest of them all, and so his name was Small Porgies. He ate up all those boxes and packets and bales and things that had been got ready for all the animals, without ever once taking off the lids or untying the strings, and it did not hurt him at all. The sticky-up masts behind the boxes of food belong to Suleiman-bin-Daoud's ships. They were busy bringing more food when Small Porgies came ashore. He did not eat the ships. They stopped unloading the foods and instantly sailed away to sea till Small Porgies had quite finished eating. You can see some of the ships beginning to sail away by Small Porgie's shoulder. I have not drawn Suleiman-bin-Daoud, but he is just outside the picture, very much astonished. The bundle hanging from the mast of the ship in the corner is really a package of wet dates for parrots to eat. I don't know the names of the ships. That is all there is in that picture.
mummy：母さん。Porgies：ポーギーズ（動物に付けられた名前）。packets：包み 。bales：梱。things：荷。lids：蓋。untying：解く。strings：紐。sticky-up：突き出た。masts：マスト（帆柱）。belong to：〜の一部である。ashore：岸へ。unloading：荷下ろし。instantly：直ちに。sailed away：（船が）離れて行った。astonished：驚愕する。bundle：包み（真ん中を括った束）。wet dates：生のナツメヤシ（果実の一種）の実。parrots：オウム（鳥の一種）。
He married ever so many wives. He married nine hundred and ninety-nine wives, besides the Most Beautiful Balkis; and they all lived in a great golden palace in the middle of a lovely garden with fountains. He didn't really want nine-hundred and ninety-nine wives, but in those days everybody married ever so many wives, and of course the King had to marry ever so many more just to show that he was the King.
palace：王宮。fountains：噴水。ever so many：実に多くの。
Some of the wives were nice, but some were simply horrid, and the horrid ones quarrelled with the nice ones and made them horrid too, and then they would all quarrel with Suleiman-bin-Daoud, and that was horrid for him. But Balkis the Most Beautiful never quarrelled with Suleiman-bin-Daoud. She loved him too much. She sat in her rooms in the Golden Palace, or walked in the Palace garden, and was truly sorry for him.
horrid：酷い。quarrelled：喧嘩した。
Of course if he had chosen to turn his ring on his finger and call up the Djinns and the Afrits they would have magicked all those nine hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives into white mules of the desert or greyhounds or pomegranate seeds; but Suleiman-bin-Daoud thought that that would be showing off. So, when they quarrelled too much, he only walked by himself in one part of the beautiful Palace gardens and wished he had never been born.
had chosen to：〜することを望んだ。call up：呼び出す。have magicked (into)：魔法で〜に変えた。quarrelsome：喧嘩好きな。mules：ラバ（動物の一種）。greyhounds：グレイハウンド（犬の一種）。pomegranate：柘榴（植物の一種）。showing off：自分を誇示する。
One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks—all nine hundred and ninety-nine wives together—Suleiman-bin-Daoud went out for peace and quiet as usual; and among the orange trees he met Balkis the Most Beautiful, very sorrowful because Suleiman-bin-Daoud was so worried. And she said to him, 'O my Lord and Light of my Eyes, turn the ring upon your finger and show these Queens of Egypt and Mesopotamia and Persia and China that you are the great and terrible King.' But Suleiman-bin-Daoud shook his head and said, 'O my Lady and Delight of my Life, remember the Animal that came out of the sea and made me ashamed before all the animals in all the world because I showed off. Now, if I showed off before these Queens of Persia and Egypt and Abyssinia and China, merely because they worry me, I might be made even more ashamed than I have been.'
sorrowful：悲しんでいる。my lord：（私の）主人。Light of my Eyes：（私の）大切な人（目の光）。Egypt：エジプト（国名）。Mesopotamia：メソポタミア（アジア南西部のチグリス川とユーフラテス川の間の沖積平野）。Persia：ペルシア（国名／イランの古称）。China：中国（国名）。terrible：恐ろしい。my Lady：（私の）奥方。Abyssinia：アビシニア（国名／エチオピアの古称）。merely：単に〜（過ぎない）。even more：さらにもっと。
And Balkis the Most Beautiful said, 'O my Lord and Treasure of my Soul, what will you do?'
Treasure of my Soul：（私の）肝心な人（魂の宝物）。
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'O my Lady and Content of my Heart, I shall continue to endure my fate at the hands of these nine hundred and ninety-nine Queens who vex me with their continual quarrelling.'
Content of my Heart：（私の）重要な人（心の満足）。endure：耐え忍ぶ。fate：（悪い）運命。at the hands of：〜の手から（せいによる）。vex：煩わせる。continual：頻繁な。
So he went on between the lilies and the loquats and the roses and the cannas and the heavy-scented ginger-plants that grew in the garden, till he came to the great camphor-tree that was called the Camphor Tree of Suleiman-bin-Daoud. But Balkis hid among the tall irises and the spotted bamboos and the red lilies behind the camphor-tree, so as to be near her own true love, Suleiman-bin-Daoud.
went on：進み続けた。lilies：百合（花の一種）。loquats：枇杷（植物の一種）。cannas：カンナ（花の一種）。heavy-scented：濃厚な香の。ginger-plants：生姜（植物の一種）。camphor-tree：樟（木の一種）。camphor：樟。irises：菖蒲（花の一種）。spotted bamboos：染み付きの竹。true love：恋人。
Presently two Butterflies flew under the tree, quarrelling.
presently：間もなく。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud heard one say to the other, 'I wonder at your presumption in talking like this to me. Don't you know that if I stamped with my foot all Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palace and his garden here would immediately vanish in a clap of thunder.'
wonder at：〜を怪しむ（ではないかと思う）。presumption：図々しさ。a clap of thunder：雷鳴。
Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud forgot his nine hundred and ninety-nine bothersome wives, and laughed, till the camphor-tree shook, at the Butterfly's boast. And he held out his finger and said, 'Little man, come here.'
bothersome：煩い。boast：自慢（話）。
The Butterfly was dreadfully frightened, but he managed to fly up to the hand of Suleiman-bin-Daoud, and clung there, fanning himself. Suleiman-bin-Daoud bent his head and whispered very softly, 'Little man, you know that all your stamping wouldn't bend one blade of grass. What made you tell that awful fib to your wife?—for doubtless she is your wife.'
dreadfully：物凄く。managed to：何とか〜した。clung：しがみ付いた。fanning himself：（彼が）扇いだ（羽根を開閉した）。bent his head：（彼が）俯いた。one blade of grass：一本の草の葉。awful：嫌な。fib：（軽い）嘘。doubtless：恐らく。
The Butterfly looked at Suleiman-bin-Daoud and saw the most wise King's eye twinkle like stars on a frosty night, and he picked up his courage with both wings, and he put his head on one side and said, 'O King, live for ever. She is my wife; and you know what wives are like.'
twinkle：煌めく。frosty：霜の降りた（とても寒い）。picked up his courage：（彼が）勇気を奮い起こした。(put) on one side：片端に寄せた。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud smiled in his beard and said, 'Yes, I know, little brother.'
'One must keep them in order somehow,' said the Butterfly, 'and she has been quarrelling with me all the morning. I said that to quiet her.'
keep them in order：彼女らを適切に保つ。somehow：何とか。quiet：静かにさせる。
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'May it quiet her. Go back to your wife, little brother, and let me hear what you say.'
Back flew the Butterfly to his wife, who was all of a twitter behind a leaf, and she said, 'He heard you! Suleiman-bin-Daoud himself heard you!'
all of a twitter：非常に興奮して。heard：（願いなどを）聞き入れた。
'Heard me!' said the Butterfly. 'Of course he did. I meant him to hear me.'
meant him to：彼が〜するつもりでいった。
'And what did he say? Oh, what did he say?'
'Well,' said the Butterfly, fanning himself most importantly, 'between you and me, my dear—of course I don't blame him, because his Palace must have cost a great deal and the oranges are just ripening,—he asked me not to stamp, and I promised I wouldn't.'
most importantly：最も重要なことに（何にも増して）。blame：貶める（古い表現）。have cost a great deal：費用が、大層、かかった。ripening：実る。
'Gracious!' said his wife, and sat quite quiet; but Suleiman-bin-Daoud laughed till the tears ran down his face at the impudence of the bad little Butterfly.
gracious：おやまあ。impudence：厚かましさ。
Balkis the Most Beautiful stood up behind the tree among the red lilies and smiled to herself, for she had heard all this talk. She thought, 'If I am wise I can yet save my Lord from the persecutions of these quarrelsome Queens,' and she held out her finger and whispered softly to the Butterfly's Wife, 'Little woman, come here.' Up flew the Butterfly's Wife, very frightened, and clung to Balkis's white hand.
persecutions：迫害。
Balkis bent her beautiful head down and whispered, 'Little woman, do you believe what your husband has just said?'
The Butterfly's Wife looked at Balkis, and saw the most beautiful Queen's eyes shining like deep pools with starlight on them, and she picked up her courage with both wings and said, 'O Queen, be lovely for ever. You know what men-folk are like.'
starlight：星明かり。men-folk：男連中（古い表現）。
And the Queen Balkis, the Wise Balkis of Sheba, put her hand to her lips to hide a smile and said, 'Little sister, I know.'
Sheba：シバ（聖書に記された国名）。
'They get angry,' said the Butterfly's Wife, fanning herself quickly, 'over nothing at all, but we must humour them, O Queen. They never mean half they say. If it pleases my husband to believe that I believe he can make Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palace disappear by stamping his foot, I'm sure I don't care. He'll forget all about it to-morrow.'
get angry (over nothing)：何でもないことに怒る。humour：機嫌を取る（humourの綴りは主にイギリス）。
'Little sister,' said Balkis, 'you are quite right; but next time he begins to boast, take him at his word. Ask him to stamp, and see what will happen. We know what men-folk are like, don't we? He'll be very much ashamed.'
boast：自慢（話）する。take him at his word：彼の言葉を真っ正直に受け取る。
Away flew the Butterfly's Wife to her husband, and in five minutes they were quarrelling worse than ever.
'Remember!' said the Butterfly. 'Remember what I can do if I stamp my foot.'
'I don't believe you one little bit,' said the Butterfly's Wife. 'I should very much like to see it done. Suppose you stamp now.'
(not) one little bit：これっぽっちも〜ない。should very much like to：如何にも〜したい。suppose：したら（どうだろう）。
'I promised Suleiman-bin-Daoud that I wouldn't,' said the Butterfly, 'and I don't want to break my promise.'
'It wouldn't matter if you did,' said his wife. 'You couldn't bend a blade of grass with your stamping. I dare you to do it,' she said. 'Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!'
I dare you to：（普段はやらないような危険なことを敢えて）〜やってみろ。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud, sitting under the camphor-tree, heard every word of this, and he laughed as he had never laughed in his life before. He forgot all about his Queens; he forgot all about the Animal that came out of the sea; he forgot about showing off. He just laughed with joy, and Balkis, on the other side of the tree, smiled because her own true love was so joyful.
Presently the Butterfly, very hot and puffy, came whirling back under the shadow of the camphor-tree and said to Suleiman, 'She wants me to stamp! She wants to see what will happen, O Suleiman-bin-Daoud! You know I can't do it, and now she'll never believe a word I say. She'll laugh at me to the end of my days!'
hot：激した（熱くなった）。puffy：息切れした。whirling：ぐるぐる回りながら。see：確かめる。and now：さて今度は。to the end of my days：（私が〉死に行く日まで。
'No, little brother,' said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, 'she will never laugh at you again,' and he turned the ring on his finger—just for the little Butterfly's sake, not for the sake of showing off,—and, lo and behold, four huge Djinns came out of the earth!
for the little Butterfly's sake：小さな蝶のために。lo and behold：見てご覧（いやはや仰天）。
'Slaves,' said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, 'when this gentleman on my finger' (that was where the impudent Butterfly was sitting) 'stamps his left front forefoot you will make my Palace and these gardens disappear in a clap of thunder. When he stamps again you will bring them back carefully.'
slaves：奴隷。impudent：厚かましい。forefoot：前足。
'Now, little brother,' he said, 'go back to your wife and stamp all you've a mind to.'
all you've a mind to：したいと思う全て（思いのままに）。
Away flew the Butterfly to his wife, who was crying, 'I dare you to do it! I dare you to do it! Stamp! Stamp now! Stamp!' Balkis saw the four vast Djinns stoop down to the four corners of the gardens with the Palace in the middle, and she clapped her hands softly and said, 'At last Suleiman-bin-Daoud will do for the sake of a Butterfly what he ought to have done long ago for his own sake, and the quarrelsome Queens will be frightened!'
vast：巨大な。stoop down：屈み込む。for the sake of：〜のために（お陰で）。for his own sake：彼自身のために。
Then the Butterfly stamped. The Djinns jerked the Palace and the gardens a thousand miles into the air: there was a most awful thunder-clap, and everything grew inky-black. The Butterfly's Wife fluttered about in the dark, crying, 'Oh, I'll be good! I'm so sorry I spoke. Only bring the gardens back, my dear darling husband, and I'll never contradict again.'
jerked (into)：ぐいと投げ込んだ。thousand miles：数千マイル（１マイルは１６０９．３４４メートル）。awful：凄まじい。thunder-clap：雷の一鳴り。inky-black：黒いインクの。fluttered about：ひらひら飛び回った。I'll be good：私は良くしよう（I'll be good to youの短縮と思われる）。contradict：逆らう。
Illustration
This is the picture of the four gull-winged Djinns lifting up Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palace the very minute after the Butterfly had stamped. The Palace and the gardens and everything came up in one piece like a board, and they left a big hole in the ground all full of dust and smoke. If you look in the corner, close to the thing that looks like a lion, you will see Suleiman-bin-Daoud with his magic stick and the two Butterflies behind him. The thing that looks like a lion is really a lion carved in stone, and the thing that looks like a milk-can is really a piece of a temple or a house or something. Suleiman-bin-Daoud stood there so as to be out of the way of the dust and the smoke when the Djinns lifted up the Palace. I don't know the Djinn's names. They were servants of Suleiman-bin-Daoud's magic ring, and they changed about every day. They were just common gull-winged Djinns.
gull-winged：鴎の翼のある。one piece：一片。carved：彫刻された。milk-can：牛乳缶。out of the way of：〜を退けて。servants：召し使い。changed about：がらりと変わった。just common：全く共通の。
The thing at the bottom is a picture of a very friendly Djinn called Akraig. He used to feed the little fishes in the sea three times a day, and his wings were made of pure copper. I put him in to show you what a nice Djinn is like. He did not help to lift the Palace. He was busy feeding little fishes in the Arabian Sea when it happened.
Akraig：アクレイグ（魔人の名前）。Arabian Sea：アラビア海。
The Butterfly was nearly as frightened as his wife, and Suleiman-bin-Daoud laughed so much that it was several minutes before he found breath enough to whisper to the Butterfly, 'Stamp again, little brother. Give me back my Palace, most great magician.'
so much that：〜くらい。
'Yes, give him back his Palace,' said the Butterfly's Wife, still flying about in the dark like a moth. 'Give him back his Palace, and don't let's have any more horrid magic.'
moth：蛾。don't let's：〜しないようにしよう（let's notの古い表現）。
'Well, my dear,' said the Butterfly as bravely as he could, 'you see what your nagging has led to. Of course it doesn't make any difference to me—I'm used to this kind of thing—but as a favour to you and to Suleiman-bin-Daoud I don't mind putting things right.'
nagging：口喧しさ。has led to：〜（という結果）を齎した。doesn't make any difference to：〜にどんな違いも生まない。as a favour to：〜への好意として（favourの綴りは主にイギリス）。putting things right：事態を収拾する。
So he stamped once more, and that instant the Djinns let down the Palace and the gardens, without even a bump. The sun shone on the dark-green orange leaves; the fountains played among the pink Egyptian lilies; the birds went on singing, and the Butterfly's Wife lay on her side under the camphor-tree waggling her wings and panting, 'Oh, I'll be good! I'll be good!'
that instant：その瞬間。without even a bump：ドタンともなく（打つけることもなく） played：（噴水やホースが）水を噴き出した。Egyptian lilies：エジプトの睡蓮（Egyptian water liliesの省略と思われる）。lay on her side：（彼女が）横向きに寝た。waggling：（細かく）振りながら。panting：喘ぎながら。
Suleiman-bin-Daoud could hardly speak for laughing. He leaned back all weak and hic-coughy, and shook his finger at the Butterfly and said, 'O great wizard, what is the sense of returning to me my Palace if at the same time you slay me with mirth!'
leaned back all weak：全く力なく後ろに凭れた。hic-coughy：しゃっくりした。shook his finger at：（彼が）〜に向かって指を振った。wizard：魔法使い。what is the sense of：〜に何の意味があるか。slay：殺す。mirth：陽気さ（浮かれ騒ぎ）。
Then came a terrible noise, for all the nine hundred and ninety-nine Queens ran out of the Palace shrieking and shouting and calling for their babies. They hurried down the great marble steps below the fountain, one hundred abreast, and the Most Wise Balkis went statelily forward to meet them and said, 'What is your trouble, O Queens?'
shrieking：金切り声を出しながら。calling for：〜を求めて呼びながら。marble：大理石の。steps：階段。abreast：並んで。statelily：品良さそうに。
They stood on the marble steps one hundred abreast and shouted, 'What is our trouble? We were living peacefully in our golden palace, as is our custom, when upon a sudden the Palace disappeared, and we were left sitting in a thick and noisome darkness; and it thundered, and Djinns and Afrits moved about in the darkness! That is our trouble, O Head Queen, and we are most extremely troubled on account of that trouble, for it was a troublesome trouble, unlike any trouble we have known.'
upon a sudden：不意に（古い表現）。as is our custom：（私たちが）いつものように。left sitting：座ったままにさせられた。a thick and noisome darkness：深くて嫌な闇の。it thundered：雷が鳴った。extremely：極端に。on account of：〜のせいで。troublesome：厄介な。
Then Balkis the Most Beautiful Queen—Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Very Best Beloved—Queen that was of Sheba and Sable and the Rivers of the Gold of the South—from the Desert of Zinn to the Towers of Zimbabwe—Balkis, almost as wise as the Most Wise Suleiman-bin-Daoud himself, said, 'It is nothing, O Queens! A Butterfly has made complaint against his wife because she quarrelled with him, and it has pleased our Lord Suleiman-bin-Daoud to teach her a lesson in low-speaking and humbleness, for that is counted a virtue among the wives of the butterflies.'
Best Beloved：最愛の者。Sable：セーブル（何かの地名と思われる）。Zinn：ジン（古代イスラエルのユダ王国の荒野）。Zimbabwe：シンバブエ（現在の国のジンバブエが南ローデシアと呼ばれた頃の北部のマショナランドの古代都市の遺跡）。it is nothing：それは何でもない。has made complaint：不平を述べた。teach her a lesson：彼女に教訓を与える（思い知らせる）。low-speaking：静かな口（低い声で喋ること）。humbleness：謙虚。virtue：美徳。
Then up and spoke an Egyptian Queen—the daughter of a Pharoah—and she said, 'Our Palace cannot be plucked up by the roots like a leek for the sake of a little insect. No! Suleiman-bin-Daoud must be dead, and what we heard and saw was the earth thundering and darkening at the news.'
pharoah：ファラオ（古代エジプトの王／pharaohの綴り間違い）。plucked up：引き抜かれる。leek：韮葱（野菜の一種）。thundering and darkening：。
Then Balkis beckoned that bold Queen without looking at her, and said to her and to the others, 'Come and see.'
beckoned：手招きした。
They came down the marble steps, one hundred abreast, and beneath his camphor-tree, still weak with laughing, they saw the Most Wise King Suleiman-bin-Daoud rocking back and forth with a Butterfly on either hand, and they heard him say, 'O wife of my brother in the air, remember after this, to please your husband in all things, lest he be provoked to stamp his foot yet again; for he has said that he is used to this magic, and he is most eminently a great magician—one who steals away the very Palace of Suleiman-bin-Daoud himself. Go in peace, little folk!' And he kissed them on the wings, and they flew away.
rocking back and forth：ぐらぐら揺れている。lest：〜すると行けないから。provoked：苛々する。yet again：又々。eminently：抜きん出て。steals away：盗み取る。go in peace：平穏にせよ。little folk：小さな者。kissed them on the wings：彼らの羽根に口付けした。
Then all the Queens except Balkis—the Most Beautiful and Splendid Balkis, who stood apart smiling—fell flat on their faces, for they said, 'If these things are done when a Butterfly is displeased with his wife, what shall be done to us who have vexed our King with our loud-speaking and open quarrelling through many days?'
splendid：立派な。displeased：腹を立てる。loud-speaking：喧しい口（大きな声で喋ること）。open quarrelling：終わらない喧嘩。
Then they put their veils over their heads, and they put their hands over their mouths, and they tiptoed back to the Palace most mousy-quiet.
veils：ヴェール。mousy-quiet：（人や女児が鼠のように）大人しく静かな。
Then Balkis—The Most Beautiful and Excellent Balkis—went forward through the red lilies into the shade of the camphor-tree and laid her hand upon Suleiman-bin-Daoud's shoulder and said, 'O my Lord and Treasure of my Soul, rejoice, for we have taught the Queens of Egypt and Ethiopia and Abyssinia and Persia and India and China with a great and a memorable teaching.'
shade：陰。rejoice：喜べ。have taught：。Ethiopia：サブサハラ（サハラ砂漠よりも南のアフリカ／古い表現）。memorable：顕著に。
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud, still looking after the Butterflies where they played in the sunlight, said, 'O my Lady and Jewel of my Felicity, when did this happen? For I have been jesting with a Butterfly ever since I came into the garden.' And he told Balkis what he had done.
looking after：見送りながら。jewel of my felicity：（私の）必要な人（至福の宝石）。jesting with：〜を揶揄う。
Balkis—The tender and Most Lovely Balkis—said, 'O my Lord and Regent of my Existence, I hid behind the camphor-tree and saw it all. It was I who told the Butterfly's Wife to ask the Butterfly to stamp, because I hoped that for the sake of the jest my Lord would make some great magic and that the Queens would see it and be frightened.' And she told him what the Queens had said and seen and thought.
tender：優しい。regent of my existence：（私の）大事な人（存在の摂政）。(make) magic：魔法を使う。
Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud rose up from his seat under the camphor-tree, and stretched his arms and rejoiced and said, 'O my Lady and Sweetener of my Days, know that if I had made a magic against my Queens for the sake of pride or anger, as I made that feast for all the animals, I should certainly have been put to shame. But by means of your wisdom I made the magic for the sake of a jest and for the sake of a little Butterfly, and—behold—it has also delivered me from the vexations of my vexatious wives! Tell me, therefore, O my Lady and Heart of my Heart, how did you come to be so wise?'
sweetener of my days：（私の）最適な人（日々の甘味料）。made that feast：あの宴会を催した。put to shame：恥ずかしい思いをする。by means of：〜を用いて。wisdom：賢さ。behold：ご覧。has also delivered me from：私を〜から救い出しもした。vexations：煩わしさ。vexatious：煩わしい。heart of my heart：（私の）忠実な人（心の奥底）。
And Balkis the Queen, beautiful and tall, looked up into Suleiman-bin-Daoud's eyes and put her head a little on one side, just like the Butterfly, and said, 'First, O my Lord, because I love you; and secondly, O my Lord, because I know what women-folk are.'
women-folk：女連中（古い表現）。
Then they went up to the Palace and lived happily ever afterwards.
afterwards：その後。
But wasn't it clever of Balkis?
wasn't it clever of：〜は良くやらなかった（利口ではなかった）か。
There was never a Queen like Balkis,
From here to the wide world's end;
But Balkis talked to a butterfly
As you would talk to a friend.
There was never a King like Solomon,
Not since the world began;
But Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man.
She was Queen of Sabæa
And he was Asia's Lord
But they both of 'em talked to butterflies
When they took their walks abroad!
Queen of Sabæa：シバの女王（Sabæaは古い表現のSabæan／Sheban：シバ国のの綴り間違いと思われる）。Asia's Lord：アジア（大陸）の支配者。
結城永人
結城永人
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