Welcome to the Epitaph thread.
In the game, the Ushiromiya family, servants and rare guests could see this enigmatic riddle on the portrait of the Golden Witch, Beatrice.
Following the information we know, Ushiromiya Kinzo ordered an artist to paint it in 1984, and it was set on display to everyone along with the epitaph.
But over the course of the plot, the riddle becomes centric to everyone's attention, especially regarding the bizarre chain of events between the 4th and 5th October 1986.
Is it really the location of the gold of the legend? Or nothing but the madness of a old man? Or else...?
Original Japanese Text
懐かしき、故郷を貫く鮎の川。
黄金郷を目指す者よ、これを下りて鍵を探せ。
川を下れば、やがて里あり。
その里にて二人が口にし岸を探れ。
そこに黄金郷への鍵が眠る。
鍵を手にせし者は、以下に従いて黄金郷へ旅立つべし。
第一の晩に、鍵の選びし六人を生贄に捧げよ。
第二の晩に、残されし者は寄り添う二人を引き裂け。
第三の晩に、残されし者は誉れ高き我が名を讃えよ。
第四の晩に、頭をえぐりて殺せ。
第五の晩に、胸をえぐりて殺せ。
第六の晩に、腹をえぐりて殺せ。
第七の晩に、膝をえぐりて殺せ。
第八の晩に、足をえぐりて殺せ。
第九の晩に、魔女は蘇り、誰も生き残れはしない。
第十の晩に、旅は終わり、黄金の郷に至るだろう。
魔女は賢者を讃え、四つの宝を授けるだろう。
一つは、黄金郷の全ての黄金。
一つは、全ての死者の魂を蘇らせ。
一つは、失った愛すらも蘇らせる。
一つは、魔女を永遠に眠りにつかせよう。
安らかに眠れ、我が最愛の魔女ベアトリーチェ。
English Translation
Behold the sweetfish river running through my beloved hometown.
You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key.
As you travel down it, you will see a village.
In that village, look for the shore the two will tell you of.
There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.
The one who obtains the key must then travel to the Golden Land in accordance with these rules.
On the first twilight, offer the six chosen by the key as sacrifices.
On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.
On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.
On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.
On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.
On the sixth twilight, gouge the stomach and kill.
On the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.
On the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.
On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.
On the tenth twilight, the journey shall end, and you shall reach the capital where the gold dwells.
The witch shall praise the wise and bestow four treasures.
One shall be all the gold from the Golden Land.
One shall be the resurrection of all the dead souls.
One shall be the resurrection of the love that was lost.
One shall be to put the witch to sleep for all time.
Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice.
Translation provided by The Witch Hunt.
Update: 10th December 2010
Note:
- Golden Land: In Japanese, 黄金郷 (Ougon Kyou), which means the land of gold. This is also the word used to refer to the legendary city of El Dorado.
Spoiler Policies are applied here!
VN Spoilers are
NOT allowed, except if they are used for comparison sake about events that have been already shown in the anime (or if the timing has been bypassed with no way to be disclosed later on). Failure to do this can result in a
BAN. Also please be sure to use spoiler tags for critical scenes from the Anime series with a proper title (like Episode X-Y) in order to not spoil people who didn't catch up the latest anime episodes yet.
As it is:
do -not- mention any elements from Episode 5 and onwards. More importantly, this thread serves as a place for those who didn't solve the epitaph yet and/or wish to know the hints shown in the game that were omitted in the anime series.