小さな語りシリーズ2024/06/04　　Small Story Serie

2024/06/04「味噌汁」"Miso Soup"

六月上旬のとある日、その日は雨がしとしとと降る朝だった。彼女はキッチンの窓から庭を眺めながら、心地よい静けさに包まれていた。薄暗い空と緑の草木が、まるで絵画のように美しかった。

彼はテーブルに座り、新聞を広げながら静かにコーヒーを飲んでいた。私はキッチンで朝食の準備を進めていた。温かい湯気が立つ鍋を見て、ふと思い出したことがあった。

「今日の味噌汁に何を入れようか？」と彼に問いかけた。彼は新聞から目を離して宙を見つめ、「そうだな、久しぶりにしじみを入れてほしいな」と答えた。

彼のリクエストを聞いて、しじみの入ったパックを手に取り、中身をざるに移し丁寧に洗った。しじみの小さな殻がキッチンの光を受けて、ほんのりと輝いていた。

味噌を溶きながら、私は心の中で「そういえば、彼はお義母さんの味噌汁が好きで、実家にいたころは毎日飲んでいたんだっけ」と思った。私は毎日は作らないけれど、でもたまにはこうして朝の食卓に味噌汁を用意してあげよう、と考えながら味噌汁の鍋を菜箸でやさしくかき混ぜた。

「味噌汁ができたよ」と告げると、彼は新聞を畳んで「うん、いい匂いだ」と言って、食器の準備をした。朝食の準備が済むと、二人は向かい合って座り、両手をあわせて「いただきます」と言った。彼は早速、しじみの入った味噌汁を口に運んだ。

「美味しいね」と彼が言った。「なんだか懐かしい味。母さんの作ってくれた味噌汁の感じがするよ」

「ありがとう。美味しく作れてよかった」と、私は微笑んだ。外から聞こえる微かな雨音を聞きながら、私たちは互いに温かい味噌汁をすすった。

---

It was a rainy morning in early June. She was surrounded by a comfortable silence as she looked out at the garden from the kitchen window. The dim sky and green plants were as beautiful as a painting.

He was sitting at the table, quietly drinking coffee while spreading out the newspaper. I was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Looking at the hot steaming pot, I suddenly remembered something.

"What should we put in today's miso soup?" I asked him. He looked away from the newspaper and stared into space, "Well, I'd like you to put in some clams for the first time in a while."

Hearing his request, I picked up the pack of clams, poured the contents into a colander, and washed them carefully. The small shells of the clams were shining faintly in the kitchen light.

As I was dissolving the miso, I thought to myself, "Now that I think of it, he liked my mother-in-law's miso soup and drank it every day when he was living at home." I don't make miso soup every day, but sometimes I'll prepare miso soup for the breakfast table like this, I thought as I gently stirred the miso soup pot with chopsticks.

"Miso soup is ready," I told him, and he folded the newspaper, said, "Yes, it smells good," and prepared the dishes. When breakfast was ready, we sat facing each other, put our hands together, and said, "Itadakimasu." He immediately brought the miso soup with clams to his mouth.

"It's delicious," he said. "It tastes kind of nostalgic. It reminds me of the miso soup my mother used to make."

"Thank you. I'm glad I was able to make it delicious," I said with a smile. We sipped the hot miso soup together, listening to the faint sound of rain outside.