『蝉しぐれ』(藤沢周平)紹介・英語対訳（９）
An Introduction to “The Cicada Buzz”（Fujisawa Shuhei）・English Translation（９）
９ 父の切腹と遺体運び (1)
＊16歳の時、文四郎の父が藩内の抗争の犠牲となって切腹させられ、苦難がふりかかる。文四郎が父の遺骸（いがい）を車にのせ、坂をのぼろうとする場面。坂の上にある雑木林で、騒然と蝉が鳴いている。喘いでいる文四郎の眼に、組屋敷の方から小走りに駆けて来る少女の姿が映った。たしかめるまでもなく、ふくだとわかった。ふくはそばまで来ると、車の上の遺体に手を合わせ、それから歩き出した文四郎によりそって梶棒をつかんだ。無言のままの眼から涙がこぼれるのをそのままに、ふくは一心な力をこめて梶棒をひいていた。
文四郎は男たちに手伝ってもらって、車に敷いたむしろの上に父の遺体を移した。遺体を動かすと、新しい血がむしろの上にこぼれた。そうしていると、文四郎の脳裏を、白日の下でそんなことをしている自分を信じられない思いが横切るのだった。
死者の引き渡しを待っている門前の人びとの数は、さっきよりかなり減っていたが、そのうちの二、三人は寄って来て、文四郎の車が動かないように押さえてくれた。遺体を移し終わると、文四郎はいったん荒菰(あらごも)をはぎ、用意して来た羽織で巻くように父の身体を覆い隠した。そしてその上からまた荒菰をかぶせると、人びとに礼を言って車をひき出した。
二人曳きの車といっても、普請組の車の輪は頑丈で重く、梶棒(かじぼう)は太かった。遺体をのせて引き出すと、たちまち車の重みが身体にこたえて来た。時刻が九ツ(正午)を廻って、腹がすいて来たせいもあるのだろう。
------これでは・・・・。
いちばん近い道を帰るほかなさそうだ。と文四郎は思った。はやくも流れる汗を袖(そで)でぬぐって車の上を振り向くと、羽織でも菰(こも)でも隠し切れなかった助左衛門の青白い足先が見えた。
死人をはこぶことを憚(はばか)って、帰りはなるべく繁華な場所を避け、遠回りになっても人通りの少ない町をもどろうかと、寺に来るまでの間に道みち思案を練ったが、焼け付くような日射しの下に重い車をひき出してみると、朝のうちのその分別は掻(か)き消えて、文四郎は一刻もはやく父の遺体を持ち帰らねばならないという焦りに取り憑(つ)かれていた。
その気持ちの裏側には、途中で力尽きて、父の遺体と一緒にこの炎天の下に立往生してしまうのではないかという恐怖感が貼りついている。文四郎はしゃにむに力を出して車をひいた。
予期していたように、文四郎の車は行く先々でひとの注目をあつめた。城下の人びとは、今日龍興寺で何が行なわれているかを知っていた。さっきから町を戸板や車が通るのを見ていた人びとは、いま荒菰の下から足首が出ている車が来たのを見のがすはずがなかった。町を通り抜けながら、文四郎はすれちがうひとが足をとめ、軒下に立っている人びとが一語も出さず、しんとして自分を見送るのを痛いほど感じ取った。突き刺すような視線は、文四郎の疲れを倍加させた。
うつむいて、よろめきながら文四郎は車をひいた。時々は自分を炎天の下で身体に余る物をはこぶ蟻(あり)のように思い倣(な)したりした。
(『蝉しぐれ』－蟻のごとく ３)
９ Father's Seppuku and Carrying the Dead Body (1)
＊When Bunshiro was 16 years old, his father was harassed as a victim of a conflict within the domain and suffered. In a scene where Bunshiro puts his father's dead body on a car and tries to climb a hill, cicadas are roaring in the thickets on the hill. In the eyes of Bunshiro, who was panting, he saw a girl rushing from the Kumiyashiki. He wasn't sure, but she turned out to be Fuku. When Fuku came to his side, she put her hands together for the dead body on the car and then grabbed the shafts by Bunshiro who started walking. With tears spilling from her silent eyes, Fuku pulled the shafts with all her might.
Bunshiro, with the help of the men, moved his father's dead body onto the straw mat laid on his car. When he moved the dead body, new blood spilled over it. Then, Bunshiro's mind was crossed by an unbelievable feeling that he was doing such a thing under the white sun.
The number of people in front of the gate waiting for the dead to be handed over was considerably less than before, but a few of them approached and held Bunshiro's car in place. After transferring his body, Bunshiro once stripped off the sword and covered his father's dead body with the haori coat he had prepared. And when he put the sword on it again, he thanked the people and pulled out the car. Although it was a two-person towed car, the wheel of the car of the general contractor group was sturdy and heavy, and the shaft was thick. As soon as he put the dead body on it and pulled it out, the weight of the car responded to his body. It may be because the time was around nine (noon) and he was hungry. ------ This is ...
It seems that there is no choice but to return to the nearest road. Bunshiro thought. When he wiped the sweat that was flowing quickly with my sleeves and turned around, he saw the pale toes of Sukezaemon, who couldn't hide it with either a haori coat or a sword. Before he came to the temple, he thought about how to avoid the busy places on his way home, and return to a less crowded town even if he took a detour. When he pulled out of a heavy car under the scorching sun, the classification in the morning disappeared, and Bunshiro was impatient that he had to bring back his father's dead body. He was obsessed with the feeling.
Behind that feeling is the fear of running out of power and getting stuck under the scorching sun with his father's dead body. Bunshiro pulled the car recklessly.
As expected, Bunshiro's car attracted people's attention everywhere he went. The people of the castle knew what was going on at Ryukoji Temple today. Those who had seen floorboards and cars passing through the town a while ago could not have missed the car with ankles coming out from under the sword. As he passed through the town, Bunshiro felt painfully seeing himself off as the passing people stopped and the people standing under the eaves didn't say a word. The piercing gaze doubled Bunshiro's tiredness. Bunshiro pulled the car, looking down and staggering. Sometimes, he thought of himself as if he were a hump ant under the scorching sun.
(Fujisawa Shuhei “The Cicada Buzz” -Like an Ant ３)
(To be continued)