藤沢周平『時雨のあと』+α　ダイジェスト（英語対訳）１　　　　　　　　Fujisawa Shuhei's "After the Drizzling Rain" + α 　A Digest (English Translation)１

『時雨のあと』１　概要　

　
　藤沢周平デビューから９冊目の作品です。「雪明かり」「闇の顔」表題作「時雨のあと」「意気地なし」「秘密」「果し合い」「鱗雲」の全７編収録。不遇な町人や下級武士を主人公に、江戸の市井に咲く小哀話を、繊麗に、人情味豊かに描いています。ある出来事を越えたあとに待っている希望や暖かさなどを描いた作品はどれもが人の愛情に満ちています。
　男女の愛を描いたものが多いのも特徴です、「雪あかり」の四郎と由乃、　　「闇の顔」の幾江と鱗次郎、「鱗雲」の新三郎と雪江など。どの恋愛も一筋縄ではいかず一度は諦めた恋が最後に実る演出であるのも共通点かもしれません。
　すべて読後感は明るく、救いがあります。著者の初期の作品には暗く救いのないものが多いのですが、後年の作品に比べると明るさに深みがなく、ハッピーエンドで終わる感があります。しかし、まだ藤沢周平を読んだことがないと言う人にはお勧めです。

Fujisawa Shuhei's "After the Drizzling Rain" + α 　A Digest (English Translation)
 
"After the Drizzling Rain" 1　 Overview

　　　This is Fujisawa Shuhei's ninth book since his debut. It contains seven stories: "Snow Light", "The Face of Darkness", the title story, "After the Drizzling Rain", "A Coward", "A Secret", "A Duel", and "Scaly Clouds". The protagonists are unfortunate townspeople and lower-ranking samurai, and the stories are delicately and warmly depicted as small sad tales that bloom in the streets of Edo. All of the stories are full of human affection, depicting the hope and warmth that awaits after overcoming a certain event.
　　　It is also characterized by many stories that depict love between men and women, such as Shiro and Yuno in "Snow Light", Ikue and Rinjiro in "The Face of Darkness", Shinzaburo and Yukie in " Scaly Clouds". None of the love stories are straightforward, and one thing they have in common is that the love that was once given up on finally comes to fruition.
　　　All of the stories leave you feeling bright and relieved after reading them. Many of the author's early works are dark and hopeless, but compared to his later works, they are not as bright and have a happy ending. However, I would recommend this to anyone who has never read Fujisawa Shuhei before.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（To be continued）