藤沢周平の史伝書と『市塵』（ダイジェスト、英語対訳）９　　　　　　　　Fujisawa Shuhei 's Historical Biographies and "Shijin （City Dust） "：（A Digest, Japanese-English Translation）9

藤沢周平の歴史（史伝）書と『市塵』（ダイジェスト、英語対訳）９

９　『市塵』４　　その魅力　（１）

  『市塵』は徳川６代将軍家宣及び７代将軍家継に仕え、いわゆる「正徳の治」を開いた新井白石を描いたもので、歴史小説のジャンルに入るものです。藤沢周平が実在の人物を主人公にして小説を書く時、当然ながら作者がその主人公に愛情や共感を抱いていることは間違いないところです。歌人長塚節を描いた評伝小説『白き瓶』や上杉鷹山を題材にした『漆の実のみのる国』がそれです。『市塵』を読むと、それらのなかでも藤沢周平にとって新井白石はよほど共感を覚えた存在であったことが感じられます。それは、藤沢周平は自分の経歴と比較して、新井白石に共通項を見いだしたからだと思います。第一は二人の境遇です。新井白石は長らく市井にあって浪人生活を続け、のちに６代将軍になる甲府藩主綱豊に進講する儒者として召し抱えられたのが３７歳の時であり、その綱豊が思いがけず５代将軍綱吉の養嗣子になったため、それと伴い次期将軍の侍講になったのが４８歳でしたが、それは藤沢周平が３７歳の年に小説を書き始め、４６歳で直木賞を受賞したという経歴と似ています。そして、白石が６代、７代将軍に仕えた後、８代将軍吉宗に罷免されて、再び市井の生活に戻り、晩年を執筆で過ごす生き方にもひかれたのであろう。第二は二人が病気に苦しめられた点です。藤沢周平が２４歳から３０歳まで肺結核で療養生活を続けたことは知られていますが、新井白石も体が弱く病気がちであり、特に腸が弱く下痢に悩まされていた点に藤沢周平は親近感を抱いていたと思われます。第三に藤沢周平が共感を覚えていたのは、新井白石の心意気でした。白石は３７歳で甲府藩に儒者として召抱えられるまで、久留里藩の土屋家、古河藩の堀田家と二度も浪人をし、３７歳のそのときは本所で私塾を開いていました。甲府藩に仕えることができたのは、学問の師である木下順庵の推挙によるものでした。私塾を開いていたころ、知人が白石に「あなたは当節将軍のおぼえめでたくないひとの家から出て、その上世間にもてはやされない学者の門に入りました。これではたとえ学問がすぐれていても、立身するのはむつかしいでしょう。いまの学問をあらためて、もっと出世の道を考えられてはいかがか」と忠告したことがありました。白石はその言葉に従わず、出世のために自分2の生き方を変えなかったのです。もっと昔にさかのぼれば、２２歳で土屋家を浪人して６年間にわたる苦しい浪人暮らしをした時、豪商河村瑞賢の孫娘との縁談が持ち込まれたことがありましたが、その時も白石はことわっています。白石のその時の気持について藤沢周平は「もっと本音のところは、自分は自分らしくありたいということでした。おのれの力で、思うことをどのあたりまで遂げられるか試してみたいと、若い気持にうながされるままに、さだかにみえない前途に自分を賭けたのです。」と書いています。この「自分らしくありたい」という気持は藤沢周平の自負でもあったと言えます。そしてまた、みずからの信念に生きた白石に感動を覚えたのであろう。このことが『市塵』の行間からひしひしと伝わってきます。
　しかしながら、『市塵』は重い小説である。切り合いの場面などは一回も出てきません。話は六代将軍家宣の天下の経営を補佐して、五代将軍綱吉の悪政によりボロボロになった幕政を立て直すために病弱の体をおして苦労する白石の姿が重い筆致で、別の言い方をすれば淡々と書かれています。その辺りの固さが読者に人気を得られない理由からも知れません。しかし、多少我慢をして読み進めば、偉大な人間が人間的に描かれていて、読者は白石の苦労を我がことのように追体験することができる。そこに本書の魅力があります。しかも、「市塵」を読むことにより、徳川時代の中で、五代将軍綱吉と八代将軍吉宗という有名な将軍の間の時代に、わずか七年間という短期間ながら生類憐れみの令の廃止や貨幣制度の立て直しなどの善政が行われたことが知ることができるのであり、それだけでも有益です。

 

9 　"Shijin (City Dust)"　４　 Its charm (1)

 

         "Shijin (City Dust)" depicts Hakuseki Arai, who served the 6th Tokugawa Shogun Ienobu and the 7th Tokugawa Shogun Ietsugu, and established the so-called ``Shoutoku no Chi'', and falls into the genre of historical novels. When Fujisawa Shuhei writes a novel with a real person as the main character, there is no doubt that the author naturally feels affection and sympathy for that main character. These include the critical biographical novel "A White Jar” which depicts the poet Takashi Nagatsuka, and "Urushi-no-mi-no-kuni, （A Country of Fruit Bearing Lacquer Trees）" which is based on Yozan Uesugi. When I read "Shijin (City Dust)", I get the feeling that among them, Hakuseki Arai was someone who felt a great deal of sympathy for Fujisawa Shuhei. I think that's because Fujisawa Shuhei found something in common with Hakuseki Arai in comparison with his career. The first is the circumstances of the two people. Hakuseki Arai lived in the city for a long time, continuing his life as a ronin, and when he was 37 years old, he was hired as a Confucian to study under Tsunatoyo, the lord of the Kofu Domain, who later became the 6th shogun. Since he became the adopted heir of Shogun Tsunayoshi, he became the next Shogun's tutor at the age of 48. This is because Fujisawa Shuhei started writing novels at the age of 37 and won the Naoki Prize at the age of 46. similar. After Hakuseki served the 6th and 7th shoguns, he was dismissed by the 8th shogun, Yoshimune, and returned to ordinary life. Second, they were afflicted with illness. It is known that Fujisawa Shuhei continued recuperating from pulmonary tuberculosis from the age of 24 to 30, but Hakuseki Arai was also weak and prone to illness, especially his weak intestines and suffering from diarrhea. I think he felt a sense of closeness. Thirdly, Fujisawa Shuhei felt sympathy for Hakuseki Arai's spirit. Until Hakuseki was employed by the Kofu clan as a Confucian at the age of 37, he was a ronin twice with the Tsuchiya family of the Kururi clan and the Hotta clan of the Koga clan, and at the age of 37, he opened a private school in Honjo. rice field. He was able to serve the Kofu clan on the recommendation of his academic mentor Junan Kinoshita. Around the time I was running a private school, an acquaintance told Hakuseki, ``You left the house of a shogun you don't want to be remembered for, and on top of that, you've entered the field of a scholar who isn't popular with society. However, it will be difficult for you to rise to the top. Why don't you review your current studies and think more about your career path?" Hakuseki did not follow his words and did not change his way of life for his promotion. Going back even further, at the age of 22, when he was a ronin at the Tsuchiya family and spent six years living as a ronin, he was offered a marriage proposal with the granddaughter of the wealthy merchant Zuiken Kawamura, but even then Hakuseki turned it down. Regarding Hakuseki's feelings at that time, Fujisawa Shuhei said, ``The truth is that I want to be myself. I risked myself on an unseen future,” he wrote. It can be said that Fujisawa Shuhei was proud of this feeling of “wanting to be myself”. He must have also been moved by Hakuseki, who lived according to his own convictions. This is clearly conveyed between the lines of "Shijin (City Dust)".

　　However, "Shijin (City Dust)" is a hard novel. There is not even a single killing scene. The story depicts Hakuseki, who assists the 6th shogun Ienobu in the management of the world and struggles through his sickly body to rebuild the shogunate government, which has been ravaged by the misgovernment of the 5th shogun Tsunayoshi. It is written plainly. It may be the reason why the hardness of the neighborhood is not popular with readers. However, if you read on with a little patience, the great human being is depicted in a humane way, and the reader can relive Hakuseki’s hardships as if they were their own. Therein lies the charm of this book. Furthermore, by reading "Shijin (City Dust)", I learned that during the Tokugawa period, between the famous shoguns of the 5th shogun Tsunayoshi and the 8th shogun Yoshimune, during the short period of only seven years, the decree of mercy for living things was abolished and the monetary system was changed. It is possible to know that good governance such as the rebuilding of the government has been carried out, and that alone is beneficial.
                  (To be continued)