藤沢周平『日暮れ竹河岸（たけがし）』ダイジェスト（英語対訳）１　　　　　　　　　　　　Fujisawa Shuhei “Takegashi at Sunset” (English Translation)１

藤沢周平『日暮れ竹河岸（たけがし）』ダイジェスト（英語対訳）１

（あらすじ）

　かつて「江戸おんな絵姿十二景」という題で雑誌連載され、一月から十二月までの季節に対応した短い話を作り上げるという遊び心のある趣向で書かれたものです。盛りを過ぎた吉原の花魁、自分の不注意で子を亡くしてしまったおんな、嫁入り前の不安な心をもてあます娘……
　前半は作者秘愛の浮世絵から着想を得て、江戸に暮らすおんなたちの心の揺れを描いた12の掌篇（夜の雪、うぐいす、おぼろ月、つばめ、梅雨の傘、朝顔、晩夏の光、十三夜、明烏、枯野、年の市、三日の暮色）。人の世の光と翳が息づく物語で、各篇約4000字の小品とは思えないくらいの味わい深い読後感を残します。
　後半の<広重「名所江戸百景」より>は前半同様に絵を主題にしたものです。前半のような遊び心で書かれたものというよりは、市井の人々の陰翳ゆたかな人生絵図を描いた七つの短篇（日暮れ竹河岸、飛鳥山、雪の比丘尼橋、大はし夕立少女、猿若町月あかり、桐畑に雨のふる日、品川州崎の男）も収録。
　藤沢周平生前最後の作品集。よけいな言葉を一切使わずに、深く、しっとりと心に染みとおる作品集だ。

Fujisawa Shuhei “Takegashi at Sunset” (English Translation)　１

(Synopsis)

　　　It was once serialized in a magazine under the title ``Twelve Views of Edo Women's Pictures,'' and was written with a playful theme of creating short stories corresponding to the seasons from January to December. A courtesan in Yoshiwara who has passed her prime, a woman who lost her child due to her carelessness, a daughter who is anxious before getting married...
　　　The first half is about women living in Edo, inspired by the author's secret love Ukiyoe prints. Twelve stories depicting the tremors of the heart (Night Snow, A Warbler, A Hazy Moon,  Swallows, A Rainy Umbrella, Morning Glories, Late Summer Light, The Thirteenth Night, A Daybreak Sound of a Crow, A Desolate Field, The  Year-end Market, and Three Days' Twilight). They are the stories that bring to life the light and shadow of the human world, and they leave a deep impression after reading it that is hard to believe that each story is a short story of about 4,000 letters. 　　　
　　　The second half, <From Hiroshige's ``One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,'' ＞ is based on paintings, just like the first half. Rather than being playfully written like the first half, the seven short stories depict dark pictures of ordinary people's lives. Included are (Takegashi(The Bamboo Riverbank) at Sunset, Mt. Asukayama, The Bikuni Bridge in the Snow, A Girl on the Ohashi Bridge in the Evening Shower, Moonlight in Saruwaka Town, A Rainy Day in Kiribatake, and A Man from Shinagawa Shuzaki).
　　　Fujisawa Shuhei's last collection of works before his death. It is a collection of works that penetrate deeply into our mind without using any extra words.                                     　　　　                                                                             　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  （To be continued）