二十億光年の孤独     W.I.エリオット 川村和夫訳  (集英社文庫 た 18-9)

Two Billion Light -Years of Solitude          

Human beings on this small orb
sleep, waken and work, and sometimes
wish for friends on Mars.
I’ve no notion
what Martians do on their small orb
( neririing or kiruruing or hararaing ).
But sometimes they like to have friends on Earth.
No doubt about that.
Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes
pulling each other.
Because the universe is distorted,
we all seek for one another.
Because the universe goes on expanding,
we are all uneasy.
With the chill of two billion light-years of solitude,
I suddenly sneezed.
(二十億光年の孤独）

集英社文庫から出版された谷川俊太郎の「二十億光年の孤独」は、詩の英訳がついている。解説を読んでみると谷川俊太郎の詩の才能を見いだしたのは、実の父親と友人だった三好達治だったのだそうだ。谷川俊太郎が詩を書いた当時のノートの写真が載っていて、とても簡潔に丁寧な字で書かれているのに驚いた。
僕が学生の時、大学に講演に来たのを今でも覚えている。いくつかの詩の朗読をして、残った時間に学生達の無茶な質問に優しく答えたりしていた。とても気さくな印象だった。
谷川俊太郎の詩には難しい専門用語が多用されている訳ではない。だから、英語も優しい単語が多い。居心地がよくて暖かい。まるで炬燵にはいってゴロゴロしている時のようだ。

Burial Mound Figurine

Every feeling and quite time covered over with moss have sunk down into your brain.
Having endured 2.000 years of weight in the depths of your eyes,
your mouth is tightened by some grand secret.
There are not tears, laughter or anger in you,
because
You always cry, laugh and get angry.
There are no thoughts or feelings in you,
but
you always absorb things and they remain forever.
You are a pre-human human, born straight out of earth.
Since God’s breath was insufficient, you now boast
pure naivete and good health.
You are a repository of the universe.
(埴輪)

A Painting

Across the uncrossable river
is an unscalable mountain.

Beyond the mountain, perhaps, lies the sea,
and beyond that, perhaps, a town.

The clouds are dark-
Is imagining sinful?

There is such a painting
in a white frame.
(絵）

A Vapor Trail

A vapor trail:
the jubilant cry of children,
looking, longing….

A vapor trail:
a work of art,
a phrase of a fleeting hymn
painted on an infinite canvas.

( How deep the sky in this moment.)

A vapor trail
and
the spring sky.
(飛行機雲）

A Cloudy Day (After seeing Uncle Venya)

Some people were asleep in spite of the noisy ado and tears on the stage. I would have liked to talk to the servant before anyone else. By virtue of his silence he became a hero. I peeked under his feet in order to trust the earth, and in order to trust people who would be alive 200 years hence, looked directly at his eyes. You silent servants up there on the stage; send me a horse and carriage. I’ll leave, too, not knowing whether happiness or unhappiness awaits, and no matter which one came first. With eyes dry and wide open, I’ll leave. Cloudy. This sky will go on being. So will all the people under it. Age-old coughing, youthful shouting, lost tears, unknown laughter. Foolishly, and for foolishness’ sake alone.
(曇）
-Shuntaro Tanikawa