[58] 異常が正常 ABNORMAL IS NORMAL

異常が正常

　変だと思うことが当たり前のことであったりする。１０年前そんな体験をした。
　女房と道後温泉に行ったときのことだ。松山駅に着いたのは日がとっぷり暮れて暗くなっていた。私達は改札口を出て、道後温泉行きの路面電車の停留所はどこかなと思って、駅前に立っていた。
　突然、黒っぽい服を着た、30歳ぐらいの、骨ばった男が私たちに近づいてきた。街路灯が少なく、辺りが暗くて男の顔はよく見えなかった。暗がりの中で男は何か異様に思えた。男はいきなり私たちに「モシ」と話しかけてきた。私は身構えた。全然知らない男だ。一体誰だ、この男？　私達は男を不審に思っているのに、男は親友に話すように「こっちへ」と言って、私達と男の間に、特に変わったことがないかのように、私たちの前を歩きだした。一瞬わたしは男の跡をついて行くのをためらった。しかし、男は私達の１、２メートル前をずんずん歩いて行く。私達は不審に思いつつ気が進まないまま、男の後をついて行った。約２０メートル歩いたが、その間、男は後ろを振り返ったり話をしたりしなかった。黙々と歩いていくから返ってその分不審に思えた。一体この男は私達をどこへ連れて行こうと言うのか。この男は何者だ。ごろつきか。いかがわしい所に連れて行くのだろうか。諺に「人を見たら泥棒と思え」と言うのがある。疑いの念が最高潮に達した時、男は「ここだよ」と言って立ち去って行った。なんと、そこは道後温泉行きの路面電車の停留所だった。先ほど私達はその停留所を探していたのだ。男の人は親切に停留所まで私達を連れてきてくれたのだ。
　キツネにつままれたかと思った。不審な男だとばかり思っていたが、思い違いだ。疑い過ぎだった。「停留所まで連れてきて下さって、どうもご親切さま」と言うべきだったのに。
　男の人にとっては、私達にしてくれたことはごく当たり前のことだ。彼は駅前で不案内な中年夫婦を見て助けの手を差し伸べた。それまでに何人かの困っている観光客を助けていたのだろう。
　彼にとっては普通の事が、私達にとっては異常な事になったのだ。私達は赤の他人から親切にされたことがない。私が住んでいる名古屋のような都会では人に親切にするなどと言うことはめったにない。勿論、緊急の場合は別だが。人を助けると面倒なことになりかねない。「人を見たら泥棒と思え」という格言が都会で生活する金科玉条なのだ。しかし、この非人道的な態度は田舎では通用しない。
　私は３５年以上も名古屋に住んでいて、子供時代の純粋な心が毒されてしまっていたのだ。親切な男の人に対して、本能的に防御態勢に入り、不審に思ったりした自分を情けなく思った。実は、私が彼について思っていたことが異常で、彼が私達にしてくれたことが正常だった。

ABNORMAL IS NORMAL

　　What you think is abnormal can turn out to be normal. I underwent such an experience about ten years ago.
　　My wife and I went to Dogo-onsen Hot Spa in Shikoku. When we arrived at Matsuyama Station, the sun had already sunk. It was getting dark. We went out through the ticket wicket and stood on the station plaza wondering where to catch the streetcar bound for Dogo-onsen Station.
　　Suddenly, a bony man in dark clothes, around thirty years old, approached us. I couldn’t see his face clearly because of the scanty street lights in the dusk. He looked weird and strange in the dark street. He abruptly said to us, “Hi.” I became tense. I didn’t know him. Who on earth is this man? Despite my suspicion, he said to us as if we were his close friends, “Follow me.” He began to walk before us as if nothing strange had happened between him and us. For a moment I hesitated to follow him, but since he walked steadily keeping a distance of one or two meters from us, we followed him with reluctance and suspicion. He walked on and on for about 20 meters, during which time I think he did not look back at us nor talk to us. His silent walk made me feel all the more suspicious of him. I was wondering where he was taking us. Who was this stranger? He might be a ruffian. He might take us to a questionable place. “The proverb says,” I remembered. “When you see a man, regard him as a thief.” When my suspicion reached its peak, he said, “This is it,” and left us. It was the streetcar stop bound for Dogo-onsen Station. We had been looking for the stop just a moment ago. He had kindly guided us to the station.
　　I felt as if I had been bewitched by a fox. My suspicion was completely unfounded. I was too suspicious. We should have said to him, “Thank you very much for taking us to the stop.”
　　What he did for us was normal for him. He saw a middle-aged couple in front of the station wondering which way to go. So, he gave them a helping hand. I guess he had often offered a kind hand to those tourists in need.
　　What was normal for him turned out to be abnormal for us. We had never experienced such kindness from a stranger. In a big city like Nagoya where I live, few people will ever give a helping hand to a total stranger unless he or she is in a critical situation. Giving a helping hand to a stranger might involve some trouble. “Never trust a stranger” is the golden rule when living in a big city, but this inhumane attitude does not apply to life in the countryside.
　　I realized that my innocent heart from childhood had been badly polluted by living in Nagoya for more than 35 years. It’s a pity that I instinctively became defensive and suspicious of the kind man. What I thought about him was abnormal and what he did to us was normal.


why do some tourists
look suspicious of me,
I don’t understand

変な目で
僕を見るなよ
都会人