[102] 彼女はお棺に何を入れたか WHAT DID SHE PUT IN THE COFFIN?

彼女はお棺に何を入れたか

　昨日（６月２５日）行われた親戚の葬式（享年８７）で、愉快な出来事がありました。
　焼香が終わり僧侶が退場すると、親族による献花の儀式が始まりました。棺の蓋が開けられて、親族がめいめい花を棺に入れました。私も大きな紫色の花を数本入れて、棺から２メートルぐらい離れたところに立って、遺族が花を入れているのを見ていました。
　一番悲しんでいたのは１７歳前後の４人の孫娘達でした。献花の間中、しくしく泣いていてハンカチで涙を押さえていました。やがて献花が終わり、いよいよ棺に蓋をするとき、娘さん達は一人ずつ棺の中に何か小さな物を入れました。恐らく亡き祖父との思い出の品で、祖父への最後の贈り物だったのでしょう。一番年下の孫娘が、ビニールに包んだ卵大の物を棺に入れたとき、娘さん達は泣くのを止めてにっこり笑いました。ほんの瞬間的な出来事でした。
　娘さんが入れたものは何だったんだろうと思いました。親御さんは重々しい顔をしていて笑わなかったから、その物の中身を知らないか、知っていても笑うのは、はしたないと思っていたのかもしれません。娘さん達は４人一緒に笑ったから、４人は仲がよく、誰が何を棺に入れるか知っていたと推測しました。
　火葬場に行くバスに乗りながら、娘さん達全員の笑いを誘った物は何だったのだろうと思いました。何か滑稽で、その場にふさわしくないものに違いありません。しかし、何かさっぱり見当がつきませんでした。
　火葬が終わって斎場に着いたとき、私は思い切って何を入れたのかと娘さんに聞きました。始め、娘さんは何のことやら分からなかったようですが、やっと気がつき「あれ、お饅頭です」と、にっこりして答えました。そばで聞いていた３人の娘さんも笑いました。その瞬間、悲しみがどこかに飛んでいったようでした。娘さんは「じいちゃん、お饅頭が大好きだったから」と言いました。

WHAT DID SHE PUT IN THE COFFIN?

 WHAT DID SHE PUT IN THE COFFIN?

On June 25, I had a pleasant experience during the funeral for my relative, who died at the age of 87. 

   When all those in attendance finished making an incense offering and the priests left the funeral hall, the last ritual, offering flowers, was conducted. The coffin lid was opened and each of the family memebres and relatives offered flowers to his body. I put a few large purple flowers in the coffin and stood about two meters away from it watching the bereaved family.

   This was the moment of sorrow, for it was the last chance to see the deceased. The most sorrowful were his four granddaughters, around 17 years old. They were sobbing throughout the funeral wiping tears with hankerchieves. I understood how much their grandfather had loved them. When the ritual came to an end and before the lid was closed, each of the girls solemnly put something in the coffin one by one. I thought they must be memorial tokens for their beloved grandfather. Unexpectedly, however, at the moment when the fourth girl, probably the youngest, put an egg-sized thing wrapped with plastic in the coffin, the girls stopped sobbing and flashed a grin. A moment of delight prevailed in the hall.

   I wondered what it was that had prompted their smiles. Although the girls smiled, their parents did not. They must have known better than to grin because they were adults. Or probably they did not know it. The girls’ simultaneous smiles showed that they had a close relationship with each other and that they knew the content of the package.

   During the bus ride to the crematorium, I was wondering what it was that had brought about their grins. It must have been something humorous and irrelvalent to the occasion, but I could not guess what it was.

   After the cremation I dared to ask the girl what she had put in the coffin. She first did not understand the meaning of my question, but finally she said, “Oh, I put omanju (steamed bean-jam bun). The other three girls overhearing our conversation burst into laughter. In that moment they seemed to have forgotten their sorrow. They said, “Grandpa loved omanjyu.”

 

[101]音読しないでください DO NOT READ ALOUD

　　　　　　　　　　音読しないでください

　先日、東図書館で本を読んでいたら、近くから男の人が大きな声でおとぎ話を読んでいる声が聞こえてきた。振り返えると３５歳ぐらいの人が可愛い女の子を膝に乗せて甘い声で、気持ちを込めて読み聞かせている。「むかしむかし、あるところに王女がいました。これが王女だよ、いいね。王女は美しい白いお城に住んでいました」。
　音読が数分間続き、私はいら立ってきた。周りの人達も顔をしかめて、父娘をちらちら見ていた。私は、今の話が終われば音読が止むだろうと思って我慢していた。やがて話が終わり、やれやれと思ったら、なんと、父親は声も新たにまた別の話を読みだした。もう我慢ができない。「静粛は図書館利用者の基本的マナーだ。あの男は分かっていない」。
　私は立ちあがり、男のところへ行って、「本を読むのを止めてもらえませんか」と言った。
　男は驚いて私の顔を見て、
「ここは図書館だろう。何で本読んじゃいけないんや。ここは本読むとこだろうが」
「ですが、声を出して読まないで下さい」
　男は周りを見渡して「『声を出して読んではいけない』という貼り紙がどこにもしてないじゃないか。いい年こいて馬鹿なこと言うんじゃねーよ」
　周りの人達が読書を止めて私と男を見ている。二人のやり合いが読んでいる本よりよほど面白いらしい。私は話しても無駄だと思い、司書を呼びに行った。司書は私の後についてきて、男のところに来て、か細い声で「静かに読んでくださいませんか。ここは図書館ですので」と言った。男は荒々しい声で「そうや。ここは図書館や。だから娘に本を読んだっとるんや。それがどこが悪いんや。声を出して読んでやらなきゃ、娘は意味がわからんだろうが」
「でも、みんなが本を読んでいますので、音読するのは止めて下さい」
　男は司書を無視して娘に何やら甘い言葉をかけて、また音読しだした。司書は、ただそこに立っているだけだった。私は司書に図書館長を呼んできて下さいと言った。
　暫らくして館長が来て、騒音男と館長の間で言い合いになった。男の言い分は「音読をしないように」という貼り紙がしてないと言うことだった。ついに館長は諦めて戻って行ったが、やがてＡ３サイズの紙を持って現れ、男に一番近い柱にこれ見よがしに貼り付けた。そこには「図書館で声を出して本を読まないで下さい」と書いてあった。
　男は貼り紙を見て「おめー、市民から読書の楽しみを奪うんかぁ」と、捨て台詞を言って出て行った。
　一週間後、東図書館に行ったら、まだ貼り紙がしてあった。

　　　　　　　　　DO NOT READ ALOUD

　　The other day I was reading a book at the Higashi-ku Library, when suddenly I heard a man reading a fairy tale aloud. I turned to find a father around 35 years old reading it to his cute little daughter who was sitting on his lap. His voice was sweet and emotion-filled, “Once upon a time, there was a princess. This is the princess, my child. She lived in a beautiful white castle….” It lasted for several minutes.
　　I was irritated. The people around me were glancing at the father and the child with frowned faces. I thought the nuisance would stop after he finished reading the tale. I was patient. Soon he finished it, but alas, he began to read another one with his fresh voice. I became impatient. I said to myself angrily, “Being quiet in a library is basic manner. Doesn’t he know that?”
　　I stood up, went to him, and said, “Could you stop reading the book?”
　　Surprised, he looked up at me and said,
　“But this is a library. Why should I stop reading? Isn’t this a place for reading?”
　“Yes, but you should not read aloud.”
　　He looked around and said, “Why, there is no sign saying DO NOT READ ALOUD posted in here? Don’t say such a foolish thing, you silly grey-haired man!”
　　Everybody in the library looked away from thier books and was watching us. Our combat seemed much more interesting than what they were reading. Soon I realized that it was useless to continue talking to him. I gave up and went to call the librarian. Following me, she came to him and said politely in a feeble voice, “Please read silently. This is a library.” The man refuted in a roaring voice, “Yes, this is a library. That’s why I am reading a book to my daughter. What’s wrong with it? I don’t follow you. My daughter cannot understand the meaning of the story unless I read to her aloud.”
　“But everybody is reading a book. So, please do not read aloud,” she said.
　　He ignored her, said some sweet words to his child, and began to read the tale aloud. The librarian kept standing beside him not knowing what to do. I suggested to her that she call the library director.
　　Soon the director came and there were some more commotion between the man and the director. The basic argument of the man was that there was no sign saying DO NOT READ ALOUD. Finally the director gave up and went back to his office. Soon he came back with an A-3 size paper. He pasted it on one of the pillars nearest to the unmannerly man. It read, DO NOT READ ALOUD IN THE LIBRARY.
　　The man looked at the sign and left the library with a Parthian shot, “You are depriving a citizen of his joy of reading.”
　　One week later I went to the library only to find the ridiculous sign still pasted on the pillar.