「元寇」の歌 ”THE MONGOL INVASION” SONG

　まだこんなことを言うのは早いと思うが「長生きはするものだ」。といのは、つい５月27日（月）、おおいに感動したからだ。　
　実は、私が高校1年生の頃、日本史の授業で「元寇」という歌を習った。歌を教えて下さった先生は稲川誠一先生。朗らかで、気取らない、熱心な先生であった。鎌倉幕府についての授業の時、蒙古来襲の話になり、「元寇」を教えて下さった。まず先生が高らかに歌い、あとに続いて生徒が歌うのだ。何回か繰り返すうちに歌詞も曲も覚えてしまった。
　私は名古屋市民大学講座「近世史」を受講しているが（受講生約８５０人）、講師の深草正博先生がモンゴル帝国について講義をしておられる時「元寇」を歌って下さった。私は感激し、小声で深草先生と一緒に歌いながら、稲川先生のことを思い出した。まさか、高一で習った歌を５３年後、歌うとは思ってもみなかった。
（深草先生によると、「元寇」が作曲されたのは明治２５（１８９２）年で、２年後に日清戦争が勃発する。「元寇」は清国に対して日本人を鼓舞した歌という）


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　元寇

　　　　　　　　　　　作詞、作曲　永井建子（けんし・男性）

一、（鎌倉男児）
四百余州（しひゃくよしゅう）を挙（こぞ）る ／十万余騎の敵 ／国難ここに見る ／弘安四年夏の頃 ／なんぞ怖れんわれに ／鎌倉男子あり ／正義武断の名 ／一喝して世に示す

二、（多々良浜）
多々良浜辺の戎夷（えみし） ／そは何 蒙古勢 ／傲慢無礼もの ／倶（とも）に天を戴かず ／いでや進みて忠義に ／鍛えし我が腕（かいな） ／ここぞ国のため ／日本刀を試しみん

三、（筑紫の海）
こころ筑紫の海に ／浪おしわけてゆく ／ますら猛夫（たけお）の身 ／仇（あだ）を討ち帰らずば ／死して護国の鬼と ／誓いし箱崎の ／神ぞ知ろし召す ／大和魂（やまとだま）いさぎよし

四、（玄海灘）
天は怒りて海は ／逆巻く大浪に ／国に仇をなす ／十余万の蒙古勢は ／底の藻屑と消えて ／残るは唯三人（ただみたり） ／いつしか雲はれて ／玄界灘 月清し

     THE MONGOL INVASION SONG

It may be too early for me to say this at the age of 70: “if you live long enough, you can enjoy life’s rewards,” but I say this because I had a piece of precious fruit the other day (May 27).

   On this day I attended a world history class sponsored by Nagoya City. The lecturer, Prof. Masao Fukakusa, gave a talk on the expansion of the Mongol Empire. When he talked about its second invasion of Japan in 1281, he sang the song named “Genko” (The Mongol Invasion of Japan). When I heard him sing, I was much moved because I had learned the very same song more than 50 years ago when I was a high school boy.

While I was singing it with him in a small voice, I remembered my high school history class teacher, Mr. Seiichi Inagawa, a cheerful, candid, and enthusiastic man around 45 years old. When he was teaching about the Kamakura Period (1192-1333), he referred to the Mongol invasions of Japan, and taught the students the song. First he sang the song in a loud voice bar by bar, and the students echoed it. By the time they repeated the song several times, they had learned it.

Never had I dreamed of singing the song 53 years later while I was singing in the high school classroom.

 (According to Prof. Fukakusa, the song was composed in the 25^th year of Meiji Era (1892), just two years before the Sino-Japanese War. The song was intended to invigorate the Japanese against China.)

   THE MONGOLIAN INVASION

Song and melody by Kenshi Nagai

1.

Enemy of more than 100,000 soldiers
From all over Mongol
Now is Japan’s crisis
During the summer of Koan 4^th year
We are not afraid of them
We are brave Kamakura worriors
For justice and honor
We will show our spirit

もう寂しくないよ YOU ARE NO LONGER LONELY

もう寂しくないよ

(５月4日逝去したTK君に捧げる）

日本語は当分工事中です。訳しづらい。


YOU ARE NO LONGER LONELY

Unbelievable
You died of a heart attack
You of all the men I know
At the age of 72

Such an active
Energetic
Stress-immune
Good natured man as you should die

You overwhelmed me
With a loud voice
You liked talking
Monopolizing 75% of the conversation

You lived a fulfilling life
With your beloved wife, children, and grandchildren
You said to us years ago
"My wife and I are in a LOVE LOVE relationship"

You once said you wanted to live
Until the day when you can ride
A linear-motor train
It will run in 2027

You were not the man to die easily
I thought you would be the last
To die among us but
You passed away first

You died alone in a hospital room
No one was beside you
No one was grasping your hand
How lonely you were

Now we are always with you
Now you are always with us
You are no longer lonely
We are grasping your hands
So keep grasping our hands

I still hear your energetic voice
I still see your cheerful face

(Dedicated to Mr. T.K, who died on May 4, 2013)


 

あなただったら起こしますか ARE YOU GOING TO WAKE HIM UP?

あなただったら起こしますか　

先日、鶴舞図書館で英字新聞を読んでいるうちに眠くなり、机にうつ伏して眠ってしまいました。どれくらい眠ったか分かりませんが、気がつくと年配の男の人が私の肩をたたいていました。

「すみませんが、代わってもらえませんか」と言うのです。

「あ、どうも」と私は言って、新聞を掴んで老人に渡そうとしました。（一つの新聞を閲覧する時間は最長15分と決められている）

ところが老人は、「いえ、新聞でなくて、机です」と言うのです。私は立って席を譲ると、老人は座って新聞を広げました。

　私は二階に上がって雑誌を二、三冊読み、暫くして新聞コーナーに戻りました。見ると、先ほどの老人が熱心に新聞を読み、何やらノートに書いていました。私は何を書き写しているんだろうと思い、そっと近づきました。驚いたことにと言おうか、がっかりしたことにと言おうか、老人はスポーツ紙の競馬欄を食い入るように見ているのです。

　人生、十人十色で、競馬が大事か英字新聞を読むのが大事かは比較できません。でも、ぶっちゃけた話、私は競馬には全く興味がありません。競馬欄を一心不乱に読んでいる老人を見て少なからず気が抜けてしまいました。同時に、気持ちよく眠っているのに、競馬ごときで起こされたことに急に腹が立ってきました。

           ARE YOU GOING TO WAKE HIM UP?　

     The other day I went to Tsurumai Library to read an English newspaper. While I was reading it, I fell asleep. Soon I was awoken. An aged man was tapping my shoulder.

“Excuse me, but I want to use this,” he said.

“Oh, sorry,” I said half awake. I grabbed the newspaper and tried to hand it to him. (According to the library regulation, the allotted maximum time to read one newspaper was 15 minutes.)

“No, not the newspaper, but the desk,” he said, contrary to my expectation.

“The desk?” I said and stood up. I gave up the chair to him. He sat down and began to open a newspaper.

   I went upstairs and read some magazines. After a while, I went back to the newspaper corner, and found the man earnestly reading a newspaper and writing something in his notebook. I wondered what it was that he was transcribing. I stealthily approached him and saw the newspaper article. To my, what should I say, surprise, embarrassment, or disappointment, he was reading the horse race page of a sport newspaper.

You can’t compare which is more important, reading an English newspaper page or a horse race page. Many men, many minds, but to tell you the truth, a horse race page is not my taste at all. In fact, I was not a little disappointed to find him absorbed in such a page. But what irritated me most was that he woke me up while I was fast asleep.