コロナ禍に思うこと Life under Corona Virus Pandemic

コロナ禍に思うこと 

　老後は安寧に暮らしていけそうだと思っていたのに、あにはからんや、ひどいことになってしまった。週に三回行っていた英語の講座は延期、月に一度は行っていた映画館は閉鎖、しばしば行っていた図書館も閉館、毎日のように行って珈琲を飲みながら本を読んだりしていたイオンモールのフードコートも閉鎖だ。コンサートも美術館も。古武道の杖道の稽古も無い。政府は外出を自粛せよと言っているが、行くところがないから外出のしようがない。せいぜい散歩する程度だ。

　しかし、コロナ禍のお陰で、見えないものが見えてきた。人間は社会的動物ということだ。人と交流しないで、一人ぼっちでは無人島に漂着したロビンソン・クルソーのような生活になってしまう。ロビンソン・クルーソーだって、後にはフライデーという黒人奴隷と人間的接触をするようになる。戦争の捕虜で質の悪いのは独房に入れられるが、独房の辛さは人と接触できないこともカウントされているのだ。

　次に、人間は地球を我が物顔で汚していたが、最近は二酸化炭素の量が減って空気がきれいになったそうだ。車の運転量が減って、ガソリンを使う量が減ったためだ。海水に浸かっていたベニスの水が澄んできたという。生物たちはほっと一息ついたのではないか。地球温暖化で氷河が溶け始めていたが、少しはおさまったかもしれない。

　私個人の生活も変わった。まずお金を使うところがない。講座の授業料、映画代金、食事代、喫茶代、コンサート、美術館、観劇、その他の支出が減った。また、図書館が閉館で本が借りれず、今まで積読（つんどく）だった本を読むようになった。４０年ぐらい読んでなかった坂東三津五郎と武田鉄二の対談「芸十夜」、川端康成「古都」、山本兼一「火天の城」のphne du Maurierの”Jamaica Inn”を読んだ。今はブックオフで買った直木賞受賞の川越宗一著の「熱源」を読んでいる。また溜まりに溜まっていたビデオを見て消化した。さらに、運動不足を補うため、毎日のように山崎川沿いを散歩するようになった。一日平均歩数は三月は６４００歩、四月は６７５０歩だ。その他、短編小説の執筆もしている。最近推敲したのは「シャッターは６時に閉まる」と「邪念の鑿」だ。また、メールやラインで小学校から大学、さらに教員時代の同僚との文通もしている。

 まだコロナ禍は一年ぐらいは続きそうだ。感染しないようにして乗り越え、、コロナ禍が終息したら自由に、行きたいところに行き、会いたい人に会い、食べたいものを食べるぞ。

Life under Corona Virus Pandemic

　　I thought I would lead a peaceful life for the rest of my life, but that was wrong. My optimism has been completely destroyed by the pandemic. I used to attend English classes thrice a week, but they were postponed; I used to go to the movies at least once a month, but the movie theaters were closed; I used to go to the libraries at least once a week, but they were shut; I used to go to the food-court in Ion Mall near my house and enjoyed reading books sipping coffee, but it was closed; I can’t go to concerts or museums. The class for practicing martial arts of Jo-do which I had been attending for nearly 30 years was postponed. The government recommends the citizens to stay at home, but where can I go? I have nowhere to go. All I can do is to take a walk.

 　　However, thanks to the corona virus, I have noticed something I did not notice before. That is, human-beings are SOCIAL animals. The life people are leading is like the one Robinson Crusoe leads, who lives alone in an uninhabited island. Yet, he encounters a black man named Friday at the end of his unusual life. A dangerous prisoner of war is confined in a jail cell. This is to teach him how miserable he will be if he has to lead life alone. That is an additional punishment.

　 Next, human-beings, who consider themselves as the owner of the earth, have been polluting the air for two centuries since the industrial revolution, but it has been reported that the air has recently become cleaner due to the decrease of carbon dioxide. Because the automobile traffic has decreased, the use of gasoline has also dropped. The dirty water in Venice has become cleaner, they say. The animals and plants may be happy. The glacier that has been melting these years may have stopped melting.
　　As for my life, it has drastically changed. First, I have nowhere to spend money. I don’t have to pay for various classes, movies, converts, theaters, and museums. Secondly, I began to read the books I had kept in my bookshelves intending to read. Recently, I read “Gei Jyu-ya” (Ten Stories on Kabuki Plays), which recorded the dialogue between Banto Mitsugoro and Tetsuya Takeda, “Koto” written by Yasunari Kawabata, “Katen no Shiro” (Castle in the Fiery Heaven) by Kenichi Yamamoto, and “Jamaica Inn” by Daphne du Maurier. Thirdly, I have watched the recorded television videos which I had missed to watch for many months. Also, I began to take a walk every day to take exercise. I usually walk along the Yamazaki River. I try to walk more than 5000 steps a day. The average steps was 6,400 in March and 6750 steps in April. Furthermore, I am writing short stories. I am correcting my manuscripts such as “The Shutter Will Clos at Six,” and “Jyanen no Nomi” (Evil Thoughts and Chisel). In addition to them, I correspond with my old friends from my elementary, junior, senior high schools, and university, and the former colleagues in Nanzan High School through Lines and e-mails.
　　The new corona virus pandemic will probably continue about a year or more. I will try not to catch the disease. And after the pandemic ceases, I will go anywhere I want to go, eat anything I want to eat, and meet anybody I want to meet. Until then, endurance, endurance, and endurance.

大仏殿と萩 the Colossal Hall of the Great Buddha

大仏殿と萩

奈良の大仏殿について調べていくうちに驚いたことがある。それは奈良東大寺の大仏殿は山口県の萩と関係があるということだ。

源平合戦で平氏によって東大寺や興福寺が焼失するが、時の老僧重源が東大寺復興の大勧進職として陣頭指揮を執り、大仏殿の木材を周防の国（現・山口県）から取り寄せた。

重源は、周防の佐波郡徳地の山から切り出した巨木（直径１・５メートル）、長さ２７メートル）２８本をはじめとして何百本もの木材を筏に組んで阿武川を日本海まで流した。阿武川は海にそそぐ直前に橋本川と松本川に分かれるが、この二本の川に囲まれている町が萩市の中心地だ。日本海から関門海峡を通って瀬戸内海に入り、瀬戸内海を通って、大阪湾に達し、そこから淀川を遡り、支流の木津川をさらに遡り、奈良の近くの陸地に引き上げられ、一本の丸太が牛１２０頭で東大寺まで運ばれたという。気の遠くなるような話だ。

かように大仏殿と萩は木材によってつながっているのだ。

 the Colossal Hall of the Great Buddha

While I was reading a book about Daibutsu-den (the Colossal Hall of the Great Buddha) in Nara, I was surprised to know that it is connected with Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Back in 1181, Todaiji Temple and Kofukuji Temple were burned down during the Genji and Heike Battle. An old Buddhist priest named Chogen directed the re-construction of the temple as daikanjin or the director of the re-construction. He ordered a great number of logs in Suo (present Yamaguchi Prefecture) to be sent to Nara.

   Surprisingly, 28 giant logs (diameter 1.5 meters and height 27 meters) and hundreds of other huge logs chopped in Tokuchi, Sawa-gun in Suo went down the Abu River in the form of rafts for about 60 kilometers. The river splits into two near the sea: Hashimoto River and Matsumoto River. The two rivers now surround the main part of Hagi City. The raft-logs were pulled by boats and went through the Kanmon Strait into the Seto Inland Sea. They were pulled to the Osaka Bay, and from there, each huge log was pulled by four boats up the Yodo River and Kizu River. The logs were dragged onto land near Nara. Then each of the logs was pulled by 120 cows to Nara. Isn’t this amazing? 

     Thus, Daibutsu-den and Hagi are connected.