おめでたい奴 A Simple-minded Man

 

おめでたい奴

人間は物事を勝手のいいように解釈するようだ。勝手に導き出した結論によって心配するというようなことがある。

実は、恥ずかしながら、上記のような体験をしたのでここに記しておきたい。

小生は物語を書くことを趣味としている。その範囲は長編、中編、短編、掌編、はたまた童話や児童ものにまで及ぶ。広範囲だからと言って自慢している訳ではない。今までに数えきれないほど落選している。

　今年の1月に応募したのは「アンデルセンのメルヘン大賞」である。我ながら素晴らしい作品ができたと思った。主人公は地球君だ。地球君が土星や木星や彗星や月をうらやましく思って、自分もあのように美しくなりたいと思う。彗星が近づいてきて、「地球さんほど美しい星はないですよ」という。自分では気が付かなかったが、端から見ると美しく見えるのかと思い直し、他の星々をうらやましく思うのを止める話である。

大賞を受賞すると、３０万円とデンマークペア旅行などが副賞として授与される。

ここから、あらぬ妄想が沸き起こり「もしペア旅行が当たったらどうしよう」と気になり始めた。わたしは８１歳だし女房も後期高齢者だ。デンマークまでの長時間飛行に耐えられるか。ロシアのウクライナ侵攻でモスクワ経由は駄目だろうから、コペンハーゲン空港までの飛行時間は１４時間ぐらいになるかと思った。エコノミークラスの飛行だから、私達夫婦は体がもたない。もし、ペア旅行が当たったら、主催者に頼んでビジネスクラスに代えてもらうしかないと思った。差額はこちらが負担するのは勿論だ。あれこれと心配することが多くなって来た。「何と言ったって、体を鍛えておかなければ、デンマーク旅行は無理だと思い、毎日５０００歩き、階段を登り、運動をして体を鍛えた。

結果の発表が正式には４月２日であったが、先日主催者からぶ厚い角封筒が届いた。落選なら便箋一枚しか入っていないので、ひょっとして入選したかと思った。

ドキドキして開封したら、なんと……。

落選。

残念、無念。でも良かった。もう心配しなくて済む。ゆっくり眠れる。

この３か月間、あれこれ空想するのは愉快であった。次回も狙ってみよう。次回の締切は来年１月１０日の予定だ。

A Simple-minded Man

Man tends to interpret his environment as he wishes. He even worries about the consequence he has deducted from the interpretation.

    In fact, I am ashamed to confess that I myself suffered from such a situation.

My hobby is writing stories that covers novels, short stories, and children’s tales. Mind you, I am not boasting about my writing, for a great number of my pieces have been rejected so far.

I applied for the Andersen’ Fairy Tale Contest this January. I thought my piece was excellent. The protagonist is the Earth. She envies other planets such as Saturn, Jupiter, Comet, and the moon. She wants to be as beautiful as those celestial bodies. Comet approaches her and declares, “You are the most beautiful stars in the universe.” She first does not believe what Comet says because she cannot look at herself from a distance. Later, however, she thinks it may be true. In the end she does not envy them, but is proud of herself.

If I win the first prize, the organizer, the Andersen Group, will give me 300,000 yen an airline pair tickets to fly to Denmark.

Here, my imagination got the better of myself and wondered what if I won the first prize. I said to myself, “I am 81 years old and my wife 77. Can I endure the long-distance flight? Since Russia is invading Ukraine, the airplane cannot use Moscow Airport. Therefore, the flight may take more than 14 hours to fly to . The prize tickets are economy class. So, my wife and I cannot fly for such a long time squeezed in narrow economy class seats. I should ask the Andersen Group to change the economy class seats to business class ones. I am ready to pay for the balance amount.”

I continued to wonder day after day for three months until the prize winners’ announcement. I thought I had to strength my muscles for the severe flight to Denmark. I began to walk more than 5000 steps a day, climbed stairs in subway stations, and took daily exercise.

The official announcement date was April 2, but the other day, earlier than the announcement, I received an envelope from the selection committee. Usually, the envelop that announces rejection is thin, but it was thick. So, I thought I might have won the prize.

My heart pounding, I opened it.

And alas, I was rejected. The envelope contained five picture post cards that showed the pictures of a scene in the last year’s winners’ fairy tales.

I was sorry not being selected, but I enjoyed myself for three months during which my imagination ran wild.

I am going to apply for the next year’s contesMan tends to interpret his environment as he wishes. He even worries about the consequence he has deducted from the interpretation.

    In fact, I am ashamed to confess that I myself suffered from such a situation.

My hobby is writing stories that covers novels, short stories, and children’s tales. Mind you, I am not boasting about my writing, for a great number of my pieces have been rejected so far.

I applied for the Andersen’ Fairy Tale Contest this January. I thought my piece was excellent. The protagonist is the Earth. She envies other planets such as Saturn, Jupiter, Comet, and the moon. She wants to be as beautiful as those celestial bodies. Comet approaches her and declares, “You are the most beautiful stars in the universe.” She first does not believe what Comet says because she cannot look at herself from a distance. Later, however, she thinks it may be true. In the end she does not envy them, but is proud of herself.

If I win the first prize, the organizer, the Andersen Group, will give me 300,000 yen an airline pair tickets to fly to Denmark.

Here, my imagination got the better of myself and wondered what if I won the first prize. I said to myself, “I am 81 years old and my wife 77. Can I endure the long-distance flight? Since Russia is invading Ukraine, the airplane cannot use Moscow Airport. Therefore, fhe flight may take more than 14 hours. The prize tickets are economy class. So, my wife and I cannot fly for such a long time squeezed in narrow economy class seats. I should ask the Andersen Group to change the economy class seats to business class ones. I am ready to pay for the balance amount.”

I continued to wonder day after day for three months until the prize winners’ announcement. I thought I had to strength my muscles for the severe flight to Denmark. I began to walk more than 5000 steps a day, climbed stairs in subway stations, and took daily exercise.

The official announcement date was April 2, but the other day, earlier than the announcement, I received an envelope from the selection committee. Usually, the envelop that announces rejection is thin, but it was thick. So, I thought I might have won the prize.

My heart pounding, I opened it.

And alas, I was rejected. The envelope contained five picture post cards that showed the pictures of a scene in the last year’s winners’ fairy tales.

I was sorry not being selected, but I enjoyed myself for three months during which my imagination ran wild.

I am going to apply for the next year’s contest. The dead line date is January 10 in 2025. The dead line date is January 10 in 2025.