大山鳴動して鼠一匹 Much Ado about Nothing

大山鳴動して鼠一匹　

「過去最大級の台風が接近しています。厳重な注意をして下さい」アナウンサーが話している。４日前、台風10号が鹿児島県に上陸した。それ以降、ニュースは台風の被害や対策ばかり。のろのろ台風で、明日にも名古屋に来るという予報に反して、三日経っても四日経っても名古屋には接近して来ない。。

スーパーでは米が売り切れとか、緊急避難とか。土砂崩れとか、避難セットが売れているとか、新幹線が運休とか、飛行機も飛ばないとかで、頭の中が台風だらけになる。いつものことだ。今日、やっと台風らしき雨が降ったが、普通の雨とそんなに変わらない。わいわい騒ぐほどのことはなかった。

今日は、栄で一時半から、シェクスピア講座を受講する日だが、予報によると大雨になりそうなので、欠席の電話を入れた。

しかし、大雨にならなかった。こんなことなら出席すればよかった。

江戸時代はいい。台風が接近しているなどという知らせは入ってこない。当日になって、はじめて「今日は嵐になるかな」と思うぐらいである。四日も前から気を揉む必要がない。今回はこの三、四日、気を揉んで揉んで疲れてしまった。余分な情報に引っ掻き回された。

Much Ado about Nothing

A TV news announcer warned, “One of the largest typhoons in recent years is approaching Japan. Please keep a close watch on it.” Typhoon No. 10 had reached Kagoshima Prefecture four days earlier. Since then, the news has been dominated by reports on the typhoon, detailing the damages and early countermeasures. The weather forecast predicted it would hit Nagoya within a day or so.

However, the typhoon moved very slowly and did not reach Nagoya even after four days had passed. TV news continued to broadcast updates on how people were coping with the bad news: scarce rice supplies, emergency evacuations, mudslides, unavailable shelter kits, and stoppages of Shinkansen bullet trains and airplanes. My head was overwhelmed with too much information about the not-yet-arrived typhoon. This happens every year. Finally, today, it rained rather heavily, but not as much as expected. TVs, radios, and phones made too much noise. Much ado about nothing.

I was supposed to go to the YWCA to attend a Shakespeare class this afternoon, but I didn’t, because the weather forecast predicted heavy rain. However, it turned out to be just ordinary rain.

I envy the people of the Edo era. They never heard about approaching typhoons. They judged the weather themselves. They might have looked at the sky and thought, “It will probably rain in the afternoon.” They didn’t have to worry about the weather for four days.

I am exhausted from worrying about the typhoon for the past four days. I have had too much incorrect information. Enough is enough.