Stretching out on a chair like a dog and smelling the air of the summer
The sound of the harpsichord, which enchanted me so much only a moment ago,
Began to seem like some outrageous temptation
It's because of this stillness
Stillness sounds from where a number of faint lives resonate
Hum of horsefly, murmur from the distance, a breeze fluttering the leaves of grass
Can't hear the silence no matter how carefully you listen but
Stillness comes to our ears with ease
Through the dense atmosphere surrounding us
Silence belongs to a dilution of the infinity of the universe
Stillness is rooted in this Earth But I wonder if I heard enough of it
When a woman accused me, sitting in this same chair
Sharp thorns of her words lead to hair roots intertwined underground
There was tranquility lurking in her voice, refusing to fade away into the silence of death
Lightening flashed from clouds in the distance to the ground
After a while, the rumbling of thunder slowly drew a long tail
The sound from the time before humans emerged in this world
We can hear still
---Shuntaro Tanikawa
(Translated by Naoko Smith)
 |
| Taken from the bridge near Shinjuku Central Park (7/22/14) |
夕立の前（『世間知ラズ』より 1993）
谷川俊太郎
椅子の上でからだを伸ばし犬みたいに夏の空気を嗅ぐと
今しがたぼくをあんなにうっとりさせたチェンバロの音色が
何かけしからん誘惑のようにも思えてくる
それというのもこの静けさのせいだ
静けさはいくつものかすかな命の響き合うところから聞こえる
虻の羽音 遠くのせせらぎ 草の葉を小さく揺らす風......
いくら耳をすませても沈黙を聞くことは出来ないが
静けさは聞こうと思わなくとも聞こえてくる
ぼくらを取り囲む濃密な大気を伝わって
沈黙は宇宙の無限の希薄に属していて
静けさはこの地球に根ざしている
だがぼくはそれを十分に聞いただろうか
この同じ椅子に座って女がぼくを責めたとき
鋭いその言葉の棘は地下でからみあう毛根につながり
声には死の沈黙へと消え去ることを拒む静けさがひそんでいた
はるか彼方の雲から地上へ稲光りが走り
しばらくしてゆっくりと長く雷鳴が尾をひいた
人間がこの世界に出現する以前から響いていた音を
私たちは今なお聞くことが出来る
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