Hirata Toshiko-III
The Seventh of the Twenty-Fourth Month
‘There will now be some bumpiness, please take care’
The calm voice swam through the bus
That will be a problem, driver
I’m holding a washing basin
In the basin is a goldfish
If the bus sways, drawing the water along
The goldfish will jump out
‘There will now be some bumpiness, please take care’
It’s you making it bumpy
Or is it the bus doing it?
We have an injection for flu prevention
Is there any injection to prevent bumpiness?
To tell the truth I suffer from motion sickness
‘There will now be some vomiting, please take care’
I don’t have anything like those sick bags
Though I do have a washing basin
But because it has a goldfish swimming in it, I can’t use that
A goldfish covered in spew
You don’t want see that, do you?
I knew two people called Michiyuki or ‘Journey’
One was a young teacher at my primary school
The other was a senior in my writing club at high school
What on earth were their parents thinking giving them a name like that?
I wonder whether either of them actually went on a journey.
No, they probably didn’t
Children don’t tend to follow their parents expectations
Do they?
This goldfish is called Michiyuki too, you know.
Look, his mouth is popping open and shut
What’s he saying, do you think?
To die? Not to die?
Not to die? To die?
That’s what it sounds like to me
That’s right, me, I’ve been asked to join a michiyuki love journey to death
‘There will now be some bumpiness, please take care’
The goldfish leaps out of the washing basin
I leap out of the bus window
Can this be called a love journey to death too?
The cause of death is excessive bruising
To die? Not to die?
Not to die? To die?
What an energetic michiyuki!
‘There will now be no bumpiness, please take care’
‘There will now be some death, please take care’
‘There will now be no death, please take care’
*** Michiyuki: In Japanese the word ‘Michiyuki’ means both a simple journey and the suicidal journey to death taken by star-crossed lovers, so often portrayed in Joruri and Kabuki Theatre. Hirata plays with the layered meaning of this word, using it as both a boy’s name and just such a suicidal journey.
二十四月七日
「この先、ゆれますのでご注意下さい」
のどかな声がバスのなかを泳ぐ
それは困ります、運転手さん
わたしは洗面器を抱えています
洗面器のなかには金魚が一匹
バスがゆれると水をひきつれて
金魚が飛び出してしまいます
「この先、ゆれますのでご注意下さい」
ゆらすのはあなた
それともバス自身ですか
風邪の予防には注射をします
ゆれを防ぐ注射はないのですか
実はわたくし乗り物に酔います
この先、吐きますのでご注意下さい
エチケット袋なんて持ってません
洗面器ならありますけど
金魚が泳いでいますから使うわけにはいきません
ゲロまみれの金魚なんて
あなた見たくないでしょう？
みちゆきって名前の知り合いが二人いました
ひとりは小学校の若い教師で
ひとりは高校の文芸部の先輩でした
親は何を考えてそんな名前をつけたのでしょうね
二人はその後道行きをしたかしら
たぶんしなかったと思いますよ
子どもはなかなか親の期待どおりには
いきませんもの
この金魚の名前もみちゆきっていうんですよ
ほら、口をぱくぱくさせて
何ていってるんでしょうね
死ぬか 死なぬか
死なぬか 死ぬか
わたしにはそう聞こえます
ええ、道行きを待ちかけられてるんです、わたし
「この先、ゆれますのでご注意下さい」
洗面器から金魚が飛び出し
バスの窓からわたしが飛び出す
それも道行きになるんでしょうか
全身打撲で
死ぬか 死なぬか
死なぬか 死ぬか
ずいぶん元気な道行きだあね
この先、ゆれませんのでご注意下さい
この先、死にますのでご注意ください
この先、死にませんのでご注意ください
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