Yotsumoto Yasuhiro / 四元康祐 – Ⅴ
The Apple
It was the serpent that tempted Eve, but
Twenty-five years ago, what was it that prompted my wife?
That day when the typhoon stopped the train
She walked with a tennis bag on her shoulder
All the way from the next station
She knocked on my door, as if to offer herself
Instead of the forbidden fruit
The Adam Cranach paints
Is holding the golden fruit in one hand
And scratching his shaggy head with the other
It is very clear that
He doesn’t have a clue
Tentatively but with an easygoing air
The two take a nibble
One bite, two, a third, and one more…
The apple tree was still a sapling when we moved in
It has grown tall and sturdy
Our daughter climbs it with ease
Each year lots of worm eaten fruit
Fall to the earth, pecked at by birds
Because of the knowledge ingested through the fruit
The two are wary as their surroundings grow quiet
Across the rippled lake water of my wife’s eyes
Flits a swift shadow
In two corners of the room we quickly change into pajamas
And then stripping off each other’s clothes
Stand side by side in the wilderness of the night
Is this a blessing?
Or is it a punishment?
The apple still in my hand
With its innumerable tooth marks still so round
りんご
イブを唆したのは蛇だったが
二十五年前の妻を促したものはなんだったのか
台風が来て電車の止まったあの日
テニスバッグをかついで
隣駅から歩き通して
禁断の実のかわりに
自らを差し出すように扉を叩いた
クラナッハの描くアダムは
片手に金色の果実を持ったまま片方の手で
もじゃもじゃ頭を引っ掻いていて
なあんにも分かっちゃいない
ってことがよく分かる
心細そうな、それでいて呑気な風情で
ふたりは齧った
ひとくち、ふたくち、みくち、そしてもうひとくち…
移ってきたときにはまだ苗木だった林檎が
いまでは見あげるばかりに育って
するすると娘が攀じ登る
毎年夥しい数の実が
虫に食われ地に落ちて嘴に啄ばまれて
授かった智恵のおかげか
ふたりは用心深くなる、あたりが静かになる
皺に囲まれた妻の眼の湖水を
素早い影が横切る
部屋の隅と隅でそそくさとパジャマに着替えて
それからまた互いの衣服を剥ぎあって
夜の荒れ野にならび立つ
それは恵み、
それとも懲らしめ？
りんごはまだ手中にある
無数の歯型に穿たれてなお、まあるく
It was the serpent that tempted Eve, but
Twenty-five years ago, what was it that prompted my wife?
That day when the typhoon stopped the train
She walked with a tennis bag on her shoulder
All the way from the next station
She knocked on my door, as if to offer herself
Instead of the forbidden fruit
The Adam Cranach paints
Is holding the golden fruit in one hand
And scratching his shaggy head with the other
It is very clear that
He doesn’t have a clue
Tentatively but with an easygoing air
The two take a nibble
One bite, two, a third, and one more…
The apple tree was still a sapling when we moved in
It has grown tall and sturdy
Our daughter climbs it with ease
Each year lots of worm eaten fruit
Fall to the earth, pecked at by birds
Because of the knowledge ingested through the fruit
The two are wary as their surroundings grow quiet
Across the rippled lake water of my wife’s eyes
Flits a swift shadow
In two corners of the room we quickly change into pajamas
And then stripping off each other’s clothes
Stand side by side in the wilderness of the night
Is this a blessing?
Or is it a punishment?
The apple still in my hand
With its innumerable tooth marks still so round
りんご
イブを唆したのは蛇だったが
二十五年前の妻を促したものはなんだったのか
台風が来て電車の止まったあの日
テニスバッグをかついで
隣駅から歩き通して
禁断の実のかわりに
自らを差し出すように扉を叩いた
クラナッハの描くアダムは
片手に金色の果実を持ったまま片方の手で
もじゃもじゃ頭を引っ掻いていて
なあんにも分かっちゃいない
ってことがよく分かる
心細そうな、それでいて呑気な風情で
ふたりは齧った
ひとくち、ふたくち、みくち、そしてもうひとくち…
移ってきたときにはまだ苗木だった林檎が
いまでは見あげるばかりに育って
するすると娘が攀じ登る
毎年夥しい数の実が
虫に食われ地に落ちて嘴に啄ばまれて
授かった智恵のおかげか
ふたりは用心深くなる、あたりが静かになる
皺に囲まれた妻の眼の湖水を
素早い影が横切る
部屋の隅と隅でそそくさとパジャマに着替えて
それからまた互いの衣服を剥ぎあって
夜の荒れ野にならび立つ
それは恵み、
それとも懲らしめ？
りんごはまだ手中にある
無数の歯型に穿たれてなお、まあるく
<
