ＷＥＢ絵本『露店商人（金子文子）』第５巻
隣のお爺さんは面白い親切な人だった．
いつも酒で顔を赤くほてらしていたが、酒の気がきれると「姐さんすまないがちょっと見ていてくんな」と私に自分の店を任しておいてどこかへ姿をかくした．その間に爺さんは近くの酒屋へ駈け込んで、コップ酒をあおって来るのだった．
The old man next to me was friendly and kind.
He always got drunk and his face was reddening. Whenever he sobered up, he said "Hey, miss! Excuse me, would you watch my stall?" And he left it to me and disappeared somewhere. Then, the old man went to a nearby liquor store and he drank a glass of alcohol. And he came back.
夜も更けて客足が少なくなった時分には、眼鏡越しに皺くちゃな目をしばたたきながら、商売物の浄瑠璃本か何かを取り上げては、妙な節をつけて小声で語るのが爺さんの癖だった．
A night got late. It was about time that the number of shoppers decreased.
Blinking with his wrinkled eyelids under glasses, the old man picked up a ballad book or something which was for sale. And he narrated it in a small voice with a strange intonation. This was his habit.
が、それにも飽きると、「姐さん、お前さんとこの店は馬鹿に陰気くさいね．まるで化け物でも出そうだよ・・・」
などと人のいい笑いを見せながら「これで少し、はたいてみな」と、古本の上の埃を払うハタキを私の方へ投げてくれるのであった．
商いが無くていつも退屈している私は自然とお爺さんの話の相手となった．
But, when he was bored with it, he said "Miss! Your stall has a dark and depressing atomosphere. It looks like a haunted house ...."
Showing a smile with his good personality, he said "Try dusting with this!" And he threw his duster toward me. Using it ,he always dusted the used books.
I had no sale and I was always bored. It was natural that I chatted to the old man.
私は答えるのだった．
「駄目よ、おじさん．いくら埃をはたいても台が無いんだから．品物は往来を通る人の埃をじかに浴びるんだもの．それに今日なんかはもっとひどいよ．私がここに来てみると、往来に水を撒いたと見えて地べたがビショ濡れさ、仕方がないから私、地べたの乾くまで暫らく待っていたのよ．それでもなお、これ御覧、シャボンも新聞も、ビショビショに湿気てるから・・・」
「ふん、なるほど湿気てるね、そんな按排でいいのかい？」
「いけないわよ、おじさん、しけってはいけない、ちゃんと袋の裏に書いてあるわ」
「じゃ、台を拵えたらいいじゃないか」
「そりゃ、言われるまでもなく知ってるさ．だけど、おじさんお金がないんだもの．ねえ、おじさん、それよか」と私はお爺さんの掛けている古本の空箱をちらと横目で見ながら、「その空箱貸してくれない？おじさんの腰かけている箱を．台にちょうどいいわ」と言ってみた．
するとお爺さんは、驚いたように目を丸くして、
「ええ、この箱かい、こりゃ困るな．この箱を取りゃお前さんの方の都合は好かろうが、俺の方は困る．一晩じゅう立ってるんじゃ、この老人は参ってしまうからな．やれやれ、それは・・・」と言って、ハハハと笑った．
こうして私達はいいお友達ともなり、いい隣人ともなった．が、それがかえって私を寂しがらせた．せめてこんなお爺さんが自分の祖父か父かであってくれたなら・・・と、私はこう思うのであった．
I said to him, "Mister! It is meaningless to dust because I have no stand. Passers-by raise the dust. My goods are being exposed to dust directly. And today's situation is worse. When I came here, the ground was completely wet. Someone watered the road. I just had to wait for a while until the road dries. Look, these soap powder bags and newspapers are wet ...."
"Huh? I see. They are wet. Are you OK with that?"
"That's bad, mister. I must keep it dry! The back of bag has mentioned so."
"Well, you should get a stand."
"I know. I don't need you to tell me that. But I have no money. Hey, mister! Putting that a side," I said and threw a glance at the empty box of used books on which he was sitting, "Would you please lend me the box that you are sitting on. It is the right size for the stand."
Then, his eyes were wide open surprisedly.
"Oh, this box! I'll be in trouble. If you use this box, it will be convenient for you. But I'll be in trouble. Whew, that is ....", the old man said laughingly.
Like this, we became good friends and good neighbors. But, on the contrary, that made me lonesome. I wished such an old man had been my father or grandfather.
店の様子が陰気なので大抵の人は気がつかずに行きすぎたり、気がついてもチラと一瞥を投げるだけで通り越してしまうが、たまには若い男が、何にするのか ――― 多分私をからかうつもりであろう、物好きにヒトツふたつ買って行くことがあった．が、そんな時にも１０銭の買い物に５０銭や１円の紙幣を出されて困ることが多かった．
でもそうした時も、隣の爺さんと懇意になっているので都合がよかった．
My stall had a gloomy atmoshere. So, most people didn't notice the stall and passed by it. Even if a person noticed it, he went by it throwing a glance.
Once in a while, a young man strangely bought one or two. What was his purpose? Maybe, he intended to tease me.
But, at such time, they mostly gave me 50-cent coin or 1-dollar bill for the goods of 10 cents. So, I was in trouble.
Even so, I was saved by my friendship with the old man next to me.
「ちょっとお待ちください」と私は客に言い置いて、客の渡したお金をお爺さんに渡して細かいのに替えてもらうと、たった１０銭を自分の手に残したきり、残りはそっくりそのまま客に帰してしまうのであった．
そんな風であったから一晩の売上げは５０銭か７０銭、せいぜいのところで１円ぐらいだった．
それで３割の口銭と来ているのだから、食って行ける道理がなかった．時には売上げをみな使っても、その日の食いふちが上がって来ないことさえあった．そうしてそんなことから、仕入れの数が自然と減ってきて、ただでも寂しい店が一晩一晩と寂しくなって行くのだった．
"Please wait a moment!" I said to my shopper and handed the money given by the shopper to the old man. The old man changed the money for me. I left 10 cents in my hand and I gave all of the rest back to the shopper.
Because my business style was like that, the sales at a night was 50 cents or 70 cents, not more than about 1 dollar.
In addition, I was charged a 30-percent commission. There was no reason to make a living. Once in a while, all of the sales didn't cover the money for food of a day. With this and that, it was natural that the purchase of goods decreased. And my lonesome stall became more lonesome every night.
それに気づいた隣のお爺さんが遂に私に言った．
「姐さん、それじゃいけねえな、人間てな変なもので、早い話がたった１帖の紙を買うのにも、出来るなら大きな立派な店で買いたがるものだよ．だから不景気な店はますます不景気になり、繁盛する店はドシドシ繁盛するってな道理だ．で、売ろうと思うにゃやっぱり店を立派にしとかなくちゃね」
The old man next to me noticed it.
And he finally said "Miss, that's bad! People are strange. Flankly speaking, even if they buy a single sheet of paper, they will want to buy it at a big and fine stall, if possible. No wonder, poor stalls become poorer and poorer. And good stalls become better and better. If you want to sell your goods, you should keep your stall fine."
全くだった、日が経って、商品が少なくなるにつれて、段々と売れなくなった．そうしてそれと共に、私の懐ぐあいも又段々と悪くなった．
「ああ２０円の金が欲しいなあ、２０円あったら夜店をやって苦学して行けるんだがなあ」と私は始終思った．
でも、ぶっ続けに立ち通しの夕刊売りに比べると、ずっと楽なので、売れても売れなくても私は、皆の引き上げるまでは夜露を全身に浴びながら、夜の路傍の地べたに座っているのだった．
His advice was right.
Some days passed. My sales gradually went down as the number of the goods decreased. And my finances also became worse gradually.
I always thought "Ah, I want 20 dallars! If I have 20 dallars, I can go to school working at this night stall.
But this work was much easier than evening newspaper selling. I must have been standing for selling paper.
I was sitting on the ground of the roadside whether my goods sold or not until all vendors went back home. I was being covered with night dews.
（つづく）
―― 奥付 ――
ＷＥＢ絵本『露店商人（金子文子）』第５巻
絵・訳：茜町春彦
原作：金子文子
Title: A Street Vendor (Kaneko Fumiko) volume 5
Illustrated and translated by: Akanemachi Haruhiko
Original author: Kaneko Fumiko
