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WEB絵本『女中奉公(金子文子)』第14巻

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弟の銀ちゃんは二十四、五だったが、家じゅうで一番几帳面なしかしケチな男だった.

まだ独身で、家でぶらぶらしていたが、人のいないところでは兄嫁に抱きついたりキスをしたりして、小心な奥さんを困らせていた.

妻にはどうしても兄嫁以上の美人をもらうのだと言って、まだいつ、誰を、という当てもないのに、女持ちの雨傘を買って来たり金縁の小型の名刺にただ「仲木」とだけ刷らしたのを、用タンスの引出しに仕舞い込んでおいては楽しんでいた.

Ginny was a brother of the younger head of the family. He was 24 or 25 years old and he was the most methodical person in the family, but he was stingy.

He was single. He was living idly at home and he often clung his brother's wife or kissed her when there was nobody around them. His actions embarrassed the timid wife.

He declared, "I will marry a woman that is more beautiful than my brother's wife at any cost!"

Even though he didn't have a girlfriend, he tried getting a woman's umbrella. He also ordered gilt-edged business cards of small size. Only his family name "Nakagi" was printed on the cards. He kept them in his chest of drawers. That gave him pleasure.

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末の伸ちゃんは神田の市立中学に通っていたが、兄たちとはちょっと毛色の違った男であった.

やせて背が高くて無口で、苦味走った顔を持っていた、どちらかといえば暗い重苦しい感じを人に与える男だった.

あまり勉強家の方ではなく、店員の内緒話によると受持教師の宅へ砂糖を俵で贈ったが、それでもなお落第したとかいう話であった.

この家にはどのくらいの財産があったのか知らないが、財産はみんなに分配されているとかで、ただその日の食事だけを一緒にしているだけのことであった.

Shinny was the youngest brother of the younger head.

He was a student of a city middle school in Kanda area. He was a little bit different from his brothers. He was thin, tall, quiet and ruggedly handsome. Anyway, his appearance gave a gloomy feeling to people.

He neglected his schoolwork. According to a private talk with the store employee, his family gave containers of sugar to his homeroom teacher but he failed to move up to the next grade.

I don't know how much the family had wealth. But I heard that the wealth was already distributed among the family members. Only they were eating together every day.

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さてこの家に来てはみたものの、東京に出て来た唯一の目的である学校をやめて女中奉公なんかすることの寂しさがひしひしと身に沁みて感じられるし、第一この家の空気が何だか私の肌に合わぬといった感じもして、何とはなしに私は憂鬱であった.

I continued to be in this house for the time being.

I came up to Tokyo with only an aim of going to school. But I had to quit school and work as a live-in employee. My circumstances gave a feeling of loneliness to me strongly.

Anyway, the air of this house was not to my taste. And it vaguely made me depressed.

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で、私は、別にどうという考えはなかったのだが、ただこの寂しい心を訴えたいばっかりに、この家に来てから間もなく、私は、河田さんのところに手紙を出した.

すると河田さんはすぐ、その翌る日私を訪ねて来てくれた.

Then, I had no particular idea. Only I wanted to tell someone of my loneliness. Soon after coming to this house, I wrote a letter to Miss Kawada.

The next day, she kindly visited me.

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来てくれただけで私はもう飛び立つような嬉しさを感じた.

しばらくひまをもらって私達は街をぶらぶら歩きながら話した.

「あのね、私の兄が近いうちに市内へ出て印刷屋を始めることになっているのよ.で、どう?あなたそこへ来て働いてみては.そうするとあなたは学校に行けるようになると思うけど・・・」

Her visit gave me a feeling of happiness that almost made me jump.

I was allowed to rest for a while. So, we had a chat strolling through the streets.

"Listen, my brother will go to the city in the near future and start up a print shop. How about it? I suggest you work there. If you do so, you can go to school, I think. But, ..."

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無論、私は、できるならそうしたいと思った.ただ、そうすることは、わたしが社会主義者の仲間に入るということを意味するので、今まで世話になった伊藤にすまないと思った. 

Of course, I wanted to do so if possible. But, that meant I joined the group of socialists.

Until then, Mr. Ito always helped me. And so, I thought that I wasted his kindness.

(続く)

―― 奥付 ――
WEB絵本『女中奉公(金子文子)』第14巻
絵・訳:茜町春彦
原作:金子文子

Title: A Housemaid (Kaneko Fumiko) volume 14
Illustrated and translated by: Akanemachi Haruhiko
Original author: Kaneko Fumiko

参考文献:
何が私をこうさせたか-獄中手記(金子文子著 岩波文庫 2017年12月15日第1刷発行)