男は例の如くにやにや笑っている。そのくせ言葉つきはどこまでも落ち着いている。どうも見当が付かないから、相手になるのをやめて黙ってしまった。すると男が、こういった。「熊本より東京は広い。東京より日本は広い。日本より・・・」でちょっと切ったが、三四郎の顔を見ると耳を傾けている。「日本より頭の中の方が広いでしょう」といった。「囚われちゃ駄目だ。いくら日本のためを思ったって贔屓の引き倒しになるばかりだ」この言葉を聞いた時、三四郎は真実に熊本を出たような心持がした。同時に熊本にいた時の自分は非常に卑怯であったと悟った。その晩三四郎は東京に着いた。髭の男は分かれる時まで名前を聞かなかった。三四郎は東京に着きさえすれば、この位の男は到る処にいるものと信じて、別に姓名を尋ねようともしなかった。
三四郎 (岩波文庫) 文庫
ISBN-10: 4003101065
ISBN-13: 978-4003101063
Natsume-Soseki 1908-9 Sanshiro translated by Jay-Rubin Penguin classics pp.15-16
‘‘Aren’t we ever going to get out of here?’’ He glanced at the foreign couple, who had just walked by. ‘‘Westerners are very beautiful, aren’t they?’’ he said. Sanshiro could think of nothing to say in reply. He nodded and smiled. ‘‘We Japanese are sad-looking things next to them. We can beat the Russians, we can become a ‘first-class power,’ but it doesn’t make any difference. We still have the same faces, the same feeble little bodies. They’re just what you’d expect from faces like this.-Oh yes, this is your first trip to Tokyo, isn’t it? You’ve never seen Mount Fuji. We go by it a little farther on. Have a look. It’s the finest thing Japan has to offer, the only thing we have to boast about. The trouble is, of course, it’s just a natural object. It’s been sitting there for all time. We didn’t make it.’’ He grinned broadly once again.Sanshiro had never expected to meet anyone like this after Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The man was almost not Japanese, he felt.‘‘But still,’’ Sanshiro argued, ‘‘Japan will start developing from now on at least.’’‘‘Japan is going to perish,’’ the man replied coolly. Anyone who dared say such a thing in Kmamoto would have been beaten on the spot, perhaps even arrested for treason. Sanshiro had grown up in an atmosphere that gave his mind no room at all for inserting an idea like this. Could the man be toying with him, taking advantage of his youth? The man was still grinning, but he spoke with complete detachment. Sanshiro did not know what to make of him. He decided to say nothing.But then the man said, ‘‘Tokyo is bigger than Kumamoto. And Japan is bigger than Tokyo. And even bigger than Japan・・・’’ He paused and looked at Sanshiro, who was listening intently now. ‘‘Even bigger than Japan is the inside of your head. Don’t ever surrender yourself―not to Japan, not to anything. You may think that what you’re doing is for the sake of the nation, but let something take possession of you like that, and all you do is bring it down.’’ When he heard this, Sanshiro felt he was truly no longer in Kumamoto. And he realized, too, what a coward he had been there.Sanshiro arrived in Tokyo that same evening. The man with the mustache never did tell Sanshiro his name. Nor did Sanshiro venture to ask it; there were bound to be men like this every-where in Tokyo.
‘‘Aren’t we ever going to get out of here?’’ He glanced at the foreign couple, who had just walked by. ‘‘Westerners are very beautiful, aren’t they?’’ he said. Sanshiro could think of nothing to say in reply. He nodded and smiled. ‘‘We Japanese are sad-looking things next to them. We can beat the Russians, we can become a ‘first-class power,’ but it doesn’t make any difference. We still have the same faces, the same feeble little bodies. They’re just what you’d expect from faces like this.-Oh yes, this is your first trip to Tokyo, isn’t it? You’ve never seen Mount Fuji. We go by it a little farther on. Have a look. It’s the finest thing Japan has to offer, the only thing we have to boast about. The trouble is, of course, it’s just a natural object. It’s been sitting there for all time. We didn’t make it.’’ He grinned broadly once again.Sanshiro had never expected to meet anyone like this after Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The man was almost not Japanese, he felt.‘‘But still,’’ Sanshiro argued, ‘‘Japan will start developing from now on at least.’’‘‘Japan is going to perish,’’ the man replied coolly. Anyone who dared say such a thing in Kmamoto would have been beaten on the spot, perhaps even arrested for treason. Sanshiro had grown up in an atmosphere that gave his mind no room at all for inserting an idea like this. Could the man be toying with him, taking advantage of his youth? The man was still grinning, but he spoke with complete detachment. Sanshiro did not know what to make of him. He decided to say nothing.But then the man said, ‘‘Tokyo is bigger than Kumamoto. And Japan is bigger than Tokyo. And even bigger than Japan・・・’’ He paused and looked at Sanshiro, who was listening intently now. ‘‘Even bigger than Japan is the inside of your head. Don’t ever surrender yourself―not to Japan, not to anything. You may think that what you’re doing is for the sake of the nation, but let something take possession of you like that, and all you do is bring it down.’’ When he heard this, Sanshiro felt he was truly no longer in Kumamoto. And he realized, too, what a coward he had been there.Sanshiro arrived in Tokyo that same evening. The man with the mustache never did tell Sanshiro his name. Nor did Sanshiro venture to ask it; there were bound to be men like this every-where in Tokyo.
Sanshiro (Penguin Classics)
ISBN-10: 0140455620
ISBN-13: 978-0140455625
ISBN-10: 0140455620
ISBN-13: 978-0140455625