君死にたもうこと勿れ [Prithee Do Not Die]
Akiko Yosano / 与謝野 晶子Originale | La versione inglese. |
君死にたもうこと勿れ [PRITHEE DO NOT DIE] | PRITHEE DO NOT DIE |
君死にたまふことなかれ | Lamenting my younger brother in combat as one |
旅順口包囲軍の中にある弟を歎きて | of the troops besieged at Lüshun(Port Arthur) |
与謝野晶子 | Yosano Akiko |
あゝをとうとよ君を泣く | Oh, younger brother mine, for thee I weep, |
君死にたまふことなかれ | Prithee do not die, |
末に生れし君なれば | For you were born the very last, |
親のなさけはまさりしも | And our parents loved you all the more, |
親は刃(やいば)をにぎらせて | Yet they made thee grasp a blade in hand, |
人を殺せとをしへしや | Taught thee kill a man you shall, |
人を殺して死ねよとて | Kill a man, and die you too, |
二十四までをそだてしや | groomed you thus to age twenty-four. |
堺の街のあきびと1の | Master now of the proud old house, |
旧家をほこるあるじにて | The merchant-house of Sakai1, our town, |
親の名を継ぐ君なれば | You must now carry on our name, |
君死にたまふことなかれ | So I prithee, do not die, |
旅順2の城はほろぶとも | Though Lüshun's2 fortress should perish, |
ほろびずとても何事か | Should it be saved, what of that? |
君知るべきやあきびとの | Thou ought know, it nowhere commands |
家のおきてに無かりけり | On the familial codes3 of our merchant house. |
君死にたまふことなかれ | I prithee do not die, |
すめらみこと3は戦ひに | The Heavenly-Prince does not himself |
おほみづからは出でまさね | Lead by his own august presence his troop to battle. |
かたみ4に人の血を流し | For to command that men shed blood of men, |
獣の道に死ねよとは | And die following the beastly path4, |
死ぬるを人のほまれとは | And tell us death be the glory of men, |
大みこゝろ5の深ければ | If his Highness' heart be compassionate, |
もとよりいかで思(おぼ)されむ | How could he truly think it so? |
あゝをとうとよ戦ひに | Oh young brother mine in battle, |
君死にたまふことなかれ | I prithee you mustn't die. |
すぎにし秋を父ぎみに | Our mother who has lagged behind father |
おくれたまへる母ぎみは | In the passing of the autumn years of life, |
なげきの中にいたましく | It sores me to watch her lament, |
わが子を召され家を守(も)り | Deprived of son to guard the home, |
安しと聞ける大御代も | And though she hears our Highness hale and safe, |
母のしら髪はまさりぬる | Our mother's gray hair grows. |
暖簾(のれん)のかげに伏して泣く | Stooping in the shade of the noren5 she weeps, |
あえかに6わかき新妻を | The frail young wife of yours, |
君わするるや思へるや | Or have you forgotten? Or do you think of her? |
十月(とつき)も添はでわかれたる | Think on her maidenly feeling, |
少女(おとめ)ごころを思ひみよ | Together ere ten months, then parted, |
この世ひとりの君ならで | And there's none another the likes of you, |
あゝまた誰をたのむべき | Oh once again I ask, |
君死にたまふことなかれ | Prithee do not die. |
-1904年『明星』9月号に掲載 | — pub. in Myōjō Sept. 1904. |
Translation's Notes / Note alla traduzione Notes: 1 Sakai is a merchant town with a rich history, which prospered by foreign trade in the age of Warring-States, and its merchants were proud and independent-minded. The famous tea ceremony master Sen-no-Rikyū (1522-1591) who committed harakiri was a Sakai merchant. 2 Lüshun (Port Arthur), pronounced "Ryojun" in Japanese, was a naval port for Russia's Eastern Fleet. 3 An "old family" often has something called kakun or lessons — do's and don'ts that are passed down generation to generation. The poetess is saying that since they are merchant family, dying to defend a castle is certainly not one of those lessons. 4 "Beastly path" is a reference to a course of conduct without morality or discipline; In Buddhism, if your conduct in this life is poor, you are said to be relegated to chikushōdō "way of beasts" in the next life. 5 Noren is the shop curtain, the drape of cloth hanging at the shop entrance. There is also such a curtain between the storefront and the back area. |
Japanese original notes
注釈:
1 あきびと=商人
2 旅順=遼東半島南端にある軍港。 ロシアの東洋艦隊の基地で要塞が築かれていた。
3 すめらみこと=天皇
4 かたみに=たがいに
5 大みこゝろ=天皇のこころ
6 あえかに=かよわく