マキ の山 4 月 3 週
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○自由な題名
○私のお小遣(こづか)い

○Masumi Kuwata(感) 英文のみのページ(翻訳用)
Masumi Kuwata, a pitcher for the Tokyo Giants, thought that women ate like birds. He didn't know that his mother and sister ate so little to save food for him and his younger brother. His family was poor, but he was loved by his grandmother, mother and sister. His father was not exactly a model father. He liked to drink, smoke, gamble, and even fight sometimes. But he had a love of baseball and worked very hard to make his first son, Masumi, a great baseball player.
"When I was in the fourth grade, my father bought me a glove as he promised, but it was a softball glove," Kuwata said. He was a little sad. But there was another surprise. "I was still happy just getting a glove, and I came running back home from school the next day. Then I found that my father pulled all the soft cotton out of the glove." Why? "Because in that way my father could hear the sound of the ball and find out that I was catching the ball rightly." Batting practice was the same. Kuwata's father threw the ball to him. If Kuwata didn't hit the ball, his father didn't catch it. Kuwata had to run after the ball again and again. Pitching practice was much good. Kuwata had to throw the ball to the right spot that his father showed. If not, his father didn't catch the ball and again Kuwata had to run and pick up the ball. "My father let it pass, if I missed by half an inch. Of course I got mad at him and wanted to throw the ball at his head," Kuwata said.
By the time Kuwata was in junior high school he had passed his father in baseball skills. "Now my father had to run around following the ball quickly to catch."
The Giants chose Kuwata as their number one draft pick in 1985, and nine years later he has become one of the best pitchers in Japanese baseball.
When he was 17 and visiting Tokyo he walked into a famous boutique named Versace. The shop was filled with fancy clothes, and he could feel that they were very expensive. He thought, "Well if I become rich and famous, I'll be back." Two years later Kuwata went back there with 100,000 in his pocket. He was sure that he could buy some expensive clothes this time. He picked three shirts and went to the cashier. She said, "That will be 840,000 please." Kuwata turned pale. "I thought each shirt cost 28,000. Even that was expensive for a rookie. I couldn't imagine that there was a shirt that cost 280,000 anywhere in the world. I found that I missed a zero," Kuwata said with a laugh.
Since then he has decided that when he wins an important game or reaches a certain goal, he will give himself a present by shopping at the boutique. He went back to Versace a few times in 1994. Once was when he recorded his 100th win, and another time was when the Giants won the Japan Series.

★いつから世の中が矛盾を(感)
 【1】いつから世の中が矛盾を恐れるようになったのか知らないが、頭から悪いものと決めてかかっている人が多い。白が黒であって、空腹のときはものを食わない、などという話が横行してもはた迷惑であろうが、雨が降れば天気が悪いといった理に合いすぎた命題でいっぱいになってもことである。
 【2】どうも、矛盾には、良いものと悪いものがあって、嫌われる、いわゆる矛盾は、良いものを除外して考えているようである。劇薬には病気を治すものがたくさんあるが、不用意に使えば命とりになりかねない。【3】どれもこれも毒として敬遠した方が安全である、というのにいくらか似たところがある。
 同じ平面の上を、反対方向から進んで来た二つの同じ力がぶつかれば、両者は互いに相殺(そうさい)し合って、運動のエネルギーは消滅してしまう。避けなくてはならない矛盾とはこの相殺の論理のことであろう。【4】数学的に言えば、プラスとマイナスの和である。プラス5とマイナス5を加えるとゼロになる。無為無能の状態である。こういう結果を招くような対立と矛盾がつまらぬものであるのははっきりしている。
 【5】こうして、一度、矛盾が不毛だと知れると、われもわれもと論理性へ走る。かくして、論理はかくれた信仰の一つにすらなっていると言えそうである。
 論理が前提としているのは、同一次元での一貫性のある連続である。【6】飛躍はいけない。テーマの錯乱もこまる。一筋に論理の糸がつながっているのが純粋で、美しいと感じられる。これなら、対立や撞着もしのびこむ余地がなくて安心である。
 【7】しかし、このように戦々恐々として一筋を守らなくては乱れてしまうのであるとしたら、いわゆる論理とは何と貧寒なものだろう。論理的一貫性とは、裏返してみれば、同類同質的なものが猫の子一匹(ぴき)も通さぬような近接状態で数珠つなぎに並んでいることにすぎないではないか。
 【8】人々は、しかし、いわゆる論理なるものが塩の入らぬしるこのように間の抜けたものであることを直観で感じてはいる。口に出し∵て言うのをはばかっているにすぎない。芸術では、この単純な合理にいろいろと仮名をつけて、そっとお引き取り願っている。【9】この平面論理という暴れん坊に踏み込まれたら、いかなる芸術の花も台なしになってしまうからである。詩における理屈はその一例であるにすぎない。月並みの句などということばは、かすかな平面的連続を敏感にかぎつけて、それを嫌ったものと見ることができる。【0】

(外山滋比古(とやましげひこ)「省略の文学」から)
撞着…前後が食い違ってつじつまが合わないこと