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The phantom ship

[2008年11月10日(月) ]




[last of 4 stories * jump to 　#1 　 #2 　 #3]



One early summer day
in the life
of a phantom ship


日本語版（英語付き）　


Oh no!
Not even 5 o’clock and the sun starts to rise.
Why does it have to wake so early?
Can’t it just wait a little bit longer,
until everyone else gets up, too?

Everyone else?
Forget about the fishing fans... they seem to imitate convenience stores, awake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Do they ever find time to sleep?



Ouch! My back hurts!
Maybe the load I carry in my belly is getting too heavy for me.
Or last night might have been a bit too rowdy for someone my age.
Who cares about age? Only the people around you!
No fun, no life!
Mine doesn’t quite look like a life suitable for an ordinary citizen in this port.
With all the stones I won’t go far, mortals assume.
What a useless boat, they think, nothing more than a counter to put some stuff on.
What a blunder!



City dwellers may enjoy their barbecue, we don’t!
The smell of charcoal frightens the living daylights out of us.
We all disgust the idea of burning wood or fire.
A fire on board would mean the end of us.

Kids find fun in returning the heartless stones to the sea.
They make a game of it, throwing them far out.
They only give me a hard time plucking them to safety again at night.
That’s when I come to real life, fired up by my army of honorable guests.

As the sun sets, we set out.
My guests awaken and we set sail.
Off to nowhere.
Just for the fun of it.
We fire up our barbecue.
And have drinks.
My guests enjoy singing.
And dancing.
Some grow merry as a grig and in such high spirits
that they brighten up,
talking about the good old times.
When we had fun during daytime.
Not only at night.

However bright some of us may be by then,
without lights we can’t risk going too far offshore.
We might ram another boat.
What if we got lost on the way home?
We’d sink under the weight of our great time
if we didn’t get home before curfew.
We’d never be able to return from nowhere.
We’d never be able to surprise passers-by anew.
Or kids.
Or charcoal lovers.
No fire would ever scare us again.

Maybe that’s where we belong...
on the bottom of nowhere.
Or maybe not.
We’d crave the lush evergreen leaves,
dancing to the gentle tunes of the sea breeze,
trying until the end of time to please us.
And appease us.

Or the brick altar,
decorated with brightly colored ornaments,
constantly keeping an eye on us,
this invisible shield protecting us
from the forces of even greater evil.



The bamboo shower, this spring not hot but cold ― we don’t care a bit, faucetless for whatever reason, would no longer be of use.




What’s more, they’d all long for us.
They’d wonder where the phantom boat had gone.
They’d all wonder what fate had befalllen the phantom flagship.
They have yet to realize that fate lies in their own hands.


　　　

imitate 真似る
load ... belly　お腹の中に抱えている荷物（＝石）
rowdy　騒がしい、騒々しい
ordinary citizen ...　この港のごく普通の一般市民
mortals assume　（神に対して；命に限りのある）人間
blunder　大失敗
city dwellers　都会人
frightens ...out of us　死ぬほど怖い
disgust = hate, dislike
pluck to safety = rescue
set out = set sail 出発する
fire up 火を熾す
grow merry　陽気になる
brighten up　明るくなる（性格が〜；輝く）

however bright　いくら明るくても（ここでは性格よりも明かり、光）
ram = hit, run into　衝突する
sink under ... time　楽しく過ごしている時間のあまりの重さで没する
before curfew 門限時間までに　（日が暮れるまでに）
passers-by 通りがかりの人々　☆a passer-by の複数は passers-by
anew = again

crave = miss ほしがる
lush evergreen leaves 青々と茂った、みずみずしい常緑の葉っぱ
appease なだめる
altar 祭壇
ornaments　飾り、装飾
faucet 蛇口、注ぎ口　faucetless 蛇口（栓）のない
for whatever reason 何らかの理由で
protecting ... evil 我々を益々大きな危険から守ってくれる
long for = yearn for ほしがる
fate befalls　運命（不幸）が起る
flagship 旗艦、主要船
have yet to ... いまだに（気づいていない）


[日本語版]





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