ＷＥＢ絵本『貸家札』

A lion was taking a nap in sandy wastes of the tropics.
熱帯地方の砂漠の中で、一疋の獅子が昼寝をして居た．

It stretched out as much as it could.
And it had been tired out languidly.
Probably it would be sleeping endlessly in that posture until it completely digested the prey in its stomach in line with the behavior of all beasts.

肢体をできるだけ長く延ばして、さもだるそうに疲れきって．

すべての猛獣の習性として、胃の中の餌物が完全に消化するまで、おそらく彼はそのポーズで永遠に眠りつづけて居るのだろう．

It was the daytime on the equator windlessly and soundlessly, i.e., the dead silence of all nature.

赤道直下の白昼．風もなく音もない．

万象の死に絶えた沈黙の時．

Then, the lion awoke suddenly.
その時、不意に獅子が眠りから目をさました．

It pricked up its ears, rose with a strained look and crouched for an attack carefully and quickly.
そして耳をそば立て、起き上がり、緊張した目付をして、用心深く、機敏に襲撃の姿勢をとった．

It found a prey somewhere behind a faraway place.
The air moved. And the silence of all nature broke.

どこかの遠い地平の影に、彼は餌物を見つけたのだ．

空気が動き、万象の沈黙が破れた．

A traveler --- a human wearing a helmet and white clothes had watched this scene somewhere.
一人の旅行者　―――　ヘルメット帽を被り、白い洋服をきた人間が、この光景を何所かで見て居た．

He silently walked to palm trees on a sand dune.
彼は一言の口も利かず、黙って砂丘の上に生えてる、椰子の木の方へ歩いて行った．

An old wooden plate had been fastened on a palm tree with a nail since old times.
And it had been exposed to the weather for a long time.
( For Rent. With Gas & Water. A lot of Sunshine. )

その椰子の木には、ずっと前から、長い時間の風雨に曝され、一枚の古い木札が釘づけてあった．

（貸家あり．瓦斯、水道付．日当りヨシ．）

The man with his helmet took the wooden plate silently, put it in his pocket, walked briskly and vanished away toward the horizon.
ヘルメットを被った男は、黙ってその木札をはがし、ポケットに入れ、すたすたと歩きながら、地平線の方へ消えてしまった．
（了）

――　奥付　――
ＷＥＢ絵本『貸家札』
絵・訳：茜町春彦
原作：萩原朔太郎

A Picture Book : "For Rent"
Illustrated and translated by : Akanemachi Haruhiko
Original author : Hagiwara Sakutaro

参考文献：
猫町　他１７篇（２０１４年７月１５日第２０刷発行　萩原朔太郎作　清岡卓行編　岩波文庫）