短編集で学ぶ英語シリーズ「彫像に恋した男」The Man Who Fell in Love with the Statue of a Woman

この森には女の彫像がひっそりと佇んでいる。

既成品ではないので誰かが個人的に作ったものなのだろう。

それは捨てられて放置された彫像という訳ではなく、そこに置かれる事で初めて完成する森と調和した作品なのだという事が一目見て分かる。

そして、かつてそこに一人、その彫像に恋をした男がいた。

その男はある日ある時、人生に絶望しフラフラとこの森に足を踏み入れた。

当てもなく獣道をひたすら歩いていると、やがて森の中の開けた場所に辿り着いた。 そこで男はひっそりと可憐に佇む女の彫像と出会った。

一目見た瞬間、男は脳天に稲妻が走るのを感じた。 「似ている….」

その女の彫像は男の初恋の相手に瓜二つだった。

その日から男は毎日欠かさずこの森に足を踏み入れては女の彫像に会いに来た。

雨の日も風の日も雪の日も。

汚れがあれば磨き、落ち葉があれば払い落し、男は女の彫像を綺麗に保つために尽くした。

傍から見れば異常に思うかも知れないが、男にとってはそれが生きる唯一の支えだったのだろう。

The Man Who Fell in Love with the Statue of a Woman

In the forest, there is a statue of a woman, which has been lingering on quietly.

It doesn’t look like a ready-made product, so it must have been sculpted by a man as an artwork for his own sake.

The statue is not left behind in the middle of the forest for no reason.

It is obvious that the statue is placed there for harmonizing with the forest.

And, there once was a man who fell in love with the statue of a woman.

The man came tottering into the forest one day when he lost all hope in his life.

After a while of walking without destination or even knowing where he was going, the man finally reached a covert, open space in the forest in which the statue of a woman lovably stood alone.

The moment he saw the statue, he got the feeling as if a bolt of lightning struck his brain directly.

“This is…Looks like…”

The statue of a woman looked like his first crush.

From the day on, the man kept coming back to the forest to see the statue of a woman everyday.

Regardless of the weather, when it’s raining, windy or snowing.

If the statue had got a smudge of mud, he brushed it off.

If fallen leaves had settled on the statue, he removed them off.

He tried to let it retain its beauty.

It might seem crazy in others’ eyes, but it must have been the only reason for him to keep living.