wakibitos

2024年から一茶発句集にルビを振って縦書き文庫版ふりがな小林一茶発句集を制作している僕は、その作業が翻訳に類似していると考えるようになった。翻訳は常に創造的であるべきだが、俳句の翻訳にはとくに創造性が求められる。

2024년부터 잇싸 하쿠쿠집에 루비를 달아 세로쓰기 문고판 ‘후리가나 고바야시 잇싸 하쿠쿠집’을 제작하고 있는 나는, 그 작업이 번역과 유사하다고 생각하게 되었다. 번역은 언제나 창조적이어야 하지만, 하이쿠 번역에는 특히 창의성이 요구된다.

以前から Issa by David G. Lanoue について知っていながら積極的に読まなかったのは、翻訳が単なる解釈に過ぎないと考えたからだが、自分の作業も一解釈に過ぎないと考えるようになった。そして、David Lanoue 訳を急に身近に感じるようになった。

예전부터 Issa by David G. Lanoue에 대해 알고 있었지만 적극적으로 읽지 않았던 이유는, 번역이 단순한 해석에 불과하다고 생각했기 때문이었다. 하지만 이제는 내 작업 또한 하나의 해석에 불과하다고 생각하게 되었다. 그리고 David Lanoue의 번역본이 갑자기 친근하게 느껴지기 시작했다.

近ごろ修正を終えた春6の雉について同氏のサイトで pheasant を検索すると、次の表のとおり35句が表示され、それぞれの句の読みがローマ字で表記された後に三行詩の形式で英訳が載っている。それらは文字どおり創作詩だと云うべきだろう。

최근 수정을 마친 ‘봄 6’의 ‘꿩’에 대해 Lanoue 교수님 사이트에서 ‘pheasant’를 검색하면, 다음 표와 같이 35개의 구절이 표시되며, 각 구절의 읽기가 로마자로 표기된 뒤에 3행시 형식의 영문 번역이 실려 있다. 그것들은 말 그대로 창작시라고 해야 할 것이다.

Haiku of Kobayashi Issa by David Lanoue
35 haiku out of 13390
year unknown おれを見るや雉伸上り伸上り ore wo miru ya kiji nobi-agari nobi-agari looking at me the pheasant on tiptoe on tiptoe Though nobi-agari literally means “on tiptoe,” a secondary meaning is “arrogantly.” The pheasant seems to be looking at the poet with haughty disdain.
year unknown .雉鳴くやころり焼野の千代の松 kiji naku ya korori yakeno no chiyo no matsu a pheasant cries– tumbled down in the burnt field an ancient pine Chiyo no matsu signifies “a thousand year-pine.” It burned and feel as collateral damage when a farmer set fire to a field–a springtime activity to prepare the soil for tilling. In an 1815 version Issa describes the pine as “priceless” (worth one hundred ryô, an old Japanese coin).
year unknown .草原を覗れてなく雉子哉 kusabara wo nozokarete naku kigisu kana peeking into the grassy meadow… a pheasant cries Shinji Ogawa sees the pheasant’s cry as its protest. Issa is saying, “How do you feel when strangers peep into your house?”
1791 .雉鳴て梅に乞食の世也けり kiji naite ume ni kojiki no yo nari keri a pheasant cries– it’s a plum blossomy beggar’s world! In Third Month of 1791, at age 29, Issa left Edo on his first walking tour. “Beggar’s world” (kojiki no yo) refers to the fact that he intended to beg for his meals and lodging along the way. His career as a haiku poet in the tradition of Basho was thus launched.
1805 .あさぢふは夜もうれしや雉なく asajiu wa yoru mo ureshi ya kigisu naku a happy night among tufted grasses… a pheasant cries “Tufted grasses” is my translation of asaji: cogon grass.
1805 .雉なくやきのふは見へぬ山畠 kiji naku ya kinou wa mienu yama hatake a pheasant cries– yesterday I didn’t see this mountain field The pheasant draws Issa’s gaze to a plowed patch of land that he otherwise wouldn’t have noticed. It’s like the bird is telling him (good advice for a haiku poet): “Pay attention!”
1805 .雉なくや立草伏し馬の顔 kiji naku ya tachi kusa fuseshi uma no kao a pheasant cries– bedded down in tall grass a horse’s face!
1805 .草山に顔おし入て雉のなく kusa yama ni kao oshi-irete kiki no naku poking his face into the haystack… a pheasant cries Or: “her face.” “Haystack” is my translation for kusa yama (“grass mountain”).
1806 .昼比やほろほろ雉の里歩き hiru-goro ya horo-horo kiji no sato aruki around noon, squawking the pheasant walks through town Though horo-horo can signify the falling of leaves or tears, it has a special meaning in conjunction with pheasants: it evokes the sound of their singing; Kogo dai jiten (1983) 1498.
1806 .山陰も畠となりてなく雉子 yama kage mo hatake to narite naku kigisu even in mountain shade a plowed field! the pheasant cries Issa fancies that the pheasant is crying out with surprise and delight.
1807 .雉鳴て姥が田麦もみどり也 kiji naite uba ga ta mugi mo midori nari a pheasant crying the old woman’s plot of wheat, too all green Is the pheasant congratulating the woman?
1807 .雉なくやきのふ焼れし千代の松 kiji naku ya kinou yakareshi chiyo no matsu a pheasant cries– burnt black yesterday this ancient pine This haiku has the headnote, “Kogane Field.” Issa imagines that the pheasant’s cry is one of lament for the burned tree.
1808 .雉なくや彼梅わかの涙雨 kiji naku ya kano ume waka no namida ame a pheasant cries– the teardrop rain of Umewaka Day In the old Japanese calendar Umewakaki or Umewaka Matsuri was a religious festival held on the 15th day of Third Month at the Buddhist temple, Mokuboji, in Edo. If it rained on that day, the rain was referred to as umewaka no namida ame (“The teardrop rain of Umewaka”); Kogo dai jiten (1983) 227. In his haiku, Issa uses this conventional phrase. Shinji Ogawa adds that Umewaka, according to an old tale, was kidnapped in Kyoto and brought to Edo (today’s Tokyo), where he died beside the Sumida River. Umewaka was the illegitimate son of an emperor during the Heian period. Soami wrote a Noh play about his tragic life.
1808 .山寺や雪隠も雉のなき所 yamadera ya setchin mo kiji no naki-dokoro mountain temple– in the outhouse too a pheasant cries Sakuo Nakamura (friend and Japanese advisor) writes, “This haiku shows the stillness of the temple, and how is it far from the village and lonesome.”
1810 .蟻程に人は暮れしぞ雉の鳴 ari hodo ni hito wa kureshi zo kiji no naku looking like ants people at dusk… a pheasant cries Is Issa adopting the pheasant’s perspective? Like ants, people form lines as they march home at dusk after another working day. In a later haiku that refers to people looking like ants (1814), a singing lark is the apparent viewer.
1810 .我夕や里の犬なく雉のなく waga yû ya sato no inu naku kiji no naku my evening– a village dog barks a pheasant cries
1812 .雉なくや見かけた山のあるやうに kiji naku ya mikaketa yama no aru yô ni the pheasant cries as if catching sight of a mountain Issa hears, in the cry of the pheasant, a tone of astonishment. He attributes to the bird the kind of “human” emotion that one feels when, suddenly, a mountain in all its grandeur comes into view. In this poem he returns to one of his favorite themes: calling into question the imaginary line of demarcation between humans and animals.
1812 .走る雉山や恋しき妻ほしき hashiru kiji yama ya koishiki tsuma hoshiki a pheasant rushing to the mountain, missing his darling wife
1812 .初雪やきじの御山へきじ打つに hatsu yuki ya kiji no o-yama e kiji utsu ni first snow– on the pheasant mountain shooting pheasants “On the mountain pheasant-hitting” (yama e kiji utsu ni) can mean hunters shooting at pheasants or a person defecating on a mountain (hunched down, thus appearing like a pheasant hunter).
1813 .かい曲り雉の鳴也大坐敷 kaimagari kiji no naki nari ôzashiki bobbing and weaving the pheasant cries… big sitting room In another haiku of the same year (1813) a pheasant confidently walks through a big room–evidently the same bold bird.
1813 .きじ鳴や汁鍋けぶる草の原 kiji naku ya shiru nabe keburu kusa no hara a pheasant cries– soup steam wafts over wild grasses Literally, the steam rises over a “grassy field” (kusa no hara).
1813 .野社の赤過しとやきじの鳴 no yashiro no aka sugoshi to ya kiji no naku “The shrine in the field is too red!” the pheasant cries
1814 .立臼に片尻かけてきじの鳴く tachi usu ni kata shiri kakete kiji no naku on the rice cake tub tail hanging the pheasant cries An usu is a large wooden tub used for rice or herb cake making. The cakemaker pounds the ingredients with a wooden mallet.
1814 .髭どのを伸上りつつきじの鳴 hige dono wo nobi-agaritsutsu kiji no naku Lord Whiskers gets an earful– on tiptoe the pheasant cries A cat?
1814 .一星見つけたやうにきじの鳴 hitotsu boshi mitsuketa yô ni kiji no naku as if it just spotted a star the pheasant cries
1818 .雉なくや臼と盥の間から kiji naku ya usu to tarai no aida kara a pheasant cries– from the rice cake tub from the wash tub An usu is a large wooden tub used for rice or herb cake making. The cakemaker pounds the ingredients with a wooden mallet. The next question about this haiku that the reader must answer: How many pheasants are there? In my translation, I picture one pheasant, singing in the rice cake tub and then, a bit later, from the wash tub. Perhaps, though, there are two pheasants in the scene: one in each tub.
1818 .雉なくや座頭が橋を這ふ時に kiji naku ya zatô ga hashi wo hau toki ni a pheasant shrieks– a blind man crawling across a bridge A blind man crossing a precarious bridge recalls a series of Zen paintings by Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768): a visual metaphor for human existence.
1818 .雉鳴や寺の座敷の真中に kiji naku ya tera no zashiki no man naka ni a pheasant cries in the temple room’s dead center
1820 .雉鳴や是より西は庵の領 kiji naku ya kore yori nishi wa io no ryô a pheasant cries– “From here to the west your hut’s territory!” Issa imagines that the pheasant is addressing him, asigning territory. By implication, the pheasant’s domain is everywhere other than “from here to the west” (kore yori nishi).
1820 .野仏の袖にかくれてきじの鳴 no-botoke no sode ni kakurete kiji no naku hiding in the sleeve of Buddha… a pheasant cries The Buddha statue is in a field (no-botoke).
1821 .火野の雉のがれたれ共羽ぬけ鳥 hino no kiji nogaretare-domo hanuke tori taking flight with a pheasant of Hino… molting bird Hino is a city west of Edo (today’s Tokyo) that now is part of Greater Tokyo.
1824 .雉なくや藪の小脇のけんどん屋 kiji naku ya yabu no kowaki no kendonya a pheasant cries– tucked alongside the thicket a noodle shop A kendonya is a shop that sells noodles, sake, and simple meals such as tea and rice; Kogo dai jiten (1983) 580.
1824 .寝た牛の腹の上にて雉の声 neta ushi no hara no ue nite kiji no koe on the sleeping cow’s belly… a pheasant cries
1824 .雉立て人おどろかすかれの哉 kiji tatte hito odorokasu kareno kana a pheasant rising startles the man… withered fields Or: “startles me.” R. H. Blyth interprets and translates the haiku in this way; A History of Haiku (1964) 1.362.
In order to achieve a middle line of seven on (“sound units”), Issa seems to be dropping the particle wo which, if it would appear after hito (“man”), would clarify that the man is the receiver of the action–as Blyth and Shinji Ogawa attest.
All translations © 1991-2025 by David G. Lanoue, rights reserved.