[箴言] 君は肥って笑みの絶えない警官じゃないか、と赤毛の男は怒った

そして友人である警官は答える。

I see everything, he cried, everything that there is. Why does each thing on the earth war against each other thing? Why does each small thing in the world have to fight against the world itself? Why does a fly have to fight the whole universe? Why does a dandelion have to fight the whole universe? For the same reason that I had to be alone in the dreadful Council of the Days.

(略)

It is not true that we have never been broken. We have been broken upon the wheel. It is not true that we have never descended from these thrones. We have descended into hell. We were complaining of unforgettable miseries even at the very moment when this man entered insolently to accuse us of happiness. I repel the slander; we have not been happy. I can answer for every one of the great guards of Law whom he has accused. At least-- The man who was Thursday

子供の頃、11歳の修学旅行に友人の荷物より借り受け、一晩で読みふけった小説。木曜の男 より。ネタバレぎみの部分だが。

どんな苦痛を経てきた人も、他の人間に 俺は越えたのだからお前も越えろ と誇りたしなめる資格はない。

だが同様に、どんな苦痛のうちにある人も、他者を 君は苦しんだことがない という資格もない。

---

ところで、ひさびさにグーテンベルグを見たら、この小説の読み上げヴァージョン もあがっていてびっくりした。

英語の勉強のための教材とか、昔よりはるかに入手が楽で、かつ上質だ。