Osamu Dazai's "One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji" Synopsis and Impressions - A famous short story famous for the famous quote "Fuji is well suited for moonflowers".
今回ご紹介するのは１９３９年に太宰治によって発表された『富嶽百景』です。私が読んだのは新潮社、令和５年第百五刷版『走れメロス』所収版です。
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Fugaku hyakkei (One hundred views of Mt. Fuji)" was published in the second and third issues of "Buntai" in 1939. It depicts a period in which he desperately tried to rebuild himself by staying at a teahouse on the Misaka Pass in Koshu, relying on Ibushi Masuji. This is his first work after his marriage to his wife, and it is filled with the spirit of a fresh start. The brief, dry style of the first sentence, "The angle at the top of Mt. Fuji is 85 degrees in Hiroshige's Fuji," is pleasing, and the author depicts a mental landscape of the severe confrontation between nature and man, creating holes of shame amid the tension. Fuji" is a rare masterpiece in Japanese literature, and a line from the text, "Fuji is well suited to moonflowers," is inscribed on a literary monument at Misaka Pass.
Shinchosha, Osamu Dazai, Running Meros, p. 290-291
So far in this blog, we have introduced Yukio Mishima's works, and now we are finally entering Osamu Dazai's works.
私が太宰治をこのタイミングで読もうと思ったのはまさに三島由紀夫の影響です。三島由紀夫の文学にすっかりはまってしまった私ですが、その三島があるエッセイの中でこう言っていたのでありました。
I don't like Dazai's literature.
In one of the commentaries on Mishima's works, Osamu Dazai was described as being the literary opposite of Yukio Mishima.
For me, as I want to learn more about Yukio Mishima, it is a wonderful opportunity to learn even more about Mishima by getting to know his opposite. This is similar to learning about Tolstoy and Turgenev in learning about Dostoevsky.
So I finally decided to give Osamu Dazai's works a try.
Speaking of Osamu Dazai, I remember reading "Running Meros" in class, probably in a junior high school textbook. In other words, I have not read Dazai since then.
三島由紀夫の文学と正反対という太宰の文学とはいかに！ということで私は本作を読み始めたのでありました。
この作品の冒頭は次のように始まります。
富士の頂角、広重の富士は八十五度、文晁の富士も八十四度くらい、けれども、陸軍の実測図によって東西及南北に断面図を作ってみると、東西縦断は頂角、百二十四度となり、南北は百十七度である。広重、文晁に限らず、たいていの絵の富士は、鋭角である。いただきが、細く、高く、華奢である。北斎にいたっては、その頂角、ほとんと三十度くらい、エッフェル鉄塔のような富士をさえ描いている。けれども、実際の富士は、鈍角も鈍角、のろくさと拡がり、東西、百二十四度、南北は百十七度、決して、秀抜の、すらと高い山ではない。
新潮社、太宰治『走れメロス』P５４
ほうほう、これが太宰治・・・。
出だしの文章数行からその違いを感じようという方が無茶な話ですが、今のところまだ三島由紀夫との違いはそれほど明確には感じられません。
しかし、この直後から様子は変わってきます。引き続き読んでいきましょう。
たとえば私が、印度かどこかの国から、突然、鷲にさらわれ、すとんと日本の沼津あたりの海岸に落されて、ふと、この山を見つけても、そんなに驚嘆しないだろう。ニッポンのフジヤマを、あらかじめ憧れているからこそ、ワンダフルなのであって、そうでなくて、そのような俗な宣伝を、一さい知らず、素朴な、純粋の、うつろな心に、果して、どれだけ訴え得るか、そのことになると、多少、心細い山である。低い。裾のひろがっている割に、低い。あれくらいの裾を持っている山ならば、少なくとも、もう一・五倍、高くなければならない。
十国峠から見た富士だけは、高かった。あれは、よかった。
新潮社、太宰治『走れメロス』P５４－５５
いかがでしょうか。私はこの時点ですでに三島との圧倒的な違いを感じました。
まず、読点の多さが気になります。そして最小限の言葉を連続して繋げていくリズム感。特に、「そのことになると、多少、心細い山である。低い。裾のひろがっている割に、低い。」という「低い」の一言。これは三島にはほとんど見られない言葉の使い方です。
せっかくですので三島の文章と比べてみましょう。引用するのは１９５６年に発表された彼の代表作Kinkakuji Templeです。この小説は私が読んだ初めての三島作品でした。その中でも特に印象に残っている三島の言葉を紹介します。
Maizuru Bay was located one and a half ri to the west of Shiraku Village, but the sea was blocked by mountains. However, there was always a sense of the sea in the air. When the sea was stormy, many ogres would escape from the village and land in the rice paddies.
Shinchosha, Yukio Mishima, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, p. 6
But there has always been something of a sea premonition hovering over this land."
なんという表現でしょう！この箇所は物語冒頭の２ページ目の一節だったのですが、その時点で私は三島文学の強烈な文体を感じることとなりました。
そしてもう一つ、特に印象に残っているのが次の箇所です。
It just so happened that the institutional school uniforms had been taken off and hung over the white penkipainted fence. Pants and a shirt of white underwear. They were ...... right next to the flowers, giving off the smell of sweaty young skin. The bees had mistakenly rested their wings on the flowers of these white, glowing shirts. His cap, decorated with gold braid, hung on one of the fences, just as it had on his head, correctly and conspicuously. He was challenged by his juniors to the back ring,rikishiThe first time I went to the
The shedding of these things gave the impression of a cemetery of honor. The abundance of flowers in May reinforced this impression. In particular, the cap, with its jet-black eaves, and the leather belt and dagger that hung on its side, were detached from his body, and instead radiated a lyrical beauty, as complete and ...... ...... as the memories themselves, which seemed to be the relics of a young hero. It was a relic of a young hero.
Shinchosha, Yukio Mishima, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, p. 11-12
よくぞまあこれだけの美しい言葉を並べられるなと私はもはや呆気に取られてしまいました。
太宰が直感的に感情や雰囲気をリズムよく展開してくるのに対し、三島は丁寧に丁寧に見事な模様を作り出すかのように言葉を紡いでいきます。
大人になってから初の太宰作品の冒頭２ページにして両者の文体の違いに驚くことになりました。
この後読み進んでいってもその感覚は一向に消えることはなく、同じ日本語を使っているのにこれほどまでに違うのかと驚きがどんどん増していきました。
そして本作は太宰治の実体験が強く反映されています。身を持ち崩し、精神病棟に無理やり入れられたショックから立ち直ろうと甲州御坂峠の天下茶屋にこもっていた頃のお話です。
Therefore, this story does not tell of the catastrophic events that are synonymous with Dazai. However, Dazai's delicate confession and will to recover are clearly conveyed in this story.
They called me "sir. I took it seriously. I had nothing to be proud of. I had no education. No talent. My body is dirty and my heart is bad. But I have gone through enough suffering to accept the young men who called me "teacher. That is all. I am proud of myself as if I were a piece of straw. But I want to keep this pride. How many of you have known my behind-the-scenes suffering, which I have been called like a selfish spoiled child?
Shinchosha, Osamu Dazai, Running Meros, p. 62-63
This confession must have been exactly what Dazai was feeling at the time.
This film beautifully depicts a man trying to rise from such ruin and the beautiful Mt.
I had never heard of this work until I picked up this book, but I think it was a very good first encounter with Dazai's work. I could vividly feel the difference between Dazai's and Mishima's writing styles.
It is also very easy to read, with only about 30 pages.
As an introduction to Dazai, this work may be an apt one.
This is a good short story that I would highly recommend.
以上、「太宰治『富嶽百景』あらすじと感想～「富士には、月見草がよく似合う」の名言で有名な名作短編」でした。
Next Article.
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