『 ＢＩＧ Ｏ 』
日本語版は『ぼくを探しに』 訳：倉橋 由美子
１９７７年に出版されたのに私の周りではたくさんの人に読まれています。
私は両方持っていますが、日本語版のほうは理想の相手を探しに・・・
英語版の方は自分探しの旅って感じを受けました。
とにかくシンプルな絵と文字だけど３歳児から大人の人まで何かを感じずには
いられないであろう本です。
ＢＹ ： SHEL SILVERSTEIN
ｔｏ Ｊｏａｎ
The misssing sat alone...
waiting for someone to come along and take it somewhere
Some fit...
but could not roll．
Others could roll but did not fit．
One didn’t know a thing about fitting．
And another didn’t know a thing about anything．
One was too delicate．
ｐｏｐ！
One put it on pedestal...
and left it there.
Some had too many pieces missing.
Some had too many pieces ，period．
It learned to hide from the hungry ones．
More came．
Some looked too closely． ＡＨＡ！
Others rolld right by without noticing． ＨＩ...？
It tried to make itself more attractive...
It didn’t help.
It tried flashy
but that frightened away the shy ones.
At last came along that fit just right.
But all of sudden...
the missing piece bigan to grow！
And grow！
“I didn’t know you were going to grow.”
“I didn’t know it eithere，”said the missing piece.
“I’m lookin’ for my missin’ piece，
one that wron’t increase...” ＢＹＥ...
ＳＩＧＨ...
And then one day，
one came along who looked different.
“What do you want of me？”asked the missing piece.
“Nothing.”
“Who do you need from me？”
“Nothing.”
“Who are you？”asked the missing piece.
“I am the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ，”said the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ.
“Ｉ think you are the one I have been waiting for，”
said the missing piece.
“Maybe I am your missing piece.”
“But I am not missing a piece，”said the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ.
“There is no place you would fit.”
“That is too bad，”said the missing piece.
“I was hoping that perhaps I could roll with you...”
“You cannot roll with me，”said the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ.
“but perhaps you can roll by yourself.”
“By myself？ A missing piece cannot roll by itself.”
“Have you ever tried？”asked the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ.
“But I have sharp corners，”said the missing piece.
“I am not shaped for rolling.”
“Corners were off，”said the Ｂｉｇ Ｏ.
“ａｎｄ shapes change.Anyhow，I must say good―bye.
Perhaps we will meet again...”
And away it rolld.
The the missing piece was alone again.
For a long time it just sat there.
Then...
slowly...
it lifted itself up on one end...
...and flpped over.ＰＬＯＰ！
Then lift...pull...flop...
it began to move forward...
And soon its edgs began to wear off...
liftpullflopliftpullflop...
and its shape began to change...
and the it was bumping instead of flopping...
and then it was bouncing instead of bumping...
and then it was rolling instead of bouncing...
and it didn’t know where and it didn’t care.
It was rolling！
© Rakuten Group, Inc.
