　ほんの少し走ってから、「ここで止めて・・・」
　私は車から降りた。
　住宅地だが、様子がまったく変わっていた。廃屋ばかりなのだ。傾いた小さな家の窓ガラスは割れていた。柱だけになった家。その柱は苔むしていた。まだ人が住んでいるらしい家もあるが、貧しい電灯のあかりに人影がぼんやり滲んでいる。背後を見やれば古びたアパートが建っていた。しかしそれも無人のようだった。
　私は途方にくれた。Yの家を言い当てるどころではなかった。

　・・・Yの家で。
　部屋の真ん中に据えた座卓に、私たちは向かい合って坐った。卓の上には、今しがた宴会がおわったばかりだったのか、刺身の切れ端などがのった大小の皿が乱雑にならんでいた。
「いままで大勢が食っていたんだ」とYが言った。誰それ、とYは言ったのだが、私の知らない人たちだった。
　なんだかガランとした部屋だった。清潔で明るかったが家具が何もなかった。まるで新築の家に引っ越してきたばかりか、単身赴任の男のアパートの一室のようである。

「君、ひとり？」と、訊いた。
「そうだ」と、Yは言った。
「奥さんや、子供たちは？」
「死んだんだ」
「誰が？　誰が死んだんだい？」
「オレが」
「えっ？」
「オレは死んだんだよ」
　私は驚いてYを凝視した。ドッと涙が噴き出した。

　・・・夢だった。
　小学生のときに分かれたきりのYの消息を、私は知らない。

　　　淋し身に杖わすれたり秋の暮

I got in the car. Driving is Y, a classmate of the old
elementary school days.
The car started running and turned left immediately.
The country road continues straight.

said, "Turn right there"
After running a little, " Stop here..."
I got out of the car.
Despite being a residential area, the situation was
completely different. They are all abandoned houses.
The window glass of a tilted small house was broken.
A house with only pillars. The pillar was mossy. There
are still houses where people seem to live, but the
lights are poorly blurred and the people's shadows
are blurred. Looking back, there was an old apartment
building. But it also seemed uninhabited.
I was at a loss. there was no way to guess Y's house.

... At Y's house.
We sat face-to-face on a table in the middle of the
room. On the table, big and small plates with pieces
of sashimi were cluttered, probably because the ban-
quet just held had just ended.
"A lot of them have eaten up until now," Y said. He
said their name but they were strangers to me.
It was something an empty room. It was clean and
bright but without any furniture. Not only has he
moved to a new house, but it seemes to be a room in
a business bachelors' apartment.
Y picked the sea bream sashimi on the plate with
chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
While watching the dish of boiled bonito with strange
feelings, I asked,
"Are you alone?"
"Yes," Y said.
"What about your wife and children?"
"Died"
"Who? Who died?"
"I am"
"eh?"
"I'm dead"
I was surprised and stared at Y. Tears burst out.

... It was a dream.
I don't know about Y's fate that I split when we
were in elementary school, it was 63 years ago.

Kisoji yukite iza tosiyoram aki hitori

Going on along the Kiso-road
I feel I am becoming old alone
In the fall

by Yosa Buson*

Sabishi-mi ni tsue wasuretari aki no kure

I have left a cane
Despite I'm a lonly body and old
In the evening of autumn

by Yosa Buson*

Tadami Yamada

【note】
　Yosa Buson (1716-1784)
　Haiku transulation by Tadami Yamada

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