Ryunosuke Akutagawa KAPPA
14河童のラップが聖人たちを紹介するシーン 'This is one of our saints---Strindberg(ストリントベリイ), who was a rebel against everything. After terrible pain and suffering, he is said to have been redeemed(救われる) by Swedenborg(スウェデンボルグ)'s philosophy. But the fact is that he was not saved. All that happened was that, like us, he was believer in Viverism(生活教)---or it might perhaps be truer to say that he had no alternative but to believe. You should look at his Legends, the book this saint has bequeathed(残した) to us. He, too, by his own confession, attempted---without success---to kill himself.' Feeling a little dejected (意気消沈)by all this gloom, I let my eye wander to the next alcove(箱). The figure here was a German with a bristling moustache(剛毛の口ひげ). 'This is Nietzsche(ニーチェ), the poet who wrote Zarathustra. this saint sought salvation(魂の救済) from the superman(超人) of his own creation. But, in the end, without being saved, he went insane. On the other hand, had he not gone insane, he might never have been added to the number of the saints....'After moment's silence the old man led us in front of the third alcove:'It is Tolstoy(トルストイ) in this third alcove. This saint did greater penance(苦行) than any of them; for, in that he was born into a noble household, he detested(嫌った) displaying his hardships and suffering in front of the public with their great curiosty. this saint strove mightily(非常に努力した) to beleive in Christ, in whom, in fact, there can be no question of believing. He went further, even to the point of making a public avowal(公言) of his belief. But, in the end, in his last years, he came to the point where he could no longer endure these pathetic(悲壮な) lies. He, too, is well known for the occational horror he felt for the roof-beams(梁) of his study(書斎). But since it has been thought proper that he be ranked among the saints, it goes without saying that he did not take his own life(自殺する).'The bust(半身像) in the fourth alcove was one of us---a Japanese. As I looked on this Japanese face, I felt, as you would expect, a wave of nostalgia.'This is Kunikida Doppo(国木田独歩), a poet who had vivid recognition of the humour(心持ち) of the coolie(人足) who hurls(強くほうる) himself in front of an onrushing train. But there is obviously no requirement(不必要) to explain to you, sir, in any further detail. So, may we look at the fifth alcove?'TEXT:芥川龍之介「河童」