二十億光年の孤独
人類は小さな球の上で
眠り起きそして働き
ときどき火星の火星人の仲間を欲しがったりする
火星人は小さな球の上で
何をしているか 僕は知らない
（或いは ネリリし キルルし ハララしているか）
しかしときどき地球に仲間を欲しがったりする
それはまったくたしかなことだ
万有引力とは
ひき合う孤独の力である
宇宙はひずんでいる
それ故みんなは求めあう
宇宙はどんどん膨らんでゆく
それ故みんなは不安である
二十億光年の孤独に
僕は思わずくしゃみをした
谷川俊太郎
Two Trillion Light Years of Solitude
Mankind slumbers, awakens, labors,
on this small sphere
Sometimes desiring to have Martians as friends
Martians on their small sphere
i do no know what they are doing
(whether they are “neriri”ing or “kiriri”ing or might they be “harara”ing, whatever their onomatopoeia, still
i do not know what they do on Mars)
but they sometimes desires earthings as their buddies
This is for absolutely certain
The Truth
Universal Gravitation is the Power of Attraction
of the lonesome
The universe is distorted
Thus everyone desires one another
The universe steadily expands
Thus we are all left to feel anxious
reveling in the loneliness beyond two trillion light years away,
i let out a sneeze
– Shuntaro Tanikawa
translated by K. Tsuyama
***
How would YOU translate this poem? Thoughts like this keep me away from feeling the profound sadness … of losing my mother as she has taken off on a journey into another universe, or is it the same universe that feels like another dimension so so SO many light years away …she desired to depart and consequently, no longer lonely – she is with all those who has passed on before us. She is home. She is immortal. She is united with the immortals.
While we are left behind on this ever expanding distorted universe.
Thus (yes, as the poet keyed in on, some three quarters of a century ago at his age of 21)
we are rather an anxious sort. Wouldn’t you agree?
Anxiously, we find ways to endure, desiring one another even humans seeking martians and likewise, martians desiring humans, as our small world expands and spirals out of entropy.
