短歌と英語版 Tanka in Japanese and Their English Versions: Jan. 2024

ラジオたちが広場に集まりアンテナを振ったり跳ねたりラジオ体操　　　　　　
     The radio gymnastics:
     Radios do exercise, leaping
     Or swinging aerials

その場所だけ空から青い砂が降り真っ青な砂で砂遊びできる　　　　　　　　　
     A blue sand pile,
     To which blue sand has fell
     From the blue sky

ぼさぼさの虹が架かった　「身だしなみをちゃんとしてから架かりなさいね」
     A shaggy, untidy
     Rainbow has appeared. “Groom yourself
     Before appearing!”

「肩こりに効くねえ」なんて言い合ってハンガーたちがつかる温泉　　　　　　
     Clothes hangers soak
     In a hot spring, saying
     “It heals stiff shoulders”

鳥の群が河原に降りて一羽ずつ一つの小石になり横たわる　　　　　　　　　　
     A flock of birds,
     Alighting on a riverbed,
     Changed into pebbles

「シャチはみんなシャチっとしてるよ。あんたたちもシャケっとしなさい！」「サケなんですけど・・・」　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
     “Sharks are all shark-like, so
     Be salmon-like, you salmon.“
     “But we are not salmon”*

     *This is quite untranslatable. In Japanese, “a salmon” has to appellations: “syake” and “sake.” In the Japanese version here, salmon are told to be “syake-like,” but the salmon answer that they are not “syake” but “sake.” The point of the Japanese version is the resemblance among “shaki,” “syachi” and “syake.” “Syaki” is used as “syaki-tto-suru” (be sharp, straight). “Syachi” means “a shark.” So, telling someone to be “syachi” sounds somewhat like telling someone to be sharp and straight. Likewise, telling someone to be “syake” sounds like telling someone to be sharp and straight. The salmon in the Japanese version seem to dislike to be sharp and straight, and by saying they are not syake, they resist the demand to be sharp and straight.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
邪魔なとこに寝転んでいた私を大カタツムリが乗り越えていった　　　　　　　
     As I lay in its way,
     A huge snail crossed me, crawling
     Over my body

「虹のバカ、バーカバーカ」と言ってたら虹全体が真っ赤になった　　　　　　
     As I was mocking,
     “You silly rainbow,” the whole
     Of it got scarlet

ぷにぷにを維持できないでぶにぶにになるとぶにぶにマークを貼られる　　　　
     When you cannot maintain
     Punipuniness, you will be marked
     As bunibuni*

     *In Japanese, “punipuni” suggests a pleasantly resilient surface of some soft substance, while “bunibuni” suggests flabbiness rather than resilience.

キャベツたちが押しくらまんじゅうしていたら白菜のように縦長になった　　　
     Playing shove and push
     Too much, cabbages got tall,
     Like Chinese cabbages

客の前で転がって見せ「回転寿司、なんちゃってね」とお茶目に言う寿司　　　
     The sushi turns,
     Saying archly, “I am
     Sushi which turns”*

     *In Japanese, “a conveyor belt sushi bar” is called “kaiten-zushi,” which literally means “sushi which turns.”

小刻みに翼を震わせ自在に飛ぶ紙飛行機は花の蜜も吸う　　　　　　　　　　　
     Flapping its wings quickly,
     The paper plane flies around and
     Sucks nectar from flowers

「爆笑団」　合唱団ではありません　ステージに並び爆笑します　　　　　　　
     Though they stand on a stage
     Like a chorus, they do not sing,
     But roar with laughter*

     *In Japanese, “sing together” is “gasshou-suru,” while “roar with laughter” is “bakushou-suru.” “Gasshou” and “bakushou” sound somewhat alike.

海底で銀河が光る　おびただしい星が海底で群がって光る　　　　　　　　　　
     Innumerable stars
     Form an undersea galaxy,
     Gathering and shining

揺すられると銀河は鈴のように鳴る　無数の小さな鈴のように鳴る
     Like innumerable
     Small bells, a galaxy
     Rings, when shaken

タンポポはピンポン球をひまわりはビーチボールを花で打ち合う　　　　　　　
     With their flowers,
     Dandelions toss ping-pong balls;
     Sunflowers toss beachballs

明け方に脱兎のごとく星がみな思い思いの方へ流れる　　　　　　　　　　　　
     At dawn, all the stars shoot
     In the direction they like, as
     Fast as fleeing rabbits

ひまわりが「オールバック」と言いながら花びらをみんな後ろへ倒す　　　　　
     Saying, “straight back,”
     The sunflower bends all
     Its petals backward

虹が急に粉々になって飛び散るのが「爆ぜ虹」という現象である　　　　　　　
     “Rainbow explosion”:
     A rainbow explodes and
     Falls, pulverized

銀河にある数千億個の星が砂の粒なら全部でどれくらいの砂？　　　　　　　　
     What amount of sand,
     If each star in a galaxy
     Were a grain of sand?

狸だけの皮算用じゃ小さいね　虎、ヌー、狸の皮算用しな　　　　　　　　　　
     Sell not only raccoon
     Dogs’ skins but also tigers’ and
     Gnus’ before you catch them*

     *In Japanese, there is a proverb whose message is similar to “do a counting of one’s chickens before they are hatched” or “make a sale of the bear’s skin before one has caught the bear.” The proverb reads “toranu tanukino kawazanyou,” which we can pun as “tora(tiger), nuu(gnu), tanukino(raccoon dog's) kawazanyo(counting of the sales of skins). This work is not intended to advocate fur sales. It is indeed important not to count one's chickens before they are hatched, but this work's message is that it is also important to have a large dream. 

存在が点滅している人々が現れては消え、現れては消え　　　　　　　　　　　
     People whose existence
     Is blinking keep appearing
     And disappearing

靴底のようにだんだんすり減って人々の顔がのっぺりしてくる　　　　　　　　
     Like the sole of a shoe,
     People’s faces scuff and
     Get featureless

ムキムキの虹が架かった　この前はメタボだったのに鍛えたんだね　　　　　　
     The rainbow is
     Muscular today, though it was
     Flabby before

そよぎながら歌っていたら人間が根元に集まり一緒に歌った　　　　　　　　　
     As I, a tree, was
     Singing in the wind, humans came
     And sang around me

鳥の名がついている木々　葉がすべてその名の鳥の羽根なのだった　　　　　　
     The leaves of the trees are
     All feathers. Each is named after
     Birds, whose feathers it has