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この本はタチヨミ版です。
1E. The five-yen coin without a hole
3E. The club activities, my sweet memories!
This is a story, which happened to me more than forty years ago. Here below, I am going to write it down before I forget.
When I was a little boy, I used to go to a small candy store in my neighborhood, which was about seven or eight minutes from my house.
In this shop, there was usually an old woman as the shopkeeper, who wore a pair of traditional dark-blue loose trousers and a white apron. I called her “old woman”, but now that I think of it, she was probably only about fifty-five years old or so. She was small, but looked big-boned and healthy, and she always had two or three rubber bands on her wrists. Sometimes, I would see another old woman as the shopkeeper, who wore a light-brown kimono and looked around seventy-five years old. She was completely white-haired, small, thin and sitting on the tatami mats, which from this aspect always seemed as if she were sinking into the tatami. The first old woman with loose trousers always called the second old woman “mommy”, so I guess that they were mother and daughter, or maybe mother and daughter-in-law. All of the children secretly called the younger woman with loose trousers “the black one” or “the black grandma”, and the other woman in kimono “the white one” or “the white grandma”.
One day, I went to that small candy shop with an old five-yen coin in my hand, which my mother had given me, and found the white grandma in there. (The new five-yen coin of those days, which circulated in large quantities, had a hole in the middle of it. On the other hand, the former five-yen coin circulated in small quantities, and could be easily mistaken for a ten-yen coin because it didn't have a hole.) As soon as she saw me, she smiled at me as she always did. At least, I thought she did, because her face was so wrinkled that she had no change in facial expression, which I couldn't read very well.
I took a candy with a string out of a small box, which cost five yen, and gave her my five yen coin without a hole. When I was turning around to leave, she said: “Here is your change.”. I looked back at her, and saw her holding out a five-yen coin with a hole towards me!
Oh, maybe, she has mistaken my five-yen coin without a hole for a ten-yen coin, so she wants to give me the change.
Thinking so, I took the change without saying a word. I felt quite happy to have made a profit.
After that, I didn't have this luck anymore, because the white grandma was rarely there as a shopkeeper, and I rarely went there with a five-yen coin without a hole.
Six months later, I got another chance. When I went to the store with a five-yen coin without a hole, the white grandma was there. I took a thick straw jelly in hand, which cost ten yen, and gave her my five-yen coin without a hole in a flutter. Thereupon, the black grandma in loose trousers came out from the inside of the house, wiping her hands with her apron and saying: “Oh, thanks, mommy.”.
This is no good! I thought.
I tried to put my hand with the coin back, but it was too late: the white grandma quickly held out her wrinkled hand to take my five-yen coin without a hole away, then she threw it into the cashbox, which was a metallic square cake box, making a clanking sound, and said as she always did:
“Well, thank you.”
I heard her say as I ran out of the store, because I felt too ashamed to stay there. After going out of the store, I continued to run all the way until my house.
The white grandma recognized my five-yen coin without a hole. Even though she knew, she pretended to mistake it for a ten-yen coin. She snatched it away from my hand, because she saw the black grandma coming towards her. Also the other day, she knew that I had given her a five-yen coin, instead of a ten-yen coin.
I felt so ashamed and scared.
For a while after that, I didn't go to that small candy store, because I didn't feel up to it. However, I felt obliged to say either “I'm sorry” or “thank you” to the white grandma.
Two months later, I started to go to that store to buy some candies again, but I never saw the white grandma there as a shopkeeper anymore.
Now, this is a digression, but when I talked to my sister about this white grandma, she replied:
“Well, I don't remember such a woman at all.”
Even though she is only three years older than I, she has no memory about her, unlike me.
もう四十年以上も前のこと。記憶にあるうちに書いておこうとおもう。
子どものころよく、近所の駄菓子屋にいった。あるいて七、八分。
いくとたいてい、紺のもんぺに白い前掛けをしたおばあさんが店番をしていた。おばあさんといってもいま考えると、五十五歳くらいだったろう。小柄だが、骨太で元気そうだった。両手くびにはいつも、輪ゴムを二、三本はめていた。そのおばあさんのほかに、たまにうす茶の着物をきたおばあさんが店番をしていることがあった。七十五歳くらいだったろうか。あたまは真っ白だった。ちっちゃくて、細くて、いつも畳にめりこみそうな感じで正座していた。もんぺのおばあさんはこのおばあさんを「かっちゃ」と呼んでいたので、おそらく親子だろう。嫁と姑かもしれない。ぼくたち子どもは、若いもんぺのほうを「黒いほう」または「黒ばあちゃん」、年上の着物のほうを「白いほう」または「白ばあちゃん」とひそかに呼んでいた。
ある日、母にもらった穴なし五円玉をにぎって店にいったら、白ばあちゃんがいた。ぼくのほうをみるなり、いつものようにニコッと笑った、ような気がした。顔がしわだらけなので表情にとぼしく、よくわからないのだ。
ぼくは五円のひもつき飴玉を小箱からとりだし、「はい」といって、白ばあちゃんに穴なし五円玉をわたした。そしてきびすをかえそうとすると、「はいおつり」といって、なんと、穴あり五円玉をさしだしているではないか。
あ、白ばあちゃん、ぼくがだした穴なし五円玉を十円玉とまちがっているな、それでおつりをくれようとしているんだな、とぼくはおもい、そのまま受けとった。もうけたあ、とこっそりよろこんだ。
こんなことは、それからはもうなかった。白ばあちゃんが店番をしていることがまれだったし、また穴なし五円玉をもっていくこともまれだったから。
それから半年くらい経って、またチャンスがやってきた。ぼくは穴なし五円玉を手にしていて、店には白ばあちゃんがいる。ぼくはそのとき、十円する太いほうのストローゼリーを手にとり、白ばあちゃんに穴なし五円玉をさしだした。ちょっとドキドキした。するとそのとき、家の奥のほうから、「あ、かっちゃかっちゃ、ども」といって、前掛けで手をふきながら、もんぺの黒ばあちゃんがやってきた。
こりゃまずい、とおもってぼくは、穴なし五円玉をひっこめようとした。すると、白ばあちゃんのしわくちゃな手がすばやく伸びてきて、ぼくの手から穴なし五円玉をかっさらい、よこのゼニ箱（金属製の四角いお菓子箱）にガチャリンと投げ入れた。
「はい、ありがさん」
白ばあちゃんはいつものようにいった。ぼくはその声を背中で聞いた。いづらくて走りだしていたのだ。店をでて、家まで走った。
白ばあちゃん、ぼくがだした穴なし五円玉、ちゃんと五円だってわかっていたんだ。わかっているのに、十円だとおもっているふりをしていたんだ。黒ばあちゃんがきて、あわててとったんだ。このまえも、ちゃんと五円だってわかっていたんだ。
ぼくははずかしいような、こわいような気持ちになっていた。
それからしばらく、その駄菓子屋には足をむけなかった。なんとなくいきづらかった。でも、白ばあちゃんに「ごめんなさい」か「ありがとう」のどちらかをいわなきゃな、とおもっていた。
二カ月くらいして、また買いにいくようになった。だけどもう、白ばあちゃんが店番をしているときにいきあうことはなかった。
余談だが、最近になって、姉に白ばあちゃんの話をすると、「あれ、そんな人いたっけ」と答えが返ってきた。たった三つしか違わないのに、忘れちゃうもんなんだなあ。
In August of the forty-third year of the Showa period (1968), when I was six years old, I went to see the Tokyo Tower for the first time. According to my research, this tower was founded in May 1957, officially opened on December 23rd 1958, and opened to the public on the following day. So, I visited on the tenth anniversary.
We went there in three: my father, my big sister and me. My mother didn't come with us because we didn't have enough money then.
In the early morning, we took a taxi from our house to our nearest station, which took about twenty minutes. Then, it took about two hours by train to arrive at Tokyo station. I think that on our way to Tokyo, we bought some frozen mandarin oranges from a vendor who was walking on the platform. Frozen mandarin oranges were the typical food to eat in the train at that time, but I'm not sure if they still sell it nowadays. We also bought some canned juice, which was accompanied by a little steel tool, which looked like a parrot beak, to puncture two holes in the upper surface of the can. I forcefully pushed this tool on the can to make two holes in it, and drank the juice.
From Tokyo station, we took a bus to the Tokyo Tower. It took us about a half an hour. In total, it took us more than three hours including the transit time just to arrive there. I can say that it was a big event to go to Tokyo from my hometown in those days.
At the Tokyo Tower, as far as I remember, I went up to the observation platform, and admired the panorama city view of Tokyo through a telescope, which I paid 10 yen for. I enjoyed looking down at all the city below, everything looked so small: houses, buildings, pedestrians and cars. After a few minutes, it made a clicking sound and stopped working, so after that, I couldn't see anything through it, only darkness.
I think that I also saw a monster festival there, maybe because “Ultraman” had just started on TV, or because Godzilla and Gamera were popular films at that time. Anyway, these monsters were heard growling. When I was walking along the route, I saw a lot of large monsters' models settled in a line along the wall. If I remember well, there was a pink Garamon and Pigmon. These models were taller than an adult, so I guess that they were about two and a half meters tall. Among them, there was a warning sign, which read: “Do not touch”. After reading it, I naturally felt like touching them, so I courageously touched one of their insteps. It was made of rubber, and caved in when I touched it.
After that, I had my portrait drawn by an artist, and I had to stand still for about five minutes for that. I still have that portrait that was drawn on a cardboard square in my house, which is in a cream-colored frame. In the portrait, I am facing forward wearing a white flat top hat, and I have a sour look on my face, with no smile. On the right of the portrait, it is written with a brush: “August 1968, <my name>, six years old”.
We bought a golden-colored ornament of the Tokyo Tower, which was about ten centimeters high. My father said that we also bought a toy safe, but we left it somewhere by mistake.
The last thing I remember was my father carrying me on his back at the bus stop in front of the tower. I woke up after we had arrived at home.
It took us about seven hours to go to Tokyo and return home, and we stayed there for only two hours.
It was a big event to go to Tokyo from the provinces at that time. On the contrary, today, we can go everywhere easily. For this reason, I feel that travelling has less value now.
昭和四十三年八月、六歳。初めて東京タワーにいった。調べたところによると、設立が昭和三十二年五月、オープンが昭和三十三年十二月二十三日、翌日から一般公開。だから、オープン十年目だ。
父と姉と三人でいった。お金がないので母はお留守番。
早朝。まず、家からタクシーで最寄り駅まで約二十分。そこから電車で東京駅まで約二時間。途中、ホームを歩いている売り子さんから、冷凍ミカンを買ったようにおもう。当時の定番だ。いまはどうだろう。売っているのかな。缶ジュースも買ったっけ。飲み口の面に、オウムの嘴みたいなスチール製の穴あけ具がついている。それで二箇所、グイッと穴をあけて飲む。
東京に着いたら、バスで東京タワーまで約三十分。乗り継ぎも考えると、片道だけで三時間ちょっと。一大イベントだ。
記憶している限りでは──。
展望台に上がって望遠鏡をのぞいた。十円玉を何枚か入れた。家やらビルやら、人やら自動車やら、こまごましたものがみえた。時間がくると、カシャっといって真っ暗になった。
それから、怪獣祭りをやっていたようにおもう。当時はテレビで「ウルトラマン」がはじまったばかりだったか。それとも、映画のゴジラやガメラの関係か。怪獣の鳴き声がしていた。決められた通路を歩いていく。壁際に、おおきな怪獣がずらりとならんでいた。ピンク色のガラモンだかピグモンだかがいたような気がする。おとなよりおおきかったから、二・五メートルくらいか。『さわってはいけません』と注意書きがあった。当然のことながらさわりたくなって、さわった。足の甲。グニュっと沈んだ。ゴムでできていた。
そのあと、絵師さんに似顔絵を描いてもらった。五分くらい、立ってじっとしていたかな。まだ家にある。色紙。クリーム色の額縁に入れてある。上がぺったんこの白いハットをかぶって、真正面をむいている。笑顔じゃなくて、むっつり顔。右よこに筆で、『昭和四十三年八月 〇〇ちゃん 六才』。
お土産は、東京タワーの置物。金色。高さ十センチくらい。それと、おもちゃの金庫を買ったようだが、忘れてきたそうだ。
あと、記憶にあるのは、タワー前のバス乗り場で、父におんぶされていたこと。目覚めたら、家だった。
往復七時間ほど。むこうにいたのは二時間くらいか。
こんなふうに、当時は東京にいくのもたいへんなことだった。いまは気軽にどこにでもいける時代だ。それだけに、ありがたみがないようにおもう。
When I was an elementary school student, my friends and I, who lived in the same complex of the company houses, formed a club called “Lascivious Club”. Our clubroom was a vacant company house, and we were six boys, whose nicknames were Hirochin, Geruchin, Katchin, Maachan, Kokichi and I, Yacchin. All of us were the same age or with one year's difference, except Kokichi who was four years younger than us.
Our main activities consisted of “picking up lascivious weekly magazines thrown on the ground and criticizing them”, “reading lascivious novels” and “checking lascivious ad slogans frequently”. At least this is what I remember.
There was a dormitory for singles on the south-east corner of our housing complex, and we could find a lot of suspicious magazines, which were thrown away in the garbage disposal area of this dormitory. So, on our way home from school, we used to go there to pick up some notable ones and bring them to our club room to hide them in the depth of the closet, because we couldn't bring them to our own houses.
タチヨミ版はここまでとなります。
2017年3月6日 発行 初版
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