第22回テキスト

---はじめ---

I will tell you, Socrates, he said, what my own feeling is.
Men of my age flock together; we are birds of a feather, as
the old proverb says; and at our meetings the tale of my
acquaintance commonly is --I cannot eat, I cannot drink; the
pleasures of youth and love are fled away: there was a good
time once, but now that is gone, and life is no longer life.
Some complain of the slights which are put upon them by
relations, and they will tell you sadly of how many evils
their old age is the cause. But to me, Socrates, these
complainers seem to blame that which is not really in fault.
For if old age were the cause, I too being old, and every
other old man, would have felt as they do. But this is not my
own experience, nor that of others whom I have known. How
well I remember the aged poet Sophocles, when in answer to
the question, How does love suit with age, Sophocles, --are
you still the man you were? Peace, he replied; most gladly
have I escaped the thing of which you speak; I feel as if I
had escaped from a mad and furious master. His words have
often occurred to my mind since, and they seem as good to me
now as at the time when he uttered them. For certainly old
age has a great sense of calm and freedom; when the passions
relax their hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from
the grasp not of one mad master only, but of many. The truth
is, Socrates, that these regrets, and also the complaints
about relations, are to be attributed to the same cause,
which is not old age, but men's characters and tempers; for
he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the
pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition
youth and age are equally a burden.

I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, that
he might go on --Yes, Cephalus, I said: but I rather suspect
that people in general are not convinced by you when you
speak thus; they think that old age sits lightly upon you,
not because of your happy disposition, but because you are
rich, and wealth is well known to be a great comforter.

---終わり---

> 第22回テキスト
>
> ---はじめ---
>
> I will tell you, Socrates, he said, what my own feeling is.

　ソクラテスよ、私はあなたに言う、と彼は言った。私自身の感情とはどのよ
うなものなのか。

> Men of my age flock together; we are birds of a feather, as
> the old proverb says; and at our meetings the tale of my
> acquaintance commonly is --I cannot eat, I cannot drink; the
> pleasures of youth and love are fled away: there was a good
> time once, but now that is gone, and life is no longer life.

　私の年代の男たちは群れる。私たちは古いことわざの言うように同じ羽根の
鳥だ。そして、私たちの集まりでは、普通私の知り合いの話である。--私は食
べることもできないし、飲むこともできない。若者の楽しみも愛も逃げ去って
しまった。昔は楽しいときであったが、いまではそれもなくなった。人生はも
はや人生ではない。

> Some complain of the slights which are put upon them by
> relations, and they will tell you sadly of how many evils
> their old age is the cause.

　身内のものの冷淡軽蔑への不満。そして彼らは悲しげに老齢がいかに多くの
悪の原因であるかを語るだろう。

> But to me, Socrates, these
> complainers seem to blame that which is not really in fault.

　しかし、私には、ソクラテスよ、これらの不平を言う人たちは本当は過ちで
はないことを非難しているように思える。

> For if old age were the cause, I too being old, and every
> other old man, would have felt as they do.

　なぜなら、老齢が原因であるならば、私も年をとっているし、他の老齢者み
んなが彼らと同じように感じただろうから。

> But this is not my
> own experience, nor that of others whom I have known.

　しかし、これは私自身の経験でもなければ、私が知っている他の人たちの経
験でもない。

> How
> well I remember the aged poet Sophocles, when in answer to
> the question,

　老年の詩人ソフォクレスがその問いに答えた時のことを私はよく覚えている。

> How does love suit with age, Sophocles, --are
> you still the man you were? Peace, he replied; most gladly
> have I escaped the thing of which you speak; I feel as if I
> had escaped from a mad and furious master.

　愛は老年と如何にうまくやっていくのか、ソフォクレスよ。--あなたはまだ
昔のあなたのままなのか？　平和だ、彼は答えた。私は極めて楽しく私はあな
たの言うことから逃れている。私は、狂気と狂乱の主から逃れたような気がし
ているのだ。

> His words have
> often occurred to my mind since, and they seem as good to me
> now as at the time when he uttered them.

　彼の言葉は、それ以来私の心にしばしば浮かぶ。そして、その言葉は私にも、
今、彼がその言葉を言ったときの年になって相応しいように思える。

> For certainly old
> age has a great sense of calm and freedom; when the passions
> relax their hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from
> the grasp not of one mad master only, but of many.

　なぜなら、確かに、老年は平静と自由との偉大な感覚を持っており、情熱は
その手をゆるめ、そしてソフォクレスが言うように、私たちは一人の狂気の主
の手からではなく多くの狂気の主の手から自由になっているから。

> The truth
> is, Socrates, that these regrets, and also the complaints
> about relations, are to be attributed to the same cause,
> which is not old age, but men's characters and tempers; for
> he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the
> pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition
> youth and age are equally a burden.

　真実は、ソクラテスよ、これらの後悔や、そしてまた身内についての不満は、
同じ原因によるものであろう。それは老齢ではなくて、その人たちの性格と気
質によるのである。なぜなら、冷静で陽気な性質の人は、年の重圧をほとんど
感じないものであり、反対の気質の人には若さも老齢も同様に重荷であろうから。


> I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, that
> he might go on --Yes, Cephalus, I said: but I rather suspect
> that people in general are not convinced by you when you
> speak thus; they think that old age sits lightly upon you,
> not because of your happy disposition, but because you are
> rich, and wealth is well known to be a great comforter.

　私は、驚嘆して聞き入った。そしてさらに話を続けてもらおうと、--そうで
す、ケパルスと答えた。しかし、あなたがこう言っても、一般の人たちはあな
たに納得させられないのではとむしろ疑問に思った。彼らは、老齢があなたに
は重荷でないのは、あなたが陽気な性格だからではなく、あなたが裕福だから
であろうと考える。そして富は偉大な慰めになることがよく知られているから。

> ---終わり---