外国でも平和を話し合うために

アダム・ベック

米国イリノイ州出身。ニューヨークの大学と、サンフランシスコの大学院で演劇を勉強。大学院生のときに「ピースコール」というボランティアとして、ヨーロッパのチェコで英語の先生をした。広島市東区在住。

English Challenge

皆さん、前回の課題（第２次世界大戦で家族がどんな影響を受けましたか。あなたや家族がどんな苦難に直面しましたか）についての投稿、ありがとうございました。つらい記憶を思い出しながらの執筆に感謝します。たくさんの心を打つ文章の中で、廿日市市のtakさん（82）の作品を紹介します。

takさんが自身について書いたエッセーは、戦争中でも人間らしさを保とうとしていたことが分かる内容です。１９４５年夏、彼は新潟のパイロット養成学校に通っていました。ある夜、通信所に忍び込み、親切な兵士にマリアナ諸島のラジオ放送を聞けないか頼みました。憲兵に捕まるかもしれない危険を冒しても、海外の陽気な音楽や語り口調に魅了されていたのです。

「This is experience affected me considerably; it was as if I had opened an unknown door（この経験は私にかなりの影響を与えました。まるで未知の扉を開けたかのようでした）」

戦後、takさんは古里の呉市に戻り、米軍基地の食堂で働きました。世界への好奇心はさらに高まり、初任給で短波ラジオを買いました。何十年たっても、ラジオを通して世界と会話をしているのです。「There are so many new things to discover and also enjoy with people in the world（たくさんの新たな発見があり、世界の人たちと楽しい時間を過ごしています）」と結んでいます。

今回の課題へジャンプ

　　前回の日本語訳

How was your family affected by World War II? What hardships did you or your family members suffer?

第２次世界大戦で家族がどんな影響を受けましたか。あなたや家族はどんな苦難に直面しましたか

My parents were still children during World War II. However, my grandfather - my father's father - played an important role the United States. He was a social worker and he was in charge of the government agency which helped bring was refugees from Europe to the United States. Many of these refugees were Jewish. They fled Europe when Hitler came to power or were survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. Over the years, he helped thousands of immigrants begin new lives in the United States. In fact, my grandfather's parents were immigrants themselves, from Romania. My grandfather was their first child born in the United States. Unfortunately, he died when I was still young. He was a good man and I wish I could have talked to him more about his interesting life. Please talk to your grandparents and parents about their lives while you have the chance!

第２次世界大戦の時、私の両親はまだ子どもでした。しかし、私の祖父（父の父）は米国では重要な任務に就いていました。祖父はソーシャルワーカーで、欧州の戦争難民を米国に連れてくる政府系機関に所属していたのです。難民の多くはユダヤ人でした。ヒットラーが権力を強めたころに欧州から逃げてきた人や、ナチスの強制収容所から生き延びて来た人たちです。実際、祖父の両親もルーマニアからの移民でした。祖父は曽祖父母にとって米国で生まれた最初の子どもだったのです。あいにく、祖父は私が若い頃に亡くなりました。とてもいい人で、祖父の人生についてもっといろんな事を聞いておけばよかったと思います。皆さんも、機会があれば祖父母や両親の人生について生きているうちに聞いてみてください！

ベックさんのコメント

Mr. tak :	Thanks again for your essay. Your revised version was even stronger. You clearly have a good command of English. I imagine you've had a lot of chance to use English over the years when you use your short wave radio. That's a very interesting hobby, I think. As for your writing, here's one small suggestion. Since the story is about you, it would be better to begin the first sentence with "I" instead of "we," like this: "The summer of 1945, I was living at Niigata airfield, a student at the pilot school there." I hope to hear from you again, tak!
Mr. SOS :	Thank you for sharing your family's story. I found your essay very moving. Your family suffered a lot of hardship, but it's fortunate that you, your mother, and your brother evacuated to the countryside before the atomic bombing. By the way, when you talk about your family members, it's better to use "my" rather than "the" (my eldest sister). But again, you wrote an excellent essay, SOS.
Mr. Nobuyoshi :	I'm always happy when a new person writes an essay, so thank you! It sounds like World War II was a very difficult experience for your father. When you say, "He saw the man burning people," are you talking about "cremation"? If so, the meaning of the sentence would be more clear like this: "He saw a man cremating dead bodies." And I was also curious about how "prostitutes saved people from soldiers." What happened? Anyway, thanks again for writing!
Ms. vine eggs :	I found your essay very interesting. In fact, I wanted to learn more about your father. What happened after the A-bomb blast? Was he injured? What did he experience? Anyway, I'm glad he was able to survive and go on to have his own family. About your writing, it would be more natural to describe the bombing like this: "Then there was a powerful flash in the sky. My father instantly went to the ground."
Ms. Mackey :	It sounds like your grandmother was a strong woman. It's hard for me to even imagine the hardships that people faced at that time. It took a lot of strength to survive, didn't it? As for your essay, you did a good job telling your grandmother's story. The meaning of your conclusion wasn't clear to me, though, especially this part: "...but we lost and need to doubt of everything at the same time." I wasn't sure what you meant...

さて、今回の課題は、ジュニアライターが８月６日に平和記念公園でしたアンケートから考えてみましょう。「原子力発電は必要だと思いますか。その理由を教えてください」です。これは日本人だけでなく、世界中の人にとって重要な問い掛けです。私のエッセーを読み、あなたの考えを教えてください。皆さんの応募を待っています。

Do you think we need nuclear energy? Why or Why not?

In my opinion, nuclear energy is a clear example of the fact that human beings are very short-sighted creatures. We tend to think only about what we need right now and we don't think deeply about how our choices affect the future. Nuclear energy may provide us with electricity today, but the radiation from nuclear accidents and nuclear waste will continue to trouble us tomorrow...and tomorrow...and tomorrow. In fact, radiation is so dangerous and so long-lasting that it will trouble us for many, many generations. For example, in Finland, they are building huge tunnels underground to store their nuclear waste for the next 100,000 years! That's how long nuclear waste is dangerous! (Just to compare, the pyramids in Egypt are "only" about 5,000 years old!) If human beings don't search harder for new sources of energy, then I'm afraid we will continue to poison ourselves, and the earth, with radiation from nuclear accidents and nuclear waste.

＜Vocabulary＞
short-sighted creatures＝短絡的な生き物　 nuclear accident＝原発事故
tend to think＝思いがちである　 nuclear waste＝放射性廃棄物

　※締め切りは９月４日必着です。

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