Curiosities of Lotus Asia/Chapter 24

Page 175-182

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Chapter 23

Curiosities of Lotus Asia

Chapter 25

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零れ落ちた月の雫が 舞い散る桜に彩りを添える…	The scattered moon drops, falling dancing cherry blossoms are coloring and garnishing.
春といえば桜、桜といえばお花見… 幻想郷の春はとってもにぎやかだ。し かし、あいにくの雨で今夜のお花見 は中止に…。そんなちょっぴり退屈な 夜に、霖之助が語る月と暦の関係とは…!?　コミック『東方三月精―Eastern and Little Nature Deity』 （角川書店）も、現在好評発売中!!	When you think of Spring, you think of cherry blossoms, and then flower-viewing parties. Spring in Gensokyo is a busy time, but unfortunately, the day's event had been put on hold due to rain. In order to relieve the boredom a bit, Rinnosuke talks about the relationship between the calendar and... the moon?! Also, be sure to check out the comic "Touhou Sangetsusei - Eastern and Little Nature Deity" (Kadokawa Shoten) now on sale!
うるおいの月	The Charming Moon
散り急ぐ桜の花は雪解(ど)けを迎えたばかりの大地を白く染めていた。暫(しばら)く暦(こよみ)を見る事を忘れていたが、外の景色から察するに四月はまもなく終わる頃か、もう五月に入っている頃だろう。今年の桜は咲くのが少し遅かった様に思うが、数日の誤差は異変でも何でもない。ただ単に、今年の冬は暖かい日がたまたま少なかった、というだけだ。桜の花は暖かい日のみ芽吹(めぶ)き、寒い日は蕾を堅く閉ざすのである。暖かい日が少なければ、桜が咲くのは先延ばしになってしまう。	The rapidly-falling cherry blossom petals covered the land in white replacing the snow that had just melted. Though I had not checked the calendar in a while, I could surmise a guess just by looking outside that either April was about to end or May had already started. I thought the cherry blossoms bloomed a little late this year, but a few days' difference is no cause for alarm. It just seemed to me that there were fewer warmer days this winter. Cherry blossom buds only appear on warmer days, for on colder days the temperature makes them close up tight. If there are fewer warmer days, then that will delay when the blossoms bloom.
ところで、幻想郷に残された数少ない文を読み解いてみると、百年以上前の幻想郷では、桜の咲いていた時期は三月の初めであると書いてある。現在の幻想郷では、順当に咲けば四月の終わりから五月の初めくらいである事から考えると、三(﹅)月(﹅)の(﹅)初(﹅)め(﹅)とは随分と早い。という事は昔の冬の気温は、一月半以上も桜が早く咲く程(ほど)、今よりも遙(はる)かに暖かかったのだろうか？	Incidentally, in the few records left behind after Gensokyo's formation, it is written that in Gensokyo over one hundred years ago, the beginning of March would be determined by the blooming of the cherry blossoms. As it presently indicates a more suitable time frame, around the end of April or the beginning of May, when you consider that, March comes much earlier. So when compared to the winter temperatures from back then, and the cherry blossoms blooming almost two months later, they were likely much warmer than it is now.
勿論(もちろん)そんな事は無い、今も昔も冬は寒い冬である。桜が三月に咲いていたのには別の理由が有るのだ。	But of course, that's not the case at all. Winter always has been and always will be cold. There is another reason for the cherry blossoms signaling the beginning of March.
「――私だったら、散っている桜の花びらをすべて、撃ち落としてやるぜ」	"...Now if it were me, I'd shoot down every last petal."
「何よ、私だったら、散っている桜の花びらをすべて、避けてみせるわよ」	"What? If it were me, I'd dodge them all."
「そんな落ちて来るのが遅いもん避けたって、自慢にもなりゃしないな」	"But they fall so slow. That's nothin' special."
「何を言っているの。速い弾よりも遅い弾の方が避け難(づら)いって事もあるものよ」	"What are you talking about? Slower bullets are harder to avoid than fast ones."
何やら、霊夢と魔理沙の二人が不毛な言い争いをしている様だが、それも仕様がない。今日は花見をする予定の日だったのだが、中止になってしまったのだ。しかもその桜も、既に散り始めて緑色が目立つ様になっているから、もう今日で最後になるかも知れないという。	For some reason, Reimu and Marisa were having a bitter, pointless argument, but I couldn't hold it against them. They had planned on having a flower-viewing party today, but it was canceled. And to make matters worse, the blossoms had almost completely fallen off, and already bits of green could be seen on the trees. Today might have been their last chance.
そんな貴重な桜も無情な雨の所為(せい)で花見をする事すら叶(かな)わず、こうして店の中で暇を持て余している状態である。花見の予定が狂った事と、悪天候で最後の花が散ってしまわないのかと気が気ではないのだろう。行き場を失った苛立(いらだ)ちが口から出て、言い争いとなってしまっていた。	With their wish of this send-off party to their precious petals dashed by the heartless rain, they now wait bored inside the shop. They were so excited for their party, but now they were likely worried if the rain would strip the remaining petals from the trees.
「花びらなんて柔らかいもん撃ったって、何の自慢にもならないわ」	"And besides, the petals are already so limp. You can't be proud of such limp things as petals."
「じゃあ、自慢すれば私が一番乗りだな。花びら撃って自慢したという」	"Then I'll get the very first prize, even if it's given for the person who is proud of shooting petals."
「さて二人とも、言い争いはそろそろ止めようか。花見が終わって夏が近づいた、今年の桜の花を散らすのは春風ではなくて春雨(はるさめ)だった、それだけの事さ。何時までも不毛な言い争いをしてないで、もっと前向きに物事を考えていこうじゃないか」	"All right, you two. I think that's enough of this petty argument. After the cherry blossoms fall, you know that means summer is right around the corner. It's simply that this year it won't be the spring wind that takes them, but the spring rain. You shouldn't be spending endless hours bickering because of your current situation. Why don't you try thinking ahead a little more?"
「不毛だなんて失礼ね。私達は、桜と私達の新しい関係を模索していたの。前向きでしょ？」	"'Petty'? How rude. What we're doing is discussing new ways of interacting with the cherry blossoms. Isn't that thinking ahead?"
「遠い未来を見通せる程(ほど)に前向きだぜ」	"We're so far ahead, we're practically in the future."
言い方次第では前向きの様に聞こえてくるが、もっと近い未来、例えば今日、何をするべきか考えた方が良くないだろうか。	Although they say "far ahead," their "future" is a lot more recent. Like about what they should do today.
「私達は過去を振り返らない程に前向きだけど、ちょっと前に紫が『幻想郷の桜は咲くのが遅くて良いね』みたいな事言っていたわよ」	"We're so forward-thinking we never reflect on the past, but a little while earlier, Yukari said something like, ‘It's a good thing the cherry blossoms in Gensokyo bloomed late this year.’ "
「ん？　それはどういう意味なんだい？」	"Hm? So what does that mean?"
「『外の世界は急激に冬が短くなってぇ、今は三月中に桜が咲いて散ってしまうのよぉ』って言ってた」	" ‘Winter in the outside world suddenly became much shorter, so the cherry blossoms bloomed in the middle of March.’ she said."
霊夢は妙にゆったりした口調で説明した。紫の真似(まね)のつもりだろうが……全く似ていなかった。アレンジされ過ぎて誰なのか判らない。	Reimu told me in an unusually lazy tone of voice which I took for her mimicking Yukari, although it was a poor imitation. If you take too many liberties in your exaggeration, no one will know who it's supposed to be.
「そ、そうか、それで彼女は冬が短くなった事について何か言っていたのかい？」	"I... I see. So she mentioned something about the short winter in the outside world?"
「『今年は二回も桜を楽しめた』ってさ。外の世界の桜と幻想郷の夜桜と」	"Since she got to see both the outside world's blossoms and Gensokyo's evening blossoms, she said, ‘I get to enjoy seeing the cherry blossoms twice this year.’ "
何故、幻想郷の方だけ夜桜なのかよく判らないが、外の世界と幻想郷で桜の咲く時期に違いが出てきても、妖怪にとって何ら不都合な事は無いのだろう。	I don't know why she only saw Gensokyo's cherry blossoms in the evening, but even if the timing is different in the blooming of the trees in the outside world and Gensokyo, it should be no inconvenience to the youkai here.
「そうか、外の世界では三月には桜が満開になってしまうのか。余程、外の世界の冬は暖かいんだろうね。まぁそれはいいや。二人とも退屈そうだから、ちょっと不思議な話をしてあげよう」	"Ah, so that means the cherry blossoms in the outside world were at full bloom in March. It seems they had an exceptionally warm winter. But no matter. Since you two seem bored, let me tell you about something strange."
そう言って窓の方をちらりと見た。さっきより雨は小降りになっている気がするが、窓の外はしっとりと濡(ぬ)れていた。最後まで粘った桜の花もこの春雨ですっかり流されてしまうのだろう。	I took a glance at the window as I said this. The rain had lessened into a light drizzle, but the outside of the window was clearly wet. I wondered if the rain would wash away the petals stuck to the window until the end of my story.
「不思議な話って何？」	"What's this ‘something strange?’ "
「ちょっとした小ネタだけどね。外の世界の桜が咲くのが三月に早まったと言っていたが、昔は三月に桜が咲いていたんだよ。幻想郷でも外の世界でも」	"Just a small detail. While the cherry blossoms blooming in March in the outside world is indeed early, a long time ago, the cherry trees blossomed in March as well, both in the outside world and Gensokyo."
「三月に咲いていた……って、一月以上も早く咲いていたって言うの？」	"Blossomed in March? Isn't that more than a month early?"
「それじゃ寒くて花見どころではないぜ」	"Who'd wanna have a party when it's so cold out?"
「いや、実際には一月以上早く咲いていた訳ではないんだけどね。ただ単に三月に咲いていたと言うだけさ」	"No, I didn't mean that it actually was March. Simply that they blossomed in March."
「何だよそれ。禅問答(ぜんもんどう)か？」	"What's that? A Zen riddle?"
「旧暦(きゅうれき)だよ。今では殆(ほとん)ど面影はないが、百年以上昔は太陰暦を使っていたんだ。旧暦では三月は新暦(しんれき)の四月の終わりぐらいに当たるからね。旧暦を使っていた頃は、三月が桜の時期だったというだけさ」	"It's the old calendar. There are almost no traces of it nowadays, but over 100 years ago, they used the lunisolar calendar. March in the old calendar would be around the end of April in the modern one. I was just saying that if you used the old calendar, the cherry blossoms would bloom in March."
「旧暦？　ああ、旧暦ね」	"The old calendar? Ah, that."
「なぁ、前から気になったり、気にならなくなったりしていたんだが、旧暦って何だ？　それに何で新暦に変える必要が有ったんだ？」	"Hey, I sometimes wonder about this myself but, what is the old calendar? And why'd they change it for the new one?"
――僕は、二人の為に塩漬けの桜を浮かべた桜茶を用意した。ゆっくりとお湯を注ぎ、器の中で桜の花が咲いたら飲み頃である。たとえ花の下に居る事が出来なくても、桜の花を楽しむ手段は幾らでも有るのだ。	I prepared some salted tea with floating cherry blossom petals for them. I poured the hot water slowly, and even the floating blooms in the cup were also imbibed. While we can't enjoy relaxing under the trees today, there are still ways to enjoy the view of the blossoms.
「霖之助さんがこんなお洒落なお茶を用意するとは思ってなかったわ」	"I never thought you would prepare such beautiful tea for us, Mr. Rinnosuke."
「で、旧暦とは何かって話だったよね」	"So, what's this old calendar business about?"
「それと、新暦に変えなければいけなかった理由だな」	"And why was it necessary to change to the new one?"
「旧暦というのは太陰暦の事で、月の満ち欠けを基準とした暦(こよみ)の事さ。太陰暦では月の満ち欠けが一巡して、新月から再び新月になるまでの二十九日から三十日を一ヶ月とし、さらに十二ヶ月で一年としたんだ」	"The old calendar, or to be specific the lunisolar calendar, is based on the waxing and waning of the moon. One cycle, the time between new moons, taking 29 to 30 days, is counted as a month. And then twelve of these months make a year."
「ああもしかして、一年をいくつかに分けた期間を『月』って呼ぶのは、それが理由なんだな」	"Ah, so maybe that's why the word ‘month’ comes from the word ‘moon.’ "
「その通りだよ。それは新暦である太陽暦(たいようれき)に変わってからも、呼び名は変わっていない。だが現在使っている太陽暦は、一ヶ月が三十日から三十一日であるから、太陰暦の方が一ヶ月の日数が一日くらい少ない。旧暦の一年は、新暦の一年より十日余り短かったんだ」	"Precisely. When the change was made to the new calendar, that word remained unchanged. However, the amount of time is different. As a month now is around 30 or 31 days, it's about one day more than the old month. So that means a year in the old calendar is roughly 10 days shorter than a year in the new calendar."
「一年に十日ぐらい、誤差のうちだな」	"Missin' 10 days out of a year? That doesn't sound too bad to me."
「いやいや、そんな事は無いよ。一年に十日も違ったら大変だ。十年も経てば春に雪が降る。二十年も経てば完全に夏と冬が入れ替わってしまうだろう」	"No, no, no. It is bad. Being short by even 10 days is very troublesome. After ten years, it will start snowing in Spring. After another ten years, Winter and Summer will have completely changed places."
「冬は暖かいな」	"So it'll be a warm Winter, huh?"
「冬が暑くなるんじゃない？」	"Wouldn't it be more hot than warm?"
「そんな感じで、だんだんと実際の季節と暦のズレが出てきてしまう。だから旧暦は、三年に一度くらいのペースで一年が十三ヶ月の年を設けたんだ」	"And just like that, the seasons and the months would continually shift. So they added a thirteenth month every three years."
「昔はたまに〈十三月〉が有ったと言う訳か」	"So that's why I see that word come up every now and then in the older books."
魔理沙は桜茶を飲むタイミングを計っている。どのくらい待つと飲み頃なのか判らないようだ。ちなみに霊夢はとっくに飲み始めていた。	Marisa seemed to be waiting for the perfect time to drink her tea. I'm not sure what her idea of "perfect timing" is though. As for Reimu, she had already started on hers.
「いや残念ながらそれは違う。一年が十三ヶ月あったとしても、十三月という月は無かったんだよ。ではどうしたかというと、季節のずれが一番大きな月の後ろにおまけの月を追加したんだ。三月が寒くなって来て『これはもう二月の寒さだな』と感じられるようになった時に、三月の次の月も三月とした」	"Unfortunately, that is not the case. In years when they had a thirteenth month, it was never called ‘the thirteenth month.’ The reason is because when the seasons would become too out of place, they would simply add that extra month to the end of the current month, like when March would start to feel too much like February, both the real March and the extra month would both be called ‘March.’ "
「そんな感覚的なもんなのか？　滅茶苦茶だな」	"How does that make any sense? What a ridiculous system."
「勿論、実際には厳密な計算から求められるんだが、計算なんてのは感覚を数値化する為の道具に過ぎない。全ての計算の裏には感覚が有るんだ」	"Of course, they had some manner to clearly calculate when to add this extra month, but after a while, they were able to rely on their senses. Sense is the underlying aspect in all calculations."
「でも、同じ月が二回有るってのはややこしくないか？　十三月の方が直感的だぜ」	"But doesn't havin' two of the same month make things complicated? Givin' it some kind of name'd make more sense."
「二回目のおまけの月は、閏(うるう)月と呼んで正当な月とは区別した。例えば二回目の三月は、閏三月と呼んでね。旧暦から新暦に変わった理由だけど、この閏月という物が余りにもややこしかったし、季節の巡りと一致しないのは何かと不便だったからなんだ。だから、一気に現在の新暦である太陽暦が広まったんだ」	"The second extra month was properly distinguished by the name ‘intercalary month.’ For example, the second March would be called ‘intercalary March.’ The reason why they changed to the new calendar was that even with the intercalary months, the seasons would rarely match up and it became too inconvenient. So the old lunisolar calendar was abandoned and the new solar calendar became more widespread in its place."
「へぇ、昔の人は難しい事を考えて暦を作ったのねぇ。人じゃなくて妖怪かしら？　何で最初から今の暦を使わなかったのかなぁ」	"Wow, the old calendar was so complicated, I wonder if it wasn't humans who came up with it, but youkai? Why didn't they use the calendar we have now from the very start?"
「太陰暦の方が、妖怪にとって都合が良かったからだろう。何日は新月だ、満月だと日付ですぐ判るからね。人間の持つ技術が進むにつれて、月が太陽に押されて次第に変わっていったんだろう」	"Well, the lunisolar calendar is better suited for youkai. You'd immediately know on what dates the new and full moons occur. But as human technology advanced, the sun became the more dominant element over the moon."
「でもさぁ、幻想郷では妖怪の方が多いんじゃないの？　新暦(しんれき)に変える必要なんて有ったのかなぁ」	"But aren't there quite a few youkai here in Gensokyo? Do we really need to use the new calendar here?"
「幻想郷で新暦を使うようになった理由は、外の世界が新暦を使う様になったから、ただそれだけだよ。隔離されたとはいえ、外の世界と同じ暦(こよみ)じゃないと何かと都合が悪いからね。太陽暦(たいようれき)自体は別に幻想郷で生み出された暦ではないんだ」	"The reason why we use the new one here too is because it's the one they use in the outside world. That's it. We're already isolated enough, but using a different calendar would make matters worse. It's not as if the lunisolar calendar was created in Gensokyo."
「そりゃそうだろ。妖怪が月を使うのを止めて日を選ぶなんて、よく考えなくてもおかしいしな」	"I guess you're right. Now that I think about it, it would be strange if the youkai suddenly decided to stop going by the moon and start using the sun instead."
「そんな感じで要望が無かったのに無理矢理変わってしまったので、幻想郷の妖怪は未(いま)だ新暦に馴染(なじ)めない奴らも居るっていう話だ。さらに言うと、幻想郷には妖怪が作った独自の太陰暦(たいいんれき)が存在するらしい」	"Indeed. They never wanted to have the change forced upon them, and I've heard that there are still some here who have not yet adapted. In fact, there is a unique lunisolar calendar made by the youkai of Gensokyo."
――二人は、不毛な言い争いをしていた頃とは打って変わって、機嫌を良くして僕の話を聞いている様である。	The two of them, their mood improved having forgotten their quarrel, listened intently to my story.
「妖怪の太陰暦、妖怪太陰暦。月の満ち欠けだけでなく、月の光の色と縁の周期を一月(ひとつき)とした暦で、人間が考察した暦より遙(はる)かに自然現象を読み取る事が出来る暦だそうだ。季節だけでなく地震や火山などの災害や、竹や笹の花の咲く時期、そういった物も周期に組み込まれているらしい。つまり日付を見ただけで、後どの位で竹の花が咲くとか判ってしまう」	"The lunisolar calendar of youkai, the Youkai Lunisolar Calendar. It doesn't just go by the waxing and waning of the moon, but defines one month from the cycle of the color of moonlight and of changes of its perimeter. It is said that it is much easier to tell when natural phenomena will occur than using the calendars the humans devised. Not only seasons, but disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and when the bamboo flowers will bloom. Many kinds of cycles are included in this calendar. Just by knowing the date, you can also know how much longer it will be until the bamboo flowers bloom."
「凄いな、それは。そこまで色々判るのなら、その暦を人間でも取り入れればいいじゃないか。確実に便利になると思うんだが」	"That's pretty cool. If their calendar's got all that stuff, maybe we humans should use it too. Sounds a lot more useful, that's fer sure."
「だが、この暦には人間が使うには大きな問題が有る。何故(なぜ)なら一日の長さが今の一日じゃない。というか、一日という単位が存在しない。最小単位が一月なんだ。人間の一日に合わせると、新月は夜中で満月は昼間みたいな感覚だな。それに暦が一周するのは六十年という長い期間だし……妖怪は寿命が長いからそれでも良いかも知れないけど、いくら何でも、寿命の短い人間には不便極まりないだろう？」	"However, there's a big problem with humans using the calendar. The length of their day is not as long as our days. In fact, the concept of ‘day’ doesn't even exist. Their smallest unit of measurement is a month. If you were to compare it to the current ‘day,’ the new moon would be like midnight and the full moon would be like noon. And it's considerably long, taking 60 of our years for one of their calendar cycles. This might be fine for beings with such long lifespans as youkai, but for much more shorter-lived humans, that seems extremely inconvenient to me."
「ふーん。一日を嫌い、一月を選ぶ。妖怪(あいつら)はそこまで月に依存しているって訳か。だが、妖怪がそんな暦を使っている所を見た事が無いぜ」	"Hmm, so since they hate the sun, they went with the moon. Guess they really do depend on it that much, but I ain't never heard'a any youkai usin' that calendar."
「作ってみたものの、結局殆(ほとん)どの妖怪は使っていないんだろうな。山の妖怪なんかは今でもそれを使っていると聞いているが……。ちなみにその妖怪太陰暦でも、閏月と同じ役目をする月は存在する。ただし、閏月という呼び名ではなく普通に十三月と呼ばれていて、この月がある年は特別妖怪の力が強まる年らしい。妖怪が強くなる年って事で、人間にとって十三は不吉な数字だと言われている地方も有るらしいんだ」	"Although they made it, very few actually used it. I heard that the youkai living on the mountain use it though... By the way, there's a month with the same purpose as the intercalary month in the Youkai Lunisolar Calendar as well. However, they don't call it the ‘intercalary month,’ but the more obvious ‘thirteenth month.’ And in years with this month, the power of youkai becomes exceptionally stronger. Because of these years where youkai become stronger, it seems that the number ‘13’ is considered unlucky by humans in certain areas."
「十三が不吉だなんて、聞いた事も無いな。十三年に一度の蝉の話は聞いた事が有るが……」	"Never heard'a that before. I know about 13-year cicadas though..."
「その話は僕がしたんだよ。ま、十三が不吉な数字って話はこの辺りでは余り聞かれないね」	"Yes, because I told you about that, but you're right. I myself haven't heard much about thirteen being an unlucky number around here."
僕が持っている妖怪太陰暦に関する知識はこの程度の物だ。これ以上詳しく聞かれても憶測でしか話せないので、お茶を淹(い)れに席を立った。桜茶を淹れてしまうと外の桜の事を思い出して、また二人が不機嫌になってしまうかも知れないので、普通のお茶を淹れた。	That was all the information I had regarding the Youkai Lunisolar Calendar. Even if they asked me for more, it would be mere speculation, so I stood up to pour tea. Thinking that serving them more cherry blossom tea would remind them of the cherry blossoms outside and put them in a disagreeable mood yet again, I poured the usual green tea.
僕の知っている事をあらかた出し尽くしてしまったので、会話が途絶(とだ)えてしまった。静寂を破ったのは、霊夢の素朴な疑問の声だった。	Since I had shared the extent of my knowledge on the matter, the conversation came to a standstill. But then, Reimu's voice broke the silence with a rather simple question.
「ところで霖之助さん。閏月や閏年の『閏』って何の事？　他の会話で『うるう』って言葉が出てくる事なんて殆(ほとん)ど無いんだけど……」	"By the way, Mr. Rinnosuke, what does ‘intercalary’ mean exactly? I don't think that word comes up normally in most conversations..."
何事も当たり前と思わずに、細かい事でも疑問に思う事は大切な事だ。人間の成長は知識を増やす事と直結している。それは過去を良く知り、過去から現在、さらには未来を知る事に繋がる。	It's important not to take things for granted, but question even the smallest details. Human's growth is directly related to how much knowledge one has accumulated. The better you know the past, the better you know the present, and the better you know the future.
「閏かい？　えーと、うむ、閏ってのは、本物ではない、って意味がある大陸の言葉だったかな。三月の後にある二回目の三月は本物ではない三月という意味で閏三月と呼んだのさ。大陸の言葉だから、妖怪太陰暦には閏の字が使われていない。それで、閏という字が閏月とかの暦以外で使われていない理由だが、この言葉が太陰暦自体と合わせて入ってきたからだろう。元々、この国には閏という概念は無かったんだ」	" ‘Intercalary (閏)’, huh? Hmmm, let me think... the meaning of the character 閏 from the continent is ‘not the genuine article.’ Since the second March after the first one wasn't the real March, that's why it was called ‘Intercalary March’. Since it's a character from the continent, they don't use the 閏 character in the Youkai Lunisolar Calendar. That's why it isn't used outside of the context of the lunisolar calendar, but how did it become associated with it in the first place? Originally, this country had no word that expressed the meaning of the word ‘intercalary.’ "
「なるほどねぇ」	"Oh, I see."
「だが、閏という字は大陸では『うるう』とは読まれていない。閏が『うるう』と読まれるようになった理由だが……これがまたいい加減な話でね。閏って漢字が大陸から入ってきた時代に、それに対応する日本語は存在して居なかったので、誰もこの漢字を読む事が出来なかったんだ。そのうちに、この字は潤(うるお)うに似ているから『うるおう』と呼ばれるようになってしまった。閏三月は、うるおう三月とかね、いい加減なもんだろう？　さらに『うるおう』じゃ言い難かったもんだから『うるう』に訛(なま)ったのさ。だから、うるうという読みには最初から何の意味もない。この言葉が他の会話に殆ど出てこないのも、こういう経緯が言葉だったからなんだ」	"However, that character isn't pronounced ‘uruu’ in the continent. The reason why it's pronounced ‘uruu’ here is because... of a rather slipshod reason. When it came over from the continent, there were no words in the Japanese language that could properly express it, so no one knew how to read it. Then, someone noticed it looked like the character in ‘uruou’ (潤), meaning a number of things ranging from ‘moist’ or ‘charming’, so they called it ‘uruou’ as well. So ‘Uruou March’ would sound like ‘Charming March’. They put no other thought into it. And then, since they felt that ‘uruou’ was too difficult to say, they shortened it to just ‘uruu’. So as far as why it is pronounced like that, there was never any meaning in it from the start. And since this word rarely came up in conversations, that's the whole origin story."
「形が似ているから『うるおう』、さらに言い難いから『うるう』……ほんといい加減ね。霖之助さんはそれで良いの？　物の名前には人一倍五月蠅(うるさ)い人でしょう？」	"So it looked like the character for ‘uruou’ and then they shortened it to ‘uruu’ because it was too hard to say? That really is lazy. Are you okay with that, Mr. Rinnosuke? I thought you were a lot more picky about names."
「言葉というのは一人歩きする。それに関しては僕がどうこう口出しするものじゃない。それに僕はこの『うるう』という読みは気に入っているんだ。潤(うるお)いの年、潤いの月があるなんて、原義の本物ではない月、よりずっと美しいだろう？」	"Words are things that stand on their own, and I have no business meddling in their origins. And besides, I rather like the sound of it. Doesn't saying ‘charming year’ or ‘charming month’ sound a great deal more pleasant than ‘not-the-actual month’?"
「潤いの月ね、桜の咲いている時期に潤いの雨は要らないけどねぇ……って、雨が上がっているじゃないの！」	"Well, because it's the ‘charming month,’ it seems unnecessary for it to be raining while the cherry blossoms are blooming as well... But look! The rain stopped!"
――窓の外はいつの間にか晴れ上がり、雲間から光が漏れていた。二人は諦めかけていた花見が出来ると言う事で、随分とはしゃいでいる。桜の花はまだ残っているのか判らなかったが、この二人にとっては宴会さえ出来ればどっちでも良いのかも知れない。	The light from the sun, which had come out at some point, could be seen outside the window, seeping in through gaps in the clouds. Having given up their flower-viewing party for lost, the two were now in high spirits. I was unsure how many flowers remained to be viewed, but I had the feeling they would take any opportunity to have a party merely for the sake of it.
「今夜は霖之助さんも花見に参加するんでしょう？　これで今年最後の花見になるだろうし、それに、潤いの桜も美しいしね」	"Won't you join us tonight too, Mr. Rinnosuke? This might be the last time we have a flower-viewing party this year, and the cherry blossoms are so pretty when they're shining with water."
「いつも言っているが、僕は外で宴会する事は好きじゃないんだよ」	"I say this every time, but I don't like outdoor parties."
「ふん、何を言ってるんだ。散々話を聞いてやったじゃないか。そのお返しに花見ぐらい参加しろよ」	"C'mon, whaddya talkin' about? We listened to yer borin' stories, so the least ya kin do to make it up is join us."
僕は理不尽な要求をされたが、今夜は花見に付き合ってもいい気分だった。春雨にも負けないで花を付けている桜が有るとすれば、その花は一見の価値が有ると言えるだろう。雨露を蓄えた潤いの桜は、潤いの月の光の下で美しく散る、そんな美しい世界を想像し、僕はお酒が呑みたくなった。	Despite their irrational request, I just happened to be in the mood to see the cherry blossoms that evening. I said it would be worth seeing the flowers that had not been washed away by the rain once. Imagining a beautiful world of flowers moist with rain, gracefully falling under the light of the charming moon, made me want to drink sake.

Notes

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Chapter 23

Curiosities of Lotus Asia

Chapter 25

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