Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red/Patchouli

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Article and Interview: Meiling

Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

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Article

Illustration by alphes.

第百十九季　文月の四	Season 119, Fumizuki issue #4 (est. 2004/08/16 ~ 2004/09/14)
紅魔館にて季節外れの大節分大会	The Great Out-of-Season Setsubun Festival at the Scarlet Devil Mansion
ところで節分って何？　とメイド達	"By the way, what is Setsubun?" asked maids
○月○日、もうすぐ夏だというのに湖の畔にある紅魔館で季節外れの節分大会が行われた。節分の行事は、幻想郷に鬼が居なくなってから長い間行われていなかった。その為、メイド達の中には節分という行事を知らない者も居た。今回、突然節分大会を行おうと考えた経緯を取材したので、盛り上がっている様子と共にお伝えしたいと思う。	On X the Xth, even though summer is approaching, an extremely tardy Setsubun festival was held at the Scarlet Devil Mansion located on the bank of the lake. Because there are no oni in Gensokyo, Setsubun hasn't been celebrated in a long time. For that reason, this event was also unknown amongst the maids. To find out why this custom had been revived so suddenly, I decided to find someone in the midst of the excitement who could tell me.
紅魔館は既に炒った豆だらけであり、人陰を見つけると取りあえず豆を投げつけると言った混沌とした節分が行われていた。紅魔館の主であるレミリア・スカーレット（吸血鬼）は、豆まきには参加せず恵方巻きを口にくわえていた。	The Scarlet Devil Mansion was already filled with roasted beans. Someone said that Setsubun entailed throwing them at people's shadows and chaos ensued. The mistress of Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia Scarlet (vampire), preferred not to partake in the bean throwing, instead eating Ehomaki rolls.
「どうも炒った豆は駄目っぽいわ。掴んでみたら手を火傷しちゃったし……。だからみんなが豆をぶつけ合う様にして、それを見て楽しもうと。後、私にぶつけるのは禁止ね。どうも豆が当たると火傷するみたいなのよね」	"I just cannot handle the roasted beans, since they never fail to burn my hand... I wanted to participate as it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves by throwing them around, but after that, I forbade them to throw any at me. They sting whenever one strikes me."
このイベントを企画したのは、パチュリー・ノーレッジ（魔女）。何故突然この様な季節外れの節分を行おうと思ったのか聞いてみた。	The one who planned this event was Patchouli Knowledge (witch). I asked her why she arranged this out-of-season Setsubun festival so suddenly.
「季節外れ？　何を言っているのよ。節分ってのは季節の分け目の事よ？　春が終わり夏になる今の時期こそ節分じゃないの。今年は鬼の対策強化を行おうと決めたので、節分はその強化対策第一弾。節分に対しての資料が少ないので、ちょっと細かいところは怪しいんだけど、基本的には豆をぶつけ合えば良いみたいなんでメイド達にやらせてみたの」（パチュリー）	"Out of season? What are you saying? Is there a specific season for Setsubun? The word itself means "the interval between seasons" so this time between spring and summer seems perfectly suitable. This year we decided to try to strengthen measures against the oni, and Setsubun is the first step. As I lack material regarding the ritual, I'm somewhat dubious of the fine details. However, the fundamental thing is to throw beans, which I have left to the maids." (Patchouli)
何故突然鬼の対策強化を行おうと決めたのかと訊ねた。	I then inquired why she so suddenly decided to carry out a counter-measure plan against the oni.
「転ばぬ先の何とやら、悪魔の館が、平和ボケの間に鬼に侵略された、って事になったら洒落にもならないでしょう？」	"An ounce of beans is worth a pound of oni, as I believe the saying goes. It wouldn't be funny if the mansion of devils were caught off guard by an oni invasion."
紅魔館は十分に平和ボケしていた。鬼達が幻想郷を完全に撤退してから既にかなりの時間が過ぎている。この様な不思議な節分が行われている現在、鬼はもう幻想郷には戻ってこないだろう。その事は我々天狗が言うのだから間違いない。現在、鬼の事を最も良く知る者は、我々天狗だけなのである。	The Scarlet Devil Mansion has done playing around. A long time has already passed since oni completely withdrew from Gensokyo. With today's odd Setsubun festivals taking place, it's safe to say that oni will never return to Gensokyo. This is true according to our tengu knowledge, as we tengu are the only ones here who know the most about oni nowadays.
（射命丸文）	(Aya Shameimaru)

Interview

Illustration by Masato Takashina.

Patchouli	実は確かに居たのよ	But the undeniable fact is that they were here.
Aya	そうなんですか？　それはきっとはぐれ者か幻ですね	Is that so? It seems more like wild conjecture to me.
Patchouli	きっとはぐれ者	Perhaps it is.
Aya	豆まきの効果はありましたか？	Is throwing beans really effective?
Patchouli	あの後掃除が大変だったのよ	Clean-up was rather painstaking.
Aya	それはそうでしょうね	It must have been.
Patchouli	最初からそうなることが判っていたので図書館でまくのは禁止したけど	At least I had decided from the start to prohibit it in the library.
Aya	正直まき過ぎだと思いました。本当は、鬼は外、って言って2～3回まけば十分なんですよ	Frankly, I think you went too far. Really, all you had to do was say "Oni stay outside!" two or three times and that would've been enough.
Patchouli	ふーん。でも多いに越したことは無いわ	Hmmmm... But I feel repetition strengthens the effect.
Aya	それにぶつけ合うのも何か間違っている気がします	And I think the way everyone was throwing beans at each other was also slightly missing the point.
Patchouli	あれで良いはずよ。だってメイド達に鬼が混じっていたらすぐに判るでしょう？　事実、レミィは豆に触れることが出来なかったみたいだし	That's fine, because some of the maids pretended to be oni, just as the practice entails. Only Remi could not join as she was unable to touch the beans.
Aya	吸血鬼も炒った豆に弱いんですね	It seems vampires are also weak against roasted beans.
Patchouli	レミィはつまんなそうにしてたので、太巻きを食べて貰ってた	Remi was rather bored by the events, as she only ate the Ehomaki rolls.
Aya	それは鬼とはあまり関係無さそうですが……	That really doesn't have much to do with oni...
Patchouli	貴方は節分に詳しそうね。それは何故かしら？	You seem to know a great deal about Setsubun. Why is that?
Aya	その昔、天狗は鬼とは仲が良かったですから。だから節分に限らず鬼に関する事だったら幻想郷で最も詳しいのです	A long time ago, tengu and oni were friendly with each other. That's why we know the most about anything relating to the oni, such as Setsubun, in all of Gensokyo.
Patchouli	そう、なら鬼を追い払うのに何故豆をまくのか判る？	If so, do you understand why you throw beans to drive out oni?
Aya	五行がどうだとか、鬼門がどうだとか聞いたことがありますが	I've heard of things like the five phases and the Demon Gate...
Patchouli	違う違う。貴方も人間のこじつけみたいな事を言うのね。本当は物凄く単純	No, that's not it. You've also been affected by the humans' distorted interpretations. The truth is amazingly simple.
Aya	はあ	Huh?
Patchouli	あれは鬼が決めたお遊びというか、人間に対する皮肉なの。鬼は人間が嘘吐きである事を一番嫌ったから、炒った豆を持たせた	It was a game that the oni made up as satire against humans. The aspect that oni hate most about humans is their deceitfulness, so they brought roasted beans with them.
Aya	そうなんですか	What does that have to do with anything?
Patchouli	豆をまくという行為は、本来は芽が出てそのまま農作に繋がるの。その豆に火を加えてしまうと芽が出なくなってしまう。つまり人間は偽りの農作を演じることになる……と	The act of scattering the beans was originally connected to farming and making buds grow. By setting fire to the beans beforehand, no sprouts would emerge from the soil. Which means that the humans were "falsely" farming... so...
Aya	人間は知らないうちに、自分は嘘吐きですよ～、って豆を蒔いているのですね	They were using deception themselves in order to make the humans do so as well.
Patchouli	最初は恐らく、人間が自分を退治出来る様に鬼の方が決めた弱点だったんでしょう	So perhaps from the start, the oni determined their own weakness.
Aya	何でそんな事をする必要があるのですか？	Why did they need to do something like that?
Patchouli	それは……力が強すぎるから。本当は致命的な弱点も持っているけど、それを見つけられる前に代わりの弱点を作る。強い物[sic]ほど、変な弱点を持っているのよ	That is because they were too strong. Even though they have a genuine fatal weakness, the oni made up some of their own before it could be discovered. They certainly have a strange weakness for such powerful beings.
Aya	吸血鬼も炒った豆に弱かったのは、日光に弱いことを隠すためって事ですか？	And the vampires' weakness to roasted beans are maybe just to hide their weakness to sunlight?
Patchouli	日光に弱いのもカモフラージュかも知れない。日傘一つで外を出歩いてるし	Their weakness to sunlight might be covering for something else. Remi can still walk around outside with a parasol, after all.
Aya	案外貴方の方が日光に弱いってこともありそうですね。なんだかずっと日光に当たって居ない様に見えますよ？	You are also unexpectedly weak to sunlight. It doesn't look like you've been outside for a long time.
Patchouli	日光は本と髪が傷むから嫌	Sunlight damages books and my hair so I detest it.

Profile

パチュリー・ノーレッジ	Patchouli Knowledge
百年ほど魔女をしているレミリアの友人。喘息持ちで、普段は図書館に引きこもっている。おもに精霊魔法を得意とする。	Remilia's friend, who has been a witch for approximately one hundred years. She suffers from asthma, and usually shuts herself away in the library. Mainly good at spiritual magic.
出演作：『東方紅魔郷』『東方萃夢想』『東方永夜抄』『東方花映塚』	Appearances: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Immaterial and Missing Power, Imperishable Night, Phantasmagoria of Flower View

Notes

• It is the same year when this article is printed and the incident of Immaterial and Missing Power occurs. When we accept Patchouli's talk, this article tells that she locks the stable after the horse is stolen.

<

Article and Interview: Meiling

Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

Article and Interview: Suika  Music Column: Ancient Temple of the Netherworld

>