むまそうな　雪がふうはり　ふはり哉(かな)　　小林　一茶

本日、紹介するのは江戸時代後期に詠まれた冬の俳句です。

作者は、現在の長野県にあたる信濃の貧しい農家に生まれました。わずか三歳のときに母を亡くし、その後、継母がやってきますが母子関係はうまくいきませんでした。一茶は、子ども四人を授かるものの全員を幼くして亡くし、続いて妻にも先立たれてしまいます。二人目の妻とは結婚後半年で離婚。三番目の妻との間にやっと一人の女の子をもうけますが、その子の産声を聞くことなく、一茶はこの世を去りました。

このように家庭的な幸福に恵まれなかった一茶ですが、残された俳句には小さい生き物への愛情や四季の移り変わりが分かりやすく、素朴にうたいあげられています。

今回、選んだ俳句は冒頭に「むまそうな」とありますね。これは「うまそうな」つまり「おいしそうな」という意味。また、「ふうはり」と「ふはり」の「は」は「わ」と発音します。最後の「哉(かな)」は「～だなぁ」という意味。全体を解釈すると、「おいしそうな雪がふうわりふわりと降ってくるなぁ。」　子どもの頃、空から舞い落ちてくる雪を「おいしそう」と感じ、そっと口に含んだ思い出のある人には共感してもらえるのではないでしょうか。また、「ふうはり」と「ふはり」は擬態語で、雪がゆっくりと落ちてくる様子を表わしています。

大人になってもこんなふうにゆったりとした気分で雪を眺めたいものですね。

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むまそうな　雪がふうはり　ふはり哉(かな)　　小林　一茶
Succulent snow falls softly, softly.　　- Issa Kobayashi

Today I’m going to introduce a winter haiku poem composed in the latter Edo period.

The author was born into a poor farming family in Shinano, modern-day Nagano prefecture. When he was only three years old his mother died. A new stepmother came along after that, but their relationship was not a good one. Issa was blessed with four children, but they all died at a young age; his wife then also died, leaving him a widower. He and his second wife divorced just six months after being married. Finally, to his third wife a baby girl was born, but Issa died without even hearing the baby’s first cry.

So Issa was not blessed with familial happiness, but the haiku he left behind express simply and fully his love of small living things, as well as the nature of the changing seasons.

At the beginning of the poem I’ve chosen this time is the word むまそうな (“succulent”). This is equivalent to the modern うまそうな or おいしそうな and means “looks delicious”.  Also, the は　in the words ふうはり and ふはり are pronounced わ　(giving the modern ふうわり・ふわり, “softly, gently”). The final 哉（かな）is the same as ～だなぁ which means “I wonder” in modern Japanese.  So, to translate the entire poem literally: “A delicious-looking snow is falling gently and softly”.  Maybe those of you who remember when you were children thinking that the snow that came whirling down from the sky looked delicious, and then holding it for a moment in your mouth can empathize with the feelings of the writer.  Furthermore, the words ふうはり andふはり　are gitaigo, or mimetic words (ie. words that mimic things that do not actually make sound) and express the slow falling of snow.

Even when we grow up, we want to gaze at the snow just like this, in a relaxed, comfortable mood.