英語 長文
和訳をお願いします。
Arriving from a prairie town of rolling lawns and open driveways, the first feature of Japanese life that made me feel that I was not in America anymore was the “wall" that surrounded nearly each and every house.
To a newcomer like I was then, it was almost as if the Japanese had taken the phrase “a man's home is his castle" literally.
As I took a quick look at any street, there they were : miniature castles.
“I like the walls," says my Japanese wife.
“They make me feel secure".
My question is, “Why?"
For the walls are not high enough to keep robbers out or even block out the curious eyes of neighbors and passers-by.
In my first year in Japan, I can remember being awakened by a whispered voice near my window.
I rolled over in my bedding to see my neighbor's young daughter with a group of school friends.
She was looking over the wall and reporting on my movements.
“Now he's turning over. Now he's making a face. Now he's sitting up. Now he's ...run!"
At other times I have had neighbors phone with helpful information like :“You've left your back window open."“You've left clothes hanging out in the rain."“Why not air out that bedding? It's been lying in your room for weeks."
I thought, “How would they know that if their eyes had not wandered over the castle's low wall?"
The walls do not hold back the other senses either.
When there is yakiniku sizzling on my neighbor's tabletop, I can almost taste it.
When my other neighbor chooses to talk to her plants at five in the morning, I feel as if I were right there among the flowers.
“I still like them," says my wife.
“I find them calming."
