I visited "The Perch", which Ten-noh picked up in his memoir 30 years ago, with my wife and daughter. There were some willow trees in its garden and I asked a waiter how old those trees were. He told us that the trees were said to be 700 years old and the pub was 800 years old, though the pub itself caught fire three times in its life and had been rebuilt accordingly. I was amazed at its long history. The pub seemed to be renovated lately and they should stay at the same site in the next 800 years. Amazing resolution! As soon as I got into the pub, I found a poem on the wall, at the bottom of which the signature of Samuel Johnson was written. I knew his name only and the poem was new to me. It was a little hard to understand promptly for me, and I took its picture just for future reference. At that time, a waiter gave me their napkin on which the poem was printed. Now, I fully understood its full sentence and I'll add its Japanese translation and the picture of the napkin at the bottom of this entry. I agree with his thought from the bottom of my heart.
I've almost forgotten to refer to today's dinner. I ordered the dish of mackerel and the suggested white wine and local beer. We ate raw salmon at a Japanese restaurant called "Edamame" in the downtown of Oxford for lunch, and it was really nice. Surprisingly for me, the U.K. can apparently get fresh sea food. My only experience of European sea food is in Freiburg in Germany. People in Oxford might be angry if I compare the U.K. surrounded by sea with inland Freiburg. This mackerel was also delicious and went well with the wine. The U.K. is surrounded by the sea and the salmon is imported from nearby Norway to Japan and so, my tongue is quite at home with Norwegian salmon. There's no way that sea food in the U.K. tastes bad.
By the way, it's very hot and muggy this season in Japan, but in Oxford, it was a little chilly. A comfortable breeze made me feel happy like being on top of the world. I wondered how many people had spent their joyful hours here for these 800 years. The words of Samuel Johnson penetrated deeper into me.
(Vocabulary)
just for future reference 後学のために
mackerel サバ
inland 内陸の
at home 慣れている
Edamame 枝豆
https://www.edamame.co.uk/home
人間が考え出したものの中で、いい居酒屋や旅籠ほど幸福を生み出せるものはあるまい。
サミュエル・ジョンソン(18世紀イギリスの文豪)
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天皇陛下が良かったと書かれているパブ、Perchへ娘も一緒にやってきた。ウェイターに尋ねると目の前の木の年齢は７００年程度と言われているとのこと。店は８００年くらいでその間に数回火事になり立て直しているとのこと。その伝統に驚く。最近改装して次の800年もここで頑張るという。店に入ると壁に文豪サミュエル・ジョンソンの言葉が書かれていた。意味はすぐにはつかめず、後で調べようと思ってメモ代わりに写真を撮ろうとすると、ウエイターからその詩が印刷されているナプキンをもらった。難解な文ではあったが、日本語の翻訳も書いておく。まさに同感。
書き忘れるところだった。今日の夕食はサバ料理にワインと地ビール。昼には「えだまめ」という日本料理店でサーモンの刺身を食べたが、新鮮で美味しかった。意外だったがイギリスは新鮮な魚が手に入るようだ。僕のヨーロッパの経験はあとはドイツのフライブルクなので、内陸の街フライブルクと比較してはオックスフォードの住人に叱られるかもしれない。周りは海だし、サーモンは日本にもノルウェー産が輸入されている。イギリスのサーモンがまずいわけはない。
それはともかく、日本だとこの時期、蒸し蒸しとした不快な気候だがここではむしろ肌寒いくらいの心地よい風が吹いている。最高の気分。800年前から一体どれほどの人たちがここでくつろいだのだろうか。サミュエル・ジョンソンの言葉が心に染み入る。
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