春の七草は、何と何だったかな……。ひとによって、覚え方は様々である。小学生のころ暗記させられたままに、覚えている人がいる。スズナ、スズシロ、セリ、ナズナ、ゴギョウ、ハコベラ、ホトケノザ。

　七五調で、口調がよいから覚えやすい。別の記憶法もある。これは、まるで短歌のようだ。セリ、ナズナ、ゴギョウ、ハコベラ、ホトケノザ、スズナ、スズシロ、これぞ七草、というのである。七種を詠み込んだ、こういう歌が、昔の本にあるそうだ。

　秋の七草は見て美しい草花、春の七草は食用になる実用的なしょく物ばかりでる。これらを入れた七草粥を、一月七日に食べる。七種の菜で、羹（あつもの）、つまり吸い物を作り、邪気を払い、万病を防いだという中国の古い風習が伝わったらしい。

　寒中に緑を食べよう、という知恵がしきたりを支えてきたのに違いない。セリは水田で栽培されている。ナズナは実の形が三味線のバチに似た、いわゆるぺんぺん草である。ゴギョウはハコグサ、ハコベラはハコベで、子供の時、鶏や兎のえさに集めた人も多かろう。

　ホトケノザは、冬の田に生えるコオニタピラコだろうという。スズナはカブだというが、異説もある。スズシロはダイコンだろうと言われている。いずれも身近しょく物である。

　草を摘むと、潮干狩りと同じで、太古の食物採取を自ら追体験する思いにさせられる。ギリシャに滞在して、村の人々と一緒にタンポポの葉を摘んだことがある。サラダにして食べ、自然の恵みを味わった。食糧不足の戦争中には食べられる草を探して食べた。「ヤツデの葉だけは堅くて無理だった」などと友人と話し合った。

　地に生えたものを大昔の祖先と同じように感謝して食べる、緑を求める原始的な衝動を自分のうちに確かめる、平生の飽食ぶりを省みる……。七草粥は、さぞ、いろいろな味がすることだろう。

　2012.10.17記す。

　4. The magnificent seven herbs of spring

Now what were haru no nana-kusa(traditional seven herbs of spring)? People remember their names in different ways.

Some say them by rote, in the same order they learned them at elementary school: suzuna(turnip),suzushiro(Japanese radish), seri(Japanes parsely),nazuna(shepherd's purse), gogyo(cotton　weed), hakobera(chickweed),hotokenoza(henbit>. The traditional five and seven syrable verse form gives the list a mnemonic rhythm.

There is another way of memorizing the names――by arranging them to sound like a tanka, or Japanese poem of 31 syllables: "Seri, nazuna, gogyo, hakobera, hotokenoza, suzushiro. Kore-zo nana-kusa(These are what we call the seven herbs)." It is said that these kinds of poems that list seven types of things are found in old books.

Whereas aki no nana-kusa(the seven plants of autumn) are all flowering plants that are beautiful to look at, the seven herbs of spring are all edible, practical plants.

The Japanese traditionally eat nana-kusa gayu a kind of rice porridge that includes the seven spring herbs, on Jan.7. This tradition seems to stem from the ancient Chinese practice of protecting oneself against evil spirits and illness by eating atumono(hoto soup), made from seven kinds of vegetables. The wisdom of eating green vegetables in the middle of winter has no doubt helped maintain this tradition.

Seri is grown in water. The seeds of the nazuna are shaped like the plectrums used for playing the shamisen(a stringed instrument), and the plant is widely known as penpen-gusa because of the sound made by the instrument. Gogyo is also known as hako-gusa, and hakobera as hakobe. Many people must have childhood memories of feeding these plants to their chikens and rabbits.

Htokenozais thought to be the same as the plant called koonitabiraka, which grows in water in winter. Suzuna is generally taken to be the turnip, usually called kabu, but there are other explanations. Suzushiro is assumed to be the daikon, or Japanese radish. All of them are familiar plants in Japan.

Picking plants, like collecting shellfish at low tide, gives you the feeling that you're engaged in same kind of ancient food gathering practice. Picking dandelion leaves with the villagers during a stay in Greece was a pleasant experience. We are able to enjoy the blessings of nature by eating a salad made with leaves we had gathered.

Faced with a food shortage during the last war we ate any edible plants we could find. In a conversation we had with friends, we remembered that "only the leaves of yatsude (Fatsia japonica) were impossible to eat because they are too tough."

While eating nana-kusa gayu, we give thanks, in the same way our forebears gave thanks, for the plants of the earth. At the same time we also confirm our primordial urge to consume green plants. Or we reflect upon our lavish daily diet. Nana-kusa gayu must have a variety of different flavors.

50　ドーバー海峡トンネル 天声人語　P.114

　英国とフランスを隔てるドーバー海峡が、海底トンネルで結ばれて、夏ごろにはロンドンとパリの間を一番列車が走ることになった。陸上に掘られた部分を含めるとトンネルは約四十キロで、東京―戸塚、大阪―須磨間ほどの長さである。

　この話が始まったのは、十八世紀半ばだった。フランスの地質学者が国王にこの計画を説き、その後、鉱山技師がナポレオン一世に勧めたといわれている。軍事上の利点を考えてのことだが、日の目をみなかった。

　むろん、自動車も鉄道もない時代である。技師の考案したトンネルの図が伝えられている。壁には照明用のランプが掛けられ、通るのは馬車だ。人や馬が呼吸できるように海上に頭を出した煙突や、馬の落とし物を始末する排水溝も備わっている。

　その後、現代に至るまで二十数回の構想が浮かんでは消えた。一九七〇年代の終わりになって工事が始まったが、英国側の反対にあって、いったん中止され、ようやく開通にこぎつけた。

　英国人には、欧州大陸と地続きなることに抜き難い不安感があるようだ。欧州を舞台にした過去の悲惨な戦乱を対岸からつぶさに眺めてきたせいもあるだろう。海峡のフランス側のノルマンディ―では、第二次大戦で最大の規模だった上陸作戦を振り返って、六月六日に、様々な五十周年記念行事を予定している。旧東欧になお戦火の不安は残るが、トンネルの完成には、欧州の平和が続くことへの願いが込められているようにも思われる。

　トンネルは列車専用で、自動車もこれで運ばれる。旅客列車の所要時間は、ロンドンからパリまでまでが約三時間、ブリュセルまでが三時間十五分。日本の旅行社には、一番乗りの予約問い合わせ多いそうだ。車体や走行の安全確認に念を入れるためか、料金も含めて、細部はまだ確定していない。とまれ、長年の夢の実現は好ましい。

　50. Tunnel realizes centuries-old dream

The Strait between Britain and France has been connected by a seabed tunnel, and the first train will run between London and Paris this summer. The length of the tunnel, including the part dug on land, is about 40 kilometers, equivalent to the distance between Tokyo and Totsuka or between Osaka and Suma.

The tunnel idea was broached in the middle of the 18th century. It is said that a French geologist explained the plan to the king and that later a mining technician recommended it to Napoleon Ⅰ. The proposal was conceived as a way to obtain a military advantage.

It was, of course, an age when there were no cars or trains. The tunnel blueprint that the technician designed still exists. In it, lamps are hung on walls to illuminate it, and horse-drawn carts are going through. Chimneys to enable people and horses to breathe jut above the sea, and there are drainage ditches to handle horse droppings.

From that era until modern times, over 20 plans were developed. Construction began in the late 1970s, but was suspended when many Britons objected to the cost.

The British seem to have a deep-rooted anxiety about being connected by land to the rest of Europe. This may be because they have witnessed from their nearby vantage point on the opposite shore the continent's tragic wars of the past.

In Normandy, on the French side of the Strait of Dover, various events are scheduled June 6 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day――the largest landing operation in World War Ⅱ and the one that was beginning of end for Nazi Germany. While anxiety about war still envelope the former Eastern Europe, completion of the tunnel is a concrete embodiment of the hope that peace will continue in Europe.

The tunnel will be only for trains. Automobiles will be transported on the trains. Travel time for passenger trains will be 3 hours between London and Paris and 3 hours 15 minutes between London and Brussels.

Japanese travel agents say they are receiving many inquiries from those wanting to be the first train through the tunnel. Details, including fare, have not been decided, possibly because railway officials want to confirm the safety of the cars to be used. Although some loose ends still need to be tied up, the realization of the long-standing tunnel dream is welcome.

Cope on 2012.10.2