Kenji Miyazawa: Not beaten by rain

Translation

Piece: Not beaten by rain
Writer: Kenji Miyazawa

Not beaten by rain,
Nor beaten by wind,
Nor beaten by snow, nor Summer’s heat—
One with such a healthy body,
And without desire,
Never angering, and
Always smiling quietly;
One who eats four cups of brown rice,
Miso soup, and some vegetables each day,
One who, In all things
Disregards oneself,
Who sees and listens well, then understands,
And never forgets,
Who lives in the shadows of the pine woods of a field,
In a small, thatch-roofed cabin;
One who, when there is a sick child in the east,
He goes and nurses him back to health;
One who, when there is an exhausted mum to the west,
He goes and carries her rice on his back;
One who, when someone is dying in the south,
He goes and says “Don’t be afraid”;
One who, when there is conflict or strife in the north,
He says “It’s pointless—stop”;
One who gives water in tears during drought,
And wanders in a dither during cold summers;
Called good-for-nothing by everyone,
Not praised,
Nor blamed—
Such a man is what I

want to be.

Japanese

〔雨ニモマケズ〕

雨ニモマケズ
風ニモマケズ
雪ニモ夏ノ暑サニモマケヌ
丈夫ナカラダヲモチ
慾ハナク
決シテ瞋ラズ
イツモシヅカニワラッテヰル
一日玄米四合ト
味噌ト少シノ野菜ヲタベ
アラユルコトヲ
ジブンヲカンジョウニ入レズニ
ヨクミキキシワカリ
ソシテワスレズ
野原ノ松ノ林ノ蔭ノ
小サナ萱ブキノ小屋ニヰテ
東ニ病気ノコドモアレバ
行ッテ看病シテヤリ
西ニツカレタ母アレバ
行ッテソノ稲ノ束ヲ負ヒ
南ニ死ニサウナ人アレバ
行ッテコハガラナクテモイヽトイヒ
北ニケンクヮヤソショウガアレバ
ツマラナイカラヤメロトイヒ
ヒ(デ)リノトキハナミダヲナガシ
サムサノナツハオロオロアルキ
ミンナニデクノボートヨバレ
ホメラレモセズ
クニモサレズ
サウイフモノニ
ワタシハナリタイ