諸流試合で優勝するほどに剣術の道を究める竜馬ですが、まだ時勢の外に居て自分の行き方を定めずにいます。
Ryoma had improved as a swordsman to the extent that he won a tournament which featured swordsmen from various schools, even so he was out-of-date and didn’t know what to do.
第２巻の裏表紙に書かれているあらすじは、次の通りです。
The summary written on the back cover is as follows.
「黒船の出現以来、猛然と沸き上がっていた勤王・攘夷の勢力と、巻き返しを図る幕府との抗争は次第に激化してきた。先進の薩摩、長州に遅れまいと、固陋な土佐藩でクーデターを起こし、藩ぐるみ勤王化して天下へ押し出そうとする武市半平太のやり方に、限界を感じた坂本竜馬は、さらに大きな飛躍を求めて、ついに脱藩を決意した。」
“The conflict between the upsurging campaign to restore the emperor expelling the foreigners and the shogunate aiming at a recovery has been intensifying gradually. Takechi Hanpeita, a retainer of Tosa domain, tries to get his conservative domain involved in the campaign by a coup to catch up with those advanced domains such as Satsuma and Choshu. However, Ryoma is skeptical of Takechi’s way so he finally determines to leave his clan to go out into the world.”
一人ぼんやりしている坂本龍馬の周囲では、親友である武市半平太や、のちに陸援隊を起こす中岡慎太郎らが風雲の中へと身を乗り出していきます。竜馬にしても、自身が望んだことではないながら、尊王攘夷に関わる密書を携えた公卿（くげ）侍を護衛することになったり、ふと思い立って蘭学を学ぼうと高知城下の蘭学者のもとを訪れたりして自分なりに見識を広げようとします。
Ryoma is still careless but some people around him such as Takechi Hanpeita, a close friend of him, Nakaoka Shintaro, who will establish a revolutionary army called Rikuentai, get involved in the critical situation. On the other hand, Ryoma unintentionally ends up guarding a aristocratic swordsman, who carries a secret message related to the campaign, then he visits a scholar in Kochi castle town to learn Western science because he wants to form his own opinion.
しかし、この第2巻での面白みはやはり、一人の若者として、青春を生きる竜馬の姿でしょう。そこには数人の女性も関わっています。1人は、桶町千葉道場の娘さな子、そして、土佐藩の上士の娘お田鶴様、さらには、竜馬が旅の途中で立ち寄った居酒屋を切り盛りするお初といった女性たちが登場しますが、いずれも魅力的で、物語に華やかな彩を添えています。このあたり、司馬遼太郎さんは意外なほどに、男女の機微を描くのが巧みで惹き込まれます。この本の魅力の一つといっていいと思います。
In my opinion, what is the most interesting part of the second volume is how the days of Ryoma’s youth going and a couple of girls appear there. One girl is Sanako, a daughter of the headmaster of Chiba kendo school in Okemachi, another is Otazu, a daughter from a high-ranking retainer of Tosa domain, and the other is Ohatsu, the hostess of a tavern where Ryoma stops at during his trip, and each one of them is so attractive that they add colorfulness to the story. Shiba Ryotaro is unexpectedly good at describing subtleties of lovers so you may be enthralled by that. I think such things are one of the best parts of this book.
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