土佐藩を脱藩して路銀もないまま江戸にもどる竜馬の姿はまだまだ頼りないのですが、この間、清川八郎と道中をともにします。のちに新選組の立ち上げにもかかわり、幕末の騒乱の引き金にもなる人物と、坂本竜馬との間にこのような交わりが本当にあったかはわかりません。こうしたエビソードを巧みに織り込むのが司馬遼太郎さんの作家としての上手さでしょうか。
He left Tosa domain to go to Edo without money for the trip and he looked whishy-washy, but he was accompanied by Kiyokawa Hachiro in the middle of the trip. Kiyokawa is the guy who has something to do with the establishment of Shinsengumi afterward to cause the turmoil at the end of the Edo era, and I’m not sure about whether Sakamoto Ryoma associated with such a person. Shiba Ryotaro is good at weaving these kinds of episodes into the plot and this shows his great skills as an author.
第3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 of the third volume is as follows.
「浪人となった竜馬は、幕府の要職にある勝海舟と運命的な出会いをする。勝との触れ合いによって、かれはどの勤王の志士ともちがう独自の道を歩き始めた。生麦事件など攘夷熱の高まる中で、竜馬は逆に日本は開国して、海外と交易しなければならない、とひそかに考える。そのためにこそ幕府を倒さなければならないのだ、とも。」
“It was an fateful encounter between Ryoma, who has become a ronin, and Katsu Kaishu, a senior official of Tokugawa shogunate. He started his unique career which is totally different from that of other royalists through associating with Katsu. There are a lot of events in which patriots try to expel foreigners like Namamugi Jiken but Ryoma secretly harbors an idea that Japan has to be opened to the world to trade with other nations. He also thinks that the Shogunate must be overthrown to realize the idea.”
竜馬の目を開かせたのはやはり勝海舟なのでしょう。幕府に居ながらにして、日本の置かれている状況と幕府の立ち位置を俯瞰できる人物です。物語では、竜馬は、千葉道場の千葉重太郎とともに勝を斬るために勝の家を訪れます。ところが斬るどころか、勝のいう航海貿易論に魅せられた竜馬はその場で勝の弟子になってしまいます。竜馬のことを気に入った勝は、竜馬を築地の軍艦操練所へと連れて行き、竜馬は未公認の聴講生のようになるのでした。
Katsu Kaishu must have been the very person who opened Ryoma’s eyes to what was happening in the world. Even though he was an senior official of the shogunate, he could take a bird’s-eye view of what was happening and the position of the shogunate at the time. In the story, Ryoma visits Katsu’s place with Chiba Jyutaro to slay Katsu. Far from slaying Katsu, he becomes a pupil of him on the spot after hearing the idea of opening Japan to trade with foreign countries. Katsu likes Ryoma so he takes him to the battleship training center in Tsukiji and Ryoma becomes an irregular student there.
第3巻の終わりの方では、のちに妻となるおりょうとの出会いが描かれます。大まかな史実を追う楽しさに加え、こうした明らかな創作部分が、この物語をますます面白くしています。
At the end of the third volume, there is a scene where Ryoma meets Oryo, who will become his wife later. In addition to a delight of tracing the outline of the history, those fictional parts make this story more enjoyable.
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
