今年最後の小学校での読み聞かせは二年い組。今回は「やせためんどりとキツネ」を紙芝居で紹介しました。イタリアの農村に伝わる昔話で剣持弘子さん翻訳、剣持晶子さん絵。貧しい農家のやせ細っためんどりが飼い主に夏の間山に行くことを許可してもらいその道中キツネに食べられそうになるも、機転を利かして通り抜け山に着き、そこでまるまる太って、ひよこもたくさん産んで帰る途中待ち伏せしていたキツネをまたも巧妙に追い払うという賢いめんどりの話し。日本もイタリアも昔話しでは農民は貧しいというのが共通点か、けれど、どこかのどかでゆったりしたイタリアの話です。子供達の反応もよかったのですが、終わってから「めんどりはおばあさんのところへ帰ったのかなあ」と男の子。そうなんです。めんどりがおばあさんの所へ帰ったと完結していないので私もそこが引っかかっていたのです。子供の指摘に「ヤッパね」と思いつつ「帰ったんでしょうね」と宙に浮いた返事をしました。I went to the local elementary school to give the last storytelling of 2020 for the second graders. This time, I introduced "Skinny hen and fox" by a picture-story show. It is an Italian countryside folktale translated by Hiroko Kenmochi, and illustrated by Akiko Kenmochi. A skinny hen in a poor farmer's house asked an old woman who is an owner of the hen to go to the mountain to eat during the summer because the owner cannot feed much food to the hen. On the way to the mountain, she met a fox and she was almost eaten by him, but she got through with her quick wit. At the mountain, the hen ate a lot which made her fat and she hatched many chicks. On the way back to her home, the fox came out again to eat the hen and chicks. Since she was very smart, she used her wit and drove the fox away. Both in Italy and Japan, in the folk tales farmers are always poor but it is very relaxed and peaceful in the Italian story. During my storytelling, I got a nice reaction from the children. When I finished the story, a boy said " I am wondering if the hen went back to the owner's house". As a matter of fact, I was wondering the same thing because the story ended at the scene where the fox ran away and the hen and chicks lived happily ever after. The boy pointed out what I had expected. I said to him " Well, it seems so" anyhow.
やせためんどりと狐表紙
おばあさんとめんどり
きつねとめんどり会う
太っためんどりとひよこ
きつねとひよこ
