小学校高学年の読み聞かせで今日の私の担当は５年生。男の子は元気いっぱいで女の子はおとなし目（落ち着いているといった方がいいのか）。図書館から借りた１３冊ほどの中から迷った末にえらんだのは日本昔話の「さんまいのおふだ」もう少し思想性のある本がいいかとも思いましたが、ほかにこれという本がなかったのと「さんまい〜」はテンポがあって面白いので選びました。
さんまいのおふだといっても本によって話の展開が微妙に違っています。金井田英津子さんの版画絵が気に入りましたが、怖い鬼婆を機転をきかせた和尚さんが豆粒みたいに小さくして餅にはさんで食べてしまうというもう一冊の結末が愉快なので、こちらを選びました。はじめ端の方にもたれ掛かっていた男子生徒達も話が始まると中によってきて集中して聞いてくれました。
終わって時間がまだあったので、子供達に「もし願いが叶うおふだがあったら何を願う？」と聞いてみました。「----がほしい！」「ペットの犬が飼いたい」など子供らしい答えが聞かれたかと思うと、考えてなかなか言えない子も。先生にも聞いてみました。横の机で子供達のノートをチェックしていた男の先生は「休みがほしいです」と。お疲れ気味の先生。同情に余りある切実な願いでした。
I went to local elementary school to give storytelling. On that day, I was in charge of fifth graders where boys were very active and girls were a little bit quiet. The book I chose among 13 books from a local library was " The Three Charms" which was from a Japanese folk tale.
There are several versions of the story. I liked the book in which pictures were the woodblock print but the ending was scary so I chose the other one for which the ending was much milder and funny. Some boys who were leaning against the wall when I started reading came much closer and concentrated on listening.
Since there were a few minutes left after my reading, I asked children what they would like to wish for if they had such charm. Some kid said what he wants to have, and a female kid said she wants to have a dog for her pet while some children kept thinking and couldn't say anything. I also asked their male teacher who was checking children's notebooks. He said that he wanted to have a rest. He looked tired. Oh, poor teacher! Indeed it was his sincere wish from his hard working life.
