豊かな暮らし

バージニア、サンタクロースは確かにいるんですよ。

今や伝説的で有名な「バージニアの手紙」を、もしご存知でない方がいらっしゃるかも知れませんので
紹介いたします。８歳の子供がニューヨークのサンという新聞に向けて書いた手紙に、副編集者が見事
な答えを出しています。１８９７年に紙面に載ったそうですが、現在読み返してみてもその内容はあせ
ることありません。

ちなみに我が家にも昨夜サンタクロースがやってきました。僕がちょっと留守にした１０分程の間に
入ってきて、うちの子に絵本をくれて帰ったそうです（笑）。

Virginia's Letter

Dear Editor --- 

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says: If you see it in The Sun, it's so. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? 

Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-fifth Street 

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. 

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. 

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. 

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. 

No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. 

英語だけで書いて日本語を載せないというのは偏っているので、要約だけ追加で書いておきます。

《要点》
バージニア、サンタクロースは本当にいます。だけど、今までサンタクロースを見たことがある人は
いません。だけれどもそれがサンタクロースがいないという証明にはならないのです。人間の愛や心が
目で見えないように、本当に大切なものというのは目にはみえないのです。サンタクロースはこれから
も、永遠に生き続けて子供達を楽しませてくれるのですよ。

ちょっとハショリ過ぎでしょうか・・・

No, Mr. President. We are not missing your beef

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for your nice speech on 23rd in Manhattan, Kansas. I am sure that the cattle ranch
oweners around the area must be very proud of you as you mentioned that "I have discussed
with Prime Minister Koizumi and President Noh mu-Hyeon, that they are missing out Kansas
beef!" By that speech, you must have gained political popularity which you are dying to
earn especially after your people found out that you killed thousands of innocent people
in Iraq by the name of justice and democracy.

But NO! WE ARE NOT MISSING KANSAS BEEF, nor any of US beef product. Quite shortly after
our government started to import US beef, a quarantine officer visually found a part of
backbone in your beef, and I hope you understand that we are very angry about the
irresponsibility of the US beef producers as well as your irresponsible speech. Instead of
getting a few future votes, you have once again lost the trust from Japanese and Korean
consumers. I am so sorry that you have the world's greatest power but have no idea how
to use it correctly. Needless to say, the food safety is a matter of great concern to us
here in Japan - much more important than the profit of your beef exporters.

I hope White house cook will serve you BSE infected cattle's backbone soup today and make
sure that you get the disease so that you can finally learn what I mean by "food safety".

Mr. President, you are such a stupid man.　No wonder you had to be a son of the President
to become another President.

Season's Greetings

We wish you a very merry Christmas and the happiest new year!

Hurricane Katharina

読まれてその趣旨に賛同された方にお願いです。以下の文章をあなたのブログやＨＰにコピー＆
ペイストしていただけませんか？

Dear people in America,

Hurricane Katharina which hit mainland US this month made impact on both human casualties
and city distruction. A source says there are thousands of people died, and still at
this moment, many innocent people suffer from not being able to escape from the destruced
land. As a human being, I must say that I feel the deepest sympathy for those who lost their
lives and loved ones, and sincerely hope that the city regain its original strength as soon
as possible.

No one could doubt that the hurricane brought one of the largest tragedy in the nation's
history, The anger and sadness born from it technically cannot claimed to anyone - even the
US president should not be blamed simply because it was a natural disaster.

Dear Americans, have you ever heard of a tiny nation called Tuvalu? I wrote "tiny" because
Tuvalu has population of only about 6,000 on a little island in the Pacific Ocean. The
Island's field elevation is only about three feet above the sea level, which is slightly
higher than your New Orleans. Have you heard that their land is in danger because of the
sea level increasion incurred by the global warming? Have you heard that the CO2 emission
from the energy you consume in your daily life can result in making global warming faster?
Someone may be crying on the other side of the world when you drive your vehicle to your
nearest grocery store.

What has happened in New Orleans this summer has been already happening in Tuvalu for a
long time. Unfortunately, your political leader decided that the economical development in
US has the priority against CO2 reduction measure. It is nothing but a great pity that the
world's largest and strongest country did not have courage to save the rest of the world.
Unfortunately again, US did not sign the Kyoto Charter which is an international
agreement to reduce CO2 emission.

Global warming is a serious issue and Tuvalu should no longer be a "tiny" problem.