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当番の札
日曜日の夜、ドアノブに木の札がかかっていた。「ごみ当番」と書いてある。このアパートでは、札が一週間ごとに隣の部屋へ回っていく。住んで二か月になるが、わたしの番が来たのは初めてだ。当番とはいえ、仕事は難しくない。収集日の朝、ごみ置き場のネットがきちんとかかっているか確かめて、収集車が行ったあとに周りを掃く。それだけだ。
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On Sunday evening, a wooden tag was hanging on my door handle. It said “Bin duty”. In this block of flats, the tag passes to the next flat along every week. I have lived here for two months, but this is the first time my turn has come. It may be a duty, but the work isn’t hard. On collection mornings, you check that the net over the bins is properly in place, and once the dustcart has gone, you sweep round the area. That’s all.
月曜日、七時半に下へ降りた。黄色いネットは思ったより重く、袋の端まで覆うのが難しい。少しでもすき間を残そうものなら、カラスがすぐに袋を破って、中身を道に散らかしてしまう。わたしはネットの角を引っ張って、端にブロックを載せた。ネットがこんなに重いことも、すき間がすぐにできることも、自分でかけてみないことには分からないものだ。
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On Monday I went down at half past seven. The yellow net was heavier than I had expected, and it was hard to cover the bags right to the edges. Leave even the smallest gap, and the crows will tear the bags open at once and scatter the contents across the street. I pulled the corners of the net out and weighed the edges down with concrete blocks. That the net is so heavy, that gaps open up so easily: you don’t know these things until you put the net on yourself.
収集車を待つあいだ、壁に貼られた分別表を初めてじっくり読んだ。燃えるごみ、プラスチック、びん・缶。その一番下に、ボールペンで一行書き足してあった。「使い終わった充電式の電池は、ごみに出さないでください。商店街の電気屋さんの入口に回収箱があります」。小さくて、丁寧な字だった。
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While I waited for the dustcart, I read the sorting chart on the wall properly for the first time. Burnable rubbish, plastics, bottles and cans. At the very bottom, someone had added a line in ballpoint pen: “Please don’t put used rechargeable batteries out with the rubbish. There is a collection box at the entrance of the electrical shop on the shopping street.” The writing was small and careful.
誰が書いたのだろう。このアパートの人とは、廊下ですれ違ったときにあいさつをするぐらいで、名前もほとんど知らない。それでも、ネットはいつもきちんとかかっていたし、ごみ置き場はいつもきれいだった。毎週、誰かが今朝のわたしと同じことをしてくれていた。ルールは紙に印刷されているが、それを守っているのは、顔も知らない近所の人たちなのだ。
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Who could have written it? With the people in this building, I do no more than say hello when we pass in the corridor; I hardly know anyone’s name. Even so, the net was always properly in place, and the bin area was always clean. Every week, someone had been doing for all of us what I did this morning. The rules are printed on paper, but the people who keep them are neighbours whose faces I don’t even know.
当番をきっかけに、わたしも自分のごみの出し方を見直してみることにした。その晩、引き出しの奥から、捨て方が分からずにしまっておいた古い充電式の電池を二本取り出して、明日持って出かけるかばんに入れた。
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Taking my week on duty as a cue, I decided to look again at how I put out my own rubbish. That evening, from the back of a drawer, I took out two old rechargeable batteries I had tucked away because I didn’t know how to throw them out, and put them in the bag I would take with me tomorrow.
Three expressions
春とはいえ、朝晩はまだ寒い。
It may be spring, but mornings and evenings are still cold.
「〜とはいえ」: “it may be …, but …”, “although …”. It first accepts the fact before it, then says something that differs from what you’d expect; it is mostly written. In the story, 「当番とはいえ、仕事は難しくない」 means “it may be a duty, but the work isn’t hard”.
母の前で野菜を残そうものなら、長い説教が始まる。
If I ever leave my vegetables in front of my mother, a long lecture begins.
「〜（よ）うものなら」: “if you (dare) …, (something bad will happen)”. It follows the volitional form, and the second half is a bad result, a little exaggerated. In the story, 「少しでもすき間を残そうものなら」 means “leave even the smallest gap, and …”.
実際に着てみないことには、サイズが合うかどうか分からない。
You can’t tell whether the size is right until you actually try it on.
「〜ないことには」: “unless …, (you can’t) …”. The second half is usually negative, and the first half is a condition you can’t do without. In the story, 「自分でかけてみないことには分からない」 means “you don’t know until you put it on yourself”.
One small thing to do
Tip
Find one thing at home you don’t know how to throw away, such as old batteries or a broken umbrella. Look up the rubbish-sorting guide for where you live, write how to throw it away on a sticky note, and stick it next to the thing.