ブックタイトルeigo13

概要

eigo13

Spontaneously, I was saying “Namuamidabutsu.” (This is a word in theBuddhist scriptures.) She also said “Namuamidabutsu.” She seemed torealize that she could not live long.Thanks to my little daughter’s words, I regained my composure and satup straight. I said to the people around her “I am really sorry to be upset. Ithank you so much for having taken care of my daughter since yesterday.”The army doctor was putting a piece of canned orange into her mouth andsaid “Although she got burned all over her body, she returned by herself tothis school. Even hardened soldiers rarely come back to the headquarters.She deserves to be decorated for that. She has been calling your name sincelast night, so I have wanted her to live as long as possible and let her see youagain. I gave her injections in order to lengthen her life. Please listen to herspeak as much as you can.”Then Fumie said to me “Before talking with you, I want to go to thetoilet. I have been waiting for you to come and help me go.” I was surprised tohear that she had calmly put up with her need to urinate. I encouraged herto urinate onto the yukata (an informal cotton kimono used in summer)which I had brought with me, because she couldn’t get up easily. Howevershe refused to do that. “This is the manners room. I cannot do such a thing inhere.” I could not help but carry her. When I held her back against my chestand bent her legs, she screamed with pain. The flesh of her thigh peeled offand stuck to my hands. Nurses took it off my hands.Even though her flesh had peeled off, she was so relieved after havinggone to the toilet and fell asleep. Sometimes she cried out in a bad dream.Then she opened her eyes slightly and talked to me. “On the morning ofAugust 6th, Mrs.Hata said ‘Today I feel uneasy but I don’t know why. Let’sstart working anyway, because the warning of bombings has been canceled.We have to act in a precise order, even if something happens.’ With thecommand to start working, we carried bricks, forming two rows. Thensomeone said ‘A B29 dropped something!’ Everyone around me looked up inthe sky. And at that moment, a strong light flashed and soon after that itbecame dark. When I recovered consciousness, I noticed that some parts ofmy clothes had caught fire. I was upset. I asked students around me to putout the fires on my back. However, everyone was frightened at the sight. Noone put out the fires. I rolled on the ground three times, but the fire didn’t goout. I asked where a water tank was and I jumped into it. Finally, the fires