19345


In chapter 34, Kasuga was asked to read aloud a page from a book in class. The
translation I'm reading gives the lines as:

> The sun climbed above the abyss and Urehi walked crouched under the bridge.
> Beyond the railroad fence, that endlessly extended into the vast horizon...

Later, on the same page:

> Believing nothing. Getting angry over one's own belief. Never knowing how to
> reject the lust. Accusing one's own lust...

(This might not be a very good translation of the original Japanese, since
there are other quality issues with the translation I'm reading. I'm also not
sure if the two parts go together.)

In case I'm not parsing the text correctly, here's an image of the page:

![volume 7, chapter 34, page 53](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ACEQZ.jpg)

Is this from an actual book or poem, and if so, what is this text? I've tried
searching the content in the first two bubbles, but Google hasn't given me
anything useful.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-13T10:35:35.357
19327
2017-09-24T07:50:50.943
2015-02-14T01:43:25.783
1908
2604
question
the-flowers-of-evil
What is Kasuga reading from in chapter 34?


In the top panel, Kasuga is reading lines 1-4 of
[『漂泊者の歌』](https://web.archive.org/web/20040910180721/http://www.hi-
net.zaq.ne.jp/meiro/miti/sakutaro01.htm) _Hyōhakusha no Uta_ "The Wanderer's
Song", a poem in the collection
[『氷島』](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000067/files/4869_14066.html) _Hyōtō_
"The Iceland" by [HAGIWARA
Sakutarō](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakutar%C5%8D_Hagiwara). In the bottom
panel, he's reading lines 16-19 of the same poem.

> 日は断崖の上に登り  
>  憂ひは陸橋の下を低く歩めり。  
>  無限に遠き空の彼方  
>  続ける鉄路の柵の背後に
>
> [...]
>
> かつて何物をも信ずることなく  
>  汝の信ずるところに憤怒を知れり。  
>  かつて欲情の否定を知らず  
>  汝の欲情するものを弾劾せり。

There exist English translations of Hagiwara's poetry (though I'm not sure
whether this specific poem has been translated), but none of them are
available online, as far as I can tell. An enterprising person with access to
a good dead-tree library might like to search for a printed translation of
this poem (perhaps [this
one](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0811221601)). The scanlation
you have is definitely botched (e.g. "Urehi" is not a name but rather 憂い
"sorrow"), but I don't feel competent enough to offer an alternate
translation.

I don't have the knowledge of Japanese literature to contextualize this
appropriately, but my reading of the poem (which could be wrong) is that it is
basically in praise of those who wander and aren't tied down by nostalgia /
attachment to places they have left behind. Donald Keene writes a bit about
this poem and its collection in [_Dawn to the
West_](https://books.google.com/books?id=kw7q73qBIMoC&pg=PA276&lpg=PA276&dq=%22the%20iceland%22%20hagiwara%20%22wanderer%22)
(an excellent read on modern Japanese literature, by the way).

In the context of _Aku no Hana_ , this probably has some thematic relevance or
ironic value or something - but I haven't actually read that far into the
manga, so I wouldn't know.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-14T01:39:51.503
19345
2017-09-24T07:50:50.943
2017-09-24T07:50:50.943
1908
1908
19327
answer