あっちこっちで野ウサギを見かけるので、常々「この辺の人って野ウサギ食べないのかしら」と思っていた。
でもよく考えてみたらこの辺には鹿も多い。同じ食べるなら鹿の方が効率がいいだろう。趣味で狩猟をする人も少なくないが、ウサギより鹿の方が狩った後の充実感もだいぶ大きいだろうし。
この前の英語のクラスで救急車の話になり、先生が
「私たちはアメリカで暮らしているので(救急車に限らず)そういうサービスを必要な時にちゃんと利用できる。幸せなことだと思う」
と言った。私はバングラデシュのことを思い出したので
「そう言えばバングラデシュにはそうでない人(利用できない人)がたくさんいた。あの国でも何の問題もなく暮らしていける人はいるが、そうでない人が多い。多くの場合は貧困が理由なのだけれど・・・」
という話をした。あの国の問題を安易に貧困に結びつけるのは私には非常に抵抗があることなのだが、この場合はそれが一番適切な説明に思われた。
突然、先生が「彼ら(貧しい人々)は牛を飼っているの?」と聞いたので、私は意図がつかみ切れずにちょっと面食らいつつも「村では飼っている」と答えた。
「同じ貧しくても村では暮らしていくにはそれほど問題はないが、都会で暮らしていくのはかなり厳しい」
と私が言うと、先生は
「私が10歳くらいの時、アメリカが大恐慌に陥った。それまでは私たち一家は都会で暮らしていたのだけれど、父の失業もあってやっていけなくなったので、みんなで田舎にある祖父母の家に身を寄せることになった。祖父母の家は小さくて床で寝た。父は銃を持っていたので時々リスや野ウサギを撃ちに出た。近所に牛を飼っている家があったのでそこからミルクを手に入れた」
と話した。間もなくお父さんに職が見つかって週6ドル余りの収入が得られるようになってからだいぶ楽になったそうである。
「牛を飼っているとだいぶ助かるのよ」
とはその体験から得た実感らしい。
I see hares everywhere around this place and they sometimes make me wonder why people around here don't eat them.
There are many deers around here, too, though. So thinking more realistically, it may be only because you can get much more meat from a deer than a hare. And it is much easier to get meat from a deer. And besides, a deer, as a game, can give much more response and satisfaction to people enjoying hunting (Not a few people around here enjoy hunting in the season.)
When we were talking about an ambulance during last ESL class, the teacher said,
"In the U.S.A., we can use such services whenever we need. I think we are so lucky."
It reminded me of lives in Bangladesh, and I said,
"In Bangladesh, I saw many people who couldn't use such services. It is very hard for them to live. Even in the country, some people can live without any problem, but there are many people who live with many problems. And it is mainly because they are poor."
Actually, I usually hate to jump to such a thought as makes poverty into the reason of all problems in Bangladesh. At the time, however, I thought it was the best explanation.
"Do they have a cow?" asked the teacher suddenly. It made me a little confused but I answered,
"Yes. In the village, they have."
"Even if they are poor, they don't have much trouble to live in the village, but if they live in the city, it is much more difficult to live", said I. The teacher told me
"When I was about 10, this country (the U.S.A.) went into the Depression. I lived in the city with our family at the time, but my father lost his job and it get difficult for us to keep living in the city. So we moved to my grandparents' house. They lived in the country. Their house was small and we lay down on the floor. My father had a gun. He sometimes went out to shoot squirrels and hares. At the house down the street from our house, they had a cow. So we could get milk from there."
A while later, her father found a job and could bring a little more than 6 dollers a week to his family. It got them much better off.
"Keeping a cow helps one's life" - It is her word from her own experience.