第3巻第2章 国の内外で
私の見解に顕著な関心を示した最初の団体の中に,世界国会議員協会(World Parliamentarians Association)と,おそらくもっと重要な団体として,私も多くの会合を一緒に持った,世界政府推進国会議員協会(Parliamentary World Government Association)があった。1955年4月に,ローマで両協会の合同集会(会議)が開催されることになり,私はその集会(会議)で演説をするように招待を受けた。私たち集会出席者が宿泊させられたホテルは,奇しくも,私が半世紀以上も前に初めてローマに旅行した時にモード叔母さんと一緒に滞在したホテルと同じであった。そのホテルの建物は寒々とした,粗末なものであり,宿泊客に食事を出すのを止めていたが,旧市街の感じの良い場所にあった。時はまさに春で暖かかった(注: 'Spring' と大文字になっている。『研究社新英和大事典』によれば,しばしば大文字とのこと)。そのホテルでは食事が出ないので,別の食事ができるところを求めて,市街を,テヴェレ川(Fiume Tevere/Tiber)沿いを,またピンチョ(Pincho)の丘の上を歩き回り,とても楽しかった。このローマでの集会(会議)はとても感動的かつ興味深いものであった。私の演説が,イタリア国会の下院における集会においても,またその他の集会においても,出席者の心を動かしたようでうれしかった。それら全ての集会において,きわめて多種多様の聴衆がいた。ある集会で演説をした後,私はある男につかまったが,彼は英語が話せないので私が何を言ったかまったく理解できなかったと言ってほとんど涙を流さんばかりであった。彼は,私の話したことをエスペラント語に訳してほしいと懇願した。残念なことに私にはそれはできなかった。私はまた,以前から関心を持っていたがそれまで一度も重要な諸問題について語りあう機会を持ったことがなかった数多くの友好的かつ著名な文学者や政治家との会合を楽しんだ。 * 注:世界連邦運動について |
v.3,chap.2: At home and abroad One of the most impressive meetings at which I spoke was held in April, 1955 in memory of the Jews who died at Warsaw in February, 1943. The music was tragic and beautiful, and the emotion of the assembled company so deep and sincere as to make the meeting very moving. There were records made of my speech and of the music. Among the first organisations to show a pronounced interest in my views were the World Parliamentarians and, more seriously perhaps, the Parliamentary World Government Association with whom I had many meetings. They were to hold joint meetings in Rome in April, 1955, at which they invited me to speak. We were put up, oddly enough, in the hotel in which I had stayed with my Aunt Maude on my first trip to Rome over a half century before. It was a cold barracks that had ceased to provide meals for its guests, but was in a pleasant part of the old city. It was Spring and warm. It was a great pleasure to wander about the city and along the Tiber and up the Pincio for the otherwise unprovided meals. I found the Roman meetings very moving and interesting. I was happy that my speeches seemed to affect people, both at the meeting in the Chamber of Deputies and elsewhere. At all of them there were very mixed audiences. After one, I was held up by a man almost in tears because he had not been able to understand what had been said because he spoke no English. He besought me to translate what I had said into Esperanto. Alas, I could not. I enjoyed, too, meeting a number of friendly and notable literary and political figures in whose work I had been interested but with whom I had never before had a chance to discuss matters. |