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虫や鳥から学んだこと
2人の息子が昨年の秋から日本の小学校に通い始めたギャスライト家。ところが長男は学校でいじめっ子のターゲットに…。家族でこの問題を話し合っていたそんなとき、ストーブ用の薪の中から、小さな虫たちが這い出てきました。そして彼らの様子を見ているうちに、落ち込んでいた一家は前向きな気持ちになるヒントを得たのです。
Of bugs, buzzards and bats
Lately, with the cold wind and the snow outside, we find ourselves huddled around the log stove in the evenings. Not only is it warm but it's a perfect opportunity for heartfelt discussions. It's one of these evenings that I'd like to write about this week - an evening that found our family at a rare low.
Our boys started elementary school last September. Until then, they had been going to an international school but now they are at a Japanese school. They are having a hard time making friends. My eldest son is targeted by bullies. As a family, we are working to make life easier for them, but it can get pretty depressing sometimes. This is what we were thinking about that one night when a bug crawled groggily out of the firewood basket in our living room.
As we watched, we were amazed to find that the dead tree from which I'd made the firewood was actually home to all sorts of bugs, woken up by the warmth of the fire. They were little stowaways from the cold, and it was amazing to see how each bug reacted differently to their new environment. Some played dead, some darted back into the wood, some ignored us completely and wandered toward the window or the door, and others looked as though they would try and attack us. We were enthralled.
There was a lot to be learned from watching those bugs, who like our sons had suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar and threatening surroundings. As we talked about school, we found ourselves talking about other animals and how they deal with problems too.
Did you know that if you put a buzzard in a small pen about two-meters-square, which is open at the top, it won't try to escape, even though a short hop and a jump would be enough to take it to freedom? This is because in its natural environment, the buzzard always begins flight with a run of about 2.5 to 3 meters.
If a bumblebee is dropped into an open jar, it will not bother to look up and try and fly away, but it will hover near the bottom, trying to find an escape through the glass until it dies.
I can't help but think of how many of us are like buzzards or bumblebees. When we are faced with problems or feel trapped or depressed, how many of us can't see the freedom above us, but continue doing what we do without deviation, which gradually leads to our ruin.
Now, look at the bat. bats are remarkable fliers but they cannot take off from a level surface. Put a bat on the ground and it will shuffle around painfully until it can find something to climb onto so that it can jump into flight. But what's remarkable about bats is that though they aren't good climbers, their desire to climb up and off to freedom will enable them to escape.
Our family has been giving out school problems great thought and we feel positive that we will find our way out. We aren't going to play dead, we aren't going to retreat, we aren't going to ignore the situation, we aren't going to launch an offensive. We may have to shuffle around to find a solution, and the process may be painful and slow, but we will find something. I'm sure of it.
Shukan ST: Feb. 10, 2006
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- bugs
- 虫
- buzzards
- ハゲタカ
- bats
- コウモリ
- huddled
- 集まっている
- log stove
- 丸太を使うストーブ
- heartfelt
- 打ち解けた
- at a rare low
- めったにない沈んだ気分で
- bullies
- いじめっ子
- get pretty depressing
- 気持ちがとても落ち込む
- crawled groggily out of 〜
- 〜からのそのそ這い出てきた
- woken up by 〜
- 〜で目を覚まして
- stowaways
- 密航者
- played dead
- 死んだふりをした
- darted back into 〜
- 〜へ走り戻った
- wandered toward 〜
- 〜の方へさまよって行った
- were enthralled
- 夢中になった
- found themselves in 〜
- 自分たちが〜にいるのに気付く
- threatening
- 脅威を感じさせる
- pen
- おり
- take it to freedom
- 自由になる
- bumblebee
- マルハナバチ
- open jar
- 口の開いたビン
- hover
- 飛び回る
- trapped
- 逃げ場を失った
- without deviation
- 予定のコースを外れることなく
- ruin
- 破滅
- fliers
- 飛ぶ生き物
- take off
- 飛び立つ
- level surface
- 平面
- shuffle around
- ふらふら歩き回る
- has been giving out 〜 great thought
- 〜についてあれこれ考えてきた
- retreat
- 引き下がる