Opinion Do You Believe in Ghosts? By JULIET HINDELL	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
幽霊を信じますか？ 幽霊を信じますか？ 日本の夏の暑さを和らげるには怪談話がお勧め。 筆者自らのぞっとする体験や イギリスの怖い話をご紹介します。

Japan's sweltering summer is the season of ghost stories - these frightening tales are said to have a chilling effect. In English, chilling can mean both making things cold frightening. But in Britain, where I come from, ghost stories are traditionally told in the winter as people huddle around fires on dark stormy nights. In fact most ghost stories begin: "It was a dark and stormy night...."

I'm not entirely sure whether I believe in ghosts. But recently, three ghost stories have made me start to think that maybe they exist.

The first was my own experience in the hospital, a few days after having my baby in May this year. I was standing alone in my room, looking out of the window, when behind me I heard a woman's voice say gently in Japanese "Daijobu?" I turned around immediately but no one was there. I shivered at the thought that it might have been a ghost - hospitals are favorite haunts for spirits , but I was not afraid as the voice sounded kind and concerned.

Of course it might have been the effect of the wind, or my imagination after the exhaustion of having a baby. But even now I can clearly recall the tone of the voice.

The second is a story my mother told me. When I was a child we went on a camping holiday in France. Late at night, my mother was walking to the campground's bathroom when she was convinced she could see the shadow of a Nazi soldier behind the trees - this was in the 1970s.

She told herself she was imagining things and thought no more about it until the next morning. Near the campground was a memorial to an incident in World War II in which members of the French Resistance had been killed. The monument did not say whether any Germans had died too, but it gave my mother goose pimples.

The third story happened to a curator at the British Library in London earlier this year. He had been to Yorkshire , to the home of the Brontes, the 19th century family of authors, including Charlotte and Emily. They wrote among other famous novels "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" both of which have spooky elements. The sisters also died relatively young.

The curator was collecting some old documents for the library and on his return to London he took a taxi. When he got out, the driver asked him for 4.50 ( 762) - a rather high fare. The curator questioned the fare and the taxi driver said, "Sorry, but when you got into the cab I could have sworn you had a young lady with you." Some taxis charge more for more passengers.When I heard that story the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not I hope reading this column may have helped cool you down on a hot summer's day.

Shukan ST: Aug. 4, 2000

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