ある事件
文：牟田口様
その事件はMaestro Norihikoの西池袋のマンションで起きた。
おぼろげな部分もあるが、事件を目撃した私の記憶は以下のとおりである。
ギターの練習が終わったあと、外股でせっかち歩きの範彦師匠がトイレに行こうと、椅子から立ち上がった。そして半歩足を踏み出したその瞬間、足置き台を蹴飛ばした。
運悪く、足置き台はコンサート用に、と河野楽器製作所の河野社長から譲り受け、壁に立てかけていたギターを直撃した。
ゴン。ボコッ！
鈍い音がした。
横倒しになったギターの表面板に足置き台が突き刺ささっていた！
午後三時過ぎ、となぜか今でも発生時間は覚えている。私とMaestro Norihikoの目が合った。
どうする？
ところが、Maestro Norihikoは
「これ持っていって！」
と私にギターを押し付けるではないか。
Maestro Norihikoはさらに
「もう河野社長が来るから帰って！」
とも命じるが、その目が泳いでいる。
時にMaestro Norihikoは２４歳。
だが、まるで泥んこ遊びを母親にバレるのが怖い幼児の様であった。
追い出された私は師匠のギターを抱え立教大学脇の道を歩いて帰ったが、事件を忘れたい、という気持ちが働いたのか、その後の記憶がない。
それから半世紀が経った。実家で倉庫を整理中、古いギターケースを見つけた。
蓋を開けると、そこにはあの日、私が持ち帰ったギターが入っていた。
師匠が張ったままの弦を爪弾くと、音が出た。
指板には超人的な握力の範彦師匠が遺した指跡が残っていた。
「師匠！」
おもわず涙がこぼれ、あの日の記憶が蘇った。
両親の倉庫から見つかった範彦師匠のギター。
よく見ると、あの日の傷が無惨である。
「さあどうする？」
迷った末に経緯を悦子夫人に報告、相談をしたところ、
「範彦の遺品です。私がいただき、直します。」
とおっしゃっていただいたので、直ちにお手元にお返しをした。
河野ギターは、足利市の田邊雅啓さんのもとで３ヶ月ほどかけて修理が行われ、元の状態に戻った。
悦子夫人に伺うと、共鳴板の裏にはMaestro Norihikoの音色に合わせるべく、力木に独特の工夫が施されていたそうだ。
入っていたケースについても同門の紀井利臣君に聞いたところ、やはり古いもので、練馬区の岡野楽器ケース製作所のものだとわかった。
調べたら10年前に廃業されていた。
ギターの修理が終わった、ということは範彦師匠プラス河野ギターの音を２１世紀に再び聴く機会を得る、という事だ。
私はぜひ、その音を聴きたい。
我が国には、いにしえの人々の名筆を集めた図鑑である手鑑（てかがみ）が幾つか伝わる。
手鑑をめくり鑑賞する人は、筆を執った先人と自らの姿を重ねることになる。
出光美術館には『見ぬ世の友』という国宝・手鑑がある。
Maestro Norihikoが弾いたギターを弾いたギタリストは姿も音色も国の宝・Maestro Norihikoと重なるMaestro Norihiko没後２０年。
『見ぬ世の師匠』と一つになったお弟子さんたちの演奏が聴ける日が来るのが楽しみである。
英文
The incident took place in Maestro Norihiko’s Nishi-Ikebukuro flat. Although some parts are hazy, my recollection of witnessing the incident is as follows. After guitar practice, Maestro Norihiko, who walked impatiently with his outer thighs, got up from his chair to go to the restroom. At the moment he took a half-step, he kicked the footstool. Unfortunately, the footstool hit his guitar, which had been given to him by President Kono of Kono Gakki Seisakusho for use at concerts and was propped up against the wall.
Dump and Whock!!
I heard a dull thud.The footrest had been impaled on the guitar’s overturned faceplate! It was just after 3pm, and for some reason I still remember the time it happened. My eyes met with Maestro Norihiko’s. ‘What do we do?’
Maestro Norihiko, however, he ordered to me.
‘Take this and go out!
Maestro Norihiko then added:
“President Kono will be here soon.
Maestro Norihiko also ordered me to go home because President Kono was already on his way.But his eyes were swimming. Maestro Norihiko was 24 years old. But he looked like a toddler who was afraid his mother would find out about his muddy play. I was kicked out and walked home along the road beside Rikkyo University with my Maestro’s guitar, but I have no memory of what happened afterwards, perhaps because I wanted to forget the incident.
Half a century has passed since then. While clearing out a storage room at my parents’ house, I found an old guitar case. When I opened the lid, I found the guitar I had brought home that day. When I plucked the strings, which were still strung by my teacher, a sound came out. On the fingerboard were the finger marks left behind by Master Norihiko, who had a superhuman grip.
Maestro!”
Tears spilled down my face and the memory of that day came back to me.
Master Norihiko’s guitar found in my parents’ warehouse. When I looked at it closely, I could see the scars from that day.
What shall I do now?”
After some hesitation, I telephoed the circumstances to Mrs Etsuko and asked her for advice.
‘It’s Norihiko’s belongings. I will take it and repair it.
She said, and I immediately returned it to her. The Kono guitar was repaired by Mr Masahiro Tanabe in Ashikaga City over a period of three months and returned to its original condition. Mrs Etsuko told us that a unique device had been applied to the back of the resonator to match the tone of the Maestro Norihiko. I also asked fellow student Toshiomi Kii who is a lute maker,about the case it came in, and found that it was also an old one, made by the Okano Instrument Case Manufacturing Company in Nerima Ward. I found out that the company had gone out of business 10 years ago.
The guitar has been repaired, which means that I will have the opportunity to hear the sound of Maestro Norihiko plus Kono guitar again in the 21st century. I would love to hear that sound.
In Japan, there are several tekagami (handbooks), which are hand writing books containing the famous brush strokes of people from ancient times. Those who flip through the tekagami are reminded of their predecessors who wrote the brush strokes and themselves. The Idemitsu Museum of Arts has a national treasure, the tegami titled “Friends of the Unseen and ancient World”, which shows the guitarist who played the guitar Maestro Norihiko played, in both form and tone, with the national treasure Maestro Norihiko, 20 years after Maestro Norihiko’s decease. I look forward to the day when I can listen to the performances of his disciples, who have become one with the ‘master of the unseen world’.