Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Shuntaro Tanikawa

A VERY DIFFICULT OBJECT

Its surface is colored gray and white, and its mass is clearly less than half a cubic meter. On one side are letters: Soft White Scottie® Free Fold. It contains precisely 400 sheets of soft white paper, and the utility of the paper is left up to the purchaser. Now, I pull out the first sheet and blow my nose. It occupies a certain space. Therefore it naturally follows the mode of existence in time. I cannot definitively state whether it is beautiful or ugly. Have I already told you readers what it is?

非常に困難な物

非常に困難な物

その表面は灰色と白に彩られ、その容積はあきらかに半立方米を超えていない。側面に、ソフトホワイトスコッティフリーフォールドの文字がある。それは丁度四百枚の柔い白い紙を蔵していて、それらの紙の用途は購買者に一任されている。今、私はその最初の一枚をひき出して鼻をかんだ。
それは或る空間を占有している。だから当然時間という存在様式にも従っている。それは美しいのか醜いのか、私には断言できぬ。それが何であるか、私はすでに読者に語っただろうか?
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A VERY DIFFICULT OBJECT

Its surface is colored gray and white, and its mass is clearly less than half a cubic meter. On one side are letters: Soft White Scottie® Free Fold. It contains precisely 400 sheets of soft white paper, and the utility of the paper is left up to the purchaser. Now, I pull out the first sheet and blow my nose. It occupies a certain space. Therefore it naturally follows the mode of existence in time. I cannot definitively state whether it is beautiful or ugly. Have I already told you readers what it is?

A VERY DIFFICULT OBJECT

Its surface is colored gray and white, and its mass is clearly less than half a cubic meter. On one side are letters: Soft White Scottie® Free Fold. It contains precisely 400 sheets of soft white paper, and the utility of the paper is left up to the purchaser. Now, I pull out the first sheet and blow my nose. It occupies a certain space. Therefore it naturally follows the mode of existence in time. I cannot definitively state whether it is beautiful or ugly. Have I already told you readers what it is?
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