山のなかで、苔をまとった太い幹に出会う。深い皺、絡み合う枝、それぞれの傷あと。同じ人がひとりもいないように、まったく同じ木も、この世にひとつとして無い。長い時間をかけて、その木だけのかたちになっていく。木も、たしかに生きている。筑北の山は、そんな命でいっぱいだ。
English
Deep in the mountains, you come upon a thick trunk wrapped in moss. The deep folds in the bark, the tangle of branches, the scars each one carries alone. Just as no two people are alike, no two trees in this world are ever quite the same. Over the long years, each grows into a shape that belongs to it and to nothing else. A tree, too, is unmistakably alive. And the mountains of Chikuhoku are full of such lives — standing close, leaning together, keeping their own slow time.
