猫に成りかわったとして、If I Were to Become a Cat,20250415

今日などはとくにあくせくと働いていた飼い主のことなど見向きもせず、猫は眠っていた。出かける前にその様子を見て、いますぐにぼくが猫に成りかわったとしても、ぼくは人間としての肉体や思考に未練はないだろう、断然猫がよい、などと夢想したが、やはり猫になったらなったで「飼い主にぜんぜん話が通じないなあ」とか「水洗式トイレットはよくできたシステムだったなあ」とか「玉子サンドはキャット・フードより間違いなく美味い」とか、猫なりの不満を日々覚えることだろう。たしかに、今日食べた玉子サンドが最後の玉子サンドになるのはつらい。それに猫になったら野球を観ないかもしれない。だが今夜の野球が毎日つづくなら、野球などは観なくてもいいのかもしれない。負けている9回に、打つ可能性の高い選手に打つ機会を与えない、というのはぼくには面白みがよくわからなかった。それに高梨を先発させる、というのも大事なことだ。なぜ高梨はファームにいるのか……。話を元に戻すと、ぼくが猫になったところで、だれが飼い主になるのか、という問題もある。飼い主がいない猫もやはりつらいと思われる。そうだとすると、飼い主がこのまま頑張らなければこの猫が不幸になる、とも言える。つまり、こうして日々汗を流すことが、この世界の一匹の猫のためになっていると考えれば、人が働くというのはとても立派なことなのかもしれない──

そんなことを考えながら働いた。

Today, the cat slept soundly, paying no attention whatever to its owner who had been working busy all day. Before leaving the house, I watched the cat and thought, if I were to become a cat right now, I wouldn’t have any regrets about giving up my human body or thoughts—being a cat would be far better. Or so I fantasized.

But then again, if I did become a cat, I’d probably find myself grumbling about things in my own cat way: “My owner never understands what I’m trying to say,” or “Flush toilets were a really great system,” or “Egg sandwiches were definitely tastier than cat food.” The idea of today’s egg sandwich being my last would be hard to accept. And as a cat, I might stop watching baseball games altogether.

Then again, if every night continued on like tonight, maybe I wouldn’t need baseball anymore. Still, I didn’t quite get why, in the bottom of the ninth inning, they didn’t let the most likely batter have a chance to hit. And I also couldn’t understand why Takanashi wasn’t the starting pitcher. Why is he stuck in the farm league…?

Anyway, back to the point—if I did become a cat, the question remains: who would be my owner? A cat without an owner probably suffers in its own way. That means, if I don’t keep trying my best as the current owner, this cat could end up unhappy.

So, if I think of my daily toil as something that helps a single cat live well in this world, perhaps the act of working itself is actually something quite admirable.

With such thoughts, I carried on with my work.