中村天風先生の話
会社のＴＯＩＬにかかっている日めくりカレンダーにこんな言葉があった。「明日死ぬかのように生きれ。永遠に生きるかのごとく学べ」（マハトマ・ガンジー）。便座に座りながら、「ウーン、ウーン・・なるほど」と唸った。
そこで思い出したのが、わが師「中村天風」先生の話。師は、昭和４３年１２月１日９３歳（９５才かも）でご帰霊なさったが、実はその前日、１１月３0日のご様子が、今２月号の「志るべ」（天風会の月刊小冊子）に掲載されていた。
なんと、亡くなる数時間前まで、心身統一道の講演（導き）での英語表現（先生は普段から講演にしばしば英文を交えて話された）について、娘婿の安武貞雄氏（東大の英文科卒,２代目天風会会長）に、氏が少々辟易するほど、細かくしつこく尋ね、より的を得た表現にしようと学んでいたと云う。その時のやり取りが詳細に紹介されていた。
（「志るべ」の一部を抜粋）
「ウム、ウム」とうなづかれたあと、「probablyとperhapsとはどう違うんだ」と尋ねられる。「あまり違いはない言葉です」と申し上げたが納得されない。そこで私の心覚えをたよりに、細かく説明する。「日本語でも同じ意味で、『恐らくは』とか『多分』とか違った言い方があるでしょう。厳密にいうと、プロバブリーの方がパーハップスより、起こる可能性が多い場合といえますが、大体においてニュアンスが違います。語源の違いがあります。プロバブリーは南欧ラテン系、パーハプスは英語古来の北欧系の言葉で、言葉の出どころが違います。丁度日本語にも中国から来た漢語と、日本古来のやまと言葉があるように、プロバブリーは少し四角張った場合、パーハプスは日常の会話によく使われるようです・・・」。ここまで申し上げると「よし分かった。サンキュー」。このサンキューが、私ひとりに与えられた哲人（天風先生）の最後の日のお言葉でした。繰り返します、先生がお亡くなりになったその日の、正午近くのことなのです・・・。
多分に天風先生は自分の死期を分かっていた（２ケ月前から病床にあった）と思う。しかし、そんな事は全く関係なく、亡くなる当日まで学ぼうとする欲、姿勢は微塵も変わることなく、「永遠に生きるかのごとく学んでいた」ことがしのばれる。
尚、天風先生は、８０歳代の時に突然声が出なくなり、竹馬の友であった医師に、家族が往診を頼んだ。急ぎ往診した医師は、これはダメだ、喉頭癌で声帯がふさがっている。直ぐに入院、手術を要すると診断。声帯ごと切除しないと命が危ない、「直ぐに入院、手術」と告げる。すると、天風先生は、「俺の仕事は声を出すことだ、絶対に手術も入院もしない」とメモに書く。すると、医師は「絶対に駄目だ、すぐ入院、手術」とやはりメモに書く。すると、天風先生は「俺は耳は聞こえる」と書いたという。
実は、その翌日から北海道の講演に出る予定が入っていた。先生は、入院どころか北海道に行くといってきかない。先生には誰も逆らえない。仕方なく、翌日予定通り北海道へ。翌日の講演会場には数百名の会員（聴衆）が集まっていた。司会者が、天風先生の状態を説明、代わりに他の講師が演題に立つが、聴衆は納得しない。「天風先生の声が出ないのであれば仕方ない。しかし、お顔だけでもみたい。とにかく登壇願いたい」といって利かない。そのやり取りを控えの間で聞いていた先生は、おもむろに腰を上げ、会場へと向かう。拍手喝采、登壇した天風先生は、しばし黙って立っていたが、拍手が鳴り止むや、クンバハカ一番、腹のそこから、カッ！と声を出した。すると、喉から血だまりの肉片が飛び出し、後は血が止まらない。先生は手ぬぐいに血を吐きながら、そのまま講演を始めたという。誰が止めてもとまらない。とうとう最後まで講演をしたという。その後２日間、芸子を上げてドンちゃん騒ぎ（先生はお酒は飲まれないが）をし、帰京の途についたという逸話がある。
まさに、天風哲人は、「明日死ぬかのように生き、永遠に生きるかのごとく学んだ」 人であった。
There was a phrase on the daily calendar of the company’s TOIL. “Live as if you were going to die tomorrow. Learn as if you live forever” (Mahatma Gandhi). ‘Hmmm, hmmm…I see,’ he growled as he sat on the toilet seat.
This reminded me of the story of my teacher “Nakamura Tenpou”. On December 1, 1968, he passed away at the age of 93 (maybe 95), and the day before that, on November 30, his death was reported in the February issue of “Shirube” (a monthly booklet of the Tenpukai).
Until a few hours before his death, he had asked his daughter-in-law, Mr. Sadao Yasutake (a graduate of the English department at the University of Tokyo and the 2nd president of the Tenpukai), about English expressions in his lectures (guidance) on the Shinshin Oneness of Mind and Body (guidance), which he often used in English in his lectures. The exchange at that time was described in detail.
(Excerpt from “Shilube.”)
He nods, “Um, um,” and then asks, “What’s the difference between probably and perhaps? I said, “It’s a word that doesn’t make much difference,” but I’m not convinced. So I’ll explain it in detail, based on my mental memory. In Japanese, there are different ways of saying “probably” or “maybe” for the same meaning. Strictly speaking, pro-babble is more likely to happen than perhaps, but by and large the nuances are different. There is a difference in etymology. Provabry is a Southern European Latino and Perhapus is an ancient English Scandinavian word with a different word source. Just as Japanese has a Chinese word from China and an ancient Japanese word Yamato, probavely is a little squared up, and perhaps is often used in everyday conversation… When I say this far, I’m like, “Alright, I get it. Thank you”. These thank yous were the last words of a philosopher (Amakaze sensei) given to me alone on the last day. I repeat, it was near noon on the day he passed away….
I think Dr. Tenpou knew when he was going to die (he’s been on the hospital bed for two months). However, this was not the case at all. Until the day of his death, his desire to learn and his attitude remained unchanged, and he was “learning as if he were living forever.
When he was in his 80s, he suddenly lost his voice and his family asked the doctor, who was a friend of Chikuma, to visit him. The doctor who made the emergency call said, “This is not good, I have laryngeal cancer and my vocal cords are blocked. She was immediately admitted to the hospital and diagnosed as requiring surgery. She told him that his life was in danger if he didn’t remove his vocal cords, and that he should be hospitalized immediately for surgery. Then Dr. Tenpou wrote in a note, “My job is to have a voice, I will never have surgery or hospitalization. Then the doctor wrote in a note, “Absolutely not, hospitalization immediately, surgery”. Then, Tenpou-sensei wrote, “I can hear”.
As a matter of fact, I was scheduled to give a lecture in Hokkaido the next day. The doctor did not want to go to Hokkaido, let alone be hospitalized. No one can go against the teacher. We had no choice but to go to Hokkaido the next day as planned. Several hundred members (audience members) gathered at the lecture hall the next day. The moderator explained Dr. Tianfeng’s condition and the other lecturers took the stage instead, but the audience was not convinced. ”It can’t be helped if Teacher Tianfeng’s voice doesn’t come out. But I want to see your face at least. It’s no use saying, “Anyway, I’d like to be a speaker. The teacher, who was listening to the exchange in the waiting room, raised his head and walked to the venue. As soon as the applause stopped, Kumbahaka’s first words came from his stomach, “Kah! He let out a voice. Then, a piece of flesh in a pool of blood shot out of his throat, and the blood wouldn’t stop after that. It is said that he coughed up blood on his handkerchief and began his lecture as it was. It doesn’t matter who stops it. Finally, he gave a lecture until the end. The story goes that he spent two days with his geisha in a dong-chan party (although he did not drink alcohol) before leaving for Tokyo.
Indeed, he was a man who “lived as if he were going to die tomorrow and learned as if he were going to live forever.
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) ***
