The Pear

SYNOPSIS

蒲松齢の『聊齋志異』から同名の物語を原作としたアニメーション短編。老子のアフォリズム「過度の貯蓄は常に重大な損失につながる」がこの物語の背後にはある。道教の司祭は喉が渇いて、田舎の男に梨を売ってくれるように頼むが、拒絶される。司祭が呪文を唱えて種を土に埋めると、梨の木ができる。司祭はその梨のすべてを人々にタダであげてしまうが、それに田舎の男は驚く。司祭があげたその梨は、実は自分の梨であり、その梨の木も彼の手押し車のハンドルであったということに。

The animation short,The Pear, is adapted from a story of the same title from Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio by Pu Songlin. An aphorism by Lao-tzu, “Excessive hoarding always leads to heavy loss”, is what truly lies behind the story. A taoist priest felt thirsty and begged a countryman for one of the pears he was selling. The latter refused. Then the priest cast a spell, poured a pip into the soil, and finally turned it into a pear tree. All its fruits were given away to the crowd, when the priest asked for nothing and left the countryman astonished by the fact that all that had been given away were his own pears and the tree was made from the handles of his barrow.

PROFILE