【シロクマ文芸部お題】『目をつぶる』/ショートショート創作童話(英訳付)

※本作のプロット構成や表現の推敲において、一部AI（Geminiなど）のサポートを受けています。
※画像：Geminiにて生成

パラパラアニメねむい猫

　目をつぶる猫のイラストをノートの端に描き終わってニンマリ笑う。
　これは十二枚目。
　一枚目はお座りをして、不機嫌そうな猫の顔。
　二枚目で少しだけ目を細くして、三枚目でまた開く。
　四枚目で口が少し開いて、五枚目で大きくあくび。
　六枚目で少し頭を後ろに反らせて、七枚目であくびの口を一番大きくして、八枚目で少し口を閉じる。
　九枚目で目と口を完全に閉じ、十枚目で体が少し沈む。
　十一枚目でポーズを固定。
　最後の十二枚目ですやすや眠っている猫で完成だ。
　胴体や輪郭は同じ場所に固定するのがコツだ。
　さて、うまくできたかな？
　すぐ脇で眠っている猫をなでて、ノートの端をパラパラやろうとしたそのとき、ゴツンと母のゲンコツがふってきた。
「コラッ！　反省しておとなしくやってると思ったら、何遊んでるの！」
　夏休みの学校の宿題をまったくやっていないことが母さんにバレた。
　今日一日は外出禁止。部屋にカンヅメ。
　だけど、まったく宿題をやる気は起きなくて――気がついたら、飼い猫をモデルにノートの端にパラパラアニメを作っていた。
　叩かれた拍子に指がすべって、ノートの端のパラパラアニメが動き出す。
　眠そうな猫が目を閉じていく。
　それを見た母はあきれ顔。
「こういうのはすぐに描けるのに、どうして、夏休みの絵日記は一ページも描いてないのかしら？」

（終）

[あとがき]
『雪舟、涙で鼠を描く』の逸話からのインスパイアのつもりです。
　修行をほったらかしにして絵ばかり描いていた幼い雪舟は、罰として柱に縛られ、涙で鼠の絵を描いたという昔話です。
　本作品の子供の場合は猫でした……。

シロクマ文芸部のnote企画に参加しています。

※本文のあとに英訳を載せています↓

※AI support (such as Gemini) was used for refining the plot structure and expressions in this work.
※Image generated by Gemini.

Flip-Book Sleepy Cat

I smirked, having just finished drawing a cat with its eyes closed on the corner of my notebook.
This was the twelfth page.
The first page showed a cat sitting, looking rather grumpy.
On the second, its eyes narrowed just a sliver; on the third, they opened wide again.
The fourth showed its mouth parting, and by the fifth, it let out a great, stretching yawn.
On the sixth, it tilted its head back; on the seventh, the yawn reached its grandest peak; and on the eighth, the mouth closed just a touch.
On the ninth, both eyes and mouth shut tight, and on the tenth, its body seemed to sink into a gentle slumber.
On the eleventh, the pose held firm.
And finally, on the twelfth, the cat was fast asleep—a masterpiece complete.
The secret, of course, is to keep the body and the outline fixed in the very same place.
Would it flutter to life?
Just as I reached out to stroke the real cat dozing beside me, preparing to flip through the pages, a heavy thud—my mother’s knuckle—descended upon my head.
"Hey! I thought you were sitting quietly in reflection, but instead, you're playing games!"
My mother had discovered that I hadn’t touched a single one of my summer homework assignments.
I was grounded for the day. Confined to my room.
Yet, I couldn't summon the spirit to study—so, before I knew it, I had been busy crafting a flip-book on the edge of my notebook, with my own cat as the muse.
As she struck me, my fingers slipped, and the animation on the page corner began to stir.
The sleepy cat slowly blinked its eyes shut.
Seeing this, my mother let out a sigh of pure exasperation.
"You can draw things like this in a heartbeat, but why is it that your summer picture diary remains entirely blank?"

(The End)

[Afterword]
This story was inspired by the legend of Sesshu, who is said to have drawn a mouse with his tears.
It is a classic tale of the young Sesshu, who, instead of focusing on his monastic training, spent all his time drawing pictures; as a punishment, he was tied to a temple pillar, and he used his own tears to draw a mouse upon the floor.
In this story, the child chose a cat instead...

※Written in Japanese, translated with the help of AI. I hope the heart of this story reaches you, regardless of the language barrier.