They did shell the ground, though they themselves didst build it.
We have laid down our roots. It hath been warm, it hath been hot, and we have flourished, for they have not tilled the soil nor made a mess of it, as they ever do. The earth doth lie there, and the light shineth upon it. Warm breezes in summer, and winters that freeze not. Paradise we have here.
東京も暑くなった。
初夏のある日、空地に茂る雑草が目に留まった。青々と茂り、背高く伸びる草。
23区でも開発の隙間で草は繁茂する。そこに東京も地球という土の上に作られた町なのだと気付かされる。
温暖化の加速とともに、植物の生育も加速しているという。
一方で、「土を耕す」という営為が二酸化炭素の排出量を高めるという報告もある。
雑草と私たちが呼ぶ植物たちからすれば、人間に保護される植物は異端の存在なのだろう。それらが人間が作った町の殻を取り払った、開発の隙間に繁茂する姿は、楽園を取り戻した使徒のようにも映った。
ミルトンがかつて『復楽園』でえがいた物語を思い起こす。
植物たちにとってのサタンとは。
今夏も東京は暑かった。
復楽園。植物たちの。
Tokyo has also become hotter.
One day in early summer, weeds overgrowing an empty lot caught my eye. The weeds were lush and growing tall.
Even in the 23 wards, weeds thrive in the gaps between developments. It made me realise that Tokyo is also a city built on the soil of the earth.
With the acceleration of global warming, the growth of plants is also accelerating.
On the other hand, there are reports that the activity of ‘tilling the soil’ increases carbon dioxide emissions.
From the point of view of the plants we call weeds, plants protected by humans are probably heretical. The sight of them thriving in the gaps in development, where they have removed the shells of human-made towns, was like an apostle of restored paradise.
It reminds me of the story Milton once described in The Restoration of Paradise.
What is Satan to the plants?
Tokyo was hot again this summer.
Paradise Regained. Of the plants.
