マダガスカル旅行記1ーコブ牛ー

8-7-2017
顔の白い牛が特に縁起がよいのだという。
アフリカ大陸の東側、インド洋に浮かぶ大きな島国マダガスカルに行ってきた。国土は日本の1.6倍もある。
独自な動植物がいっぱいで有名なところだけれど、その他のこともとっても興味深かった。この国の人たちは、コブ牛(Zebu)をとても大切に飼っている。結婚のお相手の女性の実家には、コブ牛をプレゼントするのだそう。だから「どんな牛が好き?」は「左手薬指のサイズは何?」というのと同じ意味を持つプロポーズの言葉で、市場で牛を買って、彼女の家に連れて行ってプレゼントする。それって、現代の話じゃないみたいだけど、35歳くらいのマダガスカル人のガイドさんパトリック(この人、日本語が堪能)も、そうしたんだって。耳の切れ目は、持ち主のマーク。牛の市でうっとりコブ牛を見ていたら、地元の人たちが私に何かいってげらげら笑っているのでパトリックになんて言ってるか聞いた。そしたら「外国人でも牛を買っていいんだよ」といってるって。嬉しくなってしまった。わたしもコブ牛欲しいくらい、コブ牛好きになってしまったから。マダガスカルで牛飼って、牛の絵ばかり描いて暮らすのもいいな、とふと。
I went to Madagascar, a big island in the Indian Ocean. It's 1.6 times as big as Japan. The country is famous for various native wild plants and animals. However, I was interested in other things. For example, people keep cows called Zebu. I heard that a man offers a Zebu to the parents of his fiancée as a present. Therefore, the words "What color of Zebu do you like?" means the same as "What's your ring finger size?". After he gets the answer, he goes to a Zebu market, gets the Zebu and goes to his fiancee's parents' house. The story doesn't sound like modern day. However, our tour guide who was Madagasi, around 35 years old and spoke Japanese well told us that he did this when he proposed to his wife. You can tell see the trademark of each owner by the Zebu's ears. When I was watching the Zebu in depth at a Zebu market, the men said something to me laughing in Madagasi. I asked the tour guide what they said. He explained "They said that you can buy a Zebu though you are a foreigner". I was extremely glad to hear that. I got to like Zebu during this trip, so I wanted to keep a Zebu. I suddenly imagined that somedayI would keep Zebu, living in Madagascar and painting Zebu every day.