その上あらゆる現象に人間が絡んでいて余計に面白い。

On top of that, human beings are involved in every phenomenon, which makes it even more fascinating.

十代で歴史に興味を持つ者の気持は私には不思議だが、中年になって歴史に興味を持たない者の気持はそれ以上に不思議だ。

I find it strange that someone in their teens should be interested in history, but I find it even stranger that someone who has reached middle age should not be interested in it.

「こういうことだったのか」という①驚きがある。

There is a ① sense of surprise: “So that's how it was.”

一見関係のなさそうな二つのものが結びつくという意外性は、自然科学における醍醐味の最たるものでもある。

The unexpected discovery that two apparently unrelated things are connected is also one of the greatest pleasures of the natural sciences.

中年にさしかかって初めてこれまで生きてきた、そしてそう遠くない将来に消える自分の立位置を確かめたくなるからだ。

For it is only upon entering middle age that one begins to want to confirm one's own position—a person who has lived until now and will disappear in the not-too-distant future.

（藤原正彦『週刊新潮』2010年10月28日号による）

(From Fujiwara Masahiko, Shukan Shincho, October 28, 2010 issue)

中学生や高校生の頃、歴史の時間が退屈だった。

When I was in junior high and high school, I found history classes boring.

そのうちに孤立していたはずの二つの島が橋でつながる。

Eventually, two islands that had seemed completely isolated become connected by a bridge.

歴史を調べれば調べるほど島々がネットワークのように結ばれて行く。

The more one studies history, the more those islands become connected into something like a network.

だから現在を考えるのに実に役立つ。

That is why history is extremely useful when thinking about the present.

中年にさしかかって初めてこれまで生きてきた、そしてそう遠くない将来に消える自分の立位置を確かめたくなるからだ。

For it is only upon entering middle age that one begins to want to confirm one's own position—a person who has lived until now and will disappear in the not-too-distant future.

家系を調べたくなったり先祖や自らがどのような時代の流れの中で生を受け生を営んできたかを知りたくなる。

One begins to want to investigate one's family tree and learn what currents of history one's ancestors and oneself were born into and lived through.

家系を調べたくなったり先祖や自らがどのような時代の流れの中で生を受け生を営んできたかを知りたくなる。

One begins to want to investigate one's family tree and learn what currents of history one's ancestors and oneself were born into and lived through.

「こういうことだったのか」という①驚きがある。

There is a ① sense of surprise: “So that's how it was.”

自分や先祖も舞台の隅の隅の隅で参加している。

My ancestors and I, too, take part in an exceedingly tiny corner of that stage.

若い頃にこの面白さに気付いていれば、今と違い記憶力もよかったから強大かつ緻密なネットワークを完成することができ演劇をもっと深く味わえたのにとも思う。

I sometimes think that if I had discovered this fascination when I was young, when my memory was better than it is now, I might have built an enormous and intricate network and appreciated the drama more deeply.

中年にさしかかって初めてこれまで生きてきた、そしてそう遠くない将来に消える自分の立位置を確かめたくなるからだ。

For it is only upon entering middle age that one begins to want to confirm one's own position—a person who has lived until now and will disappear in the not-too-distant future.

中年にさしかかって初めてこれまで生きてきた、そしてそう遠くない将来に消える自分の立位置を確かめたくなるからだ。

For it is only upon entering middle age that one begins to want to confirm one's own position—a person who has lived until now and will disappear in the not-too-distant future.

中年にさしかかって初めてこれまで生きてきた、そしてそう遠くない将来に消える自分の立位置を確かめたくなるからだ。

For it is only upon entering middle age that one begins to want to confirm one's own position—a person who has lived until now and will disappear in the not-too-distant future.

家系を調べたくなったり先祖や自らがどのような時代の流れの中で生を受け生を営んできたかを知りたくなる。

One begins to want to investigate one's family tree and learn what currents of history one's ancestors and oneself were born into and lived through.