About this work
A Japanese poem borrows Vonnegut’s familiar phrase while questioning how to live honestly amid uncertainty. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.
Parallel reading
日本語と英語で読む
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日本語原文 Japanese original
もう人生の半ばかな
いやまだまだだ
どんな風に生きようか
考えだすときりがない。
生き方って、自然に委ねるしかないもの
So it goes. って、ボネガットさんも言ってた。
だから素直になる時が険しいんだ。
抗わないし逆らわないし
誠実に思いやりの心をもってやっているのに。
それをわかっている自分って
最終的に甘えがあるから？
今は模索中。
生き方に正解なんかない。So it goes.なのだ。
生きるって、だから楽しいようで心底苦しい。
救けを呼んでも誰も振り返らない・・・So it goes.
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Already halfway through life?
No, there's still a long way to go.
How should I live? There's no end to thinking about it.
Living, you see, can only be left to nature.
"So it goes," Mr. Bonnet also said.
That's why the time to be sincere is so perilous.
I don't resist or rebel;
I live with a sincere and compassionate heart.
Yet, knowing oneself in this way,
Is it because there's some kind of dependence?
Now I'm still searching.
There's no correct way to live. "So it goes," indeed.
Living, therefore, is both delightful and profoundly painful.
Even if you call for salvation, no one turns back... "So it goes."
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.