Shōnen Oi Yasuku Gaku Nari Gatashi (少年老い易く学成り難し – Art Is Long, Life Is Short)
Shōnen Oi Yasuku Gaku Nari Gatashi
少年老い易く学成り難し
There are several proverbs referring to the fact that time flies, in addition to kōin ya no gotoshi (光陰矢の如し), which was introduced in my post yesterday.
時間が経つのが早いことを意味することわざは、昨日の投稿で紹介した「光陰矢の如し」のほかにも幾つかあります。
One of them is especially directed to young people is shōnen oi yasuku gaku nari gatashi (少年老い易く学成り難し).
特に若い人に向けたことわざに、「少年老い易く学成り難し」があります。
Since shōnen (少年) means “boy,” oi (老い) means “to get old,” yasuku (易く) means “easy,” gaku (学) means “learning,” nari (成り) means “to achieve,” and gatashi (難し) means “difficult,” the literal meaning of this proverb is “boys (and girls) get old easily, and it is difficult to achieve learning.”
「少年」は “boy”、「老い」は “to get old”、「易く」は “easy”、「学」は “learning”、「成り」は “to achieve”、「難し」は “difficult” を意味するので、このことわざは “boys (and girls) get old easily, and it is difficult to achieve learning” という意味になります。
In other words, this proverb says, “You have to study hard while you are young so that you do not end up learning nothing.”
すなわち、「時間が過ぎ去り何も学べず終わってしまわないよう、若いうちから勉学に励まなければならない」ということです。
