好きになろう

Translation exercise again! No guarantee about accuracy, as usual.

Ellipses are him being romantic with details and me being lazy with translating; other than that it is almost the whole short chapter, 'cos I think the whole context is kinda needed to bring the point across in this case.

---

"Just now, there was a special feature about ants on TV. Though I am weak with insects, watching them on TV is OK. As always, I ended up watching the scary thing until the end.

"I found it surprising that the ants, whose bodies are mere millimeters long, can build nests that measure up to several meters. ... When I see the utmost effort of those ants, I am reminded of the significance of living. There is a saying, 'Even one inch of an insect is half an inch of a soul.' [*] -- certainly, that seemingly fleeting world (life) does exist there.

"It also moves me how they fight desperately against their natural enemies. I think that I, too, should fight with such desperation.

"I guess my enemy right now is myself. Without winning against oneself, nothing can begin.

"Often, 'I hate that' or 'I am weak with that'... humans somehow have the tendency to say such things. However, before we say that out, it is important to have the sense of (first) going to approach it. For me too, after coming to Tokyo, there are various matters I have conquered, and there are still some that I haven't. [**] It is all right even if it will take time, I want to grow to like those things.

"Compared to disliking things, developing a liking is more advantageous. Therefore, I want to live on while coming to like a lot of things, while embracing them.

"Say, to the point that it would feel like a companion, like wearing an old pair of jeans."

---

Notes:

[*] 「一寸の虫にも五分の魂。」 The meaning is similar to the English proverb "Even a worm will turn." (Even a very weak person has some amount of strength (when provoked).)

[**] The author is a Nara native who moved to Tokyo for work. (Seeing what variety show idols have to do over in that country, I can guess some of those things he said he 'conquered', poor thing.)

---

Excerpt from 「好きになろう」 ("Growing to Like"), 1999
In 「ぼくの靴音」 ("The Sound of My Footsteps")
By Doumoto Tsuyoshi