小説を読みながら、語彙を増やしましょう。
夏目漱石の小説『坊っちゃん』の原文と毛利八十太郎が英訳した “Botchan (Master Darling)” を併せて見ていきます。
【あらすじ】
理想の教師についての長話を校長から聞かされた後、主人公は15人もの教師ひとりひとりにあいさつをさせられます。
●----------------------------------------------------------
No man with such admirable qualities would come so far away for only 40 yen a month! Men are generally alike. If one gets excited, one is liable to fight, I thought, but if things are to be kept on in the way the principal says, I could hardly open my mouth to utter anything, nor take a stroll around the place. If they wanted me to fill such an onerous post, they should have told all that before. I hate to tell a lie; I would give it up as having been cheated, and get out of this mess like a man there and then. I had only about 9 yen left in my pocket after tipping the hotel 5 yen. Nine yen would not take me back to Tokyo. I had better not have tipped the hotel; what a pity! However, I would be able to manage it somehow. I considered it better to run short in my return expenses than to tell a lie.
"I cannot do it the way you want me to. I return this appointment."
I shoved back the note. The principal winked his badger-like eyes and gazed at me. Then he said;
"What I have said just now is what I desire of you. I know well that you cannot do all I want, so don't worry."
And he laughed. If he knew it so well already, what on earth did he scare me for?
Meanwhile the bugle sounded, being followed by bustling noises in the direction of the class rooms. All the teachers would be now ready, I was told, and I followed the principal to the teachers' room. In a spacious rectangular room, they sat each before a table lined along the walls. When I entered the room, they all glanced at me as if by previous agreement. Did they think my face was for a show? Then, as per instructions, I introduced myself and showed the note to each one of them. Most of them left their chairs and made a slight bow of acknowledgment. But some of the more painfully polite took the note and read it and respectfully returned it to me, just like the cheap performances at a rural show! When I came to the fifteenth, who was the teacher of physical training, I became impatient at repeating the same old thing so often. The other side had to do it only once, but my side had to do it fifteen times. They ought to have had some sympathy.
onerous 煩わしい、厄介な
what a pity 残念だ
shove back 押し返す
bustling あわただしい、騒がしい
impatient いらいらする
夏目漱石による原文はこちら。
＊＊＊ 慣用句を覚えよう ＊＊＊
Snake（蛇）
have snakes in one's boots = see snakes
アルコール中毒にかかっている、アル中で禁断症状（幻覚）が出ている
raise [wake] snakes
騒ぎを起こす
a snake in the grass
目に見えない危険、隠れた敵、油断のならない人物
warm [cherish, nourish] a snake in one's bosom
恩をあだで返される
snake eyes
（サイコロで）１が２つ出ること、ピンぞろ
snake juice
強い酒、質の悪いウイスキー
snakebite medicine
度の強いウイスキー、安物（自家製）のウイスキー
snake oil
いんちき薬、怪しげな薬、たわ言、ほら
snake-bitten
何もできない状態で、救いようなく参っている
snake-hipped
細くしなやかな腰をした
snakepit
醜悪（過酷）な場所（状況）、売春宿
【参考】
▽青空文庫
