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】
生徒たちのいたずらに悩まされ、いつも自分に優しかった下女の清（きよ）が人としてどれほど立派だったかに改めて気付いた主人公ですが、今度は頭上で大騒ぎが始まります。
●----------------------------------------------------------
Well, as I thought it over, I realized myself as having come to a dirty pit. If all teachers of middle schools everywhere have to handle fellows like these in this school, those teachers have my sympathy. It is wonderful that teachers never run short. I believe there are many boneheads of extraordinary patience; but me for something else. In this respect, Kiyo is worthy of admiration. She is an old woman, with neither education nor social position, but as a human, she does more to command our respect. Until now, I have been a trouble to her without appreciating her goodness, but having come alone to such a far-off country, I now appreciated, for the first time, her kindness. If she is fond of sasa-ame of Echigo province, and if I go to Echigo for the purpose of buying that sweetmeat to let her eat it, she is fully worth that trouble. Kiyo has been praising me as unselfish and straight, but she is a person of sterling qualities far more than I whom she praises. I began to feel like meeting her.
While I was thus meditating about Kiyo, all of a sudden, on the floor above my head, about thirty to forty people, if I guess by the number, started stamping the floor with bang, bang, bang that well threatened to bang down the floor. This was followed by proportionately loud whoops. The noise surprised me, and I popped up. The moment I got up I became aware that the students were starting a rough house to get even with me. What wrong one has committed, he has to confess, or his offence is never atoned for. They are just to ask for themselves what crimes they have done. It should be proper that they repent their folly after going to bed and to come and beg me pardon the next morning. Even if they could not go so far as to apologize they should have kept quiet. Then what does this racket mean? Where we keeping hogs in our dormitory?
"This crazy thing got to stop. See what you get!"
run short 不足する
sterling 真正の、りっぱな
meditate 熟考する
rough house 大騒ぎ、大暴れ
get even with 人に仕返しをする
atone for 償う、罪滅ぼしをする
repent 後悔する
folly 愚行、愚挙
racket 騒ぎ
hog 豚
夏目漱石による原文はこちら。
＊＊＊ 慣用句を覚えよう ＊＊＊
Head（頭）‐３
keep [have] a level head
keep one's head
keep a cool head
落ちついている、冷静でいる
keep one's head above water
おぼれないでいる、借金せずに（失敗せずに）いる、なんとか生き延びる
knock [run] one's head against [into] ...
（いやな事件など）にぶつかる、でくわす
knock [bang, beat, hit, run, bash] one's head against [into] a (brick [stone]) wall [a post]
歯のたたないような事をする、不可能なことを試みる、むだ骨を折る
lift up one's head
元気を取り戻す
make head against ...
…を食い止める、…に立ち向かう
make neither head nor tail of it
cannot make head(s) or [nor] tail(s) of it
何が何だか（さっぱり）わからない
make someone's head spin [go round, swim]
人の頭をくらくらさせる（混乱させる）
not know whether one is (standing) on one's head or heels
ひどく混乱している、わけがわからなくなっている
off [out of] the top of one's head
準備なしに, 即席で
【参考】
▽青空文庫
