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】
朝まで廊下に座り込んでやっと生徒たちをつかまえた主人公ですが、あくまで知らないと言い張る相手を宿直部屋で詰問しているところへ、小使に呼ばれた校長がやってきます。
●----------------------------------------------------------
Thus resolved, I squatted in the middle of the corridor and waited for the dawn. Myriads of mosquitoes swarmed about me, but I did not mind them. I felt my leg where I hit it a while ago; it seemed bespattered with something greasy. I thought it was bleeding. Let it bleed all it cares! Meanwhile, exhausted by these unwonted affairs, I fell asleep. When I awoke, up I jumped with a curse. The door on my right was half opened, and two students were standing in front of me. The moment I recovered my senses from the drowsy lull, I grabbed a leg of one of them
nearest to me, and yanked it with all my might. He fell down prone. Look at what you're getting now! I flew at the other fellow, who was much confused; gave him vigorous shaking twice or thrice, and he only kept open his bewildering eyes.
"Come up to my room." Evidently they were mollycoddles, for they obeyed my command without a murmur. The day had become already clear.
I began questioning those two in my room, but,--you cannot pound out the leopard's spots no matter how you may try,--they seemed determined to push it through by an insistent declaration of "not guilty," that they would not confess. While this questioning was going on, the students upstairs came down, one by one, and began congregating in my room. I noticed all their eyes were swollen from want of sleep.
"Blooming nice faces you got for not sleeping only one night. And you call yourselves men! Go, wash your face and come back to hear what I've got to tell you."
I hurled this shot at them, but none of them went to wash his face. For about one hour, I had been talking and back-talking with about fifty students when suddenly Badger put in his appearance. I heard afterward that the janitor ran to Badger for the purpose of reporting to him that there was a trouble in the school. What a weak-knee of the janitor to fetch the principal for so trifling an affair as this! No wonder he cannot see better times than a janitor.
squat あぐらをかく
myriads of 無数の
bespattered with はねかけられた、汚れた
greasy 脂じみた、ぬめぬめする
unwonted 異例の、特異な
drowsy うとうとする、居眠りする
lull 一休み
mollycoddle 弱虫、腰抜け
congregate (大勢)集まる
weak-knee 意気地なし
trifling つまらない
see better times いい思いをする、いい目を見る
夏目漱石による原文は
こちら。
*** 慣用句を覚えよう ***
Neck(首)‐2
neck and neck
(競走で)接戦で
neck or nothing [nought]
命がけで
on [over] the neck of
…に続いて
out on one's neck
おっぽり出されて、突然首になって
a pain in the neck
いやなやつ、悩みの種
risk one's neck
首を賭ける、命がけでやる
save one's [someone's] neck
絞首刑を免れる(免れさせる)、命拾いする(させる)、うまく助かる(助ける)
speak [talk] through [out of] (the back of) one's neck
とんでもないことを言う、ほらを吹く
stick [put] one's neck out
みずから身を危険にさらす、災いを招くようなことをする
tread on the neck of
…を蹂躪する、屈伏させる、しいたげる
with stiff neck
頑固に
【参考】
▽
青空文庫