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】
一匹釣り上げただけでやめてしまった主人公をよそにして、赤シャツ(教頭)と野だいこ(画学の教師、吉川)は釣りを続けますが、釣れるのは肥料にしかならないゴルキばかりです。
●----------------------------------------------------------
"Splendid for the first honor, but that's goruki," Clown again made a "fresh" remark.
"Goruki sounds like the name of a Russian literator," said Red Shirt. "Yes, just like a Russian literator," Clown at once seconded Red Shirt. Gorky for a Russian literator, Maruki a photographer of Shibaku, and komeno-naruki (rice) a life-giver, eh? This Red Shirt has a bad hobby of marshalling before anybody the name of foreigners. Everybody has his specialty. How could a teacher of mathematics like me tell whether it is a Gorky or shariki (rikishaman). Red Shirt should have been a little more considerate. And if he wants to mention such names at all, let him mention "Autobiography of Ben Franklin," or "Pushing to the Front," or something we all know. Red Shirt has been seen once in a while bringing a magazine with a red cover entitled Imperial Literature to the school and poring over it with reverence. I heard it from Porcupine that Red Shirt gets his supply of all foreign names from that magazine. Well, I should say!
For some time, Red Shirt and Clown fished assiduously and within about an hour they caught about fifteen fish. The funny part of it was that all they caught were goruki; of sea-bream there was not a sign.
"This is a day of bumper crop of Russian literature," Red Shirt said, and Clown answered:
"When one as skilled as you gets nothing but goruki, it's natural for me to get nothing else."
The boatman told me that this small-sized fish goruki has too many tiny bones and tastes too poor to be fit for eating, but they could be used for fertilising. So Red Shirt and Clown were fishing fertilizers with vim and vigor. As for me, one goruki was enough and I laid down myself on the bottom, and looked up at the sky. This was far more dandy than fishing.
goruki ゴルキ(ベラのこと)
fresh 生意気な、無礼な
literator 文学者
Maruki 明治時代の代表的な写真師、丸木利陽[りよう]
Shibaku 芝区
life-giver 命を与えるもの(原文では「命の親」)
marshal ... …をならべつらねる、順序よくならべる
shariki 車力
“Pushing to the Front” オリソン・マーデンの著作『前進あるのみ』
Imperial Literature 帝国文学
assiduously 根気強く
bumper crop 豊作
with vim and vigor 元気いっぱいで
dandy すてきな
夏目漱石による原文は
こちら。
*** 慣用句を覚えよう ***
Hand(手)‐4
a man of one's hands
勇敢(有能)な人
not do a hand's turn
何の努力もしない、何もやらない
off hand
準備せずに、直ちに、即座に
off someone's hands
(面倒をみるべき子供・家などが)手を離れて
on every hand
on all hands
四方八方に(から)
on hand
手元に持ち合わせて、ありあわせの
on (one's) hands and knees
四つんばいになって
on (the) one hand
一方では
on the other hand
他方では、これに反して
out of someone's hands
(問題・仕事などが)人の管理(責任)を離れて
【参考】
▽
青空文庫