A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick — Page 12
It would encrease the care and tenderness of mothers towards their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor babes, provided in some sort by the publick, to their annual profit instead of expence.
貧しい赤子たちのために公共がある種の生涯の保障を与えてくれると確信できれば、母親たちの子供に対する気遣いと愛情は増すことであろう。それは毎年の出費ではなく利益となるのだ。
We should soon see an honest emulation among the married women, which of them could bring the fattest child to the market.
既婚女性たちの間で、誰が最も肥えた子供を市場に持ち込めるかという真摯な競争が生まれることだろう。
Men would become as fond of their wives, during the time of their pregnancy, as they are now of their mares in foal, their cows in calf, or sows when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them (as is too frequent a practice) for fear of a miscarriage.
男たちは妻が妊娠中、今の子持ちの牝馬や子を宿した牝牛、あるいは産み月の雌豚を可愛がるのと同じように妻を愛でることだろう。また流産を恐れて、妻を打ったり蹴ったりすること(あまりにも頻繁に行われている行為だが)もなくなるであろう。
Many other advantages might be enumerated.
他にも多くの利点を列挙することができよう。
For instance, the addition of some thousand carcasses in our exportation of barrel'd beef: the propagation of swine's flesh, and improvement in the art of making good bacon, so much wanted among us by the great destruction of pigs, too frequent at our tables; which are no way comparable in taste or magnificence to a well grown, fat yearling child, which roasted whole will make a considerable figure at a Lord Mayor's feast, or any other publick entertainment.
たとえば、樽詰め牛肉の輸出に数千の死骸が加わること、豚肉の普及と良質なベーコン製造技術の向上、そして我々の食卓で頻繁に豚が大量に消費されることで不足しているそれらの産物などである。しかしこれらはいずれも、よく育った肥えた一歳児の味わいや豪華さには到底及ばない。その子を丸ごと焼けば、市長の宴会やその他の公式な催しの席で、堂々たる一品となるであろう。
But this, and many others, I omit, being studious of brevity.
しかし、これやその他の多くは、簡潔さを旨とするがゆえに省くこととする。
Vocabulary
- 貧しい
- mazushii — Poor, lacking money or resources.
- 赤子
- akago — Infant, newborn baby.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or animate beings.
- の
- no — Possessive or nominalizing particle.
- ため
- tame — For the sake of; purpose or benefit.
- に
- ni — Particle indicating direction, purpose, or location.
- 公共
- kōkyō — Public, relating to the community or state.
- が
- ga — Subject-marking grammatical particle.
- ある
- aru — To exist, to have (inanimate things).
- 種
- shu — Kind, type, or species.
- 生涯
- shōgai — One's entire lifetime or life span.
- 保障
- hoshō — Guarantee, security, or assurance of protection.
- を
- wo — Object-marking grammatical particle.
- 与え
- atae — To give, provide, or grant something.
- て
- te — Conjunctive particle connecting verb phrases.
- くれる
- kureru — To give (something) to the speaker's benefit.
- と
- to — Quotation particle; also means 'and' or 'with'.
- 確信
- kakushin — Firm conviction or strong confidence in something.
- できれ
- dekire — Conditional form of 'dekiru' (can do).
- ば
- ba — Conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'when'.
- 母親
- hahaoya — Mother, female parent.
- 子供
- kodomo — Child or children.
- 対する
- taisuru — To face, regard, or be directed toward.
- 気遣い
- kizukai — Consideration, worry, or thoughtful concern for others.
- 愛情
- aijō — Affection, love, or tender feelings toward someone.
- は
- wa — Topic-marking grammatical particle.
- 増す
- masu — To increase, grow, or intensify.
- こと
- koto — Thing, fact, or nominalizer for verbs.
- で
- de — Particle indicating location, means, or cause.
- あろう
- arō — Volitional form of 'aru'; probably is/will be.
- それ
- sore — That; refers to something near the listener.
- 毎年
- maitoshi — Every year, annually.
- 出費
- shuppi — Expenditure, expense, or financial outlay.
- なく
- naku — Without; negative conjunctive form of 'nai'.
- 利益
- rieki — Profit, benefit, or gain.
- なる
- naru — To become, to result in.
- だ
- da — Informal copula meaning 'is' or 'are'.
- 既婚
- kikon — Married, having a spouse.
- 女性
- josei — Woman, female person.
- 間
- あいだ / ma — Between, among, or a span of time/space.
- 誰
- dare — Who; interrogative pronoun for a person.
- 最も
- mottomo — Most, extremely; superlative adverb.
- 肥え
- koe — Fatness, richness; well-nourished condition.
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb suffix.
- 市場
- ichiba / shijō — Market, marketplace for goods.
- 持ち込め
- mochikome — Potential/imperative form of 'bring in' something.
- る
- ru — Present/dictionary form verb ending.
- か
- ka — Question-marking particle at sentence end.
- という
- to iu — Called, known as; quotative expression.
- 真摯
- shinshi — Sincere, earnest, and serious in attitude.
- な
- na — Adjectival suffix for na-adjectives.
- 競争
- kyōsō — Competition, rivalry, or contest.
- 生まれる
- umareru — To be born, to come into existence.
- だろう
- darō — Probably, likely; conjecture or supposition.
- 男
- otoko — Man, male person.
- 妻
- tsuma — Wife, one's own spouse.
- 妊娠
- ninshin — Pregnancy, being with child.
- 中
- chū / naka — Inside, middle, or during a period.
- 今
- ima — Now, at the present moment.
- 子持ち
- komochi — Having children; a parent with offspring.
- や
- ya — And (non-exhaustive list particle).
- 子
- ko — Child, offspring, or young animal.
- あるいは
- aruiwa — Or, alternatively, or perhaps.
- 可愛がる
- kawaigaru — To cherish, dote on, or treat with affection.
- 同じ
- onaji — Same, identical, equal in nature.
- よう
- yō — Like, as if; manner or appearance.
- 愛でる
- mederu — To admire, appreciate, or treasure fondly.
- また
- mata — Also, again, or furthermore.
- 流産
- ryūzan — Miscarriage, spontaneous loss of pregnancy.
- 恐れ
- osore — Fear, dread, or apprehension of something.
- 打っ
- utte — To strike, hit, or beat (conjunctive form).
- たり
- tari — Listing particle for alternating actions.
- 蹴っ
- kette — To kick (conjunctive form).
- する
- suru — To do, to perform an action.
- あまり
- amari — Too much; excessively; not very (with negative).
- も
- mo — Also, too; emphasis particle.
- 頻繁
- hinpan — Frequent, happening often or repeatedly.
- 行わ
- okonawa — Passive/conjunctive base of 'to carry out'.
- れ
- re — Passive verb auxiliary form.
- いる
- iru — To be, to exist (animate beings).
- 行為
- kōi — Act, deed, or conduct.
- なくなる
- nakunaru — To disappear, cease to exist, or run out.
- 他
- hoka — Other, another, the rest.
- 多く
- ōku — Many, much, a large number of.
- 利点
- riten — Advantage, merit, or beneficial point.
- 列挙
- rekkyo — Enumeration, listing items one by one.
- できよう
- dekiyō — Could probably do; volitional potential form.
- たとえば
- tatoeba — For example, for instance.
- 牛肉
- gyūniku — Beef, meat from cattle.
- 輸出
- yushutsu — Export, sending goods to another country.
- 数千
- sūsen — Thousands, several thousand in number.
- 死骸
- shigai — Carcass, corpse, dead body of an animal.
- 加わる
- kuwawaru — To join, be added to, or participate.
- 豚肉
- butaniku — Pork, meat from pigs.
- 普及
- fukyū — Spread, popularization, becoming widespread.
- 良質
- ryōshitsu — Good quality, high-grade material or product.
- ベーコン
- bēkon — Bacon, cured pork product.
- 製造
- seizō — Manufacturing, production of goods.
- 技術
- gijutsu — Technology, skill, or technical ability.
- 向上
- kōjō — Improvement, advancement, or enhancement.
- そして
- soshite — And then, and also, furthermore.
- 我々
- wareware — We, us (formal or literary first-person plural).
- 食卓
- shokutaku — Dining table, the family meal table.
- 豚
- buta — Pig, domestic swine.
- 大量
- tairyō — Large quantity, mass amount.
- 消費
- shōhi — Consumption, using up of resources or goods.
- さ
- sa — Nominalizing suffix; passive auxiliary syllable.
- れる
- reru — Passive voice auxiliary verb suffix.
- 不足
- fusoku — Shortage, insufficiency, or lack of something.
- し
- shi — Conjunctive verb ending; also 'and' listing.
- それら
- sorera — Those (plural), referring to previously mentioned things.
- 産物
- sanbutsu — Product, produce, or result of something.
- など
- nado — Etc., and so on, among other things.
- しかし
- shikashi — However, but, on the other hand.
- これら
- korera — These (plural), referring to nearby mentioned items.
- いずれ
- izure — Any of these; eventually; either/which one.
- よく
- yoku — Well, frequently, or skillfully.
- 育っ
- sodatte — Grew up; raised well (conjunctive form).
- 味わい
- ajiwai — Flavor, taste, or savoring of food.
- 豪華
- gōka — Luxurious, splendid, lavish, or magnificent.
- 到底
- tōtei — By any means; used with negatives meaning 'cannot possibly'.
- 及ば
- oyoba — Negative base of 'to reach' or 'to compare'.
- ない
- nai — Not, does not exist; negative auxiliary.
- その
- sono — That (attributive), referring to something nearby.
- 丸ごと
- marugoto — Whole, entirely, all of something intact.
- 焼け
- yake — Roasted, grilled; noun/stem form of 'to burn'.
- 市長
- shichō — Mayor, the head of a city government.
- 宴会
- enkai — Banquet, feast, or formal dinner party.
- その他
- sonohoka — Other, the rest, and so on.
- 公式
- kōshiki — Official, formal, or authorized.
- 催し
- moyōshi — Event, gathering, or organized occasion.
- 席
- seki — Seat, place, or occasion at a gathering.
- 堂々
- dōdō — Imposing, magnificent, stately in manner.
- 一品
- ippin — One dish; a fine item or prized article.
- これ
- kore — This, referring to something near the speaker.
- 簡潔
- kanketsu — Concise, brief, and clear in expression.
- 旨
- mune / uma — Purport, gist; also delicious taste.
- ゆえ
- yue — Therefore, because of, for that reason.
- 省く
- habuku — To omit, leave out, or simplify.
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