Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 22
You just knocked the life out of him when you shook him off that branch.'
あなたがその枝から彼を振り落とした時、彼の息の根を止めてしまったのよ。」
"Mr. Panther came over and sniffed at Mr. Possum and turned him over with one paw.
「ヒョウさんがやって来て、オポッサムさんの匂いを嗅ぎ、片方の前足で彼をひっくり返しました。
All the time Mr. Possum lay just as if he were dead, because he was too frightened to move.
その間ずっと、オポッサムさんはまるで死んでいるかのように横たわっていました。怖くて動けなかったからです。
'I didn't mean to kill him,' said Mr. Panther.
「殺すつもりはなかったのだが」とヒョウさんは言いました。
'We certainly will miss him.
「彼がいなくなるのは寂しいな。
What will we do with him?'
彼をどうしたらいいだろう？」
"'Leave him here as a warning to others,' growled Old King Bear.
「他のものへの戒めとして、ここに置いておけ」とクマの王様は唸るように言いました。
"Each in turn came up and sniffed of Mr. Possum, and then they all went about their business.
「それぞれが順番にやって来て、オポッサムさんの匂いを嗅ぎ、そしてみんなそれぞれの用事に戻っていきました。
He waited long enough to make sure that they were out of sight, and then took the shortest way home.
彼は全員が見えなくなったことを確かめるために十分な時間待ってから、最短の道で家に帰りました。
When he got there and thought it all over, he thought that the best joke of all was the way he had made everybody think that he was dead.
家に着いて全てを振り返ってみると、何よりも最高の冗談は、みんなに自分が死んだと思わせたやり方だと思いました。
And then a bright idea struck him: he would try the same trick whenever he was caught.
そして、ひらめきが浮かびました。捕まりそうになった時はいつでも、同じ手を使ってみようと。
So the next time he got in trouble, instead of running away, he tried playing dead.
それで次に危険な目に遭った時、逃げる代わりに、死んだふりをしてみました。
It was such a success that he taught his children how to do it, and they taught their children, and so on down to Unc' Billy, whom you know.
それがとてもうまくいったので、子供たちにやり方を教え、子供たちもまた自分たちの子供に教え、それがあなたもご存知のビリーおじさんまで続いてきたのです。
Unc' Billy says it is a lot easier than running away, and safer, too.
ビリーおじさんは、逃げるよりずっと楽だし、より安全でもあると言っています。
Besides, it is always such a joke.
それに、いつだってとても愉快な冗談でもあるのです。
Vocabulary
- あなた
- anata — You; second-person pronoun in Japanese.
- が
- ga — Subject marker particle in Japanese grammar.
- その
- sono — That; demonstrative adjective referring to nearby thing.
- 枝
- eda — Branch of a tree or plant.
- から
- kara — From; because; particle indicating origin or reason.
- 彼
- kare — He; third-person masculine pronoun.
- を
- wo — Object marker particle indicating direct object.
- 振り落とし
- furiotoshi — Shaking off; dislodging something by shaking.
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb ending.
- 時
- toki — Time; moment; when something occurs.
- の
- no — Possessive or nominalizing particle in Japanese.
- 息
- iki — Breath; breathing; respiration.
- 根
- ne — Root; base; foundation of something.
- 止め
- tome — Stopping; halting something completely.
- て
- te — Conjunctive particle connecting verb phrases.
- しまっ
- shimatte — Ended up doing; completed action with regret.
- よ
- yo — Sentence-ending particle asserting or informing listener.
- ヒョウ
- hyou — Leopard; large spotted wild cat.
- さん
- san — Honorific suffix; Mr., Mrs., Ms.
- やって来
- yattekita — Came along; arrived; showed up somewhere.
- 匂い
- nioi — Smell; scent; odor of something.
- 嗅ぎ
- kagi — Sniffing; smelling; investigating a scent.
- 片方
- kataho — One side; one of a pair.
- 前足
- maeashi — Front paw or foreleg of an animal.
- で
- de — With; at; by; particle indicating means or location.
- ひっくり返し
- hikkurikaeshi — Turning over; flipping something upside down.
- まし
- mashi — Polite past auxiliary verb form.
- 間
- aida — During; while; interval between two points.
- ずっと
- zutto — All along; continuously; the entire time.
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle in Japanese grammar.
- まるで
- marude — Just like; as if; exactly resembling something.
- 死ん
- shin — Died; past stem of the verb to die.
- いる
- iru — To exist; to be; for animate beings.
- か
- ka — Question marker particle; or; whether.
- よう
- you — Seeming like; appearing as if something.
- に
- ni — Direction, location, or purpose particle in Japanese.
- 横たわっ
- yokotawatte — Lying down; stretched out horizontally.
- い
- i — Verb stem of iru; being or existing.
- 怖く
- kowaku — Frightening; scary; adverb form of scared.
- 動け
- ugoke — Move; imperative or potential form of to move.
- なかっ
- nakatta — Was not; negative past auxiliary form.
- です
- desu — Polite copula; is, am, are in formal speech.
- 殺す
- korosu — To kill; to take someone's life.
- つもり
- tsumori — Intention; plan; meaning to do something.
- だ
- da — Informal copula; is, am, are in plain speech.
- と
- to — And; with; quotation particle in Japanese.
- 言い
- ii — Saying; speaking; stem of the verb to say.
- なく
- naku — Without; negative adverbial form of ない.
- なる
- naru — To become; to turn into something.
- 寂しい
- sabishii — Lonely; feeling of solitude and emptiness.
- な
- na — Sentence-ending particle expressing emotion or emphasis.
- どう
- dou — How; in what way; by what means.
- し
- shi — Do; stem of suru; also listing particle.
- たら
- tara — If; when; conditional verb form in Japanese.
- いい
- ii — Good; fine; okay; acceptable.
- だろう
- darou — Probably; I wonder; expressing conjecture or uncertainty.
- 他
- hoka — Other; another; different from this one.
- もの
- mono — Thing; object; person; nominalizing expression.
- へ
- e — Direction particle; toward; to a destination.
- 戒め
- imashime — Warning; admonishment; lesson to heed.
- ここ
- koko — Here; this place; nearby location.
- 置い
- oite — Placing; leaving; setting something down somewhere.
- おけ
- oke — Leave it; keep it; imperative of to place.
- クマ
- kuma — Bear; large mammal found in forests.
- 王様
- ousama — King; honorific term for a male ruler.
- 唸る
- unaru — To growl; to groan; to roar lowly.
- それぞれ
- sorezore — Each; respectively; individually one by one.
- 順番
- junban — Turn; order; sequence in which things occur.
- そし
- soshi — And then; conjunction connecting sequential events.
- みんな
- minna — Everyone; all people; everybody together.
- 用事
- youji — Errand; business to attend to; task.
- 戻っ
- modotte — Returned; went back; came back to origin.
- いき
- iki — Going; heading toward; moving in direction.
- 全員
- zenin — All members; everyone in the group.
- 見え
- mie — Can be seen; is visible; appears to be.
- なっ
- natte — Became; turned into; connective form of なる.
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter; nominalizing abstract concepts.
- 確かめる
- tashikameru — To confirm; to verify; to make sure.
- ため
- tame — For the purpose of; for the sake of.
- 十分
- juubun — Sufficient; enough; adequate amount or time.
- 時間
- jikan — Time; hours; a period of time.
- 待っ
- matte — Waiting; pausing; staying until something happens.
- 最短
- saitan — Shortest; minimum distance or time possible.
- 道
- michi — Road; path; way; route to destination.
- 家
- ie — House; home; one's place of residence.
- 帰り
- kaeri — Return; going back home; homeward journey.
- 着い
- tsuite — Arrived; reached a destination; connective form.
- 全て
- subete — All; everything; the entirety of something.
- 振り返っ
- furikaette — Looked back; reflected on; turned to review.
- みる
- miru — To try doing; to see; to look at.
- 何
- nani — What; which; interrogative pronoun.
- より
- yori — Than; more than; comparison particle.
- も
- mo — Also; too; even; inclusive particle.
- 最高
- saikou — Best; greatest; supreme; highest level.
- 冗談
- joudan — Joke; jest; something said humorously.
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; myself; yourself; reflexive pronoun.
- 思わ
- omowa — Think; feel; stem of the verb to think.
- せ
- se — Causative auxiliary; make or let someone do.
- やり方
- yarikata — Way of doing; method; approach to a task.
- 思い
- omoi — Thought; feeling; idea; emotion about something.
- ひらめき
- hirameki — Flash of inspiration; sudden brilliant idea.
- 浮かび
- ukabi — Came to mind; surfaced; an idea appearing.
- 捕まり
- tsukamari — Being caught; getting grabbed; being captured.
- そう
- sou — That's right; so; seeming like that.
- いつ
- itsu — When; at what time; interrogative for time.
- でも
- demo — But; however; even; any time/place.
- 同じ
- onaji — Same; identical; not different from another.
- 手
- te — Hand; arm; method; technique used.
- 使っ
- tsukatte — Using; utilizing; employing something for purpose.
- みよう
- miyou — Let's try; volitional form of to try looking.
- それ
- sore — That; referring to something near listener.
- 次
- tsugi — Next; following; the one after this.
- 危険
- kiken — Danger; peril; hazardous situation or condition.
- 目
- me — Eye; sight; experience encountering something.
- 遭っ
- atte — Encountered; met with; came across something.
- 逃げる
- nigeru — To escape; to run away; to flee.
- 代わり
- kawari — Instead of; in place of; substitution.
- ふり
- furi — Pretense; acting as if; feigning something.
- み
- mi — Look; see; try; stem of verb miru.
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite; intensifying adverb.
- うまく
- umaku — Skillfully; successfully; well; adverb form of うまい.
- いっ
- itte — Went; said; connective form of iku or iu.
- 子供
- kodomo — Child; children; young person or offspring.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or living beings.
- 教え
- oshie — Teaching; lesson; instruction passed to others.
- また
- mata — Again; also; furthermore; once more.
- ご存知
- gozonji — Knowing; honorific expression for someone's knowledge.
- おじさん
- ojisan — Uncle; middle-aged man; familiar address.
- まで
- made — Until; up to; as far as; limit.
- 続い
- tsuzuite — Continued; kept going; persisted over time.
- き
- ki — Came; connective form of the verb kuru.
- 楽
- raku — Easy; comfortable; relaxing; without difficulty.
- 安全
- anzen — Safe; secure; free from danger or harm.
- ある
- aru — To exist; to have; for inanimate things.
- 言っ
- itte — Said; spoke; connective form of to say.
- ます
- masu — Polite verb ending for present or future tense.
- だって
- datte — Because; but; even so; informal conjunction.
- 愉快
- yukai — Cheerful; pleasant; fun; merry and enjoyable.
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