Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 37
In fact, Sammy's coat has long been the envy of a great many of his neighbors in the Green Forest.
実際、サミーの毛皮は長い間、グリーンフォレストの多くの隣人たちの羨望の的となってきた。
Some of them, you know, have very modest coats.
ご存知のように、その中には非常に地味な毛皮を持つものもいる。
They are not beautiful at all.
それらはまったく美しくない。
And yet the owners of some of these plain coats are among the most honest and hard-working of all the little people who live in the Green Forest.
それでも、そのような地味な毛皮の持ち主の中には、グリーンフォレストに住む小さな生き物たちの中で最も誠実で勤勉な者もいる。
They find it hard, very hard indeed, to understand why such a scamp and mischiefmaker as Sammy Jay should be given such a wonderful blue coat with white trimmings.
サミー・ジェイのようないたずら者や悪戯好きが、なぜ白い縁取りのある素晴らしい青い毛皮を与えられるのか、彼らにはとても、本当にとても理解しがたいことだった。
Peter Rabbit often had thought about it.
ピーター・ラビットはよくそのことを考えていた。
He has a number of feathered friends whom he likes ever so much better than he does Sammy Jay.
彼にはサミー・ジェイよりもずっと好きな羽を持つ友達が何人もいた。
In fact, he and Sammy are forever falling out, because Sammy delights to tease Peter.
実際、サミーはピーターをからかうことを好むため、彼とサミーはいつもけんかをしていた。
He sometimes makes up for it by warning Peter when Granny or Reddy Fox happens to be about, and Peter is honest enough to recognize this and put it to Sammy's credit.
サミーはグラニーやレディ・フォックスが近くにいるときにピーターに警告することでそれを埋め合わせることもあり、ピーターはそれを認めてサミーの功績として素直に認めるほど誠実だった。
But in spite of this, it never seemed to him quite right that Sammy Jay should be so handsomely dressed.
しかしそれにもかかわらず、サミー・ジェイがそのように華やかな装いをしているのは、彼にはどうにも正しいとは思えなかった。
"Of course," said Peter to Grandfather Frog, "Old Mother Nature knows a great deal more than I do--"
「もちろん」とピーターはグランドファーザー・フロッグに言った、「古き自然の母は私よりもずっとたくさんのことを知っているけれど――」
"Really! You don't mean to say so! Chug-a-rum! You don't mean to say so, Peter!" interrupted Grandfather Frog, pretending to be very much surprised at what Peter said.
「本当に！まさかそんなことはないでしょう！チャグ・ア・ラム！まさか、ピーター！」グランドファーザー・フロッグはピーターの言葉にとても驚いたふりをしながら口をはさんだ。
[Illustration: "You don't mean to say so, Peter," interrupted Grandfather Frog.
【挿絵：「まさか、ピーター」とグランドファーザー・フロッグが口をはさんだ。】
Vocabulary
- 実際
- jissai — In reality; actually; in practice.
- の
- no — Possessive or attributive particle.
- 毛皮
- kegawa — Fur; animal pelt or hide.
- は
- wa — Topic-marking particle indicating the subject.
- 長い間
- nagai aida — For a long time; over a lengthy period.
- 多く
- ōku — Many; a large number or amount.
- 隣人
- rinjin — Neighbor; person living nearby.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or animate beings.
- 羨望
- senbō — Envy; admiration mixed with desire.
- 的
- teki — Suffix meaning '-like' or '-related to'.
- と
- to — Particle meaning 'and,' 'with,' or quotation marker.
- なっ
- nat- — Conjunctive form of なる (naru), 'to become.'
- て
- te — Conjunctive particle connecting verb phrases.
- き
- ki — Stem of くる (kuru), indicating coming action.
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb marker.
- ご存知
- gozonji — Honorific expression meaning 'you know; aware of.'
- よう
- yō — As you know; it seems; resembling.
- に
- ni — Particle indicating direction, location, or manner.
- その
- sono — That (near listener); demonstrative adjective.
- 中
- naka — Inside; among; in the middle of.
- 非常
- hijō — Extremely; very; emergency; unusual degree.
- 地味
- jimi — Plain; modest; subdued in appearance.
- な
- na — Adjectival copula linking na-adjectives to nouns.
- を
- wo — Object-marking particle indicating direct object.
- 持つ
- motsu — To hold; to have; to possess.
- もの
- mono — Thing; person; object; one who does.
- も
- mo — Particle meaning 'also,' 'too,' or 'even.'
- いる
- iru — To exist; to be (animate subjects).
- それら
- sorera — Those things; those (plural demonstrative pronoun).
- まったく
- mattaku — Completely; utterly; not at all (with negative).
- 美しく
- utsukushiku — Beautifully; adverbial form of beautiful.
- ない
- nai — Negative auxiliary; not; does not exist.
- それ
- sore — That; it (near listener pronoun).
- でも
- demo — Even so; but; however; nevertheless.
- 持ち主
- mochinushi — Owner; possessor; one who holds something.
- 住む
- sumu — To live; to reside; to dwell somewhere.
- 小さな
- chiisana — Small; little; tiny (attributive adjective).
- 生き物
- ikimono — Living creature; organism; living being.
- で
- de — Particle indicating location, means, or cause.
- 最も
- mottomo — Most; extremely; the greatest degree.
- 誠実
- seijitsu — Sincere; honest; faithful; trustworthy.
- 勤勉
- kinben — Diligent; industrious; hardworking.
- 者
- mono / sha — Person; one who does something; individual.
- いたずら
- itazura — Mischief; prank; naughty behavior.
- や
- ya — Particle listing examples; 'and,' 'or,' etc.
- 悪戯
- itazura / waruguchi — Prank; mischievous act; playful trick.
- 好き
- suki — Like; fond of; favorite.
- が
- ga — Subject-marking particle; also means 'but.'
- なぜ
- naze — Why; for what reason.
- 白い
- shiroi — White; of white color.
- 縁取り
- fuchidori — Border; edging; trim around something.
- ある
- aru — To exist; to have; to be (inanimate).
- 素晴らしい
- subarashii — Wonderful; splendid; magnificent; great.
- 青い
- aoi — Blue; green; pale; immature.
- 与え
- atae- — Stem of 与える (ataeru): to give; grant.
- られる
- rareru — Passive auxiliary: to be given or done to.
- か
- ka — Question particle; or; whether.
- 彼ら
- karera — They; them (plural third-person pronoun).
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite.
- 本当
- hontō — True; real; genuine; really.
- 理解
- rikai — Understanding; comprehension; grasp of meaning.
- し
- shi — Conjunctive form of する (suru): to do.
- がたい
- gatai — Suffix meaning difficult to do; hard to.
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter; abstract noun nominalizer.
- だっ
- dat- — Past conjunctive form of だ (da): was.
- よく
- yoku — Often; well; frequently; thoroughly.
- 考え
- kangae — Thought; idea; consideration; thinking.
- い
- i — Stem/conjunctive of いる (iru): to be.
- 彼
- kare — He; him; that man.
- より
- yori — Than; from; more than (comparison particle).
- ずっと
- zutto — Much more; all along; continuously; far.
- 羽
- hane — Feather; wing; counter for birds.
- 友達
- tomodachi — Friend; companion; pal.
- 何人
- nannin — How many people; several people.
- からかう
- karakau — To tease; to make fun of someone.
- 好む
- konomu — To prefer; to like; to be fond of.
- ため
- tame — For the sake of; because; in order to.
- いつも
- itsumo — Always; usually; all the time.
- けんか
- kenka — Quarrel; fight; argument; dispute.
- 近く
- chikaku — Nearby; close; in the vicinity.
- とき
- toki — Time; moment; when; occasion.
- 警告
- keikoku — Warning; caution; alert.
- する
- suru — To do; to make; to perform.
- 埋め合わせる
- umeawaseru — To compensate; to make up for something.
- あり
- ari — Conjunctive form of ある: exists; there is.
- 認め
- mitome- — Stem of 認める (mitomeru): to acknowledge; admit.
- 功績
- kōseki — Achievement; merit; distinguished service.
- 素直
- sunao — Honest; obedient; straightforward; gentle.
- 認める
- mitomeru — To admit; to acknowledge; to recognize.
- ほど
- hodo — To the extent that; about; as much as.
- しかし
- shikashi — However; but; nevertheless.
- かかわら
- kakawara- — Stem of にもかかわらず: despite; regardless of.
- ず
- zu — Negative suffix; without doing; not doing.
- 華やか
- hanayaka — Gorgeous; showy; brilliant; flamboyant.
- 装い
- yosooi — Attire; dress; appearance; outfit.
- どうにも
- dō ni mo — No matter what; cannot possibly; somehow.
- 正しい
- tadashii — Correct; right; proper; accurate.
- 思え
- omoe- — Potential/conditional stem of 思う: to think.
- なかっ
- nakat- — Past negative conjunctive form: was not.
- もちろん
- mochiron — Of course; certainly; naturally.
- 言っ
- it- — Past conjunctive of 言う (iu): said; told.
- 古き
- furuki — Old; ancient (literary/archaic attributive form).
- 自然
- shizen — Nature; natural; spontaneous.
- 母
- haha — Mother; one's own mother.
- 私
- watashi — I; me; first-person pronoun.
- たくさん
- takusan — Many; a lot; plenty; much.
- 知っ
- shit- — Conjunctive of 知る (shiru): to know.
- けれど
- keredo — But; however; although; though.
- まさか
- masaka — Surely not; no way; you can't be serious.
- そんな
- sonna — Such; that kind of; like that.
- でしょう
- deshō — Probably; right?; isn't it? (polite conjecture).
- 言葉
- kotoba — Word; language; speech; expression.
- 驚い
- odorokai- — Conjunctive of 驚く: to be surprised; astonished.
- ふり
- furi — Pretense; acting as if; feigning.
- ながら
- nagara — While doing; although; even though.
- 口
- kuchi — Mouth; opening; entrance.
- はさん
- hasan- — Stem of はさむ (hasamu): to interject; insert.
- だ
- da — Copula: is; am; are (plain form).
- 挿絵
- sashie — Illustration; picture inserted in a book.
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