Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 92
He felt that it was a disgrace that he, the king, should have no tail.
彼は、王である自分が尻尾を持っていないことは恥ずかしいことだと感じた。
He brooded over it so much that he lost his appetite and grew cross and peevish.
彼はそのことをあまりにも思い悩んだため、食欲をなくし、不機嫌で短気になった。
"Then along came Old Mother Nature to see how things were going in the Green Forest.
「そこへ、緑の森の様子を見にやって来たのが、年老いた大自然の母だった。
Of course she saw right away that something was wrong with Old King Bear.
もちろん彼女はすぐに、老いた熊の王に何か異変があることに気づいた。
When she asked him what the matter was, he was ashamed to tell her at first.
彼女が何があったのかと尋ねると、彼は最初は恥ずかしくて話せなかった。
But after a little he told her that he wanted a tail; that he could never again be happy unless he had a tail.
しかし少しすると、彼は尻尾が欲しいと、尻尾がなければ二度と幸せになれないと彼女に打ち明けた。
She told him that he hadn't the least use in the world for a tail, and that he wouldn't be any happier if he had one.
彼女は、尻尾などまったく必要ないし、あったところで少しも幸せにはなれないと彼に言った。
Nothing that she could say made any difference--he wanted a tail.
彼女がどんなことを言っても無駄だった――彼は尻尾が欲しかったのだ。
Finally she gave him one.
ついに彼女は彼に尻尾を与えた。
"For a few days Old King Bear was perfectly happy.
「数日間、老いた熊の王はすっかり幸せだった。
He spent all his spare time admiring his new tail.
彼は暇さえあれば新しい尻尾に見とれていた。
He called the attention of all his subjects to it, and they all told him that it was a very wonderful tail and was very becoming to him.
彼はすべての臣下にそれを注目させると、みな口をそろえて、それはとても素晴らしい尻尾で、とてもよく似合っていると言った。
But it wasn't long before he found that his new tail was very much in the way.
しかし間もなく、新しい尻尾がひどく邪魔になることがわかった。
It bothered him when he walked.
歩くときに尻尾が煩わしかった。
It was in the way when he sat down.
座るときには邪魔になった。
It was a nuisance when he climbed a tree.
木に登るときには厄介者だった。
Vocabulary
- 彼
- kare — He; third-person masculine pronoun
- は
- wa — Topic-marking particle in Japanese grammar
- 王
- ō — King; ruler of a kingdom
- で
- de — Copula particle indicating state or means
- ある
- aru — To be; to exist (for inanimate things)
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; one's own self
- が
- ga — Subject-marking grammatical particle
- 尻尾
- shippo — Tail of an animal
- を
- wo — Object-marking grammatical particle
- 持っ
- mot(te) — To have; to hold; to possess
- て
- te — Te-form connective particle linking verb phrases
- い
- i — Auxiliary indicating ongoing state or action
- ない
- nai — Negative auxiliary; not; does not exist
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter (nominalizer)
- 恥ずかしい
- hazukashii — Embarrassing; feeling ashamed or shy
- だ
- da — Informal copula meaning 'is' or 'am'
- と
- to — Quotation or conjunctive particle meaning 'that'
- 感じ
- kanji — Feeling; sense; impression of something
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb marker
- その
- sono — That; referring to something previously mentioned
- あまり
- amari — So much so; excessively; too much
- に
- ni — Direction, location, or purpose particle
- も
- mo — Also; too; even (inclusive particle)
- 思い悩ん
- omoinayan — To worry deeply; to agonize over something
- ため
- tame — Because of; for the sake of; due to
- 食欲
- shokuyoku — Appetite; desire to eat food
- なくし
- nakushi — To lose; to cause to disappear
- 不機嫌
- fuкigen — Bad mood; displeasure; ill temper
- 短気
- tanki — Short temper; impatience; quick to anger
- なっ
- nat(te) — Became; turned into (te-form of naru)
- そこ
- soko — There; that place nearby
- へ
- e — Directional particle meaning 'toward' or 'to'
- 緑
- midori — Green; the color green
- の
- no — Possessive or noun-linking particle
- 森
- mori — Forest; woods; a wooded area
- 様子
- yōsu — State; situation; appearance; how things look
- 見
- mi — To see; to look at; to observe
- やっ
- yat(te) — To do; to send; to come/go (colloquial)
- 来
- ki — To come; arrival (stem of kuru)
- 年老い
- toshioi — Aged; grown old; elderly in years
- 大自然
- daishizen — Great nature; the natural world at large
- 母
- haha — Mother; one's own mother
- だっ
- dat(ta) — Was; were (past form of da)
- もちろん
- mochiron — Of course; naturally; needless to say
- 彼女
- kanojo — She; her; girlfriend
- すぐ
- sugu — Immediately; right away; soon
- 老い
- oi — Old age; aging; growing old
- 熊
- kuma — Bear; the large wild animal
- 何
- nani — What; something; anything
- か
- ka — Question particle or indefinite marker
- 異変
- ihen — Strange change; unusual occurrence; anomaly
- 気づい
- kizui — Noticed; became aware of something
- あっ
- at(te) — There is/was; existing (te-form of aru)
- 尋ねる
- tazuneru — To ask; to inquire; to question someone
- 最初
- saisho — The first; the beginning; at first
- 恥ずかしく
- hazukashiku — Embarrassingly; in an ashamed or shy manner
- 話せ
- hanase — To be able to speak; can talk
- なかっ
- nakat(ta) — Was not; did not (past negative auxiliary)
- しかし
- shikashi — However; but; nevertheless
- 少し
- sukoshi — A little; a small amount; slightly
- する
- suru — To do; to perform an action
- 欲しい
- hoshii — Wanted; desired; wishing to have something
- なけれ
- nakere — If there is not; unless (conditional negative)
- ば
- ba — Conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'when'
- 二度
- nido — Twice; two times; a second time
- 幸せ
- shiawase — Happiness; fortunate; blessed state
- なれ
- nare — Can become; is able to be (potential)
- 打ち明け
- uchiake — To confide; to reveal a secret openly
- など
- nado — Et cetera; and so on; such things as
- まったく
- mattaku — Completely; utterly; not at all (with negative)
- 必要
- hitsuyō — Necessary; needed; required; essential
- し
- shi — And; doing (conjunctive verb form)
- ところ
- tokoro — Place; moment; point in time or situation
- 言っ
- it(te) — Said; told (te-form of iu)
- どんな
- donna — What kind of; what sort of thing
- 無駄
- muda — Useless; wasteful; in vain; pointless
- 欲しかっ
- hoshikat(ta) — Wanted; had desired (past form of hoshii)
- ついに
- tsuini — Finally; at last; in the end
- 与え
- atae — To give; to grant; to provide something
- 数日間
- sūjitsukan — For several days; a period of a few days
- すっかり
- sukkari — Completely; entirely; thoroughly; all the way
- 暇
- hima — Free time; leisure; having nothing to do
- さえ
- sae — Even; as long as; if only (particle)
- あれ
- are — That (over there); that thing yonder
- 新しい
- atarashii — New; fresh; novel; recently acquired
- 見とれ
- mitore — To be fascinated by; to gaze admiringly at
- すべて
- subete — All; everything; the whole lot
- 臣下
- shinka — Retainer; subject; vassal serving a ruler
- それ
- sore — That; that thing (near the listener)
- 注目
- chūmoku — Attention; notice; to focus eyes on something
- さ
- sa — Nominalizing suffix or casual sentence-ending particle
- せる
- seru — Causative auxiliary: to make or let someone do
- みな
- mina — Everyone; all people; everybody
- 口
- kuchi — Mouth; an opening; the organ of speech
- そろえ
- soroe — To align; to gather together; to say in unison
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite; really
- 素晴らしい
- subarashii — Wonderful; splendid; magnificent; superb
- よく
- yoku — Well; often; nicely; skillfully
- 似合っ
- niat(te) — Suits well; looks good on someone
- いる
- iru — To be; to exist (for animate beings)
- 間もなく
- mamonaku — Soon; before long; shortly after
- ひどく
- hidoku — Terribly; severely; awfully; very much
- 邪魔
- jama — Hindrance; obstacle; getting in the way
- なる
- naru — To become; to turn into something
- わかっ
- wakat(ta) — Understood; realized; became clear
- 歩く
- aruku — To walk; to go on foot
- とき
- toki — Time; moment; when something occurs
- 煩わしかっ
- wazurawashikat(ta) — Was troublesome; was annoying and bothersome
- 座る
- suwaru — To sit down; to take a seat
- 木
- ki — Tree; wood; a wooden plant
- 登る
- noboru — To climb; to go up; to ascend
- 厄介者
- yakkaимono — Nuisance; troublesome person or burden
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