Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 97

English → Japanese Full Text Level 2/10

However, what he cared most about was the story, so he settled himself to listen, his long ears standing straight up, and his eyes stretched wide open as he watched Grandfather Frog.

しかし、彼が最も気にかけていたのは話のことだったので、彼は聞く体勢を整え、長い耳をまっすぐに立て、カエルのおじいさんを見ながら目を大きく見開いた。

The latter cleared his throat two or three times, each time as if he intended to begin right then.

カエルのおじいさんは二、三度咳払いをし、そのたびにすぐにでも話し始めようとするかのような素振りを見せた。

It was one of Grandfather Frog's little jokes.

それはカエルのおじいさんのちょっとした冗談のひとつだった。

He did it just to tease Peter.

彼はただピーターをからかうためにそうしたのだ。

At last he really did begin, and the very first thing he did was to ask Peter a question.

ついに彼は本当に話し始め、最初にしたことはピーターに質問することだった。

He had found out what he had wanted to know, but he hadn't had a story.

彼は知りたかったことを知ることができたが、話を聞くことはできなかった。

He fidgeted about and looked very hard at Grandfather Frog, but the latter seemed to think that he had told Peter what he wanted to know, and that was all there was to it.

彼はそわそわしながらカエルのおじいさんをじっと見つめたが、カエルのおじいさんはピーターに知りたいことを伝え、それで十分だと思っているようだった。

Finally Peter sighed, and it was such a heavy sigh!

ついにピーターはため息をついたが、それはとても深いため息だった！

Vocabulary

しかし: shikashi — Conjunction meaning 'however' or 'but'.
彼: kare — Third-person pronoun meaning 'he' or 'him'.
が: ga — Subject-marking particle in Japanese grammar.
最も: mottomo — Superlative adverb meaning 'most' or 'extremely'.
気に: ki ni — Part of phrase meaning 'to mind' or 'to care about'.
か: ka — Question particle placed at the end of sentences.
いた: ita — Past progressive auxiliary verb meaning 'was doing'.
の: no — Possessive or nominalizing particle in Japanese.
は: wa — Topic-marking particle indicating sentence subject or topic.
話: hanashi — Noun meaning 'story', 'talk', or 'conversation'.
こと: koto — Nominalizer meaning 'thing', 'fact', or 'matter'.
だった: datta — Past tense copula meaning 'was' or 'it was'.
ので: node — Conjunction meaning 'because' or 'since' (reason).
聞く: kiku — Verb meaning 'to listen' or 'to ask'.
体勢: taisei — Noun meaning 'posture', 'stance', or 'body position'.
を: wo — Object-marking particle indicating the direct object.
整え: totonoe — Verb meaning 'to prepare' or 'to arrange oneself'.
長い: nagai — Adjective meaning 'long' in length or duration.
耳: mimi — Noun meaning 'ear' or 'ears'.
まっすぐ: massugu — Adverb or adjective meaning 'straight' or 'directly'.
に: ni — Particle indicating direction, location, or purpose.
立て: tate — Verb meaning 'to stand up' or 'to raise upright'.
カエル: kaeru — Noun meaning 'frog'.
おじいさん: ojiisan — Noun meaning 'grandfather' or 'old man'.
見: mi — Verb stem meaning 'to look' or 'to see'.
ながら: nagara — Conjunction meaning 'while doing' two simultaneous actions.
目: me — Noun meaning 'eye' or 'eyes'.
大きく: ookiku — Adverb meaning 'largely' or 'widely' (from big).
見開いた: mihiraita — Verb phrase meaning 'opened wide' referring to eyes.
二: ni — Number meaning 'two'.
三度: sando — Noun meaning 'three times' or 'thrice'.
咳払い: sekibarai — Noun meaning 'clearing one's throat' deliberately.
その: sono — Demonstrative adjective meaning 'that' or 'those'.
たび: tabi — Noun meaning 'each time' or 'whenever'.
すぐに: sugu ni — Adverb meaning 'immediately' or 'right away'.
でも: demo — Conjunction meaning 'but' or 'even so'.
話し始めよ: hanashihajimeyo — Volitional verb form meaning 'let's start talking'.
と: to — Particle meaning 'and', 'with', or quotation marker.
する: suru — Verb meaning 'to do' or 'to perform'.
よう: you — Noun meaning 'manner', used in similes 'as if'.
な: na — Particle linking noun or adjective to following noun.
素振り: soburi — Noun meaning 'gesture', 'pretense', or 'mannerism'.
見せた: miseta — Verb meaning 'showed' or 'displayed' (past tense).
それ: sore — Pronoun meaning 'that' or 'it'.
ちょっと: chotto — Adverb meaning 'a little' or 'just a bit'.
した: shita — Past tense of する meaning 'did' or 'made'.
冗談: joudan — Noun meaning 'joke' or 'jest'.
ひとつ: hitotsu — Noun meaning 'one thing' or 'a single item'.
ただ: tada — Adverb meaning 'just', 'merely', or 'only'.
から: kara — Particle meaning 'from' or 'because'.
かう: kau — Verb meaning 'to tease' or 'to provoke'.
ため: tame — Noun meaning 'for the sake of' or 'in order to'.
そう: sou — Adverb meaning 'so', 'like that', or 'that way'.
だ: da — Copula meaning 'is' or 'it is' (plain form).
ついに: tsui ni — Adverb meaning 'finally' or 'at last'.
本当に: hontou ni — Adverb meaning 'truly', 'really', or 'genuinely'.
話し始め: hanashihajime — Verb phrase meaning 'began to speak' or 'started talking'.
最初: saisho — Noun meaning 'the beginning' or 'first of all'.
質問: shitsumon — Noun meaning 'question' or 'inquiry'.
知り: shiri — Verb stem of 知る meaning 'to know' or 'to find out'.
たかった: takatta — Past desiderative form meaning 'wanted to do'.
知る: shiru — Verb meaning 'to know' or 'to come to know'.
でき: deki — Verb stem meaning 'can do' or 'be able to'.
なかった: nakatta — Past negative form meaning 'did not' or 'was not'.
そわそわ: sowasowa — Adverb meaning 'restlessly', 'nervously', or 'fidgeting'.
じっと: jitto — Adverb meaning 'fixedly', 'motionlessly', or 'steadily'.
見つめた: mitsumeta — Verb meaning 'stared at' or 'gazed fixedly at'.
たい: tai — Desiderative suffix meaning 'want to do something'.
伝え: tsutae — Verb meaning 'to convey', 'to tell', or 'to communicate'.
で: de — Particle indicating means, location, or cause.
十分: juubun — Noun/adverb meaning 'enough', 'sufficient', or 'adequate'.
思って: omotte — Verb gerund meaning 'thinking' or 'believing'.
いる: iru — Verb meaning 'to be' or 'to exist' (animate).
ため息: tameiki — Noun meaning 'sigh' or 'deep breath of resignation'.
ついた: tsuita — Verb meaning 'let out' (a sigh) or 'arrived' (past).
とても: totemo — Adverb meaning 'very' or 'extremely'.
深い: fukai — Adjective meaning 'deep' in depth or intensity.

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