Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 103
All the way to his own home in the dear Old Briar-patch, Peter thought about Spotty and how queer it was that he should carry his house around with him.
懐かしいいばらの茂みにある自分の家まで帰る道すがら、ピーターはスポッティのことと、家を持ち歩くとはなんと奇妙なことだろうと考え続けていました。
"I wonder how it happens that he does it," thought he.
「どうしてそんなことができるのだろう」と彼は思いました。
"No wonder he is so slow.
「それでは歩くのが遅いのも無理はない。
Of course, it is very handy to have his house always with him.
もちろん、いつも家を持ち歩いているのはとても便利だ。
As he says, he is always at home.
彼が言う通り、いつでも家にいることになる。
Still, when he is in a hurry to get away from an enemy, it must be very awkward to have to carry his house on his back.
それでも、敵から急いで逃げなければならないとき、背中に家を背負って逃げなければならないとは、さぞかし不便なことだろう。
I--I--why, how stupid of me!
ぼく――ぼく――あれ、なんてぼくはばかなんだろう！
He doesn't have to run away at all!
彼はまったく逃げる必要がないんだ！
All he has got to do is to go inside his house and stay there until the danger is past!
ただ家の中に入って、危険が過ぎ去るまでそこにいればいいだけなんだ！
I never thought of that before.
そんなこと、今まで考えたこともなかった。
Why, that is the handiest thing I ever heard of."
それはぼくが聞いたことの中で一番便利なことだ。」
Now Peter knew that there must be a good story about Spotty and his house, and you know Peter dearly loves a good story.
ピーターは、スポッティとその家にまつわるきっとすばらしい話があるに違いないと思いました。そしてご存知の通り、ピーターはすばらしい話が大好きです。
So at the very first opportunity the next day, he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to ask Grandfather Frog about it.
そこで翌日、最初の機会にすぐ、彼はカエルじいさんに聞くために微笑みの池へと急ぎました。
As usual, Grandfather Frog was sitting on his big green lily-pad.
いつものように、カエルじいさんは大きな緑の睡蓮の葉の上に座っていました。
No sooner did Peter pop his head above the edge of the bank of the Smiling Pool than Grandfather Frog exclaimed:
ピーターが微笑みの池の岸の縁から顔を出すやいなや、カエルじいさんが叫びました。
"Chug-a-rum! You've kept me waiting a long time, Peter Rabbit.
「チャガラム！ずいぶん長い間待たせてくれたね、ピーター・ラビット。
I don't like to be kept waiting.
待たされるのは好きじゃないんだ。
Vocabulary
- 懐かしい
- natsukashii — Nostalgic; evoking fond memories of the past
- 茂み
- shigemi — Thicket; dense cluster of bushes or shrubs
- ある
- aru — To exist; to be present (inanimate things)
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; referring to one's own self
- 家
- ie — House; home; one's dwelling place
- まで
- made — Until; up to; as far as (particle)
- 帰る
- kaeru — To return home; to go back to one's place
- 道
- michi — Road; path; way; street
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter; nominalizer for actions
- 持ち歩く
- mochiaru ku — To carry around; to take something everywhere
- なんと
- nanto — How; what; expressing surprise or exclamation
- 奇妙
- kimyou — Strange; peculiar; odd; bizarre
- だろう
- darou — Probably; I wonder; expressing conjecture or supposition
- 考え
- kangae — Thought; idea; opinion; way of thinking
- 続ける
- tsuzukeru — To continue; to keep doing something
- どう
- dou — How; in what way; how about
- そんな
- sonna — Such; that kind of; like that
- できる
- dekiru — To be able to; to be possible; can do
- 彼
- kare — He; him; that male person
- 思い
- omoi — Thought; feeling; emotion; strong sentiment
- それ
- sore — That; it; that thing over there
- 歩く
- aruku — To walk; to go on foot
- 遅い
- osoi — Slow; late; not fast enough
- 無理
- muri — Impossible; unreasonable; overdoing something
- もちろん
- mochiron — Of course; naturally; certainly
- いつも
- itsumo — Always; usually; all the time
- いる
- iru — To be; to exist (animate beings)
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite; really
- 便利
- benri — Convenient; handy; useful in daily life
- 言う
- iu — To say; to speak; to tell someone
- 通り
- toori — As stated; in the way of; street
- いつ
- itsu — When; at what time
- なる
- naru — To become; to turn into something
- 敵
- teki — Enemy; opponent; foe; adversary
- から
- kara — From; because; after; particle of origin
- なら
- nara — If; in the case of; conditional particle
- とき
- toki — Time; moment; occasion; when something happens
- 背中
- senaka — Back (of the body); one's upper back
- 不便
- fuben — Inconvenient; not handy; troublesome to use
- ぼく
- boku — I; me (informal masculine first-person pronoun)
- あれ
- are — That thing over there; hey; expression of surprise
- なんて
- nante — How; what a; expressing surprise or contempt
- ばか
- baka — Fool; idiot; stupid; foolish behavior
- まったく
- mattaku — Completely; utterly; indeed; good grief
- 逃げる
- nigeru — To run away; to flee; to escape danger
- 必要
- hitsuyou — Necessary; needed; required; essential
- ただ
- tada — Just; merely; only; simply; free of charge
- 中
- naka — Inside; middle; among; within something
- 危険
- kiken — Danger; hazard; risk; perilous situation
- 過ぎ去る
- sugisaru — To pass by; to go away; to elapse
- そこ
- soko — There; that place; that location nearby
- いい
- ii — Good; fine; okay; all right
- だけ
- dake — Only; just; that's all; nothing more
- 今
- ima — Now; at this moment; currently
- 一番
- ichiban — Number one; the best; the most; first
- その
- sono — That; the (demonstrative adjective near listener)
- まつわる
- matsuwaru — To relate to; to be associated with something
- きっと
- kitto — Surely; certainly; definitely; without doubt
- すばらしい
- subarashii — Wonderful; splendid; marvelous; magnificent
- 話
- hanashi — Story; talk; conversation; topic of discussion
- 違い
- chigai — Difference; discrepancy; surely (no doubt)
- そして
- soshite — And then; and; after that; furthermore
- ご存知
- gozonji — Knowing; being aware of (honorific expression)
- 大好き
- daisuki — Loving very much; very fond of something
- です
- desu — Polite copula; is; am; are (polite form)
- 翌日
- yokujitsu — The next day; the following day
- 最初
- saisho — First; the beginning; at the start
- 機会
- kikai — Opportunity; chance; occasion to do something
- すぐ
- sugu — Immediately; right away; soon; directly
- カエル
- kaeru — Frog; the amphibian animal
- じいさん
- jiisan — Old man; grandfather; elderly male person
- 聞く
- kiku — To listen; to hear; to ask someone
- ため
- tame — For the purpose of; for the sake of
- 微笑み
- hohoemi — Smile; gentle smiling expression on face
- 池
- ike — Pond; small body of still water
- 急ぎ
- isogi — Hurrying; haste; rush (noun/stem form)
- よう
- you — Appearing; seeming; like; in the manner of
- 大きな
- ookina — Big; large; great in size
- 緑
- midori — Green; the color green; greenery
- 葉
- ha — Leaf; blade of a plant
- 上
- ue — Above; top; on top of something
- 岸
- kishi — Shore; bank; riverbank; edge of water
- 縁
- fuchi — Edge; rim; border; brink of something
- 顔
- kao — Face; facial expression; appearance
- 出す
- dasu — To take out; to bring out; to begin doing
- 叫び
- sakebi — Shout; cry; scream; yell (noun form)
- ずいぶん
- zuibun — Quite; considerably; very much; rather
- 長い
- nagai — Long; lengthy; taking a long time
- 間
- aida / ma — Space between; interval; period of time
- ね
- ne — Sentence-ending particle seeking agreement or confirmation
- れる
- reru — Passive or potential auxiliary verb suffix
- 好き
- suki — Liked; fond of; love for something or someone
- じゃ
- ja — Casual contraction of では; well then; not
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