Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 105
And of course you know that that reason is because of something that happened a long time ago, way back in the days when the world was young.
そしてもちろん、その理由は、世界がまだ若かった頃、ずっと昔に起きたある出来事のせいだということを、あなたも知っているでしょう。
Almost everything to-day is the result of things that happened in those long-ago days.
今日のほとんどすべてのことは、その遠い昔に起きた出来事の結果なのです。
The great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Spotty the Turtle lived then, and unlike Spotty, whom you know, he had no house.
カメのスポッティの何代も前のご先祖様はその頃生きていましたが、あなたもご存知のスポッティとは違い、彼には家がありませんでした。
He was very quiet and bashful, was Mr. Turtle, and he never meddled with any one's business, because he believed that the best way of keeping out of trouble was to attend strictly to his own affairs.
カメさんはとても物静かで内気で、他人のことには決して口を出しませんでした。なぜなら、厄介事に巻き込まれないための一番の方法は、自分自身のことだけにしっかりと専念することだと信じていたからです。
"He was a good deal like Spotty, just as fond of the water and just as slow moving, but he didn't have the house which Spotty has now.
「彼はスポッティによく似ていて、同じように水が大好きで、同じようにゆっくりと動きましたが、今スポッティが持っているような家は持っていませんでした。
If he had had, he would have been saved a great deal of trouble and worry.
もし持っていたなら、多くの苦労や心配事から救われていたことでしょう。
For a long time everybody lived at peace with everybody else.
長い間、みんながお互いに平和に暮らしていました。
Then came the trying time, of which you already know, when those who lived on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest had the very hardest kind of work to find enough to eat, and were hungry most of the time.
そしてあなたもすでに知っている、あの辛い時代がやってきました。緑の草原や緑の森に住む者たちが食べ物を十分に見つけるのにとても苦労し、ほとんどの時間お腹を空かせていた時代です。
Now Mr. Turtle, living in the Smiling Pool, had plenty to eat.
さて、ほほ笑みの池に住むカメさんには、食べ物が十分にありました。
He had nothing to worry about on that score.
その点については、何も心配することはありませんでした。
Everybody who lives in the Smiling Pool knows that it is the best place in the world, anyway."
ほほ笑みの池に住む者なら誰でも、とにかくそこが世界で一番の場所だと知っているのです。」
Grandfather Frog winked at Jerry Muskrat, who was listening, and Jerry nodded his head.
カエルのおじいさんは、聞いていたジェリー・マスクラットにウィンクし、ジェリーは頭を縦に振りました。
Vocabulary
- そして
- soshite — And then; connecting two related events or ideas
- もちろん
- mochiron — Of course; naturally; without doubt
- その
- sono — That; referring to something previously mentioned
- 理由
- riyuu — Reason; cause; explanation for something
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle indicating the sentence topic
- 世界
- sekai — The world; the entire earth or universe
- が
- ga — Subject marker particle identifying the grammatical subject
- まだ
- mada — Still; not yet; continuing in a previous state
- 若かった
- wakakatta — Was young; past tense of young
- 頃
- koro — Around that time; approximate period or era
- ずっと
- zutto — All along; continuously; for a long time
- 昔
- mukashi — Long ago; ancient times; the old days
- に
- ni — Particle indicating location, time, or direction
- 起き
- oki — Occur; happen; wake up (stem form)
- た
- ta — Past tense grammatical suffix for verbs
- ある
- aru — A certain; there exists; to be (inanimate)
- 出来事
- dekigoto — An event; happening; occurrence; incident
- の
- no — Possessive or nominalizing particle connecting nouns
- せい
- sei — Fault; blame; cause of something negative
- だ
- da — Informal copula meaning is or am or are
- という
- to iu — Called; known as; the fact that
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter; nominalizer for actions
- を
- wo — Object marker particle indicating the direct object
- あなた
- anata — You; second person pronoun in Japanese
- も
- mo — Also; too; even; likewise; as well
- 知って
- shitte — Knowing; te-form of to know
- いる
- iru — To exist; to be (animate); progressive aspect marker
- でしょう
- deshoo — Probably; right?; seeking agreement or guessing
- 今日
- kyoo — Today; the current day
- ほとんど
- hotondo — Almost; nearly; mostly; the majority of
- すべて
- subete — All; everything; entirely; the whole of
- 遠い
- tooi — Far; distant; remote in space or time
- 結果
- kekka — Result; outcome; consequence of an action
- な
- na — Adjectival copula linking na-adjectives to nouns
- です
- desu — Polite copula meaning is, am, or are
- カメ
- kame — Turtle; tortoise; reptile with a hard shell
- 何代
- nandai — How many generations; several generations back
- 前
- mae — Before; in front; previous; ago
- ご先祖様
- go-senzo-sama — Honorable ancestors; forebears of a family lineage
- 生き
- iki — Living; to live; stem form of ikiru
- て
- te — Te-form conjunctive particle connecting verb phrases
- い
- i — Abbreviated form of iru meaning to be or exist
- まし
- mashi — Polite past tense auxiliary verb stem form
- ご存知
- go-zonji — Honorific form of knowing; you may already know
- と
- to — With; and; quotation particle; conditional if
- 違い
- chigai — Difference; unlike; dissimilarity between things
- 彼
- kare — He; him; third person masculine pronoun
- 家
- ie — House; home; dwelling; family residence
- あり
- ari — There is; exists; stem form of aru
- ませ
- mase — Polite imperative or negative auxiliary suffix
- ん
- n — Negative contraction or explanatory sentence-ending particle
- さん
- san — Polite honorific suffix for names or titles
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite; greatly
- 物静か
- monoshizuka — Calm and quiet in manner; reserved and tranquil
- で
- de — Particle indicating means, location of action, or cause
- 内気
- uchiki — Shy; introverted; timid in social situations
- 他人
- tanin — Other people; strangers; those unrelated to oneself
- 決して
- kesshite — Never; by no means (used with negative verbs)
- 口
- kuchi — Mouth; speaking; utterance; opening
- 出し
- dashi — Putting out; interfering; stem of dasu
- なぜなら
- nazenara — Because; the reason being; for the reason that
- 厄介事
- yakkaigoto — Trouble; troublesome matter; annoying problem
- 巻き込まれ
- makikomare — Being dragged into; getting involved in trouble
- ない
- nai — Negative auxiliary; not; does not exist
- ため
- tame — For the purpose of; because of; in order to
- 一番
- ichiban — The best; number one; most; the first
- 方法
- hoohou — Method; way; means of doing something
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; one's own self; myself or yourself
- 自身
- jishin — Oneself; personally; emphasizing one's own self
- だけ
- dake — Only; just; limited to; no more than
- しっかり
- shikkari — Firmly; securely; steadily; with full attention
- 専念
- sennen — Devoting oneself entirely; concentrating fully on something
- する
- suru — To do; to perform; versatile action verb
- 信じ
- shinji — Believing; trusting; stem form of shinjiru
- から
- kara — Because; from; since; starting point particle
- よく
- yoku — Often; well; frequently; skillfully
- 似
- ni — Resembling; looking like; stem of niru
- 同じ
- onaji — Same; identical; equal; no different from
- よう
- you — Like; similar to; seems; appearance or manner
- 水
- mizu — Water; fresh liquid essential for life
- 大好き
- daisuki — To love very much; really like something
- ゆっくり
- yukkuri — Slowly; leisurely; at a relaxed easy pace
- 動き
- ugoki — Movement; motion; movement stem of ugoku
- 今
- ima — Now; at this moment; currently; the present
- 持って
- motte — Holding; having; te-form of motsu
- もし
- moshi — If; supposing; in the event that
- なら
- nara — If it is the case that; conditional particle
- 多く
- ooku — Many; much; a large number or amount
- 苦労
- kuroo — Hardship; hard work; toil; suffering or trouble
- や
- ya — And; listing particle connecting multiple items
- 心配事
- shinpaigoto — Worry; concern; something causing anxiety
- 救わ
- sukuwa — Being saved; rescued; passive stem of sukuu
- れ
- re — Passive or potential verb suffix marker
- 長い
- nagai — Long; lengthy in distance or duration
- 間
- aida — Between; interval; period of time; gap
- みんな
- minna — Everyone; all; everybody together
- お互い
- otagai — Each other; mutually; one another
- 平和
- heiwa — Peace; harmony; tranquility; absence of conflict
- 暮らし
- kurashi — Living; lifestyle; daily life; livelihood
- すでに
- sudeni — Already; by now; at this point in time
- あの
- ano — That (over there); referring to shared distant memory
- 辛い
- tsurai — Painful; hard; tough; emotionally or physically difficult
- 時代
- jidai — Era; age; period of history or time
- やって
- yatte — Doing; coming; te-form of yaru or yatte-kuru
- き
- ki — Come; stem of kuru used in compound forms
- 緑
- midori — Green; the color green; greenery in nature
- 草原
- sougen — Grassland; meadow; open green field or plain
- 森
- mori — Forest; woods; grove of many trees
- 住む
- sumu — To live; to reside; to dwell somewhere
- 者
- mono — Person; one who does something; being
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or animate beings
- 食べ物
- tabemono — Food; things to eat; edible items
- 十分
- juubun — Sufficient; enough; adequate; fully satisfying
- 見つける
- mitsukeru — To find; to discover; to locate something
- し
- shi — And; listing reasons; conjunctive verb ending
- 時間
- jikan — Time; hours; duration; a period of time
- お腹
- onaka — Stomach; belly; abdomen; feeling of hunger
- 空かせ
- sukase — Going hungry; making empty; causative of suku
- さて
- sate — Well now; so; shifting topic transitional expression
- ほほ笑み
- hohoemí — A smile; gentle smiling expression on face
- 池
- ike — Pond; small body of still water
- 点
- ten — Point; dot; spot; score; particular aspect
- ついて
- tsuite — Regarding; about; concerning a particular topic
- 何
- nani — What; something; anything; interrogative pronoun
- 心配
- shinpai — Worry; concern; anxiety about something
- 誰でも
- daredemo — Anyone; everybody; whoever it may be
- とにかく
- tonikaku — Anyway; at any rate; regardless; in any case
- そこ
- soko — There; that place; that location nearby
- 場所
- basho — Place; location; spot; venue; position
- カエル
- kaeru — Frog; small amphibian living near water
- おじいさん
- ojiisan — Grandfather; elderly man; respectful term for old man
- 聞いて
- kiite — Listening; asking; te-form of kiku
- ウィンク
- winku — Wink; closing one eye as a gesture
- 頭
- atama — Head; the top part of the body
- 縦
- tate — Vertical; lengthwise; up and down direction
- 振り
- furi — Shaking; nodding; waving; stem of furu
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