Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 107
Fisher, and he was very hungry and fierce.
フィッシャーは、とても腹を空かせていて、獰猛でした。
He looked at the piece of bark under which Mr. Turtle was hiding, but all he saw was the bark, because, you know, Mr. Turtle had drawn himself wholly under.
彼はカメさんが隠れている樹皮の欠片を見ましたが、見えたのは樹皮だけでした。というのも、カメさんは完全に樹皮の下に身を引っ込めていたからです。
"'I believe,' said Mr. Fisher, talking out loud to himself, 'that I'll have a look around the Smiling Pool and see if I can catch that slow-moving Turtle who lives there.
「『私は思う』とフィッシャーさんは独り言を声に出して言いました。『ほほえみの池の周りを見回して、あそこに住んでいる動きの遅いカメを捕まえられるか見てみよう。
I believe he'll make me a good dinner.'
あのカメはきっと良い夕食になるだろう』」
"Of course Mr. Turtle heard just what he said, and he blessed the piece of bark which had hidden him from Mr. Fisher's sight.
もちろんカメさんはフィッシャーさんの言葉をしっかり聞いていて、フィッシャーさんの目から自分を隠してくれた樹皮の欠片に感謝しました。
For a long time he lay very still.
彼はしばらくの間、じっとしていました。
When he did go on, he took the greatest care not to shake off that piece of bark, for he didn't know but that any minute he might want to hide under it again.
進み始めたとき、彼はその樹皮の欠片を落とさないように細心の注意を払いました。なぜなら、いつまた樹皮の下に隠れたくなるかわからなかったからです。
At last he reached the Smiling Pool and slipped into the water, leaving the piece of bark on the bank.
ついに彼はほほえみの池に到着し、樹皮の欠片を岸に残して水の中に滑り込みました。
Thereafter, when he wanted to go on land, he would first make sure that no one was watching.
それ以降、陸に上がりたいときは、まず誰も見ていないことを確かめました。
Then he would crawl under the piece of bark and get it on his back.
それから樹皮の欠片の下に潜り込んで、背中に乗せるのでした。
Wherever he went he carried the piece of bark so as to have it handy to hide under.
どこへ行くにも、すぐに隠れられるように樹皮の欠片を持ち歩きました。
"Now all this time Old Mother Nature had been watching Mr.
「この間ずっと、自然の母さんはカメさんのことを見ていました。
Vocabulary
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle indicating the subject
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; to a great degree
- 腹
- hara — Belly; stomach; abdomen
- を
- wo — Object marker particle indicating direct object
- 空かせて
- sukasete — Having made hungry; causing to be empty
- いて
- ite — Being in a state; connective form of iru
- 獰猛
- dōmō — Ferocious; savage; fierce and dangerous
- でした
- deshita — Was; polite past tense copula
- 彼
- kare — He; him; third-person masculine pronoun
- カメ
- kame — Turtle; tortoise
- さん
- san — Polite honorific suffix for names
- が
- ga — Subject marker particle identifying the subject
- 隠れて
- kakurete — Hiding; being concealed from view
- いる
- iru — To exist; to be (for animate beings)
- 樹皮
- juhi — Tree bark; outer covering of a tree
- の
- no — Possessive or linking particle between nouns
- 欠片
- kakera — Fragment; piece; small broken chunk
- 見
- mi — See; look; stem form of miru
- まし
- mashi — Polite past auxiliary verb stem form
- た
- ta — Past tense grammatical ending
- 見え
- mie — Appear; be visible; come into sight
- だけ
- dake — Only; just; nothing more than that
- という
- to iu — Called; known as; meaning that
- も
- mo — Also; too; even; as well
- 完全
- kanzen — Complete; perfect; total; without exception
- に
- ni — Direction, location, or purpose particle
- 下
- shita — Below; under; lower part
- 身
- mi — Body; one's own self or person
- 引っ込め
- hikkomé — Pulling back; retracting into a shell
- て
- te — Connective particle linking sequential actions
- い
- i — Shortened form of iru; being in state
- から
- kara — Because; since; from a reason
- です
- desu — Polite copula meaning is or are
- 私
- watashi — I; me; first-person singular pronoun
- 思う
- omou — To think; to feel; to believe something
- と
- to — Quotation particle; and; with someone
- 独り言
- hitorigoto — Talking to oneself; a monologue or mutter
- 声
- koe — Voice; sound produced by speaking
- 出して
- dashite — Putting out; emitting; producing a sound
- 言い
- ii — Saying; speaking; stem form of iu
- ほほえみ
- hohoemi — Smile; a gentle pleasant facial expression
- 池
- ike — Pond; small body of still water
- 周り
- mawari — Surroundings; area around something
- 見回し
- mawashi — Looking around; scanning the surroundings carefully
- あそこ
- asoko — Over there; that place far away
- 住ん
- sun — Living; residing in a place (stem)
- で
- de — At; by means of; connective particle
- 動き
- ugoki — Movement; motion; the way something moves
- 遅い
- osoi — Slow; late; not fast
- 捕まえ
- tsukamaé — Catching; grabbing; seizing something or someone
- られる
- rareru — Can; potential or passive verb ending
- か
- ka — Question marker particle at sentence end
- 見て
- mite — Looking; seeing; trying to observe
- みよう
- miyō — Let's try; volitional form of miru
- あの
- ano — That (over there); used before nouns
- きっと
- kitto — Surely; certainly; without a doubt
- 良い
- yoi — Good; fine; excellent; favorable
- 夕食
- yūshoku — Dinner; evening meal
- なる
- naru — To become; to turn into something
- だろう
- darō — Probably; I suppose; expressing conjecture
- もちろん
- mochiron — Of course; naturally; needless to say
- 言葉
- kotoba — Words; language; speech; expression
- しっかり
- shikkari — Firmly; clearly; properly; with certainty
- 聞い
- kii — Hearing; listening (stem form of kiku)
- 目
- me — Eye; eyes; vision
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; one's own self
- 隠して
- kakushite — Hiding; concealing something from others
- くれ
- kure — Please do for me; give (imperative form)
- 感謝
- kansha — Gratitude; thankfulness; appreciation
- し
- shi — And; doing; connective verb form
- しばらく
- shibaraku — For a while; for some time
- 間
- aida — During; interval; period of time between
- じっと
- jitto — Motionlessly; keeping still; without moving
- して
- shite — Doing; connective form of suru
- 進み
- susumi — Advancing; moving forward; proceeding
- 始め
- hajime — Beginning; starting; the start of something
- とき
- toki — Time; moment; when something happens
- その
- sono — That; the (near the listener)
- 落とさ
- otosa — Dropping; letting fall (negative stem form)
- ない
- nai — Not; negative form of verbs
- よう
- yō — So that; in order to; like
- 細心
- saishin — Extreme care; utmost caution and attention
- 注意
- chūi — Attention; caution; careful notice
- 払い
- harai — Paying; giving attention or money
- なぜなら
- nazenara — Because; the reason being that
- いつ
- itsu — When; at what time
- また
- mata — Again; also; once more
- 隠れ
- kakure — Hiding; concealment; stem of kakureru
- たく
- taku — Want to (desiderative verb form stem)
- わから
- wakara — Not knowing; negative stem of wakaru
- なかっ
- nakatt — Did not; past negative auxiliary stem
- ついに
- tsuini — Finally; at last; in the end
- 到着
- tōchaku — Arrival; reaching a destination
- 岸
- kishi — Shore; bank; edge of water body
- 残し
- nokoshi — Leaving behind; remaining; stem of nokosu
- 水
- mizu — Water; liquid H2O
- 中
- naka — Inside; middle; among; within
- 滑り込み
- suberikomi — Sliding into; slipping smoothly inside
- それ
- sore — That; it; that thing near listener
- 以降
- ikō — After; from that point onward
- 陸
- riku — Land; shore; dry ground
- 上がり
- agari — Going up; rising; coming ashore
- たい
- tai — Want to do; desiderative verb ending
- まず
- mazu — First of all; to begin with
- 誰
- dare — Who; which person
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; matter; nominalizer
- 確かめ
- tashikame — Confirming; making sure; verifying a fact
- 潜り込ん
- mogurikон — Slipping under; diving into something
- 背中
- senaka — Back (of the body)
- 乗せる
- noseru — To place on top; to load; to carry
- でし
- deshi — Polite copula stem (past polite form)
- どこ
- doko — Where; what place
- へ
- e — To; toward; directional particle
- 行く
- iku — To go; to move toward a destination
- すぐ
- sugu — Immediately; right away; very soon
- 持ち歩き
- mochiарuki — Carrying around; taking something everywhere
- この
- kono — This (near the speaker); before nouns
- ずっと
- zutto — All along; continuously; for a long time
- 自然
- shizen — Nature; the natural world; naturally
- 母
- haha — Mother; one's own mother
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