Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 113

English → Japanese Full Text Level 2/10

He believed in preparing to-day for what might happen to-morrow, and so when he had all the food he needed for the present, he stored away food for the time when it might not be so easy to get.

彼は明日起こりうることに備えて今日準備することを信条としていたので、今必要な食べ物を十分に手に入れると、食べ物を手に入れるのがそれほど簡単でなくなるかもしれない時のために、食べ物を蓄えておきました。

And he believed in helping himself, did Mr. Beaver, and not in leaving everything to Old Mother Nature, as did most of his neighbors.

そしてビーバーさんは、近所の者のほとんどがそうするように何もかもを大自然母なる者に任せるのではなく、自分で何とかすることを信条としていました。

That is how he first came to think of making a dam and a pond.

そのようにして彼は初めてダムと池を作ることを考えるようになりました。

Like his small cousin, Mr. Muskrat, he was very fond of the water, and felt most at home and safest there.

小さないとこのマスクラットさんと同じように、彼はとても水が好きで、水の中でこそ最もくつろげて安全だと感じていました。

But he found that sometimes the food which he liked best, which was the bark of certain kinds of trees, grew some distance from the water, and it was the hardest kind of hard work to roll and drag the logs down to the water, where he could eat the bark from them in safety.

しかし彼が一番好む食べ物、すなわちある種の木の樹皮は、時として水辺からかなり離れたところに生えており、丸太を転がしたり引きずったりして水辺まで運ぶのは、安全に樹皮を食べられる場所へ届けるための、本当に骨の折れる作業であることがわかりました。

"He thought about this a great deal, but instead of going to Old Mother Nature and complaining, as most of his neighbors would have done in his place, he studied and studied to find some way to make the work easier.

「彼はこのことをずいぶん考えましたが、もし自分の立場だったら近所の者のほとんどがそうしたであろうように大自然母なる者のところへ行って不満を言う代わりに、何とか仕事を楽にする方法を見つけようと、一生懸命考え続けました。

One day he noticed that a lot of sticks had caught in the stream where he made his home, and that because the water could not work its way between them as fast as where nothing hindered it, it made a little pool just above the sticks.

ある日、彼が住処としている川にたくさんの枝が引っかかっており、何も妨げるものがない場所よりも水がそれらの間をすり抜けるのに時間がかかるために、枝のすぐ上に小さな水たまりができていることに気づきました。

That made him think harder than ever.

そのことが彼をこれまで以上に深く考えさせました。

Vocabulary

彼: kare — He; third-person masculine pronoun.
は: wa — Topic-marking particle indicating the sentence topic.
明日: ashita — Tomorrow; the day after today.
起こり: okori — Occurrence; something happening or arising.
うる: uru — Can; potential auxiliary indicating possibility.
こと: koto — Thing; nominalizer turning verbs into noun phrases.
に: ni — Particle indicating direction, purpose, or time.
備え: sonae — Preparation; readiness for a future event.
て: te — Conjunctive particle connecting sequential actions.
今日: kyō — Today; the current day.
準備: junbi — Preparation; getting ready for something in advance.
する: suru — To do; general-purpose action verb.
を: o — Object-marking particle indicating the direct object.
信条: shinjō — Personal creed; firmly held belief or principle.
と: to — Particle meaning 'as' or quotation/comparison marker.
し: shi — Conjunctive form of suru; also lists reasons.
い: i — Stem of iru; indicates ongoing state or action.
た: ta — Past-tense auxiliary indicating completed action.
の: no — Nominalizer or possessive particle linking nouns.
で: de — Particle indicating cause, means, or location of action.
今: ima — Now; the present moment.
必要: hitsuyō — Necessary; something that is needed or required.
な: na — Adjectival copula linking na-adjectives to nouns.
食べ物: tabemono — Food; things that are eaten for nourishment.
十分: jūbun — Sufficient; enough of something needed.
手: te — Hand; also used in compounds meaning means or method.
入れる: ireru — To put in; to obtain or acquire something.
が: ga — Subject marker or conjunction meaning 'but.'
それほど: sorehodo — That much; to that extent or degree.
簡単: kantan — Easy; simple and not difficult.
なく: naku — Negative conjunctive form; without being so.
なる: naru — To become; to change into a new state.
か: ka — Question particle; also expresses uncertainty.
も: mo — Also; even; inclusive or additive particle.
しれ: shire — Stem of shireru; used in 'kamoshirenai' for uncertainty.
ない: nai — Negative auxiliary; indicates negation of a verb.
時: toki — Time; moment; occasion when something occurs.
ため: tame — For; for the sake of; in preparation for.
蓄え: takuwae — Stored supply; reserves of food or resources.
おき: oki — Auxiliary indicating action done in advance.
まし: mashi — Polite past auxiliary form of masu.
そして: soshite — And then; connecting two related sentences.
さん: san — Honorific suffix equivalent to Mr., Ms., or Mrs.
近所: kinjo — Neighborhood; the area close to one's home.
者: mono — Person; someone who belongs to a group.
ほとんど: hotondo — Almost; mostly; nearly all of something.
そう: sō — So; that way; expressing agreement or similarity.
よう: yō — Appears to; seems like; in the manner of.
何もかも: nanimokamo — Everything; absolutely all things without exception.
大自然: daishizen — Great nature; the vast natural world.
母: haha — Mother; one's own mother or motherly figure.
任せる: makaseru — To leave to; to entrust something to someone.
自分: jibun — Oneself; referring to the speaker themselves.
何とか: nantoka — Somehow; managing to do something with effort.
そのように: sono yō ni — In that way; in that manner or fashion.
初めて: hajimete — For the first time; doing something never done before.
池: ike — Pond; a small body of still water.
作る: tsukuru — To make; to create or build something.
考える: kangaeru — To think; to consider or ponder something.
なり: nari — Became; connective form indicating a resulting state.
小さな: chīsana — Small; little in size or quantity.
いとこ: itoko — Cousin; child of one's aunt or uncle.
同じ: onaji — Same; identical or similar to something else.
とても: totemo — Very; extremely; to a great degree.
水: mizu — Water; the clear liquid essential for life.
好き: suki — Liked; fond of; having affection for something.
中: naka — Inside; among; in the middle of something.
こそ: koso — Emphatic particle stressing the preceding word strongly.
最も: mottomo — Most; the superlative degree of an adjective.
くつろげ: kutsuroge — Can relax; able to feel at ease and comfortable.
安全: anzen — Safe; free from danger or harm.
だ: da — Copula; plain-form equivalent of desu.
感じ: kanji — Feeling; a sense or impression of something.
しかし: shikashi — However; but; expressing a contrasting statement.
一番: ichiban — Number one; most; the best or favorite.
好む: konomu — To prefer; to like or favor something.
すなわち: sunawachi — That is; namely; in other words.
ある: aru — To exist; there is; indicates existence of something.
種: shū / tane — Kind; type; species of living things.
木: ki — Tree; a large woody plant.
樹皮: juhi — Tree bark; the outer covering of a tree.
時として: toki toshite — Sometimes; occasionally; at certain times.
水辺: mizube — Waterside; the area at the edge of water.
から: kara — From; because; indicating origin or reason.
かなり: kanari — Considerably; fairly; quite a lot.
離れた: hanareta — Distant; separated away from a place.
ところ: tokoro — Place; location; spot where something exists.
生え: hae — Growing; sprouting up from the ground.
おり: ori — Continuous existence; humble form of iru.
丸太: maruta — Log; a cut cylindrical piece of a tree trunk.
転がし: korogashi — Rolling; causing something round to roll along.
たり: tari — Particle listing representative actions alternately.
引きずっ: hikizutte — Dragging; pulling something heavy along a surface.
まで: made — Until; up to; as far as a point.
運ぶ: hakobu — To carry; to transport something from place to place.
食べ: tabe — Eating; the act of consuming food.
られる: rareru — Passive or potential auxiliary verb suffix.
場所: basho — Place; a specific location or spot.
へ: e — Directional particle indicating movement toward somewhere.
届ける: todokeru — To deliver; to bring something to a destination.
本当: hontō — True; real; genuinely so.
骨: hone — Bone; also used figuratively for hard effort.
折れる: oreru — To break; to snap; also means to be exhausting.
作業: sagyō — Work; task; a practical job or operation.
わかり: wakari — Understanding; the act of comprehending something.
この: kono — This; referring to something near the speaker.
ずいぶん: zuibun — Quite; considerably; surprisingly much.
考え: kangae — Thought; idea; one's thinking or opinion.
もし: moshi — If; used to introduce a hypothetical condition.
立場: tachiba — Position; standpoint; one's situation or role.
だっ: datte — Were; past form of da used in conditionals.
たら: tara — Conditional particle meaning 'if' or 'when.'
あろう: arō — Probably is; volitional form expressing conjecture.
行っ: itte — Going; past conjunctive form of iku.
不満: fuman — Dissatisfaction; discontent with a situation.
言う: iu — To say; to speak or express something verbally.
代わり: kawari — Instead; in place of; as a substitute.
仕事: shigoto — Work; job; one's occupation or tasks.
楽: raku — Easy; comfortable; not requiring much effort.
方法: hōhō — Method; way of doing something; approach.
見つけよう: mitsukeyō — Let's find; volitional form of mitsukeru.
一生懸命: isshōkenmei — With all one's effort; working as hard as possible.
続け: tsuzuke — Continuing; carrying on without stopping.
日: hi — Day; sun; a specific day in time.
住処: sumika — Dwelling; home; a place where one lives.
いる: iru — To be; to exist; used for animate beings.
川: kawa — River; a large natural flow of water.
たくさん: takusan — Many; a lot; a large quantity of something.
枝: eda — Branch; a limb extending from a tree trunk.
引っかかっ: hikkakatte — Getting caught; being snagged on something.
何: nani — What; which thing; used in questions or relative clauses.
妨げる: samatageru — To obstruct; to hinder or block progress.
もの: mono — Thing; object; that which exists or is made.
より: yori — Than; from; comparative particle showing difference.
それら: sorera — Those; plural pronoun referring to mentioned things.
間: あいだ (aida) — Between; the space or interval separating things.
すり抜ける: surinukeru — To slip through; to pass through a narrow gap.
時間: jikan — Time; duration; a period of measured time.
かかる: kakaru — To take time; to cost; to be required.
すぐ: sugu — Soon; immediately; right away.
上: ue — Above; on top of; upper side of something.
水たまり: mizutamari — Puddle; a small pool of collected water.
でき: deki — Can do; forming; becoming possible or completed.
気づき: kizuki — Noticing; becoming aware of something.
その: sono — That; referring to something near the listener.
これまで: koremade — Until now; up to this point in time.
以上: ijō — More than; beyond; greater than a certain level.
深く: fukaku — Deeply; to a great depth or degree.
させ: sase — Causative auxiliary; making or letting someone do something.

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