Mother West Wind "Why" Stories — Page 114
He brought some of the logs and sticks from which he had gnawed the bark and fastened them with the others, and right away the pool grew bigger.
彼は樹皮をかじった丸太や枝を何本か持ってきて、他のものと一緒に固定すると、すぐに池は大きくなりました。
The more sticks he added, the bigger the pool grew.
枝を加えれば加えるほど、池はどんどん大きくなりました。
Mr. Beaver had discovered what a dam is for and how to build it.
ビーバーさんは、ダムが何のためにあるのか、そしてどうやって作るのかを発見したのです。
"'Why,' thought he, 'if I make a pond at the place nearest to my food trees, I can carry the water to the trees instead of the trees to the water; and that will be easier and ever so much safer as well.'
「『なぜなら』と彼は思いました、『食料となる木々に一番近い場所に池を作れば、木々を水のところへ運ぶ代わりに、水を木々のところへ運べる。そうすれば、ずっと楽になるし、はるかに安全でもある』」
"So Mr. Beaver built a dam at just the right place, while all the other little people laughed at him and made fun of him for working so hard.
「こうしてビーバーさんはちょうどよい場所にダムを作りましたが、その間、他の小さな動物たちはみんな、彼がそんなに一生懸命働くことを笑い、からかいました。
Just as he had thought it would do, the dam made a pond, and the pond grew bigger and bigger, until it reached the very place where his food trees grew.
彼が思っていた通り、ダムは池を作り、池はどんどん大きくなって、ついに彼の食料となる木々が生えているまさにその場所まで届きました。
Mr. Beaver built him a big, comfortable house out in the pond, and then he went to work as hard as ever he could to cut down trees and then cut them up into the right sized pieces to store away in his big food pile for the winter.
ビーバーさんは池の中に大きくて快適な家を建て、それから冬のために大きな食料の山に蓄えるため、できる限り一生懸命に木を切り倒し、適切な大きさに切り分ける作業に取りかかりました。
"Now cutting down trees is hard work.
「さて、木を切り倒すのは大変な仕事です。
Yes, Siree, cutting down trees is the hardest kind of hard work.
そうですとも、木を切り倒すことは、大変な仕事の中でも最も大変な仕事なのです。
Mr. Beaver had to sit up on his hind legs to do it, and his legs grew very, very tired.
ビーバーさんはそれをするために後ろ足で立ち上がらなければならず、彼の足はとても、とても疲れてしまいました。
Vocabulary
- 彼
- kare — He; that person (male).
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle.
- 樹皮
- juhi — Bark of a tree.
- を
- wo — Object marker particle.
- かじっ
- kajitte — Gnawed; chewed on something hard.
- 丸太
- maruta — Log; uncut piece of timber.
- や
- ya — And; lists items non-exhaustively.
- 枝
- eda — Branch; twig of a tree.
- 何本
- nanbon — How many (long cylindrical objects).
- か
- ka — Some; question or uncertainty marker.
- 持っ
- motte — Holding; carrying something.
- き
- ki — Came; directional auxiliary (toward speaker).
- 他
- hoka — Other; another thing or person.
- もの
- mono — Thing; object; person.
- と
- to — With; and; quotation particle.
- 一緒
- issho — Together; at the same time.
- 固定
- kotei — Fixing; securing something in place.
- する
- suru — To do; to perform an action.
- すぐ
- sugu — Soon; immediately; right away.
- 池
- ike — Pond; small body of still water.
- 大きく
- ookiku — Largely; in a big manner.
- なり
- nari — Became; turned into something.
- 加えれ
- kuwaere — If added; conditional form of add.
- ば
- ba — Conditional particle meaning if.
- 加える
- kuwaeru — To add; to include something more.
- ほど
- hodo — The more; to the extent that.
- どんどん
- dondon — Rapidly; progressively; more and more.
- ビーバー
- biibaa — Beaver; semi-aquatic dam-building mammal.
- さん
- san — Honorific title; Mr., Ms., etc.
- ダム
- damu — Dam; barrier holding back water.
- 何
- nani / naze — What; which thing or reason.
- ため
- tame — For the purpose of; because of.
- ある
- aru — To exist; there is (inanimate).
- そして
- soshite — And then; furthermore; after that.
- どう
- dou — How; in what way or manner.
- やっ
- yatte — Doing; performing (colloquial te-form).
- 作る
- tsukuru — To make; to create; to build.
- 発見
- hakken — Discovery; finding something new.
- です
- desu — Polite copula meaning is or are.
- なぜ
- naze — Why; for what reason.
- なら
- nara — Because; if that is the case.
- 思い
- omoi — Thought; feeling; strong emotion.
- 食料
- shokuryou — Food supply; provisions; foodstuff.
- なる
- naru — To become; to turn into.
- 木々
- kigi — Trees; many trees collectively.
- 一番
- ichiban — Most; number one; best.
- 近い
- chikai — Near; close in distance.
- 場所
- basho — Place; location; spot.
- 作れ
- tsukure — Can make; imperative/potential form of make.
- 水
- mizu — Water; fresh liquid water.
- ところ
- tokoro — Place; spot; point in time.
- へ
- e — Direction particle meaning toward.
- 運ぶ
- hakobu — To carry; to transport something.
- 代わり
- kawari — Instead; substitute; in place of.
- 運べる
- hakoberu — Can carry; able to transport.
- そう
- sou — That way; like that; so.
- すれ
- sure — If done; conditional form of do.
- ずっと
- zutto — Much more; all along; continuously.
- 楽
- raku — Easy; comfortable; effortless.
- はるか
- haruka — Far; much greater; by far.
- 安全
- anzen — Safe; free from danger or risk.
- も
- mo — Also; too; even; as well.
- こう
- kou — This way; like this; thus.
- ちょうど
- choudo — Exactly; just right; precisely.
- よい
- yoi — Good; fine; acceptable.
- 作り
- tsukuri — Making; construction; craftsmanship.
- その
- sono — That; that particular (modifier).
- 間
- aida / ma — Between; during; interval of time.
- 小さな
- chiisana — Small; little; tiny (attributive form).
- 動物
- doubutsu — Animal; living creature.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix for people or animals.
- みんな
- minna — Everyone; all; everybody.
- そんな
- sonna — Such; that kind of; like that.
- 一生懸命
- isshoukenmei — With all one's effort; desperately hard.
- 働く
- hataraku — To work; to labor; to toil.
- こと
- koto — Thing; fact; act (nominalizer).
- 笑い
- warai — Laughter; a laugh; smile.
- から
- kara — From; because; after (particle).
- かい
- kai — Question-ending particle (casual male speech).
- 思っ
- omotte — Thinking; thought (te-form of think).
- 通り
- toori — As expected; along; street; way.
- なっ
- natte — Became; turned into (te-form).
- つい
- tsui — Unintentionally; before one knows it.
- 生え
- hae — Growing; sprouting (of plants or fur).
- いる
- iru — To be; to exist (animate beings).
- まさに
- masani — Exactly; precisely; truly; indeed.
- まで
- made — Until; up to; as far as.
- 届き
- todoki — Reaching; arriving; extending to.
- 中
- naka — Inside; within; middle.
- 快適
- kaiteki — Comfortable; pleasant; cozy.
- 家
- ie / uchi — House; home; dwelling.
- 建て
- tate — Building; constructing a structure.
- それ
- sore — That; that thing (mid-distance).
- 冬
- fuyu — Winter; the coldest season.
- 大きな
- ookina — Large; big (attributive adjective).
- 山
- yama — Mountain; hill; pile.
- 蓄える
- takuwaeru — To store; to stockpile; to save.
- できる
- dekiru — Can do; to be able; to complete.
- 限り
- kagiri — As much as possible; limit; as long as.
- 木
- ki — Tree; wood; timber.
- 切り倒し
- kiritaoshi — Felling; cutting down a tree.
- 適切
- tekisetsu — Appropriate; suitable; proper.
- 大きさ
- ookisa — Size; magnitude; dimensions.
- 切り分ける
- kiriwakeru — To cut into pieces; to divide by cutting.
- 作業
- sagyou — Work; task; operation; labor.
- 取りかかり
- torikakari — Beginning; starting work on something.
- さて
- sate — Well then; now; by the way.
- 切り倒す
- kiritaosu — To fell; to chop down a tree.
- 大変
- taihen — Very difficult; hard; serious; tough.
- 仕事
- shigoto — Work; job; task; occupation.
- とも
- tomo — Even; both; together; certainly.
- 最も
- mottomo — Most; extremely; to the greatest degree.
- 後ろ足
- ushiroashi — Hind legs; back feet of an animal.
- 立ち上がら
- tachiagara — Rising up; standing up (negative base).
- なけれ
- nakere — Must; if not (negative conditional base).
- ず
- zu — Without doing; negative verb suffix.
- 足
- ashi — Foot; leg; paw.
- とても
- totemo — Very; extremely; quite.
- 疲れ
- tsukare — Tiredness; fatigue; exhaustion.
- しまい
- shimai — Ending up; finishing regrettably.
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