Piccolissima — Page 12
The wings of the insect fluttered, and made a little sharp noise, which, however, had nothing terrible in it, and Piccolissima perceived that her companion was laughing.
虫の翅が羽ばたいて、小さく鋭い音を立てたが、それには恐ろしいところは何もなく、ピッコリッシマは連れが笑っているのだと気づいた。
It was evident that the fly must laugh with his wings, because he could not laugh in any other way.
ハエは翅で笑うに違いないことは明らかだった。なぜなら、他のどんな方法でも笑うことができないからだ。
It was with his antennae that he had listened; they evidently served him as ears; and, when he recovered his gravity, he flew on the little girl's hand, and began to talk with her; then Piccolissima observed him more intelligently.
彼が聞いていたのは触角を使ってのことだった。触角は明らかに耳の役割を果たしていた。そして、真剣な表情を取り戻すと、彼は小さな女の子の手に飛び乗り、彼女と話し始めた。そのときピッコリッシマはより注意深く彼を観察した。
"It appears to me, little pet," said the fly, "thou must be very green to compare my delicate trunk, this instrument so nicely made, with the enormous and coarse cylinder upon which, in hot weather, I have often travelled.
「私には思われるのですよ、かわいいお嬢さん」とハエは言った。「あなたはとても世間知らずに違いない。私の繊細な口吻、この精巧に作られた器官を、暑い季節に私がよく旅をしたあの巨大で粗雑な管と比べるなんて。
How can any one suppose that I have any relationship to the deformed and gigantic monster of which you have just now spoken?"
あなたが今おっしゃったあの醜くて巨大な怪物と、私が何らかの関係があると、どうして誰かが思えるのでしょうか？」
Piccolissima thought that the little person was not wanting in vanity, and, while the fly was taking breath, observed that the trunk had disappeared, and that there was no possibility of discovering what the insect had done with it.
ピッコリッシマは、この小さな生き物は虚栄心に欠けるところがないと思った。そして、ハエが息をついている間に、口吻が消えていることに気づき、虫がそれをどこにやったのかを見つけ出す可能性はまったくないと悟った。
Vocabulary
- 虫
- mushi — Insect or bug, small creature.
- の
- no — Possessive or nominalizing particle.
- が
- ga — Subject-marking grammatical particle.
- 羽ばたい
- habataite — Flapping wings rapidly.
- て
- te — Conjunctive particle connecting actions.
- 小さく
- chiisaku — In a small manner, adverb form.
- 鋭い
- surudoi — Sharp, keen, or piercing in quality.
- 音
- oto — Sound or noise.
- を
- wo — Object-marking grammatical particle.
- 立て
- tate — To make or produce a sound.
- た
- ta — Past tense grammatical marker.
- それ
- sore — That thing, referring to something nearby.
- に
- ni — Direction, location, or purpose particle.
- は
- wa — Topic-marking grammatical particle.
- 恐ろしい
- osoroshii — Frightening, terrible, or dreadful.
- ところ
- tokoro — Place, point, or aspect of something.
- 何
- nani — What; nothing when used with negation.
- も
- mo — Also, even, or emphatic particle.
- なく
- naku — Without, lacking something; negative adverb form.
- 連れ
- tsure — Companion or someone brought along.
- 笑っ
- waratte — Laughing, smiling; stem of laugh verb.
- いる
- iru — To be, exist (for animate beings).
- だ
- da — Copula, plain form of 'is/are'.
- と
- to — Quotation particle or 'and/with' particle.
- 気づい
- kizuite — Noticing, becoming aware of something.
- ハエ
- hae — Housefly, common flying insect.
- で
- de — By means of, at, or with particle.
- 笑う
- warau — To laugh or smile.
- 違いない
- chigainai — No doubt, certainly must be the case.
- こと
- koto — Thing, fact, or nominalizer for verbs.
- 明らか
- akiraka — Clear, obvious, or evident.
- だっ
- datta — Was, were; past tense of copula.
- なぜなら
- nazenara — Because, the reason being that.
- 他
- hoka — Other, another, or the rest.
- どんな
- donna — What kind of, what sort of.
- 方法
- houhou — Method, way, or means of doing.
- でき
- deki — Can do, be able to; potential form.
- ない
- nai — Negative, does not exist or cannot.
- から
- kara — Because, from; reason or origin particle.
- 彼
- kare — He, him; third-person male pronoun.
- 聞い
- kiite — Listening, hearing; stem of listen verb.
- い
- i — Auxiliary verb, being in a state.
- 使っ
- tsukatte — Using something; stem of use verb.
- 耳
- mimi — Ear, organ for hearing.
- 役割
- yakuwari — Role, function, or part played.
- 果たし
- hatashi — Fulfilling or performing a role or duty.
- そし
- soshite — And then, furthermore, conjunction.
- 真剣
- shinken — Serious, earnest, or grave in manner.
- な
- na — Adjectival particle linking na-adjectives.
- 表情
- hyoujou — Facial expression, look on one's face.
- 取り戻す
- torimodosu — To regain, recover, or get back.
- 小さな
- chiisana — Small, little; attributive adjective form.
- 女の子
- onnanoko — Girl, young female child.
- 手
- te — Hand, arm; part of the body.
- 飛び乗り
- tobinori — Jumping or leaping onto something.
- 彼女
- kanojo — She, her; third-person female pronoun.
- 話し
- hanashi — Talking, speaking; stem of speak verb.
- 始め
- hajime — Beginning, to start doing something.
- その
- sono — That, the (near listener); demonstrative adjective.
- とき
- toki — Time, moment, or occasion.
- より
- yori — More than, compared to; comparative particle.
- 注意深く
- chuuibukaku — Carefully, attentively, with great care.
- 観察
- kansatsu — Observation, close watching or examination.
- し
- shi — Doing; conjunctive stem of suru verb.
- 私
- watashi — I, me; first-person personal pronoun.
- 思わ
- omowa — Think, believe; stem of think verb.
- れる
- reru — Passive or potential grammatical suffix.
- です
- desu — Polite copula meaning is, am, are.
- よ
- yo — Sentence-final particle asserting information.
- かわいい
- kawaii — Cute, adorable, charming in appearance.
- お嬢さん
- ojousan — Young lady, polite address for girl.
- 言っ
- itte — Saying, telling; stem of say verb.
- あなた
- anata — You; second-person personal pronoun.
- とても
- totemo — Very, extremely; intensifying adverb.
- 世間知らず
- sekenshirazu — Naive, inexperienced with the world.
- 繊細
- sensai — Delicate, sensitive, or fine in nature.
- この
- kono — This; demonstrative adjective near speaker.
- 精巧
- seikou — Elaborate, intricate, finely crafted.
- 作ら
- tsukura — Made, constructed; stem of make verb.
- れ
- re — Passive voice grammatical suffix.
- 器官
- kikan — Organ, bodily or biological functional part.
- 暑い
- atsui — Hot, referring to weather or temperature.
- 季節
- kisetsu — Season of the year.
- よく
- yoku — Often, well, frequently; adverb of manner.
- 旅
- tabi — Journey, travel, or trip.
- あの
- ano — That over there; distal demonstrative adjective.
- 巨大
- kyodai — Enormous, gigantic, or very large.
- 粗雑
- sozatsu — Coarse, rough, or crude in quality.
- 管
- kan — Tube, pipe, or cylindrical passage.
- 比べる
- kuraberu — To compare or contrast two things.
- なんて
- nante — Such a thing as, how could one.
- 今
- ima — Now, currently, at this moment.
- おっしゃっ
- osshatte — Saying (honorific form of 'to say').
- 醜く
- minikuku — Ugly, unsightly; adverb of ugly adjective.
- 怪物
- kaibutsu — Monster, creature, or frightening beast.
- 何らか
- nanraka — Some kind of, some sort of connection.
- 関係
- kankei — Relationship, connection, or association.
- ある
- aru — To exist, to have (inanimate things).
- どうして
- doushite — Why, how; asking reason or manner.
- 誰か
- dareka — Someone, anybody; indefinite person reference.
- 思える
- omoeru — To be able to think or feel.
- でしょう
- deshou — Probably, isn't it; polite conjecture form.
- か
- ka — Question-marking sentence-final particle.
- 生き物
- ikimono — Living creature, organism, or living thing.
- 欠ける
- kakeru — To lack, be missing or deficient in.
- 思っ
- omotte — Thinking, feeling; stem of think verb.
- 息
- iki — Breath, breathing, respiratory action.
- つい
- tsui — Inadvertently, just, unintentionally doing something.
- 間
- ma — Interval, gap, or moment in time.
- 消え
- kie — Disappearing, vanishing; stem of vanish verb.
- 気づき
- kizuki — Noticing, awareness, realization of something.
- どこ
- doko — Where; interrogative location word.
- やっ
- yatte — Doing, performing; colloquial stem of do.
- 見つけ出す
- mitsukeidasu — To find out, discover, or locate something.
- 可能性
- kanousei — Possibility, likelihood, or potential for something.
- まったく
- mattaku — Completely, entirely, utterly; strong emphatic adverb.
- 悟っ
- satte — Realizing, attaining enlightenment or understanding deeply.
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