The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 1
THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA'S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS.
神々の会議―ミネルヴァのイタカ訪問―テレマコスから求婚者たちへの挑戦。
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.
ああ、ミューズよ、あの名高きトロイの町を略奪した後、遠く広く旅をしたあの知略に富む英雄について語りたまえ。
Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home.
彼は多くの都市を訪れ、多くの民族の風俗や習慣を知った。さらに、自らの命を救い部下たちを無事に帰還させようとする中で、海上で多くの苦難を味わった。しかし、どんなに努力しても部下たちを救うことはできなかった。なぜなら、彼らは太陽神ヒュペリオンの牛を食べるという愚かな行為によって命を落としたからである。それゆえ、神は彼らが故郷に帰ることを永遠に阻んだ。
Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
ゼウスの娘よ、いかなる源からそれらを知ろうとも、これらすべてのことについても語りたまえ。
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him.
こうして、戦いや難破で死を免れた者たちはみな無事に帰郷していたが、ウリュッセスだけは例外であった。彼は妻と故郷への帰還を切望しながらも、女神カリュプソに引き留められていた。カリュプソは彼を大きな洞窟に囲い込み、彼と結婚することを望んでいたのである。
But as years went by, there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home.
しかし、年月が経つにつれ、神々が彼をイタカへ帰すと決める時が訪れた。それでもなお、彼が自分の民のもとにいる時でさえ、彼の苦難はまだ終わっていなかった。それにもかかわらず、今やすべての神々が彼を憐れみ始めていた。ただし、ネプチューンだけは例外で、彼をひたすら迫害し続け、故郷への帰還を許さなかった。
Vocabulary
- 神々
- kamigami — Gods; plural form of god in Japanese.
- の
- no — Possessive or linking particle indicating belonging or relation.
- 会議
- kaigi — Meeting, conference, or assembly of people.
- 訪問
- hōmon — A visit or call upon someone or somewhere.
- から
- kara — From; particle indicating origin or starting point.
- 求婚者
- kyūkonsha — Suitor; person who seeks marriage with another.
- たち
- tachi — Plural suffix indicating a group of people.
- へ
- e — To; directional particle indicating movement toward something.
- 挑戦
- chōsen — Challenge; act of taking on a difficult task.
- ああ
- aa — Ah; exclamation expressing emotion or realization.
- よ
- yo — Sentence-ending particle adding emphasis or assertion.
- あの
- ano — That; demonstrative referring to something distant or known.
- 名高き
- nadataki — Famous, renowned, well-known for great deeds.
- 町
- machi — Town or city; an urban settlement area.
- を
- o — Object marker particle indicating direct object of verb.
- 略奪
- ryakudatsu — Plunder, pillage; taking by force or looting.
- し
- shi — Conjunctive verb form connecting two related actions.
- た
- ta — Past tense auxiliary verb indicating completed action.
- 後
- nochi / ato — After; following a certain event or time.
- 遠く
- tōku — Far away; at or to a great distance.
- 広く
- hiroku — Widely, broadly; over a large area or scope.
- 旅
- tabi — Journey, travel; a trip to distant places.
- 知略
- chiryaku — Clever strategy; resourceful wit and cunning wisdom.
- に
- ni — Particle indicating location, direction, or indirect object.
- 富む
- tomu — To be rich in; to abound with something.
- 英雄
- eiyū — Hero; a person of great courage and valor.
- つい
- tsui — Concerning; about; following the topic of something.
- て
- te — Conjunctive particle linking sequential or causal actions.
- 語り
- katari — Narration, storytelling; the act of telling tales.
- たまえ
- tamae — Please do; polite imperative requesting an action.
- 彼
- kare — He; third-person masculine singular pronoun.
- は
- wa — Topic marker particle identifying the sentence topic.
- 多く
- ōku — Many, much; a large number or quantity.
- 都市
- toshi — City, urban area; a large populated settlement.
- 訪れ
- otozure — To visit; arriving at or calling upon a place.
- 民族
- minzoku — Ethnic group, people; a community sharing culture.
- 風俗
- fūzoku — Customs, manners; traditional ways of a society.
- や
- ya — And; particle listing items non-exhaustively together.
- 習慣
- shūkan — Habit, custom; established practice within a culture.
- 知っ
- shitte — Knowing; te-form of shiru, to know something.
- さらに
- sara ni — Furthermore, moreover; adding emphasis to additional information.
- 自ら
- mizukara — Oneself; doing something personally or by oneself.
- 命
- inochi — Life; one's vital existence or life force.
- 救い
- sukui — Rescue, salvation; act of saving from danger.
- 部下
- buka — Subordinate, follower; person under one's command.
- 無事
- buji — Safe, unharmed; returning without injury or incident.
- 帰還
- kikan — Return home; coming back from a distant journey.
- さ
- sa — Causative or sentence-softening particle in Japanese.
- せ
- se — Causative verb ending making someone do something.
- よう
- yō — Expresses intention or volition to do something.
- と
- to — Particle meaning and, with, or quotation marker.
- する
- suru — To do; basic verb performing an action.
- 中
- naka — Inside, among, within; middle of a situation.
- 海上
- kaijō — At sea, on the ocean; upon the water.
- 苦難
- kunan — Hardship, suffering; severe difficulties endured over time.
- 味わっ
- ajiwatte — Experiencing, tasting; deeply feeling or enduring something.
- しかし
- shikashi — However, but; conjunction introducing a contrasting statement.
- どんな
- donna — What kind of; any sort of thing or effort.
- 努力
- doryoku — Effort, endeavor; trying hard to achieve something.
- も
- mo — Also, even; inclusive or emphatic particle in Japanese.
- 救う
- sukuu — To save, rescue; to help someone from danger.
- こと
- koto — Thing, fact; nominalizer turning verbs into noun phrases.
- でき
- deki — Can do, be able; expressing possibility or capability.
- なかっ
- nakatta — Did not exist or was unable; past negative form.
- なぜ
- naze — Why; asking for a reason or explanation.
- なら
- nara — Because, since; causal or conditional linking particle.
- 彼ら
- karera — They, them; third-person masculine plural pronoun.
- 太陽神
- taiyōshin — Sun god; deity representing or ruling the sun.
- 牛
- ushi — Cow, cattle; large domesticated bovine animal.
- 食べる
- taberu — To eat; consuming food as nourishment.
- という
- to iu — Called, known as; quotation or naming expression.
- 愚か
- oroka — Foolish, stupid; lacking good sense or judgment.
- な
- na — Adjectival copula connecting na-adjective to a noun.
- 行為
- kōi — Act, deed, conduct; a specific action performed.
- よっ
- yotte — Due to, by means of; indicating cause or method.
- 落とし
- otoshi — Dropping, losing; causing something to fall away.
- ある
- aru — To exist, to be; existence of inanimate things.
- それゆえ
- soreyue — Therefore, for that reason; logical consequential connector.
- 神
- kami — God, deity; divine spirit or supernatural being.
- が
- ga — Subject marker particle identifying the grammatical subject.
- 故郷
- kokyō — Hometown, homeland; one's native place of origin.
- 帰る
- kaeru — To return home; going back to one's origin.
- 永遠
- eien — Eternity, forever; lasting without end or limit.
- 阻ん
- habande — Blocking, obstructing; preventing someone from proceeding forward.
- だ
- da — Copula expressing assertion or identification in Japanese.
- 娘
- musume — Daughter; a female child in relation to parent.
- いかなる
- ikanaru — Whatever, whichever; any kind of source or origin.
- 源
- minamoto — Source, origin; the starting point of something.
- それら
- sorera — Those; plural demonstrative pronoun referring to things mentioned.
- 知ろう
- shirō — Let us know; volitional form of to know.
- とも
- tomo — Even if, although; concessive particle in Japanese.
- これら
- korera — These; plural demonstrative pronoun for nearby things.
- すべて
- subete — All, everything; the entirety of things mentioned.
- こう
- kō — Like this, in this way; demonstrative adverb.
- 戦い
- tatakai — Battle, fight, conflict; armed or competitive struggle.
- 難破
- nanpa — Shipwreck; destruction of a vessel at sea.
- 死
- shi — Death; the end of life or existence.
- 免れ
- manukarete — Escaping, avoiding; managing to evade death or harm.
- 者
- mono / sha — Person, one who; suffix denoting a person.
- みな
- mina — Everyone, all; referring to every person in group.
- 帰郷
- kikyō — Returning to one's hometown or homeland safely.
- い
- i — Verb ending or existential form in Japanese.
- だけ
- dake — Only, just; limiting particle indicating sole exception.
- 例外
- reigai — Exception; something that does not follow the rule.
- あっ
- atte — Being, existing; te-form of aru indicating state.
- 妻
- tsuma — Wife; a female spouse in a marriage.
- 切望
- setsubō — Longing, yearning; deeply desiring someone or something.
- ながら
- nagara — While doing; simultaneous action conjunctive particle.
- 女神
- megami — Goddess; a female divine or supernatural being.
- 引き留め
- hikitome — Detaining, holding back; preventing someone from leaving.
- られ
- rare — Passive verb suffix indicating being acted upon.
- 大きな
- ōkina — Large, big; describing something of great size.
- 洞窟
- dōkutsu — Cave, cavern; a large hollow space in rock.
- 囲い込み
- kakoikomi — Enclosing, confining; surrounding and trapping someone inside.
- 結婚
- kekkon — Marriage, wedding; formal union of two people.
- 望ん
- nozonde — Wishing, desiring; hoping strongly for something to happen.
- 年月
- toshitsuki — Years and months; passage of a long time.
- 経つ
- tatsu — To pass, elapse; time going by gradually.
- つれ
- tsure — As, along with; as time or events progress.
- 帰す
- kaesu — To send back, let return; allowing someone to go home.
- 決める
- kimeru — To decide, determine; making a firm resolution.
- 時
- toki — Time, moment; a point or period in time.
- それ
- sore — That; pronoun referring to something previously mentioned.
- なお
- nao — Still, yet; continuing in the same state.
- 自分
- jibun — Oneself; reflexive pronoun referring to the speaker.
- 民
- tami — People, citizens; the common folk of a land.
- もと
- moto — Under, with; in the presence or care of someone.
- いる
- iru — To be, exist; used for animate beings' existence.
- さえ
- sae — Even; emphatic particle indicating an extreme or surprising case.
- まだ
- mada — Still, not yet; indicating an ongoing or unfinished state.
- 終わっ
- owatte — Having ended; te-form indicating completion of something.
- かかわら
- kakawarazu — Despite, regardless of; not being affected by something.
- ず
- zu — Negative suffix; classical form meaning without or not doing.
- 今
- ima — Now, currently; the present moment in time.
- 憐れみ
- awaremi — Pity, compassion; feeling sorrow for another's suffering.
- 始め
- hajime — Beginning, start; commencing an action or feeling.
- ただし
- tadashi — However, provided that; introducing an exception or condition.
- ひたすら
- hitasura — Earnestly, single-mindedly; pursuing something with relentless persistence.
- 迫害
- hakugai — Persecution; systematic oppression or harassment of someone.
- 続け
- tsuzuke — Continuing; keeping on with an action persistently.
- 許さ
- yurusa — Forgiving, permitting; allowing or pardoning someone's actions.
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