2009/05/31
クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 ＜第８１号＞
============================================================================= クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 第８１号： ０９年０５月３１日 Official Site: http://www.chrisbelton.com/ ============================================================================= ------------------------------------ 目次 ------------------------------------ ☆ What's New? ☆ Belton's Blog ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 − ＜ネズミの比＞ ☆ Potluck − ＜Why? Part V＞ ☆ オンライン英字小説 − ＜The Stoning of Hazelbury: Part XXXX＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ What's New? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Nothing new at all this week... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Belton's Blog ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I mentioned last week, my younger son, Jamie, is holding an art event up in Tokyo today (Saturday,) and I transported him and his gear to Asakusa by car this morning. We used the expressway to get there and the journey was very smooth, but I decided to return home by the normal roads because I find driving on the expressway dull. This required approximately twice the amount of time, but I had already expected that and it didn't bother me. But, the thing that I always notice and wonder about when driving in Japan is, why aren't the traffic lights on major roads synchronized? In most countries of the world (at least, in Europe; I'm not really sure about other countries...:-) the traffic lights are synchronized so that if you drive at the designated speed limit you never have to stop at a red light. This not only reduces stress in the drivers, it also helps prevent traffic jams and encourages people to drive within the speed limit. In Japan, however, there appears to be no synchonocity at all between lights, and the number of red lights that have to be stopped at is pretty large. Not a big problem, admittedly, but I just wondered... ---------------------------------------- Well, we've reached the time of year when the sleepless nights begin. The French Open tennis championship started last Sunday, and early Wednesday morning was the European Championship League final in Rome. In my case soccer takes preference, so I didn't bother watching the late night tennis broadcast and instead went to bed just before 11 o'clock so I could get up at 03:30 for the soccer. My wife, on the other hand, likes tennis and soccer equally, and consequently stayed up until 01:30 watching the French Open and then got up again at 03:30 for the soccer. Two hours sleep...!!! I think I married a crazy women...:-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 ＜ネズミの比喩＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ ネズミの比 ☆ as quiet as a mouse おとなしく無口な人の比喩。ネズミが猫の前では息をひそめて静かに していることから。 - He must be feeling ill. He’s as quiet as a mouse tonight. 彼は具合が悪いにちがいない。今夜はばかにおとなしい。 - She was as quiet as a mouse when the teacher asked who had eaten the cookies. クッキーを食べたのは誰かと先生がたずねたとき、彼女は 黙りこくっていた。 ☆ as poor as a church mouse 「非常に貧しい」という意味。台所がなく食べ物もない教会にすみ ついているネズミは、ひどく貧乏なのです。 - By the time this vacation finishes, I’ll be as poor as a church mouse. この休暇が終わるまでに、私はひどく貧乏になっているだろう。 - Don’t ask him to lend you any money. He’s as poor as a church mouse. 彼に金を貸してくれなんて頼むなよ。あいつはド貧乏なんだから。 ☆ man or a mouse 「勇敢か臆病か」の意味。ネズミは臆病な動物と言われ、この フレーズはふつう、人の勇気を奮いたたせるときに使われます。 - Don’t let him speak to you like that. What are you, a man or mouse? 彼にあんな口をきかせるな。おまえ、男だろ？ - The way in which he handles this problem will show us whether he is a man or a mouse. この問題をどう処理するかによって、彼が勇敢か臆病かが わかるだろう。 ☆ drowned rat 雨などでずぶぬれになった人のたとえ。ぐっしょりぬれて、ひどく みすぼらしいようすを表しています。 - She left her umbrella at home and returned looking like a drowned rat. 彼女は傘を持たないで出かけたので、ずぶぬれになって帰ってきた。 - The kids had a water pistol fight in the garden, and now look like drowned rats. 子どもたちは庭で水鉄砲をかけあっていたので、ずぶぬれになって しまった。 ☆ smell a rat 悪だくみなどを「嗅ぎつける」、「不審をいだく」という意味。さまざまな 状況で使えるフレーズです。猫は姿が見えなくてもネズミを嗅ぎつける ことから。 - I began to smell a rat when I noticed that the terminology in the contract was ambiguous. 私は契約書の用語が曖昧であるのに気づき、何か怪しいと感じ はじめた。 - He claims to be a very successful businessman, but I smell a rat. 彼はやり手のビジネスマンということになっているが、どこか胡散臭い。 ☆ rat race 人々の厳しくも空しい日々の競争を表す表現です。 - He graduated from university and joined the rat race in March last year. 彼は去年の3月に大学を卒業し、熾烈な競争社会に加わった。 - My dream is to buy a house in the country so I can escape from the rat race. 私の夢は田舎に家を買い、都会の喧騒から逃れることです。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Potluck − ＜Why? Part V＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ Why? - Why are middle-aged ladies allowed to work in men’s toilets? 何故、中年の女性が男性トイレの掃除をしても差し支えないの？ - Why do business drinks always end up with karaoke? 何故、サラリーマンの飲み会はいつもカラオケで終わるの？ - Why are volleyball coaches so aggressive? 何故、バレーボールのコーチはあんなにアグレシブなの？ - White Day? Why? ホワイトデーって？ 何故必要なの？ - Why do young couples like to spend Christmas Eve in a hotel? 何故、若いカップルはクリスマスイブをホテルで過ごしたがるの？ - Why do housewives buy cheap supermarket clothes for their husbands and brand-name clothes for their children? 何故、主婦は夫にはスーパーの安物の洋服を買い、子供にはブラン服 を買ってあげるの？ - Why is it necessary for television announcers to mention how many Tokyo Domes would fit in a given area? 何故、テレビのアナウンサーは大きさを表現する時、「東京ドーム○個分」 と言う必要があるの？ - Why do teenage girls dislike their fathers? 何故、十代の少女は父親を嫌うの？ - Why don’t married couples call each other by their names? 何故、夫婦はお互いを名前で呼び合わないの？ - Why are people able to wake from a deep sleep on the train exactly at their stop? 何故、電車の中で深く眠っていても、自分の駅に着くとパット目が覚めること ができるの？ - Why do broadcasting companies always show the last two minutes of variety programs for a second time after the commercial break? 何故、放送会社はバラエティ番組のコマーシャル・ブレイク後に、必ず コマーシャル前の最後の二分間のシーンを再び見せるの？ - Why do women always buy shoes that hurt their feet? 何故、女性はいつも自分の足に合わない靴を購入するの？ - Why do the users’ manuals for cars have less pages than the users’ manuals for mobile telephones? 何故、車の使用マニュアルは携帯の使用マニュアルよりもページ数が 少ないの？ - Why do the announcers carrying out the ‘Hero’s Interview” after baseball games always say “放送席” twice? 何故、野球試合後の「ヒーロー・インタビュー」の時、アナウンサーは 決まって「放送席、放送席」と二回繰り返して言うの？ - Why is budgerigar poop white on the inside and brown on the outside, and how do they make it like that? 何故、インコの糞は外側が白く、内側は茶色いの？どうしたらそのように できるのかな？ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ オンライン英字小説 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★★★★ The Stoning of Hazelbury (by Christopher Belton) ★★★★ メルマガ限定オリジナル作品の「オンライン英字小説」の 連載を毎週提供します！ The Stoning of Hazelburyは出版されていないオリジナル小説です。 毎週ワン・チャプターづつ発行しますので、是非是非最後まで読んでみて ください。 途中からの方はバック・ナンバーでキャッチアップできます。 Part Iはこちらへ： http://archive.mag2.com/0000251837/20080831060000000.html ----- The Stoning of Hazelbury: Part XXXX ----- Jerry Stone knocked on the headmaster’s door and entered at the answering grunt. He was not a man given to trembling, but he was definitely not looking forward to the following interview and was surprised to discover a strange fluttering sensation in his stomach, which is the closest men like Jerry Stone ever get to shaking like a leaf. He looked down upon the bald head of Mr. Walters, who was pretending to be busy behind his desk so as to let Stone understand that he had the power to make him wait around all day if he so desired, and wondered exactly what excuses he would use to explain the total inefficiency of the team entrusted to his care. He cleared his throat to remind the headmaster of his presence, but Mr. Walters declined to raise his head. Stone felt anger pushing aside his apprehension, for if there was one thing he took umbrage at, it was being ignored. He considered beaning the head with a paper-weight, but the thought that most of his troubles were in the past restrained him. After all, Mr. Walters could hardly sack him because his team lost one game, but he could if smote on the brow with a blunt object. Stone also had the comforting thought that the blackmail was at an end and that although the headmaster may rant and rave a goodish bit, he would be able to continue the wooing of Gretel directly the following unpleasantness was concluded. Yes, much better to bow his head in humility and take what was coming to him like a man. He began to look around the office he was in with interest. He could do a lot worse than marrying into the Walters family, for, no doubt, when the old boy got past it, he himself would take over the position of top dog. Inevitable, really. Walters being son-less, it was only natural that he should pass the school onto his son-in-law. The carpet would have to be replaced, of course, and that portrait of Walters’ father needing doctoring, but the antique leather-topped desk and majestic oak bookcases could remain, along with the deep leather armchairs and mahogany cabinets. “Well, Stone, what was the meaning of that fiasco this afternoon?” ＜Part XXXXI は来週につづく＞ (C) Christopher Belton, all rights reserved ============================================================================= 発行者の紹介 ------------ 発行者はイギリス人作家クリストファー・ベルトンです。『「ハリーポッター」が 英語で楽しく読める本』シリーズをはじめ、TOEIC、英検、英会話、多読、 ライティングなどの数多くの英語教材を出版する傍ら、海外では小説家として 知られているプロ・ライターです。 オフィシャル・サイトは下記のURLにて、是非アクセスしてみてください。 http://www.chrisbelton.com/ ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 発行者： クリストファー・ベルトン オフィシャル・サイト： http://www.chrisbelton.com/ 発行システム： 『まぐまぐ！』 http://www.mag2.com/ 配信中止はこちら： http://www.mag2.com/m/0000251837.html -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
