2009/07/06
クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 ＜第８６号＞
============================================================================= クリストファー・ベルトンの「英語の世界」 第８６号： ０９年０７月０５日 Official Site: http://www.chrisbelton.com/ ============================================================================= ------------------------------------ 目次 ------------------------------------ ☆ What's New? ☆ Belton's Blog ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 － ＜豚の比喩＞ ☆ Potluck － ＜イギリス版オヤジ・ギャグ＞ ☆ オンライン英字小説 － ＜Koropokkuru: The End of a Colony/Chapter #1＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ What's New? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ 今週からのオンライン小説は[Koropokkuru: The End of a Colony]という 日本（北海道）に設定している、新しい小説が始まります。 ぜひ読んでみてください．．． ☆ 今週の７月９日に「３０日完成－英文で覚える英検単語集」（ASK)が 出版されます。 ☆ 「多聴多読マガジンVol.15」は07月06日に出版されます。今回の 連載記事のテーマは[My Stroke of Insight (by Jill Bolte Taylor )] 。 また、連載小説[Gateway to Hell]の第２章が搭載します。 今回は [Chapter Three: Sanctuary and Insight]です。 （ちなみに、今回のPage 27にインタービューも．．．！） ☆ 今月のAsahi Weeklyの連載記事は１９日に発行されます。 今回のテーマは[Suspense and Thrillers]です。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Belton's Blog ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, at last I started writing the new online novel. I worked out the storyline yesterday afternoon, and started writing it last night. The first chapter starts today, and I can assure you that it looks as if it will turn out to be rather interesting. I have lowered the level of the English to match the reading skills of a seven-year old native speaker, and each chapter will be relatively short (approximately 600 words,) so I'm sure you'll have no trouble reading it. I have included an outline of the story below so you can see what type of story it is. --------------------------------------- [Koropokkuru: The End of a Colony] Synopsis: Koki and Chiaki Imai are 11-year old twins. They live on a large farm in central Hokkaido. Unfortunately, the farm is too large for their father to operate alone, so he has decided to sell it. Once it has been sold, they will move to Sapporo, where he will start up his own ramen shop. So far only one person has showed any interest in buying the farm; a property developer who is planning to build a large hotel on the site. While waiting for the deal to be finalized, Koki and Chiaki's father has stopped growing any crops. In the summer the farm used to be covered with fields of corn, potatoes and other vegetables, but this summer it is just weed-covered earth. Koki and Chiaki love the farm and don't want to move. And, their determination to stay is reinforced even further when they discover that they are not the only ones living on it. The farm also contains a colony of Koropokkuru, which are small creatures that build nests beneath the leaves of butterbur plants. Now that the farm is not growing any food, the Koropokkuru are getting hungry and seek the help of Koki and Chiaki. Also, if the hotel is built, the entire colony will have nowhere to live and will be destroyed. It is therefore up to Koki and Chiaki to make sure that the hotel is never built... --------------------------------------- And that's about it. It's quite a simple story, but the characters are very cute and the adventures they have together with Koki and Chiaki are interesting and amusing. I hope you enjoy it... :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ ワン・ポイント英語 ＜ 豚の比喩＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ 豚の比喩 ☆ eat like a pig お察しのとおり、テーブルマナーのひどい人を指して使われるフレーズ です。 - I can’t even sit at the same table as him. He eats like a pig. 彼と食事で同席するのはごめんだ。豚みたいに下品な食べかたを するんだもの。 - I was surprised to discover that despite his cultured appearance, he eats like a pig. 洗練された外見にもかかわらず彼のテーブルマナーがひどいことを知って、 私は驚いた。 ☆ pig-headed 「頑固な」「偏屈な」の意味。 - He is so pig-headed sometimes that I could hit him. 彼はときどきあまりに頑固なので、殴りたくなるほどだ。 - She can be very pig-headed when it comes to designer clothes. 彼女はブランド物の服のこととなると、自分の意見に頑としてこだわる。 ☆ pigs can (might) fly そんなことがあるはずはないという気持ちを表すフレーズ。それが事実なら豚 が空を飛ぶことだってできるだろう、というわけです。 - She said that she is going to be a movie star, but if that’s true, pigs can fly. 彼女は映画女優になるつもりだと言っているが、そんなことがあるはずはない。 - He wants to open his own company within this year, but before we see that, pigs might fly. 彼は年内に会社を設立しようと考えているが、実際にそれを見るまでは とても信じられない。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ Potluck － ＜イギリス版オヤジ・ギャグ＞ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★ イギリス版オヤジ・ギャグ “Dad,” asked little George one day, “Why do storks lift one leg when they sleep?” “Well, George,” replied the father, “If they lifted two, they’d fall over.” ある日、ジョージ君はたずねた。「パパ、コウノトリはなぜ、眠るとき に片足を上げるの？」すると父親は答えた。「それはね、もし両足 を上げたら転んじゃうからだよ」 A man walked into a doctor’s surgery with a parrot sitting on his shoulder. “What can I do for you?” the doctor asked the man. The parrot said, “Could you please remove this man from my butt?” ある男が肩にオウムをのせ、診察室に入った。医者が「どうしましたか」 と男にたずねると、オウムは言った。「この男をぼくの尻からどけて くれませんか」 Q: What has six legs but can't walk? A: 3 pairs of trousers! 問：脚が６本もあるのに歩けないものは？ 答：ズボン３着！ Q: What has twenty-two legs and two wings, but cannot fly? A: A soccer team. 問：脚が22本、翼（ウィング）が２つあるのに飛べないものは？ 答：サッカー・チーム。 Q: Which side of a sheep has the most wool? A: The Outside! 問：羊のどっち側からウールがたくさんとれる？ 答：外側！ Q: What do you call a blind stag? A: No idea! 問：目の見えない雄鹿のことをなんて呼ぶ？ 答：No idea（わからない） ※ no eye deer（目のない鹿）と発音が同じ。 Q: What is black, white and red all over? A: A newspaper! ※ red（赤）も、動詞read（読む）の過去分詞も、発音が同じ「レッド」で あることを利用したジョーク。つまり「一面、黒と白と赤のものは？」という 問いだと思わせておきながら、実は「黒と白で、全部読むことのできる ものは？」とたずねているわけです。答えはもちろん「新聞」 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ☆ オンライン英字小説 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ★★★★ Koropokkuru: The End of a Colony ★★★★ (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！ 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。 ----- Koropokkuru: The End of a Colony ----- Chapter One A Sad Summer’s Day Koki Imai and his sister, Chiaki, were sitting at the kitchen table, lost in their own thoughts. The sweet, hot summer air of Hokkaido wafted through the open window and ruffled the curtains. Koki sat with his face in his hands and his elbows on the table. He sighed sadly and raised his eyes to his sister. ‘Oh, why do we have to move? I don’t want to leave here. I don’t want to live in the city.’ Chiaki nodded sadly. She didn’t want to leave either. But, they had no choice. They were, after all, only eleven years old, and if their father had decided that he wanted to sell the farm and move to Sapporo so he could open a ramen shop, there was very little they could do about it. ‘What about our friends at school?’ continued Koki, ‘I don’t want to say goodbye to them. Oh, it’s rotten! Can’t we get dad to change his mind?’ ‘Come on, Koki,’ said Chiaki, ‘You know what dad’s like. Once he has made his mind up, nothing will change it.’ ‘But, why does he want to sell the farm, anyway?’ ‘Because it’s too much work for him. He did explain it, if you’d remember. The winters are too long and it’s getting more and more difficult to make the farm pay. Besides, he has always dreamed of running his own ramen shop. He’s really looking forward to it.’ Koki rubbed his face with his hands and tried to control his sorrow. He signed again and turned his attention to the bare fields outside the window. Usually at this time of the year the corn would be taller than his own head and the potato fields would be knee deep in luscious green leaves. All that Koki could see now, however, was sun- scorched earth covered with a light covering of weeds. Beyond that was a river, and beyond that the hills that hid the horizon; sights that were normally invisible in summer because of the corn crop. But, Koki’s father had not bothered planting any corn this year, and the last crop of potatoes had been harvested in spring. He had already put the farm up for sale, but so far only one person had shown any interest: a property developer who wanted to build a large hotel on the site. ‘Cheer up, Koki,’ said Chiaki. She knew how hard it would be for her twin brother to move away from his beloved farm, and she felt sorry for him. ‘You may like the city. There are loads of things to do, and…’ A movement over to her right stopped Chiaki mid-sentence. She turned her head and stared at the open window, her eyes wide open in surprise. Koki glanced at her, and then looked over at the window to see what she had seen. What he saw made his mouth fall open in astonishment. As they watched, a large butterbur leaf with two small fish on it was being slowly pushed onto the windowsill by an unseen hand. Koki and Chiaki exchanged fearful glances and leaned further back in their chairs. Finally, when the leaf had stopped moving, they heard a high-pitch squeak, a thump, as if something had hit the ground rather hard, and then a scampering noise. Quickly gathering their wits, they rushed across to the window and were just in time to see two small figures approximately thirty centimeters in height with large heads and tiny legs disappearing into a flowerbed by the side of the house. One of them was limping slightly and rubbing his backside with one hand. Having been born in Hokkaido and raised on Ainu folklore, both Koki and Chiaki knew exactly what they had just seen. They stared excitedly at each other and clapped their hands in delight. 'Koropokkuru!' they shouted in unison. ＜Chapter #2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 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
