mope

またまたKazuo Ishiguro作品を読み始めました。今読み始めたのは "an artist of the floating world" と題されていて、最初に読んだIshiguro作品と同様に日本が舞台の話で、やはり主人公が回想しながら物語が進みます。今は引退した絵描きの主人公（Ono）は嫁入り前の下の娘(Noriko)と二人暮らしのようで、そこに嫁いだ上の娘（Setsuko）がその息子と一緒に一時的に里帰りしている状況です。 次に引用するのはSetsukoとNorikoの会話です。
'Noriko, really...' Her elder sister shifted uncomfortably on her cushion.
'Father takes a lot of looking after now he's retired,' Noriko went on, with a mischievous grin. 'You've got to keep him occupied or he starts to mope.'
'Really...' Setsuko smiled nervously, then turned to the garden with a sigh.
この "mope" はこの後にも何度かでてきます。
'Don't listen to Father. He's got nothing to do these days. He'll just mope about the house like he always does now.'
"mope" は知らない単語なので今回是非覚えようと思います。意味を辞書で調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: 2: to give oneself up to brooding: become listless or dejected 3. to move slowly or aimlessly: dawdle; Example: Like a little child, he often moped when he didn't get what he wanted. We were in a rush, and the Sunday driver in front of us was just moping along.
・Macmillan Dictionary: to feel bored or unhappy and show no interest in doing anything: Do you plan to sit and mope all day?
・Collins English Dictionary: 1.to be gloomy or apathetic ⇒ there's no time to mope 2.to move or act in an aimless way ⇒ he moped around the flat
今のところ私には縁のない言葉ですが、覚えておきましょう。