内村鑑三がRepresentative Men of Japanとして取り上げた二番目の人物は米沢藩の領主、上杉鷹山（Uesugi Yozan, A Feudal Load）です。状況の把握がし易い様に、ちょっと長くなりますが、今日取り上げる単語が出てくる文の一つ前の文から引用します。
Through its siding with the anti-Tokugawa party in the battle of Sekigahara (1600), the seat of the clan was again removed, this time to an out-of-the-way district of Yonezawa, with the reduced revenue of 300,000 koku. Then to make bad worse, the revenue was once more cut off one half, and when Yozan came to be the chief, the Uesugi was a daimyo of 150,000 koku, with subjects once supported by 1,000,000 koku, and all the habits and practices established upon the latter basis. We need not wonder, therefore, when we hear that the new territory scarcely supported the clan, that its debts amounted to millions, that taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed everywhere in the district.
"taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed" の個所にある "exaction" と "penury" が今日覚えたい単語です。最初に "exaction" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the action of demanding and obtaining something from someone, especially a payment: he supervised the exaction of tolls at various ports
・Vocabulary.com: act of demanding or levying by force or authority: “exaction of tribute”: “exaction of various dues and fees”
基本的には "tax" と同類項ですね。すると "penury" は "destitution" と同じ様な意味だと推測できます。 今度は "penury" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the state of being very poor; extreme poverty: he couldn’t face another year of penury
・Vocabulary.com: Penury means extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets. Economic downturns, job loss, shopping sprees, and weekends at the high rollers' table in Vegas can lead to penury.
Through its siding with the anti-Tokugawa party in the battle of Sekigahara (1600), the seat of the clan was again removed, this time to an out-of-the-way district of Yonezawa, with the reduced revenue of 300,000 koku. Then to make bad worse, the revenue was once more cut off one half, and when Yozan came to be the chief, the Uesugi was a daimyo of 150,000 koku, with subjects once supported by 1,000,000 koku, and all the habits and practices established upon the latter basis. We need not wonder, therefore, when we hear that the new territory scarcely supported the clan, that its debts amounted to millions, that taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed everywhere in the district.
"taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed" の個所にある "exaction" と "penury" が今日覚えたい単語です。最初に "exaction" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the action of demanding and obtaining something from someone, especially a payment: he supervised the exaction of tolls at various ports
・Vocabulary.com: act of demanding or levying by force or authority: “exaction of tribute”: “exaction of various dues and fees”
基本的には "tax" と同類項ですね。すると "penury" は "destitution" と同じ様な意味だと推測できます。 今度は "penury" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the state of being very poor; extreme poverty: he couldn’t face another year of penury
・Vocabulary.com: Penury means extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets. Economic downturns, job loss, shopping sprees, and weekends at the high rollers' table in Vegas can lead to penury.
トータル
