ジョン万次郎の伝記 "Heart of a Samurai" by Margi Preus を今読んでいますが、冒険、英語の苦労、人種差別、イジメ、米国での生活と波乱万丈の生涯（まだ最後まで読んでいませんが）で実に面白い話です。
さて、万次郎が米国の捕鯨船John Howland号に助けられ、６ヶ月後にハワイに着き、米国本土に向かってHowland号が再び航海にでた頃の場面に意味がさっぱりわからない個所が続けてでてきました。
He was taking a meal to the first mate one day when he overheard this shipmates talking.
"Where's Jolly, anyhow?" said one. "Why isn't he onboard?"
Manjiro set down his tray quietly.
"The night afore we was to ship out," Biscuit began consipiratorially, "Jolly took a dickey run and met his oppos. He was already half seas over by the time he hooked up with them and very shortly they was all three sheets in the wind."
What are they talking about? Manjiro wondered.
"That Jolly, he used to bleed the monkey, all right."
Isaiah nodded. "He was a shonkey, too."
Manjiro sighed. He would never understand English!
"Though I'm not entirely sure what all transpired," Biscuit went on. "Jolly had the devil to pay and no pitch hot."
What were they saying? Manjiro wondered. English was such a difficult language!
"Well, what happened?" Josiah said.
"I guess you can see which way the wind is blowin'," Biscuit said. "He either swallowed the anchor or slipped his cable!"
英語が分からないと万次郎は嘆いていますが、嘆きたいのは私の方です、たった６ヶ月程英語に接しただけの万次郎が上の会話が分からないのは当然で、英語の勉強を始めてから何十年も経た私も次ぎのフレーズはさっぱり分かりません。
・took a dickey run
・half seas over
・three sheets in the wind
・bleed the monkey
・devil to pay and no pitch hot
・swallowed the anchor:
・slipped his cable:
これらの言い回しは普通の辞書には載っていない表現が多いのですが、潮騒の音がでるサイト、Sailing in Mexico and Yachting in MexicoのNautical Glossary （http://www.latitudemexico.com/glossary/h/6-3.html） に、上の７つの表現の内の５つの表現の説明が次ぎの様に書かれていました。
・half seas over: drunk: If she doesn't know I'm also half seas over she must be blind.
・three sheets in the wind: Inf. intoxicated and unsteady. (Sheets are the ropes used to manage a ship's sails. It is assumed that if these ropes were blowing in the wind, the ship would be out of control.) He had gotten three sheets to the wind and didn't pay attention to my warning. By midnight, he was three sheets.
・bleed the monkey: Secretly, to remove spirit from a keg or cask by making a small hole and sucking through a straw. also called Suck the Monkey
・devil to pay: Old seafaring term meaning something very difficult or awkward.
・swallowed the anchor: To retire from a life at sea and settle ashore.
分からない表現が二つ残り、宿題とすることにしました。
しかし、青少年向けの小説なので巻末に難しい表現、そして日本語（ローマ字で色々な表現が小説にはでてきます）の解説が載っている事に気がつき、宿題となって表現の意味は次ぎのように説明されていました。
・a dickey run: a short leave ashore
・devil to pay and no pitch hot: a predicament; derives from the job of sealing the outermost deck seam (the devil), which a sailor had to seal (pay) with pitch, a difficult and unpleasant task.
・slipped his cable: to die
また、Nautical Glossaryで分かった表現の内、次ぎの表現についても説明がありました。
・bleed the monkey: to secretely remove liquor from a cask by making a small hole and sucking through a straw
・three sheets in the wind: drunk
やれやれです。これらの表現は海賊小説でも読まなければ出てきそうも無いので、忘れても良さそうですが、上の引用文にあった "shonkey" だけでも覚えておこうとおもいます。 "shonkey" の意味は：
・巻末の説明: of dubious quality; a shipmate who will drink but avoid paying his round
・Collins Dictionary: 1.of dubious integrity or legality 2.unreliable; unsound
さて、万次郎が米国の捕鯨船John Howland号に助けられ、６ヶ月後にハワイに着き、米国本土に向かってHowland号が再び航海にでた頃の場面に意味がさっぱりわからない個所が続けてでてきました。
He was taking a meal to the first mate one day when he overheard this shipmates talking.
"Where's Jolly, anyhow?" said one. "Why isn't he onboard?"
Manjiro set down his tray quietly.
"The night afore we was to ship out," Biscuit began consipiratorially, "Jolly took a dickey run and met his oppos. He was already half seas over by the time he hooked up with them and very shortly they was all three sheets in the wind."
What are they talking about? Manjiro wondered.
"That Jolly, he used to bleed the monkey, all right."
Isaiah nodded. "He was a shonkey, too."
Manjiro sighed. He would never understand English!
"Though I'm not entirely sure what all transpired," Biscuit went on. "Jolly had the devil to pay and no pitch hot."
What were they saying? Manjiro wondered. English was such a difficult language!
"Well, what happened?" Josiah said.
"I guess you can see which way the wind is blowin'," Biscuit said. "He either swallowed the anchor or slipped his cable!"
英語が分からないと万次郎は嘆いていますが、嘆きたいのは私の方です、たった６ヶ月程英語に接しただけの万次郎が上の会話が分からないのは当然で、英語の勉強を始めてから何十年も経た私も次ぎのフレーズはさっぱり分かりません。
・took a dickey run
・half seas over
・three sheets in the wind
・bleed the monkey
・devil to pay and no pitch hot
・swallowed the anchor:
・slipped his cable:
これらの言い回しは普通の辞書には載っていない表現が多いのですが、潮騒の音がでるサイト、Sailing in Mexico and Yachting in MexicoのNautical Glossary （http://www.latitudemexico.com/glossary/h/6-3.html） に、上の７つの表現の内の５つの表現の説明が次ぎの様に書かれていました。
・half seas over: drunk: If she doesn't know I'm also half seas over she must be blind.
・three sheets in the wind: Inf. intoxicated and unsteady. (Sheets are the ropes used to manage a ship's sails. It is assumed that if these ropes were blowing in the wind, the ship would be out of control.) He had gotten three sheets to the wind and didn't pay attention to my warning. By midnight, he was three sheets.
・bleed the monkey: Secretly, to remove spirit from a keg or cask by making a small hole and sucking through a straw. also called Suck the Monkey
・devil to pay: Old seafaring term meaning something very difficult or awkward.
・swallowed the anchor: To retire from a life at sea and settle ashore.
分からない表現が二つ残り、宿題とすることにしました。
しかし、青少年向けの小説なので巻末に難しい表現、そして日本語（ローマ字で色々な表現が小説にはでてきます）の解説が載っている事に気がつき、宿題となって表現の意味は次ぎのように説明されていました。
・a dickey run: a short leave ashore
・devil to pay and no pitch hot: a predicament; derives from the job of sealing the outermost deck seam (the devil), which a sailor had to seal (pay) with pitch, a difficult and unpleasant task.
・slipped his cable: to die
また、Nautical Glossaryで分かった表現の内、次ぎの表現についても説明がありました。
・bleed the monkey: to secretely remove liquor from a cask by making a small hole and sucking through a straw
・three sheets in the wind: drunk
やれやれです。これらの表現は海賊小説でも読まなければ出てきそうも無いので、忘れても良さそうですが、上の引用文にあった "shonkey" だけでも覚えておこうとおもいます。 "shonkey" の意味は：
・巻末の説明: of dubious quality; a shipmate who will drink but avoid paying his round
・Collins Dictionary: 1.of dubious integrity or legality 2.unreliable; unsound
トータル
