The Virgin and the Gipsy の Yvette はEastwoods夫妻（まだ正式には結婚していない）と親しくなり、度々夫妻の家に遊びに行きます。
It was a funny household. The cottage was hired furnished, but the little Jewess had brought along her dearest pieces of furniture. She had an odd little taste for the rococco, strange curving cupboards inlaid with mother of pearl, tortoiseshell, ebony, heaven knows what; strange tall flamboyant chairs, from Italy, with sea-green brocade: astonishing saints with wind-blown, richly-coloured carven garments and pink faces: shelves of weird old Saxe and Capo di Monte figurines: and finally, a strange assortment of astonishing pictures painted on the back of glass, done, probably in the early years of the nineteenth century, or in the late eighteenth.
In this crowded and extraordinary interior she received Yvette, when the latter made a stolen visit.
"stolen visit" とはユニークな表現ですが、どんな意味でしょうか？
"stolen visit" の例は辞書では見つかりませんでしたが、"steal" の項をよく見ると次ぎの説明がありました。
・Wiktionary: To move silently or secretly.: He stole across the room, trying not to wake her.
・Random House Unabridged Dictionary: to move, go, or come secretly, quietly, or unobserved: She stole out of the house at midnight.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to come or go secretly, unobtrusively, gradually, or unexpectedly
つまり、Yvetteは家族に内緒でEastwoods家を訪問しているという意味ですね。
She advanced, dressed in a sleek but bulky coat of sable fur. A man followed, in a blue great-coat; pulling off his fur gloves and pulling out a pipe.
"It looked so tempting," said the woman in the coat of many dead little animals, smiling a broad, half-condescending, half-hesitant simper, around the company.
この小説も情景や登場人物の表情、気持ちなどを丁寧に記述しています。今日は引用文の最後に出てきた "simper" を覚えたいと思います。 早速意味を辞書で確認します。
・Vocabulary.com: a silly self-conscious smile
To simper means to smile in an artificial, coy or self-conscious way. If you hope to please someone by simpering, you may wind up annoying him or her.
The origin of the word simper is not clear, but it is probably Germanic as there are similar words in Danish as well as Middle Dutch. What is clear is that a simper is not attractive to those observing it. Watching your colleague simper and giggle as the boss tells a not-very-funny joke, you can be sure that she is angling for that promotion.
・Vocabulary.com: to smile in an affected and foolish way
Tips: Simper can also be a noun, referring to the foolish or affected smile itself. Use simper as a noun or verb in place of the noun/verb "smile" to describe a silly, foolish smile or someone smiling in a silly or foolish manner.
Usage Examples:
The politician simpered when he was asked a question he couldn't answer. (smiled foolishly)
A big simper appeared on his face when he forgot a portion of his speech. (silly smile)
今日はお彼岸、これから墓参りに出かけます。
ラグビーの日本選手権はサントリーが勝ったとニュースで知りましたが、昨日、一昨日と週末はいつもの様に忙しくまだ録画した試合を見ていません。火曜日は祝日なので墓参りと音楽会に行く予定がありますが、録画を見る時間はなんとか取れるでしょう。
さて月曜日になったのでいつもの様に英語の勉強を始めます。The Virgin and the Gipsy の姉妹のいる教会で、戦争で亡くなった人たちを慰霊するステンドグラスの為の募金をしましたがその募金の一部を下の娘の Yvette がくすねてしまい大騒ぎになりました。
Even the rector was rather severe. "If you needed money, why didn't you tell me?" he said coldly. "Have you ever been refused anything in reason?"
"I--I thought it didn't matter," stammered Yvette.
"And what have you done with the money?"
"I suppose I've spent it," said Yvette, with wide, distraught eyes and a peaked face.
"Spent it, on what?"
"I can't remember everything: stockings and things, and I gave some of it away."
Poor Yvette! Her lordly airs and ways were already hitting back at her, on the reflex. The rector was angry: his face had a snarling, doggish look, a sort of sneer. He was afraid his daughter was developing some of the rank, tainted qualities of She-who-was-Cynthia.
"<B>You would do the large</B> with somebody else's money, wouldn't you?" he said, with a cold, mongrel sort of sneer, which showed what an utter unbeliever he was, at the heart.
"She-who-was-Cynthia" 牧師の姉妹が幼い頃に、若い男と駆け落ちして家を出た母親の事で、この表現は話の始めの頃に次のように初めて出て来ました。
Now, thank heaven, having married again, she was no more Mrs. Arthur Saywell. No woman bore the rector's name. The pure white snow-flower bloomed in perpetuum, without nomenclature. The family even thought of her as She-who-was-Cynthia.
私が気にする表現は "She-who-was-Cynthia" ではなく、引用文の最後に出てきた "<B>You would do the large</B>" です。 文脈と "at large" の表現から、この個所は「勝手に気ままに使う」と言う様な意味だろうと推測できますが、辞書で同じ様な文例を探します。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: obsolete : lavish
・Dictionary.com: Obsolete . generosity; bounty.
どうもこの表現は古い様です。ちなみにThe Virgin and the Gipsyは1926年に書かれ、出版されたのは1930年でした。
是非紹介したい記事が Reader's Digest のFebruary 2012号にありました。
Walk Onと題された記事は、タイの少女が留学先のシンガポールで駅のホームから落とされて足に大怪我をしたのですが、下記の記事抜粋でもある程度分かると思いますが、なげかない、うらまない、非常に強い意志の持ち主で大変感動しました。 記事の全文がインターネットにも掲載されていることを見つけたのでそのリンク先を抜粋文の下に示します。
Just as the train approached the station, the crowd pressed forward. I felt someone pushing on my backpack, and though I tried to resist, I lost my balance. Seconds before the train arrived, I fell across the tracks. Before I knew what was happening, the train’s front wheels rolled across my legs.
It was all very strange. Even though I could hear people screaming, I didn’t fully realise what had happened. Then I looked at my legs. The train wheel had run directly over my right kneecap and just below my left kneecap. It was like each leg had been cut in two. The bones were completely broken, and there was only flesh and tattered skin below the point where the wheel had hit each leg.
Finally, he told me that they would not be able to reattach my legs. I accepted what he said. Whatever was going to happen would happen. There’s no point in crying about what’s already lost.
I think my positive attitude comes from how my parents raised me. This is what my dad said in an interview: “I tell both of my daughters that nothing is certain. I could die tomorrow or in the next five years. Anything could happen - like a tsunami - so we always have to be prepared. We have to face everything head-on. If we have presence of mind, we will know how to solve our problems.
Walk Onの記事は次ぎのURLで読むことができます。
my.news.yahoo.com/walk-000000207.html
A man tells his doctor that he's incapable of doing all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination is over, he says, "OK, Doctor. In plain English - what's wrong with me?"
"Well, in plain English," says the doctor, "you're just lazy."
The man nods. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."
私もこの病名の医学用語が知りたい。いつか役に立ちそうだ。
先日の３月１３日のトピック "deuce-take-it" で私が覚えたい１６００件目の表現になりました。 １００件毎のトピックでに作成しているサマリーをアップロードしましたので参考にして下さい。"No.1501-1600"のサマリーリスト（リンク）は下記ＵＲＬにあります。
www3.ocn.ne.jp/~akamaru/EC_Summary_List.htm
"At least," said Granny, "we don't come of half-depraved stock."
There was a second's electric pause. Then Lucille sprang from her low seat, with sparks flying from her.
"You shut up!" she shouted, in a blast full upon the mottled majesty of the old lady.
The old woman's breast began to heave with heaven knows what emotions. The pause this time, as after the thunderbolt, was icy.
Then Aunt Cissie, livid, sprang upon Lucille, pushing her like a fury.
"Go to your room!" she cried hoarsely. "Go to your room!"
（中略）
'Of course not. I only said we're not depraved, just because we happen to be superstitious about breaking mirros.'
Yvette could hardly believe her ears. Had she heard right? Was it possible! Or was Granny, at her age, just telling a barefaced lie?
Yvette knew that the old woman was telling a cool, barefaced lie. But already, so quickly, Granny believed her own statement.
"barefaced lie" とはどんな嘘を指すのでしょうか？
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: having or showing a lack of scruples: a barefaced lie
・Macmillan Dictionary: used for emphasizing that someone who does something bad is not ashamed or does not try to do it secretly: a barefaced lie
・Cambridge English Dictionary: not trying to hide your bad behaviour: That's a barefaced lie!
多くの辞書に "barefaced" の例として上記の様に "barefaced lie" を載せていました。
見え透いたずうずうしい嘘と言うことでしょうか。
So the young people set off on their jaunt, trying to be very full of beans. They could really do as they liked. And so, of course, there was nothing to do but sit in the car and talk a lot of criticism of other people, and silly flirty gallantry that was really rather a bore.
今日は上に出てきた "full of beans" を覚えたいと思います。
・Collins English Dictionary: a.full of energy and vitality: The more George ran out of steam, the busier and more full of beans Alice seemed to get.; The rupee is headed south, and the stockmarket isn't exactly full of beans.
・Wiktionary: Energetic and enthusiastic: Full of beans, full of life, gung-ho, fearless, tenacious at anything he attempted.
なるほどと思いました。しかし、"full of beans" には次ぎの意味もあるのです。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: full of nonsense; talking nonsense. Oh, shut up, Mary. You're full of hot air. Don't pay any attention to Bill. He's full of beans. My English professor is full of bull. You're full of it.
・Dictionary.com: a. energetic; vigorously active; vital: He is still full of beans at 95. b. stupid; erroneous; misinformed.
小説でもたしかに車の中での元気な会話はくだらない内容の様子ですね。
The Virgin and the Gipsyを読んでいます。
There was only the one room for everybody. And there sat the old lady, with Aunt Cissie keeping an acrid guard over her. Everybody must be presented first to Granny: she was ready to be genial, she liked company. She had to know who everybody was, where they came from, every circumstance of their lives. And then, when she was au fait, she could get hold of the conversation.
英米の小説には結構外国語、特にフランス語が出てきます。 引用文にある "au fait" もフランス語でしょう。 "fait accompli"（既成事実）は時事英語によく出てくるので知っています。 "fait accompli"から推測すると "fait" は "fact" の事ではないかと推測できても（正しいかどうかは定かではありません）、 "au fait" の見当はつきません。辞書を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: informed of the most recent facts or information about something: be au fait with something: I’m not really au fait with the latest computer technology.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be familiar with or know about something: Are you au fait with the rules of the game?
・Vocabulary.com: being up to particular standard or level especially in being up to date in knowledge: always au fait on the latest events
"au" の意味と役割は分かりませんが、 "au fait" の "fait" も "fact" に関係があり、 "au fait" に事実に精通している意味があると思います。
At home, she truly was irritable, and outrageously rude to Aunt Cissie. In fact, Yvette's awful temper became one of the family by-words.
Yvetteは二人姉妹の若い方の女性です。 "the family by-words" の表現の意味を調べます。
・Dictionary.com: a) a word or phrase associated with some person or thing; a characteristic expression, typical greeting, or the like.; b) an object of general reproach, derision, scorn, etc.: His crimes will make him a byword through the ages.
"by-word" を見出しに挙げている辞書は上記の辞書の他はほとんどなかったのですが、"byword" で調べ直すとほとんどの辞書に説明がありました。
・Macmillan Dictionary: if someone or something is a byword for a particular quality, they have a strong reputation for that quality: The city is a byword for intolerance.
・Collins English Dictionary: an object of scorn or derision: Even the annual party conference, which was once a byword for internecine strife is now just a stage-managed rally.
・American Heritage Dictionary: An object of notoriety or interest: The eccentric poet was a byword in literary circles.
"the family by-words" に "one of " とついている理由が分かりました。 この小説ではGrannyもAunt Cissieも余り性格が良い感じではありません。
父親の職業が vicar/rector で二人の娘（タイトルからするとこの内の一人が主人公だと推測します）がいて、しかし娘達の母親は若い男と駆け落ちをして家を出てしまったという、私にはその状況の想像が難しい背景で話は始まりました。
Lucille was now nearly twenty-one, and Yvette nineteen. They had been to a good girls' school, and had had a finishing year in Lausanne, and were quite the usual thing, tall young creatures with fresh, sensitive faces and bobbed hair and young-manly, deuce-take-it manners.
娘達は美人の様ですが、 "deuce-take-it manners" が分かりません。 辞書を見ますが "deuce-take-it" はOneLookの辞書検索では何も見つかりません。しかたなくGoogleで検索すると次ぎの事が分かりました。
The Mavens' Word of the Day (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990825）の "deuce" の項に "deuce take it" を含む次ぎの説明がありました。
The senses that are more familiar now are usually regarded as euphemisms for devil in mild oaths, such as "what the deuce," "the deuce to pay," "the deuce take it," etc. This usage may be influenced by Low German duus 'the devil', used in similar oaths, but the Low German usage may itself be from French in the 'bad luck at dice' sense.
しかしこれではまだ文中での意味は良くわかりません。
・Dictionary of Americanisms: DEUCE. A euphemism for devil; as, 'The deuce is in it;' 'Deuce take it.' Common both in England and America.
どうも "deuce-take-it manners" は "devil manners" と同じ様ですが、では "devil manners" はどう解釈すべきでしょうか？ "devil" だと相当悪いイメージしか湧きませんが、主人公がそれ程 "devil" の様に酷い人間なはずがないとも思います。 そこで "devil" 意味も辞書で確認して見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: *someone who does not behave very well, especially a child. You usually use this word when you are not really angry with the person: I bet you were a little devil when you were younger.; *a person. Used when you are describing someone or saying how you feel about them, especially if you like them: Poor old devil, he doesn’t get many visitors.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a person of notable energy, recklessness, and dashing spirit; also: one who is mischievous: those kids are little devils today
・Collins English Dictionary: a person or animal regarded as clever, daring, mischievous, or energetic
最後に引用した辞書の意味がもっとも好意的なので、小説での意味はこれではないかと推測します。 少なくとも "a person or animal regarded as cruel, wicked, or ill-natured" の意味では無いでしょう。
トータル
