THERE are two ways of doing battle against Disgrace. You may live it down; or you may run away from it and hide. The first one is heart-breaking, but sure. The second cannot be relied upon because of the uncomfortable way Disgrace has of turning up at your heels just when you think you have eluded her in the last town but one.
disgrace：不名誉。live it down：それを償う。heart-breaking：心を傷める。uncomfortable：不愉快。turning up at your heels：（貴方の）直ぐ後に（踵を返して）現れる。have eluded：（上手く）逃れた。
Ted Terrill did not choose the first method. He had it thrust upon him. After Ted had served his term he came back home to visit his mother’s grave, intending to take the next train out. He wore none of the prison pallor that you read about in books, because he had been shortstop on the penitentiary all-star baseball team, and famed for the dexterity with which he could grab up red-hot grounders. The storied lock step and the clipped hair effect also were missing. The superintendent of Ted’s prison had been one of the reform kind.
Ted Terrill：テッド・テリル（人名）。thrust upon：（無理に）押し付けた。had served his term：（彼が服役の）満期を迎えた。wore none of the prison pallor：刑務所の（日当たりが悪いための）蒼白さではなかった。shortstop：遊撃手（野球の守備位置）。penitentiary：（州や連邦の）刑務所（アメリカ英語）。baseball：野球。famed for：～で有名な。dexterity：器用さ。grab up：拾い上げる。red-hot grounders：猛烈な（燃え上がるような）ゴロ。storied lock step：語り種の密集行進。clipped hair effect：刈り揃えた髪の様子。missing：免れる。superintendent：所長（管理者）。the reform kind：改革種（の人）。
You never would have picked Ted for a criminal. He had none of those interesting phrenological bumps and depressions that usually are shown to such frank advantage in the Bertillon photographs. Ted had been assistant cashier in the Citizens' National Bank. In a mad moment he had attempted a little sleight-of-hand act in which certain Citizens' National funds were to be transformed into certain glittering shares and back again so quickly that the examiners couldn't follow it with their eyes. But Ted was unaccustomed to these now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don't feats and his hand slipped. The trick dropped to the floor with an awful clatter.
have picked Ted for a criminal：テッドを犯罪者に選ぶ。phrenological：骨相学的な。bumps and depressions：隆起や陥没。Bertillon：ベルティヨン（警察官僚の一人）。assistant cashier：（銀行の現金収支担当の）出納副主任（アメリカ英語）。Citizens' National Bank：シティズンズ国立銀行。in a mad moment：狂気染みた束の間。sleight-of-hand：手先の早業。certain：ある。funds：資金。glittering shares：光り輝く株式。examiners：検査官。now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don't：見えますね、良いですか、さぁ消えた（手品師の良くいう台詞）。feats：芸当。trick：企み。dropped to the floor：失敗った（床へ落ちた）。with an awful clatter：物凄くガラガラ鳴って。
Ted had been a lovable young kid, six feet high, and blonde, with a great reputation as a dresser. He had the first yellow plush hat in our town. It sat on his golden head like a halo. The women all liked Ted. Mrs. Dankworth, the dashing widow (why will widows persist in being dashing?), said that he was the only man in our town who knew how to wear a dress suit. The men were forever slapping him on the back and asking him to have a little something. Ted's good looks and his clever tongue and a certain charming Irish way he had with him caused him to be taken up by the smart set. Now, if you've never lived in a small town you will be much amused at the idea of its boasting a smart set. Which proves your ignorance. The small town smart set is deadly serious about its smartness. It likes to take six-hour runs down to the city to fit a pair of shoes and hear Caruso. Its clothes are as well made, and its scandals as crisp, and its pace as hasty, and its golf club as dull as the clothes, and scandals, and pace, and golf club of its city cousins.
lovable young kid：愛らしい少年。six feet high：身長６フィート（長さ）。blonde：金髪。with a great reputation：大変に良く知られて。as a dresser：飾り屋として。plush hat：プラッシュ（長く柔らかい毛羽のある織物）帽子。halo：光の輪。Dankworth：ダンクワース（人名／名字）。dashing widow：派手な未亡人。dress suit：正装（男性用礼服）。forever：絶えず。slapping：ピシャリと叩く。good looks：（男性の）見栄え。clever tongue：口才（巧みな話術）。a certain charming Irish way he had with him：彼が持ち合わせたある魅力的なアイルランドの振る舞い。smart set：社交界の名士たち。boasting：誇示する。deadly serious：大真面目な。smartness：洒脱。fit a pair of shoes：靴一足を合わせる。Caruso：カルーソー（歌手の一人）。scandals：醜聞。crisp：（話し方が）明快な。hasty：慌ただしい。city cousins：田舎者。
The hasty pace killed Ted. He tried to keep step in a set of young folks whose fathers had made our town. And all the time his pocketbook was yelling, "Whoa!" The young people ran largely to scarlet-upholstered touring cars, and country-club doings, and house parties, as small town younger generations are apt to. When Ted went to high school half the boys in his little clique spent their after-school hours dashing up and down Main street in their big, glittering cars, sitting slumped down on the middle of their spines in front of the steering wheel, their sleeves rolled up, their hair combed a militant pompadour. One or the other of them always took Ted along. It is fearfully easy to develop a taste for that kind of thing. As he grew older, the taste took root and became a habit.
killed：（人を）へとへとに疲れさせた。keep step：足並みを揃える。in a set of young folks：若い仲間の一行。pocketbook：（小型の）手帳。whoa：どうどう（馬を鎮める声）。largely：主として。scarlet-upholstered touring cars：緋色の内張りの乗用車。country-club doings：カントリークラブ（アメリカの郊外の娯楽保養施設）の行事。apt to：良く～する。clique：徒党。after-school hours：放課後。dashing up and down：あちこちに突進する。slumped down：ドカッと倒れて。spines：背骨。combed：梳けた。militant pompadour：好戦的なポンパドール（前髪を高く膨らませた髪型）。one or the other of them：彼らの誰か。took Ted along：テッドを連れて行った。fearfully easy：とても簡単な。develop a taste：好きになる（好みを持つようになる）。took root：定着した（根付いた）。
Ted came out after serving his term, still handsome, spite of all that story-writers may have taught to the contrary. But we'll make this concession to the old tradition. There was a difference. His radiant blondeur was dimmed in some intangible, elusive way. Birdie Callahan, who had worked in Ted's mother's kitchen for years, and who had gone back to her old job at the Haley House after her mistress's death, put it sadly, thus:
handsome：美男子。to the contrary：逆に。make this concession：こんな譲歩を行う。radiant：光を放つ。blondeur：ブロンド（金髪を意味するフランス語）。dimmed：薄らいだ。intangible：触れられない。elusive：捉えどころがない。Birdie Callahan：バーディ・キャラハン（人名）。Haley House：へイリーハウス（店名）。mistress's ：女主人の。put it sadly：悲しげに述べた。
"He was always th' han'some divil. I used to look forward to ironin' day just for the pleasure of pressin' his fancy shirts for him. I'm that partial to them swell blondes. But I dinnaw, he's changed. Doin' time has taken the edge off his hair an' complexion. Not changed his color, do yuh mind, but dulled it, like a gold ring, or the like, that has tarnished."
th'：その（theの短縮形）。han'some：美男子（handsomeの短縮形）。ironin'：アイロンをかける（ironingの短縮形）。pressin'：皺を取る（プレスする／pressingの短縮形）。fancy shirts：上等なシャツ（fancyを上等とするのはアメリカ英語）。partial to：～が大好き。swell：お洒落な（アメリカ英語）。dinnaw：知らなかった（didn't knowの短縮形）。doin' time：刑務所暮らし（時間を過ごすこと／doin'はdoingの短縮形）。has taken the edge off：（性質や効果を）削いだ。an'：と（andの短縮形）。complexion：顔色。yuh。貴方（youの変形）。dulled：鈍らされた。or the like：またはそのようなもの。has tarnished：曇った。
Ted was seated In the smoker, with a chip on his shoulder, and a sick horror of encountering some one he knew in his heart, when Jo Haley, of the Haley House, got on at Westport, homeward bound. Jo Haley is the most eligible bachelor in our town, and the slipperiest. He has made the Haley House a gem, so that traveling men will cut half a dozen towns to Sunday there. If he should say "Jump through this!" to any girl in our town she'd jump.
seated：腰を下ろした。smoker：喫煙車。with a chip on his shoulder：（彼が）カリカリして（肩に木片で：アメリカで喧嘩を仕掛けるときに肩に木片を置いてこれを落としてみろといったことから）。Westport：ウェストポート（アメリカのコネチカット州の町）。homeward bound：帰路の。eligible：結婚相手に相応しい。bachelor：独身男性。the slipperiest：最もあやふやな人。gem：逸品。cut half a dozen towns to Sunday there：六つ（半ダース）の町を飛ばして、日曜日、そこへ行く。
Jo Haley strolled leisurely up the car aisle toward Ted. Ted saw him coming and sat very still, waiting.
strolled：漫ろ歩いた。leisurely：ゆっくり。car aisle：客室の通路。
"Hello, Ted! How's Ted?" said Jo Haley, casually. And dropped into the adjoining seat without any more fuss.
casually：気楽に。dropped into：腰かけた。adjoining seat：隣の座席。fuss：大騒ぎ。
Ted wet his lips slightly and tried to say something. He had been a breezy talker. But the words would not come. Jo Haley made no effort to cover the situation with a rush of conversation. He did not seem to realize that there was any situation to cover. He champed the end of his cigar and handed one to Ted.
slightly：僅かに。breezy talker：軽く話す人。made no effort to：～しようとしなかった。cover the situation：状況を隠す。a rush of：～の激発。champed：ぐちゃぐちゃ噛む。cigar：葉巻。
"Well, you've taken your lickin', kid. What you going to do now?"
The rawness of it made Ted wince. "Oh, I don't know," he stammered. "I've a job half promised in Chicago."
rawness：浅はかさ（無知）。wince：たじろぎ。stammered：口籠った。Chicago：シカゴ（アメリカのイリノイ州の町）。
"What doing?"
Ted laughed a short and ugly laugh. "Driving a brewery auto truck."
brewery：（ビールなどの）醸造所。auto truck：トラック（車の一種）。
Jo Haley tossed his cigar dexterously to the opposite corner of his mouth and squinted thoughtfully along its bulging sides.
tossed：ぽいと投げた。dexterously：器用に。squinted：目を細めて見た。thoughtfully：考え込んで。bulging：膨らむ。
"Remember that Wenzel girl that's kept books for me for the last six years? She's leaving in a couple of months to marry a New York guy that travels for ladies' cloaks and suits. After she goes it's nix with the lady bookkeepers for me. Not that Minnie isn't a good, straight girl, and honest, but no girl can keep books with one eye on a column of figures and the other on a traveling man in a brown suit and a red necktie, unless she's cross-eyed, and you bet Minnie ain't. The job's yours if you want it. Eighty a month to start on, and board."
Wenzel：ウェンツェル（人名／名字）。girl that's kept books：帳簿を付けていた娘。leaving：（仕事を）辞める（離れる）。cloaks：クローク（袖なし外套）。nix：ない。bookkeepers：帳簿係。Minnie：ミニー（人名／名前）。straight：（人や行いが）真っ直ぐな。column of figures：数字の（縦の）列。cross-eyed：藪睨み。you bet：きっと（貴方は断言する）。start on：～を始める。board：食事（付き）。
"I—can't, Jo. Thanks just the same. I'm going to try to begin all over again, somewhere else, where nobody knows me."
thanks just the same：とにかくありがとう。
"Oh yes," said Jo. "I knew a fellow that did that. After he came out he grew a beard, and wore eyeglasses, and changed his name. Had a quick, crisp way of talkin', and he cultivated a drawl and went west and started in business. Real estate, I think. Anyway, the second month he was there in walks a fool he used to know and bellows: 'Why if it ain't Bill! Hello, Bill! I thought you was doing time yet.' That was enough. Ted, you can black your face, and dye your hair, and squint, and some fine day, sooner or later, somebody'll come along and blab the whole thing. And say, the older it gets the worse it sounds, when it does come out. Stick around here where you grew up, Ted."
fellow：奴。eyeglasses：眼鏡。cultivated：養った。drawl：ゆっくりした話し方（アメリカの南部の方言の特徴：母音を引き伸ばして発音する）。real estate：不動産。anyway：ともかく。in walks：歩いて。bellows：喚き声。why if it ain't Bill!：おや、ビル（Billは人名、Billy／ビリーやWilliam／ウィリアムなどの愛称）じゃないか！ black：黒くする。dye：染める。fine day：晴れた日。come along：やって来る。blab：（秘密を）べらべら喋る。say：おい（アメリカ英語）。stick around：～の辺りで待ってみな。
Ted clasped and unclasped his hands uncomfortably. "I can't figure out why you should care how I finish."
clasped and unclasped：握り締めては開いた。uncomfortably：落ち着かずに。figure out：分かる。
"No reason," answered Jo. "Not a darned one. I wasn't ever in love with your ma, like the guy on the stage; and I never owed your pa a cent. So it ain't a guilty conscience. I guess it's just pure cussedness, and a banker in for a new investment. I'm curious to know how'll you turn out. You've got the makin's of what the newspapers call a Leading Citizen, even if you did fall down once. If I'd ever had time to get married, which I never will have, a first-class hotel bein' more worry and expense than a Pittsburg steel magnate's whole harem, I'd have wanted somebody to do the same for my kid. That sounds slushy, but it's straight."
not a darned one：何でもない。ma：お母ちゃん（アメリカ英語）。owed：借りていた。pa：お父ちゃん（アメリカ英語）。cent：セント（アメリカやカナダなどの通貨／１００分の１ドル）。guilty conscience：自責の念（罪悪感）。cussedness：意固地。banker：銀行家。in for：～の間際の（今にも直面しそうな）。investment：投資。how'll you turn out：貴方がどうなるだろうかと。the makin's of：～の成功（makin'sはmakingsの短縮形）。leading citizen：優等市民。first-class hotel：最高級ホテル。expense：出資。Pittsburg steel magnate's whole harem：ピッツバーグ（アメリカのペンシルヴェニア州の町）の鉄鋼の有力者のハーレム（一人の男性が多くの女性を侍らせる場所）全体。do the same：同じことをする。slushy：下らない。
"I don't seem to know how to thank you," began Ted, a little husky as to voice.
husky：掠れた。as to：～に関して。
"Call around to-morrow morning," interrupted Jo Haley, briskly, "and Minnie Wenzel will show you the ropes. You and her can work together for a couple of months. After then she's leaving to make her underwear, and that. I should think she'd have a bale of it by this time. Been embroidering them shimmy things and lunch cloths back of the desk when she thought I wasn't lookin' for the last six months."
call around：軽く寄る。to-morrow：明日。interrupted：遮った。briskly：快活に。ropes：コツ。underwear：下着。and that：その上に。I should think：当然。a bale of：一梱の～。embroidering：刺繍する。shimmy things：シュミーズ（胸から膝までの長い肌着かドレス）類。lunch cloths：ランチクロス（食事用の風呂敷）。
Ted came down next morning at 8 a.m. with his nerve between his teeth and the chip still balanced lightly on his shoulder. Five minutes later Minnie Wenzel knocked it off. When Jo Haley introduced the two jocularly, knowing that they had originally met in the First Reader room. Miss Wenzel acknowledged the introduction icily by lifting her left eyebrow slightly and drawing down the corners of her mouth. Her air of hauteur was a triumph, considering that she was handicapped by black sateen sleevelets.
with his nerve between his teeth：彼の食い縛った度胸で。jocularly：おどけて。originally：元より。first reader room：第一読書室。acknowledged：受け答えた（気付いたことを知らせた）。icily：冷淡に。hauteur：尊大。handicapped：不利な立場に置かれた。sateen：綿繻子（織物の一種）。sleevelets：腕貫き（手首から肘までの装身具）。
I wonder how one could best describe Miss Wenzel? There is one of her in every small town. Let me think (business of hand on brow). Well, she always paid eight dollars for her corsets when most girls in a similar position got theirs for fifty-nine cents in the basement. Nature had been kind to her. The hair that had been a muddy brown in Minnie's schoolgirl days it had touched with a magic red-gold wand. Birdie Callahan always said that Minnie was working only to wear out her old clothes.
business of hand on brow：額に手の仕草。eight dollars：８ドル（アメリカやカナダなどの通貨）。corsets：コルセット（腰回りに付ける体型補正の器具）。in the basement：密かに（地下室で）。nature：欲求。muddy：泥のような。schoolgirl：女学生。magic red-gold wand：魔法の赤金の杖。wear out：着古す。
After the introduction Miss Wenzel followed Jo Haley into the lobby. She took no pains to lower her voice.
lobby：待合室。took no pains to：苦もなく～した。
"Well I must say, Mr. Haley, you've got a fine nerve! If my gentleman friend was to hear of my working with an ex-con I wouldn't be surprised if he'd break off the engagement. I should think you'd have some respect for the feelings of a lady with a name to keep up, and engaged to a swell fellow like Mr. Schwartz."
you've got a fine nerve：貴方は物凄く厚かましい。ex-con：前科者。break off the engagement：婚約を破棄する。you'd have some respect for：貴方は敬意を～に少しは払う。name to keep up：保つべき名（評判）。swell fellow：素晴らしい相手。Schwartz：シュワルツ（人名／名字）。
"Say, listen, m' girl," replied Jo Haley. "The law don't cover all the tricks. But if stuffing an order was a criminal offense I'll bet your swell traveling man would be doing a life term."
m'：私の（myの短縮形）。cover：及ぶ。stuffing an order：注文の詰め込み。criminal offense：犯罪。I'll bet：きっと～だろう。doing a life term：終身刑に服する。
Ted worked that day with his teeth set so that his jaws ached next morning. Minnie Wenzel spoke to him only when necessary and then in terms of dollars and cents. When dinner time came she divested herself of the black sateen sleevelets, wriggled from the shoulders down à la Patricia O'Brien, produced a chamois skin, and disappeared in the direction of the washroom. Ted waited until the dining-room was almost deserted. Then he went in to dinner alone. Some one in white wearing an absurd little pocket handkerchief of an apron led him to a seat in a far corner of the big room. Ted did not lift his eyes higher than the snowy square of the apron. The Apron drew out a chair, shoved it under Ted's knees in the way Aprons have, and thrust a printed menu at him.
in terms of：～の観点から。dollars and cents：金銭（ドルとセント）。divested herself of：（彼女が）脱いだ。wriggled：体をくねらせた。à la Patricia O'Brien：パトリシア・オブライエン（人名）を真似て（à laは～式でを意味するフランス語）。produced：取り出した。chamois skin：セーム皮。washroom：手洗所（アメリカ英語）。deserted：人気がない。absurd：可笑しい。pocket handkerchief：ハンカチ。snowy：雪白の。shoved：押し込んだ。thrust：突き付けた。printed menu：献立表。
"Roast beef, medium," said Ted, without looking up.
roast beef：ローストビーフ（料理の一種）。medium：ミディアム（中くらいの肉の焼き加減）。
"Bless your heart, yuh ain't changed a bit. I remember how yuh used to jaw when it was too well done," said the Apron, fondly.
bless your heart：有り難う（神のお恵みを／アメリカの南部に多い同情的な表現）。jaw：罵る。well done：ウェルダン（良く焼けた肉の焼き加減が）ウェルダン。fondly：愛情を込めて。
Ted's head came up with a jerk.
with a jerk：ぐいっと。
"So yuh will cut yer old friends, is it?" grinned Birdie Callahan. "If this wasn't a public dining-room maybe yuh'd shake hands with a poor but proud workin' girrul. Yer as good lookin' a divil as ever. Mister Ted."
cut：（関係を）絶つ。yer：貴方の（yourの変形）。grinned：にやりと笑った。workin' girrul：働く女子（workin'はworkingの短縮形、girrulはgirlの変形）。yer：貴方は～である（you'reの変形）。Mister Ted：テッドさん。
Ted's hand shot out and grasped hers. "Birdie! I could weep on your apron! I never was so glad to see any one in my life. Just to look at you makes me homesick. What in Sam Hill are you doing here?"
shot out：突き出た。homesick：ホームシック（自分の家や国が恋しい）。what in Sam Hill：一体、何で～（Sam Hillはhell／地獄の変形）。
"Waitin'. After yer ma died, seemed like I didn't care t' work fer no other privit fam'ly, so I came back here on my old job. I'll bet I'm the homeliest head waitress in captivity."
waitin'：給仕（waitingの短縮形）。care t' work：働きたいと思う（t'はtoの語尾音消失）。fer：～のために（forの変形）。privit fam'ly：個人宅（privitはprivateの変形、fam'lyはfamilyの短縮形）。the homeliest：最も家庭的な。head waitress：ウェイトレス長。in captivity：捕らわれの。
Ted's nervous fingers were pleating the tablecloth. His voice sank to a whisper. "Birdie, tell me the God's truth. Did those three years cause her death?"
nervous fingers：緊張した指。pleating：折り重ねる（襞を作る）。tablecloth：テーブルクロス。God's truth：絶対的な真実。
"Niver!" lied Birdie. "I was with her to the end. It started with a cold on th' chest. Have some French fried with yer beef, Mr. Teddy. They're illigent to-day."
niver：まさか（ない／neverの変形）。lied：嘘を吐いた。cold on th' chest：咳の出る風邪（胸における風邪）。french fried：フライドポテト（料理の一種）。illigent：付け合わせ（ラテン語）。
Birdie glided off to the kitchen. Authors are fond of the word "glide." But you can take it literally this time. Birdie had a face that looked like a huge mistake, but she walked like a panther, and they're said to be the last cry as gliders. She walked with her chin up and her hips firm. That comes from juggling trays. You have to walk like that to keep your nose out of the soup. After a while the walk becomes a habit. Any seasoned dining-room girl could give lessons in walking to the Delsarte teacher of an Eastern finishing school.
glided off：すーっと消えた。glide：滑る。literally：字義通りに。panther：黒豹。the last cry：最近の流行り物。gliders：グライダー（滑空機）。juggling trays：トレイを巧みに操る。seasoned：経験豊かな。Delsarte：デルサルト（デルサルトという舞踏教師による音楽と体操を組み合わせた身体表現の方法）。finishing school：フィニッシングスクール（未婚の若い女性が社会的な付き合いの様々な教養を身に付けるための教育機関）。
From the day that Birdie Callahan served Ted with the roast beef medium and the elegant French fried, she appointed herself monitor over his food and clothes and morals. I wish I could find words to describe his bitter loneliness. He did not seek companionship. The men, although not directly avoiding him, seemed somehow to have pressing business whenever they happened In his vicinity. The women ignored him. Mrs. Dankworth, still dashing and still widowed, passed Ted one day and looked fixedly at a point one inch above his head. In a town like ours the Haley House is like a big, hospitable clubhouse. The men drop in there the first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night, to hear the gossip and buy a cigar and jolly the girl at the cigar counter. Ted spoke to them when they spoke to him. He began to develop a certain grim line about the mouth. Jo Haley watched him from afar, and the longer he watched the kinder and more speculative grew the look in his eyes. And slowly and surely there grew in the hearts of our townspeople a certain new respect and admiration for this boy who was fighting his fight.
elegant：素敵な（アメリカ英語）。appointed herself monitor over：～の監督役を自認した。loneliness：孤独。companionship：人との交わり。somehow：どういうわけか。pressing business：急ぎの用事。happened in his vicinity：偶然に彼の近くにいた。widowed：未亡人だった。fixedly：じっと。one inch：１インチ（長さ）。hospitable：過ごし易い。clubhouse：クラブハウス（会館）。drop in：立ち寄る。gossip：世間話。jolly：嬉しがらせる。grim line：厳つい線。from afar：遠くから。speculative：思わしげな。the look in his eyes：彼の目付き。in the hearts of：～の心の中に。townspeople：町民。admiration：称賛。
Ted got into the habit of taking his meals late, so that Birdie Callahan could take the time to talk to him.
got into the habit of：～の習慣が付いた。
"Birdie," he said one day, when she brought his soup, "do you know that you're the only decent woman who'll talk to me? Do you know what I mean when I say that I'd give the rest of my life if I could just put my head in my mother's lap and have her muss up my hair and call me foolish names?"
decent：ちゃんとした。give the rest of my life：（私が）残りの人生を捧げる。lap：膝（座ったときの太股の上）。muss up：くしゃくしゃにする。
Birdie Callahan cleared her throat and said abruptly: "I was noticin' yesterday your gray pants needs pressin' bad. Bring 'em down tomorrow mornin' and I'll give 'em th' elegant crease in the laundry."
cleared her throat：（彼女が）咳払いした。abruptly：唐突に。bring 'em down：それらを持って来て（'emはthemの短縮形）。crease：折り目。laundry：洗濯場。
So the first weeks went by, and the two months of Miss Wenzel's stay came to an end. Ted thanked his God and tried hard not to wish that she was a man so that he could punch her head.
went by：（時が）過ぎた。
The day before the time appointed for her departure she was closeted with Jo Haley for a long, long time. When finally she emerged a bellboy lounged up to Ted with a message.
departure：離脱。closeted with：～と密談した。emerged：出て来た。bellboy：ベルボーイ（ホテルやクラブの玄関に配置された荷物運び役）。lounged：ぶらぶら歩いた。up to：～まで。
"Wenzel says th' Old Man wants t' see you. 'S in his office. Say, Mr. Terrill, do yuh think they can play to-day? It's pretty wet."
th' old man：御大。's：彼は～である（'sはhe'sの短縮形）。say：あのう（アメリカ英語）。
Jo Haley was sunk in the depths of his big leather chair. He did not look up as Ted entered. "Sit down," he said. Ted sat down and waited, puzzled.
puzzled：当惑して。
"As a wizard at figures," mused Jo Haley at last, softly as though to himself, "I'm a frost. A column of figures on paper makes my head swim. But I can carry a whole regiment of 'em in my head. I know every time the barkeeper draws one in the dark. I've been watchin’ this thing for the last two weeks hopin' you'd quit and come and tell me." He turned suddenly and faced Ted. "Ted, old kid," he said sadly, "what'n'ell made you do it again?"
wizard at figures：数字の名人。mused：考えに耽った。frost：霜柱。swim：くらくらする。carry：処理する。a whole regiment of：～の大群。draws one in the dark：ブラック（の珈琲）を飲む（一つ闇から取る）。watchin’：見守る（watchingの短縮形）。old kid：兄ちゃん。what'n'ell：何だって（what in hellの短縮形）。
"What's the joke?" asked Ted.
"Now, Ted," remonstrated Jo Haley, "that way of talkin' won't help matters none. As I said, I'm rotten at figures. But you're the first investment that ever turned out bad, and let me tell you I've handled some mighty bad smelling ones. Why, kid, if you had just come to me on the quiet and asked for the loan of a hundred or so why——"
remonstrated：忠告した。help matters none：状況を良くしない。turned out bad：駄目だと判明した。why：なあ。on the quiet：こっそり。a hundred or so：１００（ドル）ばかり。
"What's the joke, Jo?" said Ted again, slowly.
"This ain't my notion of a joke," came the terse answer. "We're three hundred short."
terse：簡潔な。
The last vestige of Ted Terril's old-time radiance seemed to flicker and die, leaving him ashen and old.
vestige：痕跡。old-time：昔からの。radiance：輝き。flicker and die：閃いて消える。ashen：灰色の。
"Short?" he repeated. Then, "My God!" in a strangely colorless voice—"My God!" He looked down at his fingers impersonally, as though they belonged to some one else. Then his hand clutched Jo Haley's arm with the grip of fear. "Jo! Jo! That's the thing that has haunted me day and night, till my nerves are raw. The fear of doing it again. Don't laugh at me, will you? I used to lie awake nights going over that cursed business of the bank—over and over—till the cold sweat would break out all over me. I used to figure it all out again, step by step, until—Jo, could a man steal and not know it? Could thinking of a thing like that drive a man crazy? Because if it could—if it could—then——"
impersonally：よそよそしく。clutched：掴んだ。has haunted：取り憑いた。till my nerves are raw：私の神経がひり付くまで。going over：調べる。cursed：酷い。break out：（汗が）出る。figure it all out again：それを全て計算し直す。step by step：一歩ずつ。drive a man crazy：人の気を狂わせる。
"I don't know," said Jo Haley, "but it sounds darned fishy." He had a hand on Ted's shaking shoulder, and was looking into the white, drawn face. "I had great plans for you, Ted. But Minnie Wenzel's got it all down on slips of paper. I might as well call her in again, and we'll have the whole blamed thing out."
darned fishy：酷く怪しい。drawn face：強張った顔。got it all down：それを全て書き取った。slips of paper：紙切れ。have the whole blamed thing out：非難するものの全てに決着を付ける。
Minnie Wenzel came. In her hand were slips of paper, and books with figures in them, and Ted looked and saw things written in his own hand that should not have been there. And he covered his shamed face with his two hands and gave thanks that his mother was dead.
books：帳簿。gave thanks：感謝した。
There came three sharp raps at the office door. The tense figures within jumped nervously.
raps：ドンドン叩く音。tense figures within：緊張した中の人たち。
"Keep out!" called Jo Haley, "whoever you are." Whereupon the door opened and Birdie Callahan breezed in.
whereupon：そうすると。breezed in：さっと入った。
"Get out, Birdie Callahan," roared Jo. "You're in the wrong pew."
roared：怒鳴った。in the wrong pew：場違いに（誤った会衆席に）。
Birdie closed the door behind her composedly and came farther into the room. "Pete th' pasthry cook just tells me that Minnie Wenzel told th' day clerk, who told the barkeep, who told th' janitor, who told th' chef, who told Pete, that Minnie had caught Ted stealin' some three hundred dollars."
composedly：落ち着いて。Pete：ピート（人名／名前、Peter／ピーターの愛称）。pasthry cook：菓子職人（pasthryはpastryの変形）。day clerk：通い番頭（外に住む奉公人の長）。barkeep：酒場の主（アメリカ英語）。janitor：（建物の）管理人（アメリカ英語）。chef：料理人。
Ted took a quick step forward. "Birdie, for Heaven's sake keep out of this. You can't make things any better. You may believe in me, but——"
for Heaven's sake：お願いだから。
"Where's the money?" asked Birdie.
Ted stared at her a moment, his mouth open ludicrously.
stared：見詰めた。ludicrously：馬鹿みたいに。
"Why—I—don't—know," he articulated, painfully. "I never thought of that."
why：さあ。articulated：はっきり発音した。painfully：痛ましく。
Birdie snorted defiantly. "I thought so. D'ye know," sociably, "I was visitin' with my aunt Mis' Mulcahy last evenin'."
snorted：鼻を鳴らした。defiantly：反抗的に。D'ye know：貴方は知るか（d'yeはdo ye／貴方の短縮形）。sociably：愛想良く。visitin' with：～と雑談する（visitin'はvisitingの短縮形）。Mis' Mulcahy：マルケイ（人名／名字、Mis'はMissの短縮形）さん。
There was a quick rustle of silks from Minnie Wenzel's direction.
rustle：さらさらという音。
"Say, look here——" began Jo Haley, impatiently.
impatiently：待ち切れず。
"Shut up, Jo Haley!" snapped Birdie. "As I was sayin', I was visitin' with my aunt Mis' Mulcahy. She does fancy washin' an' ironin' for the swells. An' Minnie Wenzel, there bein' none sweller, hires her to do up her weddin' linens. Such smears av hand embridery an' Irish crochet she never see th' likes, Mis' Mulcahy says, and she's seen a lot. And as a special treat to the poor owld soul, why Minnie Wenzel lets her see some av her weddin' clo'es. There never yet was a woman who cud resist showin' her weddin' things to every other woman she cud lay hands on. Well, Mis' Mulcahy, she see that grand trewsow and she said she never saw th' beat. Dresses! Well, her going away suit alone comes to eighty dollars, for it's bein' made by Molkowsky, the little Polish tailor. An' her weddin' dress is satin, do yuh mind! Oh, it was a real treat for my aunt Mis' Mulcahy."
snapped：言葉を急に遮った。swells：洒落者。do up：手入れする。weddin' linens：結婚式用のリネン（亜麻布）類（weddin'はweddingの短縮形）。smears：汚れ。av：～の（ofの変形）。hand embridery：手刺繍（embrideryはembroideryの変形）。crochet：鉤針編み。special treat：特別手当て。poor owld soul：貧しい老生（owldはoldの変形）。weddin' clo'es：婚礼衣装（clo'esはclothesの短縮形）。cud：～できた（couldの変形）。showin' her weddin' things：彼女の婚礼品を見せる（showingの短縮形）。lay hands on：捕まえた。grand trewsow：大トルソー（胴体のみのマネキン、torsoの変形）。saw th' beat：勝るものを見た（アメリカ英語）。going away suit：新婚旅行用のスーツ。Molkowsky：モルコフスキー（人名／名字）。Polish tailor：ポーランド人の仕立て屋。satin：繻子。
Birdie walked over to where Minnie Wenzel sat, very white and still, and pointed a stubby red finger in her face. "'Tis the grand manager ye are. Miss Wenzel, gettin' satins an' tailor-mades on yer salary. It takes a woman, Minnie Wenzel, to see through a woman's thricks."
stubby：ずんぐりした。'tis：それは～である（it isの短縮形）。grand manager：大監督。ye：貴方。tailor-mades：注文服。it takes a woman (to)：～するのに必要なのは女だ。see through：見抜く。thricks：企み（tricksの変形）。
"Well I'll be dinged!" exploded Jo Haley.
I'll be dinged：私はくどくどいい聞かされる。exploded：いい放った。
"Yuh'd better be!" retorted Birdie Callahan.
Yuh'd better be：貴方はそうあるべきだ。retorted：いい返した。
Minnie Wenzel stood up, her lip caught between her teeth.
"Am I to understand, Jo Haley, that you dare to accuse me of taking your filthy money, instead of that miserable ex-con there who has done time?"
accuse：責める。filthy：金持ちの（アメリカ英語）。miserable：惨めな。has done time：刑務所暮らしだった。
"That'll do, Minnie," said Jo Haley, gently. "That's a-plenty."
that'll do：もう分かった（それで十分だ）。gently：静かに。a-plenty：沢山。
"Prove it," went on Minnie, and then looked as though she wished she hadn't.
prove it：それを証明しろ。went on：続けた。
"A business college edjication is a grand foine thing," observed Birdie. "Miss Wenzel is a graduate av wan. They teach you everything from drawin' birds with tail feathers to plain and fancy penmanship. In fact, they teach everything in the writin' line except forgery, an' I ain't so sure they haven't got a coorse in that."
business college：ビジネスカレッジ（実務学校）。edjication：教育（educationの変形）。grand foine thing：大代物（foineはfineの変形）。observed：述べた。graduate：卒業生。wan：一つ（oneの変形）。penmanship：習字。writin' line：書き仕事（writin'はwritingの短縮形）。forgery：偽造。haven't got a coorse：課程を取らなかった（coorseはcourseの古い綴り）。
"I don't care," whimpered Minnie Wenzel suddenly, sinking in a limp heap on the floor. "I had to do it. I'm marrying a swell fellow and a girl's got to have some clothes that don't look like a Bird Center dressmaker's work. He's got three sisters. I saw their pictures and they're coming to the wedding. They're the kind that wear low-necked dresses in the evening, and have their hair and nails done downtown. I haven't got a thing but my looks. Could I go to New York dressed like a rube? On the square, Jo, I worked here six years and never took a sou. But things got away from me. The tailor wouldn't finish my suit unless I paid him fifty dollars down. I only took fifty at first, intending to pay it back. Honest to goodness, Jo, I did."
whimpered：しくしく泣いた。in a limp heap：グシャリ（弱々しくドサリ）と。dressmaker's work：（婦人服の）裁縫師作。downtown：都心部で。rube：田舎者（アメリカ英語）。on the square：正直に。sou：小銭。paid him fifty dollars down：彼に５０ドルの頭金を払った。honest to goodness：本当に。
"Cut It out," said Jo Haley, "and get up. I was going to give you a check for your wedding, though I hadn't counted on no three hundred. We'll call it square. And I hope you'll be happy, but I don't gamble on it. You'll be goin' through your man's pants pockets before you're married a year. You can take your hat and fade. I'd like to know how I'm ever going to square this thing with Ted and Birdie."
cut it out：止めろ。check：小切手。hadn't counted on：～を見込まなかった。call it square：貸し借りなしにする。gamble on：～に賭ける。goin' through：～を調べる。your man's：貴方の夫の。pants：ズボン（アメリカ英語）。fade：姿を消す。square (with)：～に清算する（）。
"An' me standin' here gassin' while them fool girls in the dinin'-room can't set a table decent, and dinner in less than ten minutes," cried Birdie, rushing off. Ted mumbled something unintelligible and was after her.
gassin'：無駄話する（gassingの短縮形）。mumbled：ぶつぶついった。unintelligible：理解できない。
"Birdie! I want to talk to you."
"Say it quick then," said Birdie, over her shoulder. "The doors open in three minnits."
"I can't tell you how grateful I am. This is no place to talk to you. Will you let me walk home with you to-night after your work's done?"
grateful：有り難い。after your work's done：貴方の仕事が終わった後。
"Will I?" said Birdie, turning to face him. "I will not. Th' swell mob has shook you, an' a good thing it is. You was travelin' with a bunch of racers, when you was only built for medium speed. Now you're got your chance to a fresh start and don't you ever think I'm going to be the one to let you spoil it by beginnin' to walk out with a dinin'-room Lizzie like me."
swell mob：お洒落な仲間。a bunch of：～の一団。Lizzie：リジー（人名／名前、Elizabeth／エリザベスの愛称）。
"Don't say that, Birdie," Ted put in.
put in：言葉を挟んだ。
"It's the truth," affirmed Birdie. "Not that I ain't a perfec'ly respectable girrul, and ye know it. I'm a good slob, but folks would be tickled for the chance to say that you had nobody to go with but the likes av me. If I was to let you walk home with me to-night, yuh might be askin' to call next week. Inside half a year, if yuh was lonesome enough, yuh'd ask me to marry yuh. And b'gorra," she said softly, looking down at her unlovely red hands, "I'm dead scared I'd do it. Get back to work, Ted Terrill, and hold yer head up high, and when yuh say your prayers to-night, thank your lucky stars I ain't a hussy."
affirmed：断言した。perfec'ly：完璧に（perfectlyの短縮形）。respectable：きちんとした。good slob：良い鈍間。folks：皆（仲間）。tickled ：面白がった。lonesome：寂しい。b'gorra：何と（begorraの短縮形、アイルランド英語）。dead：すっかり。say your prayers：（貴方が）祈りを捧げる。hussy：お転婆。
原文の出典：Buttered Side Down/The Man Who Came Back
単語や熟語の意味は文意に相応しいものを一つだけ選んだ。作品の趣向に合うかどうか、つまり訳語として充分かどうかはさほど考慮しない。英語で理解するための最低限の意味が分かるように努めた。
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