THE MOST IMPORTANT thing about Tegumai Bopsulai and his dear daughter, Taffimai Metallumai, were the Tabus of Tegumai, which were all Bopsulai.
Tegumai Bopsulai:テグマイ・ボプスライ(人名)。Taffimai Metallumai:タフィマイ・メタルマイ(人名)。tabus:タブー(未開社会で発見された決まり事/禁忌)。
Listen and attend, and remember, O Best Beloved; because we know about Tabus, you and I.
attend:良く聞け。best beloved:諸賢。
When Taffimai Metallumai (but you can still call her Taffy) went out into the woods hunting with Tegumai, she never kept still. She kept very unstill. She danced among dead leaves, she did. She snapped dry branches off, she did. She slid down banks and pits, she did quarries and pits of sand, she did. She splashed through swamps and bogs, she did; and she made a horrible noise!
Taffy:タフィー(Taffimai/タフィマイの愛称)。dead leaves:朽葉。snapped (off):(ポキンと)折り取った。slid:滑った。pits:窪み。quarries:採石場。splashed:(水や泥を)撥ねかけた。swamps:湿地。bogs:沼地。made a horrible noise:凄い音を立てた。
So all the animals that they hunted — squirrels, beavers, otters, badgers, and deer, and the rabbits — knew when Taffy and her Daddy were coming, and ran away.
squirrels:リス(動物の一種)。beavers:ビーバー(動物の一種)。otters:カワウソ(動物の一種)。daddy:父さん。
Then Taffy said, 'I'm awfully sorry, Daddy, dear.' Then Tegumai said, 'What's the use of being sorry? The squirrels have gone, and the beavers have dived, the deer have jumped, and the rabbits are deep in their buries. You ought to be beaten, O Daughter of Tegumai, and I would, too, if I didn't happen to love you.' Just then he saw a squirrel kinking and prinking round the trunk of an ash-tree, and he said, 'H'sh! There's our lunch, Taffy, if you'll only keep quiet.'
awfully:とても。what's the use of:〜が何の役に立つか。buries:(狐や兎や土竜が掘った)穴(古い表現)。happen to:〜するに及ぶ。kinking:捻れる。prinking:見る。trunk:幹。ash-tree:トリネコ(木の一種)の木。h'sh:しっ(hushの短縮形)。
Taffy said, 'Where? Where? Show me! Show!' She said it in a raspy-gaspy whisper that would have frightened a steam-cow, and she skittered about in the bracken, being a 'citable child; and the squirrel flicked his tail and went off in large, free, loopy-legs to about the middle of Sussex before he ever stopped.
raspy-gaspy whisper:怒りに喘ぐ囁き声。steam-cow:湯気立つ(勇猛な)牛。skittered:速やかに進んだ。bracken:ワラビ(植物の一種)(の茂み)。'citable child:興奮しがちな子供(excitable childの短縮形)。flicked:ひょいと動かした。free:繋がれない。loopy-leg:輪っかの脚。Sussex:サセックス(イギリスの旧州)。
Tegumai was severely angry. He stood quite still, making up his mind whether it would be better to boil Taffy, or skin Taffy, or tattoo Taffy, or cut her hair, or send her to bed for one night without being kissed; and while he was thinking, the Head Chief of the Tribe of Tegumai came through the woods all in his eagle-feathers.
severely:激しく。making up his mind :(彼が)心に決める。boil:煮る。skin:皮を剥ぐ。tattoo:入れ墨をする。send her to bed:彼女を寝かせる。Head Chief of the Tribe:主族長。eagle-feathers:鷲の羽根。
He was the Head Chief of the High and the Low and the Middle Medicine for the whole Tribe of Tegumai, and he and Taffy were rather friends.
He said to Tegumai, 'What is the matter, O Chiefest of Bopsulai? You look angry.'
chiefest:お頭。
'I am angry,' said Tegumai, and he told the Head Chief all about Taffy's very unstillness in the woods; and about the way she frightened the game; and about her falling into swamps because she would look behind her when she ran; and about her falling out of trees because she wouldn't take good hold on both sides of her; and about her getting her legs all greeny with duckweed from ponds and places, and bringing it sploshing into the Cave. The Head Chief shook his head till the eagle-feathers and the little shells on his forehead rattled, and then he said, 'Well, well! I'll see about it later. I wanted to talk to you, O Tegumai, on serious business.'
unstillness:静かではないこと。game:獲物。take good hold on:〜をしっかり掴む。greeny:緑がかった。duckweed:浮草(植物の一種)。sploshing:バシャバシャと音を立てる。cave:洞窟。shells:貝殻。rattled:ジャラジャラと音を立てた。on serious business:深刻な問題。
'Talk away, O Head Chief,' said Tegumai, and they both sat down politely.
talk away:話し続けろ。politely:礼儀正しく。
'Observe and take notice, O Tegumai,' said the Head Chief. 'The Tribe of Tegumai have been fishing the Wagai river ever so long and ever so much too much. Consequence is, there's hardly any carp of any size left in it, and even the little carps are going away. What do you think of putting the big Tribal Tabu on it, so as to stop every one fishing there for six months?'
observe:注意して見る。take notice:目を止める。fishing:魚捕り。Wagai:ワガイ(川名)。consequence:結果。carp:鯉(魚の一種)。(putting) tabu (on):〜を禁止する。
'That's a good plan, O Head Chief,' said Tegumai. 'But what will the consequence be if any of our people break tabu?'
people:民(者)。
'Consequence will be, O Tegumai,' said the Head Chief, 'that we will make them understand it with sticks and stinging-nettles and dobs of mud; and if that doesn't teach them, we'll draw fine, freehand Tribal patterns on their backs with the cutty edges of mussel-shells. Come along with me, O Tegumai, and we will proclaim the Tribal Tabu on the Wagai river.'
stinging-nettles:イラクサ(植物の一種)。dobs:(専ら柔らかいものの小さな)塊。freehand:自在な。cutty:鋭い(切れ易い)。mussel-shells:ムール貝。proclaim:公示する。
Then they went up to the Head Chief's head house, where all the Tribal Magic of Tegumai belonged; and they brought out the Big Tribal Tabu-pole, made of wood, with the image of the Tribal Beaver of Tegumai and the other animals carved on top, and all the Tribal Tabu-marks carved underneath.
head house:本家。magic:魔術品。belong:(あるべきところに)ある。image:姿。
Then they called up the Tribe of Tegumai with the Big Tribal Horn that roars and blores, and the Middle Tribal Conch that squeaks and squawks, and the Little Tribal Drum that taps and raps.
called up:招集した。horn:角笛。roars:唸る。blores:轟く。conch:巻き貝。squeaks:キーキー鳴る。squawks:ガーガー鳴る。taps:コツコツ叩く。raps:ドンドン叩く。
They made a lovely noise, and Taffy was allowed to beat the Little Tribal Drum, because she was rather friends with the Head Chief.
made a lovely noise:愉快な音を立てた。
When all the Tribe had come together in front of the Head Chief's house, the Head Chief stood up and said and sang: 'O Tribe of Tegumai! The Wagai river has been fished too much, and the carp-fish are getting frightened. Nobody must fish in the Wagai river for six months. It is tabu both sides and the middle; on all islands and mud-banks. It is tabu to bring a fishing-spear nearer than ten man-strides to the bank of the river. It is tabu, it is tabu, it is most specially tabu, O Tribe of Tegumai! It is tabu for this month and next month and next month and next month and next month and next month. Now go and put up the Tabu-pole by the river, and don't let anybody pretend that they haven't understood!'
had come together:集まった。fishing-spear:魚取りの簎。ten man-strides:十步。pretend that :〜という振りをする。
Then the Tribe of Tegumai shouted, and put up the Tabu-pole by the banks of the Wagai river, and swiftly they ran down both banks (half the Tribe on one side and half on the other), and chased away all the small boys who hadn't attended the meeting because they were looking for crayfish in the river; and then they all praised the Head Chief and Tegumai Bopsulai.
swiftly:勢い良く。chased away:追い払った。crayfish:ザリガニ(甲殻類の一種)。praised:称えた。
Tegumai went home after this, but Taffy stayed with the Head Chief, because they were rather friends. She was very much surprised. She had never seen a tabu put on anything before, and she said to the Head Chief, 'What does Tabu mean azactly?'
azactly:正確に(exactlyの変形と思われる)。
The Head Chief said, 'Tabu doesn't mean anything till you break it, O Only Daughter of Tegumai; but when you break it, it means sticks and stinging-nettles and fine, freehand Tribal patterns drawn on your back with the cutty edges of mussel-shells.'
only daughter :一人娘。
Then Taffy said, 'Could I have a tabu of my own — a little small tabu to play with?'
Then the Head Chief said, 'I'll give you a little tabu of your own, just because you made up that picture-writing, which will one day grow into the ABC.' (You remember how Taffy and Tegumai made up the Alphabet? That was why she and the Head Chief were rather friends.)
picture-writing:絵文字の。one day:(強い願望や意志のある)いつか。
He took off one of his magic necklaces — he had twenty-two of them — and it was made of bits of pink coral, and he said, 'If you put this necklace on anything that belongs to you your own self, no one can touch that thing until you take the necklace off. It will only work inside your own Cave; and if you have left anything of yours lying about where you shouldn't, the tabu won't work till you have put that thing back in its proper place.'
necklaces:首飾り。bits of:〜の欠片。pink coral:桃色珊瑚。lying about:無造作に置いてある。
'Thank you very much indeed,' said Taffy. 'Now, what d'you truly s'pose it will do to my Daddy?'
d'you:貴方は〜するか(do youの短縮形)。s'pose:思う(supposeの短縮形)。
'I'm not quite sure,' said the Head Chief. 'He may throw himself down on the floor and shout, or he may have cramps, or he may just flop, or he may take Three Sorrowful Steps and say sorrowful words, and then you can pull his hair three times if you like.' 'And what will it do to my Mummy?' said Taffy. 'There aren't any tabus on people's Mummies,' said the Head Chief.
throw himself down:(彼が)身を投げ出す。cramps:(筋肉の)痙攣。flop:ばた付く。(take) steps:踏み出す。
'Why not?' said Taffy.
`Because if there were tabus on people's Mummies, people's Mummies could put tabus on breakfasts, and dinners, and teas, and that would be very bad for the Tribe. Long and long ago the Tribe decided not to have tabus on people's Mummies anywhere — for anything.'
teas:午後食(イギリス英語)。
'Well,' said Taffy, 'do you know if my Daddy has any tabus of his own that will work on me — s'posin' I broke a tabu by accident?' 'You don't mean to say,' said the Head Chief, 'that your Daddy has never put any tabus on you yet?'
s'posin':〜ならば(supposingの短縮形)。by accident:うっかり。
'No,' said Taffy; 'he only says "Don't!" and gets angry.' 'Ah! I suppose he thought you were a kiddy,' said the Head Chief. `Now, if you show him that you've a real tabu of your own, I shouldn't be surprised if he put several real tabus on you.'
kiddy:子供。
'Thank you,' said Taffy; 'but I have a little garden of my own outside the Cave, and if you don't mind I should like you to make this tabu-necklace work so that if I hang it up on the wild roses in front of the garden, and people go inside, they won't be able to come out until they have said they are sorry.'
I should like:私は〜したい。wild roses:野薔薇。
'Oh, certainly, certainly,' said the Head Chief. 'Of course you can tabu your very own garden.'
tabu:タブーにする。
'Thank you,' said Taffy; `and now I will go home and see if this tabu truly works.'
When she got back to the Cave, it was nearly time for dinner; and when she came to the door, Teshumai Tewindrow, her dear Mummy, instead of saying, 'Where have you been, Taffy?' said, 'O Daughter of Tegumai, come in and eat,' same as if she had been a grown-up person. That was because she saw a tabu-necklace on Taffy's neck.
Teshumai Tewindrow:テシュマイ・テウィンドロウ(人名)。grown-up person:大人。
Her Daddy was sitting in front of the fire waiting for dinner, and he said the very same thing, and Taffy felt most important.
important:有力な。
She looked all round the Cave, to see that her own things (her private mendy-bag of otter-skin, with the shark's teeth and the bone needles and the deer-sinew thread; her mud-shoes of birch-bark; her spear and her throwing-stick and her lunch-basket) were all in their proper places, and then she slipped off her tabu-necklace quite quickly and hung it over the handle of the little wooden water-bucket that she used to draw water with.
mendy-bag:修理袋。shark's teeth:鮫の歯。bone needles:骨の針。deer-sinew thread:鹿の腱の糸。mud-shoes:泥濘靴。birch-bark:樺(木の一種)の樹皮。throwing-stick :ブーメラン。lunch-basket:弁当籠。slipped off:するりと外した。water-bucket:バケツ。draw water:水を汲む。
Then her Mummy said to Tegumai, her Daddy, quite accidental, 'O Tegumai! Won't you get us some fresh drinking-water for dinner?'
accidental:思いがけない。
'Certainly,' said Tegumai, and he jumped up and lifted Taffy's bucket with the tabu-necklace on it. Next minute he fell down flat on the floor and shouted; then he curled himself up and rolled round the cave; then he stood up and flopped several times.
fell down flat on:バタンと倒れた。curled himself up:(彼が)縮こまった。rolled round:転げ回った。flopped:ばた付いた。
'My dear,' said Teshumai Tewindrow, 'it looks to me as if you had rather broken somebody's tabu somehow. Does it hurt?'
my dear:ねぇ。somehow:どうも。
'Horribly,' said Tegumai. He took Three Sorrowful Steps and put his head on one side, and shouted, 'I broke tabu! I broke tabu! I broke tabu!'
horribly:酷く。put his head on one side:(彼が)頭を片端に寄せた。
'Taffy, dear, that must be your tabu,' said Teshumai Tewindrow. 'You'd better pull his hair three times, or he will have to go on shouting till evening; and you know what Daddy is like when he once begins.'
Tegumai stooped down, and Taffy pulled his hair three times; and he wiped his face, and said, `My Tribal Word! That's a dreadful strong tabu of yours, Taffy. Where did you get it from?'
stooped down:屈み込んだ。wiped:拭った。my tribal word:私の部族の誓い(約束)。dreadful:恐ろしく。
'The Head Chief gave it me. He told me you'd have cramps and flops if you broke it,' said Taffy.
'He was quite right. But he didn't tell you anything about Sign Tabus, did he?'
'No,' said Taffy. 'He said that if I showed you I had a real tabu of my own, you'd most likely put some real tabus on me.'
most likely:十中八九。
'Quite right, my only daughter dear,' said Tegumai. 'I'll give you some tabus that will simply amaze you — Stinging-Nettle Tabus, Sign Tabus, Black and White Tabus — dozens of tabus. Now attend to me. Do you know what this means?'
simply:実に。dozens of:多数の〜。
Tegumai skiffled his forefinger in the air snakyfashion. 'That's tabu on wriggling when you're eating your dinner. It is an important tabu, and if you break it, you'll have cramps — same as I did — or else I'll have to tattoo you all over.'
skiffled:操った(skiff/小舟を操縦するの軽めの意味と思われる)。forefinger:人差し指。snakyfashion:蛇風。wriggling:身を攀じる。or else:それとも。
Taffy sat quite still through dinner, and then Tegumai held up his right hand in front of him, the fingers close together. 'That's the Still Tabu, Taffy. Whenever I do that, you must stop as you are, whatever you are doing. If you are sewing, you must stop with the needle halfway through the deer-skin. If you're walking, you stop on one foot. If you're climbing, you stop on one branch. You don't move until you see me go like this.'
sewing:縫う。
Tegumai put up his right hand, and waved it in front of his face two or three times. 'That's the sign for Carry On. You can go on with whatever you are doing when you see me make that.'
'Aren't there any necklaces for that tabu?' said Taffy.
'Yes. There is a red-and-black necklace, of course, but how can I come tramping through the fern to give you a Still Tabu necklace every time I see a deer or a rabbit, and want you to be quiet?' said Tegumai. 'I thought you were a better hunter than that. Why, I might have to shoot an arrow over your head the minute after I had put Still Tabu on you.'
tramping:てくてく歩く。fern:シダ(植物の一種)(の茂み)。
'But how would I know what you were shooting at?' said Taffy.
shooting at:〜を射る。
'Watch my hand,' said Tegumai. 'You know the three little jumps a deer gives before he starts to run off - like this?' He looped his finger three times in the air, and Taffy nodded. 'When you see me do that, you'll know we've found a deer. A little jiggle of the forefinger means a rabbit.'
watch:注意しろ。looped:輪を作った。jiggle:軽く揺さぶる。
'Yes. Rabbits run like that,' said Taffy, and jiggled her forefinger the same way.
'Squirrel's a long, climby-up twist in the air. Like this!'
climby-up:登った。twist:捻る。
'Same as squirrels kinking round trees. I see,' said Taffy.
kinking:捻れる。
'Otter's a long, smooth, straight wave in the air — like this.'
'Same as otters swimming in a pool. I see,' said Taffy.
pool:(川の)淀み。
'And beaver's just as if I was smacking somebody with my open hand.'
smacking:ピシャリと打つ。open hand:平手。
'Same as beavers' tails smacking on the water when they are frightened. I see.'
'Those aren't tabus. Those are just signs to show you what I am hunting. The Still Tabu is the thing you must watch, because it's a big tabu.'
'I can put the Still Tabu on, too,' said Teshumai Tewindrow, who was sewing deer-skins together. 'I can put it on you, Taffy, when you get too rowdy going to bed.'
rowdy:騒々しい。
'What happens if I break it?' said Taffy. 'You can't break a tabu except by accident.' 'But s'pose I did,' said Taffy.
'You'd lose your own tabu-necklace. You'd have to take it back to the Head Chief, and you'd just be called Taffy again, not Daughter of Tegumai. Or perhaps we'd change your name to Tabumai Skellumzulai — the Bad Thing who can't keep a Tabu — and very likely you wouldn't be kissed for a day and a night.'
Tabumai Skellumzulai:タブマイ・スケルムズライ。bad thing:悪い子。very likely:多分。
'Umm!' said Taffy. 'I don't think tabus are fun at all.' 'Well, take your tabu-necklace back to the Head Chief, and say you want to be a kiddy again, O Only Daughter of Tegumai!' said her Daddy. 'No,' said Taffy. 'Tell me more about tabus. Can't I have some more of my very own — my very own — strong tabus that give people Tribal Fits?'
umm:うーん。give people tribal fits:部族をびっくりさせる。
'No,' said her Daddy. 'You aren't old enough to be allowed to give people Tribal Fits. That pink necklace will do quite well for you.'
do quite well for:〜にとても良くやる。
'Then tell me more about tabus,' said Taffy.
'But I am sleepy, daughter dear. I'll just put tabu on anyone talking to me till the sun gets behind that hill, and we'll go out in the evening and see if we can catch rabbits. Ask Mummy about the other tabus. It's a great comfort that you are a tabu-girl, because now I shan't have to tell you anything more than once.'
comfort:安心。more than once:一度ならず。
Taffy talked quietly to her Mummy till the sun was in the right place. Then she waked Tegumai, and they both got their hunting things ready and went out into the woods. But just as she passed her little garden outside the Cave, Taffy took off her tabu-necklace and hung it on a rose-bush. Her garden-border was only marked with white stones, but she called the Rose the real gate into it, and all the Tribe knew it.
rose-bush:薔薇の茂み。garden-border:庭の境界。marked with:示される。
'Who do you s'pose you'll catch?' said Tegumai. 'Wait and see till we come back,' said Taffy. 'The Head Chief said that anyone who breaks that tabu will have to stay in my garden till I let him out.' They went along through the woods, and crossed the Wagai river on a fallen tree, and they climbed up to the top of a big bare hill where there were plenty of rabbits in the fern.
wait and see:様子を見て。bare hill:禿げ山。
'Remember you're a tabu-girl now,' said Tegumai, when Taffy began to skitter about and ask questions instead of hunting for rabbits; and he made the Still Tabu sign, and Taffy stopped as if she had been all turned into one solid stone. She was stooping to tie up a shoestring, and she stayed still with her hand on the string (We know that kind of tabu, don't we, Best Beloved?) only she looked hard at her Daddy, which you always must do when the Still Tabu is on. Presently, when he had walked a long way off, he turned round and made the Carry On sign. So she walked forward quietly through the bracken, always looking at her Daddy, and a rabbit jumped up in front of her. She was just going to throw her stick, when she saw Tegumai make the Still Tabu sign, and she stopped with her mouth half open and her throwing-stick in her hand. The rabbit ran towards Tegumai, and Tegumai caught it. Then he came across the fern and kissed his daughter and said, 'That is what I call a superior girldaughter. It's some pleasure to hunt with you now, Taffy.'
stooping:屈む。shoestring:靴紐。looked hard at:〜を見詰めた。presently:間もなく。came across:渡った。girldaughter:娘子。it's some pleasure to:〜することが相当に嬉しい。
A little while afterwards, a rabbit jumped up where Tegumai couldn't see it, but Taffy could, and she knew it was coming towards her if Tegumai did not frighten it; so she held up her hand, made the Rabbit Sign (so as he should know she wasn't in fun), and she put the Still Tabu on her own Daddy! She did — indeed she did, Best Beloved!
a little while afterwards:少し後。
Tegumai stopped with one foot half lifted to climb over an old tree-trunk. The rabbit ran past Taffy, and Taffy killed it with her throwing-stick; but she was so excited that she forgot to take off the Still Tabu for quite two minutes, and all that time Tegumai stood on one leg, not daring to put his other foot down. Then he came and kissed her and threw her up in the air, and put her on his shoulder and danced and said, 'My Tribal Word and Testimony! This is what I call having a daughter that is a daughter, O Only Daughter of Tegumai!' And Taffy was most tremenenssly and wonderhugely pleased.
climb over:乗り越える。testimony:証。tremenenssly:凄まじい(tremendouslyの変形か)。wonderhugely:飛んでもなく(wonder/驚きとhuge/大きいを組み合わせて副詞の接尾語のlyを付けた造語か)。
It was almost dark when they went home. They had five rabbits and two squirrels, as well as a water-rat. Taffy wanted the water-rat's skin for a purse. (People had to kill water-rats in those days because they couldn't buy purses, but we know that water-rats are just as much tabu, these particular days, for you and me as anything else that is alive.)
water-rat:マスクラット(鼠の一種)。these particular days:昨今。
'I think I've kept you out a little too late,' said Tegumai, when they were near home, 'and Mummy won't be pleased with us. Run home, Taffy! You can see the Cave-fire from here.'
Taffy ran along, and that very minute Tegumai heard something crackle in the bushes, and a big, lean, grey wolf jumped out and began to trot quietly after Taffy.
crackle:パチパチと音を立てる。lean:痩せた。trot:早足で行く。
Now, all the Tegumai people hated wolves and killed them whenever they could, and Tegumai had never seen one so close to his Cave before.
He hurried after Taffy, but the wolf heard him, and jumped back into the bushes. Those wolves were afraid of grown-ups, but they used to try and catch the children of the Tribe. Taffy was swinging the water-rat and singing to herself — her Daddy had taken off all tabus — so she didn't notice anything.
grown-ups:大人。try and catch:捕らえようとする。
There was a little meadow close to the Cave, and by the mouth of the Cave Taffy saw a tall man standing in her rose-garden, but it was too dark to make out properly.
meadow:牧草地。make out:見分ける。
'I do believe my tabu-necklace has truly caught somebody,' she said, and she was just running up to look when she heard her Daddy say, 'Still, Taffy! Still Tabu till I take it off!' She stopped where she was — the water-rat in one hand and the throwing-stick in the other — only turning her head towards her Daddy to be ready for the Carry On sign.
It was the longest Still Tabu she had had put upon her all that day. Tegumai had stepped back close to the wood and was holding his stone throwing-hatchet in one hand, and with the other he was making the Still Tabu sign.
throwing-hatchet:投げ斧。
Then she thought she saw something black creeping sideways at her across the grass. It came nearer and nearer, then it moved back a little and then it crawled closer.
creeping:忍び寄る。sideways:横に。crawled:そろそろ歩いた。
Then she heard her Daddy's stone throwing-hatchet whirr past her shoulder just like a partridge, and at the same time another hatchet whirred out from her rose garden; and there was a howl, and a big grey wolf lay kicking on the grass, quite dead.
whirr:ヒューッと飛ぶ(whirrの綴りは主にイギリス)。partridge:ヤマウズラ(鳥の一種)。hatchet:手斧。howl:吠え声。
Then Tegumai picked her up and kissed her seven times and said, 'My Tribal Word and Tegumai Testimony, Taffy, but you are a daughter to be proud of. Did you know what it was?'
picked her up:彼女を持ち上げた。proud of:自慢の。
'I'm not sure,' said Taffy. 'But I think I guessed it was a wolf. I knew you wouldn't let it hurt me.'
'Good girl,' said Tegumai, and he stooped over the wolf and picked up both hatchets. 'Why, here's the Head Chief's hatchet!' he said, and he held up the Head Chief's magic throwing-hatchet, with the big greenstone head.
why:おや。greenstone:緑色岩(翡翠の一種)。
'Yes,' said the Head Chief from inside Taffy's rosegarden, 'and I'd be very much obliged if you would bring it back to me. I came to call on you this afternoon, and accidentally I stepped into Taffy's garden before I saw her tabu-necklace on the rose-tree. So, of course, I had to wait, till Taffy came back to let me out.'
obliged:有り難いと思う。call on:訪ねる。accidentally:うっかり。
Then the Head Chief all in his feathers and shells took the Three Sorrowful Steps with his head on one side, and said, 'I broke tabu! I broke tabu! I broke tabu!' and bowed solemnly and statelily before Taffy, till his tall eagle-feathers nearly touched the ground, and he said and he sang, 'O Daughter of Tegumai, I saw everything that happened. You are a true tabu-girl. I am very pleased at you. At first I wasn't pleased, because I had to wait in your garden since six o'clock, and I know you only put tabu on your garden for fun.'
bowed:お辞儀した。solemnly:重々しく。statelily:威厳を持って。
'No, not fun,' said Taffy. 'I truly wanted to see if my tabu would catch anybody; but I didn't know that a little tabu like mine would work on a big Head Chief like you, O Head Chief.'
'I told you it worked. I gave it to you myself,' said the Head Chief. 'Of course it would work. But I don't mind. I want to tell you, Taffy, my dear, that I wouldn't have minded staying in your garden from twelve o'clock instead of only six o'clock to see how beautifully you kept that last Still Tabu that your Daddy put on you. I give you my Chiefly Word, Taffy, that a great many men in the Tribe wouldn't have kept that tabu as you kept it, with that wolf crawling up to you across the grass.'
I give you my chiefly word:私は第一に貴方に約束(保証)する。
'What are you going to do with the wolf-skin, O Head Chief?' said Tegumai, because any animal that the Head Chief threw his hatchet at belonged to the Head Chief by the Tribal Custom of Tegumai.
do with:〜を処置する。
'I am going to give it to Taffy, of course, for a winter cloak, and I'll make her a magic necklace of her very own out of the teeth and claws,' said the Head Chief; 'and I am going to have the story of Taffy and the Still Tabu painted on wood on the Tribal Tabu-Count, so that all the girl-daughters of the Tribe can see and know and remember and understand.'
cloak:クローク(袖なし外套)。claws:爪。on the tribal tabu-count:部族のタブー問題の。
Then they all three went into the Cave, and Teshumai Tewindrow gave them a most beautiful supper, and the Head Chief took off his eagle-feathers and all his necklaces; and when it was time for Taffy to go to bed in her own little cave, Tegumai and the Head Chief came in to say good-night, and they romped all round the cave, and dragged Taffy over the floor on a deer-skin (same as some people are dragged about on a hearth-rug), and they finished by throwing the otter-skin cushions about and knocking down a lot of old spears and fishing-rods that were hung on the walls. At last things grew so rowdy that Teshumai Tewindrow came in, and said, 'Still! Still Tabu on every one of you! How do you ever expect that child to go to sleep?' And they said the really good-night, and Taffy went to sleep.
cave:洞穴。romped:巫山戯た。hearth-rug:暖炉の前の敷物。finished (by):〜で終わった。throwing (about):投げ散らかす。cushions:クッション。knocking down:(強く)打ち倒す。fishing-rods:釣り竿。
After that, what happened? Oh, Taffy learned all the tabus just like some people we know. She learned the White Shark Tabu, which made her eat up her dinner instead of playing with it (and that goes with a green-and-white necklace, you know); she learned the Grown-Up Tabu, which prevented her from talking when Neolithic ladies came to call (and, you know, a blue-and-white necklace goes with that); she learned the Owl Tabu, which prevented her staring at strangers (and a black-and-blue necklace goes with that); she learned the Open Hand Tabu (and we know a pure white necklace goes with that), which prevented her snapping and snarling when people borrowed things that belonged to her; and she learned five other tabus.
white shark:ホホジロザメ(鮫の一種)。goes with:〜に伴う。neolithic:新石器時代の。owl:フクロウ(鳥の一種)。staring:じろじろ見る。snapping:噛み付くようにいう。snarling:がみがみいう。
But the chief thing she learned, and the one that she never broke, not even by accident, was the Still Tabu.
That was why she was taken everywhere that her Daddy went.
原文の出典:The Tabu Tale
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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