NOT always was the Kangaroo as now we do behold him, but a Different Animal with four short legs. He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on an outcrop in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Little God Nqa.
not always：いつも〜とはかぎらない。behold：（変わったものを）見る。woolly：毛が多い（もじゃもじゃの）。pride：誇り。inordinate：法外な。outcrop：露頭（野外の地層や岩盤が露出した場所）。Australia：オーストラリア（国名）。Nqa：ンカ（神名）。
He went to Nqa at six before breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals by five this afternoon.'
Up jumped Nqa from his seat on the sandflat and shouted, 'Go away!'
sandflat：砂辺。
Illustration
This is a picture of Old Man Kangaroo when he was the Different Animal with four short legs. I have drawn him grey and woolly, and you can see that he is very proud because he has a wreath of flowers in his hair. He is dancing on an outcrop (that means a ledge of rock) in the middle of Australia at six o'clock before breakfast.
old man：おじさん。wreath of flowers：花冠。ledge of rock：岩棚。
You can see that it is six o'clock, because the sun is just getting up. The thing with the ears and the open mouth is Little God Nqa. Nqa is very much surprised, because he has never seen a Kangaroo dance like that before.
Little God Nqa is just saying, 'Go away,' but the Kangaroo is so busy dancing that he has not heard him yet.The Kangaroo hasn't any real name except Boomer. He lost it because he was so proud.
real name：実名。boomer：ブーマー（大きな雄のカンガルー）。
He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on a rock-ledge in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Middle God Nquing.
rock-ledge：岩棚。Nquing：ンキン（神名）。
He went to Nquing at eight after breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals; make me, also, wonderfully popular by five this afternoon.'
Up jumped Nquing from his burrow in the spinifex and shouted, 'Go away!'
burrow：塒（隠れ家）。spinifex：ツキイゲ（植物の一種）。
He was grey and he was woolly, and his pride was inordinate: he danced on a sandbank in the middle of Australia, and he went to the Big God Nqong.
sandbank：砂丘。Nqong：ンコン。
He went to Nqong at ten before dinner-time, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals; make me popular and wonderfully run after by five this afternoon.'
run after：追いかける。
Up jumped Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan and shouted, 'Yes, I will!'
bath：浴場。salt-pan：塩類平原（塩湖が干上がった地形／塩原）。
Nqong called Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo—always hungry, dusty in the sunshine, and showed him Kangaroo. Nqong said, 'Dingo! Wake up, Dingo! Do you see that gentleman dancing on an ashpit? He wants to be popular and very truly run after. Dingo, make him so!'
dingo：ディンゴ（犬の一種）。dusty：くすんだ。ashpit：灰溜め。
Up jumped Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo—and said, 'What, that cat-rabbit?'
Off ran Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo always—hungry, grinning like a coal-scuttle,—ran after Kangaroo.
ran (off)：走り去る。grinning：にやりと笑う。coal-scuttle：石炭バケツ。
Off went the proud Kangaroo on his four little legs like a bunny.
bunny：兎。
This, O Beloved of mine, ends the first part of the tale!
beloved of mine：（読者）諸氏。tale：お話。
He ran through the desert; he ran through the mountains; he ran through the salt-pans; he ran through the reed-beds; he ran through the blue gums; he ran through the spinifex; he ran till his front legs ached.
reed-beds：葦（植物の一種）原。blue gums：ユーカリ（木の一種）。
He had to!
Still ran Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo—always hungry, grinning like a rat-trap, never getting nearer, never getting farther,—ran after Kangaroo.
rat-trap：鼠取り。
He had to!
Still ran Kangaroo—Old Man Kangaroo. He ran through the ti-trees; he ran through the mulga; he ran through the long grass; he ran through the short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; he ran till his hind legs ached.
ti-trees：メラレウカ（木の一種、tea-treesの変形）。mulga：アカシアアネウラ（木の一種）。Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer：北と南の回帰線。hind legs：後ろ脚。
He had to!
Still ran Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo—hungrier and hungrier, grinning like a horse-collar, never getting nearer, never getting farther; and they came to the Wollgong River.
horse-collar：頸環。Wollgong river：ウルゴン川（架空の川）。
Now, there wasn't any bridge, and there wasn't any ferry-boat, and Kangaroo didn't know how to get over; so he stood on his legs and hopped.
ferry-boat：渡し船。hopped：ひょいと跳んだ。
He had to!
He hopped through the Flinders; he hopped through the Cinders; he hopped through the deserts in the middle of Australia. He hopped like a Kangaroo.
the Flinders：フリンダーズ川（オーストラリアのクイーンズランド州の川）。the Cinders：シンダーズ川（架空の川）。deserts：砂漠。
First he hopped one yard; then he hopped three yards; then he hopped five yards; his legs growing stronger; his legs growing longer. He hadn't any time for rest or refreshment, and he wanted them very much.
one yard：1ヤード（0.9144メートル）。three yards：3ヤード（2.7432メートル）。five yards：5ヤード（4.572メートル）。refreshment：回復。
Still ran Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo—very much bewildered, very much hungry, and wondering what in the world or out of it made Old Man Kangaroo hop.
bewildered：まごついた。in the world or out of it ：一体全体。
For he hopped like a cricket; like a pea in a saucepan; or a new rubber ball on a nursery floor.
cricket：コオロギ（昆虫の一種）。pea：エンドウマメ（豆の一種）。saucepan：ソースパン（柄の付いた小型の深なべ）。nursery：育児室の。
He had to!
He tucked up his front legs; he hopped on his hind legs; he stuck out his tail for a balance-weight behind him; and he hopped through the Darling Downs.
tucked up：（脚を体の下に）折り曲げた。stuck out：突き出した。balance-weight：釣り合い錘（分銅）。Darling Downs：ダーリングダウンズ（オーストラリアのクイーンズランド州の南部のグレートディヴァイング山脈の西の平野部）。
He had to!
Still ran Dingo—Tired-Dog Dingo—hungrier and hungrier, very much bewildered, and wondering when in the world or out of it would Old Man Kangaroo stop.
Then came Nqong from his bath in the salt-pans, and said, 'It's five o'clock.'
Illustration
This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo at five in the afternoon, when he had got his beautiful hind legs just as Big God Nqong had promised. You can see that it is five o'clock, because Big God Nqong's pet tame clock says so.
pet tame clock：お気に入りの単調な時計。
That is Nqong, in his bath, sticking his feet out. Old Man Kangaroo is being rude to Yellow-Dog Dingo. Yellow-Dog Dingo has been trying to catch Kangaroo all across Australia. You can see the marks of Kangaroo's big new feet running ever so far back over the bare hills. Yellow-Dog Dingo is drawn black, because I am not allowed to paint these pictures with real colours out of the paint-box; and besides, Yellow-Dog Dingo got dreadfully black and dusty after running through the Flinders and the Cinders.
sticking his feet out：（彼が）足を突き出す。rude：無礼な。marks of Kangaroo's big new feet：カンガルーの大きな新しい足跡。bare hills：禿げ山。allowed：できる。paint-box：絵の具箱。dreadfully：物凄く。
I don't know the names of the flowers growing round Nqong's bath. The two little squatty things out in the desert are the other two gods that Old Man Kangaroo spoke to early in the morning. That thing with the letters on it is Old Man Kangaroo's pouch. He had to have a pouch just as he had to have legs.
squatty：ずんぐりした。letters：文字。pouch：（カンガルーなどの）嚢状部（袋）。
Down sat Dingo—Poor Dog Dingo—always hungry, dusky in the sunshine; hung out his tongue and howled.
poor：哀れな。hung out his tongue：（彼が）舌を出した。howled：遠吠えした。
Down sat Kangaroo—Old Man Kangaroo—stuck out his tail like a milking-stool behind him, and said, 'Thank goodness that's finished!'
milking-stool：搾乳椅子（農民が乳搾りに使った座面の低いスツール）。Thank goodness (that)：〜とは有難い。
Then said Nqong, who is always a gentleman, 'Why aren't you grateful to Yellow-Dog Dingo? Why don't you thank him for all he has done for you?'
grateful to：〜を有り難く思う。has done for you：貴方に貢献した（良くやった）。
Then said Kangaroo—Tired Old Kangaroo—'He's chased me out of the homes of my childhood; he's chased me out of my regular meal-times; he's altered my shape so I'll never get it back; and he's played Old Scratch with my legs.'
chased：追い立てた。childhood：子供時代。played old Scratch with：〜に酷いことをした（old scratch／悪魔を演じた）。
Then said Nqong, 'Perhaps I'm mistaken, but didn't you ask me to make you different from all other animals, as well as to make you very truly sought after? And now it is five o'clock.'
sought after：引っ張り凧の（珍重される）。
'Yes,' said Kangaroo. 'I wish that I hadn't. I thought you would do it by charms and incantations, but this is a practical joke.'
charms and incantations：魔法と呪文。practical joke：悪巫山戯。
'Joke!' said Nqong from his bath in the blue gums. 'Say that again and I'll whistle up Dingo and run your hind legs off.'
whistle up：口笛で呼ぶ。run your hind legs off：貴方の後ろ脚を動かす。
'No,' said the Kangaroo. 'I must apologise. Legs are legs, and you needn't alter 'em so far as I am concerned. I only meant to explain to Your Lordliness that I've had nothing to eat since morning, and I'm very empty indeed.'
apologise：謝る。alter：変える。'em：それら（themの短縮形）。lordliness：威厳。
'Yes,' said Dingo—Yellow-Dog Dingo,—'I am just in the same situation. I've made him different from all other animals; but what may I have for my tea?'
tea：午後食（イギリス英語）。
Then said Nqong from his bath in the salt-pan, 'Come and ask me about it to-morrow, because I'm going to wash.'
So they were left in the middle of Australia, Old Man Kangaroo and Yellow-Dog Dingo, and each said, 'That's your fault.'
that's your fault：それは貴方のせいだ。
This is the mouth-filling song
Of the race that was run by a Boomer,
Run in a single burst—only event of its kind—
Started by big God Nqong from Warrigaborrigarooma,
Old Man Kangaroo first: Yellow-Dog Dingo behind.
mouth-filling：長ったらしい。 in a single burst：一気に（ババッと）。warrigaborrigarooma：ウォリガボリガルーマ（地名か何かの造語）。
Kangaroo bounded away,
His back-legs working like pistons—
Bounded from morning till dark,
Twenty-five feet to a bound.
Yellow-Dog Dingo lay
Like a yellow cloud in the distance—
Much too busy to bark.
My! but they covered the ground!
bounded away：跳ね去った。back-legs：後脚。pistons：ピストン。twenty-five feet：25フィート（7.62メートル）。bark：吠える。my：まあ。covered the ground：走破した。
Nobody knows where they went,
Or followed the track that they flew in,
For that Continent
Hadn't been given a name.
They ran thirty degrees,
From Torres Straits to the Leeuwin
(Look at the Atlas, please),
And they ran back as they came.
flew in：飛び込んだ。thirty degrees：30度。from Torres Straits to the Leeuwin：トレス海峡（オーストラリアとニューギニア島の間の海峡）からルーウィン（オーストラリアの南西部の岬）。atlas：地図帳。
S'posing you could trot
From Adelaide to the Pacific,
For an afternoon's run—
Half what these gentlemen did—
You would feel rather hot,
But your legs would develop terrific—
Yes, my importunate son,
You'd be a Marvellous Kid!
s'posing：もし〜ならは（supposingの短縮形）。trot：速足で行く。Adelaide：アデレード（オーストラリアの南オーストラリア州の州都）。terrific：凄く良い。importunate son：煩くせがむ君。marvellous kid：信じられない子。
原文の出典：The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo
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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