三年目、花盛りの森、使える 語 ,閊える 語

06 A TENEMENT HOUSE FOR BLUNDERERS

06  A TENEMENT HOUSE FOR BLUNDERERS

 

 

   Extraordinarily careless Hattsuan came out of Kaminarimon, the  gate that leads to Asakusa Kannon Temple. Looking over at where a crowd of people had gathered, he saw a corpse by the roadside covered with a straw mat.

 

 

   "Oh, my lord, it's Kuma! He's lying there dead. Well, everyone, he and I live in the same tenement house. When I went to his  room this morning, he said he wasn't feeling well..."
 "This man has been lying there dead since last night."
 "You won't know that for certain until the man himself comes
 to check. He's so forgetful, he can't be sure of himself. He must've
 forgotten that he died here."
 "You're a strange one."
 "I'll bring him right away to take charge of the corpse. I'll be right back."

 

 

   Running back to his tenement house, Hattsuan said to Kuma-san, "Hey, Kuma-san, you're in big trouble. I saw a man lying dead by the roadside a while ago, and guess what? It was you!"
  "Eh? Was I really dead? It doesn't feel like I'm dead."
  "You die for the first time and think you can tell how it feels? Who do you think you are?"
  "I was dead, was I? Now that you mention it, when I was passing by the Kannon Temple last night, I was feeling pretty sick."
  Kuma-san was also quite absentminded.

　"I'll tell you what. Let's go and get the corpse right away!"

 

 

 Hattsuan went back to Asakusa, dragging along the hesitant
Kuma-san.
　"Hello, again. I've brought the man in question."
　"I was told I'm lying dead by the roadside here. I'm sorry, I
hadn't the slightest idea."　

  "Here's another weirdo!"

 

 

 Kuma-san tucked the straw mat around the corpse, and picked
it up in his arms.
　"Is this me? How wretched I look! If I knew I was going to end
up like this, I'd have eaten better. But I'm puzzled, Hattsuan."
　"About what?"
　"The man being held is me all right, but then...who on earth is
the man holding him?"

 

単語MEMO　⇒

 

　□ tenement house　長屋

　□ blunderer　粗忽者

　□ extraordinarily　並はずれて

　□ corpse　死骸

　□ forgetful　忘れっぽい

　□ right away　すぐに

　□ take charge of〜　〜を預かる

　□ absentminded　ぼんやりした

　□ I'll tell you what.　あのね｡

　□ hesitant　ためらいがちな

　□ weirdo　奇妙な人.

　□ tuck　くるむ

　□ wretched　みじめな

05 THE WALLET FOUND AT SHIBAHAMA

 05　 THE　WALLET FOUND AT SHIBAHAMA
　
　Tome−San Was a Very Skillful fishmonger with a good eye，buthe was also a drinker and often neglected his business.　One day，for the first time in a long while，he was coaxed by his capable wife into going to the Shiba fishmarket to buy some fish. On his way，he found a nice fat leather wallet on the seashore，and immediately rushed home with it．
　He counted out 42 ryo of gold with his wife. Overjoyed，Tome−San Called over his friends to Whoop it uP. In the midst of these revels，he collapsed in a drunken stupor and fell fast asleep．

　The next morning，his wife woke him up.
“Dear，time to go to work.”
“But I found a wallet stuffed with 42 ryo at Shiba Beach yesrerday，right？ We  can live without me working for a while. "
“I don't know anything about a wallet. You must have been dreaming or something."
It Seemed that his calling his friends
over to eat and drink was true，but picking up the 42 ryo was a dream. It was all because of Sake that he had fallen into that delusion，he decided. Spurred by
 that realization，Tome−San turned over a new leaf．He completely gave up drinking，and was able to open up his own shop three years later．

　On New Year's Eve of that year，his wife，with a serious look on her face，held out the old wallet.
　"Dear，do you remember this wallet？It has 42 ryo in it. You found it on the beach at Shiba three Years ago．I was at a loss what to do. You'd never go to work with that much money on your hands．So after you fell asleep in your cups，l took the money to　rhe magistrate and made up that story about you having a dream.　Yougaveupthesakeyoulovedsowellandworkedreallyhard・・・・The money was returned here from the magistrate because no one Claimed it … If you're angry with me,go ahead and hit me if youlike."

　Tome−San was deeply impressed by his wife's story・
“Far from hitting you，I'm struck with admiration！ I can only thank you・”
“Then you'll forgive me？You know，you don't have to stay dry　anymore. Why not have a drink and get back into a good mood？In fact, I've prepared some sake for you."

　Tome−san felt happy and looked at his sake with nostalgia.“Oh，you look sogood. Long time，no see."
“Well, dear，that's a warm greeting for your sake.”
“Now I'm going to have a drink...But　on　second　thoughts，I’d rather not. I don't want to wake up and find out I've Just been dreamlng agaln.”

 

単語MEMO ⇒

 

　□ watlet 財布

　□ fishmonger 魚屋

　□ coax うまく説きつける

　□ whoop it up 飲んで騒ぐ

　□ revel 酒盛り

　□ collapse つぶれる

　□ stupor 無感覚、人事不省

　□ spur 駆り立てる

　□ turn over a new leaf 心を入れ替える

　□ magistrate 治安判事、奉行

　□ makeup　でっち上げる

　□ dry 酒を飲まない

　□ long time，no see．どうもしばらく

　□ on second thoughts 考え直してみると

04 A WISE DECISION

04   A WISE DECISION

 One day, an honest plasterer named Kintaro found a purse lying in the road. On opening it, he found that it contained three ryo of gold. He knew that it belonged to Kichigoro, a carpenter by trade, and he quickly returned it to him.

 "Today, I believe you dropped your purse in Yanagihara. I found your name on it, so I've brought it back to you."
 "Don't be such a busybody. That money obviously didn't want me. It said farewell. Put it back in your kimono and take it away!"
 "I'm not returning it to you because I wanted it, you know."
 After bandying words back and forth for some time, they finallyended up wrestling furiously with each other.

 Just then Kichigoro's landlord arrived to mediate.
 "Kintaro-san, do as Kichigoro says. Be a good chap. Take the
money and go home."
 "What are you talking about, landlord? No way I'm going to
takeit."
 "In that case I'll have to take you to the magistrate's office in Minamimachi. Are you happy with that?"
 "Suit yourself!"

 On his way home Kintaro dropped in on his own landlord and told him everything. The landlord became really angry.
 "Can you believe it? Did the landlord over there really say that?  We should report it to the magistrate's office first. And if you dare bring that money back here, I'll throw you out of the apartment."

 

 Later at his office, the Magistrate Ooka Echizen spoke wisely. "The two of you both refuse to take the three ryo, right?"
 "Yes, sir," they replied in unison.
 "I admire your moral character. Let me give you each a gift."
 "Yes, sir."
 "I'll add one ryo to the three ryo, making it four. That'll give you two ryo each. Go on, take the money! Without further commotion."
 "Yes, sir."
 "In this way, both Kintaro and Kichigoro lose one ryo each. I also lose one ryo," said the magistrate sagely. "That means that three people lose only one ryo."

 

 

単語MEMO ⇒

 

　□ pasterer 左官

　□ purse 財布

　□ busybody お節介な人

　□  bandy words つまらない議論をする

　□ landlord 大家､地主

　□ chap 男

　□ magistrate 治安判事､奉行

　□ suit oneself 好きなようにする

　□ drop in on〜 〜をひょっこり訪ねる

　□ in unison 同時に

　□ commotion 騒動

　□ sagely 賢人らしく､思慮深く

03 PRAISING THE BABY

03  PRAISING THE BABY

 

 Kuma-san came to visit an elderly neighbor to ask what he should do to get free sake.
 "You have to flatter people a little. When someone's complimented, he'll feel good and want to buy you a drink."
 "What on earth does flatter mean?"
 "You have to please people. If someone is 45 years old, you say he looks like he was born right after the yaku year."
 "What is the yaku?"
 "Certain ages are thought to be especially prone to misfortune. Those years are called yaku-doshi, unlucky years. They're 25, 42 and 60 for men, and 19 and 33 for women. So you're making him feel good by saying he looks 42, not 45, see?"

 

 Kuma-san practiced doing as he was told, but it didn't work out so well. He told a 40-year-old man he looked like he was born right after the yaku year! It was more likely, he thought, that things would go well with babies. He decided to go to Hattsuan's house. He was going to praise his child in order to get Hattsuan to treat him to a drink.

 

 "Hattsuan, let me see your baby for a moment. Is this the one?　How on earth was a baby born this big?"
 "You're surprised to find it so big, huh?"
 "Amazing! And it has gray hair and wrinkles all over."
 "Why, that's not my baby. Our old grandmother is taking a nap."
 "Oh, it's your grandmother! Where's your baby, then?"
 "It's sleeping over there."

 

 "Well, I haven't seen you for a long time. Where have you been, you little cutie?"
 "My baby's been nowhere."
 "Let's see...how old are you?"
 "Hey, what are you talking about? The baby's only one year old."
 "Oh, it looks young for one. It looks like nothing! Zero!"

 

 

単語MEMO ⇒

　□ flatter お世辞を言う

　□ prone to〜 〜しがちな

　□ treat おごる

　□ wrinkle しわ

　□ take a  nap 昼寝をする

　□ cutie かわいい人

02 OPPOSITE TEMPERS

02　 OPPOSITE TEMPERS

 

 Despite having very different temperaments, slow, steady Cho-san, and recklessly quick-tempered Tanshichi still managed to enjoy each other's company. Today once again Cho-san had come to pay Tanshichi a visit.

 

 "Hello....Are you there, my friend?"
 "What's that? What do you want to tell me?"
 "It's not really that important, but last night I had quite a strange experience."
 "What was it? A fire?"
 "I got up in the night to go to the bathroom, and when I looked out the window, I got a real shock."
 "What in the hell was it? A burglar?"
 "To make a long story short..."
 "There's nothing short about your stories."
 "Well, the sky was really black, and there wasn't a star to be seen. I was sure it was going to rain, but actually it's turned out fine."
 "What are you talking about? First you bring up your bathroom details, and now you're on to the weather. Ah, the tea is ready.
Have a cake. Eat it up quickly or it'll go stale."
 "Don't rush me. Mm, these are...really...tasty...cakes."
 "You're an amazingly slow eater. Give me half of one and watch. This is the way to eat. Just swallow it down and that's it."

 

 

 Cho-san lit his pipe. His leisurely way of smoking further irritated Tanshichi.
 "Look, this is the right way to light up. And here's the correct way to tap your pipe to get the cinders out. When I'm really busy, I sometimes tap the pipe before I smoke."

 

 As Tanshichi lectured, a spark from the pipe dropped into his kimono sleeve without him noticing.
 "Listen, my friend, you won't be angry if I tell you something, will you? You always get angry whenever someone tries to tell you something, you know."
 "Well, what is it? I won't be angry. But if you don't hurry up and tell me what you're talking about, I will get mad."
 "OK. I just thought you'd better put that out. Don't you agree?"

 

 In this way Tanshichi was told about his smoldering kimono sleeve. Rubbing it in panic, he shouted angrily, "I thought there was a strange smell. Just look at this hole. Why on earth didn't you tell me sooner?"
 "That's what I mean. Look how angry you get. That's why I　didn't feel like telling you."

 

 

単語MEMO ⇒

　□　temperament　気質

　□　company　交際　

　□　pay〜a visit　〜を訪問する

　□　burglar　泥棒

　□　to make a long story short かいつまんで言うと

　□　bring up　(話を)持ち出す

　□　stale　新鮮で なくなる､腐ったようになる

　□　leisurely　のんびりした

　□　irritate　イライラさせる

　□　cinder 　吸殻

　□　getmad　怒る

　□　put〜out　〜の火を消す

　□　smolder　くすぶる