CHAPTER I
Mrs. Rachel Lynde is Surprised
第1章 レイチェル・リンド夫人の驚き(松本訳)

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops
「Rachel Lynde」松本訳注第1章(1) p. 449参照
「Avonlea」松本訳注第1章(2) p. 450参照
「alder」ハンノキ Alnus 写真はウィキペディアをどうぞ
「ladies' eardrops」フクシア Fuchsia 写真はウィキペディアをどうぞ
「ladies' eardrops」は、モードの手書き原稿では、「jewelweed」となっているそうです。薄荷さんの「完訳・赤毛のアン」フクシアの謎にありました。この完訳は松本訳のこと。プリンスエドワード島では野生のフクシアはない(野外では育たない)のではないか、ということのようです。jewelweed Impatiens capensis は東北大学のPlant Evolutionary Biology(植物進化生物学と訳せましょう)の研究室のウェブページにあるそうです(ちゃんとありました)。東北大学の英語版公式ページでPlant Evolutionary Biologyを標榜するのは牧研究室のようです
and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum;
「decency and decorum」どちらも、礼儀正しい、上品の意味。似た意味の言葉、しかも発音が似ている言葉を繰り返して、強調している。しつこくならないように和訳するのは難しいかも
it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.
「ferret」捜し(探り)出す/(白イタチを使って)狩りをする。名詞の ferret は白イタチ。白イタチ(ferret)から連想する何かがあるのでしょうか。それともこういうときは、これが普通なのかしら
「the whys and wherefores」いろいろな理由/原因。これも似た意味の言葉、しかも発音が似ている言葉を繰り返し。ですが、常套句のようです

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor's business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she "ran" the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window,
「Mrs. Rachel」First name だけに Mrs を付けるのは、学校では習わなかった気がしますが、『アン』にはたくさんでてきます
knitting "cotton warp" quilts--
「knitting "cotton warp" quilts」松本訳注第1章(3) p. 450参照
she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices--and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it,
「the Gulf of St. Lawrence」松本訳注第1章(4) p. 450参照
anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel's all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky- white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde-- a meek little man whom Avonlea people called "Rachel Lynde's husband"--was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn;
「turnip」カブ Brassica rapa 写真はウィキペディア(英語版)にあります。たぶん今日本で栽培しているものよりも小さい
and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.
「Matthew Cuthbert」松本訳注第1章(5) p. 451参照
「Green Gables」松本訳注第1章(6) p. 451参照
Mrs. Rachel knew that he ought
「he ought」to have been sowing ... が省略されている
because she had heard him tell Peter Morrison the evening before in William J. Blair's store over at Carmody that he meant to sow his turnip seed the next afternoon. Peter had asked him, of course, for Matthew Cuthbert had never been known to volunteer information about anything in his whole life.

And yet here was Matthew Cuthbert, at half-past three on the afternoon of a busy day, placidly driving over the hollow and up the hill; moreover, he wore a white collar and his best suit of clothes,
「a white collar and his best suit of clothes」まさに一張羅。カラーを付けるというよりは、カラーのある服を着ているということではないかと思いますが……、どうなんでしょう、このころの男性ファッションは。カラーがセパレートなのはよっぽど大きなカラーということになろうかと思いますが。とすると、「白襟のシャツと最上の上着を着こみ」といったところでしょうか
which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea; and he had the buggy
「buggy」二人乗りの馬車
and the sorrel mare, which betokened that he was going a considerable distance. Now, where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?

Had it been any other man in Avonlea,
「Had it been ...」仮定法
Mrs. Rachel, deftly putting this and that together, might have given a pretty good guess as to both questions. But Matthew so rarely went from home that it must be something pressing and unusual which was taking him; he was the shyest man alive and hated to have to go among strangers or to any place where he might have to talk. Matthew, dressed up with a white collar and driving in a buggy, was something that didn't happen often. Mrs. Rachel, ponder as she might, could make nothing of it and her afternoon's enjoyment was spoiled.

"I'll just step over to Green Gables after tea
「after tea」ということは夕方。
and find out from Marilla where he's gone and why,"
「Marilla」松本訳注第1章(7) p. 451参照
the worthy woman finally concluded. "He doesn't generally go to town this time of year and he NEVER visits; if he'd run out of turnip seed he wouldn't dress up and take the buggy to go for more; he wasn't driving fast enough to be going for a doctor. Yet something must have happened since last night to start him off. I'm clean puzzled, that's what, and I won't know a minute's peace of mind or conscience until I know what has taken Matthew Cuthbert out of Avonlea today."

Accordingly after tea Mrs. Rachel set out; she had not far to go; the big, rambling, orchard-embowered house where the Cuthberts lived was a scant quarter of a mile up the road from Lynde's Hollow. To be sure, the long lane made it a good deal further. Matthew Cuthbert's father, as shy and silent as his son after him, had got as far away as he possibly could from his fellow men without actually retreating into the woods when he founded his homestead.
「when he founded his homestead」マシューのお父さんが開墾したようですね
Green Gables was built at the furthest edge of his cleared land and there it was to this day, barely visible from the main road along which all the other Avonlea houses were so sociably situated. Mrs. Rachel Lynde did not call living in such a place LIVING at all.

"It's just STAYING, that's what," she said as she stepped along the deep-rutted, grassy lane bordered with wild rose bushes.
「deep-rutted、grassy lane」深い轍のある、ということは、草の生えた小径とはいえ、普段馬車か荷車が通れるだけの幅がある。同じ lane でも Lover's Lane(恋人たちの小径(CHAPTER XV with impression? A Tempest in the School Teapot))は、普段は牛の歩くところなので、深い轍はなく狭い
「rose」Rosa sp. バラはややこしくてよくわかりません。ただ、俗称として wild rose というなら、花弁が八重ではないものでしょう。なので、例えば、こんな感じ
"It's no wonder Matthew and Marilla are both a little odd, living away back here by themselves. Trees aren't much company, though dear knows if they were there'd be enough of them.
「dear knows」= God knows 誰も知らない
I'd ruther look at people. To be sure, they seem contented enough; but then, I suppose, they're used to it. A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said."
「as the Irishman said」松本訳注第1章(8) p. 451参照

With this Mrs. Rachel stepped out of the lane into the backyard of Green Gables. Very green and neat and precise was that yard, set about on one side with great patriarchal willows
「willows」ヤナギ。Salix sp. ヤナギ属には大きなものから草丈ほどの小さなもの(極寒の種類らしい)もあるそうです。しかしここでは、家の主のような大きな木。写真はウィキペディア(英)、やウィキペディア(日)をどうぞ
and the other with prim Lombardies.
「Lombardies」= Lombardy poplars セイヨウハコヤナギ。いわゆるポプラ。Populus nigra var. italica。 北海道大学のポプラ並木と同じ種類のようです。写真はウィキペディアにあります。ポプラもヤナギ科だとは知りませんでした。このイタリア原産の背の高いポプラのことをわざわざ Lombardies(複数なのは1本じゃないだけ)とするのは、ちょっと気取っているような気がしますが、気のせい?
Not a stray stick nor stone was to be seen, for Mrs. Rachel would have seen it if there had been. Privately she was of the opinion that Marilla Cuthbert swept that yard over as often as she swept her house. One could have eaten a meal off the ground without overbrimming the proverbial peck of dirt.
「the proverbial peck of dirt」松本訳注第1章(9) p. 452参照

Mrs. Rachel rapped smartly at the kitchen door and stepped in when bidden to do so. The kitchen at Green Gables was a cheerful apartment--
「apartment」部屋
or would have been cheerful
「would have been cheerfu」仮定法
if it had not been so painfully clean as to give it something of the appearance of an unused parlor. Its windows looked east and west; through the west one, looking out on the back yard, came a flood of mellow June sunlight; but the east one, whence you got a glimpse of the bloom white cherry-trees in the left orchard
「white cherry-trees in the left orchard 」果樹園にある桜の木ということはサクランボの木。ですので、sour cherry Prunus cerasus ではないでしょうか。実の写真はウィキペディア(英)にあります。サクラ全般についてはウィキペディア(英)もどうぞ
and nodding, slender birches down in the hollow by the brook,
「birch」カバ。ここでは幹の白いカバかと思います。このあと、何度も white birch が出てくるので。とすると、幹の白いカバは、Betula papyrifera。写真はウィキペディア(英)にあります。この白いカバの分布はeFloras.org(英)をどうぞ。日本のシラカバ(Betula platyphylla var. japonica)とは別種らしい(ウィキペディア(日)にはそうある。こちらにも写真はありますが、見た目はよくわかりません)
was greened over by a tangle of vines.
「vine」つた、か何か、のツル植物。この記述だけではよくわかりません(やはりキャベンディッシュに行かないとわからないことがある……)
Here sat Marilla Cuthbert, when she sat at all, always slightly distrustful of sunshine, which seemed to her too dancing and irresponsible a thing for a world which was meant to be taken seriously; and here she sat now, knitting, and the table behind her was laid for supper.
「supper」夕食。『赤毛のアン』では食事を表わす表現がいくつも出てきて、難しい。dinner、tea、supper、lunch。同じことをふたつで指すこともあって。朝食は breakfast だけですが

Mrs. Rachel, before she had fairly closed the door, had taken a mental note of everything that was on that table. There were three plates laid, so that Marilla must be expecting some one home with Matthew to tea;
「tea」これは上で出てきた、supper を指す but the dishes were everyday dishes and there was only crab-apple preserves and one kind of cake,
「only crab-apple preserves」松本訳注第1章(10) p. 452参照
「crab-apple」野生のりんご。Malus sp. crabappleと呼ぶのはいろいろな種があるようですが、いずれも実の小さい野生りんご。写真はウィキペディア(英)にあります(わかりづらいかもしれません)
so that the expected company could not be any particular company. Yet what of Matthew's white collar and the sorrel mare? Mrs. Rachel was getting fairly dizzy with this unusual mystery about quiet, unmysterious Green Gables.

"Good evening, Rachel," Marilla said briskly.
「briskly」マリラがきびきびと答えを返しているので、このあとリンド夫人が体を心配しているというのが、ずれている感じを強調する
"This is a real fine evening, isn't it? Won't you sit down? How are all your folks?"

Something that for lack of any other name might be called friendship existed and always had existed between Marilla Cuthbert and Mrs. Rachel, in spite of--or perhaps because of--their dissimilarity.

Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; her dark hair showed some gray streaks and was always twisted up in a hard little knot behind with two wire hairpins stuck aggressively through it. She looked like a woman of narrow experience and rigid conscience, which she was; but there was a saving something about her mouth which, if it had been ever so slightly developed, might have been considered indicative of a sense of humor.
このマリラの描写は、CHAPTER XXXIII with impression The Hotel Concert で比較される

"We're all pretty well," said Mrs. Rachel. "I was kind of afraid YOU weren't, though, when I saw Matthew starting off today. I thought maybe he was going to the doctor's."

Marilla's lips twitched understandingly. She had expected Mrs. Rachel up; she had known that the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her neighbor's curiosity.

"Oh, no, I'm quite well although I had a bad headache yesterday," she said. "Matthew went to Bright River.
「only crab-apple preserves」松本訳注第1章(11) p. 452参照
We're getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia
「Nova Scotia」ノヴァスコシア(松本訳)。アルファベット表記を見ると、New Scotland のこととわかる(たぶんラテン語化している)
and he's coming on the train tonight."

If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to meet a kangaroo from Australia
「a kangaroo from Australia」オーストラリアからやって来たカンガルー。大英帝国の一員のオーストラリアには親しみがあるのでしょうね
Mrs. Rachel could not have been more astonished. She was actually stricken dumb for five seconds.
「actually stricken dumb for five seconds」ここで、actually striken としているのは、口も聞けないほど唖然としてという例えとして dumb を使うことがあるのですが、ここでは、本当に5秒間も口を聞かなかった、と強調している。しかし……、この表現は面白いのでしょうか???
It was unsupposable that Marilla was making fun of her, but Mrs. Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.

"Are you in earnest, Marilla?" she demanded when voice returned to her.
「voice returned to her」本当に口が聞けなくなったので、声が出せるようになって、という話の流れ

"Yes, of course," said Marilla, as if getting boys from orphan asylums in Nova Scotia were part of the usual spring work on any well-regulated Avonlea farm instead of being an unheard of innovation.

Mrs. Rachel felt that she had received a severe mental jolt. She thought in exclamation points. A boy! Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of all people adopting a boy! From an orphan asylum! Well, the world was certainly turning upside down! She would be surprised at nothing after this! Nothing!

"What on earth put such a notion into your head?" she demanded disapprovingly.

This had been done without her advice being asked, and must perforce be disapproved.

"Well, we've been thinking about it for some time--
「it」孤児をもらうこと。どれを指すのかは……よくわかりませんが「We are getting ... tonight」でしょうか
all winter in fact," returned Marilla. "Mrs. Alexander Spencer was up here one day before Christmas
「Mrs. Alexander Spencer」夫人の名前(first name)を出さない表現。アレクザンダー・スペンサーの夫人。Mrs. Rachel とはいちばん離れた表現。あまり親しくないか、リンド夫人はよく知らないだろうことを考えてか
and she said she was going to get a little girl from the asylum over in Hopeton in the spring. Her cousin lives there and Mrs. Spencer has visited here and knows all about it.
「Mrs. Spencer has visited here」スペンサー夫人がやってきて。ここは、Puffin Books版では「Mrs. Spencer has visited her」スペンサー夫人がその従姉妹のところを訪れて。となっていて全然意味が違っている。文脈からすれば、これは、her(従姉妹)を訪れることにならないと通じない。「従姉妹は lives で住んでいる(事実)、スペンサー夫人は has visited で訪れたことがある(経験)、だから、スペンサー夫人は知っている(knows:結果としての事実)となるのでしょうから
So Matthew and I have talked it over off and on ever since.
「it」これも前と同じ、孤児をもらうこと
We thought we'd get a boy. Matthew is getting up in years, you know--he's sixty-- and he isn't so spry as he once was. His heart troubles him a good deal. And you know how desperate hard it's got to be to get hired help.
「how desperate hard」hard は desperate を修飾する副詞
There's never anybody to be had but those stupid, half-grown little French boys;
「half-grown little French boys」松本訳注第1章(12) p. 452参照
and as soon as you do get one broke into your ways
「broke into」break into ~の状態になる
and taught something he's up and off to the lobster canneries or the States.
「the lobster canneries」松本訳注第1章(13) p. 453参照
At first Matthew suggested getting a Home boy. But I said `no' flat to that. `They may be all right--I'm not saying they're not--but no London street Arabs for me,' I said.
「street Arabs」浮浪児。Puffin Books版では、street arabs と a が小文字。たぶん、今なら、arab の単語は使わないでしょうね。PC の時代ですから(politically correct)
`Give me a native born at least. There'll be a risk, no matter who we get. But I'll feel easier in my mind and sleep sounder at nights if we get a born Canadian.' So in the end we decided to ask Mrs. Spencer to pick us out one when she went over to get her little girl. We heard last week she was going, so we sent her word by Richard Spencer's folks at Carmody to bring us a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven. We decided that would be the best age--old enough to be of some use in doing chores right off
「chore」(家・農場の)雑用
and young enough to be trained up proper. We mean to give him a good home and schooling.
「a good home and schooling」これは、アンが来てからしばらくの間、マシューとマリラの間で話し合われたこともない(物語の上では記述がない)ので、アンが女の子であるからといって、ふたりの気持ちは大きな変化はなかったに違いありません。明確に話が出るのは、クイーン学院に行かせようかどうかというところくらいでしょうか(CHAPTER XXV with impression]] Matthew Insists on Puffed Sleeves)
We had a telegram from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today--the mail-man brought it from the station--
「We had a telegram from Mrs. Alexander Spencer today--the mail-man brought it from the station--」電報の場合は駅から直接配ってくれたようですね。カナダの電信の歴史はよくわかりませんが、鉄道を敷くと、線路に沿って電信線を伸ばしたのかもしれませんが……。そこまで電化が進んでいないでしょうねぇ。とすると、これはそうじゃなくて、シャーロットタウンに電信を受けるところがあって(郵便局かもしれません)、そこから郵便とともに電報も列車で運ばれ、郵便局の人は電報を配ってくれたのでしょうか
saying they were coming on the five-thirty train tonight. So Matthew went to Bright River to meet him. Mrs. Spencer will drop him off there. Of course she goes on to White Sands station herself."
「White Sands」松本訳注第1章(14) p. 453参照

Mrs. Rachel prided herself on always speaking her mind; she proceeded to speak it now, having adjusted her mental attitude to this amazing piece of news.

"Well, Marilla, I'll just tell you plain that I think you're doing a mighty foolish thing--a risky thing, that's what. You don't know what you're getting. You're bringing a strange child into your house and home
「your house and home」建物/敷地としての house と 家族の中に入り込む家庭としての home の概念を区別。日本語では上手く書き分けるのは難しいところ
and you don't know a single thing about him nor what his disposition is like nor what sort of parents he had nor how he's likely to turn out. Why, it was only last week I read in the paper how a man and his wife up west of the Island took a boy out of an orphan asylum and he set fire to the house at night--set it ON PURPOSE, Marilla--and nearly burnt them to a crisp in their beds. And I know another case where an adopted boy used to suck the eggs--they couldn't break him of it. If you had asked my advice in the matter--which you didn't do, Marilla--I'd have said for mercy's sake not to think of such a thing, that's what."

This Job's comforting seemed neither to offend nor to alarm Marilla.
「Job's comforting」松本訳注第1章(15) p. 453参照
She knitted steadily on.
「She knitted steadily on.」気持ちをその人の行動で表現する。驚くなり動揺したなら編み物を止めるはず、という前提がある(しつこい? だったらごめんななさい)

"I don't deny there's something in what you say, Rachel. I've had some qualms myself. But Matthew was terrible set on it. I could see that, so I gave in. It's so seldom Matthew sets his mind on anything that when he does I always feel it's my duty to give in. And as for the risk, there's risks in pretty near everything a body does in this world. There's risks in people's having children of their own if it comes to that--they don't always turn out well. And then Nova Scotia is right close to the Island. It isn't as if we were getting him from England or the States. He can't be much different from ourselves."

"Well, I hope it will turn out all right," said Mrs. Rachel in a tone that plainly indicated her painful doubts. "Only don't say I didn't warn you if he burns Green Gables down or puts strychnine in the well--I heard of a case over in New Brunswick where an orphan asylum child did that and the whole family died in fearful agonies. Only, it was a girl in that instance."

"Well, we're not getting a girl," said Marilla, as if poisoning wells were a purely feminine accomplishment and not to be dreaded in the case of a boy. "I'd never dream of taking a girl to bring up.
「I'd never dream of taking a girl to bring up.」女の子を育てようとはしていない、と強調。さらに次の文でも。アンが来たときの状況の伏線となる。アンが来ることは、読者にとってはほとんど自明なので(本の題名からしても、そして、きっと本の紹介でもアンが来ることは書かれるでしょうから)、来てどうなるかの伏線と考えなければなるまい、と思うのです
I wonder at Mrs. Alexander Spencer for doing it. But there, SHE wouldn't shrink from adopting a whole orphan asylum if she took it into her head."

Mrs. Rachel would have liked to stay until Matthew came home with his imported orphan. But reflecting that it would be a good two hours at least before his arrival she concluded to go up the road to Robert Bell's and tell the news. It would certainly make a sensation second to none, and Mrs. Rachel dearly loved to make a sensation. So she took herself away, somewhat to Marilla's relief, for the latter felt her doubts and fears reviving under the influence of Mrs. Rachel's pessimism.

"Well, of all things that ever were or will be!" ejaculated Mrs. Rachel when she was safely out in the lane. "It does really seem as if I must be dreaming. Well, I'm sorry for that poor young one and no mistake. Matthew and Marilla don't know anything about children and they'll expect him to be wiser and steadier that his own grandfather, if so be's he ever had a grandfather,
「if so be's he ever had a grandfather」be's がよくわからない。be は be動詞で、仮定法で原型になっているのでしょうけれども、'sが何なのかが……
そこで「"if so be's"」をキーワードにして、検索をしてみたら、面白いページ発見(ここ)。日本人がわからないと質問し、ネイティブ英語話者があーかも、こーかも、と書いています。日本人がわからなくても、ここは、おっけいなのです!議論を読み解くのは何か混乱してしまうのですが、be's は、be as の略と考えればよさそうです。この議論(というか質疑というか)から受け取れるメッセージは、1.古い英語なので現代英語と違うところがある、2.この英語表現はアナタは使ってはいけない、3.『赤毛のアン』は多少難しいところもあるけれも面白いからがんばって読んでね、です。これから英語で読もうとしている方にははげみになるでしょう!ジツはこの第1章の印象を書くのは全部読んだ後なので、ワタシへの励ましには時すでに遅し、でしたが(印象は第26章から書きはじめ、最後まで書いたので第1章に戻ってきたのです)
which is doubtful. It seems uncanny to think of a child at Green Gables somehow; there's never been one there, for Matthew and Marilla were grown up when the new house was built--
「the new house was built」今のグリーンゲイブルズができたときには、マシューもマリラも大きくなっていた。その前はどうだったのでしょう……。建て替え、かしら
if they ever WERE children, which is hard to believe when one looks at them. I wouldn't be in that orphan's shoes for anything. My, but I pity him, that's what."

So said Mrs. Rachel to the wild rose bushes out of the fulness of her heart; but if she could have seen the child who was waiting patiently at the Bright River station at that very moment her pity would have been still deeper and more profound.

19 August 2007
8 October 2007 一番上のリンクのミスを訂正

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