Stone Soup （上）

Once, there was a poor man.
He came to cottage.
　Knock! Knock!

poor：貧しい

An old woman opened the door
May I rest here for a while ?
　No! Go away

　　rest：休憩する
　　while：しばらくの間

"I can make soup from a stone, said the man.
“You can?" said the woman. "Show me,"

She put a big pot of water on the fire.
The old man added a shiny stone.

show：〖show A to B/BA〗 B〈人〉にAを教える, やってみせる;
add：加える
shiny：光る　輝く

英語多読のすすめ

　多読という英語学習法がある。しかし、辞書は使わず、ひたすら読むことを進めている著者もいるが、国弘さんが進める多読はそうではない。「まず正確に読め」という項目があるように、正確さを前提にした多読である。それだけに読書量と「そのことばの理解力および表現力を身につけること」との間には「関数関係が成り立つ」という言葉には説得力がある。つまり、読書量が多いほど、「そのことばの理解力および表現力が身につく」ということである。毎日、少しの英文でも読んでいきたいものである。

　私は結局ある一人の人が、あることばにどの程度習熟しているか、あることばをどの程度理解し、使いこなすことができるかという度合いは、その人がそのことばでどれくらい読んだかの関数、つまり正比例の関係が成り立つと思うのです。つまり、あることばで十しか読まなかった人と百も読んだ人を比べた場合に、百読んだ人のほうが、恐らく十倍だけそのことばの理解力および表現力を身につけることができる、という意味で、関数関係が成り立つと思います。（『国弘正雄自選集 ３』、国弘正雄著、日本英語教育協会、1982年、p84）

　国弘さんの本に
　　I wonder if I can make it　という例文があった。狭い道に入ってしまったドライバーの言葉だそうで、この英文を聞いて、「makeというのは、何かを満たす、充足する、果たすというのがその根本的な意味」（p263）だと知ったという。

Pete the Cat（下）

"I love my red shoes,
I love my red shoes,
I love my red shoes.”

Oh no!
Pete stepped in a large pile of ..
blueberries!

What color did it turn his shoes?

BLUE

Did Pete cry?
Goodness, no!

He kept walking along and singing his song.
Awesome!

awesome：すごい。そっても良い

"I love my blue shoes,

I love my blue shoes,
I love my blue shoes.”

Oh no!
Pete stepped in a large puddle of ..
Mud!

puddle：水たまり

What color did it turn his shoes?
BROWN

Did Pete cry?
Goodness, no!

He kept walking along and singing his song.
groovy!

groovy：かっこいい、いかしている

"I love my brown shoes,
I love my brown shoes,
I love my brown shoes.”

Oh no!
Pete stepped in a bucket of water....
and all the brown,
and all the blue,
and all the red were washed away.

What color were his shoes again?

WHITE
But now they were WET.

Did Pete cry?

Goodness, no!

He kept walking along and singing his song.
ROCK and ROLL!

"I love my WET shoes,
I love my WET shoes,
I love my WET shoes.”

The moral of Pete’s story is:
No matter what you step in,
kept walking along and singing his song..........

because it’s all good.

Pete the Cat（上）

Pete the Cat was walking down the
street in his brand-new white shoes.
Pete loved his white shoes so much,
he sang this song:

"I love my white shoes,
I love my white shoes,
I love my white shoes."

Oh no!

Pete stepped in a large pile of ..
strawberries!

a pile of papers [clothes]
書類[洋服]の山

What color did it turn his shoes?

RED

Did Pete cry?
Goodness, no!

(Oh,) (my) goodness! ≒ (My) goodness me!
 ああっ, ええっ, 何だって, しまった,

He kept walking along and singing his song.
everything is cool!

How Elephants Lost their Wings （下）

They flew into trees and smashed them.

They landed on houses...
and fell right through.

Soon all the trees were broken 

and there were no houses left.

“We must stop them,” said the gods,
and they thought of a trick.

elephantsがあばれまわるので、godsは、なんとかしなきゃ、と考えたところ。
smash：打ち壊す
thought：thinkの過去形
trick：たくらみ、計略

They invited the elephants to a grand feast.
The elephants ate...
...and ate.

When their tummies were full, they slept.

invite：招待する
feast：宴会

tum･my | tʌ́mi |：名詞複 -mies｟くだけて･小児｠ おなか, ぽんぽん.

The gods took away their wings.
They gave them to the peacocks
and the banana trees.

The elephants were very cross.

They shouted and they stomped.

But they didn't get their wings back.
and they never flew again.

 

be+ cross（形）：怒って　不機嫌で
shout：叫ぶ
stomp：ドタドタ歩く

How Elephants Lost their Wings（上）

This story is about flying elephants,
two gods, houses, peacocks and banana trees.

Once upon a time, elephants could fly.
They flew everywhere.

They flew high into the sky...
and down to the ground.
They even looped the loop.

even：さらに
loop the loop 宙返り(飛行)をする.

Sometimes, the gods flew on their backs.
But the elephants were noisy.

They yelled, and crowed like roosters.
Trees and houses shook below them.

　（cock-a-doodle-do！）

noisy：騒々しい　うるさい
yell：大声で叫ぶ　どなる
crow：鳴く　朝を知らせる
rooster：雄鶏
shook：shake(揺すぶる）の過去形
below：下方に　下方で

cock-a-doodle-doo：雄鶏の鳴き声. 　roosterを用いることが多い) 

Clever Rabbit and the Wolves（下）

”This is fun,” they said.
“Show us more!”

show:には、「教える」という意味もあった。
　He showed us how to paint a wall faster.

　彼はどうすれば壁をより早く塗ることができるかやってみせてくれた.

"La, la, la! Tum-tum-tum!” sang Clever Rabbit.
“Turn around on the word tum.”

“This is easy,” said Big Wolf.
“Oh yes?” said Clever Rabbit.

easy：やさしい、容易な

"La, la, la! Tum-tum-tum!” sang Clever Rabbit.
He sang it faster and faster.
The wolves stomped their feet.
They turned around and around.

“I’m dizzy,” said Little Wolf.
Clever Rabbit danced into the long grass.

dizzy：めまいがする、目が回る

“Keep dancing,” he called.
"La, la, la! Tum-tum-tum!”
"La, la, la! Tum-tum-tum!”
One by one, the wolves fell to the ground.

one by one：　一人ずつ、一つずつ
fell：fall（落ちる・倒れる）の過去形

Where’s that rabbit? asked Big Wolf.
But Clever Rabbit was far away...
...and the wolves were too dizzy to chase him.

　It wasn’t very far away.：あまり遠くなかった。

　最後は、Google翻訳によると「めまいがし過ぎて彼を追いかけることはできませんでした」と否定になっていて、その理由がわからなかった。