原文
Matthew dreaded all women except Marilla and Mrs. Rachel; he had an
uncomfortable feeling that the mysterious creatures were secretly
laughing at him. He may have been quite right in thinking so, for he
was an odd-looking personage, with an ungainly figure and long iron-gray
hair that touched his stooping shoulders, and a full, soft brown beard
which he had worn ever since he was twenty. In fact, he had looked
at twenty very much as he looked at sixty, lacking a little of the
grayness.
When he reached Bright River there was no sign of any train; he thought he was too early, so he tied his horse in the yard of the small Bright River hotel and went over to the station house. The long platform was almost deserted; the only living creature in sight being a girl who was sitting on a pile of shingles at the extreme end. Matthew, barely noting that it WAS a girl, sidled past her as quickly as possible without looking at her. Had he looked he could hardly have failed to notice the tense rigidity and expectation of her attitude and expression. She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and, since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.
語彙など
- dread:〜を恐れる
- odd-looking:見た目の変な
- personage:人物
- ungainly:不格好な
- figure:姿
- iron gray:灰白色,鉄灰色
- stooping:猫背の
- station house:駅舎
- deserted:人けのない
- shingle:けら板
- pile:山,大量
- barely:辛うじて〜する
- sidle:横に歩く,コソコソ歩く
- never fail to:必ず〜する
- tense:張り詰めた
- rigidity:硬さ
- expression:表情
- with all one's might and main:一生懸命に
Had he looked he could hardly have 〜 = If he had looked he could hardly have 〜