原文
"That's the apple-scented geranium."
"Oh, I don't mean that sort of a name. I mean just a name you gave it yourself. Didn't you give it a name? May I give it one then? May I call it--let me see--Bonny would do--may I call it Bonny while I'm here? Oh, do let me!"
"Goodness, I don't care. But where on earth is the sense of naming a geranium?"
"Oh, I like things to have handles even if they are only geraniums. It makes them seem more like people. How do you know but that it hurts a geranium's feelings just to be called a geranium and nothing else? You wouldn't like to be called nothing but a woman all the time. Yes, I shall call it Bonny. I named that cherry-tree outside my bedroom window this morning. I called it Snow Queen because it was so white. Of course, it won't always be in blossom, but one can imagine that it is, can't one?"
語彙など
- scented:〜のにおいがする
- geranium:ゼラニウム
- care:気にする
- on earth:一体全体
- name:名をつける
- handle:名前,ニックネーム
- but that:否定･修辞疑問に用いたknowのあとに使われる（ゼラニウムの気持ちを傷つけるかもしれないわ）
- nothing but:〜だけ,ただ〜のみ
- all the time:いつも
geranium