原文
"Well, one can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once,"
said Anne gaily. "You see, I was little for fourteen years and I've only
been grown-uppish for scarcely three. I'm sure I shall always feel like
a child in the woods. These walks home from school are almost the only
time I have for dreaming . . . except the half-hour or so before I go to
sleep. I'm so busy with teaching and studying and helping Marilla with
the twins that I haven't another moment for imagining things. You don't
know what splendid adventures I have for a little while after I go to
bed in the east gable every night. I always imagine I'm something very
brilliant and triumphant and splendid . . . a great prima donna or a Red
Cross nurse or a queen. Last night I was a queen. It's really splendid
to imagine you are a queen. You have all the fun of it without any of
the inconveniences and you can stop being a queen whenever you want to,
which you couldn't in real life. But here in the woods I like best to
imagine quite different things . . . I'm a dryad living in an old pine, or
a little brown wood-elf hiding under a crinkled leaf. That white birch
you caught me kissing is a sister of mine. The only difference is, she's
a tree and I'm a girl, but that's no real difference. Where are you
going, Diana?"
語彙など
- get over the habit:悪い習慣を直す
- all at once:忽然と,たちまち
- gaily:陽気に
- grown-up:成長した
- scarcely:ほとんど〜ない
- except:〜を除いて
- splendid:すてきな
- brilliant:優秀な,才気溢れた
- triumphant:成功した
- prima donna:プリマドンナ,花形女性歌手
- Red Cross:赤十字
- inconvenience:不都合
- dryad:ドリュアス(木の精)
- pine:松
- elf:エルフ,小さな妖精
- crinkled leaf:縮れた木の葉
- birch:樺の木