原文
In the dismay of the moment one thought stood out from the confusion of
Anne's mind and she grasped at it as at the proverbial straw. All Mrs.
Morgan's heroines were noted for "rising to the occasion." No matter
what their troubles were, they invariably rose to the occasion and
showed their superiority over all ills of time, space, and quantity.
Anne therefore felt it was HER duty to rise to the occasion and she did
it, so perfectly that Priscilla afterward declared she never admired
Anne Shirley more than at that moment. No matter what her outraged
feelings were she did not show them. She greeted Priscilla and was
introduced to her companions as calmly and composedly as if she had been
arrayed in purple and fine linen. To be sure, it was somewhat of a shock
to find that the lady she had instinctively felt to be Mrs. Morgan was
not Mrs. Morgan at all, but an unknown Mrs. Pendexter, while the stout
little gray-haired woman was Mrs. Morgan; but in the greater shock the
lesser lost its power. Anne ushered her guests to the spare room and
thence into the parlor, where she left them while she hastened out to
help Priscilla unharness her horse.
語彙など
- dismay:狼狽
- confusion:混乱状態
- grasp at:〜をつかもうとする
- proverbial:諺にある
- straw:麦わら,一縷の望み
- noted for:〜で有名な
- rise to the occasion:臨機の処置を取る,難局に対処する
- invariably:必ず
- superiority:優れていること
- ills of life:人生の苦難
- quantity:期間
- afterward:あとで
- declare:宣言する
- outraged:怒った
- greet:〜を出迎える
- companion:友人
- calmly:落ち着いて,穏やかに
- composedly:落ち着いて,冷静に
- array:盛装させる,飾る
- fine linen:上質のリネン
- to be sure:確かに
- somewhat:幾分か
- stout:頑健な
- usher:案内する
- parlor:応接間
- unharness:〜の馬具を解く