原文
"I lived in Scottsford, New Brunswick, before I came here, Anne. My
sister kept house for me and she suited me fine; she was just reasonably
tidy and she let me alone and spoiled me . . . so Emily says. But three
years ago she died. Before she died she worried a lot about what was
to become of me and finally she got me to promise I'd get married. She
advised me to take Emily Scott because Emily had money of her own and
was a pattern housekeeper. I said, says I, 'Emily Scott wouldn't look at
me.' 'You ask her and see,' says my sister; and just to ease her mind I
promised her I would . . . and I did. And Emily said she'd have me. Never
was so surprised in my life, Anne . . . a smart pretty little woman like
her and an old fellow like me. I tell you I thought at first I was in
luck. Well, we were married and took a little wedding trip to St. John
for a fortnight and then we went home. We got home at ten o'clock at
night, and I give you my word, Anne, that in half an hour that woman was
at work housecleaning. Oh, I know you're thinking my house needed it . . .
you've got a very expressive face, Anne; your thoughts just come out
on it like print . . . but it didn't, not that bad. It had got pretty
mixed up while I was keeping bachelor's hall, I admit, but I'd got a
woman to come in and clean it up before I was married and there'd been
considerable painting and fixing done. I tell you if you took Emily into
a brand new white marble palace she'd be into the scrubbing as soon as
she could get an old dress on. Well, she cleaned house till one o'clock
that night and at four she was up and at it again. And she kept on that
way . . . far's I could see she never stopped. It was scour and sweep and
dust everlasting, except on Sundays, and then she was just longing for
Monday to begin again. But it was her way of amusing herself and I
could have reconciled myself to it if she'd left me alone. But that
she wouldn't do. She'd set out to make me over but she hadn't caught me
young enough. I wasn't allowed to come into the house unless I changed
my boots for slippers at the door. I darsn't smoke a pipe for my life
unless I went to the barn. And I didn't use good enough grammar. Emily'd
been a schoolteacher in her early life and she'd never got over it. Then
she hated to see me eating with my knife. Well, there it was, pick and
nag everlasting. But I s'pose, Anne, to be fair, _I_ was cantankerous
too. I didn't try to improve as I might have done . . . I just got cranky
and disagreeable when she found fault. I told her one day she hadn't
complained of my grammar when I proposed to her. It wasn't an overly
tactful thing to say. A woman would forgive a man for beating her sooner
than for hinting she was too much pleased to get him. Well, we bickered
along like that and it wasn't exactly pleasant, but we might have got
used to each other after a spell if it hadn't been for Ginger. Ginger
was the rock we split on at last. Emily didn't like parrots and she
couldn't stand Ginger's profane habits of speech. I was attached to the
bird for my brother the sailor's sake. My brother the sailor was a pet
of mine when we were little tads and he'd sent Ginger to me when he was
dying. I didn't see any sense in getting worked up over his swearing.
There's nothing I hate worse'n profanity in a human being, but in a
parrot, that's just repeating what it's heard with no more understanding
of it than I'd have of Chinese, allowances might be made. But Emily
couldn't see it that way. Women ain't logical. She tried to break Ginger
of swearing but she hadn't any better success than she had in trying to
make me stop saying 'I seen' and 'them things.' Seemed as if the more
she tried the worse Ginger got, same as me.
語彙など
- keep house:家事をする
- suit:〜と合う,性に合う
- reasonably:まあまあ
- tidy:こぎれいな
- spoil:〜を甘やかす
- pattern:型
- housekeeper:家事をする人
- ease:軽減する
- smart:利口な
- in luck:運が良い
- wedding tour:新婚旅行
- fortnight:2週間
- give one's word:言質を与える
- housecleaning:大掃除
- expressive face:表情豊かな顔
- be mixed up:ごたまぜになっている
- bachelor:未婚男子
- considerable:かなりの
- brand-new:新品の
- marble palace:公衆トイレ
- scrubbing:洗浄
- scour:洗浄
- sweep:掃除
- dust:ほこり
- everlasting:永遠の
- long for:〜を待ち焦がれる
- amuse oneself:楽しむ
- reconcile oneself to:あきらめて〜する
- set out to:〜に着手する,〜し始める
- make over:作り直す
- boots:長靴
- slipper:スリッパ
- smoke a pipe:パイプをくゆらす,一服やる
- for one's life:命がけで
- barn:納屋
- get over:克服する
- pick:(欠点やあらを)捜す
- nag:小言を言う
- to be fair:とは言うものの
- cantankerous:意地悪の
- cranky:不機嫌な
- disagreeable:不愉快な
- fault:落ち度
- complain of:〜への文句を言う
- overly:あまりにも
- tactful:如才ない,機転のきく
- forgive:許す
- beat:殴る
- bicker:つまらぬことで口論する
- spell:しばらくの間
- parrot:オウム
- stand:我慢する
- profane:下品な
- attached to:〜に愛着を持って
- tad:少年
- get worked up:大騒ぎを演じる
- swear:毒づく
- profanity:不敬
- allowance:許容,手加減
- logical:論理にかなった