原文
"Well, things went on like this, both of us getting raspier, till the
CLIMAX came. Emily invited our minister and his wife to tea, and another
minister and HIS wife that was visiting them. I'd promised to put Ginger
away in some safe place where nobody would hear him . . . Emily wouldn't
touch his cage with a ten-foot pole . . . and I meant to do it, for I
didn't want the ministers to hear anything unpleasant in my house. But
it slipped my mind . . . Emily was worrying me so much about clean collars
and grammar that it wasn't any wonder . . . and I never thought of that
poor parrot till we sat down to tea. Just as minister number one was in
the very middle of saying grace, Ginger, who was on the veranda outside
the dining room window, lifted up HIS voice. The gobbler had come into
view in the yard and the sight of a gobbler always had an unwholesome
effect on Ginger. He surpassed himself that time. You can smile, Anne,
and I don't deny I've chuckled some over it since myself, but at the
time I felt almost as much mortified as Emily. I went out and carried
Ginger to the barn. I can't say I enjoyed the meal. I knew by the look
of Emily that there was trouble brewing for Ginger and James A. When the
folks went away I started for the cow pasture and on the way I did some
thinking. I felt sorry for Emily and kind of fancied I hadn't been so
thoughtful of her as I might; and besides, I wondered if the ministers
would think that Ginger had learned his vocabulary from me. The long
and short of it was, I decided that Ginger would have to be mercifully
disposed of and when I'd druv the cows home I went in to tell Emily
so. But there was no Emily and there was a letter on the table . . . just
according to the rule in story books. Emily writ that I'd have to choose
between her and Ginger; she'd gone back to her own house and there she
would stay till I went and told her I'd got rid of that parrot.
語彙など
- raspy:怒りっぽい
- minister:牧師
- cage:鳥かご
- pole:柱,マスト
- slip one's mind:うっかり忘れる
- collar:えり
- parrot:オウム
- grace:(食前･食後の)感謝の祈り
- dining room:食事室
- gobbler:雄の七面鳥
- come into view:姿を現す
- unwholesome:不健全な
- surpass oneself:実力以上のことをやってのける
- deny:否定する
- chuckle:くすくすと笑う
- mortify:恥をかかせる
- barn:納屋
- brew:醸成する
- cow:飼い牛
- pasture:牧草地
- fancy:想像する
- besides:そのうえ
- vocabulary:語彙
- long and short of it:要旨,要点
- mercifully:寛大に
- dispose of:〜を処分する
- get rid of:処分する