原文
"I forgot to tell you what happened the day the minister called here. It
was the funniest thing I ever saw. I said to Marilla, 'If Anne had been
here wouldn't she have had a laugh?' Even Marilla laughed. You know he's
a very short, fat little man with bow legs. Well, that old pig of Mr.
Harrison's--the big, tall one--had wandered over here that day again and
broke into the yard, and it got into the back porch, unbeknowns to us,
and it was there when the minister appeared in the doorway. It made one
wild bolt to get out, but there was nowhere to bolt to except between
them bow legs. So there it went, and, being as it was so big and the
minister so little, it took him clean off his feet and carried him away.
His hat went one way and his cane another, just as Marilla and I got to
the door. I'll never forget the look of him. And that poor pig was near
scared to death. I'll never be able to read that account in the Bible
of the swine that rushed madly down the steep place into the sea without
seeing Mr. Harrison's pig careering down the hill with that minister. I
guess the pig thought he had the Old Boy on his back instead of inside
of him. I was thankful the twins weren't about. It wouldn't have been
the right thing for them to have seen a minister in such an undignified
predicament. Just before they got to the brook the minister jumped off
or fell off. The pig rushed through the brook like mad and up through
the woods. Marilla and I run down and helped the minister get up and
brush his coat. He wasn't hurt, but he was mad. He seemed to hold
Marilla and me responsible for it all, though we told him the pig didn't
belong to us, and had been pestering us all summer. Besides, what did he
come to the back door for? You'd never have caught Mr. Allan doing that.
It'll be a long time before we get a man like Mr. Allan. But it's an
ill wind that blows no good. We've never seen hoof or hair of that pig
since, and it's my belief we never will.
語彙など
- minister:牧師
- bow-legs:がに股
- back porch:裏口
- unbeknown to:〜に気付かれずに,〜の知らないうちに
- doorway:戸口
- bolt:逃げること
- cane:つえ
- be scared to death:死ぬほど怖がっている
- account:記事
- swine:ブタ,イノシシ
- career:疾走する
- undignified:威厳にかかわる,みっともない
- predicament:窮地,苦境
- pester:困らせる
- besides:そのうえ
- ill wind:災難,不幸
- hoof:足