2019年4月12日　金曜日　晴れ

I’m beginning to understand why your grandfather left you his money. You’re a chip off the old block, Sophia.（Christie, Agatha. Crooked House (Agatha Christie Collection) . HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.　のChapter 20の末尾より引用）

補註　a chip off the old block: イディオムの意味をウェブの辞書で調べてみると・・

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ja/dictionary/english/a-chip-off-the-old-block   informal; someone who is very similar in character to their father or mother

https://grammarist.com/idiom/a-chip-off-the-old-block/  A chip off the old block refers to someone who closely resembles his parent either in behavior, looks, interests or character. Most often, the idiom a chip off the old block refers to a son and his father, but not always. The term was originally rendered as a chip of the same block, and was first used in Dr. Sanderson’s Sermon in 1637: “Am not I a child of the same Adam … a chip of the same block, with him?” At this time the phrase referred to any two people who came from the same familial line. By the 1800s, the term evolved to a chip off the old block and came to mean someone who closely resembles his parent.

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We had turned to walk towards the house and suddenly, at a certain spot, I remembered something else she had said.  She had said that she supposed she could murder someone, but if so, she had added, it must be for something really worthwhile.  （Kindle 版のChapter 21の末尾より引用）

補註：　簡単だが、上記の英文を直接話法に書き換えてみると・・We had turned to walk towards the house and suddenly, at a certain spot, I remembered something else she had said.  She had said, ‘I suppose I can murder someone, but if so,’ she had added, ‘it must be for something really worthwhile.’・・クリスティらしい意味深な言い回し・・どこにころんでいくか分からない・・これ以後の展開が楽しみだ。

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序文より・英文解釈・私の英語の学習
I should say that of one’s output, five books are work to one that is real pleasure.
（Christie, Agatha. Crooked House (Agatha Christie Collection) . HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle 版.　の序文より引用）

補註　私の英文解釈：
I should say that ・・以下を言わざるを得ない。
of one’s output, five books are work to one that is real pleasure.：
私の作品の中では、5冊のワーク（お仕事）に対し、本当に書くのが楽しくて書けたのは1冊といった比率だ。

補註の補註　of one’s output, という句が倒置されているので、構文がわかりにくかった。最初に読んだときには何のことか全くつかめなかったが、読み返して分解してみれば、どこにも難しさがない。朗読で聴き取れるかどうか・・おそらく上手な読み手が上手に抑揚を付けて朗読されたものを聞いた場合なら、黙読した場合よりもパッと理解できたかなと思う。

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Then, like Topsy ‘they growed’.

補註　文脈から「勝手にどんどん大きく育つ」という意味であることは自明だが、辞書で確かめるとなると、意外と手こずった。Topsy だけでは日本のウェブ辞書に適当な説明が見つからず、「grow like Topsy」で検索すると、以下のウェブ辞書で説明が見つかった。Topsy was a female character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. とのこと。https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/grow+like+Topsy

grow like Topsy

To rapidly grow or expand. Our small company has grown like Topsy over the past year, thanks in no small part to ouraggressive new marketing campaign. Our puppy has grown like Topsy since we switched to a new brand of dog food.Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

grow like ˈTopsy 

grow very fast, particularly in an unplanned or uncontrolled way: After many contributions, ourwebsite has grown like Topsy, and is now being completely revised.Topsy was a female character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

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I feel that I myself was only their scribe.

補註　scribe　筆記者　書記。　　一方、scriber となると、画線器　と、人ではなく物になる。どこかで（実は数ヶ月前に）勉強したのだが、すべて忘れているようだ。似たような関係にある人・物の組み合わせの英単語を、まとめて一挙にボキャブラリーとして覚えておくと良いのだろう。宿題とする。

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She had also presumably suffered, sensitive like Philip, from the stigma of being the unattractive–the changeling child–of the family. （Kindle 版のChapter 26 より引用）

補註　changeling ウィキペディアによると・・・A changeling is a creature found in folklore and folk religion throughout Europe. A changeling was believed to be a fairy child that had been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies. The theme of the swapped child is common in medieval literature and modernly reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders, or developmental disabilities.　以下、略　https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling　より。

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