【英日対訳】ミュージシャン達の言葉what's in their mind

ミュージシャン達の言葉、書いたものを英日対訳で読んでゆきます。

「サッチモMy Life in New Orleans」を読む 第4回の1

サッチモは14歳、釈放されます仲間や先生皆が別れを惜しみます。実母メイアンでなく実父と後妻さんに引き取られ、幸せに、ドタバタに暮らし始めますが・・・

 

chapter 4 (pp52-62) 

 

I WAS FOURTEEN when I left the Home. My father was still working in the turpentine factory and he had his boss have a talk with Judge Wilson. I was released on the condition that I would live with my father and stepmother. They came to get me on a beautiful eve ning in June when the air was heavy with the odor of honeysuckle. How I loved that smell! On quiet Sunday nights when I lay on my bunk listening to Freddie Keppard and his jazz band play for some rich white folks about half a mile away, the perfume of those delicious flowers roamed about my nostrils.  

[訳] 

孤児院を出たとき、僕は14歳になっていた。父はまだテルペン工場で働いていて、上司を通じてウィルソン判事に話をしてもらったのだ。僕は父と継母と一緒に住むことを条件に出所することになった。両親が迎えに来たのは6月の天気の良い夕方で、スイカズラの香りがむせ返るようだった。僕はこの花の香が大好きだった。静かな日曜の夜には、ベッドに横になって、1キロも離れていないところにあるお金持ちの白人の家から聞こえてくるフレディ・ケッパードと彼のバンドの演奏を聞いて、スイカズラの香りに包まれていた。 

[文法] 

listening to Freddie Keppard and his jazz band play 

フレディ・ケッパードと彼のジャズバンドが演奏するを聞きながら(listening band play) 

 

On the day my father and stepmother were coming to take me to their home I thought about what lay ahead. The first thing that came into my mind was that I would no longer be able to listen to Freddie Keppard. He was a good cornet man with a beautiful tone and marvelous endurance. He had a style of his own. Of course Bunk Johnson had the best tone of all, but Freddie had his own little traits which always interested and amused me. Whenever he played in a street parade he used to cover his fingers with a pocket handkerchief so that the other cornet players wouldn't catch his stuff. Silly, I thought, but that was Freddie, and everybody ate it up. There was no doubt about it, he had talent.  

Those nights when I lay on my bunk listening to Freddie play the cornet and smelling the honeysuckles were really heaven for a kid of my age. I hated to think I was going to have to leave it. 

[訳] 

父と継母が僕を家につれて帰る日、これからどうなるんだろうと僕は思った。まず思ったのは、これでフレディ・ケッパードの演奏が聞けなくなってしまう、ということ。彼は素晴らしいコルネット奏者で、音色がきれいで、スタミナがある。独自の演奏スタイルも持っている。当然、音色が一番美しいのはバンク・ジョンソンだが、フレディには彼にしかないちょっとした特徴があり、僕はいつもそれが楽しみで聞き入っていた。彼はストリートパレードの時は、ハンカチで手元を隠して他のコルネット吹きに見せないようにしていた。変だな、と僕は思ったが、それがフレディというもの、皆もそれを楽しんでいた。彼の才能は、疑いの余地のないものだった。 

当時は夜になると、ベッドに横になり、フレディ・ケッパードのコルネットを聞いてスイカズラの香りに包まれる。僕の年頃の子供にはまさに天国だった。これがなくなるなんて、考えるのも嫌だった。 

[文法] 

so that the other cornet players wouldn't catch his stuff 

そうすることで他のコルネット奏者たちが彼のしていることを見れないようにした(so that) 

 

I wondered what my father would say if I asked him to let me stay in the Home. After all, I had never lived with him, and I did not even know his wife. What kind of a woman was she? Would we get on to gether? What kind of a disposition did she have? Here at the Home I'd become happy. Everybody there loved me, and I was in love with everybody. At my father's house would I still see Mayann and Mama Lucy who came to see me three times a week? My father had never paid me a single visit. What about the boys and even the keepers? They all looked sad, their faces drawn, to see me leave, and I felt the same way about them. 

[訳] 

孤児院に残りたい、といったら父はなんと言うだろうと思った。何せ、父とは一緒に暮らしたことがなく、継母に至っては会ったことすらなかった。彼女はどんな人だろう?うまくやって行けるだろうか?どんな気性のひとだろう?ここ孤児院で、僕は幸せになれた。ここにいる皆が僕を慕い可愛がってくれたし、僕も皆のことが大好きだった。今度父の家では、週に3度面会していたメイアンと妹とは引き続き会えるのだろうか?父は一度も面会に来ていなかった。仲間の子達と先生方は?皆僕が出てゆくのを悲しい顔をしてみているし、僕も同じ気持ちだった。 

[文法] 

I wondered what my father would say if I asked him to let me stay in the Home.  

もし父に、孤児院にとどまらせてほしいと言ったら、何と言うだろうと思った 

(asked him to let me stay) 

 

While my things were being packed the little band played as it had never played before. I played several numbers with them for my father's approval. He was elated by the progress his son had made, and he said I should keep it up.  

Mrs. Jones kissed me good-bye, and I shook hands with every kid in the place as well as with Mr. Jones, Mr. Davis and Mr. Alexander. I was unhappy when we left the Home and walked to City Park Avenue to take the street car into town.  

[訳] 

僕の身の回りのものが荷造りされている間中、僕達の小さなバンドは、今までにない演奏を披露した。父に聞いてもらおうと、僕は一緒に数曲演奏した。父は息子の目覚ましい上達ぶりに勇気づけられ、このまま続けるべきだと言った。 

ジョーンズ先生の奥様がお別れのキスをしてくれて、仲間一人ひとりと、そしてジョーンズ先生、デイビス先生、アレクサンダー先生と握手をした。寂しい気持ちを心に抱き、僕は父と孤児院を後にし、シティーパーク通りを通って市街地行の路面電車に乗った。 

[文法] 

the little band played as it had never played before 

この小さなバンドは以前には見られなかった腕前で演奏してみせた(as it had ) 

 

My father and stepmother lived at Miro and Poydras Streets, right in the heart of The Battlefield. They were happily married and they had two boys, Willie and Henry. I did not have to wonder long about Gertrude, my stepmother, because she turned out to be a very fine woman, and she treated me just as though I were her own child. For that alone I will always love her. Henry was nice too. He was very kind to me at all times and we became good friends. His older brother, however, was about as ornery as they come. He deliberately would do everything he could to upset everybody.  

[訳] 

父と継母の家は、ミロ通りとポイドラス通りという、通称「バトルフィールド」のど真ん中にあった。結婚生活は順調で、ウィリー、ヘンリーという2人の息子が居た。継母のガートルードがどんな人か、悩むまでもなく、素晴らしい女性だとわかり、僕を自分が産んだ息子のように扱ってくれた。それだけでも僕は彼女をずっと慕うことができる。ヘンリーはいい子で、仲良くなれた。でもその兄の方は意図的に他人を困らせる傍若無人ぶりだ。 

[文法] 

she treated me just as though I were her own child 

彼女は私を彼女自身の子供のように扱った(as though I were) 

 

After living with them for a while, my parents, who both had jobs, discovered that I could cook and that I could make particularly good beans. They were therefore glad to leave me with the two boys and to let me cook for them. Since I was the oldest they thought the kids would obey me. Henry did. But oh, that Willie! He was such a terrible liar that sometimes I wanted to throw a whole pot of beans at his head. He knew that his parents would swallow half of the lies he told them. What is more, they did not whip him much.  

[訳] 

共働きの僕の両親は、しばらく僕と暮らしてみて、僕の料理の腕前、特に豆料理の美味しさを知った。なので二人は安心して二人の息子達の世話と食事の用意を僕に任せてくれた。二人は、僕が一番年上なので、ヘンリーとウィリーは言うことを聞くだろうと考えた。ヘンリーはともかく、ウィリーはダメ!彼はとんでもない嘘つきで、僕は豆料理を作っている時に鍋ごと頭に投げつけてやろうかと何度か思った。彼は両親がウソを信じてくれると知っていて、更には両親の方も、彼を張り倒すようなことをあまりしなかった。 

[文法] 

my parents, who both had jobs, discovered 

私の両親は両方とも仕事をしているが、発見した( , who) 

 

One day he did something so bad that nothing in the world could have kept me from hitting him in the face. It was a hard blow and it hurt him. I was afraid that after he told Pa Willie and Ma Gertrude when they came home they would send me back to the Home. But the little brat did not even open his mouth to them. I guess he realized he was in the wrong and that he deserved his chastising.  

[訳] 

ある日彼があまりにも酷いやらかしをしたので、全くためらわず彼の顔をぶっ飛ばして怪我をさせた。お父さんとお母さんが帰ってきて、彼がチクったら、僕は孤児院に送り返されてしまうのだろうか、と心配になった。しかしこの悪ガキは二人には口を割らなかった。自分に非があって殴られても仕方がないと自覚していたのだろう。 

[文法] 

nothing in the world could have kept me from hitting him in the face 

世界の何者も私が彼の顔を殴ることを邪魔することはできなかった 

(nothing could have kept me from hitting) 

 

They used to laugh like mad when I first began to practice my cornet. Then as the days went on they began to listen and to make little comments, the way kids will. Then we began to understand one another. They were growing rapidly, and the more they grew the more they ate. I soon learned what a capacity they had, and I learned to take precautions. Whenever I cooked a big pot of beans and rice and ham hocks they would manage to eat up most of it before I could get to the table. Willie could make a plate full of food vanish faster than anyone I ever saw.  

[訳] 

ウィリーとヘンリーは、僕がコルネットの練習をしていると、初めの頃は馬鹿笑いをしたものだった。でも日が経つにつれて、じっと耳を傾けるようになり、子供なりにコメントを少しくれるようになった。そうして僕達はお互い理解し合うようになった。二人共成長が速く、それにつれてますます食欲も旺盛になってきた。僕はすぐに彼らの食べる量を把握して、事前に注意できるようになった。大鍋で豆、米、豚モモ肉の煮込みを作ると、二人はいつも僕が食卓に戻る前に平らげてしまおうとした。ウィリーが皿山盛りの料理を食べるスピードは、僕の知る限りナンバーワンだった。 

 

I soon got wise to those two boys. Whenever I cooked I would see to it that I ate my bellyful before I rang the bell for Willie and Henry to come in from the yard. One day Willie asked me why I was not eating with them. I told him I had to taste my cooking while I cooked it and that after it was done I didn't have any appetite. They fell for it, hook, line and sinker.  

[訳] 

僕もすぐにこの二人への対策を立てた。調理のたびに、僕自身が腹いっぱい食べてから、庭で遊んでいるウィリーとヘンリーを呼ぶようにした。ある日ウィリーが僕に、なぜ一緒に食べないのかと訊いてきた。僕は味見でお腹いっぱいになってしまうんだ、と答えた。二人はまんまと真に受けて、相変わらず腹いっぱい詰め込んでいた。 

[文法] 

I would see to it that I ate 

私は自分が食べるよう気をつけた(see to it that) 

 

 While I was staying with Pa Willie and Ma Gertrude my little stepsister Gertrude was born. I left shortly afterwards because father decided that he was just earning enough to support his three children by my stepmother. In those days common laborers were badly paid, and though both Pa and Ma Gertrude were working they could barely make both ends meet.  

[訳] 

両親と暮らしているうちに、二人の間に僕の「妹」ガートルードが生まれた。直後に僕はこの家を出た。父は僕の継母との間の三人の子しか養えない、としたからだ。当時、一般的な労働者の収入は酷く、両親共働きでも、かろうじてのやりくりしかできなかった。 

 

My real mother came out there one evening, and she and Pa talked things over for a long time. When Mayann got ready to leave, my father said:  

"Louis, would you like to go home with your mother?" 

I was thrilled to hear this, but I didn't want him to know it. He had tried his best to make me happy while I was living with him, Gertrude and the two boys. I was ever so grateful for that and their kindness.  

"O.K. Pa. I love both you and Mayann, and I will come to see you often."  

"He's a fine kid," he said to Mayann, smiling and patting me on the shoulder.  

"He sure is," she said. Then we went out the door for Liberty and Perdido Streets, my old stomping grounds.  

[訳] 

ある夜、僕の実の母がやってきて、父と長時間話をした。帰る段になって、父が言った。 

「ルイ、お母さんと帰りたいかい?」 

僕の胸は高まった。でもそれを父に悟られたくなかった。僕が父や継母、ウィリー、ヘンリーと暮らす間、父は精一杯僕を喜ばそうとしてくれた。その気持と、家族皆の優しさに、僕は心から感謝していた。 

「わかりました、お父さん。僕にはお父さんもメイアンも大切です。だから、これからもちょくちょく顔を出します。」 

「ルイはいい子だね。」彼はメイアンに言うと、ニッコリ笑って肩をポンと叩いた。 

「そう、その通りよ。」そして僕達はドアを出ると、古巣のリバティー、パーディド通りへと向かった。