よみうち英語Read the classics by typingNotes Scene 25: Copy the Encyclopaedia
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Notes on this scene
The assignment is to copy the Encyclopaedia Britannica by hand. Wilson must bring writing materials, while the office supplies furniture. He accepts the terms and agrees to start the following morning. After Ross offers formal congratulations, Wilson walks home with Spaulding in a state of amazed happiness.
Japanese in this scene
- ほど
- ほど expresses degree or an approximate extent: “to the point that; as much as; about.” The comparison in the sentence determines its natural English rendering.
- たら
- The past-form verb + ら creates a conditional meaning “if; when.” It can describe either a hypothetical condition or what was discovered after an action.
- は
- は marks the topic of a sentence and can also set up a contrast with another item.
- が
- が marks the grammatical subject or newly focused information. It can also link clauses with a mild contrast.
Background
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- The encyclopedia began publication in Edinburgh in 1768. Its ninth edition filled twenty-four volumes plus an index, making a handwritten copy an almost endless task.
Full text: original English and Japanese translation
"'Is to copy out the Encyclopædia Britannica. There is the first volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be ready to-morrow?'
「『ブリタニカ百科事典を書き写すことです。その戸棚に第一巻が入っています。インクとペンと吸い取り紙はご自分で用意していただきますが、この机と椅子はこちらでご用意します。明日から来られますかな？』
"'Certainly,' I answered.
「『もちろんです』と私は答えました。
"'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you once more on the important position which you have been fortunate enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased at my own good fortune.
「『では、ジェイベズ・ウィルソンさん、ごきげんよう。幸運にも手に入れられたこの大切な地位について、あらためてお祝いを申し上げます』彼はおじぎをして私を部屋から送り出し、私は助手と家へ帰りましたが、自分の幸運がうれしくて、何を言い、何をしたらいいのかもわからないほどでした。