幼少時代の回想と数学の問題について -主人公のAlexは幼い頃を思い出し、-

わからない個所を教えてください。

Lena shows me how to make a cat’s-cradle and pass it from person to person; I stretch string tight and twang it, feeling the quick-dying vibrations in my hands; I coil string tightly around my thumb and leave a red spiral mark when I take it off, neat grooves running all the way up.　（前回の終わりの部分です） This problem is easier, though. The boy – Jamie – Pleased to meet you – wants to get over the wall, but there’s no tree like the one I have. I think it through, and am pleased to realize he has gone to get a ladder, when there is a scuffling sound off to my left, on my side of the wall. I look round, and to my surprise see Jamie coming round the end of the wall. I drop down from where I’m hanging and go to meet him. ‘How’d you do that?’ I ask, impressed. ‘I went round,’ he says. ‘I ran. It is higher back here, isn’t it?’ After a second or two, I start to see what he means. If you go out of the front gate of his house, and followed the wall to your left, and went through the fence that runs beside the road, and kept following the wall round the next corner – you would be here, at the back. The idea is amazing. In another couple of seconds, I see that I can do the same from my front gate, turning right instead of left. It has never occurred to me before that this might be possible. You get to the rocks and the lizards by going up the tree and over, that is how it has always worked. I have never imagined— ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。（この英文は子供時代の回想シーンだと思われます） I think it through, and am pleased to realize he has gone to get a ladder, when there is a scuffling sound off to my left, on my side of the wall.について、when there is a scuffling sound off to my leftの個所がわかりません。私の左側に動き回る音が遠くにあるとき？？ I look round, and to my surprise see Jamie coming round the end of the wall.が、よくわからないのですが、主人公が驚いた理由は、Jamieが壁の端のあたりにやってきたことなのでしょうか？どういう事で驚いたのでしょうか？？梯子を持って来なかったことに驚いた、ということですか？ ‘I went round,’ he says. ‘I ran. It is higher back here, isn’t it?’のItは何を指しているのでしょうか？ The idea is amazing.とあるのですが、The ideaとは今主人公がいる地点にどうやって辿りつくか、というアイディアだと思うのですが、読んでみたところ、あまり状況のイメージが掴めない感じです。つまりは、主人公自身ももっと簡単に今の場所に辿りつける方法があった（木を使わずに辿りつく方法）、ということがわかった、というようなことなのでしょうか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

He looks at once wary, but almost as quickly the wariness vanishes and is replaced by curiosity. He glances towards the house, once, then runs across the garden until he’s standing below me.　(前回の終わりの部分です） ‘Hello,’ he says. ‘Who’re you?’ A quick flood of warmth comes with the words: he speaks like Lena – Italian. ‘I’m Alex,’ I say. ‘Hello.’ ‘I’m Jamie. Pleased to meet you,’ he adds, formally. Then he says, ‘How did you get up there?’ ‘It’s not as high this side.’ ‘What’s back there?’ ‘Rocks,’ I say. ‘And lizards.’ ‘Really?’ I can see him looking at the wall, which must be almost hidden from him by bushes and flowers, looking for a way up. ‘My garden has a tree,’ I explain. ‘You climb that, then you climb the wall.’ ‘There’s nothing here,’ he says, sounding frustrated. Then, ‘Wait – I know.’ He looks up at me again. ‘You’ll stay there?’ ‘OK.’ ‘Won’t be long.’ He turns and runs away across the lawn to the side of the house, and disappears from sight there. I cling on where I am, wondering what he is going to do. It is like a puzzle, like one of the ones my father gives me to stimulate my mind. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。（この英文は子供時代の回想シーンだと思われます） A quick flood of warmth comes with the wordsとはどういう感じなのでしょうか？言葉と一緒に暖かさのすばやい洪水がやってくる？？ ‘How did you get up there?' ‘It's not as high this side.' ‘What's back there?' ‘Rocks,' I say. ‘And lizards.' のやりとりがちょっとよく理解できているかわからないのですが。「きみはどうやってそこへ登って来たの？」「こっちの側のように高くないんだ」「そこの後ろに何があるの？」「岩だよ」僕は言う。「それからとかげ」こんな感じですか？？ It is like a puzzle, like one of the ones my father gives me to stimulate my mind.とあるのですが、Itが指すものは何になるのでしょうか？I cling on where I am, wondering what he is going to do.（自分がいる場所にしがみついて、彼が何をするつもりでいるのかと不思議がっていること）ですか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

The idea is amazing. In another couple of seconds, I see that I can do the same from my front gate, turning right instead of left. It has never occurred to me before that this might be possible. You get to the rocks and the lizards by going up the tree and over, that is how it has always worked. I have never imagined— （前回の終わりの部分です） ‘What is it?’ he says. ‘Nothing.’ ‘You looked weird.’ ‘I was just thinking,’ I say. ‘Oh.’ He is quiet for a moment. ‘How old are you?’ ‘Six.’ ‘I’m seven,’ he says. ‘So. Where are these lizards?’ I look around me. ‘They’re not here any more,’ I say. ‘They go away when it’s evening.’ ‘Oh,’ he says, sounding disappointed. ‘But you said they were here.’ ‘They’ll be here tomorrow,’ I say. ‘If you could come tomorrow, I could show you some.’ ‘Yeah? OK.’ At that, we both hear a woman’s voice calling, ‘Jamie!’ ‘That’s my mum,’ he says. ‘I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Alex.’ ‘Bye,’ I call after him, as he runs off around the end of the wall. He runs quickly and easily, his feet sure on the uneven ground, almost as if he is floating. I trudge back to my end of the wall, but rather than climb over, I go around the end, and find to my astonishment that what I have worked out is right: after getting through the fence, I am outside my own front gate. The discovery makes me smile as I go inside, and the smile is made wider by the thought that tomorrow, Jamie and I are going to look for lizards together. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。（この英文は子供時代の回想シーンだと思われます） He runs quickly and easily, his feet sure on the uneven ground, almost as if he is floating.のhis feet sure on the uneven groundは、彼の足はでこぼこの地面の上で確かに、という意味ですか？sureは副詞ですか？教えてください。　お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。1

After a moment’s hesitation, he sits down on the flat rock beside me. ‘What were you thinking about?’ Now it is my turn to hesitate. I have become used to what to say to my parents, but perhaps this is not the right thing to say to Jamie. I look at him, and his brown eyes are interested, not suspicious. I say, ‘I was thinking with Lena.’ ‘Who’s Lena?’ (前回の終わりの部分です） ‘She’s our cook. And she looks after me, sometimes.’ He nods, and I am encouraged by the way he accepts what I’ve told him. ‘We’re going for a walk up that way, and we see a bridge, and a chapel where a man used to live. A hermit,’ I add. ‘He went away, though, into the hills.’ Jamie is frowning. ‘When?’ ‘When what?’ ‘When do you go on the walk?’ I am thrown into confusion. I don’t want Jamie to know that I used to be a liar, but the conversation is becoming like the ones I used to have – back then, when I was a liar – with my parents. I don’t know what to say. But Jamie is still looking at me, his face open and waiting for me to say something, and in the end I just say it. ‘Just now.’ ‘This morning?’ ‘Just now. Before you came.’ Suddenly I want him very much to understand. ‘That was what I was doing. Staring into space.’ ‘You mean you were imagining it?’ ‘No …’ ‘What, then?’ It is the tone of his voice that makes the difference: not impatient, just curious. I try to find the words. ‘You know when – you go somewhere—’ He nods. ‘And then you come back.’ Now he is looking puzzled. ‘What, like a walk?’ ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Like that. That’s what I was doing.’ He is quiet for a time, then he says, ‘So you’d gone with Lena and then you came back and then you came here and I found you?’ ＊That’s what I was doing.のThatは斜体になっています。 ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンだと思われます。 ‘That was what I was doing. Staring into space.’ ‘You mean you were imagining it?’ ‘No …’ ここのやり取りの意味が掴めません。「それは僕がしていたことだったんだ。空間を見つめていたんだ」「それを想像していたっていうこと？」「違うよ」？？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

‘You’re weird,’ he says eventually. I blink. But then he says, ‘I like you, though.’ And my heart skips once, and feels as if it is grinning inside me. ‘I like you too,’ I say. ‘And wouldn’t it be great if you could go anywhere, just in your head – the moon or Mars, or different planets?’ I have never thought about this either. ‘I suppose,’ I say. (前回の終わりの部分です） ‘I’d love that.’ He looks entranced with the possibility. ‘Do you like comics?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘I’ve got some great ones. They’re in English, though,’ he adds, doubtfully. ‘But I speak English,’ I say, surprised. It takes me a moment to remember that Jamie is a foreigner, like me. Astonished, I switch from the way we have been talking – the way I talk with Lena – to the other way I talk, when I’m with my parents. ‘Can you speak like this?’ Jamie looks just as astonished, but he answers the same way. ‘Yes. My father’s English.’ ‘Mine too,’ I say. ‘And Mummy,’ I add, remembering. Suddenly he begins to laugh – a little at first that quickly grows into a great uncontrollable peal that rings against the side of the valley. He points at me, helplessly, and then at himself, and I understand immediately what he means – We’re such idiots! – and the funny side of it strikes me, too. I can’t help it; I join him, laughing harder and harder until my sides hurt and there are tears in my eyes. I can’t think of a time when I’ve laughed harder. At last we quieten down. Occasionally we look sideways at each other and giggles overwhelm us again; but in the end we are too tired to laugh any more. We sit side by side with big, idiot grins on our faces. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンで幼なじみのJamieと話しているところです。二人のやり取りが正確にはよくわからないのですが、 I’ve got some great ones. They’re in English, though,’ he adds, doubtfully.のdoubtfullyとはどういう意味合いなのでしょうか？疑わしげに？自分が持っているいくつかの漫画はすばらしいけれど、英語で書かれている。の後にdoubtfullyが付くのがよくわかりません。 I switch from the way we have been talking – the way I talk with Lena – to the other way I talk, when I’m with my parents.というのは、AlexがJamieと今まで話していた方法を変えた、ということで、Lenaや、両親と話していた英語でJamieに話した、ということですか？ We’re such idiots! とありますが、Alexが、英語が話せるJamieに今までイタリア語で話していたことがおかしいのでしょうか？？ I join him, laughing harder and harder until my sides hurt and there are tears in my eyes.とありますが、until my sides hurt and there are tears in my eyes.というのは、Alexのどんな心境を表しているのでしょうか？何に傷ついているのかがわかりません。（あまりにもばかげた事を言ってしまったことですか？・・・英語が話せるの？というような）教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。2

Now he is looking puzzled. ‘What, like a walk?’ ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Like that. That’s what I was doing.’ He is quiet for a time, then he says, ‘So you’d gone with Lena and then you came back and then you came here and I found you?’ （前回の終わりの部分です） ‘No,’ I say, surprised he doesn’t understand. ‘I was with Lena and then you called me and I came back. I heard you say my name.’ ‘But I saw you. You were right here.’ He isn’t laughing at me and he isn’t angry with me. His voice is steady and serious, as though he has found something that must be examined until it makes sense. He doesn’t sound like he cares if it takes him all day. ‘I was with Lena too,’ I say. ‘You mean like a dream?’ ‘No.’ Dreams are all fuzzy, blurred, strange; they aren’t real. ‘When you go somewhere. Like up the valley with Lena.’ ‘You make it up?’ ‘No. Like now, like I’m here with you.’ ‘I don’t understand,’ he says. I can’t think of anything else to say to make it clearer. He sits there, still frowning slightly, thinking it all through. Then he says, ‘Can you go anywhere?’ ‘Sure.’ ‘Like the moon?’ He sounds suddenly excited. ‘Oh. No. Just – places in the valley. With Lena, or the town, or the garden.’ ‘Oh.’ Another pause. ‘Anywhere in the valley, though?’ ‘Just places I know,’ I say, and at that there is a sudden sense that something heavy has shifted – just a little – in my head, moving reluctantly, trying to accommodate what I’ve just said. The questions Jamie is asking aren’t ones anyone’s ever asked me before. I haven’t asked them to myself either. They feel like they’re prodding at me, searching, trying to find me out. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンで幼なじみのJamieと話しているところです。 He doesn’t sound like he cares if it takes him all day. の意味がよく掴めません。 itはsomething that must be examinedですか？it takes him all dayとはどういうことなのでしょうか？ ‘When you go somewhere. Like up the valley with Lena.’ ‘You make it up?’ ‘No. Like now, like I’m here with you.’ のやり取りがわかりません。「君がどこかに行く時、リーナと一緒に谷を登るように」・・・・・・？・・・・・・？ likeは”～のように”、の意味ですか？ ‘Like the moon?’ He sounds suddenly excited. ‘Oh. No. Just – places in the valley. With Lena, or the town, or the garden.’ ‘Oh.’ Another pause. ‘Anywhere in the valley, though?’ のやり取りについてもよくわからなくなってしまったのですが、 ‘Oh. No. Just – places in the valley. With Lena, or the town, or the garden.’は、Jamieが月にも行くことができる？と聞いたのに対して、Alexが谷にある場所だよ。町や庭。と答えているのでしょうか？最後のThey feel like they’re prodding at me, searching, trying to find me out. の言っている意味がよく理解できません。trying to find me out私を見い出そうと試みる、とはどういうことなのでしょうか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。その1

There are bound to be other things as well. I mean, there's a window broken in the room where I slept, and the garden's---the garden's awful. It needs work doing on it, that's all. It's mostly small things."(前回の終わりです） ↓（続きです） ‘You slept there?' he says, sounding incredulous. ‘Yes, of course. It was too late by the time I'd –when I'd finished looking round.' ‘Well, at least it doesn't sound like it's falling down,' he says cautiously. ‘You'd expect a little work to be necessary after –how long has it been?' ‘Eight years,' I say. ‘Well, quite.' There's a pause. ****************************************** 「The Dandelion clock」からの英文です。：主人公のAlexと知人と思われるMaxが電話で話している場面です。 ‘You slept there?' he says, sounding incredulous. ‘Yes, of course. It was too late by the time I'd –when I'd finished looking round.' ‘Well, at least it doesn't sound like it's falling down,' の会話の個所ですが、it doesn't sound like it's falling downと言っているのは、「眠れなかったように思える」、というような意味ですか？ ‘You'd expect a little work to be necessary after –how long has it been?' ‘Eight years,' I say. の個所のやりとりがわからないのですが、a little workというのはちょっとした仕事、という意味ですか？after –how long has it been?のafterはどういう意味になるのでしょうか？ You'd はYou wouldで推量になると思うのですが（あなたはちょっとした仕事が必要だと思っているでしょう？）、その後でhow long has it been?と聞いて完了形を使っているのが分かりません。教えてください。お願いします。

わからない箇所を教えてください。

As she talks she goes round to her bed, sits down, pulling off her trousers. ‘No – it was this business-man type, maybe forty. Such a letch. I thought I was going to get groped for sure.’ ‘Did you?’ ‘No. Spineless. I kept the second half of my Coke ready, though, so I could chuck it over him when he did. That’s probably why I’m so dehydrated.’　（前回の終わりの部分です） She stands up and pulls her shirt off over her head. I look quickly away, pretending I haven’t noticed. I know she doesn’t care – wouldn’t mind me seeing her standing there in her underwear – but I’m not sure I can carry off the pretence that I don’t care. It’s easier to look away. She says, ‘Not a bad view either. There’s a little square down there, and a tree. I think that’s a church. You know all this stuff better than I do. You’ll have to tell me about it later.’ ‘It’s a deal,’ I say, looking fixedly at the writing-desk in the corner. I hear her walk over to where the towels are laid out, bare feet padding on the stone. ‘I’d say I won’t be long, but I probably will be,’ she says, a smile in her voice. I risk looking up. She has a towel wrapped around her, and I am able to pretend that, as far as I’m aware, this is how it’s always been. ‘There’s no hurry,’ I say. ‘Take as long as you like.’ ‘Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit.’ She closes the door after her and, a few moments later, there comes the first hiss of water from the shower, and somewhere far off the rumble and clang of air through the plumbing of the old building. I am left lying on my bed, staring at the wall, trying to keep the thought of her out of my head. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。she（Anna）はAlexの幼なじみです。（Annaとの回想シーンだと思われます） ‘Not a bad view either. There’s a little square down there, and a tree. I think that’s a church. You know all this stuff better than I do. You’ll have to tell me about it later.’ のNot a bad view either.がよくわかりません。悪い眺めではない。両方とも？？all this stuffのstuffとはどういう意味ですか？You’ll have to tell me about it laterのitはa churchのことですか？ I’d say I won’t be long, but I probably will be,の意味は、長く生きていないでしょうと言っていました、でも多分生きます、という意味ですか？それとも長くはいないと言っていました。でも多分長くいます。という意味ですか？beの意味が漠然としててよくわかりません。 She has a towel wrapped around her, and I am able to pretend that, as far as I’m aware, this is how it’s always beenのI am able to pretend that～のところがわからないのですが、（文をつなげると、I am able to pretend that this is how it's always beenだと思うのですが）、私はこれがいかにいつものことだというふりをすることができる？という意味ですか？ I am able to pretendと言っている意味がいまひとつわかりません。 ‘There’s no hurry,’ I say. ‘Take as long as you like.’ ‘Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit.’ のセリフについてですが、彼女がシャワーを浴びていて、急がないから好きなだけ浴びてていいよ、と主人公が言って、彼女がちょっとしたら（シャワーから出て）会いにいきます、と言っているシーンですか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

There is a sharp silence. At last he says, ‘Alex, how long are you talking about? The weekend?’ ‘Maybe,’ I say. ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Well, that’s all right – just. But let’s not cut things too close here. This is the big one, remember?’ ‘Sure,’ I say. （前回の終わりの部分です） Suddenly he laughs. ‘You really hate all of this, don’t you?’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the house was perfect and you were inventing rising damp so you can sit in the sun and keep out of my way.’ ‘Actually, it’s been raining,’ I tell him. ‘Whatever. Look, enjoy yourself, all right? Have some beers in between fixing up builders and all that. When things are sorted out, give me a call. I suppose we’ll all survive without you for a few more days.’ ‘OK,’ I say. ‘And don’t forget to think over those ideas Julia came up with. They’ve got to go to press by the fourteenth at the latest, and she’ll need some time before that to put it all together.’ ‘I will. I’ll call you, Max.’ ‘Bye, Alex,’ he says, still sounding amused, and the line goes dead. ****************************************** 「The Dandelion clock」からの英文です。：主人公のAlexと知人と思われるMaxが電話で話している場面です。 ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the house was perfect and you were inventing rising damp so you can sit in the sun and keep out of my way.’ がどういうことを言っているのかわかりません。Alexは自分の家を修理しなければならない状態でいたのですが、the houseというのはAlexの家のことを言っているのか。。。 you were inventing rising damp so you can sit in the sun and keep out of my way.の部分が意味不明です。rising damp＝上昇水分？？（湿気？） keep out of my way=? Whatever. Look, enjoy yourself, all right? のWhateverは何かの略なのでしょうか？それとも単独で何か意味があるのでしょうか？ They've got to go to press by the fourteenth at the latest, and she'll need some time before that to put it all together.' のThey've got to go to press はto不定詞が2つつながっているのでしょうか？　 the fourteenthは１４日？ she'll need some time before that to put it all together.のthat とitは何を指しているのでしょうか？（thatはto put～以下、itはthose ideasですか？） ‘Bye, Alex,’ he says, still sounding amused, and the line goes dead.のsounding amusedの表現がどういう感じなのか掴めません。おかしそうに鳴り響いている？ the line goes deadは、電話線が意に反して切れてしまった、ということなのでしょうか？＊（ここでAlexとMaxの電話は終わります）ほとんど読めていなのですが、教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

Once I see one with two tails, lighter than the rest of its body; it lives somewhere near where the wall adjoins Signora Cassi’s house, and I wonder if it has been caught in the kitchen by Lucia.（前回の終わりの部分です） I go along to the end of the wall, and laboriously find footholds and handholds to help me clamber up. I peer over the top, and for a moment I don’t see him, he is standing so still. The garden here is, again, larger than ours, and sunnier as well. There aren’t so many trees, and some angle of the valley side seems to have positioned the lawn so that it catches the evening sun straight-on. The doors and windows of the house, all around the ground floor, are open, and I can hear voices – a man and a woman – inside. There are some of the boxes that came from the van, standing on the edge of the grass, waiting to be taken in. I let my attention wander around the garden, and it is now that I see him: in the shade of a tall purple bush in the border, standing with his hands in his pockets, looking upwards towards where the valley crest reaches the skyline. For a second I think he is looking right at me, but then I see the faraway expression on his face, and know he hasn’t seen me. We stay like that for some time more, he staring at the horizon, I staring at him, like children frozen in a fairytale. Then my foot slips a little, and the sound reaches him, and he shivers and sees me. He looks at once wary, but almost as quickly the wariness vanishes and is replaced by curiosity. He glances towards the house, once, then runs across the garden until he’s standing below me. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。（この英文は子供時代の回想シーンだと思われます） There are some of the boxes that came from the van, standing on the edge of the grass, waiting to be taken in.のbe taken inは、家の中に持ち込まれる、という意味ですか？ Then my foot slips a little, and the sound reaches him, and he shivers and sees me.の中でhe shivers and sees me.とありますが、彼が震えたのは（he shivers）、我に返った、みたいな感じですか？ He looks at once wary, but almost as quickly the wariness vanishes and is replaced by curiosity.の中のas quicklyのところは、as quickly as の意味ですか？できるだけ早く？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください

There is a second door through to the bathroom, and from this comes the sound of water hissing on tiles, sometimes constant, sometimes shifting its pitch. I realize after listening for a while that the changes must be Anna moving about under the flow, blocking it more and less from moment to moment with her body.（前回の終わりの部分です） The moment I realize this, I am imagining seeing her: the water on her skin, her head back, hair drenched and clinging, the slenderness of her neck and body. It is as if the wall has dissolved for a second and I can see through it. I feel something clench in the pit of my stomach at the sight of her, and then I force the image from my mind. I actually make myself shake my head and smile ruefully, as if someone might be watching me and checking my reaction – is he her lover or her friend? – and I have to be seen to do the right thing. But it is difficult to get her out of my head. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。文中のherは、Alexの幼なじみの女性（Anna)を指しています。 I feel something clench in the pit of my stomach at the sight of her, and then I force the image from my mind.の I force the image from my mind.についてですが、the imageはsomething clench in the pit of my stomach （何かがみぞおちで固まる、というイメージ）で、forceはそのイメージを心から出す、ということですか？最後の方の、I have to be seen to do the right thing.私は正しい事をすることを見られる必要がある、ですか？もう少し意訳するとどうなるでしょうか？ But it is difficult to get her out of my head.私の頭の外へ彼女を得ることは難しい？彼女を頭の中から取り出せない、みたいな感じですか？（彼女のことを考えたくないのに、考えてしまう、みたいな感じでしょうか？）教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

At last we quieten down. Occasionally we look sideways at each other and giggles overwhelm us again; but in the end we are too tired to laugh any more. We sit side by side with big, idiot grins on our faces. （前回の終わりの部分です） Jamie rubs his eyes with his sleeve and says, ‘You’re mad, you know? You’re mad. Mad Alex.’ In the laughter, the realization of English has left us as suddenly as it arrived, and Jamie’s words are in comfortable Italian once more. ‘I’m not,’ I say. ‘You’re mad.’ ‘I’m not as mad as you, though,’ he says. ‘You are.’ ‘Mad Alex.’ He grins at me. ‘If you show me your lizards I’ll show you my comics. They’re brilliant. Is it a deal?’ ‘Yes,’ I say at once. He sticks his hand out, and I shake it. His hand around mine is strong and warm, like a stone in the sun. When we go to look for the lizards, though, there are none to be found. Our laughing has scared them all away. Jamie is my first friend; I have never had a real friend before. For Jamie, everything is a question waiting to be asked. He wants to know why the lizards we watch blink in the sun, but snakes never do. We try not to blink until our eyes are hot and dry and gritty with the effort, but we can’t manage it forever, like the snakes. He wants to know why, when we have lemonade, the outside of the cold glasses becomes wet – how does the water get from inside the glass to the outside without our seeing? If water can get through the glass, why doesn’t the glass empty? We stare at our glasses until they are warm in the sun, and not so nice to drink, but we can’t find out the answer; in the end, the little beads of liquid vanish as mysteriously as they arrive. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンで幼なじみのJamieと話しているところです。 ‘You’re mad, you know? You’re mad. Mad Alex.’ の中のmadのニュアンスは、馬鹿げた、というような意味でしょうか？ For Jamie, everything is a question waiting to be asked.とありますが、Jamieにとってすべては尋ねられることを待っている質問です？というのはどういう意味ですか？ He wants to know why, when we have lemonade, the outside of the cold glasses becomes wet – how does the water get from inside the glass to the outside without our seeing?のhow does the water get from inside the glass to the outside without our seeing?の部分がわかりません。どうやって、私たちが見ることなく、グラスの内側から外側に水は得られるのですか？？水というのは水滴ですか？without our seeingの部分が？です。教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

‘Oh. No. Just – places in the valley. With Lena, or the town, or the garden.’ ‘Oh.’ Another pause. ‘Anywhere in the valley, though?’ ‘Just places I know,’ I say, and at that there is a sudden sense that something heavy has shifted – just a little – in my head, moving reluctantly, trying to accommodate what I’ve just said. The questions Jamie is asking aren’t ones anyone’s ever asked me before. I haven’t asked them to myself either. They feel like they’re prodding at me, searching, trying to find me out. (前回の終わりの部分です） ‘Just places you’ve been?’ he says, his eyes bright. ‘I – I suppose.’ ‘So you’re remembering them,’ he says triumphantly. ‘You know – remembering, like when you remember what you did on Saturday. That’s all.’ He looks pleased at having pieced the puzzle back together, and I am pleased too. But then a look of vague disquiet crosses his face. ‘Only – you really looked strange. Your eyes were open, but you didn’t see me, and you didn’t hear me.’ ‘Yes I did,’ I say, surprised. ‘That’s why I came back.’ We look at the rocks, and the side of the valley beyond them, together. ‘You’re weird,’ he says eventually. I blink. But then he says, ‘I like you, though.’ And my heart skips once, and feels as if it is grinning inside me. ‘I like you too,’ I say. ‘And wouldn’t it be great if you could go anywhere, just in your head – the moon or Mars, or different planets?’ I have never thought about this either. ‘I suppose,’ I say. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンで幼なじみのJamieと話しているところです。 ‘You know – remembering, like when you remember what you did on Saturday. That’s all.’ の That’s all.’ （それがすべてだ？）のセリフがどういうことを言っているのかがわかりません。 He looks pleased at having pieced the puzzle back together, and I am pleased too.のbackは「裏で」といった意味でしょうか？また、I am pleased tooと、主人公もそれを喜んでいるのはどうしてなのでしょうか？？ ‘And wouldn’t it be great if you could go anywhere, just in your head – the moon or Mars, or different planets?’ は、訳すと、頭の中で、どこでも、例えば月や火星、その他の惑星に行くことができるとしたら、それはすごいことだよね？ですか？頭の中でそういうことを想像できることがすごい、という意味で言っているのでしょうか？教えてください。　お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

Somehow my hand, holding the broad, thick-bristled brush I have bought in town, has made marks on the shadow. They are fragmented, hesitant; little uncertain sweeps and arcs of paint which have run and dripped, pale against the darker wall. I blink. The marks coalesce, and for a second I see it: the pale shape of a figure there.（前回の終わりの部分です） Christ, I think, what’s happening to me? The distant echo of laughter rings through the house: childish laughter, but too bright, forced; laughter at a joke that isn’t funny, but which has to be funny. I was too young, I think to myself, rather wildly; I was too young to understand. He should have known that.　 The image on the wall is back again now: a pale body, taut, tensed somehow, as if caught in the instant of time between intention and act. The slender curve of it is white, like moonlight. I press my hands to my eyes to blot it out; but it still floats behind closed eyelids, the pale, stretched body now alone in an infinity of darkness. I press harder, trying to drive it away from me into the black, until the figure shifts and blurs and separates, until it looks as if it might be three figures and not one, and until phosphenes shimmer and burst across the range of my vision like fireworks, or seedheads. （Christ, what’s happening to me?とhas to be funnyと I was too young、I was too young to understand. He should have known that.のそれぞれの個所は斜体で書かれています。） ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は子供の頃の回想シーンから現在に戻っている場面です。 a pale body, taut, tensed somehow, as if caught in the instant of time between intention and act.の個所が抽象的な表現でよくわかりません。どういうことを言っているのでしょうか？一番最後にuntil it looks as if it might be three figures and not one, and until phosphenes shimmer and burst across the range of my vision like fireworks, or seedheads.とあって、seedheadsという単語が出てきますが、shimmer and burstとあって、like fireworksというのはイメージが湧くのですが、なぜここでseedheads.が出てくるのでしょうか？教えてください。お願いします。

英語の質問です

教えてください！！ ( ) tomorrow our baseball game will be canceled 1Whether it rains 2In case it rains 3if it will rain 4 Unless it rains He has no sooner come home ,( ) he turns on Tv 1if 2before 3than 4so Hardly had he seen me ( ) he ran away 1and 2as 3than 4when ( ) that I am older I've changed my mind and want to enjoy my life in the country 1After 2Now 3Since 4During Physical exercise is to the body ( ) reading is to the mind 1that 2what 3which 4whose I studied very hard ( ) I would have failed the entrance examination 1beside 2and so 3but for 4otherwise You can't watch television ( ) you haven't finished you work 1until 2as long as 3although 4after I sat there a long time ( ) 1until I hear my name called 2after I had heard my name call 3before I heard my name called 4since I have heard my name calling The party will be held outdoors ( ) it rains 1only 2if 3without 4unless

わからない個所を教えてください。

In your head is the key. And I know in that moment that Jamie has already understood me better than my parents and everyone else ever have. I meet his eyes with a surge of gratitude pushing up inside me. I want to say something, but I can’t imagine what.(前回の終わりの部分です） ‘Hey,’ he says. ‘I know.’ His eyes are suddenly bright with inspiration. ‘Ask if I can come over to your house this weekend. To stay, I mean. There’s an annual in one of the boxes with whole stories in it – fourteen episodes, one after the other, so you don’t have to wait a week or find the next issue. I could read it to you, if you want.’ He says this last almost shyly, as if he’s afraid I might say no. ‘That would be great!’ I say. ‘I really like them.’ ‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘Me too.’ Downstairs I hear the sounds of people moving about – his parents, I suppose. He glances towards the door and sighs. ‘It’s time for lunch,’ he says. ‘I’d better go.’ ‘Oh. And me,’ I say. ‘But I’ll see you later.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Don’t forget to ask about the weekend,’ he says. ‘Ask if I can stay the night.’ ‘I will,’ I promise. In the darkness, there is the shape of a figure: pale, outlined against the shadows. ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は幼い頃の回想シーンです。 There’s an annual in one of the boxes with whole stories in it – fourteen episodes, one after the other, so you don’t have to wait a week or find the next issue. の個所は、どういうことを言っているのでしょうか？ annualは年刊の、という意味ですか？？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

‘Can’t you read at all?’ he asks. He sounds shocked, but I know he won’t laugh at me or be unkind; he is just amazed that I can live without this essential ability. In a flash of understanding, I look around me at the room and see why he might think this. ‘My dad's teaching me,' I say. ‘Oh,' he says. For a moment he seems at a loss. Then he says, ‘I suppose what you do – you know, the going places in your head – that's like reading stories, isn't it?' (前回の終わりの部分です） I know what he means. This is the second time he’s called it something like that: going places in your head. Again, I can feel heavy structures grating and moving laboriously in me, as I try to fit the words into place. Very, very tentatively, I begin to see that the difference between going somewhere and going somewhere in your head might be what Jamie has been struggling with. In your head is the key. And I know in that moment that Jamie has already understood me better than my parents and everyone else ever have. I meet his eyes with a surge of gratitude pushing up inside me. I want to say something, but I can’t imagine what. （going places in your head.の部分は斜体になっています） ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は幼い頃の回想シーンです。 Again, I can feel heavy structures grating and moving laboriously in me, as I try to fit the words into place.の、 grating and moving は現在分詞で、軋んで動きながら、ですか？全体的に意味が良く取れません。 Very, very tentatively, I begin to see that the difference between going somewhere and going somewhere in your head might be what Jamie has been struggling with.の、what Jamie has been struggling withの部分の訳は、Jamieが取り組んで来たこと、ですか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。1

‘He’s a man who lives all alone. They’re supposed to be monks, though I don’t know if this one was. Maybe he was just a tramp, or a gypsy; but because he lived in the chapel people began to think of him as if he was a holy man. He lived there for – oh, many years.’ (前回の終わりの部分です） ‘What was he like?’ ‘I don’t know. I never saw him. My parents used to tell us to keep out of his way.’ ‘What happened to him?’ ‘One day he packed up his things – he could carry everything he owned on his back – and he went off into the hills over there.’ She points. ‘And he was never seen again.’ ‘Where did he go?’ I ask, impressed. ‘Nobody knows.’ ‘Maybe he went off to find a different chapel,’ I say. ‘Maybe. Or a cave. Hermits are supposed to live in caves, too.’ ‘In caves?’ ‘That’s right.’ ‘That would be fun,’ I say. ‘You know, I used to think the same thing when I was little. But now I’m not so sure. It might be a bit cold, don’t you think? And damp.’ ‘And smelly.’ ‘Probably.’ ‘Lena?’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Do you think Signor Ferucci’s a hermit?’ Lena shakes her head. ‘No. Just someone who keeps themself to themself.’ ‘Oh. All right.’ ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は回想シーンだと思われます。最後の方にある‘No. Just someone who keeps themself to themself.’ がわかりません。 themselfはthemselvesと同じですか？someoneとあるのでhimself to himselfでもいいような感じがするのですが、あえてthemselfをつかっているのは意味があるのでしょうか？ここはどのように訳せばよいのでしょうか？教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。

I can feel my mind floating through the questions, drifting. There is almost a physical sensation. I remember this. I remember it from very, very long ago, and I fight it, pushing it back from me.（前回の終わりの部分です） Jamie says, ‘Oh, Alex is no good with things like that. If you leave him alone he goes dreamy. He’s probably been sitting doing that half the time.’ He grins, and his eyes sparkle for a moment in the afternoon sun. ‘He’s mad,’ he adds. There is a broken pane of glass in the French windows next to me, cracked where a stone has struck it. I stare at it: the central star-like contact point, the silver-edged cracks radiating from it like ribbons of metal. I force Jamie’s voice from my head and concentrate instead on this broken pane, staring at it with a kind of foolish fixation, as though it will keep from me these ghost voices. The little fused nebula of dense, almost white craquelure around the hole – a starburst, a sudden splash in flat-calm water, like gossamer— Anna’s hands reaching above me, her neatness, her precision, and a deep blue that is almost black – set with stars— ****************************************** 「The Dandelion clock」からの英文です。主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。JamieとAnnaはAlexの幼な友達です。（If you leave him alone he goes dreamy. He’s probably been sitting doing that half the time.の中のheは誰を指しているのかはよくわかりません） ************************************* There is a broken pane of glass in the French windows next to me,の意味を取ると、「私の隣にフランス窓があって、壊れた一枚のガラスがあります」みたいな感じですか？next to me=私の隣に？ I force Jamie’s voice from my head and concentrate instead on this broken pane, staring at it with a kind of foolish fixation, as though it will keep from me these ghost voices.のinsteadのところがわからないのですが、Jamieの声を私の頭から追いやるよりも、この壊れた窓ガラスに集中する、ですか？ Anna’s hands reaching above me, her neatness, her precision, and a deep blue that is almost black – set with stars— のher precisionは「彼女の精密さ」ですか？意味的にどういうことを言っているのかちょっとピンとこないのですが。教えてください。お願いします。

わからない個所を教えてください。2

On one of the bookshelves is a small black case, lined with worn red velvet, in which Jamie keeps his clarinet. He’s played it to me several times. Once school starts, his parents are going to find him a new teacher here, and he’ll learn new pieces, and play those to me as well. （前回の終わりの部分です） ‘Here. This is the Silver Surfer. You’ll like him. And here’s Spiderman. You know him, of course.’　 I nod, unable to confess that I don’t – that I have never before seen the red and blue masked figure that leaps towards me from the page Jamie is holding open. He tells me how Spiderman was normal until he was bitten by a radioactive spider; he points things out, tells me who each of the characters is, passes me other comics to compare. I sit, entranced, while the bright colours and vivid panels of the cartoons accumulate around me, until I am like an island in a pool of brilliantly hued pages. ‘You can borrow them, if you like,’ he says. ‘Take them home to read.’ ‘Thanks!’ I say, but then I realize something. ‘What is it?’ he asks. ‘I – nothing.’ ‘Tell me.’ ‘I can’t read the words,’ I say. ‘I can help you with the long ones,’ he says. ‘No – I mean, I—’　 ‘Can’t you read at all?’ he asks. He sounds shocked, but I know he won’t laugh at me or be unkind; he is just amazed that I can live without this essential ability. In a flash of understanding, I look around me at the room and see why he might think this. ‘My dad's teaching me,' I say. ‘Oh,' he says. For a moment he seems at a loss. Then he says, ‘I suppose what you do – you know, the going places in your head – that's like reading stories, isn't it?' ****************************************** 主人公のAlexはartistで、展示会に備えるために、幼い頃過ごしたイタリアに戻ってきています。この英文は幼い頃の回想シーンです。 I nod, unable to confess that I don’t – that I have never before seen the red and blue masked figure that leaps towards me from the page Jamie is holding open.の中の、leaps towards me from the pageというのはどういう意味ですか？ページから私の方へ飛んで行く？？ I sit, entranced, while the bright colours and vivid panels of the cartoons accumulate around me, until I am like an island in a pool of brilliantly hued pages. のuntil I am like an island~は「僕が鮮やかな色のページの中のプールの中にある島のようになるまで」ですか？？意味がよくわかりません。 In a flash of understanding, I look around me at the room and see why he might think this. の最後のthisは何を指しているのでしょうか？seeは”想像する”という意味ですか？教えてください。お願いします。