『The Birds and the Foxes』
James Thurberの『The Birds and the Foxes』という短編からの質問です。
Once upon a time there was a bird sanctuary in which hundreds of Baltimore orioles lived together happily. The refuge consisted of a forest entirely surrounded by a highwire fence. When it was put up, a pack of foxes who lived nearby protested that it was an arbitrary and unnatural boundary. However, they did nothing about it at the time because they were interested in civilizing the geese and ducks on the neighboring farms. When all the geese and ducks had been civilized, and there was nothing left to eat, the foxes once more turned their attention to the bird sanctuary.
《質問1》
この英文の中で、civilizeという単語が出てくるのですが、どういう意味なのでしょうか?(下にピックアップしました)
*because they were interested in civilizing the geese and ducks on the neighboring farms.
*When all the geese and ducks had been civilized~
(続き)
Their leader announced that there had once been foxes in the sanctuary but that they had been driven out. He proclaimed that Baltimore orioles belonged in Baltimore. He said, furthermore, that the orioles in the sanctuary were a continuous menace to the peace of the world. The other animals cautioned the foxes not to disturb the birds in their sanctuary.
So the foxes attacked the sanctuary one night and tore down the fence that surrounded it. The orioles rushed out and were instantly killed and eaten by the foxes.
The next day the leader of the foxes, a fox from whom God was receiving daily guidance, got upon the rostrum and addressed the other foxes. His message was simple and sublime. "You see before you another Lincoln. We have liberated all those birds."
《質問2》
The other animals cautioned the foxes not to disturb the birds in their sanctuary.
他の動物たちは狐に鳥の聖域で妨害しないように警告しました。(と訳しました)
(their sanctuaryのtheirは鳥でしょうか?)
その次にSo the foxes attacked the sanctuary one night and tore down the fence that surrounded it. という英文が繋がってくるのがわかりません。なぜ狐は鳥の聖域を攻撃したのか?
最後にMoral: Government of the orioles, by the foxes, and for the foxes, must perish from the earth.という一文があるのですが、この意味が今一つわかりません。
単純な話だと思うのですが、どうもよくわかりません。
よろしくお願いいたします。
お礼
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