今日の英和対訳天声人語（おじさん的英語習得法、若い君ならもっと簡単かも。）

Bittersweet life seasoned top chef's cuisine

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Bittersweet life seasoned top chef's cuisine

08/06/2005

In hot weather, I like my food saltier than usual, and preferably tart, too. This is merely a matter of personal taste, of course, but cooking itself is also very much about adjusting the seasonings. You not only add and subtract, but also divide and multiply--just like in arithmetic.

2005年08月05日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　暑い時分には、塩味はやや濃いめで、酸味も強めが望ましい。これは勝手な好みでしかないが、料理に味の加減はつきものだ。足す引くだけではなく、割ったり掛けたりもする四則演算の舞台である。

A recent article in The Asahi Shimbun said that cooking "strengthens" the brain. By cooking habitually, the story said, you improve the circulation of blood in the forehead, which helps enhance your power of judgment and planning. To create the "perfect dish" by adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying the ingredients is similar to tackling a tough challenge, it seems.

　料理をすると「脳」が鍛えられる、という記事が本紙に載っていた。料理を習慣づけると、前頭部の血流が良くなり、判断したり計画を立てたりする脳の機能が上向くそうだ。材料を、加減乗除で思い通りの姿と味に仕上げる。難しい課題に挑むことに通じる気はする。

Nobuo Murakami died Tuesday at age 84 after having earned fame as the top chef at Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. He once wrote in his book "Murakami Nobuo no Furansu Ryori" (Nobuo Murakami's French cuisine) from Chuokoron-sha, "Cooking is less a matter of technique than using your head."

Given the life he led, the meaning of his remark is not as simple as it seems.

　帝国ホテルの総料理長として活躍し、８４歳で亡くなった村上信夫さんは「料理は腕で作るのではなく、頭で作るもの」と書いている（『村上信夫のフランス料理』中央公論社）。波乱に富んだ人生を思えば、「頭で」の意味合いは、そう単純ではなさそうだ。

Murakami was born to a family that ran a no-frills Western-style restaurant in the working-class district of Kanda in Tokyo. His parents died when he was young. He went to elementary school on a regular basis only as far as the second term of the sixth grade, after which he began working at a restaurant and attended school when he could. Although the school let him graduate, he was the only pupil in his class who did not receive a certificate because of his low attendance record.

　東京・神田の大衆西洋料理屋に生まれたが、両親を早くに亡くした。小学校に通えたのは６年生の２学期までで、３学期からは洋食屋で働き、仕事の合間に登校した。卒業はしたが出席日数が足りず、ひとりだけ卒業証書をもらえなかった。

At 67, Murakami was featured on an NHK program, teaching youngsters at his alma mater how to make curry. When the school principal handed him a graduation certificate as a token of appreciation, Murakami filled in the graduation date: March 24, 1934.

He recalled in an article in the weekly Shukan Asahi magazine, "For more than half a century, I never forgot the date of my elementary school graduation--and how I didn't get a certificate."

　６７歳の時、ＮＨＫの番組で、母校の小学校の子供たちにカレーづくりのコツを教えた。お礼にと校長先生がくれた卒業証書に、「昭和九年三月二十四日」と書き込んだ。「卒業証書をもらえない卒業式の日付を私は半世紀あまりも忘れたことがなかった」（『週刊朝日』）。

Murakami's face, round like a frying pan, often crinkled with a laughter that endeared him to many. The cuisine he created was as rich as his physique, and seasoned to perfection with just the right amount of salt--just like his life, which was not always sweet.

　フライパンのような丸顔と笑顔が魅力的だった。その風貌（ふうぼう）のようにふくよかな味の世界には、ちょっとしょっぱい人生の味加減が利いていたようだ。

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 5(IHT/Asahi: August 6,2005)

Beef safety must take priority over importsBeef safety must take priority over imports

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；また、VOAでヴォイスレコーダーにDLしたMP3音声とテキストも楽しんでます。
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Beef safety must take priority over imports

06/14/2005

Shelf space for domestic beef is shrinking daily at meat stores around the country. Only limited selections of beef are available, and the cuts are expensive. The empty space is being filled with pork. Many people are making do with pork for their shabushabu and curry.

2005年06月12日（日曜日）付
【天声人語】

　精肉店で国産牛の売り場が日に日に狭くなっている。高くて品数も乏しい。代わりに豚肉が領土を広げる。しゃぶしゃぶでもカレーでも最近は豚肉を使う人が多い。

U.S. beef imports were suspended 18 months ago after a cow there tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Domestic beef prices meantime have continued to climb, hitting an all-time-high early this month, according to the agriculture ministry. The retail price of 100 grams of chilled sirloin is now about 704 yen, probably the highest ever.

　牛海綿状脳症（ＢＳＥ）の発生で、米産牛の輸入が止まって１年半になる。国産牛の値段は上がり続け、農水省の週ごとの調査で今月初め、最高値になった。冷蔵ロース１００グラムの小売値が全国平均で７０４円だった。食用牛の歴史に残る高値かもしれない。

For about a millennium from the Hakuho Period (645-710) to the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867), beef did not figure in Japan's culinary history.

After Emperor Tenmu, who reigned in the seventh century, issued an imperial edict that banned eating "cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys and fowl," meat-eating gradually became taboo.

　日本の牛肉史をさかのぼれば、白鳳から幕末まで千年を超す空白期がある。「牛馬犬猿鶏を食うなかれ」。天武天皇が勅命を出して以降、肉食は次第に禁忌とされていく。

The meatless diet dismayed Westerners visiting Japan. In "Nikushoku no Shiso" (Carnivore's philosophy), a Chuko Shinsho pocketbook, author Toyoyuki Sabata mentions Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier's complaint: "I can never fully satisfy my hunger because nobody in Japan eats livestock." Townsend Harris, the first U.S. consul general to Japan, made many diary entries lamenting the absence of beef from his table.

　日本を訪れた外国人は、肉のない食事に困り果てた。鯖田豊之氏の『肉食の思想』（中公新書）によると、宣教師ザビエルは「日本では家畜を食べないから口腹が満足しない」と嘆いた。幕末の米総領事ハリスの日記にも、牛肉を食べられない切なさが随所に出てくる。

With the lifting of the ban on meat-eating, the Meiji government started promoting meat consumption, but the masses were hardly eager to go along.

Many clapped their hands in prayer and recited Buddhist sutras before they took their first morsel of beef. But the popularization of gyunabe-similar to present-day sukiyaki-helped to establish beef in the Japanese diet.

　肉食の禁制が解かれたのは明治に入ってからだ。維新政府が盛んに勧めたが、庶民はなかなか踏み切れない。かしわ手を打ち、経文を唱えて牛肉にハシをつけた人々もいた。牛鍋の流行をへて、牛肉は食文化に地歩を築いていく。

In America, a second cow suspected of having BSE has been found. This is in the wake of repeated assurances of the safety of U.S. beef from President George W. Bush and his secretary of state, both of whom have pressed Japan to resume beef imports.

America's pushiness makes feel queasy. It's disappointing when gyudon beef-bowl chains don't serve gyudon and you can't order gyutan beef tongue slices at eateries specializing in them. But safety must come first, even if Japan has to be criticized for being as slow-moving and obstinate as a cow.

　米国でＢＳＥの疑いのある２頭目の牛が見つかった。大統領や国務長官が口をそろえて「米産牛はもう安全」などと輸入再開を迫ったはずなのに。米国の強引さにはへきえきする。牛丼屋に牛丼がなく牛タン店に牛タンがないのは寂しいが、やはり安全本位で行きたい。牛の歩みと言われようと。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 12(IHT/Asahi: June 14,2005)

Even just learning to eat can take years

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

Even just learning to eat can take years

05/03/2005

One child shook his head, rejecting the spoon that was brought to his mouth. Another stuck out his tongue. Yet another child spat out the food.

2005年05月02日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　スプーンを口に近づけられると、いやいやをする。舌が飛び出してくる。いったん口に入れた食べものをプーと吐き出す子もいる。

This was another typical day at a ward for children with severe disabilities at the Chiba-East Hospital of the National Hospital Organization. All the youngsters there need assistance when they eat or drink. I had an opportunity to watch a mealtime-training session.

　国立病院機構・千葉東病院の重症心身障害児の病棟である。ここの子どもたちは、一人では食べることも飲むこともできない。その訓練を見せてもらう機会があった。

A nurse spoke gently to a child to help him relax. Holding his chin, she slowly made him close his mouth to encourage chewing.

"Eating is not an ability humans are born with," explained Yoshiaki Otsuka, a dentist supervising the training. "It's an ability one acquires by learning, step by step. Disabled kids take a long time to learn."

　看護師さんらがやさしく声をかけて緊張をほぐす。子どものあごに手を当てて、口をゆっくり閉じる。そうすれば、もぐもぐできるようになる。指導する歯科医師の大塚義顕さんは「食べることは生まれついての能力ではなく、段階を踏んで学んでいくものです。その学習に障害児は時間がかかる」という。

About 30 years ago, dentists who were trying to maintain the oral hygiene of such children realized how important it was to get them to eat, rather than be fed through a tube.

Chiba-East Hospital became a pioneer in this field, and was awarded the President's Prize from the National Personnel Authority late last year.

　もとはといえば、約３０年前に当時の歯科医師らが子どもたちの口の中を清潔にしようと考えたのがきっかけだ。管からではなく、口から食べることの大切さに気づき、千葉東病院は障害児の訓練の先駆けとなった。昨年末には人事院総裁賞を受けた。

"Every parent wants his or her children to have tasty food," said Masako Kitaura, who heads a national group to protect severely disabled children.

Her second son loves eel.

When he gets minced eel, he grins happily and gestures for more because he cannot speak. On the other hand, Kitaura noted, her son dislikes anything sour and raises his functioning left hand to push the food away.

　「おいしいものを子どもに味わわせたい。それは親のだれしもの願いです」。そう語るのは全国重症心身障害児（者）を守る会の北浦雅子会長だ。施設で暮らす次男の尚さんはウナギが大好き。細かくつぶすと、しゃべることはできないが、もっとほしいと笑顔で催促する。逆に酸っぱいものだと、動かせる左手で払いのける。

When I phoned Chiba-East Hospital last week, I asked what was for dinner that evening, and was told: "Chicken and green peppers in miso sauce, and eggplants stewed with bacon."

I could picture the kids beaming happily at their favorite dishes.

Some of the patients, however, have been around for more than 30 years.

　きょうの夕食の献立は何ですか、と先週、千葉東病院に電話した。鶏肉とピーマンのみそいため、ナスとベーコンの煮物……。ごちそうを前にした笑顔が思い浮かんだ。そこには、入院して３０年を超える人もいる。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 2(IHT/Asahi: May 3,2005)

You are what you eat; for Koizumi it's Italian

　僕は英辞郎を使って英語を読みまくり、インターネットラジオのNHKのラジオジャパン英語ニュースで時事英語を聞きまくってます。（＾＾；
参考「こんな感じで英辞郎を使ってます」

You are what you eat; for Koizumi it's Italian

03/28/2005

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi often displays his keen interest in teaching children the importance of good dietary habits. For two years in a row, he has taken up the issue of dietary education in his policy speeches delivered before the Diet.

What kind of dietary life is he leading himself? Is the prime minister eating properly?

2005年03月22日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　折々に小泉首相が「食生活の大切さを子供たちに教えたい」と訴えている。施政方針演説でも２年続けて、「食育」の問題を取り上げた。そう言う首相は、どんなものを食べているのだろうか。

A short column in the morning edition of The Asahi Shimbun offers a kind of diary on what Koizumi does every day. When one looks for entries on his outings for dinner, a clear pattern emerges. Evidently, Italian food is his primary choice. Sometimes, he returns to the same Italian restaurant about once every three days.

With Chinese food his next-favorite choice, he seems to keep a basic cycle of Italian, Chinese and Japanese food by turns for dinner.

　朝刊の「動静」欄から首相の晩餐（ばんさん）先を拾うと、際だった傾向が浮かび上がる。とにかくイタリア料理が多い。同じ店に中２日の間隔で通うこともある。これに中華が続く。伊・中・和の輪番が基本のようだ。韓国や中東、ロシアの料理は皆無に近い。地域の偏りが目についた。

As far as the entries I checked were concerned, his dinner outings for Korean, Middle East or Russian food were close to zero. In other words, his pattern was biased in favor of regional favorites.

According to Asahi reporters whose beat is the prime minister's official residence, Koizumi's breakfast and lunch consist of purely Japanese food. For breakfast, he usually dines on rice, miso soup, grated daikon radish and chirimen jako (boiled and dried baby sardines). For lunch, he almost always eats soba (buckwheat noodles).

Other eyewitnesses say the prime minister seems to be particular about what he eats. According to these people, he very much enjoys gyoza (fried meat-vegetable dumplings in flour wrappings), loathes raw vegetables, totally ignores condiments such as daikon pickles and kimchi on the table, and leaves uneaten all the fried pork cutlets when a dish of katsudon (pork cutlets over rice) is placed before him.

　首相官邸の担当記者によると、朝と昼は純和風という。朝食はご飯にみそ汁、大根おろし、ちりめんじゃこというのが定番で、お昼はだいたいソバらしい。「ギョーザに目がない」「生野菜は大の苦手」「たくあんやキムチには目もくれない」「カツ丼のカツは全部残す」。そんな目撃証言もある。かなり好き嫌いがあるようだ。

Fujiwara-no Michinaga lived in splendor during the Heian Period, which lasted from the eighth to the 12th centuries, but diligently watched what he ate as a sort of dietary therapy for his longtime diabetes. Either overeating or an unbalanced diet made him feel ill.

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), the health-minded founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, liked to eat barley and advised his retainers to live on a plain diet.

　平安の昔、栄華を誇った藤原道長は、過食か偏食か、長く糖尿病に苦しみ、食事療法に励んだ。ヘルシー志向の家康は麦飯を好み、臣下にも粗食をすすめたそうだ。

Among postwar leaders, former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, a self-acknowledged gourmet, hired his favorite chefs to work at his official residence and enjoyed sumptuous meals.

In contrast, former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, known for his impatience, had the reputation of going out for casual meals, such as katsudon and ramen noodles.

Indeed, as the old saying goes, a man is what he eats.

　戦後で言えば、食通を誇った吉田茂首相は、お気に入りの料理人を官邸に雇い入れ、美食を楽しんだ。せっかちな田中角栄氏は、カツ丼やラーメンといった手軽な品を好んだという。まさに食は人を表す。

Early last month, a cold forced Koizumi to take a rest from his official duties, the first time in his four years in office that he had given in to an ailment. Given that his nose is still running and his sneezes are unstoppable, it seems he is showing symptoms of cedar pollen allergies, or hay fever.

To quote another familiar saying, the food one eats provides the medicine one needs--in other words, eat well to stay well. If only to spread his message of proper dietary education, Koizumi should take a better look at his own diet.

　先月初め、首相は風邪で公務を休んだ。在任４年で病欠は初めてだ。その後も鼻水やくしゃみが止まらない。どうやら花粉症らしい。医食同源ともいう。「食育」普及のためにも、好き嫌いを見直して、どうかご自愛を。

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 22(IHT/Asahi: March 28,2005)