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。）

July 7 is a date to remember in fighting terror

　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」

July 7 is a date to remember in fighting terror

07/09/2005

With the Group of Eight summit starting in Scotland, and London having been chosen only the day before as the 2012 Olympics venue, the British capital was getting more global attention than usual Thursday morning. Then a series of bomb blasts ripped through the city.

This was an unforgivable act of terrorism aimed at singling out London at this particular time.

2005年07月08日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　サミットの開催と、オリンピック開催の決定と――。いつにも増して世界の目が集中していたイギリス・ロンドンで、同時多発テロが起きた。この時期の、この街に狙いを澄ましたような、許し難い凶行だ。

In the bidding for the 2012 Olympics, Paris was the favorite, but London came out the winner. The rejoicing in Trafalgar Square and Prime Minister Tony Blair's happy grin are still fresh in my memory. The terrorist bombs have shattered that British euphoria.

　２０１２年の五輪の開催地を巡って、ロンドンは、本命とされていたパリを破った。決まった後のトラファルガー広場での市民たちの喜びようや、ブレア首相の満面の笑みが印象的だった。そのイギリスの高揚感を、たたきつぶすような爆弾テロだ。

I should imagine security in London was tighter than usual because of the summit. Yet, the bombs exploded in several locations of the subway and aboard one of the double-decker buses for which London is famed. The bus was demolished.

The blasts must have spread panic among tourists from around the world.

　サミットのため、ロンドン市内の警備は、いつよりも厳しかったと思われる。しかし、多くの市民の足である地下鉄やバスで、同時に何カ所も爆発は起きた。名物の二階建てのバスも大破したと報じられた。世界からの観光客も逃げまどったに違いない。

The city's security setup is likely to be called into question.

The terrorists attacked the heavily trafficked mass-transit system, which is always something of an Achilles' heel in security enforcement. It is difficult to check such safety completely.

　警備の根本が、厳しく問われることになるだろう。テロリストは、誰もが行き交う公共交通機関を狙った。いわば警備の「泣きどころ」を突かれ、許した。そこが深刻だ。

It will soon be four years since 9/11, and I have to wonder again if the world has become any safer since then. The United States invaded Iraq, citing "a safer future for the world" as a reason, and Britain has been supporting this war. I wonder how the situation is being discussed by the G-8 leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

　９・１１の同時多発テロから、やがて４年になる。この間、世界は安全な方に向いてきているのだろうかという疑問が改めて浮かんだ。「将来の世界の安全」などを掲げて、アメリカはイラク戦争を強行し、イギリスは、それを支えてきた。小泉首相を含め、サミットの首脳たちは、この事態をどう語り合ったのだろうか。

Something like the London terror will not, and should not, bring any democratic society to its knees. Unfortunately, however, July 7 has become another date by which to remember another act of indiscriminate terrorism.

　民主主義社会は、このような暴力で揺らいではならないし、揺らぐことはないだろう。しかし、残念ながら、市民に対する無差別多発テロを記憶する日付として、７・７が加わった。

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 8(IHT/Asahi: July 9,2005)

Credit cards rack up a debt of vulnerabilities

　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」

Credit cards rack up a debt of vulnerabilities

06/23/2005

I keep a close watch on my credit card bills by scrutinizing the monthly itemized statement sent by the credit card company. Once, I was stunned to find a charge of 1 million Italian lira.

According to the statement, I had incurred the charge when I stayed overnight at a hotel in Rome the previous month.

This happened long before the lira had been replaced by the euro. The value of the Italian currency was slightly less than 10 percent of the yen. Even so, the charge translated into 80,000 or 90,000 yen.

At once, I knew that something was amiss. In the first place, I had not stayed at the hotel in Rome.

2005年06月22日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　郵送されてきた利用明細書に「１００万リラ」とあった。前の月に、ローマのホテルで１泊した分として印字されている。通貨がユーロになるかなり前で、リラは円の１割弱だったが、それでも８～９万円にはなる。そんなホテルには泊まっていないから、すぐおかしいと分かった。

I called my credit card company, and was soon informed that the charge was a mistake.

But whether the extraordinary hotel charge resulted from an error in data processing or a mistake by someone at the hotel in Rome remained a mystery.

　クレジットカードの会社に連絡した。間もなく「間違いでした」という電話があり、当然ながら銀行口座からの引き落としはなかった。カードのデータ処理の「誤り」なのか、ホテルかどこかの「過ち」なのかは分からなかった。

Credit cards are convenient to have, but they are vulnerable to identity theft. Identity fraud is easiest in Internet transactions because goods change hands on the basis of exchanged information on membership numbers and the expiration dates of cards, not the actual presentation of cards themselves.

　カードは便利だが、誰かがなりすまして使うこともできる。対面しないインターネット上の売買は、カードそのものではなく、会員番号や有効期限のやりとりでも成りたつ。

Making headlines in the United States now is a massive credit card data leak. The leak came through illegal access to computers. This leak symbolizes the vulnerability of a wired society. The resulting damage has spread to Japan, with many credit card users affected.

A U.S. information-processing company reportedly kept records of card data for the purpose of research when it should not have done so. An unconfirmed report claims that the illegal access to the stored data took place last year. If so, it was an exasperatingly long time before the leaks came to light.

　不正アクセスによるカード情報の大規模な流出がアメリカで起きた。ネット社会のもろさを象徴するようなできごとで、被害は国境を超えて日本にも及んでいる。米の情報処理会社が、社内に蓄積すべきでなかったカード情報を「調査目的」で記録に残したという。不正アクセスは、昨年だったとの報もある。流出から発覚するまでが、なんともまだるっこしい。

In "Kappa" (Water imp), the novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) writes, "The wisest approach to life is to strictly abide by the conventions of your age, even though you thoroughly despise them."

　芥川龍之介が「河童」に書いている。「最も賢い生活は一時代の習慣を軽蔑（けいべつ）しながら、しかもそのまた習慣を少しも破らないように暮らすことである」

Now that the use of cards has become the norm of our age, it is difficult to despise them thoroughly or stop using them. A fairly wise approach to life now (to follow the novelist's advice) would be to scrutinize itemized bills and terminate contracts on unnecessary cards.

　人間の社会の方では、カードの利用という一時代の習慣を、軽蔑しきるのも、抜け出すのも難しい。明細書を点検したり、不用なカードを減らしたりするのが、そこそこに賢い生活のようだ。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 22(IHT/Asahi: June 23,2005)

School bombing puts our society on trial

　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」

School bombing puts our society on trial

06/15/2005

Vending machines for soft drinks are everywhere. While it seems machines that sell drinks in plastic bottles have increased, there are still plenty that offer drinks in metal cans, paper cartons and glass bottles.

2005年06月14日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　街の至る所に、飲み物の自動販売機が立っている。品物はペットボトル入りが増えたようだが、缶や紙パック入りのほかに、ガラス瓶のものもある。

A homemade bomb the size of an adult's palm exploded last week in a classroom at Hikari Senior High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It apparently was constructed by packing a glass bottle for soft drink with gunpowder from fireworks and nails.

All these materials are easily available. although we still don't know where the third-year student, who was arrested for the crime, obtained them.

　山口県の光高校の教室で炸裂（さくれつ）した爆発物は、大人の手のひら大で、清涼飲料のガラス瓶に、花火の火薬やクギなどを詰めたものだったという。逮捕された高校３年の男子生徒が、どこで入手したのかは分からないが、身近な品物が使われたようだ。

So are bomb-building instructions. A good number of Internet home pages on Web sitescarry them.

The third-year student who was arrested for the crime told the police that he followed Web site instructions as he took apart fireworks he had bought at a store and packed the gunpowder into a glass bottle.

　爆発物の作り方は、インターネット上のホームページ（ＨＰ）や掲示板に相当流布している。男子生徒も、ＨＰを参考にしながら、市販の花火をほぐして瓶に詰めたことを認めているという。

Consider someone who starts thinking about doing something wicked, possibly going on next to ponder vaguely about whether it is feasible and how to carry out the act.

In most cases, the person's deliberation stops at this stage, preventing him or her from executing the idea. It is because things work out this way that we can manage to live in peace.

　人が、何か「良くないこと」を考えたとする。次に、可能かどうかや方法を夢想するかもしれない。しかし、ほとんどの場合は、それまでで終わり、実行は踏みとどまるだろう。それによって、この世の中は保たれている。

But the potential criminal's mind may work in the opposite way. Suppose that the individual comes across bomb-building instructions when he or she is drawn to the use of explosive devices. It is quite conceivable that the person will try his or her hand at making bombs.

The Internet is a wondrous piece of technology that links the entire world. But it also has another side in that it sometimes leads-indeed, incites-people to commit crimes.

　しかし、中には実行する方へと傾く場合もある。爆弾のようなものに心ひかれている時に作り方を知れば、まねをすることは十分考えられる。世界に張り巡らされたインターネットは、人を犯罪に導き、そそのかすような陰湿な面を備えている。

In "Remon" (Lemon) by Motojiro Kajii (1901-1932), there is a scene in which the hero steps out of a bookstore after planting a lemon, a purported time bomb, on a shelf. This is a literary device that serves to give the reader a vivid impression as the bomb explodes in his or her imagination.

Why is it that an actual explosion, not a virtual one, occurred in Yamaguchi? Wasn't there an opportunity for someone to keep the student in question from making a bomb and tossing it into a classroom at his school?

These and other questions the case raises concern the very nature of our society as a whole. With this perspective in mind, I intend to write careful follow-up reports on the case.

　梶井基次郎の「檸檬（れもん）」には、時限爆弾に見立てた檸檬を、書店の棚の本の上に置いて立ち去る場面があった。檸檬は、読み手の想像の中で炸裂し、鮮烈な印象を残す。今回、なぜ炸裂が現実の中で起きてしまったのか。踏みとどまらせる機会はなかったのだろうか。社会全体に突きつけられた問題として、丁寧に跡付けてゆきたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 14(IHT/Asahi: June 15,2005)

A recollection of two canaries and a tragedy

　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」

A recollection of two canaries and a tragedy

05/17/2005

When I think back 10 years ago to May 16, I flash back to an afterimage of two yellow canaries. The image is so fleeting, I don't even know if I can call it a scrap of memory.

2005年05月16日（月曜日）付
【天声人語】

　ちょうど１０年前の「今日」を思い出す。記憶の断片とも言えないような、一瞬の残像が脳裏に焼きついている。それは黄色いカナリアである。

Investigators in camouflage fatigues and gas masks walked in procession, and the birds in the cages were at the front of the line. The fragility and defenselessness of those little birds contrasted sharply with the men's heavily protective outfits.

　迷彩服に防毒マスクをつけた捜査員が、列をなす。その先頭にカナリアはいた。重装備の人間とは対照的に、鳥かごの中で無防備な姿をさらしながら。

About two months before, deadly sarin nerve gas had been sprayed in Tokyo's subway system. The investigators were taking no chances.

That was why they took the canaries along, just like coal miners of yore used such birds as detectors of toxic gases.

It was a bizarre and ominous sight, quite alien to our day-to-day lives.

　その２カ月ほど前、東京都心の地下鉄にサリンがまかれた。強制捜査でも万全の備えが欠かせない。ならば、炭鉱の有毒ガスを感知するカナリアが役に立つはず。そんな理由で連れて行かれた。ふだんの暮らしでは目にしない。不気味な光景だった。

Wondering what became of the two canaries, I did some research and learned they were already dead and had been given a decent burial.

Their grave is under a four-decade-old somei yoshino cherry tree in the front garden of the Metropolitan Police Department's No. 3 Kidotai (riot police unit) headquarters in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.

Near the grave is a monument fashioned from a rock brought back from the investigation site. Engraved on it are the names of 360 police investigators who took part in that expedition.

It also includes the words: ``Two canaries.''

　あのカナリアは、どうしただろう。探してみると、すでに寿命が尽き、手厚く葬られていた。場所は東京都目黒区の警視庁第三機動隊の前庭。樹齢４０年を超すソメイヨシノの木陰だ。近くには、現場から持ち帰った岩でつくった記念碑もある。そこに、出動した証しとして、３６０人の隊員の名とともに「カナリア２羽」と刻まれている。

In the summer of that year, the canaries had a chick. The investigators cherished it dearly and named it Peace, praying for a peaceful society in which the baby canary would never have to be used as a toxic-gas detector.

　あの年の夏、２羽のカナリアには、１羽のひなが生まれた。その子が駆り出される事件などない平和な社会になってほしい。そんな願いを込めて「ピース」と名づけられ、隊員たちにかわいがられたという。

On the morning of May 16, 1995, Chizuo Matsumoto, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, was arrested on suspicion of murder. The cult has since renamed itself. The village of Kamikuishiki in Yamanashi Prefecture, where Aum had its sprawling headquarters, will cease to exist next spring when it will be split and merge with the city of Kofu and the town Fuji Kawaguchiko.

But although time has passed and the name of the village will soon disappear, Aum's crimes will not fade from people's memories.

In my case, it comes back in the form of an afterimage of the two canaries.

　１９９５年５月１６日朝、オウム真理教代表の麻原彰晃容疑者が殺人容疑で逮捕された。時は過ぎ、流れた。教団は名称を変えた。現場の山梨県上九一色村は来春、甲府市と富士河口湖町に分かれて合併し、村の名前も消えていく。だが、事件は人それぞれの心に残り続ける。たとえば、カナリアの記憶として。

-The Asahi Shimbun, May 16(IHT/Asahi: May 17,2005)

Time to brake merciless quest for convenience

　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」

Time to brake merciless quest for convenience

05/11/2005

On a recent trip to the scene of last month's train disaster, I took a look at a West Japan Railway Co. timetable at Amagasaki Station in Hyogo Prefecture.

The schedule listed 13 train runs for the hour starting at 8 a.m., going to Osaka destinations like Kita-Shinchi. The train that jumped the rails was running on the same line. I counted 40 runs on the line bound for Osaka Station and Kyoto Station.

It struck me that since the comparative figure for Tokyo's circular Yamanote Line was well below 30, JR West is running a pretty tight operation.

2005年05月10日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　先日、ＪＲの尼崎駅に降りた時、時刻表を見た。脱線した電車と同じく、この駅から大阪の北新地などへ向かう線の本数は、朝８時台で上りが１３本だった。そして、大阪駅や京都駅へ向かう線の方には、４０本あった。東京の山手線が二十数本だから、確かに、かなり密だと思った。

With its train schedules criticized as too tight, the company says it plans to reconsider them as part of its efforts to assure safe operations.

If this means reducing train runs on the main lines, it will be the first downsizing undertaken since JR West was set up as a spin off from the state-run Japanese National Railways, which was broken up into private companies in 1987.

It has taken an accident that killed 107 people to motivate the company to apply the brakes on its policy of ``more and faster trains.''

　ＪＲ西日本は、今後の安全策の一つとして、過密と指摘されているダイヤを見直すという。主要路線で便数を減らすとすれば、民営化以来初めてである。重大事故が起きて、ようやく、増発と加速に歯止めがかかりそうだ。

Perhaps our society's unceasing quest for greater convenience also needs to be braked.

The kanji for ben means ``whipping people into docility to make them serviceable,'' according to Shizuka Shirakawa's Jito etymological dictionary for Chinese characters. Hence the meanings of words we usually use, like benri (convenience) and bengi (facility). Benben means doing obediently as told.

　初の減便は、この会社にだけではなく、便利さを求め続けてきた社会にも、歯止めが必要なことを示しているのかも知れない。「便」とは「人を鞭（むち）うって柔順ならしめ、使役に便すること」と、白川静さんの『字統』にある。そこから、「便利」「便宜」などの意となる。「便々」とは、唯々としてことに従うことという。

Also whipping up criticism for JR West is the revelation that employees went ahead with planned recreational events, such as a bowling tournament and a staff party, after the accident.

Planned events are just that-planned to take place- and they do unless something happens that applies the brakes.

　脱線事故の後の、職員らのボウリング大会や宴会などが指弾されている。いったん計画されたものごとが、何かのブレーキがかからない限り実行されるのは、ＪＲ西日本だけに限らない。

If something extraordinary happens, senior officials should consider what to do and slam the brakes, if necessary. At JR West, the brakes were applied quite gently or did not exist.

Sad to say, benben is the epithet that applies to the way many employees of the railway company behaved, including the two drivers who were aboard the derailed train, but went on to work instead of participating in the rescue of injured passengers.

　しかし、予定外のことが起こったと知れば、責任者は対応を検討し、必要ならば急ブレーキをかけるはずだ。そのブレーキが極めて弱かったか、無かった。現場で救助活動をしなかった例を含め、「便々」とした人が多かったようで残念だ。

Following the train derailment, some people have placed rocks and bicycles on railroad tracks across the country, as if to vent their anger at the accident or play on the uncertainty felt over rail travel. This is an outrageous way to react to this disaster.

　脱線事故への怒りや不安に乗じるかのように、線路への置き石や、置き自転車が頻発している。こうした「便乗」はあさましい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 10(IHT/Asahi: May 11,2005)

Why high-rises pose a risk to life and limb

　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」

Why high-rises pose a risk to life and limb

04/23/2005

What was a typical scene in any neighborhood a half-century ago now seems lost to history. But poet Tatsuji Miyoshi's depiction of children's voices in his neighborhood in 1950s and 60s makes me wonder if such scenes could still be around somewhere.

In ``Tsuki no Toka'' (Ten days of the month), a Kodansha Bungei Bunko paperback, Miyoshi writes:

2005年04月22日（金曜日）付
【天声人語】

　半世紀ほど前の街の情景だから、失われて久しいのかもしれない。しかし、まだどこかに残っていそうな気もするのが、三好達治が書いた子供の声の話である。

``Every morning, I hear children's lively voices from the house opposite mine. I hear them shout after breakfast, `We're off. See you later.'''

Come noon, and Miyoshi heard their, ``We're home'' just as clearly. With only a narrow alley separating his home from his neighbor's, Miyoshi could pretty much tell what was going on next door, even though he did not have a particularly close relationship with his neighbors.

This is the sort of thing one does not experience living in magnificent residence. ``I would never want to live in a big, towering house,'' Miyoshi adds.

　「毎朝向いの家で元気な子供の声がきこえる。食事がすむと『いって参りまあす』というのが聞える」。昼になれば「ただいまあ」が、手にとるように聞こえる。露地一つを隔てて隣接しているからで、親しいつきあいはなくとも様子が分かる。宏壮な邸宅に居ては、この風味は味わえない。「私には大厦（たいか）高楼に住まいたい希望はない」（『月の十日』講談社文芸文庫）。

Today's high-rise housing complexes fit that bill. In Osaka, two rattan shelves for potted plants came hurtling down from the balcony of a 27th-floor apartment 77 meters above ground. They were tossed by the apartment's 78-year-old resident, who was arrested by Osaka prefectural police and charged with attempted murder.

　現代風の大厦高楼とも言える高層マンションの２７階から、植木鉢を載せる籐（とう）製の台二つが降ってきたという。大阪府警は、高さ７７メートルの自宅のベランダから投げ落としたとの殺人未遂の疑いで、大阪市内の７８歳の住人を逮捕、送検した。

The resident reportedly told police that she threw the shelves in anger because she had tripped on them while cleaning the balcony.

One of the shelves barely missed a woman who was passing below on a bicycle.

The shelf was cracked and bent out of shape. Nobody needs a close brush with death of this kind.

　「ベランダの掃除をしていたら台につまずき、腹が立ったので投げた」と供述したというが、一つは自転車に乗っていた女性の前髪をかすめた。落ちた台はひびが入って変形していた。こんな「命拾い」はたまらない。

When you look down from a towering high-rise, all you get is a distant view of street life. You can't see nearby scenes. You see trees, but you can't see their branches. You see people, but not their faces, nor can you hear their voices.

　塔のような高層の建物に上って感じるのは「近景の欠如」だ。地上のものは、遠景になってしまう。樹木は見えても枝は見えない。人は見えても顔は見えないし、声も届かない。

I can imagine many people actually relish this ``isolation'' from the world below and enjoy the open view they would not get from the ground level.

High-rise housing complexes have brought a new lifestyle to Japan today, but they can also instantaneously turn a perfectly harmless object into an instrument of destruction.

　こうした地上からの隔絶感をむしろ楽しみ、地面の近くでは得難い見晴らしを味わう人も多いのだろう。高さは、日本の暮らしに新しい形をもたらしたが、ありふれた物を、いつでも一瞬のうちに凶器に変える力をも備えている。

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 22(IHT/Asahi: April 23,2005)

Speed bumps could help curb traffic accidents

　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」

Speed bumps could help curb traffic accidents

04/14/2005

The nationwide spring campaign for traffic safety winds up on Friday. Because it is a biannual affair, there is nothing special to say about it except to note that it is conducted when fresh elementary school first-graders start going to school.

The sight of these children trooping across streets like chicks, prattling and walking along with less than certain steps, reminds me that I must be an especially cautious driver at this time of year.

2005年04月13日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　春の交通安全運動が１５日まで行われている。いつものこと、ではある。しかし、新１年生らしい子らが、ぴよぴよと聞こえてきそうな口ぶりと足取りで道を渡るのを見ると、特にこの時期は、車の運転は心を引き締めてと思う。

It is important to keep telling little children that they risk their own lives if they do not observe the traffic rules. It is also essential to keep reminding drivers that failure to follow traffic rules could ruin not just the lives of their victims but also their own. But it is not enough to keep calling for adherence to the traffic rules.

　交通ルールを守らなければ命が危ないと、幼い子に教え続けることは必要だ。運転する方にも、守らなければ、相手だけでなく自分の人生も危ういと思わせ続ける必要がある。しかし交通ルールを唱えるだけで万全とは言えない。

Traffic accidents can be reduced by building safer roads. Typical of the new approach are woonerf roads designed for the coexistence of humans and motor vehicles. The concept, known as seikatsu no niwa in Japanese, or ``the garden of life,'' is said to have originated in the Netherlands.

A woonerf road, for example, is built with speed bumps to slow down motor vehicles.

　事故を減らすには、事故が起こりにくい道をつくるという考え方もある。オランダが発祥という、人と車の共存をめざす道路「ボンエルフ」である。「生活の庭」と訳されるこの道では、たとえば車の速度を抑えるために、道の途中にハンプ（こぶ）と呼ばれる盛り上がりをつくる。

When I came across speed bumps for the first time, it was not in the Netherlands but in the suburbs of Cairo, Egypt. Suddenly, I felt a jolt when I hit a bump. The car I was riding rose and then dropped with a thud. After a while, I struck another bump. If I had hit the speed bump at a high speed, the impact would have been far greater.

I was told that speed bumps had been set up in the vicinity of schools and other public facilities.

　このハンプに出合ったのは、オランダではなく、エジプトのカイロ郊外だった。突然ガクンと車体が持ち上がり、ドンと落ちた。しばらく行くとまた持ち上がる。スピードを出させないため、学校の近くなどにこうしたこぶをつくっていると聞いた。もし高速で乗り上げていたら、衝撃は相当あっただろう。

Roads with speed bumps have been built in Japan, too. The number of accidents has dropped on these roads. On the other hand, a person tripped on a speed bump and fell near a school.

　日本にも、ハンプのある道ができている。事故が減った道がある一方で、学校の近くに作られたハンプにつまずいて転んだ人もいるという。

When it comes to reducing traffic accidents, there is no panacea. These days, cars hurtle along broad avenues and narrow alleys alike. I wish that someone would invent a system that would make it possible for an outsider to slow these cars down.

Reducing traffic accidents is an urgent matter that should be addressed all through the year, not just through seasonal campaigns for traffic safety.

　事故対策には、万能薬は無い。表通りだけでなく、狭い路地をも疾走するような車に有効な「車外ブレーキ」を考案できないものか。季節ごとの安全運動ではなく、通年で取り組むべき差し迫った課題だ。

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 13(IHT/Asahi: April 14,2005)

Faraway islands need tsunami info, support

　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」

Faraway islands need tsunami info, support

04/01/2005

In the immediate aftermath of Monday's giant earthquake off Sumatra, panic reportedly broke out in many communities. Fearing a tsunami, people scrambled pell-mell for higher ground, according to reports.

2005年03月31日（木曜日）付
【天声人語】

　スマトラ島沖の地震では、住民が各地でパニックに陥ったと報じられた。地震後、津波を恐れた人たちが焦って高台を目指し混乱したという。

A panicked crowd can lead to tragedies, like people being trampled to death. But what drives people into a panic cannot always be blamed simply on ``irrational behavior.''

　パニックは、時には群衆による圧死などの惨害をもたらす。しかし、人々のパニックへの傾きを、単純に「不合理な行動」とは言えない。

When the deployment of theater nuclear weapons was an issue in the Netherlands during the Cold War, the Dutch people reportedly fell into a panic over a radio program about a hypothetical scenario in which a nuclear bomb had been dropped on an air force base.

It was a case of their real fear of a possible nuclear attack being amplified out of proportion by a radio narration of an imaginary scene.

I think the panic this triggered was only natural, if not inevitable.

　冷戦の頃、戦域核兵器の配備がとりざたされていたオランダで、住民がパニックに陥ったという。きっかけは、空軍基地に原爆が投下された場合を想定したラジオ番組だった。「いつか核攻撃があるかもしれない」という現実の不安と、仮定の世界のラジオ番組とが重なってしまったのだが、人々が混乱するのはむしろ自然で、無理からぬものだったと思う。

In Sumatra, people's fear of a killer tsunami coming their way must have been quite intense. Depending on the nature of the jolt, their fear was fully founded. Scrambling to get as far away as possible from the coast made much sense. The question, though, was whether they were guided by accurate, up-to-date information and appropriate evacuation instructions.

　スマトラの場合も、大津波襲来への不安はかなり大きかっただろう。地震の起き方によっては、それも十分ありえたのだから、ひたすら海から逃げようとしたのは理にかなっている。問題は、正確な情報の速やかな伝達と、住民への的確な指示があったかどうかだ。

This time around, the Japan Meteorological Agency was swift in faxing tsunami information to the quake-affected nations. It had learned a hard lesson from the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster.

In some nations such as Indonesia, however, there were apparently problems with the way alerts were issued and what people were told to do.

　今回は、気象庁が素早く各国へ津波情報を発し、大津波の時の苦い経験が、情報の支援では生きた。しかしインドネシアなどでは、警報の発令と伝達や住民への指示に問題があったようだ。

Marco Polo, who landed on Sumatra about 700 years ago, noted an ``abnormal situation that would surprise you all.'' In ``The Travels of Marco Polo'' (a Japanese translation available in Toyo Bunko paperback from Heibonsha), he pointed out that: ``Because this land lies so far south, you can see neither the Polaris nor the Big Dipper in the sky.''

I want plenty of support, as well as information, to make it to those faraway southern islands on the equator.

　約７００年前にスマトラに上陸したマルコ・ポーロが『東方見聞録』（東洋文庫）に記す。「皆さんをびっくりさせるに違いない異常な事態がある……この土地がはるか南方に位しているため、北極星も北斗七星も共に見えない」。はるか赤道直下の島々へ、情報だけでなく支援も厚く届けたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 31(IHT/Asahi: April 1,2005)

Indonesia prepares to bury more `martyrs'

　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」

Indonesia prepares to bury more `martyrs'

03/31/2005

In the Islamic world, bodies are interred, not cremated, perhaps in line with the belief in resurrection in the next world.

Usually, bodies are cleaned and draped with unbleached cloth before they are put in coffins.

2005年03月30日（水曜日）付
【天声人語】

　イスラム圏では遺体は土葬される。来世での再生を信じる教えからか、火葬にはしない。遺体は浄（きよ）められ、生成りの布で覆われ、棺（ひつぎ）に納められる。

The procedure is different in the case of earthquake or tsunami victims. They are buried in the clothes they wore when they died, with nothing done to remove traces of injury or bloodstains.

While it may sound odd to outsiders, Islam is said to attach a special meaning to deaths in a natural disaster.

　地震や津波で亡くなった場合は作法が異なる。死の際の着衣のまま、傷や血の跡も消さないで葬られる。むごいようだが、イスラムの世界では、天災の犠牲者は特別な意味を持つという。

When people die in a natural disaster, not of illness or old age, they are treated as ``martyrs,'' regardless of whether they are infants or very old. They are held to be as noble as those who have lost their lives in jihad. Even without being cleaned, they become figures that are very much respected.

　病気や老衰でなく、天変地異で亡くなると、幼児でも老人でも殉教者として扱われる。たとえば聖戦ジハードで命を落とした殉教者と高貴さにおいて同列で、そのままでも十分に清らかだという。

I learned this much about Muslims when I visited Sumatra in Indonesia early in February to cover the aftermath of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster.

The stench of death still hung in the air in villages of Aceh province. Hundreds of bodies were being recovered every day. I saw piles of black plastic bags filled with corpses on a roadside.

　以上の知識は先月初め、インドネシアのスマトラ島で取材したときに教わった。訪れたアチェでは、村々にまだ死臭が漂い、毎日数百もの遺体が掘り出されていた。黒いポリ袋に入れられた骸（むくろ）が、道ばたに積まれていたのを覚えている。

On Monday night, a full three months later, Sumatra was hit by another giant earthquake.

``Last night, everyone had an illusion that a tsunami was coming,'' Yusdar Zakaria, 46, a local university professor, told me over the telephone. ``All members of my family moved to the room on the uppermost floor and spent the night there until dawn,'' he added.

According to Zakaria, the sounds of cars fleeing to higher ground and numerous motorcycle collisions made the town a noisy place until the early hours of Tuesday.

　津波の襲来から３カ月しかたっていないスマトラ島を再び大地震が襲った。「ゆうべはだれもが津波の幻に取りつかれた。家族みんなで最上階の部屋に移って夜を明かした」。地元の大学教授ユスダル・ザカリアさん（４６）は電話口で話した。市街地では、高台へ逃げる車やバイクの衝突事故が未明まで続いたという。

Many Indonesians had probably dropped their guard when thinking about another Big One striking. They no doubt thought they could rest easy since a disastrous temblor had hit in December.

It turned out that the next Big One struck before the bodies of the tsunami victims were all recovered.

Residents of the stricken areas must be overcome by a sense of powerlessness.

In areas where Muslims outnumber Christians, the coming days will see an increasing number of funeral processions for new ``martyrs.''

　あれほどの大地震の後だから、もう心配はない。そう楽観していた人が少なくなかったはずだ。津波による遺体の回収もまだ終わっていなかった。被災地の人々はいま、無力感に沈んでいることだろう。キリスト教徒もいるが、イスラム教徒の多い地域では、新たな「殉難者」たちを送る葬礼が本格化していく。

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 30(IHT/Asahi: March 31,2005)

Who put an expressway over Nihonbashi?

　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」

Who put an expressway over Nihonbashi?

03/30/2005

With the end of March nearing, it is time to offer a collection of quotable quotes:

``Our island has been ruined. I want to cry,'' said an official of a local fishery cooperative of Genkaijima island where many homes were destroyed by the March 20 earthquake that hit northern Kyushu. He was speaking on behalf of all evacuated islanders who are still unable to return home for fear of aftershocks. They have had to pass up the chance to take advantage of the ongoing fishing season.

2005年03月29日（火曜日）付
【天声人語】

　最近の言葉から。「島が壊れた。泣きたいよ」。福岡沖地震で多くの民家が崩れた玄界島で、漁協役員がもらした。漁期のさなかに事実上の全島避難が続き、漁業の島が呻吟（しんぎん）している。

Ten years have passed since cultists released deadly sarin gas aboard subway trains in Tokyo. Complaining of the paucity of state relief, a victim said, ``With little done to help us, time has been at a standstill during the past decade.'' She is still suffering from the aftereffects of the gas she inhaled on her way to work.

　地下鉄サリン事件から１０年たった。「私たち被害者はずっと置いてきぼりのまま、時間が止まっています」。出勤途中に事件に遭い、今も後遺症に苦しむ女性は、国による救済の乏しさを訴える。

March 10, 1945, is still remembered as the day of massive U.S. air raids that flattened much of eastern Tokyo. The passage of 60 years has not assuaged the anger of novelist Katsumoto Saotome, who was 12 when the carpet bombing happened, over a statement issued by the Imperial Headquarters. He took particular issue with wording that dwelled on the fate of the Imperial Palace, but described the civilian casualty toll only as ``other damage.''

In one passage, Saotome noted, the Imperial Edict for Servicemen said, ``Think of life as worth no more than a feather.'' The novelist went on to say, ``The authorities (in those years) referred to the people by a name that likened them to `grass.' It was only natural that they thought of our lives as worth no more than bird feathers.''

　６０年前の東京大空襲を、作家の早乙女勝元さんは１２歳で経験した。皇居の安否には言及しながら、市民の被害を「其（そ）ノ他」で片付けた大本営発表にこだわる。「『死は鴻毛（こうもう）よりも軽しと覚悟せよ』とは、軍人勅諭の一節だが、民草と呼ばれた国民の命は、鳥の羽よりも軽かったのである」

A panel set up to determine the damage done by the government's quarantine policy regarding Hansen's disease has presented its final report on how that policy was administered.

According to the report, the now-repealed policy involved aborting pregnancies.

There was a specimen room at a sanatorium, but samples were often secretly disposed of. This is what probably happened to the fetus who would have become the daughter of former patient Tetsuo Sakurai, a blind poet.

Sakurai had chosen a female name, Mariko, before the fetus was lost to an abortion. His lamenting poem goes: ``Mariko, I can't see you in the specimen room. Where are you now?''

　ハンセン病問題の検証会議が、隔離の実態を最終報告書にまとめた。「真理子よ　そのお前は標本室にはいないのです　真理子よ　今どこにいるのです」。元患者で盲目の詩人、桜井哲夫さんは、堕胎手術で失った娘に詩で呼びかける。標本までもが、ひそかに処分されていた。

Photographer Haruo Tomiyama, 70, said, ``Even now, I am still furious. Who the hell gave the green light for building an expressway that runs over Nihonbashi bridge?''

One of the things that make this bridge special is that in commercial and other senses, it was the center of the capital during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

Even now, strictly speaking, all highways that lead from Tokyo start from the bridge.

For his lifework, Tomiyama has been compiling a socially satirical photo-essay titled ``Gendai Gokan'' (Contemporary meanings of words). His rebellious spirit, which one can find in many other people proud to be natives of Tokyo's Kanda area, keeps it readable.

　「日本橋の上に高速道路なんぞ通したのは、どこのどいつだって、今だって思ってる」と話す写真家、富山治夫さん（７０）は、東京・神田生まれ。江戸っ子の反骨が、ライフワークの社会戯評「現代語感」を支えた。

Claude Levi-Strauss, 96, the anthropologist known as the author of ``Tristes Tropiques,'' made a rare appearance in the French media.

When asked what he was going to do in the days ahead, he said, ``Don't ask me such a question. I am no longer a member of contemporary society.''

　『悲しき熱帯』で知られる文化人類学者のクロード・レヴィ＝ストロースさん（９６）が久々に仏メディアに登場した。今後の予定を問われて言った。「そんなこと、聞くもんじゃないよ。私はもう現代社会の一員ではないのだから」

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 29(IHT/Asahi: March 30,2005)