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E-Books (english-e-reader), After the Earthquake (1)

After the Earthquake (1)

More than a century ago, many people from Britain sailed out to New Zealand, to start new lives as farmers or doctors or teachers. It was not a crowded country, and people on farms and in small towns all knew each other. They knew each other's family history, how much money they had, who loved whom, who hated whom...

Children, of course, must not know too much, about what adults do and think and feel. But Walter, who is only six, notices things and likes to ask questions...

The earthquake happened late on a Saturday right in summer and shook the coast, the farms, and the towns for twenty miles, from the sea to the mountains. At the Blakiston home, everybody had gone to bed and was asleep, but the shake woke Mr Blakiston immediately. When it was over, he sat up in bed, lit his candle, and looked about him at the walls and ceiling. He could not see any damage, although the quake had been strong and had shaken the house from side to side for a moment or two.

'Are you all right?' Mr Blakiston asked his wife, who was now awake beside him.

'Yes, dear, but do go and see if Walter is awake. He may be frightened.' She had been frightened herself, waking from a dream of ships on the sea.

Her husband rested on one elbow, staring at the candle and listening for sounds from his son's room. Walter was six and had his own room near the top of the stairs.

'He must be all right,' said Mr Blakiston, hearing no sound in the house. He blew out the candle and lay back beside his wife. 'Still, that was a bad little quake. Yes, a damn bad little quake.' Soon he was asleep again.

In the morning, they found little damage outside, except for the old washhouse chimney, out at the back, which had fallen onto the washhouse roof. But inside the house a thin china vase had fallen onto the floor and broken. At breakfast time, Mr Blakiston brought the pieces of the vase to the table, to show his wife and son.

'English china,' he explained to the boy. 'Very fine too. See that letter D? That's for Doulton, the people who made it.' But Walter was more interested in the earthquake. 'Did the whole house shake?' he asked his father.

'Shook, yes, and went up and down a bit.'

'Do you think it shook down any houses that we know?' 'Not many - maybe a few ceilings and chimneys.'

Walter ate his breakfast. 'I'd like to see an earthquake,' he said. 'I'd like to see houses falling down, and all the people inside them getting frightened.'

'Walter,' said his mother, 'you shouldn't say things like that. It's very unkind. You should think first.'

'I did think first,' said Walter softly, to his plate.

'What did you say?' asked his mother. 'Speak clearly.'

'I only said I'm sorry I didn't wake up in the earthquake.'

That day was a Sunday. Mr Blakiston was a farmer, and although there is work to do on a farm every day of the week, he usually spent Sundays in and around the farm buildings near the house, resting himself. Every fourth Sunday the family went to church in the town down in the valley. But today Mr Blakiston, with Walter's help, began to clear the bricks from the roof of the wash-house, where the chimney had fallen.

Walter always asked questions when he worked with his father. 'Do earthquakes happen in England?' he asked.

'Yes,' said Mr Blakiston, 'But not often.' He was enjoying the work, and found Walter's questions a little boring. The broken vase made him think about England, the Old Country, and he wanted to think in silence.

He had had his farm in New Zealand for nearly twenty years, but he still thought of England as home. Colonial life was freer, and he liked it better, but it was not as English now as it used to be. Life was changing in this young country, and he was changing with it.

Now, as he threw the bricks from the roof down to the ground, he knew that he would never go back to England. He was a colonial farmer for life. Time had decided this for him, and he felt pleased.

'Can I drive to town with Mum in the morning?' asked Walter.

'Yes, if you want to. Now climb down and put those bricks tidily by the wall.'

Next morning at eleven o'clock, Mr Blakiston brought the horse and gig to the front door. Every fine weekday morning at eleven Mrs Blakiston drove to the town four miles away to get the post and the newspaper and to shop at the store. Summer or winter, she wore a flat grey hat and long gloves.

On this Monday morning, Walter went with her. They drove past wide flat fields of hot yellow grass, burnt by the sun, until they came to the town. Mrs Blakiston stopped the gig by the verandah of Lakin's General Store.

'Can I go in?' asked Walter, getting ready to jump down.

'Mr Lakin will be out in a moment,' said his mother. She opened her purse and found her shopping list. 'We'll wait till he comes.'

Soon Mr Lakin came out from the shop door. He held his hand above his eyes to keep off the bright sun and looked up at the gig. 'Good to see you're all right after the quake, Mrs Blakiston,' he said, in his high thin voice.

'I'm very well, Mr Lakin, but it did frighten us a little, so late at night. Did you have any damage?'

'I slept through it, myself. But I found a few broken bottles on the floor yesterday morning.'

Mrs Blakiston gave Mr Lakin her shopping list.

'Have you heard about old Mrs Duncaster?' he asked.

'Heard about her?' Mrs Blakiston was not sure.

'The quake brought the ceiling down on her. She died of shock, they say, early yesterday.'

'Oh, but what a terrible thing, Mr Lakin-' said Mrs Blakiston. 'I had no idea -'

'Well, it was a sudden end,' Mr Lakin said. 'I thought I should tell you,' he added. 'I don't like my old customers dying.'

'Yes,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'Thank you, Mr Lakin. I hadn't heard about it, of course. I'll go and visit her daughter this morning.'

Mr Lakin went to fetch Mrs Blakiston's shopping.

'The Mrs Duncaster, who is dead,' said Walter, 'is she the old lady I know?'

'Yes,' said his mother. 'I'd no idea,' she added quietly to herself. 'Of course it was Sunday yesterday, so we didn't hear.'

'Did the roof fall right on her face in bed?'

'I don't know, Walter. Don't ask silly questions. You heard what Mr Lakin said.'

'I think when there's an earthquake you should get right under the blankets. Then the ceiling won't hurt you.'

'She was very old. It's very sad that she's dead,' said Mrs Blakiston. She pulled Walter's sunhat down to his eyes, and made him sit up straight on the hot seat of the gig.

'Are we going to visit Miss Duncaster?' he asked.

'Yes, we must go and see her. She loved her mother very much.'

After Mr Lakin had put the shopping in the back of the gig, Mrs Blakiston drove up the street to the post office to get the post and the newspaper. She then drove to the north end of the town, where the Duncaster lived.

A row of trees hid the little low house from the road. Behind the trees, long wild grass, burnt almost red by the sun, grew up to the verandah.

'There's somebody here already,' said Walter. A dark brown horse stood by the verandah, tied to one of the posts.

It was a farmer's horse, a working horse.

Mrs Blakiston looked at the horse for a moment, then, carefully holding her long skirt, she got down from the gig and knocked at the door. She knocked twice, in the hot summer silence, before the door was opened by a tall woman in a dark grey dress.

Walter watched his mother kiss Miss Duncaster. He had hoped to see Miss Duncaster crying for a mother killed in an earthquake. Bur he was sorry to see that Annie Duncaster's light blue eyes and pink face looked just the same as usual.

'You must come in and have tea,' said Miss Duncaster's deep voice to his mother. 'And Walter with you. Please, please do. I'd like it.'

'But you have a visitor already,' said Mrs Blakiston.

Miss Duncaster looked quickly at the horse tied to the verandah. 'Nobody's here,' she said. 'Nobody at all. Please come in.'

So Mrs Blakiston put the gig under the trees, tied up the horse, and took Walter with her into the house. 'You must be quiet,' she whispered to Walter, 'and not ask questions.'

Inside the house, it was dark and smelt cool after the hot morning. The little room behind the verandah was full of china and books, but the most interesting thing to Walter was a great creamy-white egg in a corner. It was bigger than his hands. When Miss Duncaster had brought in the tea, he sat down to stare at the wonderful egg while his mother talked.

'I've only just heard about your mother, Annie,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'I'm so very sorry.'

'Mother hated earthquakes,' Miss Duncaster said calmly. 'We had a bad one here, you know, just after father and she had first come from England. She had always been frightened of them since then.'

'They frighten me too. Did your mother die suddenly?'

'A little of the ceiling fell, you know, in her room. I got her out of bed and into a chair and ran downstairs to make her a cup of tea. When I got back, she was dead.' Miss Duncaster put down her cup and stared out of the window. 'It was all a great shock. The earthquake itself and then my mother dead.' 'I slept all through the earthquake,' said Walter, 'didn't I, Mum?'

'Yes, dear, luckily,' said his mother.

Miss Duncaster, who had begun to cry a little, suddenly seemed happier and said, 'Of course, my mother was no longer a young woman. But even at sixty, people like to live. And she had had a wonderful life. Young people like me can't hope for nearly so much.'

'Yes, Annie, I know,' said Mrs Blakiston, who also knew that old Mrs Duncaster had been at least seventy and that her daughter was at least thirty-five. 'It is hard for you, on your own now,' she added.

Miss Duncaster got up. 'Oh, thank you, thank you. But I won't let myself be lonely.' She looked quickly out of the window, then moved to the door. 'I'd like you to come and see my mother now,' she said. 'She's lying upstairs in father's old room. She looks beautiful.'

'Yes, of course I'll come up,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'Walter, you stay down here for a few minutes.'

'Oh, but I want Walter to see her too,' said Miss Duncaster. 'She always loved children, you know.'

The stairs were very narrow and dark, and the air was warm up under the roof.

'In here,' said Miss Duncaster, opening a door.

The small bedroom was full of dark furniture and had a window in the roof. The bed was against the wall by the door, and on the bed, covered by a sheet up to her neck, lay the dead Mrs Duncaster. Walter was surprised; the round creamy-white face was like the big egg downstairs, he thought, but somebody had given it a nose and a mouth and put a hard line down each side. He hadn't remembered that old Mrs Duncaster looked so serious; she had always laughed at him and given him sweets.


After the Earthquake (1) Nach dem Erdbeben (1) Después del terremoto (1) Après le tremblement de terre (1) Dopo il terremoto (1) 震災後 (1) 지진 이후 (1) Po trzęsieniu ziemi (1) Depois do terramoto (1) После землетрясения (1) Depremden Sonra (1) Після землетрусу (1)

More than a century ago, many people from Britain sailed out to New Zealand, to start new lives as farmers or doctors or teachers. It was not a crowded country, and people on farms and in small towns all knew each other. Это была немноголюдная страна, и люди на фермах и в маленьких городках знали друг друга. They knew each other's family history, how much money they had, who loved whom, who hated whom... Они знали семейную историю друг друга, сколько у них денег, кто кого любил, кто кого ненавидел...

Children, of course, must not know too much, about what adults do and think and feel. Дети, конечно, не должны слишком много знать о том, что делают, думают и чувствуют взрослые. But Walter, who is only six, notices things and likes to ask questions... Но Уолтер, которому всего шесть лет, замечает вещи и любит задавать вопросы...

The earthquake happened late on a Saturday right in summer and shook the coast, the farms, and the towns for twenty miles, from the sea to the mountains. 地震は真夏の土曜日の深夜に発生し、海から山まで、海岸、農場、町を 20 マイルにわたって揺さぶりました。 Землетрясение произошло поздно вечером в субботу, прямо летом, и потрясло побережье, фермы и города на двадцать миль, от моря до гор. At the Blakiston home, everybody had gone to bed and was asleep, but the shake woke Mr Blakiston immediately. ブラキストンの家では、全員が寝床に就いて眠っていたが、揺れでブラキストン氏はすぐに目が覚めた. В доме Блэкистон все уже легли спать и спали, но мистер Блэкистон тотчас же проснулся от толчка. When it was over, he sat up in bed, lit his candle, and looked about him at the walls and ceiling. それが終わると、彼はベッドに腰を下ろし、ろうそくに火をつけ、壁や天井を見回した。 Когда все кончилось, он сел в постели, зажег свечу и оглядел себя, стены и потолок. He could not see any damage, although the quake had been strong and had shaken the house from side to side for a moment or two. Он не видел никаких повреждений, хотя землетрясение было сильным и на мгновение или два трясло дом из стороны в сторону.

'Are you all right?' 'Ты в порядке?' Mr Blakiston asked his wife, who was now awake beside him. — спросил мистер Блэкистон свою жену, которая проснулась рядом с ним.

'Yes, dear, but do go and see if Walter is awake. 「はい、でも、ウォルターが起きているかどうか見に行ってください。 — Да, дорогая, но сходи и посмотри, проснулся ли Уолтер. He may be frightened.' 彼はおびえているかもしれません。 Он может испугаться. She had been frightened herself, waking from a dream of ships on the sea. Она сама испугалась, проснувшись от сна о кораблях в море.

Her husband rested on one elbow, staring at the candle and listening for sounds from his son's room. 夫は片肘をついて、ろうそくを見つめ、息子の部屋からの音に耳を傾けていました。 Ее муж оперся на локоть, глядя на свечу и прислушиваясь к звукам из комнаты сына. Walter was six and had his own room near the top of the stairs. ウォルターは 6 歳で、階段の上に自分の部屋がありました。 Уолтеру было шесть лет, и у него была собственная комната наверху лестницы.

'He must be all right,' said Mr Blakiston, hearing no sound in the house. 「彼は大丈夫だろう」とブラキストン氏は言いましたが、家の中には何の音も聞こえませんでした。 — Должно быть, с ним все в порядке, — сказал мистер Блейкистон, не слыша ни звука в доме. He blew out the candle and lay back beside his wife. 彼はろうそくを吹き消し、妻のそばに横になりました。 Он задул свечу и лег рядом с женой. 'Still, that was a bad little quake. 「とはいえ、それはひどい小さな地震でした。 — Тем не менее, это было сильное небольшое землетрясение. Yes, a damn bad little quake.' はい、ひどい小さな地震です。 Да, чертовски сильное землетрясение. Soon he was asleep again. すぐに彼はまた眠りについた。 Вскоре он снова заснул.

In the morning, they found little damage outside, except for the old washhouse chimney, out at the back, which had fallen onto the washhouse roof. 朝、彼らは、洗面所の屋根に落ちていた後ろの古い洗面所の煙突を除いて、外にほとんど損傷がないことを発見しました。 Утром они обнаружили снаружи небольшие повреждения, за исключением старой трубы прачечной, которая находилась сзади, упавшей на крышу прачечной. But inside the house a thin china vase had fallen onto the floor and broken. しかし、家の中では、薄い陶器の花瓶が床に落ちて壊れていました。 Но внутри дома на пол упала и разбилась тонкая фарфоровая ваза. At breakfast time, Mr Blakiston brought the pieces of the vase to the table, to show his wife and son.

'English china,' he explained to the boy. 「イングリッシュ・チャイナ」と彼は少年に説明した。 — Английский фарфор, — объяснил он мальчику. 'Very fine too. 『こちらも結構です。 — Тоже очень хорошо. See that letter D? D の文字が見えますか? Видите эту букву Д? That's for Doulton, the people who made it.' Это для Доултона, людей, которые его сделали». But Walter was more interested in the earthquake. Но Уолтера больше интересовало землетрясение. 'Did the whole house shake?' — Весь дом трясся? he asked his father.

'Shook, yes, and went up and down a bit.' 「はい、揺れました。少し上下しました。」 — Да, трясло и немного качало.

'Do you think it shook down any houses that we know?' 「私たちが知っているどの家屋も震えたと思いますか?」 — Как вы думаете, он разрушил какие-нибудь дома, которые мы знаем? 'Not many - maybe a few ceilings and chimneys.' 「それほど多くはありません。おそらく天井と煙突がいくつかあります。」 — Немного — может быть, несколько потолков и дымоходов.

Walter ate his breakfast. 'I'd like to see an earthquake,' he said. 「地震が見たい」と彼は言った。 — Я хотел бы увидеть землетрясение, — сказал он. 'I'd like to see houses falling down, and all the people inside them getting frightened.' 「家が倒壊して、家の中の人がみんな怯えているのを見たいです。」 «Я бы хотел увидеть, как дома рушатся, и все люди внутри них пугаются».

'Walter,' said his mother, 'you shouldn't say things like that. — Уолтер, — сказала его мать, — тебе не следует говорить такие вещи. It's very unkind. Это очень недобро. You should think first.' Ты должен сначала подумать.

'I did think first,' said Walter softly, to his plate. 「私が最初に考えました」と、ウォルターは自分の皿に向かってそっと言った. — Сначала я подумал, — тихо сказал Уолтер своей тарелке.

'What did you say?' asked his mother. 'Speak clearly.' 'Говори четче.'

'I only said I'm sorry I didn't wake up in the earthquake.' 「地震で起きれなくてごめんなさいとだけ言った」 — Я только сказал, что сожалею, что не проснулся во время землетрясения.

That day was a Sunday. Тот день был воскресенье. Mr Blakiston was a farmer, and although there is work to do on a farm every day of the week, he usually spent Sundays in and around the farm buildings near the house, resting himself. ブラキストン氏は農夫で、毎日農場でやるべき仕事がありますが、彼はたいてい日曜日は家の近くの農場の建物の中や周りで休息をとって過ごしていました。 Мистер Блэкистон был фермером, и хотя на ферме каждый день недели нужно было работать, он обычно проводил воскресенья в фермерских постройках рядом с домом, отдыхая. Every fourth Sunday the family went to church in the town down in the valley. Каждое четвертое воскресенье семья ходила в церковь в городке в долине. But today Mr Blakiston, with Walter's help, began to clear the bricks from the roof of the wash-house, where the chimney had fallen. しかし今日、ブラキストン氏は、ウォルターの助けを借りて、煙突が落ちた洗面所の屋根からレンガを取り除き始めました。 Но сегодня мистер Блэкистон с помощью Уолтера начал расчищать кирпичи с крыши прачечной, где обвалилась труба.

Walter always asked questions when he worked with his father. Уолтер всегда задавал вопросы, когда работал с отцом. 'Do earthquakes happen in England?' 「イギリスでは地震は起こりますか?」 — В Англии бывают землетрясения? he asked.

'Yes,' said Mr Blakiston, 'But not often.' He was enjoying the work, and found Walter's questions a little boring. 彼は仕事を楽しんでいて、ウォルターの質問は少し退屈だと感じました。 Ему нравилась работа, и он находил вопросы Уолтера немного скучными. The broken vase made him think about England, the Old Country, and he wanted to think in silence. 壊れた花瓶を見て、彼はオールド カントリーであるイギリスについて考え、黙って考えたいと思いました。 Разбитая ваза навела его на мысли об Англии, Старой Стране, и ему хотелось думать в тишине.

He had had his farm in New Zealand for nearly twenty years, but he still thought of England as home. Er hatte seine Farm in Neuseeland seit fast zwanzig Jahren, aber er betrachtete England immer noch als seine Heimat. 彼は 20 年近くニュージーランドに農場を持っていましたが、それでもイギリスを故郷と考えていました。 У него была ферма в Новой Зеландии почти двадцать лет, но он по-прежнему считал Англию своим домом. Colonial life was freer, and he liked it better, but it was not as English now as it used to be. Das koloniale Leben war freier, und es gefiel ihm besser, aber es war nicht mehr so englisch wie früher. 植民地時代の生活はより自由になり、彼はそれが好きになりましたが、今では以前ほど英国的ではありませんでした。 Колониальная жизнь была свободнее, и она ему больше нравилась, но теперь она была не такой английской, как раньше. Life was changing in this young country, and he was changing with it. Das Leben in diesem jungen Land veränderte sich, und er veränderte sich mit ihm. この若い国での生活は変化しており、彼もそれに伴って変化していました。 Жизнь в этой молодой стране менялась, и он менялся вместе с ней.

Now, as he threw the bricks from the roof down to the ground, he knew that he would never go back to England. 今、彼がレンガを屋根から地面に投げ捨てたとき、彼は決してイギリスに戻らないことを知っていました. Теперь, когда он бросал кирпичи с крыши на землю, он знал, что никогда не вернется в Англию. He was a colonial farmer for life. 彼は一生、植民地の農民でした。 Он всю жизнь был колониальным фермером. Time had decided this for him, and he felt pleased. 時間が彼のためにこれを決めたので、彼は喜んでいました。 Время решило это за него, и он был доволен.

'Can I drive to town with Mum in the morning?' «Могу ли я поехать с мамой в город утром?» asked Walter.

'Yes, if you want to. Now climb down and put those bricks tidily by the wall.' А теперь слезай и аккуратно положи эти кирпичи у стены.

Next morning at eleven o'clock, Mr Blakiston brought the horse and gig to the front door. 翌朝十一時、ブラキストン氏は馬とギグを玄関まで持ってきた。 На следующее утро, в одиннадцать часов, мистер Блэкистон подвел лошадь и двуколку к входной двери. Every fine weekday morning at eleven Mrs Blakiston drove to the town four miles away to get the post and the newspaper and to shop at the store. Каждое прекрасное утро буднего дня в одиннадцать миссис Блэкистон ездила в город, расположенный в четырех милях от дома, чтобы получить почту и газету, а также за покупками в магазине. Summer or winter, she wore a flat grey hat and long gloves. Летом или зимой она носила плоскую серую шляпу и длинные перчатки.

On this Monday morning, Walter went with her. They drove past wide flat fields of hot yellow grass, burnt by the sun, until they came to the town. 彼らは町に着くまで、太陽に焼けた熱く黄色い草の広い平らな野原を車で通り過ぎました。 Они проехали мимо широких плоских полей горячей желтой травы, обожженной солнцем, пока не подъехали к городу. Mrs Blakiston stopped the gig by the verandah of Lakin's General Store. Миссис Блэкистон остановила двуколку у веранды универсального магазина Лакина.

'Can I go in?' — Могу я войти? asked Walter, getting ready to jump down. 飛び降りる準備をしながら、ウォルターが尋ねた。 — спросил Уолтер, готовясь спрыгнуть вниз.

'Mr Lakin will be out in a moment,' said his mother. 「レイキンさんはすぐに出かけます」と母親は言いました。 «Мистер Лакин выйдет через минуту, — сказала его мать. She opened her purse and found her shopping list. Она открыла сумочку и нашла список покупок. 'We'll wait till he comes.' — Подождем, пока он придет.

Soon Mr Lakin came out from the shop door. Вскоре из дверей магазина вышел мистер Лакин. He held his hand above his eyes to keep off the bright sun and looked up at the gig. 彼はまぶしい太陽を避けるために目の上に手をかざし、ギグを見上げました。 Он поднес руку к глазам, чтобы защититься от яркого солнца, и посмотрел на двуколку. 'Good to see you're all right after the quake, Mrs Blakiston,' he said, in his high thin voice. — Рад видеть, что вы в порядке после землетрясения, миссис Блэкистон, — сказал он своим высоким тонким голосом.

'I'm very well, Mr Lakin, but it did frighten us a little, so late at night. — Я очень хорошо себя чувствую, мистер Лакин, но нас немного напугал такой поздний вечер. Did you have any damage?' Были ли у вас какие-либо повреждения?

'I slept through it, myself. '私はそれを通して眠りました、私自身。 — Я сам проспал. But I found a few broken bottles on the floor yesterday morning.' Но вчера утром я нашел на полу несколько разбитых бутылок.

Mrs Blakiston gave Mr Lakin her shopping list.

'Have you heard about old Mrs Duncaster?' — Вы слышали о старой миссис Дункастер? he asked.

'Heard about her?' 「彼女のこと聞いた?」 — Слышал о ней? Mrs Blakiston was not sure. Миссис Блэкистон не была уверена.

'The quake brought the ceiling down on her. «Землетрясение обрушило на нее потолок. She died of shock, they say, early yesterday.' 彼女はショックで亡くなった、と彼らは言う。 Она умерла от шока, говорят, вчера рано утром.

'Oh, but what a terrible thing, Mr Lakin-' said Mrs Blakiston. — О, какой ужас, мистер Лейкин… — сказала миссис Блейкистон. 'I had no idea -' '私は今まで知らなかった -' 'Не имел представления -'

'Well, it was a sudden end,' Mr Lakin said. 「まあ、それは突然の終焉だった」とレイキン氏は言った。 «Ну, это был внезапный конец, — сказал мистер Лакин. 'I thought I should tell you,' he added. 「私はあなたに言うべきだと思った」と彼は付け加えた. — Я подумал, что должен тебе сказать, — добавил он. 'I don't like my old customers dying.'

'Yes,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'Thank you, Mr Lakin. I hadn't heard about it, of course. もちろん、私はそれについて聞いたことがありませんでした。 I'll go and visit her daughter this morning.'

Mr Lakin went to fetch Mrs Blakiston's shopping. レイキン氏はブラキストン夫人の買い物を取りに行きました。

'The Mrs Duncaster, who is dead,' said Walter, 'is she the old lady I know?' 「亡くなったダンカスター夫人は、私の知っているおばあさんですか?」とウォルターは言いました。

'Yes,' said his mother. 'I'd no idea,' she added quietly to herself. 「わからない」と彼女は静かに付け加えた. 'Of course it was Sunday yesterday, so we didn't hear.'

'Did the roof fall right on her face in bed?' 「屋根はベッドで彼女の顔に落ちましたか?」

'I don't know, Walter. Don't ask silly questions. You heard what Mr Lakin said.' レイキン氏が言ったことを聞いたでしょう。

'I think when there's an earthquake you should get right under the blankets. 「地震が起きたら毛布の下に隠れるべきだと思う。 Then the ceiling won't hurt you.'

'She was very old. It's very sad that she's dead,' said Mrs Blakiston. She pulled Walter's sunhat down to his eyes, and made him sit up straight on the hot seat of the gig.

'Are we going to visit Miss Duncaster?' 「ミス・ダンカスターを訪ねるつもりですか?」 he asked.

'Yes, we must go and see her. She loved her mother very much.'

After Mr Lakin had put the shopping in the back of the gig, Mrs Blakiston drove up the street to the post office to get the post and the newspaper. She then drove to the north end of the town, where the Duncaster lived.

A row of trees hid the little low house from the road. Behind the trees, long wild grass, burnt almost red by the sun, grew up to the verandah. 木々の後ろには、太陽に真っ赤に焼けた長い野草が縁側まで伸びていた。

'There's somebody here already,' said Walter. 「すでに誰かがここにいます」とウォルターは言いました。 A dark brown horse stood by the verandah, tied to one of the posts.

It was a farmer's horse, a working horse.

Mrs Blakiston looked at the horse for a moment, then, carefully holding her long skirt, she got down from the gig and knocked at the door. She knocked twice, in the hot summer silence, before the door was opened by a tall woman in a dark grey dress. 暑い夏の静けさの中で、彼女が 2 回ノックした後、ダークグレーのドレスを着た背の高い女性がドアを開けました。

Walter watched his mother kiss Miss Duncaster. He had hoped to see Miss Duncaster crying for a mother killed in an earthquake. Bur he was sorry to see that Annie Duncaster's light blue eyes and pink face looked just the same as usual. アニー・ダンカスターの水色の目とピンク色の顔がいつもと変わらないのを見て残念に思いました。

'You must come in and have tea,' said Miss Duncaster's deep voice to his mother. 'And Walter with you. 「そしてウォルターも一緒に。 Please, please do. I'd like it.'

'But you have a visitor already,' said Mrs Blakiston.

Miss Duncaster looked quickly at the horse tied to the verandah. 'Nobody's here,' she said. 'Nobody at all. Please come in.'

So Mrs Blakiston put the gig under the trees, tied up the horse, and took Walter with her into the house. 'You must be quiet,' she whispered to Walter, 'and not ask questions.'

Inside the house, it was dark and smelt cool after the hot morning. The little room behind the verandah was full of china and books, but the most interesting thing to Walter was a great creamy-white egg in a corner. ベランダの後ろの小さな部屋は陶磁器と本でいっぱいでしたが、ウォルターにとって最も興味深いのは、隅にある大きなクリーミーホワイトの卵でした. It was bigger than his hands. When Miss Duncaster had brought in the tea, he sat down to stare at the wonderful egg while his mother talked.

'I've only just heard about your mother, Annie,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'I'm so very sorry.'

'Mother hated earthquakes,' Miss Duncaster said calmly. 'We had a bad one here, you know, just after father and she had first come from England. 「父と彼女が初めてイギリスから来た直後に、ここで悪いことがありました. She had always been frightened of them since then.' それ以来、彼女はいつも彼らを怖がっていました。

'They frighten me too. Did your mother die suddenly?'

'A little of the ceiling fell, you know, in her room. 「彼女の部屋の天井が少し落ちました。 I got her out of bed and into a chair and ran downstairs to make her a cup of tea. When I got back, she was dead.' Miss Duncaster put down her cup and stared out of the window. 'It was all a great shock. The earthquake itself and then my mother dead.' 'I slept all through the earthquake,' said Walter, 'didn't I, Mum?'

'Yes, dear, luckily,' said his mother.

Miss Duncaster, who had begun to cry a little, suddenly seemed happier and said, 'Of course, my mother was no longer a young woman. 少し泣き始めたミス・ダンカスターは、突然幸せそうに見えて、「もちろん、私の母はもう若い女性ではありませんでした. But even at sixty, people like to live. しかし、60歳になっても、人々は生きたいと思っています。 And she had had a wonderful life. Young people like me can't hope for nearly so much.' 私のような若者は、それほど多くを期待することはできません。

'Yes, Annie, I know,' said Mrs Blakiston, who also knew that old Mrs Duncaster had been at least seventy and that her daughter was at least thirty-five. 「はい、アニー、知っています」とブラキストン夫人は言いました。ブラキストン夫人は、年老いたダンカスター夫人が少なくとも 70 歳で、娘が少なくとも 35 歳であることも知っていました。 'It is hard for you, on your own now,' she added. 「あなたにとって、今は一人では大変です」と彼女は付け加えた.

Miss Duncaster got up. ミス・ダンカスターは起き上がりました。 'Oh, thank you, thank you. But I won't let myself be lonely.' しかし、私は自分自身を孤独にさせません。 She looked quickly out of the window, then moved to the door. 彼女はすぐに窓の外を見て、ドアに移動しました。 'I'd like you to come and see my mother now,' she said. 「今すぐ母に会いに来てほしい」と彼女は言った. 'She's lying upstairs in father's old room. She looks beautiful.'

'Yes, of course I'll come up,' said Mrs Blakiston. 'Walter, you stay down here for a few minutes.'

'Oh, but I want Walter to see her too,' said Miss Duncaster. 'She always loved children, you know.'

The stairs were very narrow and dark, and the air was warm up under the roof. 階段はとても狭くて暗く、屋根の下の空気は暖かかった。

'In here,' said Miss Duncaster, opening a door.

The small bedroom was full of dark furniture and had a window in the roof. 小さなベッドルームは暗い色の家具でいっぱいで、屋根には窓がありました。 The bed was against the wall by the door, and on the bed, covered by a sheet up to her neck, lay the dead Mrs Duncaster. ベッドはドアのそばの壁に寄りかかっており、ベッドの上には首までシーツで覆われ、死んだダンカスター夫人が横たわっていた。 Walter was surprised; the round creamy-white face was like the big egg downstairs, he thought, but somebody had given it a nose and a mouth and put a hard line down each side. ウォルターは驚いた。丸いクリーム色の白い顔は階下の大きな卵のようだと彼は思ったが、誰かがそれに鼻と口を与え、両側に硬い線を引いた. He hadn't remembered that old Mrs Duncaster looked so serious; she had always laughed at him and given him sweets. 年老いたダンカスター夫人がとても真剣な顔をしていたことを彼は思い出せなかった。彼女はいつも彼を笑ってお菓子をあげていました。