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ソフトウェア開発者が、語学学習に関することを綴っています。

実践ビジネス英語 2016年11月 The Writers’ Workshop

11月号は評論…ということでしたが、スティーヴン・ミルハウザー氏の中編小説「魔法の夜」(英題: Enchanted Night)についてイメージを想起させる評論でした。

文章自体は平易なのですが、物静かな文章で、裏通り、光の束、月明かりなど、光に関する言葉が多く、幻想的な情景が目に浮かびます。英語でもその感覚を出したいなと思い、"sneak into", "gleam", "chase" など動詞を含みのあるものを使ってみました。


During a night in midsummer when it's hard to sleep well, I can't feel anybody's presence around when I sneak into a street behind an entertainment district. There, I feel an illusion that everybody is sleeping. The separation is big between people in sleep and people keeping the night going on. I take out my mobile phone to see an indication that somebody is awake. I opened PokemonGO even though I cannot play it well, but I get a relief to see a bunch of lights that show people's geolocation, which means they are awake. I was just looking at the lights coming from the mobile phone, and they are continuously gleaming for now.

However, when I can't fall asleep, it may be better to go under the moonlight to chase a strong, bright and universal light without any destination or reason.

I didn't think so until I read "Enchanted Night" by Steven Millhauser, a novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize, and translated by Motoyuki Shibata.

This book is a short novel that describes an ensemble cast who can't fall asleep in a night in August.