遠山顕の英会話学習 Monday, December 16
J: Well, you can tell they are a happy couple.
C: Yeah, they don't have much.
J: No?
J: But they ... certainly the love is there between them.
J: Very pleasant.
C: Really.
★ Question 1
K: What was the first question again?
J: All right. What did the old man and woman wish they had for the New Year?
K: Carolyn, what's the answer?
C: Ah! A testy answer -- mochi.
J: So, always good to have mochi on New Year.
C: Absolutely.
K: Usually ... make mochi out of mochi rice?
J: Uh-huh.
C: Oh year. Yeah, That's special rice.
K: Sometimes mill it.
(mill = ～を製粉する)
C: Oh, year.
J: They had milled to it.
C: Oh, year.
J: What do you think these two are going to make? Do you think they are going to add sugar and soy sauce? Or do you think they are going to put it in a soup or what?
C: It seems like they don't have a lot. So, I imagine they'll be...
J: Just plain?
C: Maybe plain.
J: Oh.
C: Maybe… maybe with some... I don't know.
J: Soy souse ….?
C: Pickles...
J: I don't know.
K: Wow. Do you eat mochi yourself? Yeah?
J: Oh, yes.
C: Sure. I love mochi.
J: Yeah.
C: But I eat it year-round.
K: Oh, you do?
J: Yes.
K: Oh, my! You too.
J: Yes. I buy it at a supermarket. We don't make it. But …
C: Oh, yeah.
K: Right. Wow.
C: Do you eat it year-round, Ken? Or do you just eat it on New Year's?
K: I don't eat mochi for the New Year.
C: Oh, Okay.
K: I'm usually outside of Japan.
C: Oh.
J: Ah.
K: So, during that season, wonderful season, I eat hamburgers.
J: Oh.
C: Oh, that makes sense. That's a special tradition. That's, you know...
K: Right. Let's move on to the second question. Carolyn?
★ Question 2
C: Allrighty. What did they make to sell at the market?
K: Jeff?
J: Five sedge hats.
K: They did it so fast.
J: They did.
C: Year, pretty impressive.
K: It was.
J: Is it easy to make sedge hats? I wonder...
K: I've never made one.
J: I've never made one.
C: Me, neither.
K: I wouldn't be able to make one.
K: So, let's go over the story quickly.
C: Sure.
J: All right.
K: So, the story begins as almost any other fairy tale, "A long, long time ago…"
J: Long time ago.
K: I really don't know when this happened.
C: Well, definitely over a hundred years, right?
K: Oh, definitely. Yeah. Or, probably. So, there was an old couple.
J: Uh-huh
C: Yes.
J: That's a very typical way of starting.
C: It's a common.
J: Common thing
K: And they're usually poor.
C: Yeah.
J: Uh-huh.
C: But happy.
K: But happy. That's the important thing here.
C: They have a wonderful life together.
K: Uh-huh.
J: But they do wish that they had a few things. They wish they had some mochi for New Year's.
C: Right. Because this takes place... when?
K: Yeah, on New Year's Eve.
J: On New Year's Eve.
C: Yeah. So that's why they want the mochi, right?
J: That's right.
K: Right.
J: You think they would plan ahead a little bit.
C: Yeah. I guess it is a little last minute but...
K: Seems like that the only time they were able to get some mochi.
C: Yeah.
J: And they come up with the plan. At least the old woman does.
C: Right. To make some money.
J: To make some money so they can buy some mochi. She says she has some sedge or a pile of sedge there.
K: Uh-huh.
J: And she says, "Let's make some hats".
K: There you go. That starts the whole story.
C: Yeah.
J: Right. And they can sell them at the market. And I guess the market is really going at this time of the year.
C: Well, its New Year's. It's greeting up to the New Year's. So, I guess, yeah, it's always crazy even now.
J: Last-minute shopping?
C: Absolutely.
J: For New Year's?
K: So, he is looking at some money and to buy mochi and some vegetables, right?
J: That's right. Carrots and burdock roots.
K: Oh, Yeah. They are both familiar food for New Year.
CJ: Yeah.
J: Do they still use those traditional New Year's celebrations in Japan?
K: Yeah, they are part of the Osechi, I think.
C: Yeah, they are actually. Yeah, I've seen them. Yeah.
J: Okay. So, I know the pine branches. You see those all over the place.
K: Right.
J: But does everyone have their own pestle and mortar?
K: I don't.
J: Oh, okay.
C: I have one.
J: You do.
K: Oh, my goodness
C: I have a set but I don't really use it.
J: I think we have an electric one. I'm not sure.
C: Electric one?
J: Bread maker but it also makes mochi.
K: Right.
C: So, he dresses up really warm, right?
J: Right. Because it's winter obviously.
C: He goes to the market.
J: Goes to the market to sell the hats.
CJ: Now let's listen to Act 1 again!
―――
C: Couple of those sellers sounded very familiar to me.
K: Oh, yeah. I could almost say who they are.
C: Yeah.
J: Uh-huh.
K: Where would Carolyn Mirror be in this story? I was wondering.
C: No, not at the market.
J: Not at the market.
K: No. You're not there?
C: Unfortunately.
J: Uh-huh. I'm sure she has a wonderful part ahead somewhere.
K: I'm sure. Yeah. Just wait and see.
J: Uh-huh.
K: So, what do you think will happen next... In Act 2?
J: Well, they have a great plan so I think he will be able to sell the five hats, buy the mochi, take it home, they'll eat it.
C: And live happily ever after?
J: Hmm.
K: Well, that would be a very short Act 2, wouldn't it?
J: Yes, it would.
C: And even shorter Act 3 and 4.
J: Yeah.
K: If they ever exist in your theory.
―――
K: Well... That's all about it for today. So, until next time...
J: Keep listening.
C: Keep practicing.
K: And look forward to Act 2 and 3 and 4 and keep on smiling.
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遠山顕の英会話学習 Tuesday, December 17
K: What a nice Story.
J: Uh-huh
C: Oh, yeah.
J: Yeah.
K: My goodness.
J: It shows how kind he is and the old woman is probably just as kind.
C: Oh, I'm sure.
J: She sounds sweet.
★ Question 1
C: All righty. Here's the first question. What did the old man walk into on his way home?
K: Jeff what was it?
J: Oh, a snowstorm. I know it well.
C: Snow storms?
J: Uh-huh.
K: Oh, you do.
J: I do. In the mountains the weather can change very quickly and when I was a little boy, we were in a summer camp, in the middle of summer.
C: Like in August?
J: Uh-huh.
K: Oh.
C: That's awful.
J: It was the freak storm that came through and we got three inches of snow.
K: Oh.
C: Is that a lot of snow?
J: It's a lot. Three inches are about ...
K: You know, eight centimeters.
C: Oh, eight centimeters. Wow! Was it scary?
J: Um... No, it just we were in the cutoffs and flip-flops and t-shirts and it was a little cold.
(cutoffs = a pair of jeans with the legs removed at or above the knee)
K: Oh, my goodness. Obviously, you survived that.
J: I did, I'm a stronger man for it.
★ Question 2
J: All right, question 2. What did the old man find half buried in snow?
K: Carolyn, what did the old man find?
C: Well, he found six jizo statues.
K: Wow
J: Uh-huh.
C: Interesting?
K: Very interesting.
C: And is that a common along the road, is that a common sight to see?
J: You do. You see them near country roads and on pathways and different things out of the country.
K: Exactly.
J: And I've seen those.
K: They're very cute, nice and cute.
J: And I was wondered who put them there.
K: Very interesting. Okay so shall we go down the story of Act 2?
C: Oh, yeah.
J: All right.
C: It starts in the market, right?
K: Right.
J: So, he finds a place. He thinks it's a good place to sell his hats and he starts calling out to the people like the other sellers.
K: Right.
J: "Sedge hats, sedge hats!"
C: But he also gets really aggressive. Just he gets really loud and his voice starts to go hoarse and ...
J: Well, that's because he's not selling any. He's kind of feeling anxious about not being able to sell any of these hats.
K: And he's not a pro seller.
J: No, he's not a pro seller.
C: No. Doesn't look like it.
J: He gets more and more hoarse.
K: Right.
J: I know that feeling too.
K: So, he just couldn't sell anything.
J: I wonder why he couldn't sell them. I mean, were the shoppers too busy buying things for New Year's rather than for themselves?
C: Probably it's the time of year where you probably don't need to buy a hat, right?
K: Right.
C: Maybe not.
K: The story says that that the last thing that people wanted to buy in the market.
C: Ah. Yeah.
J: So, he finally gives up.
C: Yeah.
K: Yes.
J: Just decides to take them home and tell his wife that that's it. He wasn't able to do it.
C: But then something happened, right?
K: He walks right into...
J: A snowstorm.
C: Oooh! I feel cold just listening to that.
J: And when the worst is over, what does he see?
C: Six jizo statues.
K: Half buried in snow.
C: Yeah.
J: The amazing thing is that he feels so sorry for them. He wants to take care of them.
C: I know. He cleans off each statue.
J: Yeah.
C: Look, it's so sweet, you know, he wipes the snow off their heads.
J: Very kind. And he picks the icicles off of a couple of them.
K: He must be hungry while he is doing all this.
J: I guess.
K: I don't know. Wonderful scene here.
CJ: Now, let's listen to Act 2 again!
―――
K: Very nice.
CJ: Uh-huh.
K: So far so nice.
J: And you can tell he is very kind because he does these things even when no one else is looking.
K: We're listening.
J: Well, yes, we are listening.
K: He doesn't know that.
C: No.
J: Well, I was wrong about what we talked about last time. I said he was going to sell the hats and they were going to live happily ever after and that did not happen.
K: Well, "Live happily ever after" was a Carolyn's take, I believe.
J: That's true.
K: So, you were both wrong.
C: Wait a minute. I was hoping I wasn't going to be lumped in with Jeff.
(lumped in with be ～ = ～と一緒くたにされる)
K: If my memory serves, but uh ... So, what's going to happen next?
(if memory serves = 記憶が正しければ)
J: I don't know.
C: Well, he doesn't have the hats anymore.
J: No, because he gave them to the jizo statues.
C: He had how many hats?
J: He had five hats.
C: And how many jizos …
K: … were there?
K: Six jizo.
J: Oooh, a twist. The plot thickens.
K: Yeah, that's a very important point, five sedge hats, six jizo statues.
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遠山顕の英会話学習 Wednesday, December 18
CJ: Now let's listen to Act 1 and Act 2 again!
―――
K: What a story.
C: Oh, Yeah.
K: It's not over yet.
C: No.
J: No, not by any means. Because we still don't know what's going to happen when he gets home.
K: What's the miracle about?
J: Yeah
C: Oh, that's a good question.
―――
C: Looking forward to the next Act.
J: I can't wait.
