一般財団法人 岡山日米文化協会
Okayama Japan-America Cultural Exchange Society
岡山県知事杯児童英語表現発表大会 暗唱文
以下は「英語で読む日本昔話」（ジャパンタイムズ出版）４話の要約および欧米の児童文学からの抜粋です。日本昔話は出版社から使用許可をいただいています。児童文学はそのままの抜粋です。
浦島太郎 (315 words)
Urashimataro
Once upon a time, there was a young fisherman called “Urashimataro.” One day, he was walking on the beach, when he saw some children bullying a turtle. “Stop that!” He shouted, and with a large stick, he chased them away. The next day, he saw the turtle in the sea. “You saved my life!” said the turtle. “I’d like to take you to the Dragon Palace to thank you.” Urashimataro said yes, and rode the turtle’s back as they dived deep into the sea, all the way to the Dragon King’s beautiful palace. “You saved the turtle!” the Dragon King said. “Please stay here, so my daughter and I can thank you.” Urashimataro was shown to the hall by the beautiful princess, where there was a huge feast for him! They ate and danced and celebrated for a week, and Urashimataro was very, very happy with the princess. But on the eighth day, Urashimataro wanted to go home. Although everyone was sad, and tried to change his mind, he had made up his mind. To remember them, the Dragon King and the princess gave him a little box as a goodbye gift. “You must never open it,” said the princess. “Promise me.” He promised, and carried it all the way home. When he arrived back in the village, he was shocked to see nothing and no one that he recognized, and no-one knew him either! Although he had been in the underwater palace for only eight days, one hundred years had passed on land! Sitting on the beach, he wondered if the box could tell him what had happened. He hesitated, because he had promised the princess never to open the box. But he had to know, so he decided to open it and see what was inside. When he lifted the lid, smoke came out, and he was turned into a very old man!
浦島太郎
むかしむかし、浦島太郎というひとりの若い漁師が住んでいました。 ある日浜辺を歩いていると、子どもの集団が一匹の亀をいじめているのを見つけました。 「やめろ！」と彼は叫び、大きな棒を持って、子どもたちを追い払いました。 翌日、彼は海であの亀と出会いました。 「あなたは私の命を助けてくれました！」と亀は言いました。「助けてもらったお返しに竜宮へ連れて行ってあげたいのです。」 浦島太郎は申し出を受け入れ、亀の背中に乗って海の底深く、美しい竜宮王の城までもぐっていきました。 「あなたは亀を助けてくれましたね」竜宮王は言いました。「どうぞここに留まって私の娘と私にお礼をさせてください。」 浦島太郎は美しい乙姫に、たいそうなごちそうが並べられた広間に案内されました。 ごちそうを食べ、おどり、楽しく 1 週間を過ごし、乙姫様と一緒にいられて浦島太郎はとてもとても幸せでした。 でも、8 日目には彼は家に帰りたいと思いました。 竜宮城の誰もががっかりし、なんとか彼の気持を変えようとしましたが、彼の気持は変わりませんでした。みんなを覚えていてほしいと思い、竜宮王と乙姫は彼にお別れの贈り物として小さな玉手箱を与えました。 「決して開けてはいいけませんよ」と乙姫はいいました。「約束してくださいね。」 彼は約束し、玉手箱を家に持ち帰りました。 村に帰ってみると、おどろいたことに彼がおぼえているものは何もなく、誰もいなくて、彼を知っている人も誰もいませんでした。海底の竜宮城には 1 週間いただけなのに、陸では 100 年も年数がたっていたのです。 浜辺に座り、玉手箱を開けてみたら何が起こったかわかるかもしれないと思いました。乙姫には決して箱を空けないと約束していたのでためらいました。 でもやはり知りたくて、彼は箱を開けて入っているものを見ることにしました。 ふたを開けたとたんに煙が立ち上り、彼はたいそう古い老人になってしまったのでした。
鶴の恩返し (313 words)
The Grateful Crane
Long, long ago, there was a poor young man who lived alone in the mountains. One day, he saw a crane stuck in a trap. He opened the trap, and the crane flew away. That night, someone knocked on the man’s door. A beautiful woman stood there. “I’m lost,” she said, “Can I stay here tonight?” The man let her in. The next morning, the woman said, “I made something for you, using your loom,” and gave him the most beautiful cloth he’d ever seen. “How did you make it?!” he asked. “That’s a secret,” she laughed. “You should sell it.” The man sold the cloth for a lot of money. “I’m rich!” the young man ran home to find the woman still there. He asked her to marry him, and she said yes! A month later, the man asked his wife to make more cloth, since he had spent all the money from the first. She agreed, but only if he promised to never watch her weave. He promised, and a few days later, he asked his wife to make more as everyone wanted the cloth! “I’m sorry, I can’t anymore,” she said, pale and sad. “Just one more, please, then you can rest!” said the man. As she made another cloth, the man thought, “Maybe if I watch, I could learn how to weave the cloth.” So the man peeked inside, and saw a crane sitting at the loom, plucking the last of its feathers from its body to make the cloth. He realized how greedy he was, and how badly he treated his wife. He fell to the floor, and the crane instantly turned back into a woman. “You promised,” she said sadly. “Since you saved me, I came to thank you. But now you have seen me, I must go.” The crane flew away, never to be seen again.
鶴の恩返し
むかしむかし山奥に貧乏な若者がひとり住んでいました。ある日、一羽の鶴がわなにつかまっているのを見つけました。 彼は鶴をわなからはずしてやり、鶴は飛び立って行きました。 その夜、誰かが若者の家のドアをたたきました。そこには美しい娘が立っていました。 「道に迷ったのです。今夜とめていただけませんか？」と言いました。 若者は家に入れてやりました。翌朝、その娘が言いました。「あなたのはたおり機を使って、ちょっと作ってあげたものがあります」と。そして彼が見たこともないような美しい布を差し出しました。 「どうやって作ったのか？」と若者はたずねました。 「ひみつよ」と彼女は笑い、「売っていらっしゃい。」 若者は布を売って大金を手に入れました。 「僕は金持ちだ！」若者は喜び、走って帰宅すると娘はまだいました。彼は結婚を申し込み、娘も同意しました。 1 か月後、男は最初のお金を使い果たしたので、妻になった女性にもう一度 布を織ってほしいと頼みました。 妻は承知しましたが、布を織っているところは決して見ないようにと頼みました。 彼はそうすると約束し、数日後、彼はもっと作るように頼みました。誰もがその布を欲しがったからです。「ごめんなさい、これ以上織れないのです。」彼女は青ざめた悲しい表情で 言いました。 「どうかもういちどだけ、そしたら休んでいいから」と男は言いました。 彼女がもう一枚作っているとき男は考えました。「ちょっとのぞいて見れば、 やり方が分かるかもしれない」と。 そこでそっと中をのぞいてみました。すると１羽の鶴がはたおり機を使い、 自分の体から最後の羽を引きむしり、布を織るところでした。そこで彼は、なんと自分はよくばりで妻をひどい目に合わせていたかをさとりました。彼が床に倒れ伏し、鶴はすぐさま女の姿に戻りました。 「あなた、私に約束したでしょう」と彼女は悲しげに言いました。「あなたが助けてくれたので、お礼がしたくて来たのよ。でも私の姿を見たからには、 行かなくちゃ。」 彼女は飛び立っていき、ふたたびその姿は見られませんでした。
桃太郎 (320 words)
Momotaro
Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman. The man would go to the mountains to collect wood, and the woman would go to the river to do the washing. One day, a giant peach came down the river. The old woman took it home, and when the old man came home, they decided to eat it right away. But, as the old woman was about to cut it, it split open and a boy appeared! “Oh dear!” they shouted. The old man said, “Let’s name him ‘Momotaro’ and raise him as our son.” Momotaro grew up to become a wise, strong boy. One day, he heard about a group of demons attacking a nearby village. Momotaro said, “Father, Mother, I must punish the demons. Make the best dumplings for me, and I will make you proud.” His parents argued, but Momotaro would not give up, so they made him dumplings, and cried as he left. On his way, a dog came up to Momotaro and asked him, “Where are you going?” “I’m going to Devils’ Island,” he said. “If you give me a dumpling, I’ll go with you.” “Okay. Here!” He gave the dog a dumpling and the dog joined him. Further on, a pheasant and a monkey joined them, too, in return for a dumpling. Finally, they reached Devils’ Island. “Who’s there?” a voice boomed at the castle gate. “I am Momotaro, I have come to punish you demons.” “No way! You’re just a boy!” the demons laughed loudly. Momotaro broke the gate with the monkey, the pheasant and the dog in tow. Having eaten the dumplings, they were very strong, and defeated all of the demons! Last, the demon king cried, “If you save me, I’ll never do evil things again!” Momotaro agreed. He took all of the demons’ treasure and returned to his parents, where they all lived happily ever after.
桃太郎
昔々、ある所におじいさんとおばあさんがいました。おじいさんは山へ芝刈りに、おばあさんは川へ洗濯に行っていました。ある日、とても大きな桃が川を流れてきました。おばあさんは桃を家に持ち帰り、おじいさんが帰宅して、すぐさま食べることにしました。 しかしおばあさんが切ろうとしたとたんに桃が割れて、中から男の子が現れました。「おや、まあ！」ふたりは叫び声を上げました。 おじいさんは「この子を桃太郎と名付けて私たちの息子にして育てよう」と言いました。 桃太郎は賢く強い少年に成長しました。 ある日、桃太郎は一団の鬼が近くの村をおそっていることを聞きました。 桃太郎はおじいさんとおばあさんに「お父さん、お母さん、僕は鬼たちをこらしめねばなりません。僕に一番おいしい団子を作ってください。きっと誇らしい働きをしてきます」と 言いました。 おじいさんとおばあさんは反対しましたが、桃太郎はあきらめませんでした。そこでおじいさんとおばあさんは団子を作ってやり、泣いて桃太郎を見送りました。 途中で犬が近寄ってきて「桃太郎さん、どこへ行くの？」と聞きました。 「鬼が島へ行くんだよ」と桃太郎は言いました。 犬は「その団子をくれるなら、僕も一緒に行くよ」と言い、桃太郎は「いいとも、さあ」 と団子をやり、犬は仲間になりました。 途中でキジとサルも団子をもらうかわりに仲間入りしました。 ついに鬼が島にたどり着きました。 鬼の城門で、「だれだ？」と大声がしました。 「桃太郎だ。お前たちを懲らしめに来た」と桃太郎。 「できっこないだろ！お前はまだ子どもじゃないか」と鬼は大笑いしました。 桃太郎はサル、キジ、犬を従えて門を破りました。 みんな団子を食べたのでとても強くなっていて鬼たちと勇敢にたたかい、全員やっつけました。 最後に鬼の首領が泣き叫びました。「助けてくれるなら、もう悪いことは決してしないよ」 と。 桃太郎は許しました。そして鬼たちの財宝を全部両親のところに持ち帰り、その後、みんな幸せに暮らしました。
かぐや姫 (315 words)
Kaguyahime
Once upon a time, a woodcutter and his wife lived deep in the forest. One evening, the woodcutter saw a strange light in the woods on his way home. It was coming from some bamboo, and when he cut it open he found a tiny little girl! With no children at home, he took her with him, and the couple raised her as their own. She became very beautiful, and many men from across the country asked her to marry them, but she refused them all. However, five princes would not give up, so she gave them impossible tasks – to find a solid gold branch that made fruit, fur made of pure silver, the jeweled necklace of a dragon, the bowl of a Buddha, and colored paper that shines in the dark. After a while, the men came back with their gifts, but when the girl’s light shone on them, all of them turned out to be fake! The men were kicked out, and after that no-one bothered her again. One night, the girl became very unhappy. “I am actually the moon’s princess, and I must return to the moon because I’ve grown up. At the next full moon, my people will take me back,” she said, with tears in her eyes. Hearing that, the woodcutter made a plan. Being rich with the gifts that the five princes brought him, he hired a thousand warriors. That night, the moon rose brighter and bigger. The warriors tried to protect her, but they couldn’t move because of some magic force! “It is time,” the girl said sadly. “No!” protested the woodcutter and his wife, but it was too late. The princess walked into the light, where a group of beautiful women waited for her. The light shone even brighter, and the woodcutter and his wife had to look away. When the light disappeared, the princess was gone.
かぐや姫
むかしむかし、木こりのおじいさんとおばあさんが奥深い森に住んでいました。ある夜、木こりのおじいさんは帰宅の途中、林の中にふしぎな光を見ました。光は竹から出ており、それを半分に切ってみると、とても小さな女の子が 見つかりました。 夫婦には子どもがいなかったので、おじいさんは女の子を家に連れて帰り、自分たちの子どもとして育てました。 女の子は美しい娘に育ち、国中の多くの男が、結婚を申し込みました。でも 彼女は全部ことわりました。 でも、５人の皇子はあきらめようとしなかったので、彼女は皇子たちにとてもかないそうにない課題を与えました。果物がなる金でできた枝、純銀でできた毛皮、宝石をちりばめた竜の首飾り、おしゃか様が使う鉢、そして暗やみで光る色紙を、それぞれ見つけてくるようにというものです。 しばらくして男たちはそれぞれ贈り物を持って帰ってきました。でも彼女の光がそれらを照らすと、全部にせものだとわかりました。 男たちはみんな追い出され、それ以後は彼女の生活をみだす者はいませんでした。 ある夜、娘はとても悲しそうな表情を見せました。 「私は実は月の姫なのです。私は大人になったので、月に帰らなくてはならないのです。 次の満月の夜、家来が私を連れて行きます。」目に涙をためて彼女は言いました。 それを聞いて木こりはある計画を思いつきました。５人の皇子たちが持ってきた贈り物で金持ちになっていたので、１０００人の武士をやといました。 その夜、月が登り、次第に明るく大きくなりました。武士たちは彼女を守ろうとしましたが、魔法にかかって身動きができませんでした。 「時が来たわ」と娘は悲しそうに言いました。 「行かないでくれ！」と木こりと妻は言いました。でも時すでに遅しでした。 姫は光に向かって進み、そこには美しい女たちが彼女を待ち受けていました。 光は一層明るくなり、木こりと妻はまぶしさに目をそむけました。 光が消えた時、姫の姿はありませんでした。
欧米の児童文学から（抜粋）
The tiger who came to tea ; Judith Kerr (お茶に来たトラ）（317words）
Once there was a little girl called Sophie, and she was having tea with her mummy in the kitchen.
Suddenly there was a ring at the door.
Sophie’s mummy said, “I wonder who that can be. It can’t be the milkman because he came this morning.
And it can’t be the boy from the grocer because this isn’t the day he comes.
And it can’t be Daddy because he’s got his key.
We’d better open the door and see.”
Sophie opened the door, and there was a big, furry, stripy tiger. The tiger said, “Excuse me, but I’m very hungry. Do you think I could have tea with you?” Sophie’s mummy said, “Of course, come in.”
So the tiger came into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Sophie’s mummy said, “Would you like a sandwich?”
But the tiger didn’t just take one sandwich. He took all the sandwiches on the plate and swallowed them in one big mouthful.
Owp!
And he still looked hungry, so Sophie passed him the buns.
But again the tiger didn’t eat just one bun. He ate all the buns on the dish. And then he ate all the biscuits and all the cake, until there was nothing left to eat on the table.
So Sophie’s mummy said, “Would you like a drink?” And the tiger drank all the milk in the milk jug and all the tea in the teapot.
And then he looked round the kitchen to see what else he could find.
He ate all the supper that was cooking in the saucepans…
…and all the food in the fridge,…and all the packets and tins in the cupboard…
…and he drank all the milk,
and all the orange juice,
and all Daddy’s beer,
and all the water in the tap.
Then he said, “Thank you for my nice tea. I think I’d better go now.”
And he went. (317words)
My father's Dragon ；Ruth Stiles Gannett (エルマーの冒険) （381 words）（動物の叫び声が正確な単語になっていない部分がありますが、原文通りで間違いではありません。）
最後の行にミスタッチがありました。mark はmake の間違いです。訂正してお詫びします。
Suddenly the screaming grew louder and madder and my father thought the animals must have crossed the river. He looked around, and saw something which surprised and delighted him. Partly because he had finished his lollipop, and partly because, as I told you before, crocodiles are very moody and not the least bit dependable and are always looking for something to eat, the first crocodile had turned away from the bank and started swimming down the river. The second crocodile hadn’t finished yet, so he followed right after the first, still sucking his lollipop. All the rest did the same thing, one right after the other, until they were all swimming away in a line. The two wild boars, the seven tigers, the rhinoceros, the two lions, the gorilla, along with the countless screeching monkeys, were all riding down the middle of the river on the train of crocodiles sucking pink lollipops, and all yelling and screaming and getting their feet wet.
My father and the dragon laughed themselves weak because it was such a silly sight. As soon as they had recovered, my father finished cutting the rope and the dragon raced around in circles and tried to turn a somersault. He was the most excited baby dragon that ever lived. My father was in a hurry to fly away, and when the dragon finally calmed down a bit my father climbed up onto his back.
“All aboard!’ said the dragon. ‘Where shall we go?”
“We’ll spend the night on the beach, and tomorrow we’ll start on the long journey home. So it’s off to the shores of Tangerina!” shouted my father as the dragon soared above the dark jungle and the muddy river and all the animals bellowing at them and all the crocodiles licking pink lollipops and grinning wide grins. After all, what did the crocodiles care about a way to cross the river, and what a fine feast they were carrying on their backs!
As my father and the dragon passed over the Ocean Rocks they heard a tiny excited voice scream, “Bum cack! Bum cack! We dreed our nagon! I mean, we need our dragon!”
But my father and the dragon knew that nothing in the world would ever make them go back to Wild Island. （381 words）
The adventures of Tom Sawyer；Mark Twain (トムソーヤの冒険) （346 words）
‘Tom!’ No answer. ‘Tom!’ No answer.
‘What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom!’
The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them, about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy, for they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for ‘style’ not service; she could have seen through a pair of stove lids as well. She looked perplexed a moment and said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear, ‘Well, I lay if I get hold of you, I’ll_ ‘
She did not finish, for by this time, she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom – and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.
‘I never did see the beat of that boy!’
She went to the open door and stood in it, and looked out among the tomato vines and ‘jimpson’ weeds that constituted the garden. No, Tom. So she lifted up her voice, at an angle calculated for distance, and shouted:
‘Y-o-u-u- Tom!’
There was a slight noise behind her, and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight. ‘There! I might ‘a thought of that closet. What you have been doing in there?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing! Look at your hands, and look at your mouth. What is that truck?’
‘I don’t know, Aunt.’
‘Well, I know. It’s jam, that’s what it is. Forty times I’ve said if you didn’t let that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch.’
The switch hovered in the air. The peril was desperate.
‘My! Look behind you, Aunt!’
The old lady whirled around and snatched her skirts out of danger, and the lad fled, on the instant, scrambled up the high board fence, and disappeared over it. His Aunt Polly stood surprised a moment and then broke into a gentle laugh. (346 words)
Charlotte’s Web （E.B.White）
1）Before Breakfast
“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. “Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”
“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.
“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”
“Do away with it?” shrieked Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?”
Mrs. Arable put a pitcher of cream on the table. “Don’t yell. Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up with her father.
“Please don’t kill it!” she sobbed. “It’s unfair.”
Mr. Arable stopped walking.
“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”
“Control myself?” yelled Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.”
Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.
“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!”
“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been born very small at birth, would you have killed me?”
Mr. Arable smiled. “Certainly not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.”
“I see no difference,” replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. “This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.”
A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.
“All right,” he said. “You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in. I’ll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be.” (379) When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm. (397)