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The Wonderful World of Japanese Writers of English |
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| Here's an essay, story, and poem written originally in English. |
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Vocabulary Build-Up |
| The underlined words in the
following sentences are from the story "Lovers". Try to understand what these words mean without consulting a dictionary. Click  to find out if you are right
or wrong.まず難しい単語をチェックしておきましょう。辞書は使わずに、下線を付けた単語の意味を文脈からつかみましょう。 をクリックすると正しいかどうかわかります。 |
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1. When the young man heard that his girlfriend had been killed,
tears trickled down his cheeks. 2. I did it on purpose. 3. He regrets that he told a lie. 4. He killed her and so he will be full of guilt until
he dies. 5. The child had been running round and round the room, so
he was dizzy. |
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6. His head sank when he heard that his girlfriend
had run away. 7. Bill frequently visited museums when he was in New
York. 8. He could barely walk after he fell ill. 9. He agreed to marry her because she is rich. 10. He took the test and is now a qualified teacher. |
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11. Married men should not have affairs. 12. He often doesn't do his homework, and makes all kinds
of excuses. 13. The man has a conscience: he steals everything
but is sorry. 14. The astronaut was sucked out of the spacecraft. 15. The accident was a ghastly sight: blood and bodies
everywhere. 16. Last night it was so cold in Kyoto that I was shivering. |
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by Ito Mari |
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How beautiful my blood looks! It trickles down my arm, and on to the carpet, dyeing everything crimson red. I stare at my bleeding wrist as I think these thoughts. The wound is no longer hurting me. It feels numb. My head is spinning like a top, and I feel my life is draining away .... Yes, I have just slashed my wrist with a sharp knife, and my blood is streaming from the wound. Soon I will be free of all my worries and sleep peacefully for an eternity .... Of course I did it on purpose. I feel as if my soul is becoming purified as my body becomes emptied of blood. What will he do when he discovers me lying lifelessly in a pool of blood? Will he take me in his arms and cry bitterly? Or will he regret being unfaithful to me? Yes, yes, he will regret it. I know he will. Only through my death will he realize his unfaithfulness and return to me. Until the day he dies, he'll be too guilty to love anyone else. Although this love would only really be guilt, it is better than no love at all. He will be all mine, and nobody else's. I smiled faintly. My time is almost up. I feel dizzy and weak. The carpet I'm lying on is soaked with my blood. It is warm and wet. In a while he will come home and find me lying here dead. He won't be able to beg me for a divorce anymore or think of marrying his beautiful secretary. He'll be too guilty and too sad to think of any other woman. |
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I can still remember how we met. I was a waitress at a small cafe near his university. He came one day for a coffee. I remember it was love at first sight. He was so handsome! I gazed at him as if I was mesmerized. When he stood up to leave, my heart sank because I was afraid that I'd never see him again. But I was in luck. He had left his notebook behind on the table. It had his name and address in it, so I went to return it the next day. He was overjoyed to have his notebook back and treated me to dinner in return. He took me to an expensive restaurant which he could barely afford and ordered for me the most expensive dish on the menu. We talked over shimmering candlelight for hours. I fell even more deeply in love with him. After that, he came to the cafe more frequently and often took me out to a movie or play. I discovered that he was going to university on a scholarship and had to work at night to eat. He could barely afford to go to the movies. I started helping him financially. At first he refused, but consented at last when he realized that he could not go on by himself. Soon I took an extra job for extra money and was working from morning to night. But I didn't mind a bit because I was doing it all for him. He agreed to marry me once he had qualified as a lawyer. But I knew he didn't love me. He was marrying me because he thought that he owed it to me. I believed that he would grow to love me and felt a deep, secret joy. All went well for a few years. But then she came into his life. His beautiful secretary that is. At first he kept his affair a secret. He'd always make stupid excuses when he came home late. And then a month ago he suddenly asked for a divorce. He told me that he was in love for the first time in his life. I refused a divorce, but every day since he's been continually asking me for one. |
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And so I'm ending my life to make him guilty and miserable and to make him love me for an eternity. When he sees me lying here cold and stiff, he will realize what a terrible thing he has done and regret it all his life. His conscience will prevent him from ever loving anyone else. He'll always be mine. I'm growing sleepy. I feel as though I'm being sucked out of my body. My time has come .... The front door opens with a creak. A handsome young man comes in. A beautiful young lady with long golden hair and sparkling blue eyes follows. "Jane! Jane! Where are you? I have to talk to you." But there is no answer. The young man walks around the house. The young lady follows timidly. "Jane! Where are you?" The man opens the living room door, then shuffles back a few steps at the ghastly sight - a dead woman lying in a pool of blood. "Jane!" The young man rushes to the dead woman's side. He picks up the suicide note that is soaked in blood. The man stands still, gaping for a while. He cannot believe it. The young lady stands by the door shivering. Coming to his senses, the young man rushes to the young blonde and embraces her. Smiling, he says, "I don't need a divorce anymore. We're free at last." |
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Multiple Choice Exercise |
| Choose the right answer from
a, b, and c. Click to find out if you are right
or wrong.a, b, c の中から上の文章の内容と一致するものを選びましょう。 をクリックすると正しいかどうかわかります。 |
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1. The opening scene is ... 2. The young man did not love Jane but ... 3. Jane killed herself because ... 4. Jane's plan failed because ... |
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| We have inserted several spelling,
punctuation, and grammatical errors in Lovers. Can you
find them? エディティングです。次の文章は上と同じ作品ですが、スペリングやパンクチュエーションや文法の誤りをいくつも入れてあります。全部みつけられますか？ |
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how beautiful my blood looks! It trickles down my arm, and
on to the carpet, dying I stare at my bleding wrist as I think these thoughts. The wound is no longer hurting me. It feels numb. My head is spinning like a top, and I feel my life is draining away .... Yes, I have just slashed my wrist with a sharp knife, and my blood is streaming from the wound. Soon I will be free of all my worryies and sleep peacefully for an eternity .... Of course I did it on purpose. I feel as if my soul is becoming purified as my body becomes emptied of blood. What will he do when he discovers me lying lifelessly in a pool of blood Will he take me in his arms and cry bitterly? Or will he regret being unfaithful to me. Yes, yes, he will regrets it. I know he will. Only through my death will he realize his unfaithfulness and return to me. Until the day he die, he'll be too guilty to love anyone else. Although this love would only really be guilt, it is better than no love at all. He will be all mine, and nobody elses'. I smiled faintly. My time is almost up. I feel dizzy and week. The carpet I'm lying on is soaked with my blood. It is warm and wet. In a while he will come home and find me lying here dead. He won't be able to beg me for a divorce anymore or think of marrying his beautiful secretary. He'll be to guilty and too sad to think of any other woman. |
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I can still remember how we met. I was a waitress at a small cafe near his university. He came one day for a coffee. I remember it was love at first bite. He was so handsome! I gazed at him as if I was mesmerized. When he stood up to leave, my heart sunk because I was afraid that I'd never see him again. But I was in luck. He had left his notebook behind on the table. It had his name and address in it, so I went to return it the next day. He was overjoy to have his notebook back and treated me to diner in return. He took me to an expensive restaurant which he could barely affords and ordered for me the most expensive dish on the menu. We talked over shimmering candlelight for hours. I fell even more deeply in love with him. After that, he come to the cafe more frequently and often took me out to a movie or play. I discovered that he was going to university on a scholarship and had to work at night to eat. She could barely afford to go to the movies. I started help him financially. At first he refused, but consented at last when he realized that he could not go on by himself. Soon I took an extra job for extra money and was working from morning to night. But I didn't mind a bit because I was doing it all for him. He agreed to merry me once he had qualified as a lawyer. But I knew he didn't love me. He was marying me because he thought that he owed it to me. I believed that he would grow to love me and felt a deep, secret joy. All went well for a few ears. But then she came into his life. His beautiful secretary that is. At first he keep his affair a secret. He'd always make stupid excuses when he came home late. And then a month ago he suddenly asked for a divorce. He told me that he was in love for the first time in his life. I refused a divorce, but every day since he's been continually asking me for one. |
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And so I'm end my life to make him guilty and miserable and to make him loves me for an eternity. When he sees me lying here cold and stiff, he will realize what a terrible thing he has done and regret it all his life. His conscience will prevent him from evers loving anyone else. She'll always be mine. I'm growing sleepy. I feel as though I'm being sucked out of my body. My time has came .... The front door open with a creak. A handsome young man comes in. A beautiful young lady with long golden hair and sparkling brue eyes follows. Jane! Jane! Where are you? I have to talk to you. but there is no answer. The young men walks around the house. The yuong lady follows timidly. "Jane! Where are you? The man opens the living room door, then shuffles back few steps at the ghastly sight - a dead woman lyeing in a pool of blood. "Jane!" The young man rushes to the deed woman's side. He picks up the suicide note that is soaked in blood. The man stands still, gaping for a while. He cannot believe it. The young lady stand by the door shivering. Coming to his senses, the young man rushes to the young blonde and embrace her. Smiling, he says, "I don't need a divorce anymore. We're free at last." |
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次の質問に答えましょう。 1. What is your impression of the young man? 2. If you were to change the ending of the story, how would you rewrite it? 3. If you were to re-title this story, what would you call it? |
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