libation and brine

昨日は深夜録画していた大学ラグビーの決勝戦を見ました。　準決勝での早稲田の圧勝を見て早稲田有利と思っていましたが、帝京大のフォワードは驚くほど強く点差は余りなかったのですが帝京大の圧勝と言えると思います。高校ラグビーの決勝も見たかったのですが残念ながらＴＶ番組に中継は載っておらず見れませんでした。後は社会人の決勝が楽しみです。
さて、今日採り上げる英語は "The Story of My Life" に出てきた二種類の液体を表す単語です。
The solemn nothings that fill our everyday life blossom suddenly into bright possibilities. In a word, while such friends are near us we feel that all is well. Perhaps we never saw them before, and they may never cross our life's path again; but the influence of their calm, mellow natures is a libation poured upon our discontent, and we feel its healing touch, as the ocean feels the mountain stream freshening its brine.
まず "libation" の意味を辞書で見ます。
・Compact Oxford English Dictionary: a drink poured out as an offering to a deity.
　[mass noun] the pouring out of a libation:　gin was poured in libation
　humorous a drink:　tequila is a favourite libation throughout the West
・American Heritage Dictionary:
　The pouring of a liquid offering as a religious ritual.
　The liquid so poured.
次に "brine" を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary:
[uncountable] water that contains a lot of salt; preserved in brine
the brine literary the ocean; the foaming brine
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
a: water saturated or strongly impregnated with common salt; The chicken was soaked in brine before it was roasted.
b: a strong saline solution (as of calcium chloride)
2: the water of a sea or salt lake; for hundreds of years people from Atlantic Canada have made their living from the brine
調べている内に "brine" は "silt" を先月２２日に取り上げた時に語源の説明文にあった事を思い出しました。
それはともかく、飲むなら "brine" ではなく "libation" の方が断然良いですね。いずれも重要な液体なので覚えて置きたい単語です。
これでヘレン・ケラーの "The Story of My Life" は読み終わりました。