図書館から "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day"(by Arnold Bennett)を借りて読みました。何せ私が本を借りる基準が本の厚さなので中身は余り期待していませんが、この本の中で気になった英語の表現が一つだけありました。
Chapter 4) The Cause of the Troubles
If any typical man wishes to live fully and completely he must, in his mind, arrange a day wtihin a day. And this inner day, a Chinese box in a larger Chinese box, must begin at 6 p.m. and end at 10 a.m.
"Chinese box" とは何でしょう？ 早速辞書を引きます。
"Chinese box" で載せている辞書は見あたりませんでしたが "Chinese boxes" なら説明がありました。
・American Heritage Dictionary: A set of boxes of graduated size, each fitting inside the next larger one.
・Wiktionary:
A set of boxes, of different sizes, each fitting inside the next larger one.
Something that resembles a set of Chinese boxes, especially in complexity.
なるほど、一つでは "Chinese boxes" にならないので "Chinese box" の項が無い訳です。 ロシアのマトリョーシカを連想しますが、Wikipedia はその事に言及しています。
以下はWikipediaからの引用です。
A traditional style in Chinese design, nested boxes have proved a popular packaging option in the West for novelty or display reasons.
The Russian matryoshka doll is a modern interpretation of this form. Invented as an 'authentic' folk toy by crafter Sergey Malyutin in 1891, this first Russian doll set was actually created on commission from a noble family to make a Russian version of a similar Japanese doll.
As with the above example, such Chinese nested boxes have inspired similar forms of packaging around the world, but also have found use as a figurative description, providing an illustrative example to demonstrate situations of conceptually nested or recursive arrangements.
In literature a Chinese box structure refers to a novel or drama that is told in the form of a narrative inside a narrative (and so on), giving views from different perspectives.
さすがWikipediaは辞書より詳しいですね。
Chapter 4) The Cause of the Troubles
If any typical man wishes to live fully and completely he must, in his mind, arrange a day wtihin a day. And this inner day, a Chinese box in a larger Chinese box, must begin at 6 p.m. and end at 10 a.m.
"Chinese box" とは何でしょう？ 早速辞書を引きます。
"Chinese box" で載せている辞書は見あたりませんでしたが "Chinese boxes" なら説明がありました。
・American Heritage Dictionary: A set of boxes of graduated size, each fitting inside the next larger one.
・Wiktionary:
A set of boxes, of different sizes, each fitting inside the next larger one.
Something that resembles a set of Chinese boxes, especially in complexity.
なるほど、一つでは "Chinese boxes" にならないので "Chinese box" の項が無い訳です。 ロシアのマトリョーシカを連想しますが、Wikipedia はその事に言及しています。
以下はWikipediaからの引用です。
A traditional style in Chinese design, nested boxes have proved a popular packaging option in the West for novelty or display reasons.
The Russian matryoshka doll is a modern interpretation of this form. Invented as an 'authentic' folk toy by crafter Sergey Malyutin in 1891, this first Russian doll set was actually created on commission from a noble family to make a Russian version of a similar Japanese doll.
As with the above example, such Chinese nested boxes have inspired similar forms of packaging around the world, but also have found use as a figurative description, providing an illustrative example to demonstrate situations of conceptually nested or recursive arrangements.
In literature a Chinese box structure refers to a novel or drama that is told in the form of a narrative inside a narrative (and so on), giving views from different perspectives.
さすがWikipediaは辞書より詳しいですね。
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