万次郎を載せたJohn Howland号はやっとマサセッツ州のNew Bedfordに戻ってきます。
He paused, not wanting to disturb them, and heard the captain say, "I had resigned myself to a life at sea, with a small house in Fairhaven for my few months between ships. But now, with a bright young ward, I've begun to think of a farm again. A boy should have land to roam, work for his hands to do, a pond to fish, and a horse to ride."
船長のWhitfieldの言葉の中に "young ward" があり、万次郎を指していますが、この "ward" は何でしょう。 先日 BABY DOLL by Tennessee Williamsに出てきた "ward heeler" の "ward" とは全く関係がなさそうです。辞書を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: legal someone, especially a child, who is officially being looked after by a court of law or by someone who is not their parents. The person who looks after them is their guardian: She was made a ward of the court when her parents died.
・Vocabulary.com: a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another: Although ward is most often used in connection with hospitals and prisons, cities and towns can also be broken into wards. These are usually geographic areas that are used in elections: city council members often represent wards of the city. A ward is also the name given to a child who is watched over by someone other than his parents. Sometimes children are known as "wards of the state," meaning they have been taken from their homes.
"ward" にこんな重要な意味があるのですね。こんな事も知らなくては大人に、ましてや "guardian" にはなれません。
He paused, not wanting to disturb them, and heard the captain say, "I had resigned myself to a life at sea, with a small house in Fairhaven for my few months between ships. But now, with a bright young ward, I've begun to think of a farm again. A boy should have land to roam, work for his hands to do, a pond to fish, and a horse to ride."
船長のWhitfieldの言葉の中に "young ward" があり、万次郎を指していますが、この "ward" は何でしょう。 先日 BABY DOLL by Tennessee Williamsに出てきた "ward heeler" の "ward" とは全く関係がなさそうです。辞書を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: legal someone, especially a child, who is officially being looked after by a court of law or by someone who is not their parents. The person who looks after them is their guardian: She was made a ward of the court when her parents died.
・Vocabulary.com: a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another: Although ward is most often used in connection with hospitals and prisons, cities and towns can also be broken into wards. These are usually geographic areas that are used in elections: city council members often represent wards of the city. A ward is also the name given to a child who is watched over by someone other than his parents. Sometimes children are known as "wards of the state," meaning they have been taken from their homes.
"ward" にこんな重要な意味があるのですね。こんな事も知らなくては大人に、ましてや "guardian" にはなれません。
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