Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。
前回引用した個所の直ぐ後の場面です。
When I asked Jem what entailment was, and Jem described it a a condition of having your tail in a crack. I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us.
主人公の少女 Scoutが兄のJem（まだ小学生）に "entailment" の意味を質問したところ、"tail in a crack" と答えました。
"tail in a crack" の文字通りの意味だと、尻尾が隙間に挟まった状態の様なので、困った状況と推測は出来ますが、辞書を見ても "tail in a crack" の説明は見つかりませんでした。 仕方なく、ネットで調べると、'To Kill a Mockingbird' は学校での教材として良く読まれている様で、この個所についての質問があり、次の回答を見つけました。
In the given question, the scenario is that there is a legal restriction, called as entailment, with the Cunningham family, while selling a piece of their land for the purpose of gaining money or profit. According to the legal term, entailment, the owner of the land or house is unable to sell it for profit. The property can only be transferred to the other member of the family.
So now it is a logical example that having a tail in the crack. It means that when tail of an animal is stuck in a crack, that animal is unable to move. So this example best illustrates the situation of the Cunningham Family, as they are facing the entailment, and stuck with the land which they own and which they cannot sell for profit. They do not have any other choice than staying with the land, which means their tail is stuck in the crack.
なるほど、これなら "entailment" の意味との整合がとれるので納得です。
前回引用した個所の直ぐ後の場面です。
When I asked Jem what entailment was, and Jem described it a a condition of having your tail in a crack. I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us.
主人公の少女 Scoutが兄のJem（まだ小学生）に "entailment" の意味を質問したところ、"tail in a crack" と答えました。
"tail in a crack" の文字通りの意味だと、尻尾が隙間に挟まった状態の様なので、困った状況と推測は出来ますが、辞書を見ても "tail in a crack" の説明は見つかりませんでした。 仕方なく、ネットで調べると、'To Kill a Mockingbird' は学校での教材として良く読まれている様で、この個所についての質問があり、次の回答を見つけました。
In the given question, the scenario is that there is a legal restriction, called as entailment, with the Cunningham family, while selling a piece of their land for the purpose of gaining money or profit. According to the legal term, entailment, the owner of the land or house is unable to sell it for profit. The property can only be transferred to the other member of the family.
So now it is a logical example that having a tail in the crack. It means that when tail of an animal is stuck in a crack, that animal is unable to move. So this example best illustrates the situation of the Cunningham Family, as they are facing the entailment, and stuck with the land which they own and which they cannot sell for profit. They do not have any other choice than staying with the land, which means their tail is stuck in the crack.
なるほど、これなら "entailment" の意味との整合がとれるので納得です。
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