Idioms & Expressions
Idioms, sound words, old-style expressions, similes and casual speech in 手袋を買いに (Buying Mittens).
-
Old-style
或朝あるあさ
Meaning: one morning (或 is an old kanji spelling of ある, "a certain")
或朝洞穴から子供の狐が出ようとしましたが、
One morning the fox cub was about to go out of the den when,
-
Casual speech
母ちゃんかあちゃん
Meaning: mommy (a small child's word for mother; the narrator says 母さん狐)
「母ちゃん、眼に何か刺さった、ぬいて頂戴早く早く」と言いました。
"Mommy, something's stuck in my eye! Take it out, quick, quick!" he said.
-
Casual speech
〜て頂戴〜てちょうだい
Meaning: please do ... (a soft, familiar way to ask; children and women use it a lot)
「母ちゃん、眼に何か刺さった、ぬいて頂戴早く早く」と言いました。
"Mommy, something's stuck in my eye! Take it out, quick, quick!" he said.
-
Idiom
あわてふためくあわてふためく
Meaning: to panic; to rush about in a fluster
母さん狐がびっくりして、あわてふためきながら、眼を抑えている子供の手を恐る恐るとりのけて見ましたが、何も刺さってはいませんでした。
The mother fox was startled and, in a fluster, nervously moved the cub's hands away from his eyes and looked, but nothing was stuck in them.
-
Idiom
恐る恐るおそるおそる
Meaning: fearfully; nervously (doing something while afraid of what will happen)
母さん狐がびっくりして、あわてふためきながら、眼を抑えている子供の手を恐る恐るとりのけて見ましたが、何も刺さってはいませんでした。
The mother fox was startled and, in a fluster, nervously moved the cub's hands away from his eyes and looked, but nothing was stuck in them.
-
Idiom
わけが解るわけがわかる
Meaning: to understand the reason; to see why
母さん狐は洞穴の入口から外へ出て始めてわけが解りました。
Only when she went out through the mouth of the den did the mother fox understand why.
-
Sound & mimetic word
どっさりどっさり
Meaning: a lot; in heaps
昨夜のうちに、真白な雪がどっさり降ったのです。
During the night, a great deal of pure white snow had fallen.
-
Sound & mimetic word
キラキラキラキラ
Meaning: sparkling; glittering
その雪の上からお陽さまがキラキラと照していたので、雪は眩しいほど反射していたのです。
The sun was shining brightly down on that snow, so the snow was reflecting the light until it was dazzling.
-
真綿のように柔かいまわたのようにやわらかい
Meaning: as soft as floss silk (a light, fluffy silk used like cotton wool)
真綿のように柔かい雪の上を駈け廻ると、雪の粉が、しぶきのように飛び散って小さい虹がすっと映るのでした。
As he ran about on snow as soft as floss silk, the powdery snow flew up like spray, and little rainbows flickered in it.
-
しぶきのようにしぶきのように
Meaning: like spray (the fine drops that fly up from water)
真綿のように柔かい雪の上を駈け廻ると、雪の粉が、しぶきのように飛び散って小さい虹がすっと映るのでした。
As he ran about on snow as soft as floss silk, the powdery snow flew up like spray, and little rainbows flickered in it.
-
Sound & mimetic word
すっとすっと
Meaning: lightly and quickly; in a flash
真綿のように柔かい雪の上を駈け廻ると、雪の粉が、しぶきのように飛び散って小さい虹がすっと映るのでした。
As he ran about on snow as soft as floss silk, the powdery snow flew up like spray, and little rainbows flickered in it.
-
Sound & mimetic word
どたどたどたどた
Meaning: (sound) thud-thud; a heavy thumping
「どたどた、ざーっ」と物凄い音がして、パン粉のような粉雪が、ふわーっと子狐におっかぶさって来ました。
there was a tremendous noise, "Thud-thud, whoosh!", and powder snow like breadcrumbs came softly down all over the cub.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ざーっざーっ
Meaning: (sound) whoosh; something falling in a rush
「どたどた、ざーっ」と物凄い音がして、パン粉のような粉雪が、ふわーっと子狐におっかぶさって来ました。
there was a tremendous noise, "Thud-thud, whoosh!", and powder snow like breadcrumbs came softly down all over the cub.
-
Idiom
音がするおとがする
Meaning: there is a sound; a sound is heard
Literal: a sound does
「どたどた、ざーっ」と物凄い音がして、パン粉のような粉雪が、ふわーっと子狐におっかぶさって来ました。
there was a tremendous noise, "Thud-thud, whoosh!", and powder snow like breadcrumbs came softly down all over the cub.
-
パン粉のような粉雪パンこのようなこなゆき
Meaning: powder snow like breadcrumbs
「どたどた、ざーっ」と物凄い音がして、パン粉のような粉雪が、ふわーっと子狐におっかぶさって来ました。
there was a tremendous noise, "Thud-thud, whoosh!", and powder snow like breadcrumbs came softly down all over the cub.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ふわーっとふわーっと
Meaning: softly and lightly (like something floating down)
「どたどた、ざーっ」と物凄い音がして、パン粉のような粉雪が、ふわーっと子狐におっかぶさって来ました。
there was a tremendous noise, "Thud-thud, whoosh!", and powder snow like breadcrumbs came softly down all over the cub.
-
Old-style
十米じゅうメートル
Meaning: ten meters (米 is an old way to write メートル)
子狐はびっくりして、雪の中にころがるようにして十米も向こうへ逃げました。
Startled, the cub fled a good ten meters, almost rolling through the snow.
-
白い絹糸のようにしろいきぬいとのように
Meaning: like white silk thread (thin lines of falling snow)
まだ枝と枝の間から白い絹糸のように雪がこぼれていました。
Snow was still spilling down between the branches like white silk thread.
-
Casual speech
お手々おてて
Meaning: hands (a small child's word)
「お母ちゃん、お手々が冷たい、お手々がちんちんする」と言って、濡れて牡丹色になった両手を母さん狐の前にさしだしました。
said, "Mommy, my hands are cold, my hands are stinging," and held out his two wet hands, which had turned peony red, in front of his mother.
-
Casual speech
ちんちんするちんちんする
Meaning: to sting; to tingle (from the cold; a child's word)
「お母ちゃん、お手々が冷たい、お手々がちんちんする」と言って、濡れて牡丹色になった両手を母さん狐の前にさしだしました。
said, "Mommy, my hands are cold, my hands are stinging," and held out his two wet hands, which had turned peony red, in front of his mother.
-
Sound & mimetic word
は――っとはーっと
Meaning: (sound) haah (breathing out a long, warm breath)
母さん狐は、その手に、は――っと息をふっかけて、ぬくとい母さんの手でやんわり包んでやりながら、
The mother fox breathed "haah" on those hands and, wrapping them gently in her own warm ones,
-
Casual speech
ぬくといぬくとい
Meaning: warm (a dialect word for 暖かい)
母さん狐は、その手に、は――っと息をふっかけて、ぬくとい母さんの手でやんわり包んでやりながら、
The mother fox breathed "haah" on those hands and, wrapping them gently in her own warm ones,
-
Sound & mimetic word
やんわりやんわり
Meaning: gently; softly
母さん狐は、その手に、は――っと息をふっかけて、ぬくとい母さんの手でやんわり包んでやりながら、
The mother fox breathed "haah" on those hands and, wrapping them gently in her own warm ones,
-
Casual speech
〜もんだ〜もんだ
Meaning: that is how it is (a spoken form of 〜ものだ)
「もうすぐ暖くなるよ、雪をさわると、すぐ暖くなるもんだよ」といいましたが、かあいい坊やの手に霜焼ができてはかわいそうだから、夜になったら、町まで行って、坊やのお手々にあうような毛糸の手袋を買ってやろうと思いました。
said, "They'll soon be warm. When you touch snow, they get warm right away." But she thought it would be a pity if her dear boy got chilblains, so when night came she would go to town and buy him woolen mittens to fit his little hands.
-
Casual speech
かあいいかあいい
Meaning: sweet; dear (an older, soft way to say かわいい)
「もうすぐ暖くなるよ、雪をさわると、すぐ暖くなるもんだよ」といいましたが、かあいい坊やの手に霜焼ができてはかわいそうだから、夜になったら、町まで行って、坊やのお手々にあうような毛糸の手袋を買ってやろうと思いました。
said, "They'll soon be warm. When you touch snow, they get warm right away." But she thought it would be a pity if her dear boy got chilblains, so when night came she would go to town and buy him woolen mittens to fit his little hands.
-
風呂敷のような影ふろしきのようなかげ
Meaning: a shadow like a furoshiki: the night is a big wrapping cloth that covers the fields and the forest
暗い暗い夜が風呂敷のような影をひろげて野原や森を包みにやって来ましたが、雪はあまり白いので、包んでも包んでも白く浮びあがっていました。
The dark, dark night came, spreading its shadow like a wrapping cloth to wrap up the fields and the forest, but the snow was so white that however much the night wrapped it, it still stood out white.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ぱちぱちぱちぱち
Meaning: (blinking) again and again
子供の方はお母さんのお腹の下へはいりこんで、そこからまんまるな眼をぱちぱちさせながら、あっちやこっちを見ながら歩いて行きました。
The cub crept in under his mother's belly and walked along from there, blinking his perfectly round eyes and looking this way and that.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ぽっつりぽっつり
Meaning: all alone; as a single small dot
やがて、行手にぽっつりあかりが一つ見え始めました。
Before long, a single light came into view ahead of them.
-
Casual speech
落ちてるおちてる
Meaning: = 落ちている (in speech, the い of 〜ている drops out)
「母ちゃん、お星さまは、あんな低いところにも落ちてるのねえ」とききました。
asked, "Mommy, do stars fall down as low as that, too?"
-
Idiom
足がすくむあしがすくむ
Meaning: to freeze with fear; to be unable to move
Literal: the legs shrink
「あれはお星さまじゃないのよ」と言って、その時母さん狐の足はすくんでしまいました。
"That is not a star," she said, and at that moment the mother fox's legs froze.
-
Idiom
とんだ目にあうとんだめにあう
Meaning: to have a terrible experience; to get into bad trouble
Literal: to meet a terrible eye
その町の灯を見た時、母さん狐は、ある時町へお友達と出かけて行って、とんだめにあったことを思出しました。
When she saw that town light, the mother fox remembered the time she had gone to town with a friend and had a terrible experience.
-
Old-style
およしなさいおよしなさい
Meaning: don't; you had better not (a gentle, slightly old-fashioned way to stop someone; よす = やめる)
およしなさいっていうのもきかないで、お友達の狐が、或る家の家鴨を盗もうとしたので、お百姓に見つかって、さんざ追いまくられて、命からがら逃げたことでした。
Though she had told her not to, her friend had tried to steal a duck from a certain house; a farmer found them, they were chased and chased, and they barely escaped with their lives.
-
Idiom
命からがらいのちからがら
Meaning: barely escaping with one's life
およしなさいっていうのもきかないで、お友達の狐が、或る家の家鴨を盗もうとしたので、お百姓に見つかって、さんざ追いまくられて、命からがら逃げたことでした。
Though she had told her not to, her friend had tried to steal a duck from a certain house; a farmer found them, they were chased and chased, and they barely escaped with their lives.
-
Casual speech
何してんのなにしてんの
Meaning: = 何をしているの: what are you doing?
「母ちゃん何してんの、早く行こうよ」と子供の狐がお腹の下から言うのでしたが、母さん狐はどうしても足がすすまないのでした。
"Mommy, what are you doing? Let's hurry," said the cub from under her belly, but the mother fox simply could not make her legs go forward.
-
Idiom
足がすすまないあしがすすまない
Meaning: to be unable to make oneself go on
Literal: the legs do not go forward
「母ちゃん何してんの、早く行こうよ」と子供の狐がお腹の下から言うのでしたが、母さん狐はどうしても足がすすまないのでした。
"Mommy, what are you doing? Let's hurry," said the cub from under her belly, but the mother fox simply could not make her legs go forward.
-
Idiom
しかたがないしかたがない
Meaning: it cannot be helped; there is no other way
Literal: there is no way of doing
そこで、しかたがないので、坊やだけを一人で町まで行かせることになりました。
So, since there was no help for it, it was decided that the boy would go to town by himself.
-
Casual speech
お出しおだし
Meaning: hold it out (お + verb stem: a gentle order from an adult to a child)
「坊やお手々を片方お出し」とお母さん狐がいいました。
"Hold out one of your hands, my boy," said the mother fox.
-
Casual speech
なあになあに
Meaning: what? (a soft, childlike form of なに)
「何だか変だな母ちゃん、これなあに？」
"This feels funny, Mommy. What is it?"
-
Sound & mimetic word
しげしげとしげしげと
Meaning: (looking) closely; staring for a long time
と言って、雪あかりに、またその、人間の手に変えられてしまった自分の手をしげしげと見つめました。
he said, and in the light of the snow he stared again at his own hand, which had been changed into a human hand.
-
Casual speech
いいかいいいかい
Meaning: now listen; all right? (said before telling a child something important)
いいかい坊や、町へ行ったらね、たくさん人間の家があるからね、まず表に円いシャッポの看板のかかっている家を探すんだよ。
Now listen, my boy. When you get to town, there will be lots of human houses, so first look for the house with a sign of a round hat hanging out front.
-
Old-style
シャッポシャッポ
Meaning: hat (an old loanword from French chapeau; today people say 帽子)
いいかい坊や、町へ行ったらね、たくさん人間の家があるからね、まず表に円いシャッポの看板のかかっている家を探すんだよ。
Now listen, my boy. When you get to town, there will be lots of human houses, so first look for the house with a sign of a round hat hanging out front.
-
Sound & mimetic word
トントントントン
Meaning: (sound) knock-knock; tap-tap
それが見つかったらね、トントンと戸を叩いて、今晩はって言うんだよ。
When you find it, knock on the door, knock-knock, and say 'Good evening.'
-
Casual speech
すこうしすこうし
Meaning: just a little (すこし, stretched out the way people say it to a small child)
そうするとね、中から人間が、すこうし戸をあけるからね、その戸の隙間から、こっちの手、ほらこの人間の手をさし入れてね、この手にちょうどいい手袋頂戴って言うんだよ、わかったね、決して、こっちのお手々を出しちゃ駄目よ」と母さん狐は言いきかせました。
Then a human will open the door just a little from inside, so through the gap in the door you put in this hand, see, this human hand, and say, 'Please give me mittens that are just right for this hand.' Do you understand? You must never put out this other hand," the mother fox told him carefully.
-
Casual speech
〜ちゃ駄目〜ちゃだめ
Meaning: must not ... (a spoken form of 〜てはだめ)
そうするとね、中から人間が、すこうし戸をあけるからね、その戸の隙間から、こっちの手、ほらこの人間の手をさし入れてね、この手にちょうどいい手袋頂戴って言うんだよ、わかったね、決して、こっちのお手々を出しちゃ駄目よ」と母さん狐は言いきかせました。
Then a human will open the door just a little from inside, so through the gap in the door you put in this hand, see, this human hand, and say, 'Please give me mittens that are just right for this hand.' Do you understand? You must never put out this other hand," the mother fox told him carefully.
-
Idiom
言いきかせるいいきかせる
Meaning: to tell someone carefully, so that they understand and obey
そうするとね、中から人間が、すこうし戸をあけるからね、その戸の隙間から、こっちの手、ほらこの人間の手をさし入れてね、この手にちょうどいい手袋頂戴って言うんだよ、わかったね、決して、こっちのお手々を出しちゃ駄目よ」と母さん狐は言いきかせました。
Then a human will open the door just a little from inside, so through the gap in the door you put in this hand, see, this human hand, and say, 'Please give me mittens that are just right for this hand.' Do you understand? You must never put out this other hand," the mother fox told him carefully.
-
Idiom
それどころかそれどころか
Meaning: far from that; worse than that
「人間はね、相手が狐だと解ると、手袋を売ってくれないんだよ、それどころか、掴まえて檻の中へ入れちゃうんだよ、人間ってほんとに恐いものなんだよ」
"If humans find out they are dealing with a fox, they won't sell you mittens. Worse than that, they catch you and put you in a cage. Humans are truly frightening things."
-
Casual speech
入れちゃういれちゃう
Meaning: = 入れてしまう (〜ちゃう is the spoken form of 〜てしまう)
「人間はね、相手が狐だと解ると、手袋を売ってくれないんだよ、それどころか、掴まえて檻の中へ入れちゃうんだよ、人間ってほんとに恐いものなんだよ」
"If humans find out they are dealing with a fox, they won't sell you mittens. Worse than that, they catch you and put you in a cage. Humans are truly frightening things."
-
Casual speech
ふーんふーん
Meaning: hmm (a sound that shows you are listening, but are not fully convinced)
「ふーん」
"Hmm."
-
Old-style
白銅貨はくどうか
Meaning: nickel coin (a small silver-colored coin of the time)
「決して、こっちの手を出しちゃいけないよ、こっちの方、ほら人間の手の方をさしだすんだよ」と言って、母さんの狐は、持って来た二つの白銅貨を、人間の手の方へ握らせてやりました。
"You must never put out this hand. This one, see, hold out the human hand," she said, and the mother fox put the two nickel coins she had brought into the human hand.
-
Idiom
〜を目あてに〜をめあてに
Meaning: heading for ...; using ... as a guide
子供の狐は、町の灯を目あてに、雪あかりの野原をよちよちやって行きました。
The cub toddled off across the snow-lit field, heading for the lights of the town.
-
Sound & mimetic word
よちよちよちよち
Meaning: with small, unsteady steps (like a baby learning to walk)
子供の狐は、町の灯を目あてに、雪あかりの野原をよちよちやって行きました。
The cub toddled off across the snow-lit field, heading for the lights of the town.
-
Idiom
はてははては
Meaning: in the end; finally (after going on and on)
始めのうちは一つきりだった灯が二つになり三つになり、はては十にもふえました。
At first there had been only one light, but it became two, then three, and in the end there were as many as ten.
-
Old-style
黄いきい
Meaning: yellow (an old form of 黄色い)
狐の子供はそれを見て、灯には、星と同じように、赤いのや黄いのや青いのがあるんだなと思いました。
Seeing them, the cub thought that lights, just like stars, come in red and yellow and blue.
-
Old-style
電燈でんとう
Meaning: electric light (燈 is the old form of 灯)
けれど表の看板の上には大てい小さな電燈がともっていましたので、狐の子は、それを見ながら、帽子屋を探して行きました。
But above most of the signs out front a small electric light was burning, so the cub looked at them as he went along searching for the hat shop.
-
古い壁のようにふるいかべのように
Meaning: like an old wall (with the paint peeling off)
自転車の看板や、眼鏡の看板やその他いろんな看板が、あるものは、新しいペンキで画かれ、或るものは、古い壁のようにはげていましたが、町に始めて出て来た子狐にはそれらのものがいったい何であるか分らないのでした。
There was a bicycle sign, an eyeglasses sign, and all sorts of other signs, some freshly painted and some peeling like an old wall, but the cub, who had come to town for the first time, had no idea what any of them were.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ことことことこと
Meaning: (sound) a soft tapping or rattling
すると、中では何かことこと音がしていましたがやがて、戸が一寸ほどゴロリとあいて、光の帯が道の白い雪の上に長く伸びました。
At that, there was a soft rattling inside, and before long the door rolled open about an inch, and a band of light stretched long across the white snow in the road.
-
Old-style
一寸いっすん
Meaning: one sun (an old unit of length, about 3 cm)
すると、中では何かことこと音がしていましたがやがて、戸が一寸ほどゴロリとあいて、光の帯が道の白い雪の上に長く伸びました。
At that, there was a soft rattling inside, and before long the door rolled open about an inch, and a band of light stretched long across the white snow in the road.
-
Sound & mimetic word
ゴロリゴロリ
Meaning: with a heavy roll (the sound of a sliding door moving)
すると、中では何かことこと音がしていましたがやがて、戸が一寸ほどゴロリとあいて、光の帯が道の白い雪の上に長く伸びました。
At that, there was a soft rattling inside, and before long the door rolled open about an inch, and a band of light stretched long across the white snow in the road.
-
光の帯ひかりのおび
Meaning: a band of light (the long, narrow light from the open door)
Literal: a belt of light
すると、中では何かことこと音がしていましたがやがて、戸が一寸ほどゴロリとあいて、光の帯が道の白い雪の上に長く伸びました。
At that, there was a soft rattling inside, and before long the door rolled open about an inch, and a band of light stretched long across the white snow in the road.
-
Idiom
めんくらうめんくらう
Meaning: to be thrown into confusion by something sudden
子狐はその光がまばゆかったので、めんくらって、まちがった方の手を、――お母さまが出しちゃいけないと言ってよく聞かせた方の手をすきまからさしこんでしまいました。
The light was so dazzling that the cub was thrown into confusion, and he put the wrong hand, the very hand his mother had told him again and again not to put out, in through the gap.
-
Idiom
木の葉で買うこのはでかう
Meaning: to pay with tree leaves (in Japanese folk tales, foxes and tanuki use magic to make leaves look like money)
これはきっと木の葉で買いに来たんだなと思いました。
"He must have come to buy them with tree leaves," he thought.
-
Sound & mimetic word
チンチンチンチン
Meaning: (sound) clink-clink; the ring of coins
帽子屋さんはそれを人差指のさきにのっけて、カチ合せて見ると、チンチンとよい音がしましたので、これは木の葉じゃない、ほんとのお金だと思いましたので、棚から子供用の毛糸の手袋をとり出して来て子狐の手に持たせてやりました。
The hatter set them on the tip of his forefinger and knocked them together. They rang with a good clink, so he thought, "These are not leaves, this is real money," and he took a pair of children's woolen mittens down from the shelf and put them in the cub's hand.
-
Idiom
もと来た道もときたみち
Meaning: the way one came
子狐は、お礼を言ってまた、もと来た道を帰り始めました。
The cub said thank you and started back the way he had come.
-
Old-style
仰有るおっしゃる
Meaning: to say (a respectful word; 仰有る is an old kanji spelling of おっしゃる)
「お母さんは、人間は恐ろしいものだって仰有ったがちっとも恐ろしくないや。
"Mother said that humans are frightening, but they aren't frightening at all.
-
Casual speech
だってだって
Meaning: because; after all (begins a reason; common in children's speech)
だって僕の手を見てもどうもしなかったもの」と思いました。
After all, he saw my hand and didn't do a thing to me," he thought.
-
Casual speech
〜もの〜もの
Meaning: (at the end of a sentence) because ..., you see (gives a reason in a soft or childlike way)
だって僕の手を見てもどうもしなかったもの」と思いました。
After all, he saw my hand and didn't do a thing to me," he thought.
-
Idiom
声がするこえがする
Meaning: a voice is heard
Literal: a voice does
ある窓の下を通りかかると、人間の声がしていました。
As he passed beneath a certain window, he heard a human voice.
-
Casual speech
ねんねするねんねする
Meaning: to go to sleep (a word used to babies and small children)
さあ坊やも早くねんねしなさい。
Now, you go to sleep quickly too, my boy.
-
Idiom
今か今かといまかいまかと
Meaning: (waiting) eagerly, thinking it will happen any moment
Literal: is it now? is it now?
お母さん狐は、心配しながら、坊やの狐の帰って来るのを、今か今かとふるえながら待っていましたので、坊やが来ると、暖い胸に抱きしめて泣きたいほどよろこびました。
The mother fox had been worrying and waiting, trembling, for her boy to come back at any moment, so when he came she hugged him to her warm breast and was so happy she could have cried.
-
コバルトの影コバルトのかげ
Meaning: cobalt shadows (the deep blue shadows in footprints on moonlit snow)
月が出たので、狐の毛なみが銀色に光り、その足あとには、コバルトの影がたまりました。
The moon had come out, so the foxes' fur shone silver, and cobalt shadows gathered in their footprints.
-
Casual speech
恐かないこわかない
Meaning: = こわくはない: not scary at all
「母ちゃん、人間ってちっとも恐かないや」
"Mommy, humans aren't frightening at all."
-
Casual speech
〜やしない〜やしない
Meaning: do not ... at all (a spoken form of 〜はしない, a strong negative)
でも帽子屋さん、掴まえやしなかったもの。
But the hatter didn't catch me.
-
Sound & mimetic word
パンパンパンパン
Meaning: (sound) pat-pat; clap-clap
と言って手袋のはまった両手をパンパンやって見せました。
he said, and showed her by patting his mittened hands together.
-
Casual speech
〜かしら〜かしら
Meaning: I wonder ... (a soft sentence ending, used mostly by women)
とあきれましたが、「ほんとうに人間はいいものかしら。
in amazement, but then, "I wonder if humans are really good.