(496) The Flowers

THE FLOWERS (Robert Louis Stevenson) 

この詩の中にでてくる、７つの草花について調べました。特に最初の５つの名前がとても面白いので、見てください。妖精の絵も探してみました。 

All the names I know from nurse:
Gardener’s garters 1), Shepherd’s purse 2),
Bachelor’s buttons 3), Lady’s smock 4),
And the Lady Hollyhock 5).

Fairy places, fairy things,
Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
Tiny trees for tiny dames
These must all be fairy names! 

Tiny woods below whose boughs
Shady fairies weave a house;
Tiny tree-tops, rose 6) or thyme 7),
Where the braver fairies climb! 

Fair are grown-up people’s trees,
But the fairest woods are these;
Where if I were not so tall,
I should live for good and all. 

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894). A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods. 1913.

続・子どもの詩の園

• 作者: ロバート・ルイス スティーヴンスン
• 出版社/メーカー: 白石書店
• 発売日: 2000/10
• メディア: 単行本

 訳・絵　よしだみどり

1) Gardener’s garters,

（庭師の靴下留め: よしだみどり訳）

(シマクサヨシRibbon Grass, Reed Canary Grass, Gardener's Garters)
gardeners' garters (uncountable)
ribbongrass

https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/4383/

19th century

Some women wore stockings with a plain elastic garter or narrow material tied tightly, not suspenders, or by simply rolling the top of the stocking, because it seemed more practical or they could not afford classic corsetry, thus creating a kind of predecessor of the modern hold ups.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hold-ups

Hold-ups or stay-ups (in the United States also referred to as thigh-high stockings or simply thigh highs) are stockings with an elasticized band at the top, designed to hold the stockings up when worn, without the use of a garter belt or garters. Thigh highs are held up by one or more bands sewn to the top that is backed with silicone on its inner surface. This ensures the thigh highs stay in position because of the elastic and the friction of the silicone against the skin. The silicone can become ineffective by contact with body lotions, oils and talcum powder1), as they all reduce the friction of the silicone. Thigh highs are designed so that the elastic band exerts just the right pressure on a woman's thigh, avoiding any uncomfortable tightness or unflattering2) muffin-top3) effect. Sometimes thigh highs are preferred to pantyhose for hygiene reasons, because they reduce excessive microbial growth around the groin4) due to humidity and warmth.

1) talcum powder：タルカム＝パウダー（滑石粉に香料を加えた化粧用パウダー）
2) unflattering：悪印象を呈しているまたは表している(showing or representing unfavorably)
3) muffin-top：A muffin top (bulging roll of flesh)、（ズボンなどを履いたときにその上に）はみ出した肉
4) groin：又の付け根の部分

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter
Bride putting on a garter

2) Shepherd’s purse,

よしだみどりさん訳では
「羊飼いのがま口」・・・？

口金がついてないよ「羊飼いの財布」でいいのでは？

seeds in the seed pod from which it gets its name

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shepherd%27s_purse

別名はペンペン草

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ナズナ

3) Bachelor’s buttons, ヤグルマギク→やくるまそう cornflower

よしだみどりさん訳では「独身者の無精ボタン」
無精ボタンにしては、美しすぎるボタン？

The Bachelor Button is actually a flower that has a story behind it and this is a flower that bachelors generally wore when they had feelings for a certain person that they were trying to date. They would wear the flower and the longer that the flower lasted, the more that it showed that there was a true love there, if the flower faded away, it wasn’t meant to be.
https://www.canadianflowerdelivery.com/bachelor-button.aspx

 4) Lady’s smock, ハナタネツケバナ花種漬花

よしだみどりさん訳では「貴婦人の下着」

Cuckooflower Andrew Gagg/Plantlife
https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/cuckooflower

 Whilst the name 'lady's smock1)' might refer to the pale, pinkish and slightly cupped nature of the petals, it might have another more debauched2) explanation. Similar to 'a bit of skirt', 'smock' was a slightly suggestive and rather derogatory3) term for a woman and it may be this name was applied due to the things young people got up to4) in the meadows in the spring! Paradoxically this wild flower is also associated with the Virgin.

1) smock: loose dress or protective coat
次のような使い方もあるようです。

warm tea in knitted smocked mug cup

2) Debauched: dɪbɔ́ːʧt（飲酒や麻薬などで）堕落した
3) Derogatory: dɪrάgət`ɔːri｜‐rˈɔgətəri, ‐tri/ (名声・人格などを)傷つけるような; 〈言葉など〉軽蔑的な。
4) got up to: <いたずらなど>をしでかす、する。

タネツケバナ種漬花／種付花
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~uu2n-mnt/yaso/tanken/haru/yas_tanetukebana.htm

タネツケバナ（種漬花）Cardamine flexuosa
（２００７年４月７日　東京都大田区・東京港野鳥公園）
アブラナ科タネツケバナ属　花期：３～６月　分布：日本全土

 5) the Lady Hollyhock. タチアオイ

https://www.hana300.com/tachia.html

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49616/49616-h/49616-h.htm

Flower Fairies of the Summer (Flower Fairies Original)

• 作者: Cicely Mary Barker
• 出版社/メーカー: Warne
• 発売日: 2018/05/31
• メディア: ハードカバー

6) rose
 

7) Thyme

タチジャコウソウ立麝香草、コモンタイム、
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/タイム_(植物)
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(495) Collin Street Bakery cake

(495) Collin Street Bakery cake

Dear Preferred Customer,

When you buy a world-famous Collin Street Bakery cake, you’re getting a big, tasty piece of Texas! These delicious cakes have been eagerly anticipated1) Christmas gifts since 1896 by foodies2) throughout Texas, and around the world!

(1)  anticipate: look forward to
(2)  foodie:a person keenly interested in food, especially in eating or cooking.

Choose among any of these delicious Collin Street Bakery products:
Original Deluxe Fruitcake – Our world famous of Texas pecans3), pineapple and papaya4) handpicked from our own farms in tropical Costa Rica5), plump6) red cherries, and golden Sultana7) raisins, all bound together by our proprietary8) clover honey batter9). Beautifully decorated for the holidays.

(3) pecan: hickory tree bearing a smooth-shelled nut or the nut
(4) papaya: tropical tree with large edible fruit
(5) Costa Rica: country in central America

(6) plump: having a full rounded form
(7) Sultana: a pale yellow seedless grape grown for raisins and wine
(8) proprietary: (of a brand name, product, service, formula, etc.) protected by a patent, copyright, or trademark:
(9) batter: mixture of flour and liquid


pic. Original Deluxe Fruitcake

Sliced Deluxe Fruitcake – Try our world famous Deluxe Fruitcake pre-sliced into easy-to-serve portions for your net holiday party.

Texas Blonde Pecan Cake – Almost 1/3 Texas pecans, pineapple and papaya handpicked in tropical Costa Rica, ripe red cherries and golden Sultana raisins. Handsomely10) decorated with two concentric11) rows of pecan halves for a sophisticated12) presentation.

(10) handsomely: beautifully
(11) concentric: having a common center
(12) sophisticated: cultivated


pic. Texas Blonde Pecan Cake

Apricot Pecan Cake  - A delightfully tangy13) blend of Australian apricots14) and crunchy Texas pecans. A customer favorite!

(13) tangy: having a strong taste or flavor
(14) apricot: peach-like fruit


pic. Apricot Pecan Cake

Pineapple Pecan Cake – Sweet and succulent pineapple from Costa Rica, combined with rich, crunchy, Texas pecans.


Pic. Pineapple Pecan Cake

Miniature Native Texas Pecan Cakes – The gift set includes one of our classic Mini Texas Deluxe Fruitcake, a Mini Apricot Pecan Cake, a Mini Pineapple Pecan Cake and a Mini Texas Blonde Pecan Cake. Each cake is delivered in our charming collector’s tins, measuring about 5” (12 cm) across. That’s four gifts in one! A true gift-giver’s delight!
Every Native Texas Pecan Cake we bake is loaded with rich, crunchy Texas pecans and exotic gla·céed15) fruit. These cakes are only available by mail order, or in one of our five Texas Bakeshops.

(15) gla·cée: to cook in heavy syrup until transparent, as fruit, fruit peel, or ginger.  

Enjoyed by Millions of People Worldwide Every Year!
    We delivered over 1 million Texas Pecan Cake and other Collin Street Bakery desserts every year. We are proud of our reputation as one of the finest bakeries in the world, and offer our products with an unconditional guarantee of satisfaction.

The Secret is in the Texas Native Pecans…and our Delicious Clover Honey Batter.
    You and your gift recipients16) will enjoy full flavored native pecans in every bite. Native pecans, Nature’s finest, grow wild across Texas and the Deep South and comprise17) almost 30 percent of the cake. Our world renowned recipe comes from our founding baker, Gus Weidmann, who immigrated to Texas from Germany, founding his bakery in 1896.

(16) recipient: [rɪsípiənt] one that receives
(17) comprise: be made up of

Unconditional Guarantee
    Every cake we bake is guaranteed to be the best you and your gift recipients have ever tasted. If you disagree in any way, just tell us and we will immediately replace you cake or refund18) the purchaser. Also, every cake sent to recipients on your list will include your name and person greeting.

(18) refund: give or put back (money)

    We accept orders by web, phone, mail, or fax. Go to our website anytime at WWW.collinstreet.com. Call us at [phone], fax your order to [phone], or mail your order form to: P.O. Box 79, Corsicana, TX 75151, USA. We will take care of the rest!

Sincerely,
John Crawford
Executive V.P.& Director
Collin Street Bakery

P.S. Share the rich heritage of this world class Fruitcake and our world famous Texas bakery with family and friends. Our book, A Slice of Life, celebrates family, home and hearth with personal stories from Collin Street Bakery customers from around the world. Details at www.collinstree.com.
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(494) “Uwajima Sansa” and “Sansa Shigure”

(494) “Uwajima Sansa” and “Sansa Shigure”

All Japan SGG Gathering at Matsushima 2018 was held on Nov. 2^nd and 3^rd. On the first day’s night many members got together at Matsushima’s Hotel and enjoyed buffet style party. One of the members of Sendai area began to sing a folk song, “Sansa shigure” meaning Sansa Icy Rain. This song was created by Date soldiers elated over their victory in the battle of Suriagehara (摺上原). Then I thought I must sing “Uwajima sansa” after him as a man born in Uwajima. I sang the song on the stage. It went like this:

The sparrow in bamboo Sendai lord, shongaina
竹に雀の　仙台様も　ションガイナ　

Now over here,        ei ei ei      together　
今じゃこなたと　エエー諸共にヨ

Uwajima warriors all  made a vow, shongaina　
しかと誓いし　宇和島武士は　ションガイナ

For life and death,     ei ei ei      together
死ぬも生きるも　エエー諸共にヨ

“Uwajima sansa” was sung for the first time by the Uwajima samurai Yoshida Mansaku at the mediation banquet about 270 years ago. He sang “Uwajima sansa” ad lib after “Snasa shigure” sung by a Sendai samurai. So I was happy that I happened to have a similar situation of the old time. Uwajima Date had the same culture as Sendai Date. Even now Uwajima has the same culture as Sendai, such as Uwajima Kamaboko (fish cake), shika-odori (deer dance ) and Tanabata festival.

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Picture: “Sparrow in bamboo” Date family crest on the incense-burner at Zuihoden (瑞鳳殿), the mausoleum of Date Masamune (伊達政宗)

(493) Halloween 2018

(493) Halloween 2018

pic. Halloween on cup

(1) What is Halloween?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
The evening of October 31 observed esp. by children merrymaking and masquerading.

Oxford Advanced learner’s dictionary:
31 October, the eve of All Saints’ Day.

The Random House Dictionary:
The evening of October 31, celebrated by children as merrymaking festival.

Pic. JA Saisaikiteya market at Imabari

Longman Active Study Dictionary 5^th edition:
The night of October 31, when children dress as WITCHES, GHOSTS etc.

Pic. Halloween Mask

The Charlie Brown Dictionary (1973):
Halloween is the last night in October. On this holiday some children wear masks like Charlie Brown’s. Others wear funny clothes like Lucy’s.
?The kids come to the door and say, “Trick or treat.”
?If they don’t get a treat like a candy, they will play a trick on the people who didn’t give them something good to eat. Now most kids gather money on Halloween for poor children all over the world.

Pic. Charlie Brown and Lucy

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/halloween?s=t
The evening of October 31: the eve of All Saints’s Day; Allhallows Eve: observed especially by children in costumes who solicit1) treats, often by threatening minor pranks2).?
?1) solicit: ask for,
?2) prank: playful or mischievous acts

(2) Historical Examples?of?Halloween
Armour's Monthly Cook Book, Volume 2, No. 12, October 1913

Pic. Armour’s Monthly Cook Book

Halloween
? ?The date of this oldtime celebration is always October 31st, the crucial moment 12 o'clock. To be sure, the original observance of All Hallows Eve has been considerably distorted during the course of years but the fun it affords the young folks in its present manner of keeping cannot be gainsaid1) and needs no changing. Halloween is the night when a magic spell enthrals2) the earth. Witches, bogies, brownies and elves are all abroad to use their power. Superstition proves true, witchery is recognized and the future may be read in a hundred and one ways.
(1)?gainsay: deny or dispute
(2)?enthrall: hold spellbound

(3) Word Origin and History for Halloween
c.1745, Scottish shortening of Allhallow-even “Eve of All Saints, last night of October” (1550s), the last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar, where it was Old Year‘s Night , a night for witches. A pagan1) holiday given a cursory2) baptism and sent on its way. See hallow; also cf. hallows.
(1) pagan: heathen, uncivilized or godless person
(2) cursory: hastily done, lacking in depth, solidity, and comprehesiveness
(Online Etymology Dictionary, 2010 Douglas Harper)

pic. Halloween at Towel Museum
END

(492) いろいろな皮

(492) いろいろな皮

A mother said to her daughter, “Eat a banana.”
The daughter ate it and left the table.
The mother said, “Peeling on the table!”
Then the child cleaned the table.

Peeling : バナナの皮that which is peeled from something , as a piece of the skin or rind of a fruit.

 

Then I looked up 皮 in a Japanese-English dictionary. 

(1)   皮膚・毛皮
skin: salmon skin サケの皮

 I burned in the sun and my skin peeled.

hide: a fox hide キツネの皮 animal skin
pelt: 毛のついた皮、the untanned hide or skin of an animal.

leather: 革（かわ）

The skin of an animal, with the hair removed, prepared for use by tanning or a similar process designed to preserve it against decay and make it pliable1) or supple2) when dry.
1)    pliable: easily bent; flexible; 
2)    supple: bending readily without breaking or becoming deformed;

(2)   樹木や果実などの表皮
skin: 野菜、果物の皮 an apple skin, a tomato skin, onion skin
peel: バナナなど手でむける皮 banana peel
rind [rάɪnd]: スイカなどの厚い皮 watermelon rind; orange rind; bacon rind.
husk(s): 穀物の
bark: 樹皮

(3)   外から覆い包んでいるもの
the bread covering of a filled bun: 饅頭の皮
a gyoza skin [wrapper]: 餃子の皮

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(491) Yugama 湯釜

(491) Yugama 湯釜

1. English translations for YUGAMA
Do you know what yugama is?
There are a few English translations for YUGAMA.

 2. Today’s yugama
I’ll show you today’s yugama.
These ugama are used now at Dogo Spa main building. 

Pic. Tamanoyu Men’s bath 

Pic. Kaminoyu Men’s bath 

3. The Meiji era’s yugama
Also in Hojoen is an ashiyu (hot footbath) that uses a yugama (cauldron), which was itself once used in Dogo Hot Spring during the Meiji era (1868 – 1912) 

Pic. Footbath beside the Bochan mechanical clock
These ugama have holes on their sides, from which the hot water comes out. 

4. Oldest yugama
A stone caldron placed in the Dogo Kouen Park is called “Yugama Yakushi (healing caldron). 

Pic. Ugama Yakushi
We cannot find any holes on its side. This ugama had been used at Dogo bath untill 1894.

 Question: Where did the hot water flow from the oldest yugama? 

With our group members I looked for any opening on the Yakushi ugama.

Pic. Yakushi Ugama 2

Answer: The hot water welled up from the top hole on the Ugama Yakushi.

Pic. Sacred gem stone (宝珠) yu-gama-yakushi 3

Pic. A hole under the sacred gem stone yu-gama-yakushi 4 

5. Old time the hot water gushed out the source of hot spring.

（湯釜とは源泉の上に置かれ湯の量や温度の調節をしていたもの。) They say that yugama was placed on the hot spring and controlled its flow and temperature. I am still wondering how yugama did these things in the old days.

Old time the hot water gushed out the source of hot spring. But now the hot water is pumped up from several hot spring wells in Dogo area.

Dogo Spa has a history spanning more than 3000 years, but its supply of hot water per day is 1970 tons. It is greatly different from other famous Spas in Japan, such as 137,000 tons at Beppu Spa, 39,000 tons at Kusatsu Spa and 26,000 tons at Atami Spa.

I am afraid that Dogo’s hot water supply is decreasing gradually these years.Average trend of pumping volume of Dogo

Pic. Bar graph
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(490) Joke/ Barbers

Barbers

A Broadway playboy 1) had a closer shave 2) than he bargained for 3) in a local barber recently. His manicure 4) girl was very beautiful and the playboy suggested dinner and a show that evening.

 “I don’t think I ought to,” said the girl demurely 5). “I am married.”

 “Ask your husband,” suggested the playboy. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

 “Ask him yourself,” said the girl. “He’s shaving you.”

 

1) Broadway playboy:

→Broadway boy: A loud, garishly dressed, small-time gambler or ladies’ man.

2) be (have) a close shave (of it): 危ないところを逃れる

3) bargain for [bɑ́ːrgin]: to expect sth to happen and be ready for it.

4) manicure : treatment for the fingernails

5) demurely: shyly, modestly, timidly

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(489) Active thought and passive habit of thinking

Active thought and passive habit of thinking

  The older we get the more things we forget in everyday life. It might be from our getting senile. But even young people can forget the name of their close friends. This is quite another story. Here is a reason why. There are two actions in our mind, active thought and passive habit of thinking.  You can say hello to your friend with his name. This is done by the automatic workings of the mind. Our active thought is not concerned with this, and when we consciously think about his name it escapes.

Have you ever experienced this kind of thing?

  Most of us, I suppose, know how easy it is to forget the most familiar name when the mind wakes up and urgently asks for it. You are talking, let us say, to Taro when up comes Ichiro. You know Ichiro as well as you know your own shadow, and if you met him in the street in the ordinary way his name would be on your tongue as naturally as your own.

  But now your mind interferes. It demands Ichiro’s name for the purpose of introduction on the spot --- instantly. The passive habit of thinking Ichiro when you see Ichiro vanishes. Your active thought becomes at work. It rushes round in search of his name, and cannot find it.

When you consciously think about his name it escapes.

(I borrowed sentences from "Many Furrows" by A. G. Gardiner) 

A. G. Gardiner

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(488) word / tall

Tall: difficult to believe, hard to believe

→a tall tale

----------------------------------------------------

September 2017
("What's Going On" Matsuyama International Center, Ehime)   

HAIKU　俳句

螽焼く爺の話しや嘘だらけ　　子規

   Inago yaku
   Ji no hanashi ya
   Uso darake

   grilling locusts
   an old man
   full of tall tales 

Season word: locust(螽　inago), autumn
Composed in 1898, at age 31
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(487) Lion and Baboon 2

Lion and Baboon 2

Question:

Why had the baboon fixed some plates, round glistening plates, on the back of his head?

Answer:

This was the Hottentot way of depicting the hindward image of the baboon.

 

Thoth

Pic. Thoth ibis

Thoth (/ˈθoʊθ/ or /ˈtoʊt/; from Greek Θώθ thṓth; derived from Egyptian ḏḥw.ty) was one of the deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him.

pic. Thoth baboon 

He also appears as a dog-faced baboon or a man with the head of a baboon when he is A'an (Aan baboon), the god of equilibrium.

Lion and baboon

Pic. Lion and baboon

The AAN baboon was the type of the moon in the hind-quarter of the heaven, and imaged the hiderward phase or face of the moon, and in one of these fables it is narrated how the baboon once worked bamboos, sitting on the edge of a precipice. Up came the lion to steal upon the baboon. But the baboon had fixed some plates, round glistening plates, on the back of his head. Seeing these dazzling plates the lion supposed they were the face and eyes of the animal. So that when the baboon turned round to look, the lion thought that the real face was the hindward part. This gave the baboon the advantage; he could watch the lion advance, and when the lion made his leap, the ape bent forward, and the lion went over both the baboon and precipice.

--------A Book of the Beginnings
XXIII Roots IN AFRICA BEYOND EGYPT

A Book of the Beginnings: Concerning an attempt to recover and reconstitute the lost origines of the myths and mysteries, types and symbols, religion and language, with Egypt f

• 作者: Gerald Massey
• 出版社/メーカー: Black Classic Pr
• 発売日: 1995/06
• メディア: ペーパーバック

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