Notes
cruelly 残酷に;
dreadful 恐ろしい、怖い;
roar ほえる;
limp (歩行が不自由で)片足を引きずる;
thorn (草木の)とげ、針;
pierce (…を)突き刺;
paw (犬・猫などのつめのある動物の)足;
kitten 子猫;
lick (…を)(舌で)なめる;
arena 闘技場

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Once a poor slave who was treated cruelly by his master ran away into a forest and hid in a cave. Soon he heard a dreadful roar and saw a lion limping as though his foot hurt. Androcles went close to the lion and saw a sharp thorn was piercing the lion’s paw. He quickly drew the thorn out, and the lion began jumping about him like a kitten, licking the slave’s hands and feet. Androcles and the lion became warm friends and lived like brothers, sharing each other’s food until one day the slave was caught and taken back to his master; and the lion was caught and put into a large cage. In those days any slave who ran away from his master, when caught, must fight a lion kept several days without food. So when the next holiday came, Androcles was put in the great arena with thousands of people crowding its seats to see him die. (To be continued. From (To be continued. From The Project Gutenberg EBook of “World Stories Retold for Modern Boys and Girls”, by William James Sly) )
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Notes
newly-sown plowland 新耕地;
crane【鳥】 ツル;
stork 【鳥】 鵠鶴;
fracture (骨などの)砕けること、骨折;
beseech 嘆願する、懇願する;
excite かき立てる、引き起こす;
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A farmer placed nets on his newly-sown plowlands and caught a number of cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a stork that had fractured his leg in the net and was earnestly beseeching the farmer to spare his life. “Please save me, Master,” he said, “and let me go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no crane, I am a stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers—they are not the least like those of a crane.” The farmer laughed aloud and said, “It may be all as you say, I only know this: I have taken you with these robbers, the cranes, and you must die in their company.”  (From “Words of Wisdom: Intro to Philosophy ” by Jody Ondich)

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