Author: Peter-Wang-Mobile-2026

wedge くさび;
trunk 樹幹;
grieve (…で)深く悲しむ;
spring 〈原因する〉・根差す、起こる;
bear 抱く、もつ；

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The Woodcutter cut down a Mountain Oak and split it in pieces, making wedges of its own branches for dividing the trunk. The Oak said with a sigh, “I do not care about the blows of the axe aimed at my roots, but I do grieve at being torn in pieces by these wedges made from my own branches.”
Misfortunes springing from ourselves are the hardest to bear. (From Aesop’s Fables)

日本語訳:
木こりは山のオークの木を切り倒し、その木を小さな塊に分割し、幹を分けるために自分自身の枝からくさびを作りました。オークはため息をつきながら言いました。「私は自分の根元に向けられた斧の一撃を気にしませんが、私の枝から作られたくさびによって自分自身が切り刻まれることには悲しみを感じます。」

自分自身から生じた不運は、最も耐え難いものです。
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As he reached the pond, the father saw his son sitting down on the ground with his head between his knees. “You okay?” the father asked as he walked toward his son. His son lifted his head, his face was white as a sheet.

“The fish with the large head,” the boy quietly replied, “it looked at me. It looked at me and smiled. There were so many teeth in its mouth.”

The father sat with his son for a few minutes. He had heard strange things about this area but he didn’t think the stories were true. Looking at his son’s face he knew they wouldn’t be fishing today. “Want to go grab a burger instead?” the father asked his son.

“That sounds great,” the son replied, already looking better, “anything but a fish burger, please!” (End. by Prof. Michael Okamoto)
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