After Twenty Years
Sunshine English Book 3 (Heisei 28) pg. 98-101
| After Twenty Years | |
|---|---|
| 二十年後 | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 397 |
| Book | Sunshine |
| Grade | 3 |
| Year | 2016 |
On a cold night in New York City, a policeman was walking along a dark street. He saw a man near the door of a store, and walked up to him.
"It's all right, officer," the man said. "I'm just waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we promised to meet here again tonight."
Then the man struck a match to smoke. The light showed his face. He went on talking. "We said goodbye here. I started for the West to make my fortune. I was eighteen."
"Very interesting!" said the policeman. "I hope your friend will come around all right." Then he went away.
About twenty minutes later, a tall man came from across the street. His face was not clear in the dark.
"Is that you, Bob?" the tall man asked.
"Is that you, Jimmy?" cried the man by the door. Each man took the other man's hand.
"You've changed a lot, Jimmy!"
"Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty," said the tall man.
"Are you doing well in New York, Jimmy?"
"Yes. I work for the city. Let’s go to a place that I know well and have a talk about old times."
The two men began to walk along the dark street.
"Were you successful in the West, Bob?" asked the tall man.
"Yes, I was!" answered Bob. And he began to tell the story of his life in the West.
At a corner of the street, there was a drugstore. Its lights were on. When the two men came near the store, they stopped and looked at each other’s faces.
"You're not Jimmy!" said Bob. "Twenty years is a long time, but it can’t change a man’s face that much."
"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad man," said the tall man.
"You're wanted by the Chicago police. You've been under arrest for ten minutes, Bob. Now, before we go, here's a note I was asked to hand you. It's from Jimmy," said the tall man.
When Bob finished reading the note, his hands trembled a little.
Bob, I was on time at the place we decided. I was happy to find you there. But when you struck the match to smoke, I saw the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I sent another policeman to bring you in. Jimmy
Official translation (Heisei 28)
Taken from the Sunshine's teachers manual.
二十年後
ニューヨーク市のある寒い夜，1人の警察官が暗い夜道を歩いていた。彼はある店の戸口のそばに1人の男を見つけ，その彼のもとに歩いて行った。
「何でもありませんよ，お巡りさん」男が言った。「友人を待っているだけですよ。20年前，今夜ここで再会することを約束したんですよ。」
そして，男はたばこを吸うためにマッチに火をつけた。マッチの明かりは彼の顔を照らし出した。男は話を続けた。「ここであばよと言いあったんですよ。私は金を稼ぐために西部に行きました。18歳でした。」
「とても興味深い話だな」と警官は言った。「きみの友人が無事にやって来るといいな」そして彼は立ち去って行った。
おおよそ20分後，1人の背の高い男が通りの向こう側からやって来た。彼の顔は暗闇の中ではっきりとしなかった。「ボブ，お前か？」長身の男がたずねた。「お前なのか，ジミー？」と，戸口のそばの男が叫んだ。男たちは互いに相手の手を取った（握手した）。
「随分と変わったな，ジミー！」
「ああ，20歳を過ぎたあと，若干身体が大きくなったからな。」長身の男が言った。
「ニューヨークで上手くやってるのか，ジミー？」
「ああ。市のために働いているよ。俺がよく知っている場所に行って，昔のことを話そうじゃないか」
2人の男は暗い夜道を歩き始めた。
「西部では成功したのかい，ボブ？」長身の男が聞いた。「ああ，上手くいったぜ」とボブは答えた。そして，彼は西部での生活について話し始めた。
通りのかどに1軒のドラッグストアがあった。そこの明かりがついていた。2人の男がそのそばに歩いて来たとき，2人は立ち止まり，互いの顔を見るために向き直った。
「お前はジミーじゃないな！」とボブが言った。「20年は長い時間だ。だがな，人の顔をそこまで変えたりはできないぞ！」
「20年は時として善人を悪人に変える」と長身の男は言った。
「きみはシカゴ警察から指名手配されている。そして，お前は10分前に逮捕されているんだよ（⇒（もう既に）10分ほど逮捕された状態にいるんだよ），ボブ」さて，（警察署に）行く前に，ここにきみに渡してくれと頼まれた手紙があるんだ。ジミーからだよ」と，長身の男は言った。
ボブがその短い手紙を読み終わったとき，彼の両手は小刻みに震えていた。
ボブへ， ぼくは2人で決めた場所に時間どおりにいたよ。そこにきみを見つけて嬉しかった。でも，きみがたばこを吸おうとマッチ を擦ったとき，ぼくはシカゴで指名手配されている男の顔を見たんだ。とにかく，ぼくは自分自身の手できみを逮捕する ことができなかったから，きみを（警察に）連行するため別の警察官を送ったんだよ。 ジミー
Sunshine English Book 3 (Heisei 24) pg. 106-109
| After Twenty Years | |
|---|---|
| 二十年後 | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 409 |
| Book | Sunshine |
| Grade | 3 |
| Year | 2012 |
On a cold night in New York City, a policeman was walking along a dark street. He saw a man near the door of a store, and walked up to him.
"It's all right, officer," the man said. "I'm just waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we promised to meet here again tonight."
Then the man struck a match to smoke. The light showed his face. He went on talking. "We said goodbye here. I started for the West to make my fortune. I was eighteen."
"Very interesting!" said the policeman. "I hope your friend will come around all right." Then he went away.
About twenty minutes later, a tall man came from across the street. His face was not clear in the dark.
"Is that you, Bob?" the tall man asked.
"Is that you, Jimmy?" cried the man by the door. Each man took the other man's hand.
"You've changed a lot, Jimmy!"
"Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty," said the tall man.
"Are you doing well in New York, Jimmy?"
"Yes. I work for the city. Let's go to the place that I know well, and have a good long talk about the old times."
The two men began to walk along the dark street.
"Were you successful in the West, Bob?" asked the tall man.
"Yes, I was!" answered Bob. And he began to tell the story of his life in the West.
At a corner of the street, there was a drugstore. Its lights were on. When the two men came near the store, they stopped and turned to look at each other's faces.
"You're not Jimmy!" said Bob. "Twenty years is a long time, but it can never change a man's face so much."
"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad man," said the tall man.
"You're wanted by the Chicago police. You've been under arrest for ten minutes, Bob. Now, before we go, here's a note I was asked to hand you. It's from Jimmy," said the tall man.
When the man from the West finished reading the note, his hands trembled a little.
Bob, I was on time at the place we decided. I was happy to find you there. But when you struck the match to smoke, I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I sent another policeman to bring you in. Jimmy
Notes
- This is an adaption of the original story After Twenty Years by O. Henry.
