今日のメモ-携帯販売員からオペラ歌手へ-

☆　今日のメモ　☆

・I am sorry to say this, but there would appear to have been a number of houses in recent times, some of the highest pedigree, which have tended to take a competitive attitude towards each other and have not been above 'showing off' to guests a butler's mastery of such trivial accomplishments.
be not above doing ～ : ～しかねない、～するのもまんざらでない

・And I would maintain that for all his limited command of English and his limited general knowledge, he not only knew all there was to know about how to run a house, he did in his prime come to acquire that 'dignity in keeping with his position', as the Hayes Society puts it.
for all ～ : ～にも関わらず、（～がほとんどないことを考慮して）
in one's prime : 全盛期に、最盛期に（で、の）

・For when I look back over his career, I can see with hindsight that he must have striven throughout his years somehow to become that butler of his story.
後から考えてみると

・For although I am sure he never had the chance to encounter a tiger beneath the dining table, when I think over all that I know or have heard concerning him, I can think of at least several instances of his displaying in abundance that very quality he so admired in the butler of his story.
豊富に、大量に

・The silence seemed to go on interminably, before either Mr Smith or Mr Jones found it in him to mutter: 'I suppose we were talking a little out of turn there.  It won't happen again.'
軽率に、無分別に、前後の見境もなく、（順序無しに）

・Mr Silvers, however, had remembered the significance the visit would have for my father, and had thus called him in to offer him the option of taking several days' leave for the duration of the General's stay.
～が続く間中

・My father thus replied to the effect that while he was most grateful that his feelings had been taken into account, Mr Silvers could be assured that service would be provided to the usual standards.
take ～ into account : ～を考慮に入れる

・If one considers the difference between my father at such moments and a figure such as Mr Jack Neighbours even with the best of his technical flourishes, I believe one may begin to distinguish what it is that separates a 'great' butler from a merely competent one.
with flourish : 華々しく、仰々しく

・The great butlers are great by virtue of their ability to inhabit their professional role and inhabit it to the utmost; they will not be shaken out by external events, however surprising, alarming or vexing.
～によって、～の力で

・Indeed, on the occasion one is fortunate enough to meet a great butler, far from experiencing any special urge to demand a 'test', one is at a loss to imagine any situation which could ever dislodge a professionalism borne with such authority.
困って、途方に暮れて

・'Beyond that there's nothing much you can say.'
= There's nothing much beyond that you can say.(?)
(cf. I know nothing beyond what I told you. あなたに話したこと意外は何も知らない（辞書より引用））

・Incidentally, I should before now have explained myself as regards my referring to 'Miss Kenton'.
～に関しては、～について言えば

・I will have to point out how different things are now ― that the days of working with a grand staff at one's beck and call will probably never return within our lifetime.
at one's [or someon's] beck and call : 人のいいなりになって、人の手足となって働いて

・Indeed, all in all, I cannot see why the option of her returning to Darlington Hall and seeing out her working years there should not offer a very genuine consolation to a life that has come to be so dominated by a sense of waste.
結局のところ、大体、概して

・Miss Kenton and my father had arrived at the house at more or less the same time ― that is to say, the spring of 1922 ― as a consequence of my losing at one stroke the previous housekeeper and under-butler.
一挙に、（一撃で）

・'If you are referring to him to a third party, then you may wish to call him "Mr Stevens senior" to distinguish him from myself.'
第三者

・'But a hundred things should have indicated to you that my father is a figure of unusual distinction from whom you may learn a wealth of things were you prepared to be more observant.'
a wealth of ～ : たくさんの～
"were you prepared to ～" = "if you were prepared to ～"

・'I am most indebted to you for your advice, Mr Stevens.'
be indebted to ～ for ... : ...は～のおかげです

・This seemed to take the wind out of Miss Kenton's sails somewhat.
先手を打って～を出し抜く、～の出鼻をくじく、～の自信をうち砕く

・A drawback to this plan was the weather ― that is to say, several large puddles and patched of mud were in evidence ― and the fact that one would need to return to the billiard room again at some point to bolt the french windows from the inside.
in evidence : 目立って、ハッキリ見えて、証拠として
at some point : ある時点で、いつか、ある時期に

・'These errors may be trivial in themselves, Mr Stevens, but you must yourself realize their significance.'
それ自体では、本質的に、本来　（= in itself)

・It was invariably embarrassment at what he was about to impart which made Lord Darlington adopt such an approach, and even once the study door was closed behind us, he would often stand by the window and make a show of consulting the encyclopedia throughout our conversation.
～のフリをする、（～を誇示する、～をさらし者にする）

・Whatever may be said about his lordship these days ― and the great majority of it is, as I say, utter nonsense ― I can declare that he was a truly good man at heart, a gentle man through and through, and one I am today proud to have given my best years of service to.
初めから終わりまで、徹頭徹尾、（徹底的に）

　　　　　　　　　　- from The Remains of the Day (UK) -

Do you know the man who is a British tenor who in 2007 became the winner of the UK talent search show called Britain's Got Talent, the TV audition show, making a number of audiences so touched as to be in tears?
I saw Ogura was commenting about him in his Tv program, Tokudane!, the other day.
It's unbelievable all the more for his amazing voice that he had been a mobile phone salesman until he won the audition, and that he couldn't have had confidence in himself because of his past experience of having being bullied!
If you're interested in him, please check this out!  (^^)

どうして読書は全く進んでいないのに、メモばかり増えていくの？

それはさておき、Paul Potts ってご存じですか？
小倉さんがテレビでコメントしていたのを見ましたが、先日、ネット上で彼が話題になるキッカケになったオーディション番組の動画を見つけちゃいました♪
最初の動画がその番組。
スケートの荒川静香さんがオリンピックで金メダルを獲得した際に使われたことで有名な『トゥーランドット（Turandot）』を歌っています。
下の方は上の番組で有名になった後のもので、Sarah Brightman（サラ・ブライトマン）の『Time To Say Goodbye』を。
Sarah Brightman って、『オペラ座の怪人』の初代 Christine で、『オペラ座の怪人』や『キャッツ』の生みの親 Andrew Lloyd Webber の元・妻。
実は、『キャッツ』も『オペラ座の怪人』もDVD持ってます。σ(o^_^o)
Sarah Brightman のCDも・・・♪　(〃⌒ー⌒〃)ゞ
オペラの良さなんてこれっぽっちもわかりませんし、興味もないのですが、そういう知識とか理屈を越えたところで人を感動させることのできる人がいるんですね～。
Paul Potts さんも、実際にこれだけの人を感動させられるんだから、間違いなくその一人のようです。
Absolutely fantastic!!　=＾-＾=

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