桐壺195：(源氏のつぶやき続き)似る人なくもおはしけるかな。
まったく藤壺様ときたら似る人もないほどの美しさでいらっしゃる。
N君：There are no women who are equal to her.
S先生：(前回の繰り返しだが）who was sublimely beautiful.
今日の英作談義は「2012.4/12朝日新聞天声人語 Vox populi, vox Dei の英訳」です。当時、民主党政権下でその対中国政策の弱腰にしびれをきらした東京都知事石原慎太郎さんが「政府に吠え面かかせてやる」と叫んで、東京都として尖閣諸島を購入しようとした時の話です。では始めます。
Remarking in a defiant manner that he would make the Japanese Government pay for not having done anything to solve the issue of the Senkaku Islands, Mr. Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo announced in Washington that Tokyo would buy the Islands. But when he held a press interview at Narita Airport, he said more calmly that Tokyo would withdraw anytime if the Government would take all possible measures to deal with this issue.
To make a long story short, he seems to have intended to put pressure on the government, which is reluctant to be involved in the territorial issue, rather than put up Tokyo's nameplate on the border Islands. And another intention of his might be that he would like to make himself immortal as a great man in history.
No doubt, it is probable that the Islands will pass into some unexpected foreigner's hands if we leave the Islands under the present conditions. As a matter of fact, we hear that there was some person abroad waiting to buy three of the Islands at the price of 35 billion. The Government, not Tokyo, should buy the Islands to preserve our territorial integrity.
It was about 1970, when submarine resources around there were discovered, that both China and Taiwan began to insist on their rights to the Islands. Nowadays Chinese fishing boats and patrol boats are frequenting around the Islands and the Islands we have ruled since the Meiji era are put in a precarious state. China, which is eager to rule the ocean around the country, is causing frequent serious troubles with the Philippinea and Vietnam to hold supremacy over the islands in the South China Sea.
Now what should we do ? It is important for us to maintain a friendly relation with a neighboring country, but if we keep on practicing timid diplomacy, the Chinese are sure to take advantage of our weak attitude. As far as sovereignty is concerned, it is necessary that we should stick to our principles and discuss the issue boldly and thoroughly. We must not forget that the world is watching us.
N君：timid ≒ cowardly ⇔ brave ≒ courageous
