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押してくれ、そうすれば引っ張る
筆者一家は、アメリカに住む筆者の母親と会う場所として、中間地点であるヨーロッパを選んだ。
ところが現地では足の弱った母親は車いす、幼い子供はベビーカーで移動することになる。
たくさんの荷物を抱え、石畳や坂道を、車いすとベビーカーを押して歩くのはひどく骨が折れた。
そこで筆者は考えた…。
Push me pull you
Last year, instead of having my mother fly all the way from the United States to Japan, I asked her to "meet me halfway" in Europe. My mother's health is not the best it could be these days; while able to walk a bit, she needs a wheelchair to get around properly. The wheelchair, in turn, needs somebody to push it. Guess who got to be that somebody ...
Actually, by the time my mother arrived I had already had some practice propelling a wheeled contraption over European streets. That's because my wife and I had been traveling for a few weeks on business and had been pushing our infant son's stroller everywhere.
Your average wheelchair and stroller have similar drawbacks, when you think about it. Both are pretty clunky and neither were designed for the cobblestone roads that one finds throughout European cities. Fortunately, my mother is about as tough as they come; the rough ride didn't get her down — or if it did, she didn't show it. She also came up with a rather ingenious method for transporting us all from one place to another with a full load of luggage.
Here's how we did it. First, my wife strapped on a backpack and dragged two bags behind her. Then, my mother in her wheelchair balanced a fourth bag on her lap and got set to tow my son's stroller with one arm and a large suitcase with the other. I had the relatively easy part: just strap on my own backpack, set up behind the wheelchair and push like there's no tomorrow.
Unwieldy though it seems, this system worked quite well on flat, smooth surfaces. It got us through Rome's sprawling airport without a hitch, for example. However, bumpy slopes are another story. In the Hungarian countryside, our Bremen-esque procession came to a dead stop.
We were trying to get from a bus stop to our hotel, which was located most unkindly at the very top of a formidable incline. To make matters worse, we were attempting this maneuver with cold night approaching quickly, and virtually no streetlights. And all of the dogs in the neighborhood had apparently made a pact among themselves to howl in unison and nonstop at the strange wheeled intruders. Choosing prudence over pride in this case, I decided to abandon my family at the base of the hill for a few minutes and run ahead to the hotel to get help.
Next time I'm in Europe, there are a couple of things I want to do differently. First, I'll get rid of that irksome stroller. Instead, my son will ride on my back in a special backpack. As for my mom, well, she may have weak legs but she's always been good on a horse. I've been thinking, wouldn't that be a great mode of transport for navigating the historical centers of European cities? For steeper inclines and even short sets of stairs, I'll bet a camel might be an even better choice. I hear they're even trained to kneel down to make it easier for the passenger to mount and dismount. Perfect!
"Camel-back Tour of Paris?" Yes, yes, it has a certain ring to it ...
- Push me pull you
- 『ドリトル先生』シリーズに登場する架空の双頭の動物Pushmi-Pullyu(Push-me-pull-youと発音する)にちなむタイトル
- halfway
- 中間で
- is not the best it could be
- あまりよくない
- wheelchair
- 車いす
- in turn
- それはそれで
- Guess who got to be that somebody
- 誰がその役目を担ったと思う?
- propelling 〜
- 〜を動かすこと
- wheeled contraption
- 車輪のついた装置
- stroller
- ベビーカー
- drawbacks
- 欠点
- when you think about it
- 考えてみると
- pretty clunky
- とてもガタつく
- cobblestone roads
- 石畳の道
- (is)as tough as they come
- とてもタフだ
- get 〜 down
- 〜を参らせる
- came up with 〜
- 〜を思い付いた
- ingenious
- 独創的な
- transporting 〜
- 〜を移動させること
- strapped on 〜
- 〜をかついだ
- balanced 〜
- 〜をバランスよく乗せた
- lap
- ひざ
- tow 〜
- 〜を引っ張る
- like there's no tomorrow
- 思い切り
- Unwieldy though it seems
- 見苦しく見えるかもしれないが
- sprawling
- だだっ広い
- without a hitch
- スムーズに
- bumpy slopes
- でこぼこの多い坂
- Hungarian
- ハンガリーの
- Bremen-esque
- ブレーメン(の音楽隊)みたいな
- procession
- 行列
- came to a dead stop
- 動けなくなった
- formidable incline
- 厄介な坂
- To make matters worse
- なお悪いことに
- maneuver
- 操作
- had apparently made a pact
- 取り決めたらしい
- howl
- ほえる
- in unison
- 一斉に
- intruders
- 侵入者
- Choosing 〜 over 〜
- 〜よりも〜を選んで
- prudence
- 慎重
- base
- 下の方
- run ahead
- 駆け上がる
- get rid of 〜
- 〜とおさらばする
- irksome
- 厄介な
- mode
- 方式
- navigating 〜
- 〜を見て回る
- steeper
- より急な
- I'll bet 〜
- きっと〜だ
- camel
- ラクダ
- kneel down
- ひざまずく
- mount and dismount
- 乗り降りする
- has a certain ring to it
- 面白そうな響きがある