
The son had been seized, like many of his countrymen, with a desire to see the civilised world, of which, in spite of the exclusive system of his government, he had heard, and had stolen off, and got on board a ship which was afterwards wrecked, he being the only survivor.(A Voyage round the World by W.H.G. Kingston)
英文を前から読んでいくために、語句のかたまりを作ります。こんな具合に課題文をスラッシュ(斜め線)で区切ります(スラッシュリーディング)。語句のかたまりを意識すると、リスニングで英語の意味をつかむのが楽になります。
The son had been seized,/(前置詞の前)like many of his countrymen,/(前置詞の前)with a desire to see the civilised world,/(前置詞の前)of which, in spite of the exclusive system of his government, he had heard,/(接続詞の前)and had stolen off,/(接続詞の前)and got on board a ship which was afterwards wrecked,/(コンマの後)he being the only survivor.
語句のかたまりを前から訳していきます。
The son had been seized,
その息子は〜に駆られた
like many of his countrymen,
多くの同国人と同様
with a desire to see the civilised world,
文明世界を見たいという欲求に
of which, in spite of the exclusive system of his government, he had heard,
彼は自国政府の排他的な制度にもかかわらず耳にしていた
and had stolen off,
そして、抜け出した
and got on board a ship which was afterwards wrecked,
そして、後に難破することになる船に乗った
he being the only survivor.
そして彼は唯一の生存者になった
The son had been seized, like many of his countrymen, with a desire to see the civilised world, of which, in spite of the exclusive system of his government, he had heard, and had stolen off, and got on board a ship which was afterwards wrecked, he being the only survivor.
a ship which was afterwards wrecked→ which 以降の関係代名詞節が a ship を後ろから修飾しています。
he being the only survivor→ he を意味上の主語とする独立分詞構文です。「そして〜」と訳せます。
その息子は多くの同国人と同様、文明世界を見たいという欲求に駆られた。彼は自国政府の排他的な制度にもかかわらず、文明世界のことを耳にしていた。彼は家を抜け出し、船に乗ったが、その船は後に難破し、彼が唯一の生存者になった。
以下の部分の構造を解説します。
The son had been seized, like many of his countrymen, with a desire to see the civilised world, of which, in spite of the exclusive system of his government, he had heard,
The son had been seized,→ この英文の骨格(中心となる語句)です。
like many of his countrymen,→ 上の行にかかる修飾語句です。
with a desire to see the civilised world,→ 「駆られた(had been seized)」ことの内容です。
of which,→ 関係代名詞の非制限用法。この語句以降は先行詞(the civilised world)の補足的説明になっています。
in spite of the exclusive system of his government,→ 後ろの he had heard を修飾しています。
he had heard, → 関係代名詞節の主語+動詞です。
動画の後半部分でリスニング用音声が流れます。
