鵜の目鷹の目（1） ― like a hawk

鵜の目鷹の目、と言いますが、何故か目や眼力に関する表現は鳥・鳥類に関連したものが多いようなのですが、英語でも同様のようです。

hawkは”鷹”ですが、"watch like a hawk"で、監視する、という意味になります。

Californiaで18年前に誘拐された少女が今になって発見されたというニュースがトップを飾っています。


'It's a miracle': girl found after 18 years

The stepfather of an American girl who was kidnapped 18 years ago has described her reunion with family as a "miracle".

（中略）

Carl Probyn last saw his stepdaughter in 1991 when he witnessed two people force the then 11-year-old into a car as she was walking from her Lake Tahoe home to a school bus stop.

"After 18 years you do give up hope. I mean, this is a miracle - 18 years. When was the last time you heard of somebody recovering somebody after 18 years?" he said.

（中略）

Mr Probyn says the abduction changed his entire life and broke up his marriage. He says it means he watches his 19-year-old daughter like a hawk.


18年前に誘拐されたのは継娘だったようですが、19歳の実の娘さんは、誘拐を恐れるあまりだと思いますが、ほとんど監視するような状況、といったことを意味したいものと思われます。

もうひとつ実例を挙げます。


How diners are treated depends on the personality of the waiter, who directs the pace at the table. On two visits our waiter was watching like a hawk, anticipating our needs. When we ordered two appetizers and a pasta, he suggested that we skip one. We couldn't tell him why we were ordering so much food, of course, but we appreciated his efforts to look after our interests rather than raise the check average. On one visit, however, our waiter seemed disengaged, and we continually had to ask for things. But that's more the exception than the rule.
(San Francisco Chronicle. 1998.)