keep in prayers

6歳男児が4歳にライフルで撃たれ重傷、という衝撃のニュースです。銃社会アメリカの悲劇としか言いようがありません。


Boy, 4, accidentally shoots neighbor, 6, in the head with rifle

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A 4-year-old child who brought a gun outside his home shot and seriously wounded a 6-year-old neighbor when the weapon somehow discharged as they played together, authorities said Tuesday.

The child got the .22-caliber rifle from inside his home in Toms River in southern New Jersey and it discharged accidently around 6:40 p.m. Monday, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato said during a news conference. The wounded child was about 15 yards away from the younger one at the time.

The younger child's mother then called 911 to report the shooting, Coronato said.

The wounded child was shot in the head and hospitalized in serious condition, and further details on his injuries were not disclosed. The younger child was not hurt.

Coronato declined to provide specific details on the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation, and said it was "too early" to know whether anyone would be charged in the case. He would not say who owned the gun or speculate on how the 4-year-old got the weapon.

Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy called the shooting a "tragic incident" that has affected the whole community.

"Right now, we're keeping this child in our prayers, and I ask everyone to do the same," he said.
(New York Post. April 9, 2013.)


少々引用が長くなりましたが、最後の段落に出てくる、


we're keeping this child in our prayers


という表現を今日は取り上げたいと思います。

"prayer"という単語は、祈り、祈祷という意味がありますが、決まり文句のようにしばしば用いられる表現でありながら、日本語にしにくい表現でもあります。

例えば、


Prayers are with his family...
Our prayers remain with the families of victimes of 9/11...


などという常套句で決まって用いられますが、これは日本語にすると、お悔やみ申し上げます、くらいの意味になると思います。

今日取り上げる、


keep(ing) this child in our prayers


ですが、"this child"とはライフルで撃たれた6歳男児のこと、"our prayers"の"our"とは当事者以外、つまりこの事件を知っている我々、ということになりますが、男児にずっと我々の祈りを捧げつづける、というような意味になると解釈されます。

つまり、重体の男児の回復をとにかく祈るのみ、ということかと思われます。

“お悔やみ申し上げます”だと既に亡くなってしまったことになってしまいますが、ここで男児はまだ死んではいませんので、"keep in prayers"という表現はお悔やみではなく、回復を祈るというコンテクストで用いられる表現であると言えます。