メンバーは課題を金曜までに読んで、ノートにも写して「質問を１つ」考えてきて下さい。
今週は「NIKE 勝利」から。
（日本語全訳が欲しい方は [email protected]、Kazueまで）
excavate 発掘する
goddess of victory 勝利の女神
capricious 移り気
whimsical 気まぐれな
draw a bow 弓をひく
cross oneself 十字切り（する）
Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, has magnificent wings. You may have seen the “Nike of Samothrace” statue, excavated on the Greek island of Samothrace, at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Even without its head, the statue suggests Nike’s beauty as a goddess.
Nike is said to have had two tough-looking sisters: Bia (force) and Kratos (strength). But they have no match for Nike in popularity. Besides a global sports brand, Nike has left her mark on names such as Nicholas and Nicole.
Speaking of the goddess of victory, such characters are commonly known to be capricious, whimsical and mischievous. This calls to mind a man who has been loved for an unusually long time.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, 30, has retired from competition. He has won eight Olympic gold medals and 11 medals of the same color at the world championships. Clocking 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters, Bolt must continue to shine as “the fastest man on the planet” in people’s memories, along with his signature pose of drawing a bow toward the sky.
Sometime just after the Rio de Janeiro Games ended, I clipped a verse published in The Yomiuri Shimbun’s weekly column of poetry sent by readers.
When Usain Bolt crosses himself
and looks up to the sky,
I feel a god exists in this world
(created by Yoshiko Yamashita of Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture)
That could just be Nike.
(The Yomiuri Shimbun)
