ENGLISH JOURNAL on the mixiコミュのMystery Speakers

12月号から聞いています。

Mystery Speakersのディクテーションをやってみました。

Hello, it's me, up here. Are you looking forward to Christmas? I am. I'm getting excited because I sit up here all year but people only start to take any notice of me around Christmas time. I suppose it's because it's easier to spot me when the leaves have fallen from the trees. Still I'm rushing ahead. Let me tell you a bit about myself first. You can find me all over the world, down in Australia and Asia. But perhaps, most famously in North America and Europe, where my long history includes treating various disorders from headaches to infertility. Some unscrupulous dealers have also claimed I could protect people from witchcraft. Sounds like I've been a boon to charlatans and quacks throughout the ages. These people could give me a bad name. You'd get a nicer impression if you spoke to the birds about me, especially the wonderfully named mistle thrush. Various birds visit me at meal times. I feed them juicy berries, you see. A few like me so much that they set up their nests in the camouflage I provide. Rude folk call me a parasite, but I ignore them. They may be technically correct, but at heart, I'm a nature lover. I particularly love trees. My favorites are apple and oak, but I also like birch, elm, maple, I could go on and on. I'm also quite a matchmaker around this time of year. In fact, it's when I hang round indoors that I really come into my own. Now's the time that everyone starts to notice me. Lovers throughout the land actively search for me. And here I am, up here. I'm waiting for your kiss.