The first time I catched Tom private I asked him what was his idea, time of the evasion?—what it was he’d planned to do if the evasion worked all right and he managed to set a nigger free that was already free before?
the first time
(初めて)
[名]
the first occasion on which something happens
初めてトムと二人きりになった時、逃亡の時に彼が何を考えていたのか、逃亡がうまくいって、すでに自由だった黒人を解放することに成功したらどうするつもりだったのか尋ねた。
And he said, what he had planned in his head from the start, if we got Jim out all safe, was for us to run him down the river on the raft, and have adventures plumb to the mouth of the river, and then tell him about his being free, and take him back up home on a steamboat, in style, and pay him for his lost time, and write word ahead and get out all the niggers around, and have them waltz him into town with a torchlight procession and a brass-band, and then he would be a hero, and so would we.
take back
(連れ帰る)
[動]
return something to the place where it belongs
write ahead
(前もって手紙を書く)
[動]
write in advance
waltz
(連れて行く)
[動]
move smoothly and quickly
brass band
(ブラスバンド)
[名]
a group of musicians who play brass instruments
彼は、もしジムを無事に連れ出せたら、最初から頭の中で計画していたのは、いかだに乗せて川を下り、川の河口まで冒険をしてから、彼に自由になったことを告げ、蒸気船で家まで連れて帰り、失われた時間の埋め合わせをして、前もって手紙を書いて周りの黒人を全員連れ出し、松明行列とブラスバンドで町に連れて行ってもらうことだと言った。そうすれば彼も私たちも英雄になれるというわけだ。
But I reckoned it was about as well the way it was.
about as well
(このままで)
[副]
in the same state or condition
でも、私はこのままでもいいと思った。