Peeping tom 復習
Peeping tom arrested for taking photos of girls bathing at home
Police in Tokyo have arrested a 26-year-old man after it was discovered that he had taken, on 25 different occasions, “peeping tom” photos and videos of two junior high school sisters while they were bathing at their home in Sugimami Ward.
According to police, between August and October last year, Takamasa Shiraishi entered the premises of a home in Suginami Ward 25 times and took photographs and videos on his smartphone from the bathroom window as the two girls were bathing one after the other, Fuji TV reported.
Shiraishi, who is a computer game programmer, was quoted by police as saying he had been unable to stop himself due to “overwhelming stress and worries at work.” He was apprehended in April after being caught on the grounds of an apartment building in Setagaya Ward.
Police said they have discovered at least a dozen photographs and videos of teenage girls on trains and in bathrooms on Shiraishi’s smartphone, as well as a table describing particular characteristics of girls on his computer.
今回取り上げるのは見出しにもなっているpeeping tomです。過去の記事で先輩が触れられていたように「覗く人、のぞき魔」（『ジーニアス英和辞典第四版』大修館書店）という意味があることが分かりました。LDOCEには“someone who secretly watches people”とありました。なぜトムなのかと思ったので調べてみると、英米で信じられている伝説の中で「領民に対して情けぶかい夫人が、理不尽な夫に難癖をいわれて素裸で長髪をなびかせ馬に乗って町内を横断する羽目になり、町人は夫人に恩義を感じて目をそむけ野次馬を差し控えたのだが、ただ一人、トムという男が盗み見たため、以来、ピーピング・トムといえば覗き見をする人間の代名詞となった」（Wikipedia）とありました。（Green）
