私は挨拶をして格子の外へ足を踏み出した。玄關と門の間にあるこんもりした木犀の一株が、私の行手を塞ぐやうに、夜陰のうちに枝を張つてゐた。私は二三歩動き出しながら、黒ずんだ葉に被はれてゐる其梢を見て、來るべき秋の花と香を想ひ浮べた。私は先生の宅と此木犀とを、以前から心のうちで、離す事の出來ないものゝやうに、一所に記憶してゐた。私が偶然其樹の前に立つて、再びこの宅の玄關を跨ぐべき次の秋に思を馳せた時、今迄格子の間から射してゐた玄關の電燈がふつと消えた。先生夫婦はそれぎり奧へ這入たらしかつた。私は一人暗い表へ出た。
translation
I said hello and stepped out of the lattice. Between the front door and the gate, a thick bush of rhinoceros was spreading its branches in the shadow of the night, as if to block my path. As I took a few steps forward, I looked at the treetops covered with dark leaves and thought of the flowers and scents of autumn to come. I had always remembered Sensei's house and this tree rhinoceros in one place in my heart, as if they were inseparable. When I happened to stand in front of that tree and thought about the next autumn when I should be crossing the entrance of this house again, the light in the entrance, which until now had been shining through the gaps in the lattice, suddenly went out. Sensei and his wife seemed to have just entered the room. I went out alone in the dark.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 挨拶: greeting (あいさつ), greetings, salutation, salute, condolences | 格子: lattice (こうし), latticework, window bars, grid, grating | 外: outside (そと), outside (と), exterior, exterior, the open (air) |
| 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 玄關: entrance (げんかん), front door, entryway, entranceway, entry hall | 門: door (esp. Japanese-style) (と), shutter, window shutter, entrance (to a home), narrows | 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval |
| 行手: someone who is going (いきて), someone who is going (ゆきて) | 夜陰: shades of evening (やいん), dead of night | 枝: branch (えだ), bough, limb, twig, sprig | 張: Chinese “Extended Net” constellation (one of the 28 mansions) (ちょう), counter for objects with stretched strings (i.e. bows, kotos), curtains, papers, etc. |
| 黒: black (くろ), black stone, guilt, guilty person | 葉: leaf (は), blade (of grass), (pine) needle, counter for leaves, pieces of paper, etc. (よう), counter for boats | 被: indicates the target of an activity (ひ), -ee (e.g. employee, examinee, trustee) | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook |
| 花: flower (はな), blossom, bloom, petal, cherry blossom | 香: aroma (かおり), fragrance, scent, smell, lance (きょう) | 想: conception (そう), idea, thought, samjna (perception) | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. |
| 木犀: fragrant olive (Osmanthus fragrans) (もくせい), sweet olive | 以前: before (いぜん), prior to, ago, the past, before | 心: mind (こころ), heart, spirit, the meaning of a phrase (riddle, etc.), heart (しん) | 離: li (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: fire, south) (り) |
| 一所: one place (いっしょ), one place (ひとところ), the same place, the same place, one person | 記憶: memory (きおく), recollection, remembrance, memory, storage | 偶然: coincidence (ぐうぜん), chance, accident, fortuity, by chance | 前: point (さき), tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line) |
| 次: next (つぎ), following, subsequent, stage, station | 格子: lattice (こうし), latticework, window bars, grid, grating | 射: archery (しゃ), mapping, map, morphism, arrow | 電燈: electric light (でんとう) |
| 夫婦: married couple (ふうふ), husband and wife, man and wife, married couple (みょうと), married couple (めおと) | 夫婦: married couple (ふうふ), husband and wife, man and wife, married couple (みょうと), married couple (めおと) | 奧: inner part (おく), interior, back (of a drawer, one’s throat, etc.), depths (e.g. of a forest), recesses (e.g. of a cave) | 一人: one person (いちにん), one person (ひとり), being alone, being alone, being by oneself |
| 表: surface (おもて), face (i.e. the visible side of an object), front (of a building, etc.), obverse side (i.e. “head”) of a coin, outside |