私は鞄を買つた。無論和製の下等な品に過ぎなかつたが、それでも金具やなどがぴか／＼してゐるので、田舍ものを威嚇かすには充分であつた。此鞄を買ふといふ事は、私の母の注文であつた。卒業したら新らしい鞄を買つて、そのなかに一切の土産ものを入れて歸るやうにと、わざわざ手紙の中に書いてあつた。私は其文句を讀んだ時に笑ひ出した。私には母の料簡が解らないといふよりも、其言葉が一種の滑稽として訴へたのである。
translation
"I bought a bag." Of course, it was nothing more than a low-grade Japanese product, but the metal fittings and other gleaming details were enough to intimidate the country. It was my mother's order to buy this bag. I wrote in my letter that I should buy a new bag when I graduated and put all my souvenirs in it when I returned home. I burst into laughter when I read that phrase. It wasn't that I didn't understand my mother's letter, but rather that her remarks appealed to me as a kind of humor.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 鞄: bag (かばん), bag (カバン), satchel, satchel, briefcase | 無論: of course (むろん), certainly, naturally | 和製: Japanese-made (わせい) |
| 下等: inferior (かとう), base, vulgar, low grade, lower class | 品: article (しな), item, thing, goods, stock | 過: surplus- (か), excess-, over-, per- (chemical with more of a certain element than found in other compounds of the same constituents) | 金具: metal fittings (かなぐ), metal fixtures |
| 威嚇: threat (いかく), intimidation, menace | 充分: enough (じゅうぶん), sufficient, plenty, adequate, satisfactory | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) |
| 卒業: graduation (そつぎょう), completion (of a course), moving on (from), outgrowing (something), leaving (a group, company, etc.) | 新: new (しん), neo-, newness, novelty, Gregorian calendar | 一切: all (いっさい), everything, entirety, the whole, absolutely (not) | 土産: local specialty or souvenir bought as a gift while travelling (みやげ), present brought by a visitor, something unpleasant that one is given (e.g. an illness while on vacation), unwelcome gift, disservice |
| 手紙: letter (てがみ), missive, note, mail | 中: inside (なか), interior, among, within, middle | 書: letter (ふみ), writings, book (しょ), document, calligraphy (esp. Chinese) | 文句: complaint (もんく), grumbling, objection, phrase, words |
| 笑: laugh (わらい), laughter, smile, sneer, sex aids (e.g. dildos, pornographic books, erotic woodblock prints, etc.) | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 料簡: idea (りょうけん), thought, intention, design, view | 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation |
| 一種: a kind (いっしゅ), a sort, a variety, a species, of sorts | 滑稽: funny (こっけい), comical, humorous, laughable, ridiculous |