奥さんは滅多に外出した事がありませんでした。たまに宅を留守にする時でも、御孃さんと私を二人ぎり殘して行くやうな事はなかつたのです。それがまた偶然なのか、故意なのか、私には解らないのです。私の口からいふのは變ですが、奥さんの樣子を能く觀察してゐると、何だか自分の娘と私とを接近させたがつてゐるらしくも見えるのです。それでゐて、或場合には、私に對して暗に警戒する所もあるやうなのですから、始めて斯んな場合に出會つた私は、時々心持をわるくしました。
translation
"My wife rarely went out." Even when she was away from home occasionally, she never left me alone. Whether it's a coincidence or intentional, I don't know. It's a strange thing to say from my own mouth, but when I observe her behavior, I get the impression that she wants to bring my daughter closer to me. Even so, in some cases, it seemed that there was a hint of caution against me, so when I encountered such a situation for the first time, I sometimes felt bad.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 奥: 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) | 滅多: thoughtless (めった), reckless, careless, rash, seldom | 外出: going out (がいしゅつ), going out (そとで), outing, outing, leaving (one’s home, office, etc.) | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 留守: absence (るす), being away from home, house-sitting, house-sitter, being left unattended to (of one’s studies, etc.) | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 二人: two persons (ににん), two persons (ふたり), two people, two people, pair |
| 偶然: coincidence (ぐうぜん), chance, accident, fortuity, by chance | 故意: intent (こい), intention, bad faith, mens rea (guilty mind) | 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation | 口: mouth (くち), opening, hole, gap, orifice |
| 能: talent (のう), gift, function, noh (theatre) | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 娘: unmarried woman (じょう), Miss, -ess, -ette, daughter (むすめ) |
| 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 場合: case (ばあい), occasion, situation, circumstances, case (ばやい) | 對: versus (たい), against, vs., v., to (e.g. score of 4 to 2, ratio of 3 to 1, vote of 320 to 180) | 暗: darkness (あん) |
| 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 場合: case (ばあい), occasion, situation, circumstances, case (ばやい) | 時々: sometimes (ときどき), occasionally, at times, from time to time, now and then | 心持: feeling (こころもち), mood, sensation, disposition, mental attitude |