私は急に父が居なくなつて母一人が取り殘された時の、古い廣い田舍家を想像して見た。此家から父一人を引き去つた後は、其儘で立ち行くだらうか。兄は何うするだらうか。母は何といふだらうか。さう考へる私は又此所の土を離れて、東京で氣樂に暮らして行けるだらうか。私は母を眼の前に置いて、先生の注意――父の丈夫でゐるうちに、分けて貰ふものは、分けて貰つて置けといふ注意を、偶然思ひ出した。
translation
I imagined an old, spacious country house when my father suddenly disappeared and my mother was left alone. After removing my father alone from this house, shall I go on like that? what will my brother do? What is my mother saying? Thinking like this, I wonder if I can leave the soil here and live comfortably in Tokyo. With my mother in front of me, I happened to recall the teacher's warning: to keep my father healthy, give him what he wants to share with me.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 急: sudden (きゅう), abrupt, unexpected, urgent, pressing | 父: father (あて), father (かそ), father (かぞ), father (しし), father (ちち) | 居: residence (きょ), being (somewhere) (い), sitting |
| 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 古: antiquity (いにしえ), ancient times, used item (ふる), secondhand item, old | 田舍: rural area (いなか), countryside, the sticks, hometown |
| 想像: imagination (そうぞう), supposition, guess | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 一人: one person (いちにん), one person (ひとり), being alone, being alone, being by oneself | 引: -off (price reduction) (びき), discount, -coated, -plated |
| 其儘: without change (そのまま), without change (そのまんま), as is, as is, just like | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 兄: older brother (あに), elder brother, you (けい), Mr, Mister | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 此所: here (ここ), this place, this point, here, now | 土: earth (つし), earth (つち), soil, soil, dirt | 離: li (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: fire, south) (り) |
| 暮: sunset (くれ), sundown, nightfall, dusk, end | 眼: eye (め), eyeball, eyesight, sight, vision | 前: point (さき), tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line) | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. |
| 丈夫: healthy (じょうぶ), robust, strong, solid, durable | 分: minute (unit of time) (ふん), fun (one tenth of a monme, 5.787 grains), one-tenth (ぶ), one percent (one-tenth of a wari), 3 mm (one-tenth of a sun) | 注意: attention (ちゅうい), notice, heed, care, caution | 偶然: coincidence (ぐうぜん), chance, accident, fortuity, by chance |