父の元氣は次第に衰ろへて行つた。私を驚ろかせたハンケチ付の古い麥藁帽子が自然と閑却されるやうになつた。私は黒い煤けた棚の上に載つてゐる其帽子を眺めるたびに、父に對して氣の毒な思をした。父が以前のやうに、輕々と動く間は、もう少し愼んで呉れたらと心配した。父が凝と坐り込むやうになると、矢張り元の方が達者だつたのだといふ氣が起つた。私は父の健康に就いてよく母と話し合つた。
translation
My father's energy was gradually waning. The old straw hat with a handkerchief, which had surprised me, naturally came to be neglected. Every time I looked at the hat on the black, sooty shelf, I felt sorry for my father. I was worried that while my father was moving as lightly as he used to be, I wished I could be a little more gentle. As my father began to sit still, I had a feeling that the former had been the more proficient one. I often talked with my mother about my father's health.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 父: father (あて), father (かそ), father (かぞ), father (しし), father (ちち) | 元氣: lively (げんき), full of spirit, energetic, vigorous, vital | 次第: depending on (しだい), as soon as, immediately after, upon, as (e.g. “as one is told”, “as one wishes”) | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) |
| 付: furnished with (つき), furnished with (づき), furnished with (ツキ), including, including | 古: antiquity (いにしえ), ancient times, used item (ふる), secondhand item, old | 帽子: hat (ぼうし), cap | 藁帽子: straw hat (わらぼうし) |
| 閑却: negligence (かんきゃく), disregard | 黒: black (くろ), black stone, guilt, guilty person | 煤: soot (すす), soot (スス) | 棚: shelf (たな), ledge, rack, trellis |
| 載: 10^44 (さい), hundred tredecillion | 帽子: hat (ぼうし), cap | 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) | 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition |
| 以前: before (いぜん), prior to, ago, the past, before | 動: motion (どう) | 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval | 少: small (しょう), little, few |
| 心配: worry (しんぱい), concern, anxiety, uneasiness, fear | 凝: muscle stiffness (esp. in shoulders) (こり), muscle stiffness (esp. in shoulders) (しこり), lump (in tissue, esp. breast), lump (in tissue, esp. breast), swelling | 矢張: as expected (やはり), sure enough, just as one thought, after all (is said and done), in the end | 元: origin (もと), source, base, basis, foundation |
| 達者: in good health (たっしゃ), healthy, well, fit, robust | 起: source (おこり), origin, cause, beginning, genesis | 健康: health (けんこう), healthy, sound, fit, wholesome | 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) |
| 合: between-season wear (あい), spring and autumn clothing, spring and fall clothing, together, condition |