私の哀愁は此夏歸省した以後次第に情調を變へて來た。油蝉の聲がつく／＼法師の聲に變る如くに、私を取り卷く人の運命が、大きな輪廻のうちに、そろ／＼動いてゐるやうに思はれた。私は淋しさうな父の態度と言葉を繰り返しながら、手紙を出しても返事を寄こさない先生の事をまた憶ひ浮べた。先生と父とは、丸で反對の印象を私に與へる點に於て、比較の上にも、連想の上にも、一所に私の頭に上り易かつた。
translation
My sorrow gradually changed after I returned home this summer. It seemed to me that the destinies of the people who surrounded me were moving in unison, in a great cycle, as if the cicadas were changing to the voices of the priests. As I repeated my father's lonely demeanor and words, I once again thought of Sensei, who had sent letters but hadn't responded. Sensei and my father gave me the impression of complete opposition, and it was easy for me to think of them in one place, both in terms of comparison and association.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 哀愁: pathos (あいしゅう), sorrow, grief | 以後: after this (いご), from now on, hereafter, thereafter, since (then) | 次第: depending on (しだい), as soon as, immediately after, upon, as (e.g. “as one is told”, “as one wishes”) |
| 情調: atmosphere (じょうちょう), mood, sentiment | 變: strange (へん), odd, peculiar, weird, curious | 油蝉: large brown cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata) (あぶらぜみ), large brown cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata) (アブラゼミ), aburazemi, aburazemi | 聲: voice (こえ), singing (of a bird), chirping (of an insect), hoot, voice |
| 如: tathata (the ultimate nature of all things) (にょ), like (こと), like (ごと), like (もころ), similar to | 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover | 人: -ian (e.g. Italian) (じん), -ite (e.g. Tokyoite), -er (e.g. performer, etc.), person working with …, man | 運命: fate (うんめい), destiny, lot |
| 輪廻: samsara (cycle of death and rebirth) (りんね), being reborn, reincarnation | 父: father (あて), father (かそ), father (かぞ), father (しし), father (ちち) | 態度: attitude (たいど), manner, behaviour, demeanour, bearing | 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word |
| 手紙: letter (てがみ), missive, note, mail | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 返事: reply (へんじ), answer, response | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. |
| 丸: circle (まる), circle (マル), entirety, entirety, whole | 印象: impression (いんしょう) | 於: at (おいて), in, on | 比較: comparison (ひかく) |
| 連想: association (of ideas) (れんそう), being reminded (of something), suggestion | 一所: one place (いっしょ), one place (ひとところ), the same place, the same place, one person | 頭: counter for large animals (e.g. head of cattle) (とう), counter for insects in a collection, counter for helmets, masks, etc., head (あたま), head (かしら) | 易: type of cleromancy divination (described in the Book of Changes) performed with long sticks (えき), The Book of Changes, Yijing, I Ching, easiness (い) |