母は失望していゝ所に却つて頼みを置いた。其癖病氣の時にしか使はない渇くといふ昔風の言葉を、何でも食べたがる意味に用ひてゐた。
translation
Disappointed, my mother relied on me instead. He used the old-fashioned word "thirst", which is only used when he is sick, to mean he wants to eat anything.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) | 失望: disappointment (しつぼう), despair | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 病氣: illness (usu. excluding minor ailments, e.g. common cold) (びょうき), disease, sickness, bad habit, bad behaviour |
| 使: messenger (し), police and judicial chief (Heian and Kamakura periods), klesha (polluting thoughts such as greed, hatred and delusion, which result in suffering) | 渇: thirst (かつ) | 昔風: old-fashioned (むかしふう), old-style | 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word |
| 食: food (し), food (しょく), food (じき), foodstuff, foodstuff | 意味: meaning (いみ), significance, sense | 用: business (よう), task, errand, engagement, use |