普通の人間として私は女に對して冷淡ではなかつた。けれども年の若い私の今迄經過して來た境遇からいつて、私は殆んど交際らしい交際を女に結んだ事がなかつた。それが源因か何うかは疑問だが、私の興味は往來で出合ふ知りもしない女に向つて多く働く丈であつた。先生の奧さんには其前玄關で會つた時、美くしいといふ印象を受けた。それから會ふたんびに同じ印象を受けない事はなかつた。然しそれ以外に私は是と云つてとくに奧さんに就いて語るべき何物も有たないやうな氣がした。
translation
As a normal human being, I was not indifferent to women. However, due to the circumstances I have been through since I was young, I have had almost no relationship with a woman. It is questionable whether this was the cause or not, but my interest was to the extent that I worked a lot on women I met on the street and did not even know. When I met Sensei's wife at the front door, I got the impression that she was beautiful. Since then, I never failed to get the same impression. But other than that, I felt like I had nothing to say about Mrs. Okusan.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 普通: normal (ふつう), ordinary, regular, usual, common | 人間: human being (にんげん), human, person, man, mankind | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 女: female (うみな), female (おうな), female (おな), female (おみな), female (おんな) |
| 冷淡: cool (れいたん), indifferent, apathetic, half-hearted, cold | 年: year (とし), age, years, past one’s prime, old age | 若: youth (わか), child (esp. of the young son of someone of high social standing), young, new, like (こと) | 今迄: until now (いままで), so far, up to the present |
| 殆: quite (ほとほと), utterly, really, completely | 交際: company (こうさい), friendship, association, society, acquaintance | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 興味: interest (in something) (きょうみ), curiosity (about something), zest (for) | 出合: meeting (であい), rendezvous, encounter, confluence | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) | 多: multi- (た) |
| 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 奧: 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) | 玄關: entrance (げんかん), front door, entryway, entranceway, entry hall | 印象: impression (いんしょう) |
| 同: the same (どう), the said, likewise | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 以外: with the exception of (いがい), excepting, excluding | 是: here (ここ), this place, this point, here, now |
| 何物: what kind of thing (なにもの), anything (else), nothing (but) | 有: existence (ゆう), possession, having, limited company, bhava (becoming, existence) (う) | 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition |