「私は其友達の名を此所にＫと呼んで置きます。私はこのＫと小供の時からの仲好でした。小供の時からと云へば斷らないでも解つてゐるでせう、二人には同郷の縁故があつたのです。Ｋは眞宗の坊さんの子でした。尤も長男ではありません、次男でした。それである醫者の所へ養子に遣られたのです。私の生れた地方は大變本願寺派の勢力の強い所でしたから、眞宗の坊さんは他のものに比べると、物質的に割が好かつたやうです。一例を擧げると、もし坊さんに女の子があつて、其女の子が年頃になつたとすると、檀家のものが相談して、何處か適當な所へ嫁に遣つて呉れます。無論費用は坊さんの懷から出るのではありません。そんな譯で眞宗寺は大抵有福でした。
translation
"I'll call that friend K here. I've been on good terms with this K since I was a child. K was the son of a Shinshu monk, not the eldest son, but the second. Since the area where I was born was a place where the influence of the Great Change Hongwanji sect was strong, compared to other monks, the Shin sect priests seemed to be better off in terms of material resources. If the monk has a daughter, and if the girl is of age, the parishioners can consult with each other and send her to a suitable place as a wife. No. That's why Shinshoji Temple was mostly lucky.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 友達: friend (ともだち), companion | 名: name (な), given name, title, fame, renown | 此所: here (ここ), this place, this point, here, now |
| 小供: child (こども), children | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation | 二人: two persons (ににん), two persons (ふたり), two people, two people, pair |
| 縁故: relation (えんこ), connection, affinity | 坊: bonze (ぼう), bonze (ぼん), monk, monk, monk’s dwelling | 子: child (こ), kid, teenager, youngster, young (non-adult) person | 尤: superb (ゆう), outstanding |
| 次男: second son (じなん) | 醫者: doctor (いしゃ), physician | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 養子: adopted child (usu. male) (ようし), son-in-law |
| 地方: district (ちほう), region, area, locality, the country | 本願寺派: Honganji sect (of Shin Buddhism) (ほんがんじは) | 勢力: influence (せいりょく), power, might, strength, potency | 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse |
| 比: ratio (ひ), proportion, match, equal, equivalent | 物質的: material (ぶっしつてき), physical | 割: rate (わり), ratio, proportion, one tenth, ten percent | 好: friendship (ぎ), friendship (よしび), friendship (よしみ), friendly relations, friendly relations |
| 女: female (うみな), female (おうな), female (おな), female (おみな), female (おんな) | 年頃: approximate age (としごろ), apparent age, marriageable age (esp. of a woman), age of maturity, age of adulthood | 檀家: family which supports a temple (だんか), family which supports a temple (だんけ), parishioner, parishioner | 相談: consultation (そうだん), discussion, discussing, asking (someone) for advice |
| 嫁: bride (よめ), (one’s) daughter-in-law, wife | 呉: go (ご), soy beans soaked and mashed to a creamy paste (ingredient of tofu and soy milk), Wu (region in China, south of the lower Yangtze), Wu (kingdom in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era; 902-937 CE), Southern Wu | 無論: of course (むろん), certainly, naturally | 費用: cost (ひよう), expense |
| 懷: inside the breast of one’s clothing (esp. kimono) (ふところ), bosom, (breast) pocket, space between one’s chest and outstretched arms, (one’s) reach | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 大抵: mostly (たいてい), ordinarily, usually, generally, probably |