最初の夏休みにＫは國へ歸りませんでした。駒込のある寺の一間を借りて勉強するのだと云つてゐました。私が歸つて來たのは九月上旬でしたが、彼は果して大觀音の傍の汚ない寺の中に閉ぢ籠つてゐました。彼の座敷は本堂のすぐ傍の狹い室でしたが、彼は其所で自分の思ふ通りに勉強が出來たのを喜こんでゐるらしく見えました。私は其時彼の生活の段々坊さんらしくなつて行くのを認めたやうに思ひます。彼は手頸に珠數を懸けてゐました。私がそれは何のためだと尋ねたら、彼は親指で一つ二つと勘定する眞似をして見せました。彼は斯うして日に何遍も珠數の輪を勘定するらしかつたのです。たゞし其意味は私には解りません。圓い輪になつてゐるものを一粒づゝ數へて行けば、何處迄數へて行つても終局はありません。Ｋはどんな所で何んな心持がして、爪繰る手を留めたでせう。詰らない事ですが、私はよくそれを思ふのです。
translation
"K did not return to the country during the first summer vacation." He said that he was going to rent a room at a temple in Komagome to study. It was the beginning of September when I returned, but I knew that he had shut himself up in a filthy temple near a great view. His tatami room was a small room right next to the main hall, but he seemed happy to have been able to study there the way he wanted. At that time, I think I acknowledged that his life was becoming more and more like a monk. He wore a number of beads around his wrist. When I asked what it was for, he pretended to count one or two with his thumb. He seemed to count the rings of pearls in this way many times a day. I don't know what it means. If you count each grain in a circle, no matter how far you go, there is no end. What kind of place did K feel and why did he stop pulling his claws? It's a no-brainer, but I often think about it.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 最初: beginning (さいしょ), outset, first, onset | Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 國: country (くに), state, region, national government, central government | 寺: temple (Buddhist) (てら), counter for temples (じ) |
| 勉強: study (べんきょう), diligence, working hard, experience, lesson (for the future) | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 九月: September (くがつ), ninth month of the lunar calendar | 上旬: first 10 days of month (じょうじゅん) |
| 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing | 果: phala (attained state, result) (か), enlightenment (as the fruits of one’s Buddhist practice), fruit, counter for pieces of fruit, end (はたて) | 觀音: Avalokiteshvara (Bodhisattva) (かんのん), Avalokitesvara, Kannon, Kwannon, Guanyin | 傍: near (そく), near (そば), near (はた), close, close |
| 中: inside (なか), interior, among, within, middle | 籠: basket (shopping, etc.) (かご), basket (shopping, etc.) (カゴ), hamper, hamper, cage | 座敷: tatami room (ざしき), tatami mat room, formal Japanese room, dinner party in a tatami room (esp. when a geisha or maiko attends) | 本堂: main temple building (ほんどう), nave |
| 其所: there (place relatively near listener) (そこ), there (place just mentioned), that place, then (of some incident just spoken of), that (of point just raised) | 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 通: authority (つう), expert, connoisseur, well-informed person, counter for messages, letters, notes, documents, etc. | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook |
| 段々: notches (ぎざぎざ), notches (ギザギザ), serration, serration, indentation | 坊: bonze (ぼう), bonze (ぼん), monk, monk, monk’s dwelling | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 手頸: wrist (てくび) |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 尋: fathom (じん), fathom (ひろ) | 親指: thumb (おやゆび), big toe | 一: one (いち), 1, best, first, foremost |
| 勘定: calculation (かんじょう), computation, counting, reckoning, count | 日: day (ひ), days, sun, sunshine, sunlight | 何遍: how many times (なんべん), how often | 輪: counter for wheels and flowers (りん), ring (わ), circle, loop, hoop |
| 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation | 圓: yen (Japanese monetary unit) (えん), circle | 一粒: one grain (いちりゅう), one grain (ひとつぶ), one drop, one drop, one bead | 何處: where (いずく), where (いずこ), where (いづこ), where (いどこ), where (どこ) |
| 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 心持: feeling (こころもち), mood, sensation, disposition, mental attitude | 手: hand (て), arm, forepaw, foreleg, handle | 留: ruble (Russian currency) (ルーブリ), ruble (Russian currency) (ルーブル), rouble, rouble, stationary point (りゅう) |
| 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |