私がＫに向つて新らしい住居の心持は何うだと聞いた時に、彼はたゞ一言惡くないと云つた丈でした。私から云はせれば惡くない所ではないのです。彼の今迄居た所は北向の濕つぽい臭のする汚ない室でした。食物も室相應に粗末でした。私の家へ引き移つた彼は、幽谷から喬木に移つた趣があつた位です。それを左程に思ふ氣色を見せないのは、一つは彼の強情から來てゐるのですが、一つは彼の主張からも出てゐるのです。佛教の教義で養はれた彼は、衣食住について兎角の贅澤をいふのを恰も不道徳のやうに考へてゐました。なまじい昔の高僧だとか聖徒だとかの傳を讀んだ彼には、動ともすると精神と肉體とを切り離したがる癖がありました。肉を鞭撻すれば靈の光輝が増すやうに感ずる場合さへあつたのかも知れません。
translation
When I asked K how he felt about his new home, he simply said he was fine. It's not a bad place if you ask me. The place he had lived until now was a damp, dirty room facing north. The food was also disappointingly poor. When he moved to my house, it was as if he had moved from Yukoku to Takagi. The reason why he doesn't seem to think so much is partly due to his stubbornness, but partly it is due to his insistence. Raised on Buddhist doctrine, he thought it immoral to talk about extravagant extravagances regarding food, clothing and shelter. Having read the legends of the old high priests and saints, he had a habit of wanting to separate the mind from the body. It may have even been the case that he felt that the brilliance of the spirit would increase if he whipped his flesh.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 新: new (しん), neo-, newness, novelty, Gregorian calendar | 住居: dwelling (すまい), house, residence, address, living |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing | 一言: single word (いちげん), single word (いちごん), single word (ひとこと), a few words, a few words |
| 丈: only (だけ), just, merely, simply, no more than | 惡: evil (あく), wickedness, (role of) the villain (in theatre, etc.), the bad guy | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 今迄: until now (いままで), so far, up to the present |
| 臭: -smell (しゅう), stinking of, smacking of, hinting of | 汚: oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) (よごれ), oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) (ヨゴレ) | 室: room (しつ), wife (of someone of high rank), scabbard, Chinese “Encampment” constellation (one of the 28 mansions), greenhouse (むろ) | 食物: food (しょくもつ), foodstuff, food (くいもの), foodstuff, prey |
| 家: house (いえ), residence, dwelling, family, household | 引: -off (price reduction) (びき), discount, -coated, -plated | 幽谷: deep ravine (ゆうこく), glen | 喬木: tall tree (きょうぼく), forest tree, arbor, arbour |
| 位: throne (くらい), crown, (nobleman’s) seat, government position, court rank | 左程: (not) so (さほど), (not) particularly, (not) very, (not) that much | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 一: one (いち), 1, best, first, foremost |
| 主張: claim (しゅちょう), insistence, assertion, advocacy, emphasis | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 佛教: Buddhism (ぶっきょう) | 教義: creed (きょうぎ), doctrine, dogma |
| 兎角: (doing) various things (とかく), (doing) this and that, being apt to, being prone to, tending to | 不道徳: immorality (ふどうとく), iniquity, impropriety | 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 昔: olden days (むかし), former |
| 聖徒: saint (せいと), Christian | 動: motion (どう) | 精神: mind (せいしん), spirit, soul, heart, ethos | 切: eager (せつ), earnest, ardent, kind, keen |
| 癖: habit (usu. a bad one) (くせ), habit (usu. a bad one) (へき), habit (usu. a bad one) (クセ), tendency, tendency | 肉: flesh (にく), meat, flesh (of a fruit), pulp, the physical body (as opposed to the spirit) | 鞭撻: encouragement (べんたつ), urging, spurring on, chastising by whipping | 光輝: brightness (こうき), splendour, splendor |
| 感: feeling (かん), sensation, emotion, admiration, impression | 場合: case (ばあい), occasion, situation, circumstances, case (ばやい) | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) |