Ｋは私より強い決心を有してゐる男でした。勉強も私の倍位はしたでせう。其上持つて生れた頭の質が私よりもずつと可かつたのです。後では專問が違ましたから何とも云へませんが、同じ級にゐる間は、中學でも高等學校でも、Ｋの方が常に上席を占めてゐました。私には平生から何をしてもＫに及ばないといふ自覺があつた位です。けれども私が強ひてＫを私の宅へ引張つて來た時には、私の方が能く事理を辨へてゐると信じてゐました。私に云はせると、彼は我慢と忍耐の區別を了解してゐないやうに思はれたのです。是はとくに貴方のために付け足して置きたいのですから聞いて下さい。肉體なり精神なり凡て我々の能力は、外部の刺戟で、發達もするし、破壞されもするでせうが、何方にしても刺戟を段々に強くする必要のあるのは無論ですから、能く考へないと、非常に險惡な方向へむいて進んで行きながら、自分は勿論傍のものも氣が付かずにゐる恐れが生じてきます。醫者の説明を聞くと、人間の胃袋程横着なものはないさうです。粥ばかり食つてゐると、それ以上の堅いものを消化す力が何時の間にかなくなつて仕舞ふのださうです。だから何でも食ふ稽古をして置けと醫者はいふのです。けれども是はたゞ慣れるといふ意味ではなからうと思ひます。次第に刺戟を増すに從つて、次第に營養機能の抵抗力が強くなるといふ意味でなくてはなりますまい。もし反對に胃の力の方がぢり／＼弱つて行つたなら結果は何うなるだらうと想像して見ればすぐ解る事です。Ｋは私より偉大な男でしたけれども、全く此所に氣が付いてゐなかつたのです。たゞ困難に慣れてしまへば、仕舞に其困難は何でもなくなるものだと極めてゐたらしいのです。艱苦を繰り返せば、繰り返すといふだけの功徳で、其艱苦が氣にかゝらなくなる時機に邂逅へるものと信じ切つてゐたらしいのです。
translation
K was a man with a stronger determination than I did. I studied twice as much as I did. On top of that, the quality of the head I was born with was much better than mine. I can't say anything about it later because we were in different subjects, but while we were in the same class, whether in middle school or high school, K always took the top spot. I have always believed that no matter what I did, I would not be as good as K. However, when I forced K to come to my house, I believed that I was the one who understood the facts better. In my opinion, he didn't seem to understand the difference between patience and perseverance. I would like to add something especially for you, so please listen. Our abilities, whether physical or mental, can be developed or destroyed by external stimuli. If you don't think about it, you run the risk of heading in a very dangerous direction without noticing yourself and those around you. When I listened to the doctor's explanation, it seems that there is nothing more lazy than the human stomach. If you eat nothing but rice porridge, before you know it you'll lose the strength to digest anything harder than that. That's why doctors tell us to practice eating anything. However, I don't think it means just getting used to it. It must mean that as the stimulus gradually increases, the resistance of the nourishment function gradually increases. If, on the contrary, the strength of the stomach becomes weaker, just imagine what the result would be. K was a bigger man than I was, but he was completely unaware of this fact. It seems that he believed that once he got used to the difficulties, the difficulties would become nothing at all. It seems that he was completely convinced that if he repeated hardships, he would be able to reap the benefits of repeated hardships, and when the time came when the hardships would no longer bother him.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse | 決心: determination (けっしん), resolution |
| 男: man (おっこ), man (おとこ), male, male, fellow | 勉強: study (べんきょう), diligence, working hard, experience, lesson (for the future) | 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) | 頭: counter for large animals (e.g. head of cattle) (とう), counter for insects in a collection, counter for helmets, masks, etc., head (あたま), head (かしら) |
| 可: acceptable (か), satisfactory, allowed, permitted, approval | 後: behind (あと), rear, after, later, remainder | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 同: the same (どう), the said, likewise |
| 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval | 高等: high class (こうとう), high grade | 學校: school (がっこう) | 學校: school (がっこう) |
| 常: constant (とこ), unchanging, eternal, ordinary (ただ), ordinary (タダ) | 上席: seniority (じょうせき), precedence, upper seat | 占: fortune-telling (うら), divination | 平生: usual (へいぜい), ordinary |
| 位: throne (くらい), crown, (nobleman’s) seat, government position, court rank | 宅: house (たく), home, one’s house, one’s home, one’s husband | 引張: pulling (ひっぱり), stretching, tension | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case |
| 事理: reason (じり), facts, propriety, sense | 辨: speech (べん), tongue, talk, eloquence, dialect | 信: honesty (しん), sincerity, fidelity, trust, reliance | 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing |
| 忍耐: endurance (にんたい), perseverance, patience | 區別: distinction (くべつ), differentiation, classification | 了解: comprehension (りょうかい), consent, understanding, agreement, OK | 是: here (ここ), this place, this point, here, now |
| 付: furnished with (つき), furnished with (づき), furnished with (ツキ), including, including | 足: foot (あし), paw, arm (of an octopus, squid, etc.), leg, gait | 下: below (した), down, under, younger (e.g. daughter), bottom | 精神: mind (せいしん), spirit, soul, heart, ethos |
| 我々: we (われわれ) | 能力: ability (のうりょく), faculty, low-ranking priest who does manual labour at a temple (のうりき), male temple employee | 外部: outside (e.g. of a building) (がいぶ), exterior, outside (of a group, company, etc.), outside world | 刺戟: stimulus (しげき), stimulation, irritation (esp. of the body, e.g. skin, eyes), impetus, impulse |
| 段々: notches (ぎざぎざ), notches (ギザギザ), serration, serration, indentation | 必要: necessary (ひつよう), needed, essential, indispensable, necessity | 無論: of course (むろん), certainly, naturally | 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father |
| 方向: direction (ほうこう), orientation, bearing, way, course (e.g. of action) | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 勿論: of course (もちろん), certainly, naturally |
| 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition | 恐: frightening (こわ), terrifying, yours sincerely (かしく), yours sincerely (かしこ), respectfully yours | 醫者: doctor (いしゃ), physician | 説明: explanation (せつめい), exposition, description, account, caption |
| 胃袋: stomach (いぶくろ), dietary needs | 横着: laziness (おうちゃく), shirking, impudent, brazenly dishonest | 粥: thin rice porridge (かい), thin rice porridge (かゆ), thin rice porridge (しゅく), watery cooked rice, watery cooked rice | 食: food (し), food (しょく), food (じき), foodstuff, foodstuff |
| 堅: strength (けん), solidity, firmness, armour, armor | 消化: digestion (of food) (しょうか), digestion (of information), assimilation, thorough understanding, consumption | 力: force (ちから), strength, might, vigour, vigor | 何時: when (いつ), at what time, how soon, normal times, ordinary days |
| 稽古: practice (けいこ), practising, training, study | 意味: meaning (いみ), significance, sense | 次第: depending on (しだい), as soon as, immediately after, upon, as (e.g. “as one is told”, “as one wishes”) | 増: increase (ぞう) |
| 抵抗力: (power of) resistance (ていこうりょく) | 胃: stomach (い), Chinese “stomach” constellation (one of the 28 mansions) | 結果: result (けっか), consequence, outcome, effect, as a result of … | 想像: imagination (そうぞう), supposition, guess |
| 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 偉大: great (いだい), grand, magnificent, outstanding, mighty | 全: all (ぜん), whole, entire, complete, total |
| 困難: difficulty (こんなん), hardship, trouble, distress, infeasibility | 困難: difficulty (こんなん), hardship, trouble, distress, infeasibility | 極: quite (ごく), very, 10^48, quindecillion, pole (きょく) | 艱苦: privation suffering (かんく) |
| 功徳: merit (くどく), virtuous deed, act of merit, act of charity, divine reward (for virtuous deeds) | 艱苦: privation suffering (かんく) | 時機: opportunity (じき), chance, time, occasion | 邂逅: chance meeting (かいこう), by chance (わくらば), coincidental, occasional, rare |