此試みは次第に成功しました。初のうち融合しにくいやうに見えたものが、段々一つに纏まつて來出しました。彼は自分以外に世界のある事を少しづゝ悟つて行くやうでした。彼はある日私に向つて、女はさう輕蔑すべきものでないと云ふやうな事を云ひました。Ｋははじめ女からも、私同樣の知識と學問を要求してゐたらしいのです。左右してそれが見付からないと、すぐ輕蔑の念を生じたものと思はれます。今迄の彼は、性によつて立場を變へる事を知らずに、同じ視線で凡ての男女を一樣に觀察してゐたのです。私は彼に、もし我等二人丈が男同志で永久に話を交換してゐるならば、二人はたゞ直線的に先へ延びて行くに過ぎないだらうと云ひました。彼は尤もだと答へました。私は其時御孃さんの事で、多少夢中になつてゐる頃でしたから、自然そんな言葉も使ふやうになつたのでせう。然し裏面の消息は彼には一口も打ち明けませんでした。
translation
"This attempt was gradually successful." Things that seemed difficult to merge at first gradually came together. Little by little, he seemed to realize that there were other worlds besides himself. He turned to me one day and said that women were not to be despised. It seems that K initially demanded the same knowledge and study from women as I did. If you can't find it by any means, it seems that you immediately feel contempt. Up until this point, he had looked at all men and women in the same way, ignoring that gender would change his position. I told him that if the two of us were men and were exchanging stories forever, we would just move forward in a straight line. He replied that it was most likely. At that time, I was somewhat preoccupied with the daughter, so I guess it was only natural that I began to use those words. However, he did not confide a single word of the news behind the scenes.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 次第: depending on (しだい), as soon as, immediately after, upon, as (e.g. “as one is told”, “as one wishes”) | 成功: success (せいこう), achievement, succeeding (in life), (worldly) success, prosperity | 初: first (うい), first (はつ), new, new, innocent (うぶ) | 融合: agglutination (ゆうごう), adhesion, fusion, combination, blending |
| 段々: notches (ぎざぎざ), notches (ギザギザ), serration, serration, indentation | 一: one (いち), 1, best, first, foremost | 纏: battle standard decorated with hanging strips of paper or leather (まとい), fireman’s standard (Edo period) | 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing |
| 以外: with the exception of (いがい), excepting, excluding | 以外: with the exception of (いがい), excepting, excluding | 世界: the world (せかい), society, the universe, sphere, circle | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 女: female (うみな), female (おうな), female (おな), female (おみな), female (おんな) | Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 知識: knowledge (ちしき), information |
| 左右: left and right (さう), left and right (さゆう), left and right (そう), right and left, right and left | 見付: approach (to a castle gate) (みつけ), front of a structural member | 念: sense (ねん), idea, thought, feeling, desire | 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) |
| 性: one’s nature (さが), one’s destiny, custom, tradition, habit | 立場: position (たちば), situation, viewpoint, standpoint, point of view | 變: strange (へん), odd, peculiar, weird, curious | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) |
| 視線: one’s line of sight (しせん), one’s gaze, one’s eyes (looking), glance, gaze | 凡: about (おおよそ), roughly, approximately, generally, on the whole | 男女: men and women (だんじょ), men and women (なんにょ), man and woman, man and woman, both sexes | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) |
| 同志: like-mindedness (どうし), (being of the) same mind, shared sentiment, comrade, fellow | 永久: eternity (えいきゅう), eternity (とこしえ), eternity (とわ), permanence, permanence | 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic | 交換: exchange (こうかん), interchange, switching, reciprocity, barter |
| 直線的: linear (ちょくせんてき), rectilinear, straight-line, straightforward, simple | 先: a short while ago (さっき), a moment ago, just now, some time ago, point (さき) | 過: surplus- (か), excess-, over-, per- (chemical with more of a certain element than found in other compounds of the same constituents) | 尤: superb (ゆう), outstanding |
| 多少: a little (たしょう), some, somewhat, slightly, to some degree | 夢中: absorbed in (むちゅう), immersed in, crazy about, obsessed with, devoted to | 夢中: absorbed in (むちゅう), immersed in, crazy about, obsessed with, devoted to | 頃: (approximate) time (ころ), (approximate) time (ごろ), around, around, about |
| 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word | 使: messenger (し), police and judicial chief (Heian and Kamakura periods), klesha (polluting thoughts such as greed, hatred and delusion, which result in suffering) | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 裏面: back (side) (うらめん), back (side) (りめん), reverse, reverse, other side |
| 一口: mouthful (ひとくち), morsel, bite, gulp, sip | 打: dozen (ダース), hitting a ball (with a bat, golf club, etc.) (だ), batting, stroke | 明: vidya (wisdom) (みょう), mantra, the coming (July 4, etc.), brightness (めい), discernment |