私は食後Ｋを散歩に連れ出しました。二人は傳通院の裏手から植物園の通りをぐるりと廻つて又富坂の下へ出ました。散歩としては短かい方ではありませんでしたが、其間に話した事は極めて少なかつたのです。性質からいふと、Ｋは私よりも無口な男でした。私も多辯な方ではなかつたのです。然し私は歩きながら、出來る丈話を彼に仕掛て見ました。私の問題は重に二人の下宿してゐる家族に就いてでした。私は奥さんや御孃さんを彼が何う見てゐるか知りたかつたのです。所が彼は海のものとも山のものとも見分の付かないやうな返事ばかりするのです。しかも其返事は要領を得ない癖に、極めて簡單でした。彼は二人の女に關してよりも、專攻の學科の方に多くの注意を拂つてゐる樣に見えました。尤もそれは二學年目の試驗が目の前に逼つてゐる頃でしたから、普通の人間の立場から見て、彼の方が學生らしい學生だつたのでせう。其上彼はシユエデンボルグが何うだとか斯うだとか云つて、無學な私を驚ろかせました。
translation
"I took K out for a walk after dinner." From the back of Dentsu-in Temple, the two circled around the botanical garden and came out at the bottom of Matomizaka. It wasn't a short walk, but we talked very little during that time. By nature, K was a more taciturn man than I was. I was not a versatile person either. But as I walked, I tried to tell him all the stories I could. My problem was with two boarding families. I wanted to know how he looked at his wife and daughter. However, he always gives answers that are indistinguishable from those of the sea and those of the mountains. Moreover, his reply was extremely simple, in spite of his irrelevant habit. He seemed to be paying more attention to his studies than to the two women. Of course, this was around the time when the exams for the second year were just around the corner, so from the standpoint of a normal human being, he must have been more of a student. What's more, he said something about Schwedenborg, astonishing the ignorant me.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 食後: after a meal (しょくご) | Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 散歩: walk (さんぽ), stroll |
| 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 二人: two persons (ににん), two persons (ふたり), two people, two people, pair | 通院: going to the hospital for regular treatment (つういん), going to the hospital regularly | 裏手: back (esp. of a building, etc.) (うらて), rear, behind |
| 通: authority (つう), expert, connoisseur, well-informed person, counter for messages, letters, notes, documents, etc. | 下: below (した), down, under, younger (e.g. daughter), bottom | 短: fault (たん), defect, weak point, minor, 5-point card | 方: direction (かた), way, person, lady, gentleman |
| 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 極: quite (ごく), very, 10^48, quindecillion, pole (きょく) | 少: small (しょう), little, few | 性質: nature (せいしつ), property, disposition |
| 無口: taciturn (むくち), reticent, quiet, silent, untalkative | 男: man (おっこ), man (おとこ), male, male, fellow | 多辯: talkativeness (たべん), loquacity, garrulousness, volubility, polypetalous | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) |
| 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing | 仕掛: device (しかけ), contrivance, mechanism, gadget, trick | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 問題: question (e.g. on a test) (もんだい), problem, problem (e.g. societal, political), question, issue |
| 下宿: boarding (げしゅく), lodging, board and lodging, room and board, boarding house | 家族: family (かぞく) | 奥: inner part (おく), interior, back (of a drawer, one’s throat, etc.), depths (e.g. of a forest), recesses (e.g. of a cave) | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 海: sea (うみ), sea (み), sea (わた), sea (わだ), ocean | 山: mountain (やま), hill, mine (e.g. coal mine), heap, pile | 見分: inspection (けんぶん), examination, survey |
| 返事: reply (へんじ), answer, response | 返事: reply (へんじ), answer, response | 要領: point (ようりょう), gist, essentials, tenets, outline | 得: profit (とく), advantage, benefit, gain, rebirth in paradise, entering nirvana |
| 女: female (うみな), female (おうな), female (おな), female (おみな), female (おんな) | 多: multi- (た) | 注意: attention (ちゅうい), notice, heed, care, caution | 尤: superb (ゆう), outstanding |
| 前: point (さき), tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line) | 頃: (approximate) time (ころ), (approximate) time (ごろ), around, around, about | 普通: normal (ふつう), ordinary, regular, usual, common | 人間: human being (にんげん), human, person, man, mankind |
| 學生: student (esp. a university student) (がくせい) |