私が先生と知り合になつたのは鎌倉である。其時私はまだ若々しい書生であつた。暑中休暇を利用して海水浴に行つた友達から是非來いといふ端書を受取つたので、私は多少の金を工面して、出掛る事にした。私は金の工面に二三日を費やした。所が私が鎌倉に着いて三日と經たないうちに、私を呼び寄せた友達は、急に國元から歸れといふ電報を受け取つた。電報には母が病氣だからと斷つてあつた。けれども友達はそれを信じなかつた。友達はかねてから國元にゐる親達に勸まない結婚を強ひられてゐた。彼は現代の習慣からいふと結婚するにはあまり年が若過ぎた。それに肝心の當人が氣に入らなかつた。夫で夏休みに當然歸るべき所を、わざと避けて東京の近くで遊んでゐたのである。彼は電報を私に見せて何うしやうと相談をした。私には何うして可いか分らなかつた。けれども實際彼の母が病氣であるとすれば彼は固より歸るべき筈であつた。それで彼はとう／＼歸る事になつた。折角來た私は一人取り殘された。
translation
It was in Kamakura that I became acquainted with the teacher. At that time, I was still a youthful student. I received a letter from a friend who had gone swimming during the summer vacation, inviting me to come. I spent two or three days trying to find the money. However, within three days of my arrival in Kamakura, the friend who called me over suddenly received a telegram from Kunimoto telling me to return. The telegram said that my mother was ill. But my friend didn't believe it. A friend of mine had been forced into a marriage against his parents in Kunimoto for some time. He was too young to be married by modern customs. And the person in charge didn't like it. My husband and I deliberately avoided going to a place where we should have returned during the summer vacation, and were playing near Tokyo. He showed me the telegram and asked me what to do. I didn't know what to do. However, if his mother was really ill, he should have come back. So he was finally able to return. When I came here, I was left alone.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) | 合: between-season wear (あい), spring and autumn clothing, spring and fall clothing, together, condition |
| 書生: student (しょせい), student who performs housework in exchange for meals and lodging, houseboy (attending school or university) | 暑中休暇: summer vacation (しょちゅうきゅうか) | 利用: use (りよう), utilization, utilisation, application | 海水浴: swimming in the ocean (かいすいよく), sea bathing, seawater bath, going for a dip in the ocean |
| 友達: friend (ともだち), companion | 是非: certainly (ぜひ), without fail, right and wrong, pros and cons | 端書: postcard (はがき), postcard (ハガキ), memo, memo, note | 受取: receiving (うけとり), receipt |
| 金: money (かな), money (かね), metal, metal, gold (metal) (きん) | 工面: contrivance (くめん), contrivance (ぐめん), managing (to raise money), managing (to raise money), one’s financial condition | 出掛: (on the) point of going out (でかけ), (on the) point of going out (でがけ), (at the) moment one is about to leave, (at the) moment one is about to leave, just after leaving | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 費: cost (ひ), expense, Atai (post-Taika hereditary title often given to regional administrators) (あたい), Atai (post-Taika hereditary title often given to regional administrators) (あたいえ), Atai (post-Taika hereditary title often given to regional administrators) (あたえ) | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 着: arrival (ちゃく), arriving at …, counter for items or suits of clothing, nth place (in a race), counter for moves | 三日: 3rd day of the month (みっか), three days |
| 電報: telegram (でんぽう) | 受: vedana (sensation) (じゅ) | 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover | 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) |
| 信: honesty (しん), sincerity, fidelity, trust, reliance | 結婚: marriage (けっこん) | 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse | 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing |
| 習慣: habit (しゅうかん), (social) custom, practice, convention | 年: year (とし), age, years, past one’s prime, old age | 肝心: essential (かんじん), important, crucial, vital, main | 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition |
| 夫: husband (おっと), male (お), manly, brave, heroic | 東京: Tokyo (とうきょう), Tokyo (とうけい) | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 可: acceptable (か), satisfactory, allowed, permitted, approval | 分: minute (unit of time) (ふん), fun (one tenth of a monme, 5.787 grains), one-tenth (ぶ), one percent (one-tenth of a wari), 3 mm (one-tenth of a sun) | 筈: should (be) (はず), bound (to be), expected (to be), must (be), nock (of a bow) | 折角: with trouble (せっかく), at great pains, rare, valuable, precious |
| 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover |