Ｋは何時もに似合はない話を始めました。奥さんと御孃さんは市ヶ谷の何處へ行つたのだらうと云ふのです。私は大方叔母さんの所だらうと答へました。Ｋは其叔母さんは何だと又聞きます。私は矢張り軍人の細君だと教へて遣りました。すると女の年始は大抵十五日過だのに、何故そんなに早く出掛けたのだらうと質問するのです。私は何故だか知らないと挨拶するより外に仕方がありませんでした。
translation
"K always started talking about things that didn't suit him." He asked where in Ichigaya the wife and daughter had gone. I answered that I was mostly at my aunt's place. K asks again what the aunt is. I told them that I was the wife of a soldier. He then asked me why I had left so early, since the women's New Year's holidays were usually fifteen days old. I had no choice but to say hello without knowing why.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 何時: when (いつ), at what time, how soon, normal times, ordinary days | 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic | 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) |
| 谷: valley (たに) | 何處: where (いずく), where (いずこ), where (いづこ), where (いどこ), where (どこ) | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) |
| 叔母: aunt (おば), aunt (しゅくぼ), aunt (はくぼ) | 叔母: aunt (おば), aunt (しゅくぼ), aunt (はくぼ) | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene | 答: answer (こたえ), reply, response, answer, solution |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 矢張: as expected (やはり), sure enough, just as one thought, after all (is said and done), in the end | 軍人: military personnel (ぐんじん), soldier | 細君: one’s wife (さいくん), wife (of someone below the speaker in rank) |
| 年始: beginning of the year (ねんし), new year, New Year’s call, New Year’s greetings | 大抵: mostly (たいてい), ordinarily, usually, generally, probably | 何故: why (なぜ), why (なにゆえ), how, how | 早: already (はや), now, by this time, quick, early |
| 質問: question (しつもん), inquiry, enquiry | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) | 挨拶: greeting (あいさつ), greetings, salutation, salute, condolences | 外: outside (そと), outside (と), exterior, exterior, the open (air) |