「Ｋは中々奥さんと御孃さんの話を已めませんでした。仕舞には私も答へられないやうな立ち入つた事迄聞くのです。私は面倒よりも不思議の感に打たれました。以前私の方から二人を問題にして話しかけた時の彼を思ひ出すと、私は何うしても彼の調子の變つてゐる所に氣が付かずにはゐられないのです。私はとう／＼何故今日に限つてそんな事ばかり云ふのかと彼に尋ねました。其時彼は突然默りました。然し私は彼の結んだ口元の肉が顫へるやうに動いてゐるのを注視しました。彼は元來無口な男でした。平生から何か云はうとすると、云ふ前に能く口のあたりをもぐもぐさせる癖がありました。彼の唇がわざと彼の意志に反抗するやうに容易く開かない所に、彼の言葉の重みも籠つてゐたのでせう。一旦聲が口を破つて出るとなると、其聲には普通の人よりも倍の強い力がありました。
translation
``K didn't stop talking about his wife and daughter. When I think back to him when I spoke to him about the two of them, I can't help but notice the change in his tone. Finally, I asked him why he was saying such things only today, when he suddenly fell silent, but I moved so that the flesh around his closed mouth would tremble. He was a taciturn man by nature, and when he was about to say something, he had a habit of mumbling his lips before he could say anything. The weight of his words must have been hidden in the places where they would not open easily, as if they were resisting his will. had.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| Ｋ: K (ケイ), K (ケー), k, k, kilo- | 中々: very (なかなか), considerably, easily, readily, fairly | 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) | 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic |
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 答: answer (こたえ), reply, response, answer, solution | 入: entering (いり), setting (of the Sun), containing, content, audience | 面倒: trouble (めんどう), bother, trouble, difficulty, care |
| 感: feeling (かん), sensation, emotion, admiration, impression | 打: dozen (ダース), hitting a ball (with a bat, golf club, etc.) (だ), batting, stroke | 以前: before (いぜん), prior to, ago, the past, before | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) |
| 二人: two persons (ににん), two persons (ふたり), two people, two people, pair | 問題: question (e.g. on a test) (もんだい), problem, problem (e.g. societal, political), question, issue | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 彼: that (あ), that (あれ), that (アレ), that thing, that thing |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 調子: tune (ちょうし), tone, key, pitch, time | 變: strange (へん), odd, peculiar, weird, curious | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene |
| 付: furnished with (つき), furnished with (づき), furnished with (ツキ), including, including | 今日: today (きょう), today (こんじつ), today (こんち), today (こんにち), this day | 限: end (きり), finish, place to stop, bound, limit | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 突然: abrupt (とつぜん), sudden, unexpected | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 口元: mouth (くちもと), lips, shape of the mouth, near an entrance, vicinity of an entrance | 肉: flesh (にく), meat, flesh (of a fruit), pulp, the physical body (as opposed to the spirit) |
| 注視: gazing steadily at (ちゅうし), observing (a person) closely, maintain a watch over | 無口: taciturn (むくち), reticent, quiet, silent, untalkative | 男: man (おっこ), man (おとこ), male, male, fellow | 平生: usual (へいぜい), ordinary |
| 能: talent (のう), gift, function, noh (theatre) | 口: mouth (くち), opening, hole, gap, orifice | 癖: habit (usu. a bad one) (くせ), habit (usu. a bad one) (へき), habit (usu. a bad one) (クセ), tendency, tendency | 唇: lip (くちびる), lips |
| 反抗: opposition (はんこう), resistance, insubordination, defiance, hostility | 容易: easy (ようい), simple, plain | 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word | 重: chief (おも), main, principal, important, main secondary or supporting role (in kyogen) |
| 一旦: once (いったん), for a short time, briefly, temporarily, one morning | 聲: voice (こえ), singing (of a bird), chirping (of an insect), hoot, voice | 破: middle section of a song (in gagaku or noh) (は) | 普通: normal (ふつう), ordinary, regular, usual, common |
| 倍: double (ばい), twice (as much), times (as much), -fold, 1-nth | 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse | 力: force (ちから), strength, might, vigour, vigor |