私は二人の間に出來たたつた一人の男の子でした。宅には相當の財産があつたので、寧ろ鷹揚に育てられました。私は自分の過去を顧みて、あの時兩親が死なずにゐて呉れたなら、少なくとも父か母か何方か、片方で好いから生きてゐて呉れたなら、私はあの鷹揚な氣分を今迄持ち續ける事が出來たらうにと思ひます。
translation
"I was the only boy between the two of us." The family had a considerable fortune, so he was brought up rather frankly. Reflecting on my past, if my parents had survived at that time, if at least one of my parents, my father or my mother, could have survived because I liked them, I would have had that easy-going feeling. I hope I can keep it up until now.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 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 | 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval | 一人: one person (いちにん), one person (ひとり), being alone, being alone, being by oneself |
| 子: child (こ), kid, teenager, youngster, young (non-adult) person | 宅: house (たく), home, one’s house, one’s home, one’s husband | 財産: property (ざいさん), fortune, assets | 寧: rather (むしろ), better, instead, if anything |
| 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 過去: the past (かこ), bygone days, one’s past (that one would prefer remained secret), past (tense), preterit | 死: death (し), death (ﾀﾋ), decease, decease, (an) out | 呉: go (ご), soy beans soaked and mashed to a creamy paste (ingredient of tofu and soy milk), Wu (region in China, south of the lower Yangtze), Wu (kingdom in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era; 902-937 CE), Southern Wu |
| 父: father (あて), father (かそ), father (かぞ), father (しし), father (ちち) | 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) | 何方: which way (いずかた), which way (いずし), which way (いずち), which way (どち), which way (どちら) | 片方: one side (かたほう), one party, the other side, the other party, one (of a pair) |
| 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) | 今迄: until now (いままで), so far, up to the present | 持: draw (in go, poetry contest, etc.) (じ), tie | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |