「私は猿樂町から神保町の通りへ出て、小川町の方へ曲りました。私が此界隈を歩くのは、何時も古本屋をひやかすのが目的でしたが、其日は手摺のした書物などを眺める氣が、何うしても起らないのです。私は歩きながら絶えず宅の事を考へてゐました。私には先刻の奥さんの記憶がありました。夫から御孃さんが宅へ歸つてからの想像がありました。私はつまり此二つのもので歩かせられてゐた樣なものです。其上私は時々往來の眞中で我知らず不圖立ち留まりました。さうして今頃は奥さんが御孃さんにもうあの話をしてゐる時分だらうなどと考へました。また或時は、もうあの話が濟んだ頃だとも思ひました。
translation
“From Sarakucho, I went out onto the street of Jimbocho and turned toward Ogawamachi. Whenever I walked around this area, I always wanted to show off the second-hand bookstores, but that day I saw a book with a handrail. As I walked, I was constantly thinking about the house, and I remembered my wife. After returning to the city, I had an idea that I was being forced to walk by these two things. By now I thought it was time for Okusan to talk to her daughter about it, and at other times I thought it was about time I finished talking about it.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 通: authority (つう), expert, connoisseur, well-informed person, counter for messages, letters, notes, documents, etc. | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 小川: stream (おがわ), brook, creek |
| 方: direction (かた), way, person, lady, gentleman | 曲: composition (きょく), piece of music, song, track (on a record), tune | 界隈: neighborhood (かいわい), neighbourhood, vicinity | 歩: pawn (ふ), step (ほ), stride, counter for steps, walking (あゆみ) |
| 古本屋: secondhand bookshop (ふるほんや), secondhand bookstore, secondhand bookseller | 目的: purpose (もくてき), goal, aim, objective, intention | 手摺: handrail (てすり), railing, banister | 書物: book (しょもつ), volume |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 起: source (おこり), origin, cause, beginning, genesis | 絶: starting field which contains the November and/or December 20-point card (ぜつ) | 宅: house (たく), home, one’s house, one’s home, one’s husband |
| 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 先刻: a short while ago (せんこく), already | 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) | 記憶: memory (きおく), recollection, remembrance, memory, storage |
| 想像: imagination (そうぞう), supposition, guess | 時々: sometimes (ときどき), occasionally, at times, from time to time, now and then | 不圖: suddenly (ふと), casually, accidentally, incidentally, unexpectedly | 留: ruble (Russian currency) (ルーブリ), ruble (Russian currency) (ルーブル), rouble, rouble, stationary point (りゅう) |
| 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic | 時分: time (じぶん), hour, season, time of the year | 頃: (approximate) time (ころ), (approximate) time (ごろ), around, around, about |