私は東京へ來て高等學校へ這入りました。其時の高等學校の生徒は今よりも餘程殺伐で粗野でした。私の知つたものに、夜中職人と喧嘩をして、相手の頭へ下駄で傷を負はせたのがありました。それが酒を飲んだ揚句の事なので、夢中に擲り合をしてゐる間に、學校の制帽をとう／＼向ふのものに取られてしまつたのです。所が其帽子の裏には當人の名前がちやんと、菱形の白いきれの上に書いてあつたのです。それで事が面倒になつて、其男はもう少しで警察から學校へ照會される所でした。然し友達が色々と骨を折つて、ついに表沙汰にせずに濟むやうにして遣りました。斯んな亂暴な行爲を、上品な今の空氣のなかに育つたあなた方に聞かせたら、定めて馬鹿馬鹿しい感じを起すでせう。私も實際馬鹿々々しく思ひます。然し彼等は今の學生にない一種質朴な點をその代りに有つてゐたのです。其頃私の月々伯父から貰つてゐた金は、あなたが今、御父さんから送つてもらふ學資に比べると遙かに少ないものでした。（無論物價も違ひませうが）。それでゐて私は少しの不足も感じませんでした。のみならず數ある同級生のうちで、經濟の點にかけては、決して人を羨ましがる憐れな境遇にゐた譯ではないのです。今から囘顧すると、寧ろ人に羨やましがられる方だつたのでせう。と云ふのは、私は月々極つた送金の外に、書籍費、（私は其時分から書物を買ふ事が好でした）、及び臨時の費用を、よく伯父から請求して、ずん／＼それを自分の思ふ樣に消費する事が出來たのですから。
translation
"I came to Tokyo and entered high school." High school students then were much more brutal and crude than they are now. I know of a man who got into a fight with a craftsman in the middle of the night and injured his head with his clogs. That's what happened after we drank alcohol, so while we were madly fighting each other, the school cap was finally taken away by someone on the other side. However, on the back of the hat, the person's name was written on a lozenge-shaped white strip. Things became troublesome, and the man was about to be referred to the school by the police. However, after a lot of hard work, my friend finally managed to hide it from the public eye. If you, who grew up in today's refined atmosphere, were to listen to such violent behavior, you would surely feel absurd. I really think it's silly, too. However, in return, they possessed a kind of simplicity that students of today do not have. The money my uncle gave me each month at that time was far less than the money you are now receiving from your father. (Though, of course, the materiality is also different.) And yet I didn't feel any lack. Not only that, among the many classmates I was in, I was in a pitiful situation that made me envious of others when it came to economics. Looking back on it now, I think he was the kind of person people would envy. That is to say, in addition to the monthly remittances, I often asked my uncle for book expenses (I liked to buy books at that time) and extraordinary expenses. ／＼Because I was able to consume it as I wanted.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 東京: Tokyo (とうきょう), Tokyo (とうけい) | 高等: high class (こうとう), high grade | 學校: school (がっこう) |
| 生徒: pupil (せいと), student, schoolchild | 今: now (いま), the present time, just now, soon, immediately | 殺伐: brutal (atmosphere, society, etc.) (さつばつ), savage, fierce, violent, bloodthirsty | 粗野: rustic (そや), rude, vulgar, rough |
| 夜中: middle of the night (よなか), dead of night, during the night (やちゅう), at night, all night (よじゅう) | 職人: craftsman (しょくにん), artisan, tradesman, worker, workman | 職人: craftsman (しょくにん), artisan, tradesman, worker, workman | 喧嘩: quarrel (けんか), quarrel (ケンカ), brawl, brawl, fight |
| 頭: counter for large animals (e.g. head of cattle) (とう), counter for insects in a collection, counter for helmets, masks, etc., head (あたま), head (かしら) | 下駄: geta (げた), geta (ゲタ), traditional Japanese wooden sandal, traditional Japanese wooden sandal, turn (in set-type proofing) | 傷: wound (きず), wound (キズ), injury, injury, cut | 負: negative (ふ), minus, wooden box carried on one’s back to store items for a pilgrimage (おい) |
| 飲: drinking (sometimes esp. alcohol) (いん), drink, drinking party | 揚句: after (a long process) (あげく), at the end of, last line (of a renga) | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 夢中: absorbed in (むちゅう), immersed in, crazy about, obsessed with, devoted to |
| 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval | 學校: school (がっこう) | 制帽: regulation cap (せいぼう), school cap | 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover |
| 帽子: hat (ぼうし), cap | 裏: inside (うち), within, while (e.g. one is young), during, within (e.g. a day) | 名前: name (なまえ), given name, first name | 菱形: rhombus (ひしがた), rhombus (りょうけい), rhomb, rhomb, lozenge |
| 上: above (うえ), over, up, top, summit | 書: letter (ふみ), writings, book (しょ), document, calligraphy (esp. Chinese) | 面倒: trouble (めんどう), bother, trouble, difficulty, care | 少: small (しょう), little, few |
| 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 友達: friend (ともだち), companion | 色々: various (いろいろ), all sorts of, variety of, various colors (colours) | 骨: knack (こつ), knack (コツ), skill, skill, trick |
| 表沙汰: going public (with a matter) (おもてざた), becoming public knowledge, recourse to litigation, taking (a matter) to court | 亂暴: violence (らんぼう), assault, rowdiness, wildness, running riot | 上品: elegant (じょうひん), refined, polished, stylish, sophisticated | 方: direction (かた), way, person, lady, gentleman |
| 馬鹿: idiot (ばか), idiot (バカ), moron, moron, fool | 馬鹿: idiot (ばか), idiot (バカ), moron, moron, fool | 馬鹿: idiot (ばか), idiot (バカ), moron, moron, fool | 感: feeling (かん), sensation, emotion, admiration, impression |
| 彼等: they (かれら), them, those (あれら), they, they (of people) | 學生: student (esp. a university student) (がくせい) | 一種: a kind (いっしゅ), a sort, a variety, a species, of sorts | 質朴: simple (and honest) (しつぼく), simple-hearted, unsophisticated |
| 代: substitution (しろ), material, price, margin (e.g. for stapling, etc.), area required for something | 有: existence (ゆう), possession, having, limited company, bhava (becoming, existence) (う) | 月々: every month (つきづき), monthly, month by month | 伯父: uncle (おじ), uncle (しゅくふ), uncle (はくふ), uncle (one’s father’s older brother) (えおじ) |
| 金: money (かな), money (かね), metal, metal, gold (metal) (きん) | 御父: daddy (おとう), father, husband | 比: ratio (ひ), proportion, match, equal, equivalent | 不足: insufficiency (ふそく), deficiency, shortage, lack, scarcity |
| 決: decision (けつ), vote | 人: -ian (e.g. Italian) (じん), -ite (e.g. Tokyoite), -er (e.g. performer, etc.), person working with …, man | 境遇: one’s circumstances (きょうぐう), environment, situation (in life) | 寧: rather (むしろ), better, instead, if anything |
| 極: quite (ごく), very, 10^48, quindecillion, pole (きょく) | 送金: remittance (そうきん), sending money | 外: outside (そと), outside (と), exterior, exterior, the open (air) | 書籍: book (しょじゃく), book (しょせき), publication, publication |
| 書物: book (しょもつ), volume | 好: friendship (ぎ), friendship (よしび), friendship (よしみ), friendly relations, friendly relations | 臨時: temporary (りんじ), provisional, interim, special, extraordinary | 費用: cost (ひよう), expense |
| 請求: claim (せいきゅう), demand, charge, application, request | 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 消費: consumption (しょうひ), expenditure, spending |