私が進まうか止さうかと考へて、兎も角も翌日迄待たうと決心したのは土曜の晩でした。所が其晩に、Ｋは自殺して死んで仕舞つたのです。私は今でも其光景を思ひ出すと慄然とします。何時も東枕で寐る私が、其晩に限つて、偶然西枕に床を敷いたのも、何かの因縁かも知れません。私は枕元から吹き込む寒い風で不圖眼を覺したのです。見ると、何時も立て切つてあるＫと私の室との仕切の襖が、此間の晩と同じ位開いてゐます。けれども此間のやうに、Ｋの黒い姿は其所には立つてゐません。私は暗示を受けた人のやうに、床の上に肱を突いて起き上りながら、屹とＫの室を覗きました。洋燈が暗く點つてゐるのです。それで床も敷いてあるのです。然し掛蒲團は跳返されたやうに裾の方に重なり合つてゐるのです。さうしてＫ自身は向ふむきに突ツ伏してゐるのです。
translation
It was Saturday night when I decided whether to proceed or not, and decided to wait until the next day. That night, however, K committed suicide and died. I still shudder when I think of that scene. I always sleep on the east pillow, but that night, I happened to put the floor on the west pillow. The cold wind that blew in from my bedside made me feel uneasy. When I looked, the sliding door separating K's room from mine, which had always been erected, was open just as it had been the other night. However, K's black figure was not standing there as it was the other day. Like someone who's been suggested, I got up on the floor with my elbows on the floor and peered into the room of K and Hana. The Western lamps were dark and dim. That's why the floor is laid. However, the hanging mats were piled up at the hem as if they had bounced back. K himself was lying face down on his face.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 兎: rabbit (う), rabbit (うさぎ), rabbit (ウサギ), hare, hare | 角: angle (かく), square, cube, bishop, third degree (of the Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scale) |
| 決心: determination (けっしん), resolution | 土曜: Saturday (どよう) | 晩: evening (ばん), night, dinner, evening meal, counter for nights | 所: place (とこ), place (ところ), spot, spot, scene |
| 自殺: suicide (じさつ) | 死: death (し), death (ﾀﾋ), decease, decease, (an) out | 仕舞: end (しまい), close, finish, termination, noh dance in plain clothes | 今: now (いま), the present time, just now, soon, immediately |
| 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 慄然: terrified (りつぜん), horrified | 何時: when (いつ), at what time, how soon, normal times, ordinary days | 限: end (きり), finish, place to stop, bound, limit |
| 床: bed (とこ), bedding, sickbed, alcove, riverbed | 敷: spreading (しき), laying out, covering, security deposit, Japanese mattress | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 因縁: fate (いんえん), fate (いんねん), destiny, destiny, connection |
| 枕元: bedside (まくらもと), near one’s pillow | 寒: midwinter (かん), cold season, coldest days of the year, cold (さぶ), cold (さむ) | 風: swing (ふり), shake, wave, swinging, appearance | 不圖: suddenly (ふと), casually, accidentally, incidentally, unexpectedly |
| 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 切: eager (せつ), earnest, ardent, kind, keen | 室: room (しつ), wife (of someone of high rank), scabbard, Chinese “Encampment” constellation (one of the 28 mansions), greenhouse (むろ) | 仕切: partition (しきり), division, boundary, compartment, settlement of accounts |
| 此間: the other day (こないだ), lately, recently | 同: the same (どう), the said, likewise | 黒: black (くろ), black stone, guilt, guilty person | 姿: figure (すがた), form, shape, appearance, dress |
| 暗示: hint (あんじ), suggestion | 受: vedana (sensation) (じゅ) | 人: -ian (e.g. Italian) (じん), -ite (e.g. Tokyoite), -er (e.g. performer, etc.), person working with …, man | 上: above (うえ), over, up, top, summit |
| 突: very (とっ), much | 起: source (おこり), origin, cause, beginning, genesis | 洋燈: lamp (ようとう), lamp (ランプ) | 暗: darkness (あん) |
| 裾: hem (すそ), (trouser) cuff, shirttail, bottom (of a kimono), train (of a dress) | 方: direction (かた), way, person, lady, gentleman | 重: chief (おも), main, principal, important, main secondary or supporting role (in kyogen) | 合: between-season wear (あい), spring and autumn clothing, spring and fall clothing, together, condition |