それでも私はついに私を忘れる事が出來ませんでした。私はすぐ机の上に置いてある手紙に眼を着けました。それは豫期通り私の名宛になつてゐました。私は夢中で封を切りました。然し中には私の豫期したやうな事は何にも書いてありませんでした。私は私に取つて何んなに辛い文句が其中に書き列ねてあるだらうと豫期したのです。さうして、もし夫が奥さんや御孃さんの眼に觸れたら、何んなに輕蔑されるかも知れないといふ恐怖があつたのです。私は一寸眼を通した丈で、まづ助かつたと思ひました。（固より世間體の上丈で助かつたのですが、其世間體が此場合、私にとつては非常な重大事件に見えたのです。）
translation
"Even so, I couldn't forget myself." I immediately saw the letter on the desk. It was, as usual, addressed to me. I was engrossed in opening the seal. However, there was nothing written inside that I thought was wrong. I thought that there must be some painful complaints written in it for me. I feared that if my husband were to catch his wife's or daughter's eyes, they might look down on him. I was able to get a glimpse of it, and I thought I was saved. (Honestly, I was saved by my social standing, but in this case, my social standing seemed to me to be a very serious incident.)
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 机: desk (つき), desk (つくえ) | 上: above (うえ), over, up, top, summit |
| 眼: eye (め), eyeball, eyesight, sight, vision | 着: arrival (ちゃく), arriving at …, counter for items or suits of clothing, nth place (in a race), counter for moves | 名宛: address (on an envelope) (なあて) | 夢中: absorbed in (むちゅう), immersed in, crazy about, obsessed with, devoted to |
| 切: eager (せつ), earnest, ardent, kind, keen | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 中: inside (なか), interior, among, within, middle | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 取: taking (とり), taker, collecting, collector, remover | 辛: 8th in rank (かのと), 8th in rank (しん), eighth sign of the Chinese calendar, eighth sign of the Chinese calendar | 文句: complaint (もんく), grumbling, objection, phrase, words | 列: row (れつ), line, file, column, queue |
| 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) | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) | 恐怖: fear (きょうふ), fear (くふ), dread, dread, dismay | 一寸: one sun (approx. 3.03 cm) (いっすん), little bit (of time, distance, etc.), a little (ちょいと), a little (ちょっと), a little (ちょと) |
| 通: authority (つう), expert, connoisseur, well-informed person, counter for messages, letters, notes, documents, etc. | 丈: only (だけ), just, merely, simply, no more than | 助: help (じょ), rescue, assistant, assistance (すけ), help | 世間: world (せけん), society, people, the public |
| 重大: serious (じゅうだい), important, significant, grave, weighty | 事件: event (じけん), affair, incident, case, plot | 重大事: very serious matter (じゅうだいじ), matter of very grave concern, momentous event | 件: the aforementioned (くだん), the said, (man, incident, etc.) in question, the above-mentioned, the aforesaid |
| 大事件: major incident (だいじけん), major happening, big scandal | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook |