妻の母は時々氣拙い事を妻に云ふやうでした。それを妻は私に隱してゐました。然し自分は自分で、單獨に私を責めなければ氣が濟まなかつたらしいのです。責めると云つても、決して強い言葉ではありません。妻から何か云はれた爲に、私が激した例は殆んどなかつた位ですから。妻は度々何處が氣に入らないのか遠慮なく云つて呉れと頼みました。それから私の未來のために酒を止めろと忠告しました。ある時は泣いて『貴方は此頃人間が違つた』と云ひました。それ丈なら未可いのですけれども、『Ｋさんが生きてゐたら、貴方もそんなにはならなかつたでせう』と云ふのです。私は左右かも知れないと答へた事がありましたが、私の答へた意味と、妻の了解した意味とは全く違つてゐたのですから、私は心のうちで悲しかつたのです。それでも私は妻に何事も説明する氣にはなれませんでした。
translation
My wife's mother would sometimes say mean things to her. My wife hid it from me. However, it seems that he would not feel relieved if he did not blame me alone. Even if I say blame, it is never a strong word. There were almost no occasions when I got angry because my wife said something to me. My wife often asked me to feel free to tell her what I didn't like. Then he advised me to stop drinking for my future. One time he cried and said, ``You were a different person these days.'' That's not enough, but he said, ``If Mr. K had lived, you wouldn't have become so bad.'' There was a time when I answered that I might be left or right, but the meaning of my answer was completely different from the meaning that my wife understood, so I was deeply saddened. . Still, I didn't feel like explaining anything to my wife.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 妻: wife (つま), garnish (esp. one served with sashimi), trimmings, accompaniment, side (remark) | 母: mother (あも), mother (いろは), mother (おも), mother (かか), mother (はは) | 時々: sometimes (ときどき), occasionally, at times, from time to time, now and then | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident |
| 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 自分: myself (じぶん), yourself, oneself, himself, herself | 責: responsibility (せき), duty, obligation | 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition |
| 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse | 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 爲: good (ため), advantage, benefit, welfare, sake |
| 例: example (れい), instance, illustration, case, precedent | 殆: quite (ほとほと), utterly, really, completely | 位: throne (くらい), crown, (nobleman’s) seat, government position, court rank | 度々: often (たびたび), again and again, over and over again, repeatedly, frequently |
| 何處: where (いずく), where (いずこ), where (いづこ), where (いどこ), where (どこ) | 入: entering (いり), setting (of the Sun), containing, content, audience | 遠慮: reserve (えんりょ), constraint, restraint, modesty, diffidence | 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 |
| 忠告: advice (ちゅうこく), warning | 時: time (とき), hour, moment, occasion, case | 貴方: your home (きほう), your residence, you (referring to one’s equal; epistolary style), you (あなた), dear | 人間: human being (にんげん), human, person, man, mankind |
| 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) | 貴方: your home (きほう), your residence, you (referring to one’s equal; epistolary style), you (あなた), dear | 左右: left and right (さう), left and right (さゆう), left and right (そう), right and left, right and left | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) |
| 意味: meaning (いみ), significance, sense | 了解: comprehension (りょうかい), consent, understanding, agreement, OK | 全: all (ぜん), whole, entire, complete, total | 心: mind (こころ), heart, spirit, the meaning of a phrase (riddle, etc.), heart (しん) |
| 何事: what (なにごと), what sort of thing, everything, anything, what (on earth)? | 説明: explanation (せつめい), exposition, description, account, caption |