私は折々亡くなつた父や母の事を思ひ出す外に、何の不愉快もなく、其一夏を伯父の家族と共に過ごして、又東京へ歸つたのです。たゞ一つ其夏の出來事として、私の心にむしろ薄暗い影を投げたのは、伯父夫婦が口を揃へて、まだ高等學校へ入つたばかりの私に結婚を勸める事でした。それは前後で丁度三四囘も繰り返されたでせう。私も始めはたゞ其突然なのに驚ろいた丈でした。二度目には判然斷りました。三度目には此方からとう／＼其理由を反問しなければならなくなりました。彼等の主意は單簡でした。早く嫁を貰つて此所の家へ歸つて來て、亡くなつた父の後を相續しろと云ふ丈なのです。家は休暇になつて歸りさへすれば、それで可いものと私は考へてゐました。父の後を相續する、それには嫁が必要だから貰ふ、兩方とも理窟としては一通り聞こえます。ことに田舍の事情を知つてゐる私には、能く解ります。私も絶對にそれを嫌つてはゐなかつたのでせう。然し東京へ修業に出たばかりの私には、それが遠眼鏡で物を見るやうに、遙か先の距離に望まれる丈でした。私は伯父の希望に承諾を與へないで、ついに又私の家を去りました。
translation
I spent that summer with my uncle's family and returned to Tokyo without any discomfort, other than occasionally thinking about my late father and mother. The only thing that happened that summer that cast a rather gloomy shadow over my mind was that my uncle and his wife all agreed to persuade me, who had just entered high school, to get married. bottom. It must have been repeated three or four times before and after. At first, I was surprised at how sudden it was. The second time it was a no-brainer. For the third time, I had to ask him why. Their intention was simple. I was told to quickly get a wife, come back to this house, and take over after my late father. I thought that it would be all right if I returned home on vacation. Inheriting from his father, and having a daughter-in-law is necessary for that, both of them seem to have a common logic. Especially for someone like me, who knows the situation in the countryside, I can understand. I don't think I hated it either. However, for me, who had just left for training in Tokyo, it was like looking at things through a binocular, and it was a long distance that I wanted. I refused my uncle's wishes and finally left my house again.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 折々: occasionally (おりおり), now and then, from time to time | 亡: death (ぼう), the late, the deceased | 父: father (あて), father (かそ), father (かぞ), father (しし), father (ちち) |
| 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 外: outside (そと), outside (と), exterior, exterior, the open (air) | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |
| 一夏: one summer (during which a monk attends a summer retreat) (いちげ), one summer (ひとなつ) | 伯父: uncle (おじ), uncle (しゅくふ), uncle (はくふ), uncle (one’s father’s older brother) (えおじ) | 家族: family (かぞく) | 共: first-person plural (or singular) (ども), second or third person plural (implies speaker is of higher status than those referred to), together with (とも), same, both |
| 東京: Tokyo (とうきょう), Tokyo (とうけい) | 一: one (いち), 1, best, first, foremost | 心: mind (こころ), heart, spirit, the meaning of a phrase (riddle, etc.), heart (しん) | 影: shadow (かげ), silhouette, figure, shape, reflection |
| 伯父: uncle (おじ), uncle (しゅくふ), uncle (はくふ), uncle (one’s father’s older brother) (えおじ) | 夫婦: married couple (ふうふ), husband and wife, man and wife, married couple (みょうと), married couple (めおと) | 夫婦: married couple (ふうふ), husband and wife, man and wife, married couple (みょうと), married couple (めおと) | 口: mouth (くち), opening, hole, gap, orifice |
| 學校: school (がっこう) | 學校: school (がっこう) | 入: entering (いり), setting (of the Sun), containing, content, audience | 結婚: marriage (けっこん) |
| 丁度: exactly (ちょうど), precisely, just, right, opportunely | 返: number of times (へん), reply, answer | 突然: abrupt (とつぜん), sudden, unexpected | 丈: only (だけ), just, merely, simply, no more than |
| 判然: clear (はんぜん), distinct, evident, definite | 三度: three times (さんど), thrice, third (interval), three times (みたび), thrice | 目: eye (め), eyeball, eyesight, sight, vision | 度目: the Nth time (どめ) |
| 理由: reason (りゆう), reason (わけ), pretext, pretext, motive | 反問: cross-examination (はんもん), retort, asking in return | 彼等: they (かれら), them, those (あれら), they, they (of people) | 主意: main meaning (しゅい), opinion, idea, aim, motive |
| 嫁: bride (よめ), (one’s) daughter-in-law, wife | 此所: here (ここ), this place, this point, here, now | 家: house (いえ), residence, dwelling, family, household | 亡: death (ぼう), the late, the deceased |
| 休暇: holiday (きゅうか), day off, furlough, absence (from work) | 可: acceptable (か), satisfactory, allowed, permitted, approval | 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 必要: necessary (ひつよう), needed, essential, indispensable, necessity |
| 一通: one copy (of a document) (いっつう), one letter, one-way traffic, pure straight, winning hand containing nine consecutive tiles of the same suit (i.e. 1-9) | 田舍: rural area (いなか), countryside, the sticks, hometown | 事情: circumstances (じじょう), conditions, situation, reasons, state of affairs | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) |
| 解: solution (of an equation, inequality, etc.) (かい), root (e.g. of a polynomial), solution (to a given problem), answer, explanation | 嫌: disliking (いや), disliking (や), disliking (イヤ), not wanting, not wanting | 然: -like (ぜん), so (さ), like that, in that way, like that (しか) | 東京: Tokyo (とうきょう), Tokyo (とうけい) |
| 遠眼鏡: spectacles for far-sightedness (えんがんきょう), spectacles for far-sightedness (とおめがね), telescope, telescope | 物: thing (もの), thing (もん), thing (モノ), object, object | 見: looking (み), viewing, (please) try (to), view (of life, etc.) (けん), outlook | 先: a short while ago (さっき), a moment ago, just now, some time ago, point (さき) |
| 望: full moon (ぼう), full moon (もち), 15th day of the lunar month, 15th day of the lunar month | 希望: hope (きぼう), wish, aspiration, (bright) prospects, expectation | 承諾: consent (しょうだく), approval, acceptance, agreement, compliance |