私は今前後の行き掛りを忘れて仕舞たから、先生が何の爲に斯んな自白を私に爲て聞かせたのか、判然云ふ事が出來ない。けれども先生の態度の眞面目であつたのと、調子の沈んでゐたのとは、今だに記憶に殘つてゐる。其時たゞ私の耳に異樣に響いたのは、「最も幸福に生れた人間の一對であるべき筈です」といふ最後の一句であつた。先生は何故幸福な人間と云ひ切らないで、あるべき筈であると斷わつたのか。私にはそれ丈が不審であつた。ことに其所へ一種の力を入れた先生の語氣が不審であつた。先生は事實果して幸福なのだらうか、又幸福であるべき筈でありながら、それ程幸福でないのだらうか。私は心の中で疑ぐらざるを得なかつた。けれども其疑ひは一時限り何處かへ葬むられて仕舞つた。
translation
Now that I have forgotten what happened, I cannot say for what reason Sensei made such a confession to me. However, I still remember Sensei's serious demeanor and his subdued demeanor. What struck me at that moment was the last line: ``We should be the happiest pair of people''. Why didn't Sensei say that he was a happy person, but instead insisted that he should be? The length was suspicious to me. In particular, Sensei's demeanor, which put a certain amount of effort into it, was suspicious. Is Sensei actually happy, or is he supposed to be happy but isn't that happy? I couldn't help but doubt in my heart. However, that suspicion was temporarily buried somewhere.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 前後: front and rear (ぜんご), front and back, before and behind, back and forth, before and after | 行: line (of text) (ぎょう), row, verse, carya (austerities), samskara (formations) | 掛: credit (かけ), money owed on an account, bill, hanger, holder |
| 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 爲: good (ため), advantage, benefit, welfare, sake | 自白: confession (じはく), admission |
| 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 態度: attitude (たいど), manner, behaviour, demeanour, bearing | 眞面目: serious (まじめ), serious (マジメ), earnest, earnest, sober | 調子: tune (ちょうし), tone, key, pitch, time |
| 記憶: memory (きおく), recollection, remembrance, memory, storage | 耳: ear (みみ), hearing, ear (for music, etc.), edge, crust | 響: echo (ひびき), reverberation, sound (esp. the distinctive sound of an object or activity, e.g. rain, gun, gallop, drum), noise, quality of a sound (e.g. a fine phrase, clear voice, resonant bell) | 最: the most (さい), the extreme, prime, conspicuous |
| 生: pure (き), undiluted, raw, crude, raw (なま) | 人間: human being (にんげん), human, person, man, mankind | 筈: should (be) (はず), bound (to be), expected (to be), must (be), nock (of a bow) | 最後: end (さいご), conclusion, last, final, latest |
| 何故: why (なぜ), why (なにゆえ), how, how | 幸福: happiness (こうふく), well-being, joy, welfare, blessedness | 幸福: happiness (こうふく), well-being, joy, welfare, blessedness | 切: eager (せつ), earnest, ardent, kind, keen |
| 不審: doubt (ふしん), suspicion, question, strangeness | 其所: there (place relatively near listener) (そこ), there (place just mentioned), that place, then (of some incident just spoken of), that (of point just raised) | 一種: a kind (いっしゅ), a sort, a variety, a species, of sorts | 力: force (ちから), strength, might, vigour, vigor |
| 幸福: happiness (こうふく), well-being, joy, welfare, blessedness | 幸福: happiness (こうふく), well-being, joy, welfare, blessedness | 心: mind (こころ), heart, spirit, the meaning of a phrase (riddle, etc.), heart (しん) | 中: inside (なか), interior, among, within, middle |
| 得: profit (とく), advantage, benefit, gain, rebirth in paradise, entering nirvana | 一時: a (short) time (いっとき), a (short) time (ひととき), a while, a while, moment | 限: end (きり), finish, place to stop, bound, limit | 時限: (school) period (じげん), period or division of time, time limit |
| 葬: funeral (そう) |