書齋には洋机と椅子の外に、澤山の書物が美くしい脊皮を竝べて、硝子越に電燈の光で照らされてゐた。奧さんは火鉢の前に敷いた座蒲團の上へ私を坐らせて、「ちつと其所いらにある本でも讀んでゐて下さい」と斷つて出て行つた。私は丁度主人の歸りを待ち受ける客のやうな氣がして濟まなかつた。私は畏こまつた儘烟草を飮んでゐた。奧さんが茶の間で何か下女に話してゐる聲が聞こえた。書齋は茶の間の縁側を突き當つて折れ曲つた角にあるので、棟の位置からいふと、座敷よりも却つて掛け離れた靜さを領してゐた。一しきりで奧さんの話聲が已むと、後はしんとした。私は泥棒を待ち受ける樣な心持で、凝としながら氣を何處かに配つた。
translation
In the study room, besides the Western-style desk and chairs, there were many beautiful books on their backs, illuminated by electric light through the glass. Okusan made me sit on the tatami mat spread out in front of the brazier, said, "Please read a little book over there," and left. I felt like a guest awaiting the return of my master, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. I was sipping on the smoke in awe. I heard my wife talking to the maid in the living room. The Shosai is located in a corner that is bent at the veranda of the tea room, so judging from the location of the ridge, it was far more quiet than the tatami room. When Okusan's voice died down for a while, I fell silent. As if I was waiting for a thief, I stifled my ki somewhere.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 椅子: chair (いす), chair (イス), stool, stool, post | 外: outside (そと), outside (と), exterior, exterior, the open (air) | 書物: book (しょもつ), volume | 美: beauty (び), august (み), beautiful |
| 越: Yue (kingdom in ancient China; 6th C-334 BCE) (えつ), Guangdong Province (China), Canton, Kwangtung, Vietnam | 電燈: electric light (でんとう) | 光: light (ひかり), illumination, ray, beam, gleam | 奧: 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) |
| 前: point (さき), tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line) | 敷: spreading (しき), laying out, covering, security deposit, Japanese mattress | 座蒲: round cushion used for Zen meditation (traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves) (ざふ) | 上: above (うえ), over, up, top, summit |
| 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) | 本: origin (もと), source, base, basis, foundation | 下: below (した), down, under, younger (e.g. daughter), bottom | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) |
| 丁度: exactly (ちょうど), precisely, just, right, opportunely | 主人: head (of a household) (しゅじん), proprietor (of a store), proprietress, landlord, landlady | 主人: head (of a household) (しゅじん), proprietor (of a store), proprietress, landlord, landlady | 受: vedana (sensation) (じゅ) |
| 氣: spirit (き), mind, heart, nature, disposition | 畏: yours sincerely (かしく), yours sincerely (かしこ), respectfully yours, respectfully yours | 烟草: tobacco (えんそう), tobacco (たばこ), tobacco (タバコ), cigarette, cigarette | 茶: tea (ちゃ), tea plant (Camellia sinensis), tea preparation, making tea, brown |
| 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing | 下女: maidservant (げじょ) | 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic | 聲: voice (こえ), singing (of a bird), chirping (of an insect), hoot, voice |
| 突: very (とっ), much | 折: opportunity (おり), chance, occasion, time, folding | 曲: composition (きょく), piece of music, song, track (on a record), tune | 角: angle (かく), square, cube, bishop, third degree (of the Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scale) |
| 位置: place (いち), position, location, position, standing | 座敷: tatami room (ざしき), tatami mat room, formal Japanese room, dinner party in a tatami room (esp. when a geisha or maiko attends) | 掛: credit (かけ), money owed on an account, bill, hanger, holder | 離: li (one of the trigrams of the I Ching: fire, south) (り) |
| 一: one (いち), 1, best, first, foremost | 後: behind (あと), rear, after, later, remainder | 泥棒: thief (どろぼう), thief (どろぼー), thief (ドロボー), burglar, burglar | 心持: feeling (こころもち), mood, sensation, disposition, mental attitude |
| 何處: where (いずく), where (いずこ), where (いづこ), where (いどこ), where (どこ) |