先生は是等の墓標が現はす人種々の樣式に對して、私程に滑稽もアイロニーも認めてないらしかつた。私が丸い墓石だの細長い御影の碑だのを指して、しきりに彼是云ひたがるのを、始めのうちは默つて聞いてゐたが、仕舞に「貴方は死といふ事實をまだ眞面目に考へた事がありませんね」と云つた。私は默つた。先生もそれぎり何とも云はなくなつた。
translation
Sensei didn't seem to accept the humor or irony as much as I do in the various styles of people who have these grave markers. At first I listened in silence as I pointed to round tombstones and long, thin statues of statues, and he kept saying yes, but in the end he said, ``You're still serious about the fact of death. I've never thought about it before," he said. I was silent. Sensei was at a loss for words.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 是等: these (これら) | 墓標: grave marker (はかじるし), grave marker (ぼひょう), gravestone, gravestone, headstone | 現: reality (うつつ), consciousness, present (e.g. government, administration) (げん), current, existing |
| 々: kanji repetition mark (のま), kanji repetition mark (ノマ) | 種々: various (くさぐさ), various (しゅじゅ), a variety of, a variety of, all kinds of | 對: versus (たい), against, vs., v., to (e.g. score of 4 to 2, ratio of 3 to 1, vote of 320 to 180) | 滑稽: funny (こっけい), comical, humorous, laughable, ridiculous |
| 丸: circle (まる), circle (マル), entirety, entirety, whole | 墓石: tombstone (はかいし), tombstone (ぼせき), gravestone, gravestone | 御影: image (esp. of a deity, buddha, royal, noble, etc.) (ぎょえい), image (esp. of a deity, buddha, royal, noble, etc.) (ごえい), image (esp. of a deity, buddha, royal, noble, etc.) (みえい), divine spirit (みかげ), spirit of the dead | 碑: stone monument bearing an inscription (esp. memorial for future generations) (いしぶみ), stone monument bearing an inscription (esp. memorial for future generations) (ひ), stele, stele, stela |
| 彼是: this and that (あれこれ), this and that (かれこれ), this and that (ひし), this and that (アレコレ), this or that | 仕舞: end (しまい), close, finish, termination, noh dance in plain clothes | 貴方: your home (きほう), your residence, you (referring to one’s equal; epistolary style), you (あなた), dear | 死: death (し), death (ﾀﾋ), decease, decease, (an) out |
| 考: thought (こう), report on one’s investigation into …, deceased father | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 何: what (なに), what (ナニ), you-know-what, you-know-what, that thing |