第一といふと私と先生の間には書信の往復がたび／＼あつたやうに思はれるが、事實は決してさうでない事を一寸斷つて置きたい。私は先生の生前にたつた二通の手紙しか貰つてゐない。其一通は今いふ此簡單な返書で、あとの一通は先生の死ぬ前とくに私宛で書いた大變長いものである。
translation
When I say "first", it seems that there were many exchanges of letters between me and the teacher, but I would like to put aside the fact that this is not the case. I have only received two letters from Sensei before he died. One of them is what I call this brief reply, and the other is a lengthy one written specifically for me before Sensei's death.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 第一: first (だいいち), foremost, number one, most important, best | 私: I (わたし), me, I (あたくし), I (あたし), I (アタシ) | 先生: teacher (せんせい), instructor, master, sensei, title or form of address for a teacher, master, doctor, lawyer, etc. | 間: space (between) (あいだ), space (between) (あわい), gap, gap, interval |
| 往復: making a round trip (おうふく), going and returning, coming and going, round-trip ticket, return ticket | 決: decision (けつ), vote | 事: thing (こと), thing (こん), matter, matter, incident | 一寸: one sun (approx. 3.03 cm) (いっすん), little bit (of time, distance, etc.), a little (ちょいと), a little (ちょっと), a little (ちょと) |
| 二通: two copies (につう) | 手紙: letter (てがみ), missive, note, mail | 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) | 今: now (いま), the present time, just now, soon, immediately |
| 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) | 死: death (し), death (ﾀﾋ), decease, decease, (an) out | 前: point (さき), tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line) | 私宛: my address (わたくしあて), my address (わたしあて), addressed to me, addressed to me |