私は先生と一所に、郊外の植木屋の廣い庭の奧で話した、あの躑躅の咲いてゐる五月の初めを思ひ出した。あの時歸り途に、先生が昂奮した語氣で、私に物語つた強い言葉を、再び耳の底で繰り返した。それは強いばかりでなく、寧ろ凄い言葉であつた。けれども事實を知らない私には同時に徹底しない言葉でもあつた。
translation
I remembered the beginning of May, when the azaleas were in bloom, when I talked with Sensei in the back of the large garden of a suburban gardener. On the way back from that time, I repeated deep in my ears the strong words that Sensei had told me with his excited voice. Not only were they strong words, but they were rather terrible words. But to me, who didn't know the truth, it was also an incomplete statement.
kanji (pronunciations & definitions)
| 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. | 一所: one place (いっしょ), one place (ひとところ), the same place, the same place, one person | 郊外: suburb (こうがい), residential area on the outskirt of a city, commuter belt |
| 庭: garden (にわ), yard, courtyard, field (of action), area | 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) | 話: talk (はなし), speech, chat, conversation, topic | 躑躅: azalea (つつじ), azalea (ツツジ), rhododendron, rhododendron, hesitation (てきちょく) |
| 初: first (うい), first (はつ), new, new, innocent (うぶ) | 出: coming out (で), going out, outflow, efflux, rising (of the Sun or the Moon) | 途: road (みち), path, street, lane, passage | 昂奮: excitement (こうふん), stimulation, agitation, arousal |
| 強: a little over (きょう), a little more than, strength, the strong, powerhouse | 言葉: language (けとば), language (ことば), dialect, dialect, word | 再: re- (さい), again, repeated, deutero-, deuto- | 耳: ear (みみ), hearing, ear (for music, etc.), edge, crust |
| 返: number of times (へん), reply, answer | 寧: rather (むしろ), better, instead, if anything | 知: wisdom (ち), jnana (higher knowledge) | 同時: simultaneous (どうじ), concurrent, same time, synchronous, together |