Kajii motojiro

[karenk]

Going on, now reading ある心の風景

でも真逆(まさか)、母は知ってはいないだろう、と気強く思い返して、夢のなかの喬は
「ね！ お母さん！」と母を責めた
母は弱らされていた。が、しばらくしてとうとう
「そいじゃ、癒(なお)してあげよう」と言った。


Above, when Takashi address his mother, is he still blaming her for his swollen legs or urging her to do something about it?

And 母は弱らされていた means that the mother was/looked troubled or that she became dispirited?

 

[Toritoribe]

when Takashi address his mother, is he still blaming her for his swollen legs or urging her to do something about it?

It's the former since he 責めた.

And 母は弱らされていた means that the mother was/looked troubled or that she became dispirited?

弱る means 困る there, so it's the former.

 

[karenk]

Hi! I have a doubt about this sentence: いったい、やはり おしの、何人位の客をその女は持っているのだろうと、その時喬は思った

Who is dumb? The narrator is asking how many dumb clients she could have or how many clients a dumb woman like her could have?

 

[Toritoribe]

It's the former since やはり shows that おし right after it is not the woman. Also, その女 is singular and refers to the woman.

 

[karenk]

Hi, in this passage: 日向はわずかに低地を距(へだ)てた、灰色の洋風の木造家屋に駐(とどま)っていて、その時刻、それはなにか悲しげに、遠い地平へ落ちてゆく入日を眺めているかのように見えた。

Does それは refer to the house? Is it that look sadly at the setting sun? Or does it refer to その時刻? Like "that moment had a sadness about it while the sun was setting"?

Thanks!

 

[Toritoribe]

It's the former; the house. その時刻 is an adverbial phrase "at that time".

 

[karenk]

Hi Toritoribe, how are you? A have some questions regarding this passage: 歩いてゆく私の頭の影や肩先の影がそんななかへ現われては消えた。なかには「まさかこれまでが」と思うほど淡いのが草の葉などに染まっていた。試しに杖をあげて見るとささくれまでがはっきりと写った。

Here: なかには「まさかこれまでが」と思うほど淡いのが草の葉などに染まっていた

What is tainted by the blades of grass is his shadow or the light? And what is faint, the light or the shadow? How would you translate that? My version would be: "The shadow was faint, but to my surprise, it was tainted by the shadows of the blades of grass."

 

[Toritoribe]

I, too, think 淡いの refers to his shadow, but 染まっていた would mean that his faint shadow is cast on the blades of grass. (He couldn't believe that it's his shadow, but when he tried putting his stick up as a test, even (the shadow of) its splinter fell on the grass clearly.)

 

[karenk]

Hi Toritoribe, another doubt, here: そして昼間は感じられなかった地域がかしこにここに杉の秀並みの間へ想像されるようになる

Do you think that I can translate 地域 as "geography of the area/region", "geographic features"?
"And here and there, between the tips of the cedar trees, I could have a glimpse of the geography of the area that remained hidden during the rest of the day"

Thank you!

 

[mdchachi]

Hi Toritoribe, another doubt, here: そして昼間は感じられなかった地域がかしこにここに杉の秀並みの間へ想像されるようになる

Do you think that I can translate 地域 as "geography of the area/region", "geographic features"?
"And here and there, between the tips of the cedar trees, I could have a glimpse of the geography of the area that remained hidden during the rest of the day"

According to alc it can mean "terrain" so probably yes.

 

[karenk]

Thank you, mdchachi!

 

[karenk]

Hi, I need help understanding the underlined sentence from the following passage: 机の上の電燈のスタンドへはいつの間にかたくさん虫が集まって来ていた。それを見ると生島は鎖をひいて電燈を消した。わずかそうしたことすら彼には習慣的な反対――崖からの瞰下景(かんかけい)に起こったであろう一つの変化がちらと心を掠めるのであった。部屋が暗くなると夜気がことさら涼しくなった。崖路の闇もはっきりして来た。しかしそのなかには依然として何の人影も立ってはいなかった。

I understand that the simple gesture of switching off the lamp made something happen that is contrary to his habits, there is a change in the view from above the cliff... Well, I can't make sense of it at all.

 

[Toritoribe]

習慣的な反対 means "the habitual contrary/opposite", not "contrary to his habits".
崖からの瞰下景に起こったであろう一つの変化 clearly refers to the change that a light is turned off in a window in the view, so I interpret that 習慣的な反対 would mean that he imagines the view from above the cliff instead of from the window.

 

[karenk]

So the narrator means that by turning off the light, a trivial act, the character was changing the view that someone standing on the cliff would have, and since he was always the one who loved to stand there to contemplate the view, this image that crosses his mind (the change in the view by the light he had turned off) is the opposite of what he habitually do?

 

[karenk]

Or is turning off the light the "habitual opposite" and by doing this he also has changed the view from above the cliff and that new modified image is what crosses his mind?

 

[Toritoribe]

The point would be the interpretation of 反対. The usual "contrary/opposite to something" doesn't make sense here, so I interpret it as 反対側からの視線, thus, the view from the cliff side. I think he imagines that a light is turned off in a window in the view. The one who sees it might be the one he was talking with in the bar, could be someone else or even himself in his image.

 

[karenk]

Thank you, Toritoribe! I think I got it.

 

[karenk]

I translated it more or less like this: Even this trivial act would have modified the view that someone standing on the cliff would have and this image fluttered briefly in his mind.

 

[karenk]

Hi there! Is the person refered bellow as その人 the mother of the narrator or someone else? Thanks!

しかし自分がその隠れた欲望を実行に移すかどうかという段になると吉田は一も二もなく否定せざるを得ないのだった。煙草を喫うも喫わないも、その道具の手の届くところへ行きつくだけでも、自分の今のこの春の夜のような気持は一時に吹き消されてしまわなければならないということは吉田も知っていた。そしてもしそれを一服喫ったとする場合、この何日間か知らなかったどんな恐ろしい咳の苦しみが襲って来るかということも吉田はたいがい察していた。そして何よりもまず、少し自分がその人のせいで苦しい目をしたというような場合すぐに癇癪(かんしゃく)を立てておこりつける母親の寐ている隙に、それもその人の忘れて行った煙草を――と思うとやはり吉田は一も二もなくその欲望を否定せざるを得なかった。だから吉田は決してその欲望をあらわには意識しようとは思わない。そしていつまでもその方を眺めては寝られない春の夜のような心のときめきを感じているのだった。

 

[Toritoribe]

It's the mother since there is nothing mentioned about someone else who visited the room.

 

[karenk]

Thank you again, Toritoribe!

 

[karenk]

Hi, Toritoribe!
Do you think that I could translate 自分はしみじみした自分に帰っていた as "I returned to my normal self"? The sentence is 路に沿うた竹藪（たけやぶ）の前の小溝（こみぞ）へは銭湯で落す湯が流れて来ている。湯気が屏風（びょうぶ）のように立騰っていて匂いが鼻を撲（う）った――自分はしみじみした自分に帰っていた。風呂屋の隣りの天ぷら屋はまだ起きていた。自分は自分の下宿の方へ暗い路を入って行った。

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, I, too, think it means so.

 

[karenk]

Hi!
I'm wondering if the expression 毒も皿もそれが予め命ぜられているものならひるむことはいらないことです could mean something like "accepting whatever is in front of him/he receives without flinching" or something like that, is it a japanese expression?
And by あの海に実感を持たねばならぬと思います does the narrator mean that he wants to feel that he is part of society at large? That's what he mean by 海?
The sentence is:

電車の中で憂鬱になっているときの私の顔はきっと醜いにちがいありません。見る人が見ればきっとそれをよしとはしないだろうと私は思いました。私は自分の憂鬱の上に漠とした「悪」を感じたのです。私はその「悪」を避けたく思いました。然し電車には乗らないなどと云ってはいられません。毒も皿もそれが予（あらかじ）め命ぜられているものならひるむことはいらないことです。一人相撲もこれでおしまいです。あの海に実感を持たねばならぬと思います。

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, for the former one. It's from a proverb 毒を食らわば皿まで, meaning "in for a penny, in for a pound".
As for the latter one, probably what he wanted to say would be like that. I did a quick search and got a result that it seems like a controversial sentence.