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Kajii motojiro

I think 顔 refers to people's faces on the street. He would be saying that it's hard to look at the faces of the people on the street from inside the train, but we can look at the faces of the people inside the train for a long time from the street.

前の日 means yesterday.

my attempt for the last sentence;
His casual remark made me reconsider with beautiful feelings of reality that I was indifferent yesterday.
 
So:

- It's difficult to look at people's faces on the street from inside the train, but from the street or at a glance, when they (the faces inside the train?) pass in front of us, it is possible to look at them for a longer time, isn't it true?, he said. His casual remark made me reconsider...

I know it is supposed to be poetic, but the ideia per se is sounds so weird...
 
Yes, that's my interpretation. He says 往来からだとかすれちがうときだとかは、かなり長い間見ていられる, thus, it shows that 電車のなかでは長い間顔が見難い. If he is talking about the faces of people inside the train when he is inside the train, 長い間顔が見難い is odd.
 
Hi Toritoribe!

My question now is about the text 雪後, its main character is called 行一, I found different readings of the name in different translations: Koichi and Gyoichi. I would go for Koichi which seems to be the usual reading, but I would like to know what you think.

And in this passage: しかし結局、彼はそんな人びとから我（わ）が儘（まま）だ剛情だと言われる以外のやり方で、物事を振舞うすべを知らなかったのだ

My interpretation is that the only way the subject could deal with the situation (the opposition of his family to his marriage) was ignoring the accusations of selfishness and obstinacy his family made.

Am I missing something?
 
I, too, think ぎょういち is odd.
You seem to be misunderstanding the meaning of 以外. The writer is saying that he didn't know the way to deal with the situation other than the way that he was accused of selfishness and obstinacy by those people, i.e., the only way he could deal with the situation was the way that he was accused of selfishness and obstinacy.
 
Yes, Koichi sounds better. About the passage, now I can see my misunderstanding, both translations I'm following gave different interpretations and I was not satisfied with neither of them. Thank you!
 
Hi! In the passage bellow:

まだ若く研究に劫(こう)の経ない行一は、その性質にも似ず、首尾不首尾の波に支配されるのだ。

My translation would be: Koichi was young and inexperienced as a researcher, and unable to accept this, he was ruled by the waves/idea of success and failure.

Can その性質にも似ず be translated as I did?
 
その性質 refers to his disposition/character. The writer says that 首尾不首尾の波に支配される is unlike his disposition.
Also, what is ruled by the waves is his research/experiments, not himself. 研究所での実験の一頓挫 is a result of the "waves".
 
Then it would be: Koichi was young and inexperienced as a researcher but it was unlike him to let his experiments be ruled by the waves of success and failures.
 
It's more likely;
Koichi was young and inexperienced as a researcher, so, it was unlike him/his disposition, his experiments were ruled by the waves of success and failures.
 
There is still something that doesn't sound right... Would this work?:
Koichi was young and inexperienced as a researcher and it was unlike his disposition to be ruled by the waves of success and failures of his experiments.
Or: Koichi was... and unlike his disposition, his experiments were ruled by the waves of success and failures.
 
The latter one is my interpretation. I used "so" instead of "and" to make clear that まだ若く研究に劫の経ない is the cause/reason of 首尾不首尾の波に支配される.
 
Understood, and would the logical sequence be something like: his experiments were ruled by the waves of success and failures; but (because it was not in his character/disposition) he was not affected by this fact; because he was young and inexperienced?
 
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Not really. The experiments he was doing were usually not ruled by the waves of success and failures (if experienced researchers did), but his experiments were ruled by it since he was young and inexperienced, and the fact that his experiments were ruled by it was unlike his disposition.
 
Do you think that I could say that the fact that his experiments were ruled by it "didn't agree with him" instead of "was unlike his disposition"?
 
Ok, I think I finally got it, Kajii has not been an easy read so far... Thank you!
 
Hi again!

Here: 親牛は長いこと、夕方まで休息していた。が、姑がそれを見た頃には、蓆（むしろ）を敷き、その上に仔牛を載せた荷車に、もう親牛はついていた

Does ついていた mean that the cow was tied to the wagon or that it was walking beside it?
 
It's the former, since その牛は荷車を牽く運送屋の牛であった。荷物を配達先へ届けると同時に産気づいて、運送屋や家の人が気を揉むうちに、安やすと仔牛は産まれた。. There is no other cow than the mother cow to pull the wagon.
 
That's what I thought, but well, poor cow... I was sort of hoping that her owner would give her a break and pull it himself...


What about this passage: 「よしよし、よしよし」膨（ふく）らんで来る胸をそんな思いで緊めつけた.
Can I say that Koichi was feeling a kind of pressure in his chest and that he was trying to control/repress it?
 
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I think his feelings are a kind of hope, hope to the future of him, his wife and their baby. Notice that his wife is pregnant. The episode of the mother cow would be a symbol of vital power.
 
Yes, I found this meaning of 胸が膨らむ。 締め付た would mean that he was trying to repress these feelings?
 
I think the nuance is closer to 抱きしめた "to hug/hold tight" since よしよし is also a word to pacify/caress a baby, just like "there, there".
 

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