Meaning of ふるまい

[nonezumi]

Hello,

If it is possible, please, kindly, help me to translate ふるまい in the sentence below:

ちかごろの引越しには珍しく、引越し蕎麦を同じ階の住人にふるまい、葉書を十枚ずつ渡してまわっていた。

Maybe it is possible to give the following translation:

It is not usual at nowadays moving, he went out to drop 10 soba-invitation postcards to each dweller on same floor.

But, meaning of ふるまい is still unclear to me. :?
Also I wonder about this Japanese tradition to give a house-warming with neighbors. Why exactly 10 cards to each person... :?

Thank you very much for your kind help :sorry:

 

[srintuar]

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BC%...95%8E%E9%BA%A6
If you can read that it explains a bit. I guess actual sobamugi will go bad, so instead Mugi-Coupons are what is given to neighbors to welcome them.
I'd never heard of this before
ふるまい in your sentence seems to signify "give", with a ritual-giving nuance.


edit:
does anyone know if 葉書 can be used to mean 商品券 ？

 

[Glenn]

In regards to ふるまい, see below:

(2)人に飲食物を提供する。もてなす。また、おごる。
「酒を―・う」
http://www.weblio.jp/content/ふるまう

So it means to give someone food or drink as a gift, or treat them to food or drink. "Treat (someone) to spirits."

In regards to 葉書, not from what I'm seeing:

(1)「郵便葉書」の略。
(2)紙片などに書いた覚え書きや書類。
http://www.weblio.jp/content/葉書

Although I will grant you that I didn't read the entire Wikipedia entry.

 

[Toritoribe]

The person(maybe bear?) gave his neighbors both soba-noodles and ten postal cards in mint condition. Google search says that postal cards are sometimes used as a greeting gift for moving. I haven't ever heard that, though.

 

[nonezumi]

Hello Toritoribeさん、 Glennさん、 srintuarさん

Thank you very much. With your kind help sentence became much more clear to me.

Toritoribeさん、

Yes, it is so true. The person is actually a bear. It is a fiction story so maybe such thing is really possible.

:sorry: