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Miyamoto Yuriko

Hi! How would you interpret よいとまけ in the passage below? I've seen that it was a expression used when workers lifted heavy weights at constructions sites but it could also be a woman who had to work to earn a living, which I believe would be the case here. Ohana used to leave her baby at the day care and go out to "earn her daily bread" or something like that. Any suggestions? Or could anyone explain the meaning of the word in more detail? Thank you!

母乳のほかに山羊の乳をのませろと医者に言われて、お花さんは自分の稼ぎのつづく日にはそれを飲まし、ここへあずけて「よいとまけ」に出ているのであった。
 
Your understanding is correct. よいとまけ refers to people who do such hard physical labor at construction sites.
 
Hi! What would the difference between ちい公 and ちい坊 be? I understand that it is a familiar way to call a baby boy, would both mean something like "little Chi"? Thank you!
 
Yes, but it can be used also for girls or adults. The suffix 公 often has a nuance of insulting at least nowadays (e.g., 先公 and ポリ公 are an insulting way of referring to teacher and policeman, respectively, and Lupin the third called Count Cagliostro "カリ公" when teasing him in a Miyazaki anime), but there would be no difference between those names in your case.
 
That's interesting! Thank you!
 
Just out of curiosity, how would 先公 and ポリ公 be translated? I saw that the suffix was used for people in high positions in the past, "mighty teacher/ police officer"?
And would 坊 always give the idea that the person is younger?
 
karenk said:
Just out of curiosity, how would 先公 and ポリ公 be translated? I saw that the suffix was used for people in high positions in the past, "mighty teacher/ police officer"?
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Those are insulting slang terms, like "pig" for policemen.

karenk said:
And would 坊 always give the idea that the person is younger?
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Not always. If a person's nickname is ○○坊 when he was a boy, his close friends might call him ○○坊 even if he is already an adult.
 
Toritoribe said:
Those are insulting slang terms, like "pig" for policemen.
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It is more insulting than I had imagined, i thought that it had a more ironic tone.

Toritoribe said:
Not always. If a person's nickname is ○○坊 when he was a boy, his close friends might call him ○○坊 even if he is already an adult.
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I see, thank you!
 
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Hi ! What these ―― (which I don't know the names of) mean in Japanese texts? I see them placed in the middle, at the start or at the end of sentences...

「貴方は……私が――自尊心を傷けられて黙ると……思っていらっしゃる。私の哀れな見栄や己惚れを――……利用しようと……思って」
 
The mark used in the novel in 青空文庫 is 罫線.

It usually expresses "pause". I don't know what the difference between "――" and "……" is. (The author might want to distinguish them, though.)
 
Toritoribe said:
The mark used in the novel in 青空文庫 is 罫線.

It usually expresses "pause". I don't know what the difference between "――" and "……" is. (The author might want to distinguish them, though.)
Click to expand...

Thank you! Maybe it indicates a longer pause in conversation, while ..... is a pause in thought.... Hum...
 
Hi, please, how would you you translate 銃⼜ or ⼜ as in:

更に⼀ヤードほど登った前⽅の草の間に、⾦の輪でも落ちているように光 を放っているものがある。こごんでそれを眺め、私は覚えず息をつめた。 おおこれは⼀つの⼩さい銃⼜であった。⽣きながら埋められた⽣命が無限 の思いを惻々と息づいている⼜である。
 
According to 青空文庫, it's 銃口, i.e., muzzle (of a rifle), not 銃⼜.

おおこれは一つの小さい銃口であった。生きながら埋められた生命が無限の思いを惻々と息づいている口である。
宮本百合子 女靴の跡
 

Thank you! I had no seen their correction! I read a text where it was
written like this.
 
Hi, Tori! A little further in the same text she writes:

ひとりでの力につき動かされてしている自分の振舞いに心付いて、私は幾千の手がこの忘れること難い金色の口に触れたかを思った

What she is saying is that when she saw herself involuntarily touching the muzzle, she had the impression that thousands of hands were touched by this golden muzzle (with her/at the same time), is it so? I'm not sure about the last image. And by この忘れること難い金色の口, she means that the golden muzzle is hard to forget (not that the muzzle is hard), or does この refers to the war and suffering of the soldiers of which the muzzle is a symbol and which is an event hard to be forgotten?
 
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karenk said:
What she is saying is that when she saw herself involuntarily touching the muzzle, she had the impression that thousands of hands were touched by this golden muzzle (with her/at the same time), is it so?
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I think it's more simple. She thought about how many hands (= how many people) touched this golden muzzle (like her).

It's the former. Of course, the background of why it's hard to forget is the war, though.
 
Hi, Tori! Is いやな方 an expression used by both sexes? Sayo is the one using it in the dialogue below right? About the meaning, I gather that it means something like "how annoying you are!"

「吉村さんと鈴木さんとは同じ実業家でしょう。実業家といっても二人は実業につく動機がまるで異うと思ったの、そのこと――」
「厄介なことになったな」
保夫は間に合わせな答をした。
「第一、男の見た男と、女の見た男とは大分違うよ」
「いやな方！」
さよは、酸いような笑いを笑った。
「違うからこそ当てて頂戴と申上るのよ。あの二人は性格が随分異っているでしょう、その違いを私がどう感じたかということなのよ」
 
Hi, Tori, how do you interpret 歌わんとする in the passage below? Miyamoto uses it many times along the text and I always translated it as "try to/want to sing", is it so? Like んとする - [/H2] 意志・意図および動作が実行寸前である状況を指す表現。動詞の未然形に付く。「言わんとする」などのように用いる。


自分が小説をかくからには、ほかならないこの歌わんとするわれらの生活をこそ書きたいと
 
Yes. ～んとす（る） is the classical version of ～（よ）うとする.
 
Hi, does ayone know if the 忠誠会 mentioned below is some kind of mob gang? I've found references to a yakuza group with the same name, but it seems to be from the sixties and the text where it is mentioned is from the thirties. Thank you!

家賃滞納で家主との間に悶着が起っていた。御嶽山お百草。そういう看板の横へ近頃新しく忠誠会第二支部という看板を下げた藤井は、こまかい家作をこの辺に持っていて、滞納のとれる見込みなしと見ると、ごろつきを雇って殴りこみをさせるので評判であった
 
I, too, think it refers to a yakuza or something. (It could be a fictional organization.) As you mentioned, it would have nothing to do with the present 忠誠会(/神戸忠誠会/忠成会).
 
Hi! So how would you interpret the last part of the following passage:

教育当局が、若い女性に堅実な実務教育を希望しているのは事実であろうが、あながち十文字女史の方法を必ずしもよしとはしないのではあるまいか

Does 必ずしもよしとはしない means that the authorities can't necessarily disapprove of Jumonji's educational methods? Too many negatives here...
 
It means "can't necessarily approve". You can think 必ずしもよしとはしない is a negative of よしとする, i.e., "to approve", after all.
 
Toritoribe said:
It means "can't necessarily approve". You can think 必ずしもよしとはしない is a negative of よしとする, i.e., "to approve", after all.
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Happy New Year, Tori! Hope you had enjoyed the holidays!

Oh, I see, thank you!
 
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