Simple sentence - help please

Yakultcat

後輩

25 Jul 2012

40

0

• 17 Jul 2013

• #1

It's about men wearing skirts, I'm iffy about this sentence
おおむかし、人がはじめてきた ふくは、めのを から だに まきつけただけの、かんたんな ものでした。
I think it's something like, "a long time ago, it was an easy thing for the people that first wore clothes to only wrap [them] around the body" except that version completely ignores whatever めのを is supposed to mean.
Thank you!

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 17 Jul 2013

• #2

ぬの, not めの

人がはじめてきた modifies ふく.

もの is a pronoun for ふく here. It doesn't mean "it was an easy thing for the people~".

 

Yakultcat

後輩

25 Jul 2012

40

0

• 17 Jul 2013

• Thread starter
• #3

Aaaah, thank you Toritoribe, especially for noticing ぬの ー which means cloth? So かんたん is describing the people, so is it:

A long time ago, the people that first wore clothes were a simple people, they only wrapped the cloth around thier body?

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 17 Jul 2013

• #4

As I wrote in my previous post, もの refers to ふく, not ひと, and 人がはじめてきた modifies ふく.

人がはじめてきたふく
the clothes people wore for the first time


ぬのをからだにまきつけただけの and かんたんな both modify もの.

ぬのをからだにまきつけただけの、かんたんなもの
simple ones just to wrap cloth around their body


The core of the sentence is ふくはかんたんなものでした "clothes were simple ones". "People" is not the subject of the sentence.

 

Yakultcat

後輩

25 Jul 2012

40

0

• 18 Jul 2013

• Thread starter
• #5

Aargh! Noun modifier, I was being very stupid even though you practically told me the answer in the first reply. And mono is 物 not 者。
Thank you for that.