悪魔

歪む [ゆがむ] /to warp/to swerve/to deflect/to be crooked/to be distorted/to be bent/to incline/to slant/to be perverted/to be gross-grained/
角 [つの] /horn/
翼 [つばさ] /wings/
濡れる [ぬれる] /to get wet/
全身 [ぜんしん] /the whole body/full-length (portrait)/
被う [おおう] /to cover/to hide/to wrap/to disguise/
Summary: I have seen a devil. If you believe me or not, it had two twisted horns, and wings, and certainly, that day I saw a devil covered in wet black hair.
生家 [せいか] /(parents') home/
取り分 [とりわけ] /especially/above all/
隣合う [となりあう] /(io) to adjoin each other/to sit side by side/
原っぱ [はらっぱ] /open field/empty lot/plain/
野球 [やきゅう] /baseball/
貴重 [きちょう] /precious (an)/valuable/
塀 [へい] /wall/fence/
越える [こえる] /to cross over/to cross/to pass through/
邸 [やしき] /mansion/
頼み込む [たのみこむ] /to request earnestly/
忍び [しのび] /stealing (into)/spy/sneak thief/surreptitious visit to house of ill repute/
歓声 [かんせい] /cheer/shout of joy/
聴こえる [きこえる] /to hear/to be heard/
庭 [にわ] /garden/
堅い [かたい] /hard (esp. wood)/steadfast/honorable/stuffy writing/
戒める [いましめる] /to admonish/to remonstrate/
姿 [すがた] /figure/shape/appearance/
外野手 [がいやしゅ] /outfielder/
Summary: My parent's house is a conspicuous mansion (grabs the eye) in the mansion area on the Yamanote line. For example, the kids in the adjoining field play baseball and the valuable ball (right after the war -- so it really is expensive) flies over a wall into my mansion, they can't request for the ball back or sneak into the yard (because it is intimidating or whatever). Then I, without any friends in the area, always waited, and when I started to hear the loud cheers (of baseball players / kids having fun), I put on my glove and left the house to go into the garden where the ball always flies. I really wanted to play baseball with them but, I was always harshly reprimanded (perhaps by parents, it is unclear), and I always ended up being one of the outfielders whose shape you couldn't make out, and only returned long foul balls. (Here also, there is the implication that he would just pretend to play with them -- but would be so far afield they didn't even know!!)
半ば [なかば] /middle/half/semi/halfway/partly/
落日 [らくじつ] /sunset/
鬱蒼 [うっそう] /thick/dense/luxuriant/
繁る [しげる] /to grow thickly (as with plants)/
櫨の木 [はぜのき] /wax-tree/
桜 [さくら] /cherry blossom/cherry tree/
季節 [きせつ] /season/
芝生 [しばふ] /lawn/
池 [いけ] /pond/
築山 [つきやま] /artificial hill/
回廊 [かいろう] /corridor/gallery/
武家 [ぶけ] /samurai/warrior/military family/
屋敷 [やしき] /mansion/
母屋 [おもや] /main wing of the house/
染まる [そまる] /to dye/
Summary: I lived in that house until about halfway through my fifth year of school. Why is it that my memory, like the scene of an eternal sunset, is always wrapped up in a red filter? I think that it is probably because the mansion was in a thick overgrown forest of cherry and (another form of red) trees. One season, for the space of a year everything outside, the grass, man-made mountains, the pond, the old corridors that go around the main rooms of the samurai-style mansion, the separated western-style house, all were stained red.
たまじゅり /gravel/
辿る [たどる] /to follow (road)/to pursue (course)/to follow up/
からばふ
玄関 [げんかん] /entranceway/entry hall/
黄昏 [たそがれ] /dusk/twilight/
時刻 [じこく] /instant/time/moment/
Summary: The instant the man followed the gravel road and stood in the entrance of the (chinese style house?) was in the dusk of one of those seasons.
女中 [じょちゅう] /maid (obs)/
こっそり /stealthily/secretly/
観る [みる] /to view (i.e. flowers, movie) (oK)/
街頭 [がいとう] /in the street/
舶来 [はくらい] /imported/foreign-made (a-no)/
受信機 [じゅしんき] /(television, radio, etc.) receiver/
鑑賞 [かんしょう] /appreciation (vs)/view or watch for pleasure/
厳しい [きびしい] /severe/strict/stern/intense (cold)/
制限 [せいげん] /restriction (vs)/restraint/limitation/
しばしば /often/again and again/
盗み見る [ぬすみみる] /to steal a glance/
Summary: I used to sneak into the (corner? of the?) maid's room, and secretly watch TV. In the age when people stayed out in the streets in front of train stations to watch tv, in my house even in the maid's room we had imported television receivers. For me, whose (appreciative) viewing time was severly limited, again and again I snuck glances at the TV in that way. "Excuse me!"
畳敷 [たたみしき] /wrapped in tatami/
填る [はまる] /(io) to get into/to go into/to fit/to suit/to fall into/to plunge into/to be deceived/to be taken in/to fall into a trap/to be addicted to/to be deep into/
備える [そなえる] /to furnish/to provide for/to equip/to install/to have ready/to prepare for/to possess/to have/to be endowed with/to be armed with/
躊躇う [ためらう] /to hesitate/
Summary: He had got into the tatami-wrapped entryway, and had zen-like (?) and tree-hammers equipped, but that man was the hesitating type, so called out any number of times.
使用人 [しようにん] /employee/servant/
廊下 [ろうか] /corridor/
軋む [きしむ] /(uk) to jar/to creak/to grate/
足袋 [たび] /tabi/Japanese socks (with split toe)/
足音 [あしおと] /footsteps (sound)/
Summary: My mom came in response to the man. The servants were walking with small creaky steps in the hallway but, mom was slowly walking as if sliding on the backs of her socks (in the tradiational manner). I understood from her footsteps that she was coming.
慌てる [あわてる] /to become confused (disconcerted, disorganized)/
杉 [すぎ] /Japanese cedar/
板戸
覗く [のぞく] /to peep in/to look in/to peek in/to stick out/
衝立 [ついたて] /a screen/
Summary: I turned off the tv in a panic, opened the cedar (partition?) a little bit, and peeked into the entry-way. I didn't see the shape of my mom sitting in front of a screen.
薄暗い [うすぐらい] /dim/gloomy/
大時代 [おおじだい] /old fashioned/
曇り [くもり] /cloudiness/cloudy weather/shadow/
角帽 [かくぼう] /square college cap/
夕まぐれ [ゆうまぐれ] /evening twilight/
闇 [やみ] /darkness/the dark/black-marketeering/dark (a-no)/shady/illegal/
塊 [かたまり] /lump/mass/clod/cluster/
現れる [あらわれる] /to appear/to come in sight/to become visible/
マント /mantle/manteau/
Summary: "I'm Kageyama, from Tokyo University (here by introduction of a student?)" he said standing as he was outside the entry-way in a gloomy voice. He was wearing an old-fashioned cape on top of his student uniform at that time, in the light from the cloudy glass of the lamp hanging from the eaves of the house I could see that his rectangular graduation cap had fallen, and I couldn't make out his face in the shadow. It was as if from the darkness of dusk a dark mass stood out.
端 [はし] /end (e.g. of street)/edge/tip/margin/
延びる [のびる] /to be prolonged/
帽子 [ぼうし] /hat/
入り込む [いりこむ] /to go into/to come into/to penetrate/to become complicated/
下ろす [おろす] /to take down/to launch/to drop/to lower/to let (a person) off/to unload/to discharge/
差し出す [さしだす] /to present/to submit/to tender/to hold out/
紹介状 [しょうかいじょう] /letter of introduction?/
じっくり /deliberately/carefully/
ためつすがめつ /to scrutinize/
緩慢 [かんまん] /slow (an)/sluggish/dull/
Summary: My mother's white hand protruded from the edge of the screen. The man entered the entryway without removing his hat, and as indicated by the raised position (?) of my mother's hand, sat down (lowered his back.) Mother read the letter of introduction that the man held out deliberately. It was not the sort of thing that you are supposed to scrutinize, but my mother was one that took that sort of slow approach to everything she did.
杉戸 [すぎと] /Sugito (p,s)/sliding screen thing?/
覗く [のぞく] /to peep in/to look in/to peek in/to stick out/
予め [あらかじめ] /beforehand/in advance/previously/
潜む [ひそむ] /to lurk/to lie dormant/to be hidden/
唇 [くちびる] /lips/
嗤う [わらう] /to smile/grin/
三和土 [たたき] /cement type stuff/
照す [てらす] /to light up/
孕む [はらむ] /to be impregnated/
表情 [ひょうじょう] /facial expression/
Summary: At that time, the man noticed my head in the gap in the (?sliding panel?). No, it didn't feel like he noticed me. He stared at me, as if he had known from before that I had been lurking in the maid's room. Then, he smiled as if his thin lips (somehow means something like untrustworthy?) were pulled by something. The man's face was lit up well enough by the light from the lantern that had been placed on the cement, but the white light was strongly reflecting off of his glasses?, so I could not make out his expression.
医学部 [いがくぶ] /medical faculty/
蔭 [かげ] /shade/backing/(your assistance)/
出身 [しゅっしん] /graduate from/come from/
奉天 [ほうてん] /a town/
満州 [まんしゅう] /Manchuria/
引き上げる [ひきあげる] /to withdraw/to leave/to pull out/
抑留 [よくりゅう] /internment (vs)/detainment/detention/
曾祖父 [そうそふ] /great-grandfather/
御家人 [ごけにん] /samurai's servant/
訛る [なまる] /to speak with an accent/to be corrupted (of word)/
遠慮 [えんりょ] /diffidence (an)(vs)/restraint/reserve/
言い付ける [いいつける] /to tell/to tell on (someone)/
差し支える [さしつかえる] /to interfere/to hinder/to become impeded/
間のび [まのび] /slowly/
Summary: "Do you come from the medical facility?" my mother said from the shade of the screen. "Yes, it is my third year." "Your home city is... Houten? From the evacuation of Manchuria, I see. Was your family military?" "No, my father worked in the iron industry in Manchuria. He died during his internment. Anyway, is this a bad time?" My mother's voice answered after a while of thinking. "We are fine. Since my grandfather was a servant of a samurai, he had an accent, and we have asked the people around us to be reserved. (???) Rather, if you are from Manchuria, you should not have any problems." Then for a short time my mother and the man spoke slowly.
谷中
奨学金 [しょうがくきん] /scholarship/
余裕 [よゆう] /surplus/composure/margin/room/time/allowance/scope/rope/
賄い [まかない] /boarding/board/meals/catering/cook/
あからさま /overt/
月謝 [げっしゃ] /monthly tuition fee/
交渉 [こうしょう] /negotiations/discussions/connection/
提示 [ていじ] /presentation (vs)/exhibit/suggest/citation/
条件 [じょうけん] /conditions/terms/
再考 [さいこう] /reconsideration/
Summary: The man is a student in the medical department at Tokyo University and is staying in yonaka (a suburb of Tokyo?). His parents died, and he is receiving a scholarship but he didn't have an easy life. This is the second time that he has been a teacher at home (for younger kids), this fall a child that he taught last year got into Azubuchi grade school. "Well, from 5pm until 9pm on weekdays should be fine then. We will provide dinner here as well." "You have saved me. It's because I'm a really poor student." the man said bluntly, and started verbal negotiations for the monthly fee for his teaching. He asked for reconsideration because terms based on the results shown from the student is cheaper than it was last year.
特待生 [とくたいせい] /scholarship student/
実績 [じっせき] /achievements/actual results/
可成 [かなり] /(uk) considerably/fairly/quite/
強引 [ごういん] /overbearing (an)/coercive/pushy/forcible/high-handed/
要求 [ようきゅう] /request (vs)/demand/requisition/
疎い [うとい] /distant/estranged/disinterested/
言いなりに [いいなりに] /exactly as said/do as one is told/
別段 [べつだん] /particularly (neg)/
ちらり /at a glance/by accident/
そで /sleeve/
無神論者 [むしんろんしゃ] /atheist/
睨む [にらむ] /to glare at/to scowl at/to keep an eye on/
Summary: He is on a medical scholarship, and he has the real results from teaching last year, and made quite a forcible request. My mother, who was completely disinterested in the negotiations, became (to do exactly as she was told because she doesn't really care about the money, etc.) compliant. "Is there some sort of food that you do not like?" "No, there is nothing in particular. I will eat anything." When the man stood, he again glanced in my direction, and gave me an smile that made me feel strange. "Oh, there is one thing..." she said as if bringing up something that she forgot to ask, she grabbed the sleeve of his cape. "You are not a believer of any particular faith are you?" "Religion? I am an athiest but..." "Oh if that is the case then it is fine. My son is commuting to a mission school. We are christian at home. Correspondingly if there are too many differences in religion..." the man glared in my direction. The grin from his mouth disappeared. "Madame, please do not worry. I believe in neither God nor Buddha." "That is wonderful."
車寄せ [くるまよせ] /a place that cars ride up to in front of house/
慇懃 [いんぎん] /courtesy/intimacy/friendship/
お辞儀 [おじぎ] /bow (vs)/
Summary: When the man got to the place where you ride cars, he gave a friendly bow from within the circle of light from the lantern. Then, he quickly left down the gravel road which was colored as if the (some sort of tree) was burning.
親友 [しんゆう] /close friend/bosom (old, intimate) friend/buddy/crony/chum/
公家 [くげ] /Imperial Court/court noble/
喘息 [ぜんそく] /asthma/
厳格 [げんかく] /severe (an)/rigid/strictness/rigor/austerity/
陰湿 [いんしつ] /dampness of shady places (an)/insidious/
耳にたこができるほど [みみにたこができるほど] /to hear the same thing over and over/
内心 [ないしん] /innermost thoughts/real intention/inmost heart/one's mind/in the heart/
時間割 [じかんわり] /timetable/schedule/
明くる日 [あくるひ] /next day/following day/
取り残す [とりのこす] /to leave behind/
Summary: In grade school I had a close friend, Hashiguti, who was nobility. Because he had asthma, he was the type that would take off from school often, and he had a tutor (teacher) at home. For that reason he was very good at his studies but I heard over and over about how his tutor was severe and insidious. I think it was a poison in his blood, of his most inner character. Then, this is something other than the poison from the tutor's existence, but because of the strict schedule Hashiguti was not able to watch television, and he was always left out from the conversations at school (about the TV programs) the next day.
携帯 [けいたい] /carrying something (vs)/
吸入器 [きゅうにゅうき] /portable inhaler (for asthsma)/
くわえながら [くわえながら] /take hold of in one's mouth/
談議 [だんぎ] /discussion/
傾ける [かたむける] /to incline (vt)/to list/to bend/to lean/to tip/to tilt/to slant/to concentrate on/to ruin (a country)/to squander/to empty/
不幸 [ふこう] /unhappiness/sorrow/misfortune/disaster/accident/death/
やがる /verb suffix (te form or masu stem) to indicate hatred and contempt, or disdain for another's action (vul)/
懊悩 [おうのう] /to be worried/
挙げ句 [あげく] /in the end/finally/at last/
懇願 [こんがん] /begging/beg (vs)/
短縮 [たんしゅく] /shortening (vs)/abbreviation/reduction/
繰上げる [くりあげる] /to become faster/
多少 [たしょう] /more or less/somewhat/a little/some (a-no)/
滅多に無い [めったにない] /(uk) rare/
所有 [しょゆう] /one's possessions/ownership (vs)/
競争馬 [きょうそうば] /racing horse/
優勝 [ゆうしょう] /overall victory (vs)/championship/
大勢 [おおぜい] /many/crowd/
取り巻く [とりまく] /to surround/to circle/to enclose/
Summary: While holding his inhaler in his mouth, tilting his head towards the class' discussion (listening intently to) of the television programs, Hashiguti was an unhappy child. When I think that that same thing would soon happen to me, the space in front of my eyes turned jet black. (I think: When I think that the same thing would happen to me, my mind went blank... Or something.) In the end, I worried that tomorrow when I start schooling at home in the evening, I finally pleaded with my mother. If she could make the hours of teaching one hour shorter, or to make it faster, so that I would be able to be a part of the groups at school (the "in-crowd" that always talked about the tv shows...) Ask your father, my mother said. My father, who rarely comes home, by chance was home that day. Because a racing horse that he owns won a large race that day, he came home with a large crowd surrounding him.
母屋 [おもや] /main wing of the house/
縁石 [えんせき] /long narrow wood floor walkway outside the reception room/
面する [めんする] /to face on/to look out on to/
応接間 [おうせつま] /reception room/
祝勝会 [しゅくしょうかい] //
遊戯室 [ゆうぎしつ] /gameroom/playroom/sportsroom/
球 [たま] /ball/
日本髪 [にほんがみ] /Japanese coiffure/
結う [ゆう] /to do up (hair)/to braid/
芸者 [げいしゃ] /geisha/
暖炉 [だんろ] /fireplace/hearth/stove/
脇 [わき] /side/
算盤 [そろばん] /abacus/
お化け [おばけ] /goblin/apparition/
点数盤 [てんすうばん] /a score board/
奇妙 [きみょう] /strange (an)/queer/curious/
符丁 [ふちょう] /mark/symbol/code/sign/password/
Summary: When you leave the wooden walkway and continue on through the garden to the western-style house, in a reception room facing the terrace they were holding a victory celebration. In the sports room father was playing billiards (literally striking a ball) with a lot of guests. Geisha who had their hair done up in the traditional Japanese style sat at the side of the fireplace working a scoreboard that looked like a huge abacus, and kept the score using a strange code (with four balls, over the four balls on the table, not quite sure): "ten, four!"
通り一遍 [とおりいっぺん] /superficial/normal/
お世辞 [おせじ] /flattery/compliment/
愛想 [あいそう] /civility/courtesy/sociability/compliments/civilities/graces/
切実 [せつじつ] /compelling (an)/serious/severe/acute/earnest/pressing/urgent/
羅紗 [らしゃ] /felt (pt: raxa)/woollen cloth/
定まる [さだまる] /to become settled/to be fixed/
起き上がる [おきあがる] /to rise/to erect/to get up/
姿勢 [しせい] /attitude/posture/
試みる [こころみる] /to try/to test/
塗る [ぬる] /to paint/to plaster/to lacquer/to varnish/
Summary: When people noticed me, they gave me superficial compliments. But I was not able to return with the common replies. As the evening got later, I knew that my father would go somewhere with the guests. (Something like:) My father was bent over the pool table, with the felt near his stomach. The best position to be in for my father to hear was fixed, and I tried various different positions (?postures?) and as if he could not hear my voice, he kept chalking up his cue with the blue chalk.
懇願 [こんがん] /begging/beg (vs)/
目掛ける [めがける] /to aim at/
銀盆 [ぎんぼん] /a sliver plate/
放り出す [ほうりだす] /to throw out/to fire/to expel/to give up/to abandon/to neglect/
咄嗟に [とっさに] /at once/instantly/without thinking/
抱き止める [だきとめる] /to hold a person back/to restrain/to catch/
よろける /to swagger/
盛る [さかる] /to prosper/to flourish/to copulate (animals)/
付く [つく] /to adjoin/to be attached/to adhere/to be connected with (vi)/to be dyed/to be stained/to be scarred/to be recorded/to start (fires)/to follow/to become allied to/to accompany/to study with/to increase/to be added to/
Summary: One more time I pleaded with my father. When I did, he aimed at me and hit me with the chalk. At that time, a boy that was standing to the side abandoned his silver plate and instantly came to hold me back because there was no question that my head was going to fall into the flame of the fireplace. Just as the flourishing flame was right in front of my eyes, I was caught by the boy.
燠 [おき] /embers/live charcoal/
突込み [つっこみ] /to collide?/
火傷 [やけど] /burn/scald/
混乱 [こんらん] /disorder (vs)/chaos/confusion/
潰える [ついえる] /to collapse/
伸し掛かる [のしかかる] /to lean on/to bend over/to come upon/
兆し [きざし] /signs/omen/symptoms/
事故 [じこ] /accident/incident/trouble/circumstances/reasons/
Summary: Instead, the boy's hand collided with the burning coals, and he received a bad burn. After a brief period of confusion, my father went somewhere with the guests and the geisha. More than the collapse of my hope, I felt the signs of bad luck. I remember I felt like there was some power working above me that I could not see that caused that accident.
登校 [とうこう] /attendance (at school) (vs)/
パッカド /Pacard. An old car./
塗炭 [とたん] /misery/distress/
不吉 [ふきつ] /ominous (an)/sinister/bad luck/ill omen/inauspiciousness/
予感 [よかん] /presentiment/premonition/
襲う [おそう] /to attack/
校庭 [こうてい] /campus/
蔦 [つた] /ivy/
絡まる [からまる] /to be entwined/to be involved/
校舎 [こうしゃ] /school building/
女中 [じょちゅう] /maid (obs)/
背負う [せおう] /be burdened with/to carry on back or shoulder/
沈鬱 [ちんうつ] /depressing/gloomy/
想曲
机 [つくえ] /desk/
盛花 [せいか] /some sort of flowers?/
見舞 [みまい] /enquiry/expression of sympathy/expression of concern/
発作 [ほっさ] /fit/spasm/
詰まる [つまる] /to be blocked/to be packed/
On Monday attending school, when I got out from the door of the Packard in misery, I was attacked by an ominous premonition. The students playing on the campus were not there, and the old school buildings entwined with ivy became quiet. When I entered the school buildings with my backpack the maids had been carrying, instead of the normal pleasant minuet from the speakers, a depressing (some sort of song) flowed out of them. Hashiguti, who was hospitalized for his asthma, died the day before. Flowers were placed on Hashiguti's desk, which was next to mine. Even though when we all went to see about his health a week ago, he seemed fine, and even came to see us off to the entryway of the hospital, the next day late at night he was suddenly attacked by a fit, and he couldn't breathe.
集会 [しゅうかい] /meeting/assembly/
追悼 [ついとう] /mourning/memorial/
ミサ /(Catholic) mass (lt: missa)/
翌日 [よくじつ] /next day/
葬儀 [そうぎ] /funeral service/
弔辞 [ちょうじ] /message of condolence/memorial address/
委員 [いいん] /committee member/
憂鬱 [ゆううつ] /depression (an)/melancholy/dejection/gloom/
体育 [たいいく] /physical education/gymnastics/athletics/
自習 [じしゅう] /self-study (vs)/
不気味 [ぶきみ] /weird (an)/ominous/eerie/
The assembly on Monday was changed into Hashiguti's memorial mass. I was called into the instructor's room after the assembly, and was asked to read a message of condolence at the funeral. Because I was a member of the student committee, and Hashiguti's close friend, there was nothing I could do about it. On top of that, it was just a depressing day. Gym class was changed to study-hall, and I practiced my condolence speech alone in the instructor's room. And, when I returned home, I would have class with that strange home-tutor.
きっかり /exactly/precisely/
軋む [きしむ] /(uk) to jar/to creak/to grate/
近付く [ちかづく] /to get closer/
中庭 [なかにわ] /courtyard/quadrangle/middle court/
先導 [せんどう] /guidance/leadership/
滑る [すべる] /to glide/to slide/to slip/
黒ずむ [くろずむ] /to blacken/to darken/
歪む [いがむ] /to warp/to swerve/to deflect/to be crooked/to be distorted/to be bent/to incline/to slant/to be perverted/to be gross-grained/
夕陽 [ゆうひ] /setting sun/
差し入れる [さしいれる] /to insert/to put in/
障子 [しょうじ] /paper sliding door/
長身 [ちょうしん] //
影 [かげ] /shadow/shade/other side/
くっきり /distinctly/clearly/boldly/
曳
厚い [あつい] /cordial/kind/warm(hearted)/thick/deep/
眼鏡 [めがね] /spectacles/glasses/
本棚 [ほんだな] /bookshelves/
昆虫 [こんちゅう] /insect/bug/
標本 [ひょうほん] /example/specimen/
異様 [いよう] /bizarre (an)/strange/eccentric/odd/queer/
山羊 [やぎ] /goat/
汗 [あせ] /sweat/perspiration/
消毒液 [しょうどくえき] /an antiseptic/
臭い [におい] /odour/scent/smell/stench/fragrance/aroma/perfume/
立ち昇る [たちのぼる] /to rise up?/
Summary: Exactly at 5pm in the afternoon, Kageyama came. He came closer through the hallway, with the loudest (heaviest) creaking noise that I have ever heard. When I peeked into the courtyard, I saw the black eyes of Kageyama who had been directed down the hall by my mother, coming as if sliding down the hallway. The long, twisted shadow cast on the paper sliding door by the setting sun coming through the glass was distinctly (something.) When Kageyama entered my room, light was shining off of his glasses, and he stared at my bookshelves, insect collection, plastic model collection and so on. Without his hat his face was bizarrely long, like goat's or horse's face. From his school clothes a terrible stench arose, like a mixture of sweat and antiseptic.
環境 [かんきょう] /environment/circumstance/
造る [つくる] /to make/to construct/to build/
椅子 [いす] /chair/
筋張った [すじはった] /thin/
撫でる [なでる] /to brush gently/to stroke/
黒檀 [こくたん] /ebony/blackwood/
下がる [さがる] /to hang down/to abate/to retire/to fall/to step back/a hand-down/
小柄 [こがら] /short (build)/
背丈 [せたけ] /stature/height/
沈む [しずむ] /to sink/to feel depressed/
軟らか [やわらか] /soft (an)/tender/subdued (colour or light)/gentle/meek/
気持が塞ぐ [きもちがふさぐ] /malancholic/
呪い [のろい] /a curse/
Summary: "This is a nice room. It is a great environment." Kageyama said in a low voice. "This is the only room that we did in a western style. As I thought, if you don't have a desk and a chair, you can't really study." Kageyama brushed my desk with his thin finger. "Mahagony?" "No, it is blackwood. It is a hand-me down from my father." When you lined them up, my small-statured mother came up to about Kageyama's chest. After we were introduced, my mother said: "Actually, last night a close friend passed away, and he is a bit depressed. Please go easy (on him)." The reason that I was melancholic was not Hashiguti's death, but rather that the curse of Hashiguti's home tutor would continue by having that guy come to my house.
頑張る [がんばる] /to persist/to insist on/to stand firm/to try one's best/
心細い [こころぼそい] /helpless/forlorn/hopeless/unpromising/lonely/discouraging/disheartening/
答案 [とうあん] /examination paper/examination script/
綴り [つづり] /spelling/
不意 [ふい] /sudden (a-no)/abrupt/unexpected/unforeseen/
出会いがしら [であいがしら] /just after meeting/
殴り付ける [なぐりつける] /to beat (someone in battle)/
無遠慮 [ぶえんりょ] /rude/outspoken/
芝生 [しばふ] /lawn/
蝙蝠 [こうもり] /bat/
爪 [つめ] /fingernail or toenail/claw/talon/hoof/
張り出す [はりだす] /to put up a notice/to project/to jut out/
西陽 [にしべ] /western sun?/
塀ぞい [へいぞい] /along the walls/
欅 [けやき] /a type of Japanese tree/
壁 [かべ] /wall/
罅 [ひび] /a crack/
唱える [となえる] /to recite/to chant/to call upon/
愚痴 [ぐち] /idle complaint/grumble/
ありあり /clearly/
Summary: "Last year a student that this teacher taught got into Azubo middle school. Please try as hard as you can (to not lose)." I didn't say anything (??) about the hopelessness (I felt) as my mother left me with those words. First, Kageyama looked over my old tests and notes for a long time. Then, he suddenly spoke. "You're an idiot." Right after meeting him, I felt like I had been beaten by him in battle. In the past, I had never been called such rude things by my teachers or parents. The study room, which faced the garden jutting out like the claws of a bat, was being hit by the western sun. Black shadows like cracks in the red-strained wall fell from (were cast by) the strong branches of the Keya trees lining the walls. I clearly remembered the complaints that the healthy Hashiguti used to grumble every morning. That guy (bastard) really seems like the devil.
大勢 [おおぜい] /many/crowd/
住み込む [すみこむ] /to be a live-in employee/to live in/to live with/
隔てる [へだてる] /to be shut out/separate from/
独身 [どくしん] /bachelorhood/single/unmarried/celibate/
定刻 [ていこく] /appointed time/timetable/schedule/
廚 [くりや] /kitchen/
上座 [かみざ] /chief seat/seat of honor/
据える [すえる] /to set (table)/to lay (foundation)/to place (gun)/to apply (moxa)/
座敷 [ざしき] /tatami room/
朝食 [ちょうしょく] /breakfast/
摂る [とる] /to have?/take?/
一段
下がる [さがる] /to hang down/to abate/to retire/to fall/to step back/
板 [いた] /board/plank/
旧家 [きゅうか] /old family/
風習 [ふうしゅう] /custom/
庭番 [にわばん] /gardener/
Summary: A crowd of people lived in my house. My mom, myself, my grandfather and a live-in servant lived in the main house, and about seven or eight bachelors from my father's company lived on the second floor of the separate Western-style house. In the morning, people gathered in the kitchen by a schedule, myself, my grandfather, and the men would have our breakfast at the same time (on the silverware box that is also used as a table) at the seats of honor laid out in the tatami room. The silverware for my mother and the servants was laid out on a plank one level below. In a custom that occurred often in the old family home in Tokyo, the men, even drivers and gardeners, ate in the tatami room, while the women, even my mother, ate in a plank room.
過去 [かこ] /the past/bygone days/the previous/
家業 [かぎょう] /one's father's occupation/
隆盛 [りゅうせい] /prosperity/
齎らす [もたらす] /to bring/to take/to bring about/
家長 [かちょう] /patriarch/family head/
威厳 [いげん] /dignity/
陸軍 [りくぐん] /army/
将校 [しょうこう] /commissioned officer/
軍服 [ぐんぷく] /military or naval uniform/
葬る [ほうむる] /to bury/to inter/to entomb/to consign to oblivion/to shelve/
寡黙 [かもく] /silent (person)/shy/
僧侶 [そうりょ] /(Buddhist) priest/monk/
神主 [かんぬし] /Shinto priest/
清廉 [せいれん] /honesty/integrity/purity & unselfishness/
折り合い [おりあい] /mutual relations/compromise/
表立つ [おもてだつ] /to become public/to be known/
諍い [いさかい] /quarrel/dispute/
Summary: I don't know much about my grandfather's past. The prosperity of my family was brought about by my father ('s age) so my grandfather didn't have the dignity usually afforded for the patriarchical head of the family. Probably he buried his commissioned officer's army clothes along with the early half of his life. In reality, with a sort of silence more like a Buddhist monk or a Shinto priest, my grandfather spent some time (a portion of some number of minutes) every day in front of Buddhist or Shinto alter. Even though he was such a pure man, for some reason his relationship with my mother was bad. They had no publicly known dispute, but you could feel the bad vibes between them with your skin.
抵抗 [ていこう] /electrical resistance/resistance (vs)/opposition/
許容 [きょよう] /permission/pardon/
詣でる [もうでる] /visit/
ぎくしゃく /jerkiness (vs)/awkwardness/stiltedness/
脆弱 [ぜいじゃく] /fragile/weak/
よだれ /drool/
垂れる [たれる] /to hang (vi)/to droop/to drop/to lower/to pull down/to dangle/to sag/to drip/to ooze/to trickle/to leave behind (at death)/to give/to confer/
好餌 [こうじ] /bait/decoy/lure/
Summary: Probably the reason that I went to a Christian grade school is because of my mother's resistance to my grandfather. Instead of permitting that, my grandfather enforced the custom of visiting the Shinto and Buddhist shrines before going to school in me. My father almost never came home, and there was a lot of awkwardness between my mother and grandfather. In other words, there was no rich household as fragile as this one. (I think - this might be actually backwards!) There is no mistaking that this was a lure, like dangling drool, for the devil.
無駄話 [むだばなし] /gossip/idle talk/chat/
息も抜けない [いきもぬけない] /without taking a break/
厳格 [げんかく] /severe (an)/rigid/strictness/rigor/austerity/
休憩 [きゅうけい] /rest (vs)/break/recess/intermission/
椅子 [いす] /chair/
黙々 [もくもく] /silent/tacit/mute/
苦痛 [くつう] /pain/agony/
不快 [ふかい] /unpleasant/displeasure/discomfort/
くしゃくしゃ /crumpled/disheveled/feel gloomy (vs)/
咀嚼 [そしゃく] /bite (vs)/
癖 [くせ] /a habit (often a bad habit, i.e. vice)/peculiarity/
我慢 [がまん] /patience (vs)/endurance/perseverance/tolerance/self-control/self-denial/
飛躍的 [ひやくてき] /rapidly (an)/
向上 [こうじょう] /elevation (vs)/rise/improvement/advancement/progress/
箇所 [かしょ] /passage/place/point/
出題 [しゅつだい] /proposing a question/
予知 [よち] /foresight/foreknowledge/intimation/premonition/prediction/
Summary: Every day at 5pm sharp, Kageyama came. Without a word of idle chat, he sat down next to me, and even without any breaks, gave severe classes. The only break was for thirty minutes from 7:00pm for dinner. Kageyama and I sat next to each other in tall chairs, eating the food the maids brought in silence. More than the studying, what was agony for me was to have to face Kageyama for four hours. Everything was unpleasant. His unsmiling long face, his saying things without retraint, his bad habit of biting things while making a crumpled noise, I couldn't stand anything he did. It is natural, but suddenly my grades rapidly improved. On a test of school power (ha!) that was held once a month, in a way that was almost unusual, a point just as Kageyama indicated appeared on the test. It was almost as if Kageyama had known beforehand what would be on the test. One time, this happened.
賞与 [しょうよ] /reward/prize/bonus/
よこす /to send/to forward/
見さげ果てる [みさげはてる] /to look down on/
悪態 [あくたい] /abusive language/
憚らない [はばからない] /without hesitating/
がつがつ /greedily/burning with desire for something/
祝儀袋 [しゅうぎぶくろ] /an envelope used to hold money/
勘定 [かんじょう] /calculation (vs)/counting/consideration/reckoning/settlement of an account/allowance/
折り畳む [おりたたむ] /to fold up/to fold into layers/
紐 [ひも] /string/cord/pimp/
蟇口 [がまぐち] /a type of japanese wallet/
一層 [いっそう] /much more/still more/all the more/
Summary: Because my grades had improved, Kageyama boldly asked for a raise in the monthly pay, or a reward of some sort. My dad, whom my mother had consulted on the matter, looked down on Kageyama and insulted him, but in the end, gave him a reward as Kageyama had asked. As soon as we returned to my room, Kageyama would greedily open the envelope with his pay in it and without hesitating count it right before my eyes. Then, he would fold each 1000 yen note individually and place it into a wallet hanging from a string around his neck. In the future, the severity of Kageyama's classes got worse and worse.
邸 [やしき] /mansion/
旧華族 [きゅうかぞく] /ex-nobility/
事業 [じぎょう] /project/enterprise/business/industry/operations/
営む [いとなむ] /to carry on (e.g. in ceremony)/to run a business/
盛大 [せいだい] /grand (an)/prosperous/magnificent/
参会者 [さんかいしゃ] /attendance/
溢れる [あふれる] /to flood/to overflow/to brim over/
代表 [だいひょう] /representative (vs)/representation/delegation/type/example/model/
弔辞 [ちょうじ] /message of condolence/memorial address/
焼香 [しょうこう] /incense stick/
列 [れつ] /queue/line/row/
跡切れる [とぎれる] /to pause/to be interrupted/
Summary: Anyway, on the day of Hashiguti's funeral, I had a strange experience. In a bus rented for the occasion I went with my classmates to Hashiguti's mansion in a suburb of Shibuya. Hashiguti's father is ex-nobility, and more than that runs a number of businesses so it wasn't a child's funeral as much as it was a magnificent occasion (opulent, etc.) The attendance overflowed the garden, and even when I was reading a eulogy representing his friends, the line for placing an incense stick went on without interruption.
しめやか /in a quiet and sad manner/
拍子 [ひょうし] /rhythm/beat/(musical) time/
不図 [ふと] /suddenly/casually/accidentally/incidentally/unexpectedly/unintentionally/
一瞬 [いっしゅん] /a moment/an instant/
粗方 [あらかた] /mostly/almost/
飛ばす [とばす] /to skip over/to omit/
代参 [だいさん] /visiting a temple for another/
忌み嫌う [いみきらう] /to hate and detest/
重なる [かさなる] /to be piled up/lie on top of one another/overlap each other/
獲物 [えもの] /game/spoils/trophy/
妄想 [もうそう] /wild idea/delusion/
Summary: As I was told by the teachers, I slowly read the long eulogy in a sad and silent manner. Unexpectedly, once when I raised my head according to some rhythm, I saw Kageyama's face in the line of people waiting to place incense. At first I thought it was someone that jus really looked like him. But when he finished with the incense, he suddenly looked at me, and grinned strangely. As soon as I thought "Why would Kageyama be here?", I got really flustered. I forgot where I had read to in the eulogy, and I skipped over most of it and just read the last few lines. Kageyama might have been told by my mom to come and here my eulogy I think. Or, maybe if he came here to place some incense in absentee for my parents it would not be that unnatural, but in my mind the images of Kageyama and Hashiguti's devil of a home teacher had blurred together. I was wrapped up in the delusion that Hashiguti was killed by his home teacher, and then that home teacher that killed Hashiguti came to my house indicating me as his next trophy.
心待つ [こころまつ] /to await eagerly/
催す [もよおす] /to hold (a meeting)/to give (a dinner)/to feel/to show signs of/to develop symptoms of/to feel (sick)/
恒例 [こうれい] /established practice/custom/
生誕 [せいたん] /birth/nativity/
専ら [もっぱら] /wholly/solely/entirely/
忘年会 [ぼうねんかい] /year-end party/
派手 [はで] /showy (an)/loud/gay/flashy/gaudy/
しぬくくり /to tie up/to bring together/
宴会 [えんかい] /party/banquet/
脇 [わき] /side/
蔦 [つた] /ivy/
絡まる [からまる] /to be entwined/to be involved/
まんかんしょく /to decorate heavily/
豆電球 [まみでんきゅう] /small electric lights/
例年 [れいねん] /average (normal, ordinary) year/every year/annually/
有頂天 [うちょうてん] /ecstasy/
Summary: That year, I did not eagerly await (be impatient for, anticipate) the New Year. At the Christmas Party that is always held in the Western-house, I had a vacation from my home-schooling until January 5th. The party had wholly no connection to the birth of Christ, but was just an end-of-year party using the famous Christmas name. My father, who loved everything to be gaudy, decorated (the place with lights) as much as one could imagine for the party at the end of the year that tied everything up, and invite a huge number of guests. The Momi tree on the side of the terrace was used just as it was as a huge Christmas tree, and the ivy-entwined Western-house was heavily decorated with lots of small electric lights. In the two months since home-schooling started, I, who hadn't played at all in any way that is like playing, was ecstactic.
咎める [とがめる] /to blame/to find fault/to take someone to task/to aggravate (an injury)/
贈り物 [おくりもの] /present/gift/
顔を揃える [かおをそろえる] /to gather together/
やがて /before long/soon/at length/
喧噪 [けんそう] /noisy/
更ける [ふける] /to get late/to advance/to wear on/
縦横無尽 [じゅうおうむじん] /freely/right and left/as one pleases/
大掛かり [おおがかり] /large scale (an)/
隠れん坊 [かくれんぼう] /hide and seek/
従姉 [いとこ] /cousin (female) (older than the writer)/
名門 [めいもん] /noted family/noble family/prestigious/
一心 [いっしん] /one mind/wholeheartedness/the whole heart/
真っ先 [まっさき] /the head/the foremost/beginning/
隅々 [すみずみ] /every nook & corner/
めぐる /nearby/
木立 [こだち] /grove of trees/
Summary: Aside from being able to eat and drink without being reprimanded by anyone, and the (many, great, strange?) gifts, there was always one big thing that I enjoyed very much every year. On that night only, with the children of family and many acquitances that gather together, we were able to play until the end of the party. The party starts at sunset, and soon after the sun sets, the mansion is wrapped up in a noise and light that it usually is not. From when the night starts to pass until the parents go home, the kids are able to move freely about the mansion, and play a large-scale game of hide and seek. The first one that was it was an older female cousin in middle school. She always wore her long hair in a pony-tail, and her sailor uniform from the prestigious school went well with her (white?) face. I wholeheartedly want to hold hands with her, so I was the first to be caught. Then we became the joined demon, and looked for the other children. We had difficulty searching the nooks and crannies of both the main house and the western house, and soon still holding hands, went into a nearby grove of trees.
鳥が巣をかける [とりがすをかける] /birds making nests/
抜ける [ぬける] /to come out/to fall out/to be omitted/to be missing/to escape/
つつじ /azalea/
植込 [うえこみ] /a garden planted with trees/
頂く [いただく] /to receive/to take food or drink (hum)/to be crowned with (vi)(vt)/to wear/to live under (a ruler)/to install (a president)/to accept/to buy/to take/
東屋 [あずまや] /arbor/bower/summer house/
格好 [かっこう] /shape/form/suitability (a-no)/moderateness (in price)/appearance/manner/
隠れる [かくれる] /to hide (vi)/to be hidden/to conceal oneself/to disappear/
囁く [ささやく] /to whisper/to murmur/
腰板 [こしいた] /a (wooden) bench/
枯葉 [かれは] /dead leaf/dry leaves/
真下 [ました] /right under (a-no)/directly below/
角帽 [かくぼう] /square college cap/
あみだに /wearing one's hat backwards on one's head/
眼鏡 [めがね] /spectacles/glasses/
月光 [げっこう] /moonlight/moonbeam/
輝く [かがやく] /to shine/to glitter/to sparkle/
屈み込む [かがみこむ] /to crouch/
Summary: The woods across from the pond were deep to the point that birds built their nests there. We depending on the light of the moon, and when we came out of the woods where the cherry leaves had fallen, there is a medium sized artificial mountain surrounded by a planted garden of azalia. At the top of the mountain there is a small garden house, and I knew that it would make a good hiding place. "Look, there is probably someone in there!" I whispered to her, killing her with my voice. On the garden houses bench, the backs of two heads were lined up facing us. We approached without even making any dead leaves crackle. We came to the base of the mountain, and I pulled her hand closer. It was because I understood that the shadows were not of two children. On the head of the man who had leaned in close to talk to the other person, was a square backed college cap being worn backwards, and when he turned slightly to the side, the moonlight glinted off of his glasses. We crouched in the planted azailias.
貪る [むさぼる] /to covet/to indulge in/to deeply desire/to lust insatiably for/
押し倒す [おしたおす] /to push down/
沈む [しずむ] /to sink/to feel depressed/
生生しい [なまなましい] /lively/green/fresh/raw/
唸り [うなり] /groan/roar/howl/growl/bellow/sough/
夜気 [やき] /night air/stillness of night/cool evening/
琺瑯 [ほうろう] /enamel/
掌 [てのひら] /the palm/
汗ばむ [あせばむ] /to be sweaty/
鼓動 [こどう] /beat/palpitation/pulsation/throbbing/
不穏 [ふおん] /unrest/turbulence/impropriety/
雌 [めす] /female (animal)/
鳴き声 [なきごえ] /cry (vs)/roar/
Summary: Soon the two heads went into the garden house, and we heard the sounds of two people lustfully devouring each other. When it quited down (?) after it seemed like the man had pushed her over, lively moans began to shake the night. I could see one of her white legs through the door. I became worried, and without hesitation tried to rise, but the girl held my body close. "Sh! Be quiet!" She was staring in to the darkness, and her hand was really sweaty. For some reason that I didn't understand, I could hear my own heartbeat. The woman's voice went from a turbulent moan to a female cry. The man's response to that was communicated by his breath.
やおら /slowly/deliberately/
胸元 [むなもと] /breast/pit of stomach/
指先 [ゆびさき] /fingertip/
ふくよか /plump (an)/full/well-rounded/
生温い [なまぬるい] /lukewarm/halfhearted/ ?? なまあたたかい ??
様子 [ようす] /aspect/state/appearance/
尋常 [じんじょう] /common (a-no)/usual/
咄嗟に [とっさに] /at once/
紛れる [まぎれる] /to be diverted/to slip into/
魔術 [まじゅつ] /black magic/sorcery/
乗り移る [のりうつる] /to change (cars or horses)/to transfer/to possess/to inspire/
一目散に [いちもくさんに] /at full speed/
悲鳴 [ひめい] /shriek/scream/
来客 [らいかく] /visitor/caller/
あらまし /almost/nearly/
引き揚げる [ひきあげる] /to withdraw/to retire/to leave/
夜更け [よふけ] /late at night/
暗がり [くらがり] /darkness/
小遣い [こづかい] /personal expenses/pocket money/spending money/incidental expenses/allowance/
顎 [あご] /chin/
残念 [ざんねん] /deplorable (an)/bad luck/regret/disappointment/
溜息 [ためいき] /(uk) a sigh/
しぐさ /hand gesture/
芝居 [しばい] /play/drama/
Summary: Slowly she brought my palm to the breast of her sailor uniform. I felt her soft warmth with my fingertips. My cousin's state was not normal. At once I felt that Kageyama slipped into the darkness and was doing something really terrible to someone, and that that sorcery had somehow been transferred to my cousin. When I thought that he really was the devil, I violently shoved my cousin away, and ran away at full speed. A short shriek and a surprised voice followed after me. My cousin and her family returned home late at night, almost as if retreating. Before she got into the hired car, she invited me into the darkness in a corner of the (driveway type thing.) "I received a small allowance. And you?" When I shook my chin (I think -- it could have been her) she let out a sad sign. "Then they didn't know you were there." I completely didn't understand what she meant. "Did you get it from Kageyama?" "No" she said, as her eyes sparkled in the dark. "Your mother said that I couldn't say anything to anyone about that thing before." Then she covered her mouth with the palm of her hand, like she was over-acting.
憂鬱 [ゆううつ] /depression (an)/melancholy/dejection/gloom/
寄り付く [よりつく] /to approach/
例外 [れいがい] /exception (a-no)/
正体 [しょうたい] /natural shape/one's true colors/true character/consciousness/senses/
殺伐 [さつばつ] /bloodthirsty/brutal/savage/
空気 [くうき] /air/atmosphere/
漂う [ただよう] /to drift about/to float/to hang in air/
従業員 [じゅうぎょういん] /employee/worker/
しょっちゅう /always/constantly/
ひそひそ /whisperingly/
面罵 [めんば] /to argue/
決定 [けってい] /decision/determination/
小雪 [こゆき] /light snow/
踏み鳴らす [ふみならす] /to stamp one's feet/
Summary: With the new year, the depressing school work started again. As usual, father didn't approach home, and when he did come home without exception he was drunk almost to the point of not having consciousness. For some reason, a savage atmosphere drifted into our house. The maids and employees that lived with us were constantly talking in whispers, and when I came close they would quickly smile. My grandfather, always so quiet during the day, (started to do something wrt to his mother.) Clearly, something has started going on inside the mansion. The pre-determined accident happened in front of my eyes on an evening when there were light snow flurries. Kageyama came on schedule to my room, and just when he had sat down, my grandfather came stamping down the corridor. "Professor, may I ask you a few questions?"
険がある [けんがある] /stern/stinging/
後程 [のちほど] /later on/eventually/afterwards/
腕 [うで] /arm/
盾 [たて] /shield/buckler/escutcheon/pretext/
倒す [たおす] /to throw down (vt)/to beat/to bring down/to blow down/to fell/to knock down/to trip up/to defeat/to ruin/to overthrow/to kill/to leave unpaid/to cheat/
怒鳴り声 [どなりこえ] /angry voice/
抗う [あらがう] /conflict/dispute/
柱 [はしら] /pillar/post/
対峙 [たいじ] /confronting/holding your own with(vs)/
憤る [いきどおる] /to be angry/to resent/to be enraged/to be indignant/
構図 [こうず] /composition/
Summary: His words were stern, and the color of his face was different from usual. "Unfortunately, from now on we have to study, so if you want to talk, we will have to do it afterwards." Kageyama said, and looked at his watch, almost as if using me as a shield. When he said that, grandfather grabbed his arm with enough force to almost knock over the chair, and dragged him out of the room. From the hallway I could hear grandfather's angry voice, and Kageyama's disputing voice. I snuck out of the room and hid behind a pillar, and peeked out onto the situation. Why was it that I could only see about half of my grandfather's body who was confronting Kageyama? More than being surprised by my grandfather's sudden anger, I was surprised by unnaturalness of the composition (as in are meaning of how a picture is composed on purpose, etc) and I blinked my eyes many times.
色絵戸
紅 [くれない] /deep red/crimson/
左右 [さゆう] /influence/control/domination (vs)/left and right/
座敷 [ざしき] /tatami room/
障子 [しょうじ] /paper sliding door/
戸 [と] /door (Japanese style)/
桟 [さん] /a frame/
天井 [てんじょう] /ceiling/ceiling price/
家紋 [かもん] /family crest/
人間離れ [にんげんばなれ] /unwordly/superhuman/
幾何学 [きかがく] /geometry/
錯覚 [さっかく] /optical illusion/hallucination/
異形 [いぎょう] /fantastic (an)/grotesque/
正体 [しょうたい] /natural shape/one's true colors/true character/consciousness/senses/
伸び [のび] /stretching (the body) (i.e. when waking up)/excess/surplus/postponement/growth/spread/
詰問 [きつもん] /cross-examination/
興奮 [こうふん] /excitement/stimulation/agitation/
急き込む [せきこむ] /to sound agitated, hurried, flustered/
日頃 [ひごろ] /normally/habitually/
乾咳 [からせき] /dry cough/hacking cough/
癖 [くせ] /a habit (often a bad habit, i.e. vice)/peculiarity/
Summary: (Description of hallway, something like:) The hallway was long and straight, almost looking crimson red (from the east corner?) On the left and the right the frames of the tatami room sliding doors and the glass doors facing the garden continued, on the ceiling our family crest was drawn. For that reason, I thought it might be some sort of optical illusion but... For me, I saw the inhuman size of Kageyama as displaying his true grotesque form as the devil. While he cross-examined the streched-out Kageyama, grandfather was thrown into a coughing fit by the excitement. He had a habit of normally coughing, but this was different.
痩せる [やせる] /to become thin/to lose weight/to reduce/to reduce (one's) weight/to slim/
着物 [きもの] /kimono/
袖 [そで] /sleeve/
鳴らす [ならす] /to ring/to sound/to chime/to beat (vt)/to snort (nose)/
仰けぞる [のけぞる] /to bend (backward)/
撒く [まく] /to scatter/to sprinkle/to sow/
鮮血 [せんけつ] /fresh blood/
飛び散る [とびちる] /to fly around/to scatter/
唖然と [あぜんと] /in mute amazement/
尻餅をつく [しりもちをつく] /fall on one's behind/
胡座をかく [あぐらをかく] /to sit cross-legged/to rest on one's laurels/
塗れる [まみれる] /to be smeared/to be covered/
肩 [かた] /shoulder/
救急車 [きゅうきゅうしゃ] /ambulance/
喀血 [かっけつ] /lung hemorrhage/
患う [わずらう] /to fall ill/
悟る [さとる] /to attain enlightenment/to perceive/to understand/to discern/
気丈 [きじょう] /stout-hearted (an)/firm/
一部始終 [いちぶしじゅう] /full particulars/the whole story/
かかりつけ /family doctor/
保健所 [ほけんしょ] /health care center/
消毒 [しょうどく] /disinfection (vs)/sterilization/
結核 [けっかく] /tuberculosis/tubercule/
Grandpa (crouched over?) and brought his sleeve to his mouth. When he did that, he suddenly violently cleared his throat, and fell over backward onto his butt. Like flowers sprinkled around the pure white screen door, grandfather's fresh blood flew onto the screen. He suddenly fell onto his behind, sat down cross legged, and opened both of his palms smeared in blood in front of his chest. Kageyama's big palm pressed down on grandfather's shoulder. My grandfather died after being carried to a hospital by an ambulance many years later, but that was the last time that I saw my grandfather's shape. He only returned to the mansion two more times. The reason that nobody understood my grandfather's illness which was as bad as a lung hemorrhage, was probably because he was a stout guy. But for me who had seen the whole thing from the beginning to the end, even when I listened to the explanations of the family doctor, I never thought that even if we had the large-scale sterilization of the health care centers done to every nook and cranny of the mansion, it was because of the way that Tuberculousus is (that grandfather could not come back.)
呪い [のろい] /a curse/
観察 [かんさつ] /observation (vs)/survey/
呪術 [じゅじゅつ] /magic/sorcery/incantation/
広大 [こうだい] /huge/very large/
恐怖 [きょうふ] /be afraid (vs)/dread/dismay/terror/
俄 [にわか] /sudden/abrupt/unexpected/improvised/offhand/
顕著 [けんちょ] /remarkable (an)/striking/obvious/
司祭 [しさい] /a priest/
いたぶる /torment/
寄宿 [きしゅく] /lodging/
僅か [わずか] /only/merely/a little/small quantity/
廃屋 [はいおく] /abandoned house/
荷物 [にもつ] /luggage/
日増し [ひまし] /day by day/daily/
閑散 [かんさん] /leisure/quiet (an)/inactivity/
成長 [せいちょう] /growth (vs)/grow to adulthood/
揺り椅子 [ゆりいす] /rocking chair/
人体 [じんたい] /human body/
Summary: I was sure that it was because Kageyama laid some terrible curse on him. I had to tell someone about this. But, the people around me were all powerless. As I investigated the situation, I realized that my mom and dad would certainly soon fall under Kageyama's sorcery. Nobody could understand the terrible fear I had ever night, me who had to meet Kageyama every night face to face. The changes in the mansion once my grandfather left were strikingly sudden. After he killed the priest, as if tormenting me, the devil slowly started to eat up my house bit by bit. The young people staying on the second floor of the western house left one by one. In merely one or two months, the western house turned into an abandoned house that nobody entered. The maids from the main house also left, one a week with luggage in hand. Inside our mansion that day by day became more inactive, Kageyama grew into great maturity/power. While he made me study by myself, he rested his body into a rocking chair that he brought on his own from the Western house, and he gleefully studied a map of human anatomy.
呪文 [じゅもん] /spell/charm/incantation/
ぶつぶつ /grumbling/complaining in a small voice/
憑く [つく] /to possess/to haunt/to attach to/
暴れる [あばれる] /to act violently/to rage/to struggle/to be riotous/
受話器 [じゅわき] /(telephone) receiver/
みるみる /in a moment/
金切り声 [かなきりごえ] /a shrill voice/a shriek/
荒れ果てる [あれはてる] /to fall into ruin/to be desolated/
横切る [よこぎる] /to cross (e.g. arms)/to traverse/
灯 [あかり] /Akari (f)/light/
魅き寄せる [ひきよせる] /drawn to/enchanted/
覚束無い [おぼつかない] /to not depend on/
Summary: Sometimes he would look at the thin red of the sakura in the forest, and would mumble incantations with some meaning that I didn't understand. One time, as if possed, father acted really violently, and broke the glass of a window, and didn't return after that. Sometimes when dad called and mom picked up the receiver, her face would turn dark in a moment. Finally, in the end mom would raise a depressing shriek, and place (down?) the reciever. Finally, there were only myself, my mother, an old maid, and the driver that brought me to school in the morning left in the house. If you want to increase the number of people, at some point Kageyama came to live in a room in the abandoned western-house. When our study period ended, Kageyama would slide quicklky across the garden back to the western house. Right at 10pm when I turned off the lights to my room, as if her visit was timed, she went across the moon-lit garden (walking strangely as if not with her own legs) as if enchanted to come to Kageyama. As it got warmer, the garden also was abandoned (because all the servants are gone, the place becomes untended, etc.)
ひとけがない /deserted/empty/
こっそり /stealthily/secretly/
埃 [ほこり] /dust/
積もる [つもる] /to pile up/
登る [のぼる] /to climb/
窓 [まど] /window/
蔦 [つた] /ivy/
垂れ下る [たれさがる] /to hang down/
腐臭 [ふしゅう] /rotten stench/
立ち籠める [たちこめる] /to hang over/to shroud/
書物 [しょもつ] /books/
白衣 [はくい] /white robe/(doctor's) white gown/
散乱 [さんらん] /dispersion (vs)/scattered about/
人型 [ひとがた] /human figure,model/
窪む [くぼむ] /to cave in/to sink/
足袋 [たび] /tabi/Japanese socks (with split toe)/
片方 [かたほう] /one side/one party/the other side/the other party/
博物館 [はくぶつかん] /museum/
遠足 [えんそく] /trip/hike/picnic/
燥ぐ [はしゃぐ] /(uk) to make merry/to frolic/to be in high spirits/
吐き気 [はきけ] /nausea/sickness in the stomach/
堪える [こらえる] /to bear/to stand/to endure/to put up with/
ミライ /a mummy/
干首 [ほしくび] /dried head of a human/
剥製 [はくせい] /stuffing, mounting (vs)/a stuffed animal/
恐竜 [きょうりゅう] /dinosaur/
宇宙 [うちゅう] /universe/cosmos/space/
有り様 [ありさま] /state/condition/circumstances/
単位 [たんい] /unit/denomination/credit (in school)/
Summary: One day, I made sure that nobody was in the mansion and I snuck to the Western house, climbed the spiral staircase and peeked into Kageyama's room. A rotten stench hung over the room with the north facing window covered by droopping ivy, and books written in some alphabet I couldn't understand, dirty lab coats, underclothes, and other stuff was scattered about such that there was almost no place for your foot. My mother's small socks were placed on just the corner of the bed caving in under the weight of a human anatomy model. One day approaching spring break, we went on a field trip to a museum in Ueno. My friends were all in high spirits because of the trip, but I felt like vomitting and couldn't stand it. Dried head of a mummy, stuffed animals, dinosaur bones, the state of the dark universe, and things that are from tens of thousands of years distant from now scared me.
自転 [じてん] /rotation/spin/
証明 [しょうめい] /proof (vs)/verification/
巨大 [きょだい] /huge (an)/gigantic/enormous/
振り子 [ふりこ] /pendulum/
吹き抜く [ふきぬく] /to blow through/to blow over/to blow itself out/
見下ろす [みおろす] /to overlook/to command a view of/to look down on something/
しゃがむ /to squat/
帰途 [きと] /on the way back/returning/
抜ける [ぬける] /to come out/to fall out/to be omitted/to be missing/to escape/
不図 [ふと] /suddenly/casually/accidentally/incidentally/unexpectedly/unintentionally/
電信 [でんしん] /telegraph/
柱 [はしら] /pillar/post/
表示 [ひょうじ] /indication (vs)/expression/display/
下宿 [げしゅく] /boarding (vs)/lodging/boarding house/
見渡す [みわたす] /to look out over/to survey (scene)/to take an extensive view of/
堂 [どう] /prefix to building meaning "magnificent"/
墓石 [はかいし] /tombstone/
塔婆 [とうば] /stupa/pagoda/wooden grave tablet/
焦る [あせる] /to be in a hurry/to be impatient/
解散 [かいさん] /breakup (vs)/dissolution/
並木 [なみき] /roadside tree/row of trees/
Summary: While we were looking down on the swinging of a giant pendulum used to verify the rotation of the Earth, I finally squatted down. On the way home, the bus came out of the back of a park, and went down a mountain. On a sign on a telegraph post I saw the name of the town "Taninaka". Right at the place that Kageyama said that he had lived, did not look like a place that students would stay at. As far as you could see there were magnificent (temple type?) buildings, gravestones, and (I think those kid rock things that you see all over the place) were lined up. I was in a panic to find someone to save me. Then, after we returned to school as we were all breaking up (the people going there own ways maybe - "break up/disperse those feet") I turned to face the teacher's building on the side of the (school's) tree-lined road.
打ち明ける [うちあける] /to be frank/to speak one's mind/to open one's heart/
悔い [くい] /regret/repentance/
告白 [こくはく] /confession (vs)/acknowledgement/
思い詰める [おもいつめる] /to think hard/to brood over/
掃除 [そうじ] /cleaning (vs)/sweeping/
修道尼 [しゅうどうに] /a nun/
牧師 [ぼくし] /pastor/minister/clergyman/
先頭 [せんとう] /lead/head/vanguard/van/first/
祈る [いのる] /to pray (vi)/to wish/
諳んじる [そらんじる] /to memorize/to recite from memory/
聖書 [せいしょ] /Bible/scriptures/
呟く [つぶやく] /to mutter/to murmur/
恵む [めぐむ] /to bless/to show mercy to/
縁 [えん] /chance/fate/destiny/relation/bonds/connection/karma/
聖体 [せいたい] /The Eucharist/Holy Communion/
Summary: It is because the teachers have always said that if you have some regrets or complaints that you can not tell someone frankly about, you should go to the teacher's office and confess to them. Of course there probably were not any kids that did that but, I brooded over it until I though that that is what I must do. I asked a nun that was cleaning if a priest was there. Until a priest returned, I waited in the tall chair of the head teacher and prayed. As I whispered memorized scriptures from the Bible, for some reason I sadly cried out (as in, cry teary eyes.) I was a blessed child. I didn't have a connection to any birth defects (I think - could be diseases from birth too) or poorness. Therefor, I had no reason to cry but, I tried to think of why I was crying over this but, while I looked at the Eucharist I started to cry.
斎服 [さいふく] /priestly vestments/
駄駄っ子 [だだっこ] /unmanageable child/
縋り付く [すがりつく] /to cling to/
Summary: When a priest wearing priestly vestments put his hand on my shoulder, I clung to him like a whining child. "A devil has come to my house! He is pretending to be a college student home teacher but really he is a devil!"
宥める [なだめる] /(uk) to soothe/to calm/to pacify/
受験 [じゅけん] /taking an examination (vs)/
追っ払われる [おっぱらわれる] /to be driven away/
眉 [まゆ] /eyebrow/
顰める [ひそめる] /to raise eyebrows/to scowl/
呻く [うめく] /to moan/to groan/
折る [おる] /to break/to fold/
怪我 [けが] /injury (to animate object) (vs)/hurt/
困惑 [こんわく] /bewilderment (vs)/disturbance/
清め [きよめ] /purification/
冒す [おかす] /to brave/to risk/to face/to venture/to desecrate/to profane/
厳然 [げんぜん] /grave/solemn/
Summary: While he was calming my down, the priest pretended to think. "Aaah, you study too much. There is still time before the examinations, so play a bit more." "No it isn't that. My grandfather coughed up blood, my father's face turned weird, and all the people in my house were chased away. And now, every night my mom is treated badly!" The priest instantly raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean by 'is treated badly?'" "The demon is treating her badly. He takes her into the garden house, or an empty room, and my mother groans in a painful way. He always gets on top of her like she is a horse and holds her throat, or bends her arms and legs." "Hmm.. But your mother is never hurt, right?" The priest was bewildered. Certainly the school priest should have the power to purify, I thought. "But soon he will kill her." "No, you are fine. You don't have to worry about that." "Why?" "Because you and your mother are both protected by Jesus (I think. That or Eee-yes!)" I was not calmed at all by his words. It is a solemn fact that my house has been violated by a demon, I didn't think that God would protect us with his power. "Well, how would I go about chasing this demon out of my house? I don't know anything about it."
十字架 [じゅうじか] /cross/the Cross (of Christ)/
僕 [しもべ] /manservant/servant (of God)/
福音書 [ふくいんしょ] /the Gospels (Bible)/
握り締める [にぎりしめる] /to grasp tightly/
睨み付ける [にらみつける] /to glare at/
翌日 [よくじつ] /next day/
覿面 [てきめん] /immediacy/instantaneousness/promptness/
Summary: The priest thought for a while, and then pulled a cross out of a pocket in his vestments. "I'll give this to you. Instead of demons, they are nothing but servants of God. In order to chase away the demon in front of you, you do not have to call out the name of Jesus, or cross yourself, or read the Gospels. If a demon tries to do something bad to you, just grasp this cross tightly and glare at him. Then say this. 'You are a demon. I will not lose to you.'" My heart felt a little lighter. As I walked back, I whispered to myself over and over the charm that the priest told me. The next day my mother was called to school. I don't know why they wanted to talk to her at all. But on the way back in the car, she didn't say a word and would not look at my face. From that day one, Kageyama did not stay in the Western house. I thought that the cross had immediately shown its power.
碌に [ろくに] /well (uk)/enough/sufficient/
伺う [うかがう] /to visit (vt)(vi) (hon)/to ask/to inquire/to hear/to be told/to implore (a god for an oracle)/
凝らす [こごらす] /to freeze (vt)/to congeal/
不快 [ふかい] /unpleasant/displeasure/discomfort/
棺 [かん] /coffin?/
接する [せっする] /to come in contact with/to connect/to attend/to receive/
参考書 [さんこうしょ] /reference book/
目当て [めあて] /object/purpose/guide/end/view/
麻布 [あさぬの] /hemp/cloth/linen/
開成 [かいせい] /Kaisei (p)/
付属書 [ふぞくしょ] /appendix/supplementary notes/
区立
優秀 [ゆうしゅう] /superiority (an)/excellence/
白ける [しらける] /to be spoiled or become subdued (e.g. lively atmosphere)/to be unamused or bored/to become apathetic/to fade/to turn white/to grow light (at dawn)/
The cherry blossoms fell off of the trees with out us having a cherry-viewing party, and suddenly the dead Hashiguti's mother came for a visit. It would have been better if she had come sooner, but his mother said without bowing her head that she has been visiting the houses one by one, and was late coming to ours. Then I was frozen by a young, beautiful face. "She is a fifth year student, and has lost a rival but..." (Her brother I think.) I wondered why she would say such a thing, and it made me feel uneasy. I remembered Hashiguti's shape, inside his small coffin where his mother had placed his textbooks and reference materials. "What did you come here for, cloth or kaisei? Or ?educational handouts?" (Maybe stuff for Hashiguti?) I answered without thinking. "No, we are going to kuritsu(?)." "Oh, what should we do? And it is excellent too..." (??) "A normal one is fine." The atmosphere of our guests was really bored. (???) Right when the hand on the clock pointed to 5pm, Kageyama came. Kageyama, who had become very used to our family, didn't say anything as he entered the house, and walked down the long hallway like he was sliding.
放れる [はなれる] /to leave/to get free/to cut oneself off/
客間 [きゃくま] /parlor/guest room/
素頓狂 [すっとんきょう] /drawn out for a long duration of time/
節 [せつ] /node/section/occasion/time/
関わり [かかわり] /relation/connection/
見当 [けんとう] /be found/aim/mark/estimate/guess/approx/direction/
鉗む [つぐむ] /to shut one's mouth/
気不味い [きまずい] /(uk) unpleasant/awkward/
沈黙 [ちんもく] /silence/reticence/
嫌味 [いやみ] /disagreeableness/gaudiness/sarcasm/
口振り [くちぶり] /way of speaking/intimation/
兎や角 [とやかく] /anyhow/anyway/somehow or other/generally speaking/in any case/all kinds of this/this and that/
筋合い [すじあい] /reason/right/
うろたえる /to be flustered/to loose one's presence of mind/
俄 [にわか] /sudden/abrupt/unexpected/improvised/offhand/
近頃 [ちかごろ] /lately/recently/nowadays/
Summary: When he passed the opened door (?) of the reception room, Hashiguti's mother let out a long, drawn out "Oh!" "Oh, teacher, you came here?" "Yes. Thank you (about that thing from before.)" Having only said those few words, Kageyama continued on as if trying to avoid any further relation. My mother and I both only saw that brief instant of conversation, but as soon as we saw each others face's and shut our mouths. (?) We fell into deep thought about Kageyama's important lie. After an unpleasant silence, Hashiguti's mother spoke in a sarcastic manner. "Madam, anyhow right now I don't have the right to say this but, please be careful with that teacher." I got goose-bumps. My mother answered in a flustered way. "What? What do you mean by that?" (?) "Even at Tokyo University, there are lots of different kinds of students." At that moment, I suddenly remembered Hashiguti's cough. (Recently, that bastard (Kageyama I think) has been insulting my mother. He really is the devil.)
吸入 [きゅうにゅう] /inhalation/
荒れる [あれる] /to be stormy/to be rough/to lose one's temper/
かまびすじく /noisy/annoying/
油蝉 [あぶらぜみ] /large brown cicada/
藤 [ふじ] /wisteria/
枕 [まくら] /pillow/bolster/
並べる [ならべる] /to line up (vt)/to set up/
倦怠 [けんたい] /languor/fatigue/weariness/boredom/
閑暇 [かんか] /leisure/
魂 [たましい] /soul/spirit/
抜く [ぬく] /to extract/to omit/to surpass/to draw out/to unplug/
億劫 [おっくう] /troublesome (an)/annoying/
灼熱 [しゃくねつ] /red hot (a-no)/scorching heat/incandescence/
Summary: Under a Gingko tree on the campus while inhaling from his inhaler, Hashiguti would only say that in a voice that I could not forget even now. I will never forget that day that the devil showed his true form. It was a summer evening, without even the annoying noisy sound of the brown cicadas from the stormy cherry trees. My mother and I were in the center of the main living room that the wind was passing through, taking an afternoon nap amoung the lined up wisteria pillows. It was not because of the heat or our laziness. My mother and my spirits had been drawn out, and to do anything would have just become very troublesome. The maid and driver also left the mansion at the end of the semester, and inside the mansion that felt amazingly huge my mother and myself rested our bodies as if burning in the sun of a desert, like the lizards on top of rocks.
鼾 [いびき] /snoring/
肌掛け [はだかけ] /a light blanket/
ぼんやり /absent-minded (vs)/block-head/dim/faint/vague/
うとうと /falling in a doze (vs)/
微睡む [まどろむ] /(uk) to doze (off)/
金切り声 [かなきりごえ] /a shrill voice/a shriek/
素足 [すあし] /bare feet/
爪先 [つまさき] /tiptoe/
滴る [したたる] /to drip/to drop/to trickle/
鮮血 [せんけつ] /fresh blood/
浴衣 [ゆかた] /bathrobe/informal summer kimono/yukata/
忽ち [たちまち] /(uk) at once/in a moment/suddenly/all at once/
朱 [あか] /scarlet/red/bloody/
仕切り [しきり] /partition/division/boundary/compartment/settlement of accounts/toeing the mark/
襖 [ふすま] /sliding screen/
おそるおそる /timidly/nervously/
蔭 [かげ] /shade/backing/(your assistance)/
掻く [かく] /to scratch/to perspire (uk)/
次第 [しだい] /order/precedence/circumstances/immediate(ly)/as soon as/dependent upon/
柱 [はしら] /pillar/post/
掻き毟る [かきむしる] /to tear off/to pluck/to scratch off/
山水 [さんすい] /landscape/hills and rivers/
がたがた /rattle/clatter/
Summary: My mother was snoring lightly. The same blanket was wrapped around my waist, and I unsleepily gazed at high noon in the garden. As I dozed off, watching the shadow climb up from the pond, suddenly my mom let out a shriek, and jumped up. "What did you do?? What did you do?" I didn't do anything. Fresh blood was flowing from the tips of her toes, as if trickling down onto the tatami. All at once the blanket was also suddenly stained blood red. We timidly looked around the main living room divided by the paper sliding door partition. Behind the shadow of some paper partition, we heard a scratching sound. When we strained our ears, the sound grew louder, as if trying to scratch off the pillars or sliding paper dividers. A divider that had a landscape scene painted on it two rooms away started to shake with a loud rattling.
床の間 [とこのま] /alcove/
にじりさがる /to move backwards with one's knees pressed to the floor/
刃物 [はもの] /edged tool/cutlery/knife/
強盗 [ごうとう] /robbery/burglary/
駆け上る [かけあがる] /to run up/
貼り付く [はりつく] /to stick onto/
俯す [ふす] /to bend down/to bow down/to lie prostrate/
悲鳴 [ひめい] /shriek/scream/
見張る [みはる] /to watch/to (stand) guard/to look out/to open one's eyes wide/
金縛り [かなしばり] /binding hand & foot/a temporary feeling of paralysis (col)/
ふえながら ?
Summary: My mother and crawled backwards into an alcove of the room. At that time I thought that a burglar carrying a knife snuck in and cut my mother's legs. My mom threw one of the wisteria pillows at the partition. Right then, we heard a violent bat sound like it was climbing up the pillar. A jet-black shadow was stuck to a crevice on a sculpture. We stared intently at the two glowing eyes, and my mother layed down prostrate on the tatami. Maybe it was surprised by that scream, but the shadow climbed up beyhond the facing divider. While we were keeping our eyes peeled, some sort of large black animal ran from one partition to another. After a short time, we were unable to move as if paralyzed. "A rat?" "No, it is much bigger. Much bigger than a cat or dog." For some reason I was unable to say that it was the devil, I grabbed the cross near by chest. On my mom's toes remained huge wounds shaped like human teeth. I left behind my weak mother, who could not stand, and (shakily?) went out into the hallway.
高帚 [たかぼうき] /a long broom stick/
およびこし /half-sitting posture/
入り組む [いりくむ] /to be or become complicated/
廚 [くりや] /a kitchen/
土間 [どま] /dirt floor/
料亭 [りょうてい] /(Japanese) restaurant/
調理 [ちょうり] /cooking (vs)/
調理台 [ちょうりだい] /cooking table/
備える [そなえる] /to furnish/to provide for/to equip/to install/to have ready/to prepare for/to possess/to have/to be endowed with/to be armed with/
照り輝く [てりかがやく] /shining beautifully/
板前 [いたまえ] /chef/cook/
ただならない /not normall/
丸める [まるめる] /to make round/to round off/to roll up/to curl up/to seduce/to cajole/to explain away/
Summary: I walked down the hallway in a half-sitting posture. I didn't feel like the mansion was that big then. Wherever you went there was no limit, it became an overly complicated hallway maze with an uncountable number of rooms. I looked in one by one into the tatami rooms, and in the end, came to a kitchen in the northern corner of the house. It was a huge kitchen, equipped with a dirt floor, a place for running water, a cooking table, and a wooden floor that shined beautifully in the history of this mansion, and a tatami room one level up. In the past there were cooks and chefs, and a crowd of maids that worked there, and the unnatural silence of the place was not the only thing that was scary. (?) The devil was in the center of the dim wooden floor, sitting curled up.
天井 [てんじょう] /ceiling/ceiling price/
煙り抜き [けむりぬき] /A place where smoke escapes (kitchen, etc.)/
差す [さす] /to raise (stretch out) hands/to raise umbrella/
ちらちら /fluttering/flickering/intermittently/
埃 [ほこり] /dust/
舞う [まう] /to dance (vi)/to flutter about/to revolve/
醜悪 [しゅうあく] /ugliness (an)/meanness/offensiveness/
どっしり /heavily/in a massive manner/
据える [すえる] /to set (table)/to lay (foundation)/to place (gun)/to apply (moxa)/
錯覚 [さっかく] /optical illusion/hallucination/
優に [ゆうに] /easily/sufficiently/well/skillfully/
皺 [しわ] /wrinkles/creases/
油 [あぶら] /oil/
翼 [つばさ] /wings/
懸命 [けんめい] /eagerness/earnestness/risking one's life/
阻む [はばむ] /to keep someone from doing/to stop/to prevent/to check/to hinder/to obstruct/to oppose/to thwart/
Summary: The belt of light that penetrated through the smoke-hole in the ceiling intermittantly lit up the dancing dust in the hallway, the shape of the devil's ugly body wrapped in black fur lay massively. If it was not just an illusion of my eyes, it easily indicated that his body size surpassed a normal human, it had two twisted horns, the deep wrinkles engraved in old man face, and wet wings, as if dipped in oil. Grasping the cross beneath my shirt, risking my life I tried to recall the spell taught to me by the priest. However, in an attempt to foil me, the devil started to speak.
ざまあみろ /"You get what you deserve."/
お袋 [おふくろ] /one's mother (col)/
地獄 [じごく] /hell/
凍る [こおる] /to freeze/to be frozen over/to congeal/
世間 [せけん] /world/society/
くそったれ /anus/arsehole (X)/
齧り付く [かじりつく] /to bite into/to stick to/
餓鬼 [がき] /brat (uk)/kids/ghoul/
破滅 [はめつ] /ruin (vs)/destruction/fall/
嘲笑う [あざわらう] /(uk) to sneer at/to ridicule/
威嚇 [いかく] /intimidating (vs)/threat(vs)/
異臭 [いしゅう] /offensive smell/off-flavor/
引戸 [ひきど] /sliding door/
Summary: "You get what you deserve. Your grandfather, your father, and your mother also, I ate them all. Without leaving anyone behind, I will pull you into hell. My memory just froze, and my lips were shaking. (?) "You are a demon. I - I..." "Hm. What should I do. Could I ever lose to you? (?) What can you, a brat who clings to your desk, can't hardly read or write, you who don't even know about the world, do to me? I will destroy you. I will bring you down to hell along with this mansion." The devil opened up his flame-like mouth sneering at me, and as if to intimidate me, opened his huge black wings making a loud flapping noise. Then he let out a foul stink (?), and went out through a crack in the sliding door that opened into the back garden. The next day I was brought to my mother's relative's place.
前触れ [まえぶれ] /previous notice/herald/harbinger/portent/
伯父 [おじ] /uncle (hum) (older than one's parent)/
実直 [じっちょく] /honest/steady/
説諭 [せつゆ] /persuasion (vs)/convincing/
没落 [ぼつらく] /ruin/fall/collapse/
荷台 [にだい] /(truck) load-carrying tray/(bicycle) luggage carrier/roof rack/
玉砂利 [たまじゃり] /gravel/
入り日 [いりひ] /setting sun/evening sun/
唐破風 [からはふ] /some sort of wind/
農家 [のうか] /farmer/farm family/
安息 [あんそく] /rest/repose/
Summary: Without any consultation or warning, an uncle of mine who lives in the suburbs came to meet me riding a three-wheeler. According to my uncle, the family business was in ruin, and for a short time my mother and my father would have to go to away. I didn't know where "far away" was though. I didn't want to know. I was packing into the back of the vehicle with a bunch of other goods. From the window of the truck travelling over a gravel road, I looked back at the main house. (??) Mother was waving her pure white hand in the driveway as if (??). At the farm house, I rested up.
補う [おぎなう] /to compensate for/
始終 [しじゅう] /continuously/from beginning to end/
真剣 [しんけん] /seriousness (an)/earnestness/
溜息 [ためいき] /(uk) a sigh/
不行状 [ふぎょうじょう] /misconduct/profligacy/immorality/
詰る [なじる] /to rebuke/to scold/to tell off/
反論 [はんろん] /objection (vs)/refutation/rebuttal/
悔しさ [くやしさ] /chagrin/regrettable/
Summary: It was as if the hopelessness and lonliness were being compensated for, but it was a kind of rest where I could not do anything. As I got more and more depressed, I started to tell the story from the beginning. I even told them about seeing the devil. My Uncle and Aunt listened seriously to me story, and sometimes rebuked the immorality of my mother and father's behavior with a sigh. They were people that didn't have daily contact with my house. Even though they didn't really know the situation, when I refuted those things they said, my uncle thought for a while, and then answered. He said that at crucial moments when something occurs, rich people think only of themselves. He said that I should never forget that regretable fact.
中古 [ちゅうこ] /used/second-hand/old/Middle Ages/
茶畑 [ちゃばたけ] /tea plantation/
牧師 [ぼくし] /pastor/minister/clergyman/
木造 [もくぞう] /wooden/made of wood/
呼び捨て [よびすて] /addressing someone by last name only/without affixing "san"/
誠に [まことに] /indeed/really/absolutely/
教壇 [きょうだん] /platform/
丸太 [まるた] /log/
腕 [うで] /arm/
Summary: Then, he told me that I am very tired, and so for a short time I should not study, and for the rest of the summer I watched a used TV he bought for me. At the start of the second semester, I started to go to a public school in the middle of a tea plantation. They didn't have a teacher's room there, or priests, instead they had old wooden buildings and a teacher like a pro wrestler, that didn't call me by my name politely. For me this was a completely unbelievable background but, that Toyonobori (old famous wrestler) stood up on the teaching platform in his only running t-shirt, sometimes he would take his log-like arm and shake it with a noise, making the children laugh.
口笛 [くちぶえ] /whistle/
ごきげんよう /something you say to people when you meet them and leave them/
挨拶 [あいさつ] /greeting (vs)/salutation/
異種 [いしゅ] /different kind (species, variety)/heterologous (an)/heterogenous/
蔑ろにする [ないがしろにする] /to make light of/to ignore/to slight/
忽ち [たちまち] /(uk) at once/in a moment/suddenly/all at once/
意志薄弱 [いしはくじゃく] /weak will/lacking a purpose/
改宗 [かいしゅう] /conversion/
改宗者 [かいしゅうしゃ] /a buddhist convert/
踏絵 [ふみえ] /one of those pictures that Christians were made to stamp on a long time ago to denounce their Christianity/
同化 [どうか] /assimilation (vs)/absorption/adaptation/
失笑 [しっしょう] /spontaneous laughter/
外野 [がいや] /outfield/
捕球 [ほきゅう] /(baseball) catch/
喝采 [かっさい] /acclamation/
湧く [わく] /to boil/to grow hot/to get excited/to gush forth/
優勝 [ゆうしょう] /overall victory (vs)/championship/
Summary: When we were doing self-study, he came closer to me while whistling, and said that I have to play softball. I placed a strong accent on the "yo" of the customary greeting, and was laughed at by everybody. But I, who was of a different kind from everybody else, did not have anyone to make fun of. In a moment I was assimilated like a convert from Christianity, without even stomping on the all-important picture that Christians have to stomp on to denounce Christianity. I bought everyone's spontaneous laughter when we were playing or during physical education class. The first time I caught a fly ball in the outfield, acclamation boiled through from the campus and the building windows. It was as if I caught the winning championship ball, I grasped the ball to my chest and ran crying from center field to home base.
善意 [ぜんい] /good faith/good will/good intentions/favorable sense/
完璧 [かんぺき] /perfection (an)/completeness/flawless/
精神 [せいしん] /mind/soul/heart/spirit/intention/
回復 [かいふく] /recovery (vs)/
錦 [にしき] /brocade/
Summary: Under fall sky wider than any I have ever seen, while protected by the good faith of many people (? something about not being or being a god?) I made a mental recovery. At the time that I was in the school buildings surrounded by mountains I only returned to my natural (birth) house once.
買い手 [かいて] /buyer/
機会 [きかい] /chance/opportunity/
苛む [さいなむ] /to torment/to torture/to harass/
決着 [けっちゃく] /conclusion/end/settlement/decision/
屋門 [やもん] /?/
封印 [ふういん] /sealed/
青銅 [せいどう] /bronze/
脇門 [わきもん] /supporting gate/minor gate/
風体 [ふうてい] /appearance/look/dress/
屯 [たむろ] /police station/camp/barracks/to be stationed/
取り分 [とりわけ] /especially/above all/
人相 [にんそう] /physiognomy/looks/countenance/
鍵束 [かぎたば] /bundle of keys??/
注ぐ [そそぐ] /to pour into/to irrigate/to pay/
Summary: They had found a buyer for the house, so it was a chance for me to go and get my important stuff. It was strange that the fear that tormented me so much up until then didn't bother me at all. (?) Rather, I thought that this put an end to everything. The main gate (?) of the mansion was closed with the feeling that it would never be opened again, as if a seal had been placed on it. Continuing on to the Western house, a large number of bad looking men were stationed at the smaller gate. After getting the bundle of keys from the especially bad-looking large men, just as soon as my Uncle's three-wheeler came up the gravel road, I was enveloped by (that aspect) of the fall when the mansion was stained blood red. Above the cherry-tree forest, there was a large setting sun.
渦巻く [うずまく] /to whirl/to eddy/to swirl/to curl (smoke)/
不本意 [ふほんい] /reluctance/unwilling/
余計 [よけい] /too much/unnecessary/abundance (an)/surplus/excess/superfluity/
折り畳む [おりたたむ] /to fold up/to fold into layers/
長身 [ちょうしん] /long body/
からくり /mechanism/trick/dodge/
引き伸ばす [ひきのばす] /to delay/to enlarge/
お辞儀 [おじぎ] /bow (vs)/
不愉快 [ふゆかい] /discomfort (an)/unpleasantness/disagreeableness/unhappiness/
訊ねる [たずねる] /to ask/
Summary: A human shadow whirled up onto the driveway. "So, your teacher came, huh? (?)" my uncle said in a reluctant way. "He was probably told to come by your mom." When I looked at his face without understanding what he said, he shut his mouth as if he had said too much. I grabbed my cross that was in my pocket. As the three-wheeler pulled into the driveway, unfolded his long body, and like some tricky mechanism, sprung standing up, removed his hat, and bowed. My uncle made a clearly unpleasant face. Even if he asked me about how Kageyama taught me, I had decided that I would not answer. (I think he is the subject...???)
南京錠 [なんきんじょう] /padlock/hasp/
土足 [どそく] /shoes/
地下足袋 [ちかたび] /outer socks?/
湿る [しめる] /to be wet/to become wet/to be damp/
交す [かわす] /to exchange (messages)/to dodge/to parry/to avoid/to turn aside/
総動員 [そうどういん] /people ? moving around the whole place?/
Summary: A padlock was locked on the outer sliding door of the entryway. When I opened up the door, inside the pitch-black mansion a belt of red light like a running flame was cast. (?? cast right here? vs understood?) "Since it is filthy, it will be fine to enter with our shoes." My uncle entered with his shoes still on. The main room, even with the rain shutters closed, was completely soaked, and a foul stench that gave me a creepy feeling permeated the air. Kageyama put his student-clothes-clothed arm around my shoulder. I dodged (his arm) (with my body) and chased after my uncle who was going down the dark main hallway. "Uncle, let's open up the rain shutters." "Oh, let's bring some fresh air in, eh?" Just like the servants used to do in the past, we had to run all over the hallway and open the shutters up with our hands.
拱水 [きょうぜい] /folded water??/
傾れ込む [なだれこむ] /to rush or crowd into/
繰る [くる] /to reel/to wind/
立ちつくむ [たちつくむ] /stand paralyzed/
累累 [るいるい] /in heaps/
鼠 [ねずみ] /mouse/rat/
屍 [しかばね] /dead corpse/
溢れる [あふれる] /to flood/to overflow/to brim over/
血糊 [ちのり] /slimy blood/
乾枯らびる [ひからびる] /to completely dry up/
臓物 [ぞうもつ] /entrails/giblets/
Summary: "About half of them is good. We also have to close them up..." I could see the rushing into the deep red cherry and (something) forest like (falling water?). Right then, we stopped pulling on the shutter doors, and stood paralyzed. In the main living room, almost without a place to put your foot down, piles of dead corpses of mice were overflowing the room. The tatami was stained jet-black with the slimy blood, and the completely dried-up shrunken heads, feet, arms and entrails of the rats were spread out to the limit of the 100 tatami mat room.
共食い [ともぐい] /cannibalism (in animals)/mutual destruction/internecine struggle/eating each other/damaging each other/
末期 [まっき] /closing years (period, days)/last stage/
梢 [こずえ] /treetop/
黄昏 [たそがれ] /dusk/twilight/
告げる [つげる] /to inform/
鐘 [かね] /bell/chime/
きっぱり /clearly/plainly/distinctly/
翼 [つばさ] /wings/
畳む [たたむ] /to fold (clothes)/
悪態をつく [あくたいをつく] /to call a person names/to curse/
Summary: "Because they were shut in here they had to eat each other. (something)." My uncle (gennari to shite) jumped into the garden, and headed out for the Western house. That was the image of the closing years of the house that I was born and raised in. Kageyama and I stood unmoving in the red light for a short time. Crows were squawking in the treetops, and from far away we could hear the bells proclaiming twilight. While clutching the cross in my pocket, I plainly said: "You really ate this place up. You ate everybody." ?? On top of the quiet blood a long shadow nodded, as if to fold up wings. "What should I do? Say something. I ate everyone, and there is nothing left to eat now. My stomach is empty, shouldn't I curse you. (??)"
唇 [くちびる] /lips/
噛む [かむ] /to bite/to chew/
怖る [おそる] /to fear/to be afraid/
青ざめる [あおざめる] /to become pale/
口篭る [くちごもる] /to hesitate to say/to mumble/
呪文 [じゅもん] /spell/charm/incantation/
効 [こう] /efficacy/benefit/efficiency/effect/result/success/
奏した [そうした] /?/
怯える [おびえる] /to become frightened/to have a nightmare/
歩み込む [あゆみこむ] /?walk around?/
敷居 [しきい] /threshold/
跨ぐ [またぐ] /to straddle/
折り重なる [おりかさなる] /to lie on top of one another/to be in a heap/
床の間 [とこのま] /alcove/
Summary: Still (something-ing) Kageyama chewed on his lip. I was not afraid. I thrust my cross in front of his face, and immediately said: "You are a demon, but I will never lose to you." Kageyama raised his pale face, and mumbled a lot. I thought that the charm had (its effect?). "You are a demon, but I will never lose to you." At that time I heard a terrible bat-noise. It was the same noise as on that day. "Something is here!" Kageyama said, as if frightened. While we were feeling the terrible shape of the dead rats under our shoes, we walked around the living room (?). We straddled the threshold of the furthest room and peeked in and on top of a pile of dead rats saw a scary sight.
捕える [とらえる] /to seize/to grasp/to capture/to arrest/
貪り食らう [むさぼりくらう] /to devour greedily/
噛み砕く [かみくだく] /to crunch/to simplify/to explain plainly/
化物 [ばけもの] /goblin/apparition/monster/ghost/phantom/spectre/
齢 [よわい] /(one's) age/
経る [へる] /to pass/to elapse/to experience/
兎 [うさぎ] /rabbit/hare/cony/
老獪 [ろうかい] /craftiness/
皺 [しわ] /wrinkles/creases/
刻まる [きざまる] /nicked/notched/
威嚇 [いかく] /menace/threat/
踏み鳴らす [ふみならす] /to stamp one's feet/
獲物 [えもの] /game/spoils/trophy/
敏捷 [びんしょう] /nimble (an)/prompt/agile/quick/
Summary: It was a huge rat, almost as big as a small dog, pressing down strongly with its front paws and devouring (the dead rat bodies) greedily, from the head down. While crunching on the bones, that monster stared at us (fiercely or something?). His old fur sparkled jet black, his ears stood up like a rabbit's, and on his face were notched deep, crafty wrinkles. Then, as if to menace us, he shook his long tail like a snake. Kageyama let out a shriek, and stamped his feet. When he did that, the monster-rat left his trophy un-eaten, and with amazing agility, ran off somewhere.
唖然と [あぜんと] /in mute amazement/
佇む [たたずむ] /to stand (still) a while (uk)/to loiter/to stop/
がっくり /heartbroken (vs)/
膝 [ひざ] /knee/lap/
何者 [なにもの] /who/what kind of person/
混乱 [こんらん] /disorder (vs)/chaos/confusion/
呟く [つぶやく] /to mutter/to murmur/
勘弁 [かんべん] /pardon (vs)/forgiveness/forbearance/
額 [ひたい] /forehead/brow/
擦る [こする] /to rub/to scrub/
Summary: After we stood stunned for a while, Kageyama collapsed to his knees heartbroken. "I didn't want it to be like this. But I was not the only one that was bad. Right?" "You are a demon. You are a demon." No, that is wrong. The one that I thought was the demon was that huge rat, without mistake. If that is the case, then what kind of beast is that thing? In my confusion, my lips kept whispering "You are a demon. You are a demon." "Please forgive me! That is exactly right." On top of the dried slimy blood, Kageyama clasp both of his hands and scraped his forehead at my feet.
途切れる [とぎれる] /to pause/to be interrupted/
幸い [さいわい] /happiness (an)/blessedness/
責め苛む [せめさいなむ] /to torture/
絶える [たえる] /to die out/to peter out/to become extinct/
佇む [たたずむ] /to stand (still) a while (uk)/to loiter/to stop/
脇 [わき] /side/
老いる [おいる] /to age/to grow old/
Summary: My memory is interrupted there. Perhaps, anything that I remember after that point does not have any meaning within my life. The demons that tortured me in my happy times then seemed to have died from the human world (?) and never appeared before me again. A large apartment complex was built where my old home stood, and a single old cherry tree, like a forgotten memory, stands at the side of the entrance.

Dave Evans

Last modified: Tue Apr 18 17:23:25 EDT 2000