Part 8 of 8 · JLPT N2
畜犬談 Chikukendan, part 8: The Poison Fails, and Pochi Is Spared
In this part
The narrator walks home through a thick morning fog and finds that Pochi is still alive and following him, because the poison did not work. He accepts this at once. He tells his wife that artists should be the friends of the weak, decides to take Pochi to Tokyo, and asks for eggs to feed him, while his wife looks far from pleased.
AI translation · independently checked
私は猫背になって、のろのろ歩いた。Hunched over like a cat, I trudged slowly along.
霧が深い。The fog was thick.
ほんのちかくの山が、ぼんやり黒く見えるだけだ。Only the hills close by could be made out, dimly black.
南アルプス連峰も、富士山も、何も見えない。Neither the peaks of the Southern Alps nor Mount Fuji, nor anything at all, could be seen.
朝露で、下駄がびしょぬれである。My wooden clogs were soaked through with the morning dew.
私はいっそうひどい猫背になって、のろのろ帰途についた。Hunched over worse than ever, I trudged slowly back toward home.
橋を渡り、中学校のまえまで来て、振り向くとポチが、ちゃんといた。I crossed the bridge, came as far as the front of the middle school, turned around, and there was Pochi, right where he ought to be.
面目なげに、首を垂れ、私の視線をそっとそらした。He hung his head as if ashamed of himself, and quietly avoided my gaze.
私も、もう大人である。I, too, am a grown man by now.
いたずらな感傷はなかった。I indulged in no idle sentimentality.
すぐ事態を察知した。I grasped the situation at once.
薬品が効かなかったのだ。The poison had not worked.
うなずいて、もうすでに私は、白紙還元である。I nodded, and already I had returned to a clean slate.
家へ帰って、When I got home,
「だめだよ。薬が効かないのだ。ゆるしてやろうよ。あいつには、罪がなかったんだぜ。芸術家は、もともと弱い者の味方だったはずなんだ」私は、途中で考えてきたことをそのまま言ってみた。"It's no good. The poison doesn't work. Let's forgive him, shall we? He never did anything wrong, you know. Artists were supposed to be on the side of the weak from the very start." I tried saying out loud, just as it was, what I had been thinking on the way back.
「弱者の友なんだ。芸術家にとって、これが出発で、また最高の目的なんだ。こんな単純なこと、僕は忘れていた。僕だけじゃない。みんなが、忘れているんだ。僕は、ポチを東京へ連れてゆこうと思うよ。友がもしポチの恰好を笑ったら、ぶん殴ってやる。卵あるかい？」"The friend of the weak, that's what we are. For an artist, that's the starting point, and it's the highest aim too. Something this simple, and I'd forgotten it. And not just me. Everyone's forgotten it. I think I'll take Pochi with us to Tokyo. If any of my friends laughs at the way Pochi looks, I'll knock his block off. Got any eggs?"
「ええ」家内は、浮かぬ顔をしていた。"Yes," said my wife, looking far from cheerful.
「ポチにやれ、二つあるなら、二つやれ。おまえも我慢しろ。皮膚病なんてのは、すぐなおるよ」"Give them to Pochi. If there are two, give him both. You'll just have to put up with it too. A skin disease like that clears up in no time."
「ええ」家内は、やはり浮かぬ顔をしていた。"Yes," said my wife, still looking far from cheerful.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| 猫背ねこぜ | stooped posture, hunched backLiterally 'cat back'. 猫背になる means to hunch over, often a sign of dejection. | — |
| 霧きり | fog, mist | N3 |
| ぼんやりぼんやり | dimly, faintly, vaguelyAlso used for a person who is absent-minded. | N3 |
| 連峰れんぽう | mountain range, chain of peaks連 means 'linked' and 峰 means 'peak'. | — |
| 朝露あさつゆ | morning dew | — |
| びしょぬれびしょぬれ | soaking wet, drencheddictionary form: びしょ濡れ | — |
| 帰途きと | the way home帰途につく is a set, rather formal phrase meaning 'to set off home'. | — |
| 面目なげめんぼくない | ashamed, sheepishdictionary form: 面目ない面目ない means 'to have lost face'. Adding 〜げ gives 'looking ashamed'. | — |
| 感傷かんしょう | sentimentalityいたずらな here means 'pointless' or 'idle', not 'mischievous'. | — |
| 察知さっち | sensing, perceiving (a situation) | — |
| 白紙還元はくしかんげん | return to a blank slateA mock-formal four-character compound: 白紙 'blank paper' plus 還元 'restoration'. Compare 白紙に戻す, 'to start over from scratch'. | — |
| 味方みかた | ally, someone on one's sideThe opposite is 敵 (てき), 'enemy'. | N3 |
| 浮かぬ顔うかないかお | a gloomy, unenthusiastic lookdictionary form: 浮かない顔浮かぬ is the literary form of 浮かない. | — |
| 皮膚病ひふびょう | skin disease | — |
Grammar
〜はずだ N4 should be; is supposed to be
This expresses what ought to be true by reason or principle. In the past form だったはず, the narrator says artists were by nature meant to side with the weak, and implies that he had lost sight of this.
芸術家は、もともと弱い者の味方だったはずなんだ
Artists were supposed to be on the side of the weak from the very start.
〜にとって N3 for; from the standpoint of
This marks the person or group from whose point of view something is judged. Here it states what counts as the starting point and the highest goal for an artist.
芸術家にとって、これが出発で、また最高の目的なんだ
For an artist, that's the starting point, and it's the highest aim too.
〜てやる N3 do (something) to/for someone (forceful or condescending)
やる is a blunt version of あげる. After a verb like 殴る, it gives the statement a defiant tone, as in 'I'll show them'. The same verb appears in やれ ('give it to him') in the next line.
友がもしポチの恰好を笑ったら、ぶん殴ってやる
If any of my friends laughs at the way Pochi looks, I'll knock his block off.
〜げ N2 seeming, looking (as if)
This suffix attaches to adjective stems; with an い-adjective, the い is dropped (面目な(い) + げ). The result describes how someone appears from the outside, here how Pochi looks ashamed.
面目なげに、首を垂れ
He hung his head as if ashamed of himself.
〜ぬ (classical negative) N2 not (= 〜ない)
ぬ is the literary negative ending and attaches to the same stem as ない. 浮かぬ顔 is a fixed expression that still survives in modern Japanese.
家内は、浮かぬ顔をしていた
My wife looked far from cheerful.