火事とポチ有島武郎Part 5 of 7 · JLPT N3
火事とポチ Kaji to Pochi, part 5: Searching the Hill for Pochi
In this part
The narrator and his younger sister and brother search the housing quarter and the wooded hill for Pochi, but no one has seen him. On the lonely hill path the narrator blames his sister, she reminds him that he once hit Pochi, and all three end up crying. The maid fetches them home, and their mother scolds them and gives them rice balls, which the narrator starts eating at once despite feeling embarrassed.
AI translation · independently checked
ぼくはさびしいばかりじゃない、くやしくなった。It wasn't just that I was lonely. I started to feel really upset and frustrated too.
妹と弟にそういって、すぐポチをさがしはじめた。I told my sister and brother so, and right away we started looking for Pochi.
三人で手分けをして庭に出て、大きな声で「ポチ……ポチ……ポチ来いポチ来い」とよんで歩いた。The three of us split up and went out into the garden, and we walked around shouting, "Pochi... Pochi... Pochi, come here! Pochi, come here!"
官舎町を一軒一軒聞いて歩いた。We went all through the officials' houses, asking at every single one.
ポチが来てはいませんか。"Has Pochi come over here?"
いません。"No, he hasn't."
どこかで見ませんでしたか。"Did you see him anywhere?"
見ません。"No, I didn't."
どこでもそういう返事だった。That was the answer we got everywhere.
ぼくたちは腹もすかなくなってしまった。We even stopped feeling hungry.
御飯だといって、女中がよびに来たけれども帰らなかった。The maid came to call us, saying it was time for supper, but we didn't go home.
茂木の別荘の方から、乞食の人が住んでいる山の森の方へも行った。We went from around the Mogi villa all the way over to the woods on the hill where the beggars live.
そして時々大きな声を出してポチの名をよんでみた。And every now and then we tried shouting Pochi's name really loud.
そして立ちどまって聞いていた。And then we stopped and listened.
大急ぎで駆けて来るポチの足音が聞こえやしないかと思って。We thought maybe we would hear Pochi's footsteps as he came running to us as fast as he could.
けれどもポチのすがたも、足音も、鳴き声も聞こえては来なかった。But we didn't see Pochi, and we didn't hear his footsteps or his bark either.
「ポチがいなくなってかわいそうねえ。殺されたんだわ。きっと」"Poor Pochi, he's gone. He's been killed. I just know it."
と妹は、さびしい山道に立ちすくんで泣きだしそうな声を出した。my sister said, standing frozen on the lonely hill path, in a voice like she was about to cry.
ほんとうにポチが殺されるかぬすまれでもしなければいなくなってしまうわけがないんだ。Really, there was no way Pochi would have disappeared unless he'd been killed or stolen.
でもそんなことがあってたまるものか。But I wasn't going to let anything like that be true!
あんなに強いポチが殺される気づかいはめったにないし、ぬすもうとする人が来たらかみつくに決まっている。A dog as strong as Pochi was hardly ever going to get killed, and if somebody came to steal him, he'd bite them for sure.
どうしたんだろうなあ。What could have happened to him?
いやになっちまうなあ。I was so sick of it all.
……ぼくは腹がたってきた。...I started to get angry.
そして妹にいってやった。And I let my sister have it.
「もとはっていえばおまえが悪いんだよ。おまえがいつか、ポチなんかいやな犬、あっち行けっていったじゃないか」"If you ask me, it's all your fault. One time you said, 'Pochi's a horrible dog, go away!' Didn't you?"
「あら、それは冗談にいったんだわ」"Oh! I only said that as a joke."
「冗談だっていけないよ」"You're not allowed to say it even as a joke."
「それでポチがいなくなったんじゃないことよ」"That's not why Pochi went away, you know."
「そうだい……そうだい。それじゃなぜいなくなったんだか知ってるかい……そうれ見ろ」"It is so... it is so! Then do you know why he went away? ...See? You don't!"
「あっちに行けっていったって、ポチはどこにも行きはしなかったわ」"Even when I told him to go away, Pochi didn't go anywhere."
「そうさ。それはそうさ……ポチだってどうしようかって考えていたんだい」"Sure. Sure he didn't... Pochi was just thinking about what to do, that's all."
「でもにいさんだってポチをぶったことがあってよ」"But you hit Pochi once too, big brother."
「ぶちなんてしませんよだ」"I never hit him, so there!"
「いいえ、ぶってよほんとうに」"Yes you did. You really did."
「ぶったっていいやい……ぶったって」"So what if I hit him... so what!"
ポチがぼくのおもちゃをめちゃくちゃにこわしたから、ポチがきゃんきゃんというほどぶったことがあった。One time Pochi smashed my toy all to pieces, so I hit him so hard he yelped.
……それを妹にいわれたら、なんだかそれがもとでポチがいなくなったようにもなってきた。...When my sister brought that up, I started to feel kind of like that was the reason Pochi had gone away.
でもぼくはそう思うのはいやだった。But I didn't want to think that.
どうしても妹が悪いんだと思った。I kept telling myself it had to be my sister's fault.
妹がにくらしくなった。I started to hate my sister.
「ぶったってぼくはあとでかわいがってやったよ」"Even if I hit him, I was nice to him afterwards."
「私だってかわいがってよ」"I was nice to him too!"
妹が山の中でしくしく泣きだした。My sister started sniffling and crying there on the hill.
そうしたら弟まで泣きだした。Then even my little brother started crying.
ぼくもいっしょに泣きたくなったけれども、くやしいからがまんしていた。I wanted to cry along with them, but I was too frustrated, so I held it in.
なんだか山の中に三人きりでいるのが急にこわいように思えてきた。Somehow, being all alone on the hill, just the three of us, suddenly started to feel scary.
そこへ女中がぼくたちをさがしに来て、家ではぼくたちが見えなくなったので心配しているから早く帰れといった。Just then the maid came looking for us. She said everyone at home was worried because we'd disappeared, and we had to hurry back.
女中を見たら妹も弟も急に声をはりあげて泣きだした。As soon as they saw the maid, my sister and brother both suddenly started wailing out loud.
ぼくもとうとうむやみに悲しくなって泣きだした。In the end I got terribly sad too, and I started crying.
女中に連れられて家に帰って来た。The maid took us back home.
「まああなたがたはどこをうろついていたんです、御飯も食べないで……そして三人ともそんなに泣いて……」"Goodness, where have you children been wandering about, without even eating your supper... and all three of you crying like that..."
とおかあさんはほんとうにおこったような声でいった。Mother said, in a voice that sounded really angry.
そしてにぎり飯を出してくれた。Then she brought out rice balls for us.
それを見たら急に腹がすいてきた。As soon as I saw them, I suddenly got hungry.
今まで泣いていて、すぐそれを食べるのはすこしはずかしかったけれども、すぐ食べはじめた。It was a bit embarrassing to start eating right after I'd been crying, but I started eating straight away.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| くやしくくやしい | frustrated, upset, bitterly disappointeddictionary form: 悔しいUsed when something goes wrong and you feel helpless or wronged. English has no single word for it. | N2 |
| 手分けてわけ | dividing up a task among peopleUsually used as 手分けをする, 'to split up (the work)'. | N1 |
| 官舎町かんしゃまち | a neighbourhood of government officials' housing官舎 means official residence, and 町 means quarter or town. | — |
| 返事へんじ | answer, reply | N4 |
| 女中じょちゅう | maid, housemaidAn old-fashioned word. Today it can sound dismissive, and お手伝いさん is used instead. | — |
| 別荘べっそう | villa, holiday house | N2 |
| 乞食こじき | beggarCommon in older texts but now considered offensive. | — |
| 立ちすくんでたちすくむ | to stand frozen, to be rooted to the spot (from fear or shock)dictionary form: 立ちすくむ | — |
| 気づかいきづかい | (here) risk, fear that something will happendictionary form: 気遣いThe usual meaning is 'consideration, care', but 〜気づかいはない is an older way of saying 'there's no danger of ~'. | — |
| 冗談じょうだん | joke, jest | N3 |
| にくらしくにくらしい | hateful, irritating, detestabledictionary form: 憎らしい | N2 |
| しくしくしくしく | sniffling, sobbing quietlyAn onomatopoeic word for soft, continuous crying. | — |
| むやみにむやみに | excessively, uncontrollably (here: overwhelmed by sadness)dictionary form: 無闇に | N1 |
| うろついてうろつく | to wander about, to loiterdictionary form: うろつくOften sounds a little disapproving. | — |
Grammar
〜やしないか(と思って) N2 (hoping/wondering) whether ~ might happen
やしない is a casual, emphatic form of はしない. Adding か turns it into a hopeful or anxious question: 'wouldn't we perhaps hear ~?' The sentence ends on と思って, so it gives the reason for the listening in the sentence before.
大急ぎで駆けて来るポチの足音が聞こえやしないかと思って。
We thought maybe we would hear Pochi's footsteps as he came running to us as fast as he could.
〜てたまるものか N1 I won't let ~ happen; there's no way ~
This is a strong rhetorical refusal: 'could I bear it if ~? Of course not!' Here the boy rejects the idea that Pochi could have been killed or stolen.
でもそんなことがあってたまるものか。
But I wasn't going to let anything like that be true!
〜に決まっている N3 it's certain that ~; surely ~
This pattern attaches to a plain form and expresses the speaker's strong conviction. The boy is sure Pochi would bite any thief.
ぬすもうとする人が来たらかみつくに決まっている。
If somebody came to steal him, he'd bite them for sure.
もとはといえば N2 if you trace it back to the start; originally
This phrase introduces the root cause of a problem, often to place blame. The text has the casual spoken variant もとはっていえば.
もとはっていえばおまえが悪いんだよ。
If you ask me, it's all your fault.
〜たって N3 even if ~; so what if ~
This is a casual form of 〜ても, made from the た-form plus って. The boy uses it defiantly: even if he did hit Pochi, it doesn't matter.
ぶったっていいやい……ぶったって
So what if I hit him... so what!
〜てよ / 〜ことよ (feminine speech) N1 sentence endings for emphatic assertion in girls' speech
Sentence-final てよ and ことよ are old-fashioned feminine endings, typical of well-bred girls in the Meiji and Taisho periods. They make a statement assertive, like 'you know!' or 'so there!'
でもにいさんだってポチをぶったことがあってよ
But you hit Pochi once too, big brother.