火事とポチ有島武郎Part 7 of 7 · JLPT N3
火事とポチ Kaji to Pochi, part 7: Pochi's Last Day and Night
In this part
After the doctor treats Pochi, the narrator, his little sister and their father stay by the injured dog, who eats some milk porridge and drifts in and out of sleep. That night their mother makes the children come inside for supper. The next morning the narrator goes out to see Pochi and finds that he has died, and he wonders if Pochi's grave is still in the garden of the temple in the woods.
AI translation · independently checked
医者が来て薬をぬったり飲ませたりしてからは、人足たちもおかあさんも行ってしまった。After the doctor came and put medicine on Pochi and gave him some to drink, the workmen and Mother all went away.
弟も寒いからというのでおかあさんに連れて行かれてしまった。My little brother, too, was taken away by Mother, because she said it was too cold for him.
けれどもおとうさんとぼくと妹はポチのそばをはなれないで、じっとその様子を見ていた。But Father, my little sister and I didn't leave Pochi's side, and just kept watching him.
おかあさんが女中に牛乳で煮たおかゆを持って来させた。Mother had the maid bring some rice porridge cooked in milk.
ポチは喜んでそれを食べてしまった。Pochi was happy and ate it all up.
火事の晩から三日の間ポチはなんにも食べずにしんぼうしていたんだもの、さぞおかゆがうまかったろう。Ever since the night of the fire Pochi had gone three whole days without eating anything at all, so that porridge must have tasted really good.
ポチはじっとまるまってふるえながら目をつぶっていた。Pochi lay quietly curled up in a ball, shivering, with his eyes shut.
目がしらの所が涙でしじゅうぬれていた。The inside corners of his eyes were wet with tears the whole time.
そして時々細く目をあいてぼくたちをじっと見るとまたねむった。And every now and then he opened his eyes a little crack and looked hard at us, and then he went back to sleep.
いつのまにか寒い寒い夕方がきた。Before we knew it, a cold, cold evening came.
おとうさんがもう大丈夫だから家にはいろうといったけれども、ぼくははいるのがいやだった。Father said Pochi would be all right now and that we should go inside, but I didn't want to go in.
夜どおしでもポチといっしょにいてやりたかった。I wanted to stay with Pochi, even if it meant all night long.
おとうさんはしかたなく寒い寒いといいながら一人で行ってしまった。Father had no choice, so he went off by himself, saying "Cold, cold!"
ぼくと妹だけがあとに残った。Only me and my sister stayed behind.
あんまりよく睡るので死んではいないかと思って、小さな声で「ポチや」というとポチはめんどうくさそうに目を開いた。Pochi was sleeping so soundly that I got scared he might be dead, so I said "Pochi!" in a little voice, and Pochi opened his eyes like it was a big bother.
そしてすこしだけしっぽをふって見せた。And he wagged his tail just a little bit, to show us.
とうとう夜になってしまった。In the end, night came.
夕御飯でもあるし、かぜをひくと大変だからといっておかあさんが無理にぼくたちを連れに来たので、ぼくと妹とはポチの頭をよくなでてやって家に帰った。Mother said it was supper time, and it would be terrible if we caught colds, and she came and made us come in, so my sister and I gave Pochi's head a good stroking and went back into the house.
次の朝、目をさますと、ぼくは着物も着かえないでポチの所に行って見た。The next morning, when I woke up, I went to see Pochi without even changing my clothes.
おとうさんがポチのわきにしゃがんでいた。Father was crouching down beside Pochi.
そして、「ポチは死んだよ」といった。And he said, "Pochi is dead."
ポチは死んでしまった。Pochi had died.
ポチのお墓は今でも、あの乞食の人の住んでいた、森の中の寺の庭にあるかしらん。I wonder if Pochi's grave is still there even now, in the garden of the temple in the woods, where that beggar man used to live.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| 人足にんそく | labourer, workmanOld-fashioned word for a hired manual worker. | — |
| 女中じょちゅう | maid, housemaidOld-fashioned; today お手伝いさん is used instead. | — |
| しんぼうしんぼう | enduring, putting up with hardshipdictionary form: 辛抱辛抱する = to bear something patiently. | N1 |
| さぞさぞ | surely, how (very) …Used for guessing someone else's feelings; often paired with 〜だろう. | N1 |
| まるまってまるまる | to curl up into a balldictionary form: 丸まる | — |
| 目がしらめがしら | inner corner of the eyedictionary form: 目頭目頭が熱くなる = to be moved to tears. | — |
| しじゅうしじゅう | all the time, constantlydictionary form: 始終Literally 'beginning and end'. | N2 |
| 夜どおしよどおし | all night longdictionary form: 夜通し | — |
| めんどうくさそうめんどうくさい | (looking) bothered, as if it's too much troubledictionary form: 面倒臭い〜そう added to the adjective stem means 'looking ~'. | N2 |
| 無理にむり | forcibly, against someone's wishesdictionary form: 無理 | N4 |
| しゃがんでしゃがむ | to crouch, squat downdictionary form: しゃがむ | N2 |
| 墓はか | graveUsually said politely as お墓. | N3 |
| 乞食こじき | beggarNow considered offensive; avoid it in modern speech. | — |
| かしらんかしら | I wonder (if)dictionary form: かしらOld-fashioned variant of かしら; at the time it was not only feminine. | N5 |
Grammar
〜たり〜たりする N4 doing things like A and B
Two verbs in the た-form plus り list example actions, here putting medicine on and having Pochi drink it. する at the end carries the tense and the following てから.
医者が来て薬をぬったり飲ませたりしてからは
After the doctor came and put medicine on him and gave him some to drink
Passive 〜(ら)れる + てしまう N4 to have something done to one (often unwillingly)
連れて行かれる is the passive of 連れて行く, so the brother is the one taken away by Mother. てしまう adds a sense that it was final and a little regrettable.
おかあさんに連れて行かれてしまった
got taken away by Mother
Causative 〜させる N4 to make / have someone do
持って来させた is the causative of 持って来る. The person who is made to act is marked with に (女中に), so Mother had the maid bring the porridge.
おかあさんが女中に牛乳で煮たおかゆを持って来させた
Mother had the maid bring some rice porridge cooked in milk
〜んだもの / さぞ〜たろう N2 because, after all… / surely must have…
〜んだもの gives a casual, somewhat self-justifying reason ('after all, he had…'), which suits the child narrator's voice. さぞ…たろう expresses a confident guess about someone else's experience: 'surely must have…'. たろう is an older contracted form of ただろう.
なんにも食べずにしんぼうしていたんだもの、さぞおかゆがうまかったろう
he had gone without eating anything at all, so that porridge must have tasted really good
〜てやる / 〜てやりたい N4 to do something for someone (of lower status, or an animal)
てやる shows the boy is doing something for Pochi's sake. With たい it means he wanted to stay for Pochi's benefit.
夜どおしでもポチといっしょにいてやりたかった
I wanted to stay with Pochi, even if it meant all night long
〜ではないかと思う N3 to fear / suspect that perhaps…
〜ていないかと思う: to worry or suspect that something might have happened. Here 死んではいないか ('he hasn't died, has he?'), from 死んでいる plus the contrastive は, expresses the boy's worried suspicion that Pochi might be dead.
死んではいないかと思って
I got scared he might be dead