
Part 3 of 6 · JLPT N3
きりぎりす Kirigirisu, part 3: Success Arrives and Changes Him
In this part
The wife insists she never resented her husband's success. She describes their poor, carefree years in Yodobashi, when Tajima quietly bought his paintings and she never asked for money or fame. Then the first solo exhibition is a sensation, and he begins to change: he has his teeth fixed with gold, spends nights calling on great painters, and starts gossiping about them. She says she can bear the usual worries of a wife, but something else hurts her far more.
AI translation · independently checked
私は、あなたの御出世を憎んでいるのではございません。It is not that I hate your rise in the world.
あなたの、不思議なほどに哀しい画が、日一日と多くの人に愛されているのを知って、私は神様に毎夜お礼を言いました。When I learned that your paintings, so strangely sad, were being loved by more and more people with every passing day, I gave thanks to God every night.
泣くほど嬉しく思いました。I was so happy I could have wept.
あなたが淀橋のアパートで二年間、気のむくままに、お好きなアパートの裏庭を描いたり、深夜の新宿の街を描いて、お金がまるっきり無くなった頃には但馬さんが来て、二、三枚の画と交換に十分のお金を置いて行くのでしたが、あの頃は、あなたは、但馬さんに画を持って行かれる事が、ひどく淋しい御様子で、お金の事になど、てんで無関心でありました。For two years in the apartment at Yodobashi you painted just as the mood took you: the back garden of the apartment that you were so fond of, or the streets of Shinjuku late at night. Whenever the money had run out completely, Mr. Tajima would come and leave enough money in exchange for two or three paintings. In those days you seemed terribly lonely each time Mr. Tajima carried a painting away, and you cared nothing at all about the money.
但馬さんは、来る度毎に私を、こっそり廊下へ呼び出して、どうぞ、よろしく、ときまったように真面目に言ってお辞儀をし、白い角封筒を、私の帯の間につっ込んで下さるのでした。Every time he came, Mr. Tajima would quietly call me out into the corridor, say "Please, I leave it to you" as earnestly as if it were a set formula, bow, and slip a square white envelope into the folds of my sash.
あなたは、いつでも知らん顔をして居りますし、私だって、すぐその角封筒の中味を調べるような卑しい事は致しませんでした。You always pretended not to notice, and I, for my part, never did anything so mean as to look inside the envelope straight away.
無ければ無いで、やって行こうと思っていたのですもの。After all, I had made up my mind that if there was no money, we would simply get by without it.
いくらいただいた等、あなたに報告した事も、ありません。Nor did I ever tell you how much we had received.
あなたを汚したくなかったのです。I did not want to soil you.
本当に、私は一度だって、あなたに、お金が欲しいの、有名になって下さいの、とお願いした事はございませんでした。Truly, not even once did I ask you for money, or beg you to become famous.
あなたのような、口下手な、乱暴なおかたは、(ごめんなさい)お金持にもならないし、有名になど決してなれるものでないと私は、思っていました。I believed that a man like you, so clumsy with words and so rough (forgive me), would never grow rich, and could certainly never become famous.
けれども、それは、見せかけだったのね。But that was only a pretence, wasn't it?
どうして、どうして。Far from it, far from it.
但馬さんが個展の相談を持って来られた時から、あなたは、何だか、おしゃれになりました。From the time Mr. Tajima came to talk to you about a solo exhibition, you somehow began to care about your appearance.
まず、歯医者へ通いはじめました。First of all, you started going to the dentist.
あなたは虫歯が多くて、お笑いになると、まるでおじいさんのように見えましたが、けれどもあなたは、ちっとも気になさらず、私が、歯医者へおいでになるようにおすすめしても、いいよ、歯がみんな無くなりゃあ総入歯にするんだ、金歯を光らせて女の子に好かれたって仕様が無い、等と冗談ばかりおっしゃって、一向に歯のお手入れをなさらなかったのに、どういう風の吹き廻しか、お仕事の合間、合間に、ちょいちょいと出かけて行っては、一本二本と、金歯を光らせてお帰りになるようになりました。You had many bad teeth, and when you laughed you looked just like an old man. Yet it did not bother you in the least. Whenever I urged you to see a dentist, you only joked, "Never mind. When my teeth are all gone I'll get a full set of false ones. What's the use of flashing gold teeth to make the girls like me?" and you never took the slightest care of your teeth. And then, by whatever change of wind, you began slipping out now and then between spells of work, and coming home with a gold tooth gleaming, then another.
こら、笑ってみろ、と私が言ったら、あなたは、鬚もじゃの顔を赤くして、但馬の奴が、うるさく言うんだ、と珍しく気弱い口調で弁解なさいました。When I said, "Come on, let's see you smile," your bearded face turned red, and you excused yourself in an unusually timid voice: "That fellow Tajima keeps nagging me about it."
個展は、私が淀橋へまいりましてから二年目の秋に、ひらかれました。The exhibition was held in the autumn of my second year in Yodobashi.
私は、うれしゅうございました。I was glad.
あなたの画が、一人でも多くの人に愛されるのに、なんで、うれしくない事がありましょう。When your paintings were to be loved by even one more person, how could I not be glad?
私には、先見の明があったのですものね。I did have foresight, after all, didn't I?
でも、新聞でもあんなに、ひどくほめられるし、出品の画が、全部売り切れたそうですし、有名な大家からも手紙が来ますし、あんまり、よすぎて、私は恐しい気が致しました。And yet, the newspapers praised you so extravagantly, I heard that every painting on show had been sold, and letters came even from famous masters. It was all far too good, and I felt frightened.
会場へ、見に来いと、あなたにも、但馬さんにも、あれほど強く言われましたけれど、私は、全身震えながら、お部屋で編物ばかりしていました。You and Mr. Tajima both urged me so strongly to come and see the exhibition, but I stayed in our room trembling all over, doing nothing but knitting.
あなたの、あの画が、二十枚も、三十枚も、ずらりと並んで、それを大勢の人たちが、眺めている有様を、想像してさえ、私は泣きそうになってしまいます。Even just imagining those paintings of yours, twenty or thirty of them, hanging in a long row, and crowds of people gazing at them, I find myself close to tears.
こんなに、いい事が、こんなに早く来すぎては、きっと、何か悪い事が起るのだとさえ、考えました。I even thought that when such good fortune comes so quickly, something bad is sure to happen.
私は、毎夜、神様に、お詫びを申しました。Every night I begged God's forgiveness.
どうか、もう、幸福は、これだけでたくさんでございますから、これから後、あの人が病気などなさらぬよう、悪い事の起らぬよう、お守り下さい、と念じていました。"Please, this much happiness is more than enough. From now on, protect him, so that he does not fall ill or meet with any misfortune," I prayed.
あなたは毎夜、但馬さんに誘われて、ほうぼうの大家のところへ挨拶に参ります。Every night Mr. Tajima takes you out to pay your respects to one great master after another.
翌朝お帰りの事も、ございましたが、私は別に何とも思っていないのに、あなたは、それは精しく前夜の事を私に語って下さって、何先生は、どうだとか、あれは愚物だとか、無口なあなたらしくもなく、ずいぶんつまらぬお喋りをはじめます。Sometimes you did not come home until the next morning. I thought nothing in particular of it, yet you would tell me about the night before in great detail: what Master So-and-so was like, how that one was a fool. It was not like you at all, so taciturn as you are, to begin such silly chatter.
私は、それまで二年、あなたと暮して、あなたが人の陰口をたたいたのを伺った事が一度もありませんでした。In the two years I had lived with you until then, I had never once heard you speak ill of anyone behind their back.
何先生は、どうだって、あなたは唯我独尊のお態度で、てんで無関心の御様子だったではありませんか。Whatever Master So-and-so might be like, you had always held yourself aloof, as if you alone in the world mattered, and seemed not to care in the least. Isn't that so?
それに、そんなお喋りをして、前夜は、あなたに何のうしろ暗いところも無かったという事を、私に納得させようと、お努めになって居られるようなのですが、そんな気弱な遠廻しの弁解をなさらずとも、私だって、まさか、これまで何も知らずに育って来たわけでもございませんし、はっきりおっしゃって下さったほうが、一日くらい苦しくても、あとは私はかえって楽になります。Besides, with all that chatter you seem to be trying to convince me that there was nothing shameful about your night. But you need not make such timid, roundabout excuses. I was not, after all, brought up knowing nothing of the world, and if you would only tell me plainly, I might suffer for a day or so, but afterwards I would actually feel easier.
所詮は生涯の、女房なのですから。When all is said and done, I am your wife for life.
私は、そのほうの事では、男の人を、あまり信用して居りませんし、また、滅茶に疑っても居りません。In matters of that sort I do not place much trust in men, nor do I suspect them wildly either.
そのほうの事でしたら、私は、ちっとも心配して居りませぬし、また、笑って怺える事も出来るのですけれど、他に、もっと、つらい事がございます。If it is only that sort of thing, I am not worried at all, and I could bear it with a smile; but there is something else, something far more painful.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | JLPT |
|---|---|---|
| 出世しゅっせ | rise in the world, success in one's careerOften used of social or career advancement; 御 makes it polite here. | N1 |
| 卑しいいやしい | mean, base, vulgarSuggests greed or low character, here prying into the money. | N1 |
| 口下手くちべた | poor at speaking, inarticulateOpposite: 口上手 (くちじょうず). | — |
| 見せかけみせかけ | pretence, false appearance | — |
| 個展こてん | solo exhibitionShort for 個人展覧会. | — |
| どういう風の吹き廻しどういうかぜのふきまわし | for some unexpected reason, by some change of heartdictionary form: どういう風の吹き回しIdiom for a sudden, surprising change in someone's behaviour. | — |
| 先見の明せんけんのめい | foresight明 is read めい here, meaning clear sight. | — |
| 大家たいか | great master, leading authorityRead おおや it means a landlord. | N3 |
| 愚物ぐぶつ | fool, idiotOld-fashioned and quite contemptuous. | — |
| 陰口かげぐち | backbiting, speaking ill of someone behind their backUsed with たたく: 陰口をたたく. | — |
| 唯我独尊ゆいがどくそん | self-important aloofness, the belief that one alone mattersFrom a Buddhist phrase attributed to the newborn Buddha; here it means proud indifference to others. | — |
| うしろ暗いうしろぐらい | shady, having something to hidedictionary form: 後ろ暗いうしろ暗いところ = a guilty secret. | — |
| 所詮しょせん | after all, in the endCarries a tone of resignation. | — |
| 怺えるこらえる | to bear, to endure, to hold backdictionary form: 堪える怺 is an old kanji spelling; today it is written 堪える. | N2 |
Grammar
〜ば〜で N2 if it is so, then that is fine too
Repeating a word in the conditional and then with で accepts either outcome. Here 無ければ無いで means that if there was no money, she would manage with none.
無ければ無いで、やって行こうと思っていたのですもの。
After all, I had made up my mind that if there was no money, we would simply get by without it.
〜ですもの/〜ものね N3 because, after all (feminine, appealing tone)
Sentence-final もの gives a reason with a soft, slightly pleading or self-justifying feminine tone. Adding ね, as in the later 先見の明があったのですものね, invites the listener to agree.
無ければ無いで、やって行こうと思っていたのですもの。
After all, I had made up my mind that if there was no money, we would simply get by without it.
なんで〜ことがありましょう N1 how could it possibly be that…? (rhetorical)
A rhetorical question using the polite presumptive form ありましょう (= あるでしょう / あるだろう). It strongly denies the statement: 'how could there be such a thing as…?' Here なんで、うれしくない事がありましょう means 'how could I possibly not be glad?', i.e. there is no way she could fail to be glad.
なんで、うれしくない事がありましょう。
How could I not be glad?
〜うございます N2 very polite form of an i-adjective
The adjective's く ending changes sound (うれしく → うれしゅう) before ございます. It is formal and old-fashioned and fits the wife's courteous letter style.
私は、うれしゅうございました。
I was glad.
〜らしくもなく N3 unlike someone, not in character
Noun + らしくない means 'not typical of'; adding も stresses how surprising it is. Here she remarks that the chatter was most unlike her usually silent husband.
無口なあなたらしくもなく、ずいぶんつまらぬお喋りをはじめます。
Most unlike your silent self, you begin such silly chatter.
〜ずとも N1 even without doing, need not
A literary form of 〜なくても. なさらずとも means 'even if you do not make', so she is telling him there is no need for such excuses.
そんな気弱な遠廻しの弁解をなさらずとも
Even without making such timid, roundabout excuses