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ある恋の話

by Kan Kikuchi

The narrator’s wife’s grandmother once fell for a kabuki actor.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,148 characters · ≈ 13 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.

私のmy妻のwife's祖母はas for (my) grandmotherと云ってI should say / speaking of which (parenthetical)もうalready三四年前にthree or four years ago死んだ人a person who diedですがthough (I must note)蔵前のin Kuramae札差でa rice broker名字帯刀御免でgranted the privilege of a surname and swords可considerablyなり(forming かなり, considerably)幅を利かせたwielded influence山長Yamacho (nickname)略さないでwithout abbreviating云えばif I put it into words山城屋長兵衛のYamashiroya Chobei's一人娘でしたwas the only daughter
My wife's grandmother, who died three or four years ago, was the only daughter of Yamacho, a rice broker in Kuramae who had the right to use a surname and wear swords and was quite influential. To put it without shortening, she was the only daughter of Yamashiroya Chobei.
何しろafter all; in any case蔵前Kuramae (district in Edo/Tokyo)のof/in札差fudasashi (rice broker who handled samurai stipends)でat山長Yamacho (the firm's name)と云えばwhen people said / if you mentioned今で云うとin today's terms; as we would say now政府の御用商人a government contractorでand (being)二三百万円two or three million yenのof (wealth)財産を擁しておろうと云うwho probably possessed/held such a fortune, so to speak錚々たるillustrious; prominent実業家businessmanに当る位置a position equivalent toですからso; becauseその一人娘のhis only daughter's尤もthough; however男の子は二人as for sons, twoあったそうですit seems there were
After all, when people said Yamacho, a rice broker in Kuramae, it was a position equal to what we would now call a top businessman, a government contractor who might hold two or three million yen in wealth. So his only daughter—though it seems he had two sons—
祖母がGrandmother (subject)小さい時からfrom childhoodお乳母日傘wet nurse and sun umbrella (a pampered upbringing)でwith大きくなったgrew upのはthe fact that (topic)申すまでもありませんgoes without saying祖母のGrandmother's小さい時のof her childhood記憶の一つだis one of the memoriesと云う事ですがit is said that, butお正月か何かのa New Year or some such宮参りにfor a shrine visit履いたwore木履はthe clogs (topic)朱塗のred-lacquered金蒔絵模様にwith gold maki-e patterns and金の鈴の付いたattached with gold bellsものでしたがwere (such) things, butおまけにmoreoverその木履の胴がthe body of those clogs刳貫になっていてwas hollowed out, and祖母がGrandmother (subject)駕籠からfrom the palanquin下りてgot down and木履をthe clogs (object)履く時にはwhen putting them onちゃんとproperlyその中にinside them湯を通して置くhad warm water run throughと云うsuch (a)贅沢なluxurious仕掛になっているwas made as a deviceそうでありますthey say
It goes without saying that Grandmother grew up from childhood with a wet nurse and a sun umbrella. It is said to be one of her childhood memories that the clogs she wore for a New Year shrine visit or some such occasion were red-lacquered with gold maki-e patterns and gold bells. Moreover, the body of the clogs was hollowed out, and when Grandmother got down from the palanquin and put on the clogs, warm water had been properly run through them—a luxurious device, they say.
祖母はGrandmother (topic)やっとjust barely, only just娘になったかならないかhad barely become a young woman (had or hadn't yet)の十四五の時からfrom the time of being fourteen or fifteen蔵前小町the Kuramae Komachi (a famed beauty, after the classical beauty Ono no Komachi)と云うcalled (as such)かまびすしいnoisy, boisterous評判を立てられたa reputation was made (passive: was talked about)ほどあってto such an extent thatそれはそれはtruly, really (emphatic)美しい娘であったwas a beautiful girlそうですI hear / reportedly
From the time she was fourteen or fifteen, barely a girl, Grandmother was so talked about that people called her the Kuramae Komachi, and she was said to be a truly beautiful girl.

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About the book

The text recounts the early life of the narrator's wife's late grandmother: raised as the pampered only daughter of a wealthy rice merchant, she was married off at seventeen to a much older rich man to settle her family's debts, suffered in that loveless marriage, and was widowed while pregnant. Told in a leisurely, anecdotal tone, it reads like an old family history being recalled in patient detail.

Cultural notes (selection)

Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.

蔵前の札差 History

Fudasashi were rice brokers based in Kuramae, Asakusa, in the Edo period. They contracted to handle the tribute rice the shogunate collected and stored, charging commissions, and also ran money-lending for the samurai class. They often grew enormously wealthy and formed a famous class of rich merchants in Edo.

名字帯刀御免 History

A privilege granted by the shogunate in the Edo period, permitting the recipient to wear a sword and to use a surname (myōji taitō). It was usually conferred on country samurai, wealthy merchants, village headmen and others for meritorious service or monetary contributions. For a merchant to receive this honor meant high status and official recognition, so the author uses it to stress the Yamagiya family's influence in Kuramae.

西の大関に据えられている Allusion

Ōzeki was the highest rank on the sumō banzuke (ranking chart) in the Edo period, with one holder each in the east and west. Edokko imitated the sumō banzuke to rank the wealthy in a 'bukemono banzuke' (ranking of the rich). To say Maeshima Sōbei occupied the 'ōzeki of the west' means he was one of the handful of richest men in all of Edo.

About the author

Kan Kikuchi (December 26, 1888 – March 6, 1948) was a Japanese author and publisher who came to prominence with the plays Madame Pearl and Father Returns. He founded the publishing company Bungeishunjū and its monthly magazine, the Japan Writer's Association, and both the Akutagawa and Naoki Prizes, and also served as head of Daiei Motion Picture Company (currently Kadokawa Pictures).

How the glosses are made

Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.

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