Today's column features the first lines of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story Postmortem. You can read the complete original version here.

The Openings posts are a mini version of how Reajer's study units work with longer passages. The actual units have parallel formatting, furigana, extensive notes, and other features; you can browse and purchase them here - all texts are priced at just $1, $2, or $3.


Original text:


死後
芥川龍之介

……僕は床へはいっても、何か本を読まないと、寝つかれない習慣を持っている。のみならずいくら本を読んでも、寝つかれないことさえ稀ではない。こう言う僕の枕もとにはいつも読書用の電燈だのアダリン錠の罎だのが並んでいる。その晩も僕はふだんのように本を二三冊蚊帳の中へ持ちこみ、枕もとの電燈を明るくした。


Translation:


Postmortem
Akutagawa Ryunosuke

I have developed the habit of not being able to fall asleep even when I go to bed, unless I read some book first. And that's not all: it is not rare that I'm unable to sleep regardless of how many books I read. Accordingly, by my bed there are always useful things standing ready - an electric reading lamp, a bottle of Adalin pills, and whatnot. That evening, too, I brought two or three books with me under the mosquito net, and turned up the lamp.


Notes:


僕 (ぼく)

Casual first-person pronoun, used by men.

床へはいっても 

床にはいる (とこにはいる) is "to go to bed". Here へ was used, but nowadays に is the usual particle in this expression.

寝つかれない

The basic verb is ねつく (寝付く), "to fall asleep". ねつかれる is the spontaneous conjugation, showing that the action happens on its own (or doesn't happen, in this case). It also has a potential meaning - what can or can't be done.

The spontaneous conjugation, which was widely used in early modern Japanese and is now relatively rare, is identical in form to the passive. When you do see this conjugation, it will usually be in the negative: ねつかれない is still a commonly used word.

のみならず

​Not only. The literary Japanese way of saying だけでなく. This expression is included in the JLPT N2 grammar list. It can be used like here on its own at the beginning of a sentence, or more commonly, following a verb like だけで(は)なく(て).

いくら本を読んでも

No matter how many books [I] read. いくら~ても/でも is a way expresses intensive concession: no matter how much you do something, it has no effect.

稀ではない (まれではない)

Not rare. 稀 is often written with character 希 (which is also the right-side part of 稀), or in hiragana - まれ.

電燈だの

~だの~だの is used for naming examples out of a larger group. This function is similar to expressions like や~など, but だの has a special nuance: it suggests that the speaker is less specific about which items he indicates. Think of a person shuffling through a pile of papers and pulling out a few random pages - that's more or less the feeling that だの conveys.

アダリン錠の罎

アダリン錠 (あだりんじょう) = pills of Adalin, a sleeping drug. 罎 (びん) = bottle. This is the old character that was commonly used where modern Japaense uses 瓶 (also read びん).

ふだんのように

As usual, as always. ふだん = 普段.

持ちこみ

To bring into [a place]. こみ is from 込む, an auxiliary verb showing that the action is directed into something or somewhere.

February 11 is Japan's National Foundation Day, celebrating the date in which the first emperor, Jimmu (神武天皇) ascended to the throne in 660 BC. This occasion marks the beginning of the unbroken Imperial lineage of Japan, so it is identified with the foundation of the country in its unified, centralized form.

Today's Nippoem is a popular song which is closely linked to this national holiday and to the mythical foundation story behind it. In 1940 Japan was scheduled to celebrate the 2600th Foundation Day, so in 1939 a contest to select a suitable song was held, in which ordinary citizens were invited to send their submissions. According to this Wikipedia article (in Japanese), no less than 18,000 people sent their lyrics.

The selected entry, sent by Masuda Yoshio (増田好生), later became the hit song The Year Two Thousand Six Hundred (no relation to In the Year 2525). It isn't hard to tell that this was written and composed in the middle of Japan's military expansion in Asia.

In the following video you can listen to the song and read the lyrics - don't worry if you can't understand much of the kanji or the vocabulary - they are quite archaic! Under the video I've posted the song in an interlinear version: original Japanese, romaji reading, and my translation. 

金鵄輝く日本の榮ある光身にうけて 
kinshi kagayaku nippon no hae aru hikari mi ni ukete
As we bask in the glorious light of Japan, where the Golden Kite (1) shines

いまこそ祝へこの朝 紀元は二千六百年
imakoso iwae kono ashita kigen wa nisen roppyaku nen
Now is the time to celebrate this dawn; it is the year two thousand six hundred

ああ一億の胸はなる
aa ichi oku no mune wa naru
Ah, one hundred million hearts are resounding!

歡喜あふるるこの土を しつかと我等ふみしめて
kanki afururu kono tsuchi o shizuka to warera fumishimete
This land, overflowing with joy - in serenity we walk on it firmly

はるかに仰ぐ大御言 紀元は二千六百年
harukani aogu ōmikoto kigen wa nisen roppyaku nen
And look up far away, to the Emperor's words; it is the year two thousand six hundred

ああ肇國の雲青し
aa chōkoku no kumo aoshi
Ah, the clouds are blue (2) in our newly-born country!

荒ぶ世界に唯一つ ゆるがぬ御代に生立ちし
susabu sekai ni tada hitotsu yuruganu miyo ni oitachishi 
In this savage world there is but one unwavering Imperial Reign, under which we were born and raised

感謝は清き火と燃えて 紀元は二千六百年
kansha wa kiyoki hi to moete kigen wa nisen roppyaku nen
Our gratitude is flaming like pure fire; it is the year two thousand six hundred

ああ報國の血は勇む
aa hōkoku no chi wa isamu
Ah, our blood is eager to serve the nation!

潮ゆたけき海原に櫻と富士の影織りて
ushio yutakeki unabara ni sakura to fuji no kage orite
Into the vast waters of the ocean is woven the reflection of cherry trees and Mount Fuji

世紀の文化また新た 紀元は二千六百年
seiki no bunka mata arata kigen wa nisen roppyaku nen
In this century civilization is starting anew; it is the year two thousand six hundred

ああ燦爛のこの國威
aa sanran no kono kokui  
Ah, the radiant might of our country!

正義凛たる旗の下 明朗アジヤうち建てん
seigi rintaru hata no moto meirō ajia uchitaten
Under the gallant and righteous flag we shall establish a bright, clear Asia

力と意氣を示せ今 紀元は二千六百年
chikara to iki o shimese ima kigen wa nisen roppyaku nen
Let us prove our strength and resolve, now; it is the year two thousand six hundred

ああ彌榮の日はのぼる
aa iyasaka no hi wa noboru
Ah, the sun of prosperity is rising!

(From p. 12, vol. 1)

永大卒 (えいだいそつ)

Short for 永禄大学卒業生 (えいろくだいがくそつぎょうせい), a graduate of Eiroku University. The furigana エーダイ emphasizes the fact that the speaker uses casual pronunciation, instead of the carefully articulated えいだい.

か

This particle has several uses beyond marking a simple question. It is often used rhetorically, as here, to echo something new / important / unusual that the speaker has just been told.

って

Casual contraction of という, marking エリート as the "title" / description of the following noun, 奴.

奴

A somewhat disdainful way of referring to people. The speaker, a senior doctor who is talking to an intern, is using this as a way to assert his superiority.

な

A very light exclamation mark, often used when making a soft assertion.

In this new column I will be applying the basic features of the Reajer method to openings of literary works. In each post I'll take the first couple of lines in the text, translate them, and give you all the necessary information to read them perfectly.

These sentences are basically a mini version of how Reajer's study units work with longer opening passages. The actual units have parallel formatting and more features; you can browse and purchase them here - all texts are priced at just $1, $2, or $3.

We'll begin the column with the opening of a short essay by Miyamoto Yuriko. You can read the complete original here.


Original text:


宝に食われる
宮本百合子

この間、ほんの四五日であったが奈良に行った。そして、短い時間に慾張って処々の寺にあるよい仏像などを見た。奈良には、十九ばかりの頃、中学三年生の弟と春休みに数日暮したことがあった。その時は大阪にいた親戚により、大阪から今はもう廃業してしまった対山楼に行った。梅林があり、白梅が真盛りで部屋へ薫香が漲っていたのをよく覚えている。


Translation:


Eaten by a treasure
Miyamoto Yuriko

Recently I went to Nara - although it was only for four or five days. I greedily attempted to make the best use of that short time and went to see some fine Buddhist statues and other attractions at temples around the city. Nara is a place I had already been to before: I spent a few days there during the spring vacation when I was about 19, with my younger brother who was then in the third year of middle school. At that time we dropped in on relatives who lived in Osaka, and from Osaka we went to the Taizanrō inn, which has since gone out of business. There was an ume orchard there; white ume flowers were in full bloom, and I remember well how their fragrance was gushing into the room.
​

Notes:


食われる
くわれる. Passive of 食う.

四五日
しごにち.

慾張って
よくばって. From 欲張る: to covet, to be greedy. 慾 = 欲.

処々
ところどころ.

暮したことがあった
~たことがあった is past perfect: had done ~ [before some other action in the past].

親戚により
しんせきにより. より is the mid-sentence pause form of 寄る, "to drop in"

廃業
はいぎょう. Going out of business.

対山楼
たいざんろう. The name of an old inn (ryokan) in Nara, famous for its association with the haiku poet Masaoka Shiki. See here for more information (in Japanese).

真盛り
まさかり. Full bloom, the height of the flowering period.

薫香
くんこう. Fragrance.

漲っていた
みなぎっていた. From みなぎる, to overflow, gush out.

(From p. 12, vol. 1)

As will be revealed in the following frames, the speaker here is a senior doctor talking to a young intern. The expressions and speech patterns reflect this unequal relationship.

斉藤くん

くん is 君 - the same character which is used as the standalone word きみ in the next speech bubble. くん and きみ can be used either to show equal status between peers, or by a senior speaking to his junior, as here.

本日は (ほんじつは)

A formal word for "today". There is no "starting from" in the original - it only explicitly refers to the current day.

And don't confuse this with 日本 - the country's name uses the same characters in reverse order! By the way, in these two similar words, 日 is read as じつ and as にち, respectively. These readings aren't arbitrary: じつ tends to be associated with the meaning of "day", while にち tends to be associated with "sun" (日本 = "source of the sun"). This is only a tendency and not a strict rule, though.

当院 (とういん)

The kanji 当 is used as one way of saying "this" (hospital, building, company, etc.) when attached as a prefix to other nouns. This is a written or formal expression. 院 stands for 病院; when 当 is prefixed to words, they tend to keep only the character which indicates the class/type of the place in question. Another common example is 当 + 図書館 (library), which becomes 当館 (this library).

当直 (とうちょく)

Night shift. The intern takes a side job as a night-shift doctor at a different hospital.

お願いする

A humble keigo form of 願う, following the standard humble formula of お + [verb connective form] + する. Note that this keigo formula is used with a plain verb and not します. It may look like a contradiction, but it isn't. The speaker, who is the listener's senior both in age and hierarchy, uses this combination to show courteous distance. No actual humility is intended.

(From p. 11, vol. 1)

In the previous frame, which is on the same page in the book, the narrator (who is also character seen here) was talking about the low salary he receives as an intern. This frame continues with the same topic.

うちの病院

うち marks the hospital as the "in-group" of the speaker, the place where he belongs and to which he owes loyalty as a group member.

待遇 (たいぐう)

The translation says "treatment", but the actual meaning in this case is "working conditions", "financial compensation".

国立

Short for 国立大学病院 (こくりつだいがくびょういん), national university hospitals. In Japan, national universities are considered more prestigious than private ones, and this reflects on their affiliated hospitals as well.

らしい

Marking judgment based on second-hand information. The speaker is not working at such a hospital, so he makes his statement based on what he has heard or otherwise learned about the conditions there.

私大病院

Short for 私立大学病院 (しりつだいがくびょういん), private university hospitals.

の所が

Refers to the hospitals themselves: hospitals with such low salaries are 70% of private university hospitals. The English version turns this into a statement about the interns themselves, but it doesn't necessarily follow from the original.

約7割

Pronounced やくななわり. 約 before numerals means "about", "around", etc. The percentage is expressed in units of 割 (わり: one tenth or 10%) rather than in numbers out of 100: the speaker says "seven tenths" instead of "seventy percent". 割 is commonly used like this in day-to-day settings instead of regular percentages.

占める (しめる)

A verb commonly used with percentages, shares, ranks, etc. It means "amount to", "make up" (a certain number / share), or "hold" (a rank / position).

Part of the challenge of reading real Japanese literature is the way common words hide behind uncommon kanji characters. Basic vocabulary that you would normally understand instantly can suddenly become unrecognizable and tie you down until you find the character in the dictionary.

An example that pops up in many classics of modern literature is the verb いう. Normally it's written either in hiragana or as 言う, and since it's one of the earliest words and characters people learn in Japanese, it should technically be the last thing on your mind when reading a story.

But in reality, you'll often see this verb written not with the character 言, but as 云う. This writing convention appears in the free unit and in unit 2, among others. The verb has exactly the same meaning and function as when written in the more familiar way; the difference is only in the kanji that was commonly used to write it in the older days of modern Japanese. The two characters are practically interchangeable to begin with.

Another type of masquerading is when an uncommon character is used to write a word that has no commonly-associated kanji of its own. Take ここ (here). While today it's almost always written in hiragana, in older texts it commonly appears as 此処 or 此所 (此 is "this" and 処/所 is "place"). As you can see, none of these spellings involves any single character.

But characters that mean ここ all by themselves do in fact exist. Again in unit 2, you'll see this word written as 茲 - a rare kanji that you'll practically never come across anywhere in current Japanese. Furigana will usually be added in such cases, but it's still a good idea to remember what the character stands for.

Reading real Japanese skillfully is, therefore, also a matter of getting to know the writing conventions - how certain words were commonly written - so that you can recognize the hidden language under them.

1日平均労働時間16時間

This is a single compound word, which functions grammatically as a noun. You can read more in Mangaese #3 about how to deal with huge compounds.

The reading is いちにちへいきんろうどうじかんじゅうろくじかん. It's technically possible to rephrase this as a complete sentence: 1日の平均労働時間は16時間だ.

As you can see, 時間 is used twice in this compound. Why is that? Because these are two different meanings. The first 時間 can be understood either as "time" or more specifically as "the number of hours". The second 時間 functions as the counter for the number 16, giving the meaning of "sixteen hours".

月給なんと

The は after 月給 is dropped, as this is speech-like narration. なんと is used as an introductory word before a statement that the speaker thinks will surprise or astonish the listener. The closest literal equivalent for it is "say what?!"

Omitted だ

As is commonly done in casual speech, the final だ is dropped. The meaning of だ is still there, working with the (also dropped) topic marker は: "The salary is 38,000 yen."

While I loiter here, the fallen leaves are murmuring; a warm sunny spot.
Takahama Kyoshi

Original poem:

たたずめば 落ち葉ささやく日向かな
tatazumeba / ochiba sasayaku / hinata kana

Notes:

たたずめば
In haiku language (which follows the basic rules of the older literary language), the usual ば (e-sound + ba) form means "as", "when", or "because". It's not a conditional. The basic verb here is たたずむ.

ささやく
The leaves are rustling in the cold wind. This is likened to a murmur by the poet.

日向
A winter season word. Standing in the sun is a way of keeping warm on a chilly day.