JSLL #51 - Yuki Onna, part 17

 And here is Oyuki's response, and the end of the story.

Sentence 1:

お雪はいきなり恐ろしい目をして巳之吉を見ました。

おゆきはいきなりおそろしいめをしてみのきちをみました。

Vocabulary

• いきなり is an adverb that means "abruptly, suddenly, all of a sudden, without warning"
• 恐ろしい is an i-adjective that means "terrible, dreadful, terrifying, frightening; surprising, startling, tremendous, amazing"

Kanji: 恐 is an N3 kanji in 13 common words.

Grammar: An i-adjective + 目をする means "to have i-adjective eyes" or "to have an i-adjective look in one's eyes."

Translation: Oyuki suddenly had a terrifying look in her eyes as she looked at Minokichi.

Sentence 2: そして、こう言いました。／　そして、こういいました。

Translation: And then she said this:

Sentence 3: あれはわたしだよ。

Grammar: Note how the word わたし is written in kana, not as 私, which could be either わたし, わたくし (more formal) or あたし (used by females). The writer doesn't want you to get the wrong idea.

Translation: That was me!

Sentence 4: あの時、だれにも話しちゃいけないと言ったのに、約束を破ってしまったんだね。

あのとき、だれにもはなしちゃいけないといったのに、やくそくをやぶってしまったんだね。

Vocabulary

• 約束 means "promise"
• 破る means "to tear, break, rip, destroy" --combined with "promise" it obviously means "break the promise"
• のに is a clause-level particle that means "although, even though, despite"

Kanji

Kanji	N-level	Occurs in how many common words?
約	N3	25
束	N3	10
破	N3	21

Grammar

It can sometimes be hard to assess the scope of various sentence parts in relation to each other. For example, the あの時 ("that time, back then") part falls under the のに-clause; it does not apply to the entire sentence.

The use of んだね at the end of the sentence adds emphasis, and also "nudges" the listener to respond.

Translation: Even though I told you at the time that you mustn't tell anyone, you regrettably broke your promise, didn't you?

Sentence 4: でも、お前さんは殺さないよ。／ でも、おまえさんをころさないよ。

Translation: However, I won't kill you.

Sentence 5: そのかわりに子供たちを可愛がってやっておくれ。／　そのかわりにこどもたちをかわいがってやっておくれ。

Vocabulary

かわりに means "instead of, in place of"

可愛がる means "to treat tenderly, to dote on, to show one's love for".

Kanji

可 is a jouyou kanji without an N level. It occurs in 30 common words.

愛 is a jouyou kanji without an N level. It occurs in 31 common words.

Grammar

The おくれ at the end is the imperative of おくれる which is the polite, お-prefixed form of くれる. The ~てくれる which means "be so kind as to ~" or "do ~ as a favor to me."

Translation: Please do me the favor of kindly doting on the children in my stead.

Sentence 6:

こう言い残すと、お雪の体は白い霞のようになって、天井のそばの小さい窓から出て行ってしまいました。

こういいのこすと、おゆきのからだはしろいかすみのようになって、てんじょうのそばのちいさいまどからでていってしまいました。

Vocabulary

• 言い残す means "to leave word with, to state in one's will"
• 霞 means "haze, mist"
• 天井 means "ceiling

Kanji

Kanji	N-level	Occurs in how many common words?
残	N3	19
霞	N1	2
天	N5	46
井	N1	5

Translation

As she left him with these words, Oyuki's body became like a white mist, and went out through a small window near the ceiling.