JSLL #55 - The Spider's Thread, part 3

 The long sentence in the previous post was grammatically fairly straightforward. The next sentence is shorter, but a lot harder to translate.

Sentence 1:

極楽は丁度朝なのでございましょう。

ごくらくはちょうどあさなのでございましょう。

Vocabulary

丁度 (typically written in its hiragana form, ちょうど) means "exactly, precisely, just, right, opportunely, fortunately"

Kanji

丁 is an N1 kanji found in only 11 common words.

Grammar

First, we recognize でございます as the polite version of です. Similarly, でございましょう equates to でしょう. Maybe this looks like a volitional (say, 食べましょう means "Let's eat"). But in this case, it's not the volitional. Instead, it indicates probability (in the opinion of the narrator). So it means "it probably is" or "it must be" or "perhaps it is."

Between the noun 朝 and this form is なの. As a helpful Redditor explained to me, なの (which becomes なん in a less formal context) indicates that the narrator concludes "it's probably morning" to explain some circumstance of fact they're observing. So the implied meaning is "It was probably morning, considering that X" where X is the circumstance or fact.

Translation

The book translates this as It was perhaps early morning in Paradise even though there's no word that means or implies "early." My translation (which I'm sure is highly debatable):

Morning must have just broken in Paradise.

Sentence 2:

やがて御釈迦様はその池のふちに御佇みになって、水の面を蔽っている蓮の葉の間から、ふと下の容子を御覧になりました。

やがておしゃかさまはそのいけのふちにおたたずみになって、みずのおもてをおおっているはすのはのありだから、ふとしたのようすをごらんになりました。

Vocabulary

• 佇み is a noun that means "standing still."
• 面 means "face; surface; mask'
• 蔽う is a kanji variant of the more common 覆う. It means "to cover, to hide, to conceal, to wrap, to disguise."
• 葉 means "leaf, blade of grass, pine needle"
• The word ふと下 is in the dictionary, but only written as hiragana ふとした. It means "impulsive, unexpected, accidental, casual, inadvertent, on a whim." But it can also be that ふと　is a standalone adverb "suddenly, casually, incidentally" and that下 is a standalone word "down, below, under."
• 容子 is a kanji variant of the more common 様子, which means "state of affairs, circumstances, situation"
• 御覧になる (ごらんになる) is a polite alternative for 見る, "to see" --an English translation might be "to behold."

Kanji

Kanji	N-level	Occurs in how many common words?
佇	No N-level, not a jouyou kanji	1
面	N3	73
蔽	No N-level, a jouyou kanji	1
葉	N3	25
下	N5	109
容	N3	30
覧	N1	9

Translation

やがて御釈迦様はその池のふちに御佇みになって、水の面を蔽っている蓮の葉の間から、ふと下の容子を御覧になりました。

Before long, the Buddha came to a standstill at the edge of that pond, and from a gap between the lots leaves that covered the surface of the water, he suddenly beheld the situation below.