10分で読める物語 二年生 Story 2 (半日村)

I came up with “steadily”… will go back and find the source later

page 25

花も わらうのを やめ、 こどもたちも さわぐのを やめて、うちへ 帰っ
ちまう。

The flowers stop laughing, and the children stop playing and return home.

それより かわいそうなのは、ひとばんじゅう たんぼの みずの なかに 立って なくちゃ ならない いねだ。

Most pitiful are the rice plants that must stand all night long in the water of the rice paddy.

いねは みずを すいあげるのも やめて、からだを ちぢこめて、 がたがた、がたがた ふるえだす。

The rice plants stop drinking the water, huddle into themselves, and tremble and shiver.

だから、 お米の できなんぞ、いい わけは ないさ。

That’s why they can’t become full grains of rice, there’s no way about it.

いい わけは ない has been hard to translate. jisho.org says いいわけ is 言い訳 which is “excuse”. But that doesn’t really make sense here so I searched around a bit and thought it might be 良いわけ(は)ない. (The spacing between the words are also a good hint, I guess.) In which case, it’s literally “Good conclusion/outcome not” so perhaps it’s “There’s no good outcome” or “There’s no way there can be a good outcome.” uhm… feel free to correct me please :sweat::grimacing:
Also, お米? I couldn’t come up with a good translation. Great rice? Grade-A rice? best rice? maybe it’s just harvest-able rice. iuno. :woman_shrugging:

半日村の お米は、 いつでも よその 村の 半分しか とれなかった。

The rice harvest from the Half-day Village were always half that of other villages.

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page 24 (image)

page 25

それより かわいそうな のは、ひとばんじゅう 田んぼの 水の 中に 立って なくちゃ ならない いね だ。 More important is the poor rice that has to stand in the middle of the rice field’s water all night long

Notes and Questions

I am confused about the use of past and present tense on this page.
なくちゃ ならない
Contraction of なくては(ならない)suffix (informal) must, have to (informal) if one doesn’t…
Expressing “must” or “have to” – Learn Japanese
http://www.imabi.net/mustnot.htm
also part of the must do but does not follow the rules; why have it twice???

rice plant 稲

いねは 水を すいあげる のも やめて、からだを だから、お米の でき なんぞ、 いい わけは ないさ 。The rice plant absorbs the water and (quits, stops, gets sick), therefore there is no way for the bodies (health) of the rice grain to be good quality.

Notes

吸い上げる cleft sentences

grammar - I don't understand what のも means in 生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ - Japanese Language Stack Exchange

出来 3. quality (e.g. of a crop)​

わけは ないさ
Hypothesizing and Concluding – Learn Japanese
A very useful application of this grammar is to combine it with 「ない」 to indicate that there is no reasonable conclusion

半分しか とれなかった 。 Only half of it was harvested… and only half the sentence was copied :sweat_smile:

Notes

とれなかった (取れる)
Nai-form. It indicates the negative form of the verb. (see notes on shika (only ) used with negative verb form
Ta-form. It indicates the past tense of the verb.

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Ok, took me a little while to get around to this story.

Don’t think it’s been addressed yet, but I’m about 90% sure that さみさみ on page 21 is a slurring of 寒い寒い.

Moving on to page 26, because it’s the 5th here:

それで、半日村の 人びとは、みんな やせて、あおゥい 顔を して、元気が なかった。

And so, the people of the Half-Day Village where thin, very pale, and not very energetic.

半日村に 一平って いう 子どもが いた。

In the Half-Day Village lived a boy named Ippei.

ある ばん、一平の、とうちゃんと かあちゃんが、首を あつめて 話しあって いた。

One night, Ippei was huddling together with his father and mother, talking.

「あァあ、おらたちの 村は、なんと いう 村かのう。あの 山さえ なかったらのう。」

“Aaah, what kind of village is our village? If we didn’t have that mountain…”

「だめさ、山は 山さ。うごかせやしねえ。わるい 村に 生まれたと 思って、あきらめるより しかたが ねえさ。」

“It’s pointless - a mountain is a mountain. It’s not going to move. It’s better that you give up thinking you were born in a bad village.”

I think I’ve not quite captured the nuance of the last sentence, there…

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I have finally catch up, but I’m having a lot of trouble with this story

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What manner of trouble?

Ah! I glossed over that cus I couldn’t figure it out. but the “uu” in front would make sense. It makes sense that the storyteller is getting into the mood of the story. My best guess was sa, 見. Like. look here! or gather round~.

I took this part more as

わるい 村に 生まれたと 思って、あきらめるより
Instead of giving up (becoming disheartened), thinking that you were born in a bad village
しかたが ねえさ.
It can’t be helped.
Meaning something like: don’t worry over something you can’t change. Just gotta live with it.

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page 26
それで、半日村の 人びとは、 みんな やせて 、あおゥい 顔を して 、元気が なかった。 So the Half Day Village people all got thin, and? faces did not look healthy.

Question

して
2. indicates patient of a causative expression​as 〜をして in modern Japanese
can someone explain causative expression? English is my first language but I did not learn grammar terms per se

半日村に 一平って いう こどもが いた。 There was a child called Ippei in the HDV.

あるばん、一平の、とうちゃんと かあちゃんが、
首を あつめて 話しあって いた。 One evening, Ippei’s father and mother were talking with their heads together. I’m pretty sure only the parents were doing the action.

「ぁァあ、おら たちの 村は、なんと いう 村かのう。 Ah, Our village is like ? (our home, family??)

Questions

Why use katakana in the first word?
村かのう ??? Is this sentence missing a verb?

「だめさ 、山は 山さ。 It’s hopeless, the mountain is a mountain.

Summary

駄目: bad, hopeless usually kana alone see TK guide must or have to section
-sa sentence ender (masculine).

うごかせ やしねえ 。 It can’t be moved.

Summary

動く 1. to move; to stir; to shift; to shake; to swing​
Causative??? 動かせる not (emphatic negative)

わるい 村に 生まれたと 思って、あきらめるより しかたが ねえさ。」 I was born in an evil village and think my only recourse is to give up.

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I think the あおゥい is the same as the onomatopoeic words we saw earlier, they extend the sound. So it would be like blueee.

Then piecing it together their faces are turning blue (or maybe purple is more appropriate in english?) from the cold.

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This means to make something become a certain way. So “to make something clean” can be 〜をきれいにする

But just to be clear… I don’t think that has anything to do with する in the sentence you placed this next to. That usage is definition #4 for する on Jisho. And then it’s in the て form for continuation.

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Oh, good point.

It’s drawn out.

No, just an invisible copula. のう is a sentence-ending particle.

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page 27

一平は、つぎの 朝、ふくろ を かついで 山に のぼった。 The next morning, Ippei climbed the mountain carrying a bag.

Summary

袋 bag, sack, pouch
かついで (担いで) inflection of 担ぐ, with these forms:
Te-form. It is a connective form of the verb.

  1. to shoulder; to carry on one’s shoulder​

てっぺんに つくと、てっぺんの 土を ふくろに つめて 下りて きた。 When she reached the peak, she stuffed it’s dirt into the bag, descended the mountain and went home.

Summary

つめて (詰める) 1. to stuff into; to jam; to cram; to pack; to fill; to plug; to stop up​

下りて くると そいつを 前の みずうみに ざあっと あけた。 When she got down, she opened it at the lake front.

Question
  1. sound of water ​Onomatopoeic or mimetic word, How does this translate???

あけ おわる と、 また、 山へ のぼった。 As soon as she finished, she climbed the mountain again.

Summary

あけ (明け) Noun - used as a suffix, Noun - used as a prefix
2. end; soon after something has ended​

てっぺんに つくと、てっぺんの 土を ふくるに つめて 下りて きた。 When she reached the peak, she stuffed it’s dirt into the bag, descended the mountain and went home.

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The ざあっと is not describing any water, but the action of opening the bag. It’s probably just an elongated ざっと, meaning quickly, lightly, roughly.

This is not 明け, it’s 開ける + 終わる: adding 〜終わる to a verb stem makes it “to finish (verb)”.
開け終わると: as soon as he finished opening the bag. [grammar explanation]

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Ippei is a boy’s name. And 下りて きた is just “came back down (the mountain)” - there’s no “and went home” in the sentence. (Also, “it’s” is a contraction for “it is” - as a posessive, it’s just “its”. :stuck_out_tongue:)

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I’m at page 26… let’s see if I can catch up

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Moving on to page 28, then. :slightly_smiling_face:

下りて くると そいつを 前の みずうみに ざあっと あけた。 Whoa, deja vu.

When he got back down, he poured it out it at the lakefront.

Summary

Only just ocurred to me now, but ざあっと あけた = sound effect ザー + 空けた = he emptied it out with a “zaa” sound (i.e. like pouring dirt).

あけ おわる と——、ちょうど お昼に なって、日が 当たって、鳥が 歌いし、花が わらいだし、子どもたちが さわぎだした。

When the bag was empty… it was midday, and the sun rose, the birds sang, the flowers laughed, and the children started making a racket.

子どもたちは 一平が へんな ことを して いるので、どうした どうした、何 してると、きいて みた。

Because the children thought Ippei was doing something weird, they asked him “what, what, what are you doing?”

Summary

Not at all sure how to translate どうした distinct from 何 without making the sentence weird…

「うん、おらは、あの 山を みずうみに うめちまおうと 思ってるんだ。」

“Right, I thought I’d bury the mountain in the lake.”

Summary

To break this down a bit, it’s 埋める + ちまう in volitional form.

と、一平が 答えると、みんなは、一平の やろう、ばっかじゃ なかろか、気が ちがったんじゃ なかろかと 大わらいした。

Ippei answered, but everyone laughed and said “This Ippei guy, what a fool, what a madman”.

Aaand 29, because it’s the 8th here, I’m already on this page, and @tip has already translated everything here anyway.

でも 一平は、また、 ふくろを かついで 山に のぼった。

But Ippei again shouldered his bag and climbed the mountain.

てっぺんに つくと、てっぺんの 土を ふくろに つめて 下りて きた。

When he reached the peak, he stuffed its dirt into the bag, then climbed back down.

下りて くると そいつを 前の みずうみに ざあっと あけた。

When he got back down, he poured it out it at the lakefront.

あけ おわる と、 また、 山へ のぼった……。

When the bag was empty, he climbed the mountain again…

I think I see where this story is going. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I found this page (28) difficult to translate aside from the parts that repeated.
This sentence in particular… I could not find the meanings of some words and had to take a guess… is it written in a dialect or old language?
と,一平が 答えると、 みんなは、一平の やろう 、ばっかじゃ なかろか、気が ちがったんじゃ なかろかと 大わらいした

When Ippei answered everyone had a great laugh at Ippei’s idiocy

Yeah, thanks for this. I discovered that later when the masc. pronoun was used but did not bother to correct the earlier notes. I’m doing about 3 pages at a time but only posting one each evening.

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Alrighty! What I’m doing is to re-read This story every day from the first page. It’s helping me A lot understanding it :slight_smile:

So far I like it more than the first one

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It is, the じゃなかろう is a rarely used negation of the volitional でしょう/だろう, covered by Tae Kim here:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/volitional2

Language that is used to make a text sound old is one of the things that makes reading these fairytales kind of difficult.

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