Struggling with a passage on p131. I suspect it may be talking about the last and the present in one sentence, but I’m not sure.
以前はその優しさ…
Is this talking about her father staying in his previous marriage for longer than he should? Or referring to him staying around Tugumi when she’s being rude?
I think it then reflects him being at peace/ enjoying the present?
Then I’m quite lost on the following sentence! ものごと…
In my paperback edition, this passage is on p 129, column 3.
What I think this is talking about is the consequences of her father’s being such a nice guy: his niceness had a downside in the past (keeping him stuck in his previous marriage), but is now a perfectly good thing (at the time of his conversation with Tugumi on the beach), now that everything has worked out.
Piece by piece (with very loose translations):
彼は優しかった。
He was a nice guy.
以前はその優しさが彼の人生に様々な足止めを食わせたものだったが、
Before, his niceness was a thing that caused him various disadvantages in his life (by keeping him stuck in his first marriage)．
Vocabulary:
足止めを食わせた = past causative form of
足止めを食う（あしどめをくう）(exp) to be stranded, to be forced to stay, to be obliged to stay
平和になってみると
Seeing him at peace
陽を受けて光るあの山々のように、
like the mountains shining in the sun,
彼は落着いて明るく見えた。
he looked calm and and cheerful.
ものごとが収まるべきところで
in a situation where things had settled down as they were supposed to
その効力を発揮していることは、
manifesting the effect of (his niceness)
こうして見ているととても完璧で良いことに思えた。
seeing it like this, it (his niceness) seemed very perfect and good.
Thanks so much for the detailed explanation. It really helps to get even one passage clear in my head to anchor the rest.
I struggled quite a bit with the dialogue between Tugumi and Maria’s father. Though I think some of that is that her tone appears more abrupt that I would expect, but I think that’s just part of Tugumi’s nature.
I was amused on the final page, given the general lack of furigana, to find it present on the word 黄昏 (given our previous book was Spy Family)!
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