#117 高見順『いやな感じ』
暗い踏切の手前で円タクをとめた。旦那、お楽しみですねと若い運転手がにやにやしながら、釣り銭を出した。なに、言ってやがると砂馬慷一はその小ぜにをひったくるようにした。道路の向うを汽車の線路が横断している。旧式の機関車がその道路の真中に立ちはだかって、老いぼれの喘息病みみたいに、ゼーゼーと白い息を吐いている。市外の、ここは場末のどん尻だ。
Vocabulary:
高見順 たかみじゅん Takami Jun (author, 1907-1965)
踏切 ふみきり crossing
円タク えんたく taxi (archaic)
運転手 うんてんしゅ driver
にやにや grinning (onomatopoeia)
釣り銭 つりせん change
砂馬慷一 すなまこういち Sunama Koichi (name)
小ぜに こぜに change
ひったくる to grab (aggressively), to snatch
道路 どうろ road
線路 せんろ train tracks
横断する おうだんする to cross
旧式 きゅうしき old, old-fashioned
機関車 きかんしゃ locomotive
立ちはだかる たちはだかる to stand still, to stand in the way
老いぼれ おいぼれ old, old-age, in decay due to old age
喘息病み ぜんそくやみ asthma (now often just 喘息)
市外 しがい outside of the city
場末のどん尻 ばすえのどんじり middle of nowhere (lit. ‘end of the outskirts’)
Grammar:
円タク
Not really a grammar note, but I should mention that the word 円タク is no longer in use today. It refers to taxis in the prewar Showa period that would take you anywhere in the city for 1 Yen. 円タク is short for 一円タクシー. Unfortunately, 1 Yen won’t get you very far today.
Translation:
The taxi stopped in front of the dark crossing. You must be excited, sir, the young driver said grinningly, while he handed over the change. Who does this guy think he is, thought Sunama Koichi to himself as he snatched the change. Train tracks ran across the road in front of us. An old-fashioned locomotive stood still in the middle of the intersection and was wheezing white steam, as if suffering from old-age asthma. We were outside of the city, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Link:
Hello Bunsuke, thanks for another great translation. This excerpt surprisingly gave me a bit of trouble haha. I was wondering why "言ってやがる" was used here?
Hi Bunsuke, you translated なに、言ってやがると砂馬慷一はその小ぜにをひったくるようにした as "[...] thought [...] to himself" which makes total sense when I imagine that scene. I'm wondering though if in the original text the protagonist is speaking this out loud? I can't really distinguish whether he is speaking or thinking in the original