#161 井上円了「おばけの正体」
世間には妖怪があるともいい、ないとも申して、議論が一定しておらぬ。妖怪ありの論者は、なにもかもみな妖怪ときめて、毫も疑いを起こさぬ。これに反して妖怪なしの論者は、ただいちずに、神経である、妄覚である、誤伝である、詐偽である、迷信であると速断してしまう。余の考えにては、いずれも極端にして信ずるに足らぬ論と思う。どうしても実際上、十分に探検して後に、その有無を判定せなければならぬ。
Vocabulary:
井上円了 いのうええんりょう Inoue Enryo (philosopher, 1858-1919)
妖怪 ようかい ghost, demon
議論 ぎろん discussion
一定する いっていする to be consistent, to be uniform
論者 ろんしゃ advocate (for a cause), debater (also: ろんじゃ)
毫も…ない ごうも…ない not in the slightest
神経 しんけい nerve
妄覚 もうかく delusion
誤伝 ごでん misinformation
詐偽 さぎ scam, fraud (now mostly written as 詐欺)
迷信 めいしん superstition
速断する そくだんする to draw hasty conclusions
探検する たんけんする to explore, to investigate
有無 うむ existence (of something), presence or absence
判定する はんていする to determine
Translation:
Some say that there are ghosts, while others say they do not exist; there is no consensus in the debate. Those who say they exist think that everything is a ghost, without ever doubting themselves even in the slightest. Contrastingly, those who argue that they do not exist faithfully stick to their hasty conclusion that it must be nerves, delusions, misinformation, scams, or superstition. I believe that both positions are too extreme and therefore insufficient to merit credibility. Surely, we must determine whether they exist or not only after we have investigated the matter thoroughly.
Link for the text I used:
いのうえs
井上, 井之上, 井ノ上, 猪上.
Inoue is one of those professional surnames, like cooper or miller, the villager in charge of the well.
In spanish, 'well' is 'pozo' and nowadays a 'pocero' keeps the sewers in working order. As for 猪上 it reminds me of a soccer player, schweinsteiger.🐷🏇
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余の考えにては
↳As for my thoughts. My two cents.
余 is a literary 1st person pronoun, and にて is literary で. If you focus on your tongue and say にてで, it taps a bit farther forward each time. Is this how it was vulgarized?
あやしい x 2 (妖しい and 怪しい) make 妖怪
世界 (physical world) vs 世間 (society)
...あるともいい、ないとも申して - is this いい from 言う? Or 良い?
一定しておらぬ - おらぬ is archaic polite of いない (おる-->いる, ぬ-->ない) hoho another おる like in #12
なにもかも | みな | 妖怪 | ときめて - appoint everything and anything all as youkai
毫も... 起こさぬ - was looking for the ごうも…ない for quite some time before realising it's also ぬ
起こす godan/transitive, 起きる ichidan/intransitive
これに反して - on the contrary
ただいちずに - faithfully (simply straightforwardly)
速断してしまう - example of てしまう (casual is ちゃう)
信ずる - more literary than 信じる (zuru --> jiru (modern))
どうしても実際上 - by all means virtually / surely