#200 安部公房『箱男』
それから、半月ばかり、Aは箱男のことをほとんど忘れかけていた。ただ、通勤の際、駅までの近道だった狭い路地を通るのがさすがに気掛りで、知らずにコースを変更していたり、起き抜けや、外から戻った時など、まず窓の外をうかがってみる、といった習慣の変化はまだ拭いきれなかった。
Vocabulary:
安部公房 あべこうぼう Abe Kobo (author, 1924-1993)
通勤 つうきん commute
近道 ちかみち shortcut
起き抜け おきぬけ first thing after waking up
習慣 しゅうかん habit, routine
Translation:
After about half a month or so, A. had almost completely forgotten about the box man. However, during his commute he was still wary of a narrow alley that he used as a shortcut to get to the station, and so without realizing it he had changed his route, and whenever he woke up or returned home, the first thing he would do is look out the window. These tiny changes in his routine still persisted.
Link for the text I used:
【拭】ショク、ふ.く、ぬぐ.う
払拭 eradicate, wipe out
拭く to wipe, dry
拭う to dispel, get rid of feeling,
impression, shame...