#242 安岡章太郎「ガラスの靴」
N猟銃店の夜番にやとわれていた僕は、夜の間、盗難と火気を警戒する役目なのだ。しかし、それは仕事にはならなかった。弾薬室の扉のところに掛っている湿度計と寒暖計、僕はそれと同じだ。
Vocabulary:
安岡章太郎 やすおかしょうたろう Yasuoka Shotaro (author, 1920-2013)
猟銃 りょうじゅう hunting rifle
警戒する けいかいする to be vigilant, to be on the lookout
弾薬 だんやく ammunition
湿度計 しつどけい hygrometer
寒暖計 かんだんけい thermometer
Translation:
I was hired as a night guard at hunting rifle store N, where my job was to be on the lookout for theft or fires during the night. But there was nothing to do. I was no different than the hygrometer or thermometer hanging next to the door of the ammunition room.
Link for the text I used:
I liked this one! Definitely intriguing.
Would you say it would be okay to literally translate “しかし、それは仕事にはならなかった” as “But it didn’t become a (full-time) job” which would lead to the much nicer translation that you wrote of “But there was nothing to do.”
One thing I also noticed was “扉のところ” seems to imply the area of the door, not the actual door (but could it theoretically be hung on the door?) I find it so fun to pick up things like this while reading. Thank you for continuing to do these.