#27 安岡章太郎「ガラスの靴」
夜十二時をすぎると、日本橋もしずかになる。
ときどき高速度ではしり去る自動車のエンジンが、キインと大げさな物音を遠くまでひびかせる。
Vocabulary:
安岡章太郎 やすおかしょうたろう Yasuoka Shotaro (author, 1920-2013)
夜十二時 よるじゅうにじ midnight
すぎる to pass, to go past (often 過ぎる)
日本橋 にほんばし Nihonbashi (place name)
しずか quiet, silent (often 静か)
ときどき sometimes, now and again
高速度 こうそくど high speed
はしり去る はしりさる to rush off (often 走り去る)
自動車 じどうしゃ car
エンジン engine
キイン screeching noise (onomatopoeia)
大げさ おおげさ exaggerated (sometimes 大袈裟)
物音 ものおと sound, noise
ひびかせる to make resound (causative form)
Grammar:
日本橋もしずかになる
Usually you would translate も as ‘also’, but that would be a strange choice here given the context. It rather reflects a nuance of ‘even’: even the otherwise bustling district of Nihonbashi goes quiet after midnight. However, も here is not as strong as the English ‘even’; it simply puts a slight emphasis on Nihonbashi. For this reason, I left it out of my translation.
Translation:
After midnight, Nihonbashi becomes quiet.
Now and again the engine of a car rushing off at high speed makes an exaggerated screeching sound that carries far into the distance.
Still baffles me how Japanese writers decide which words to kanjify. Why simple words like ’走る" ”時々” and ’’静かに” are written in hiragana, while harder words like "高速度" are kanjfied.