#313 谷崎潤一郎「二人の稚児」
二人の稚児は二つ違いの十三に十五であった。年上の方は千手丸、年下の方は瑠璃光丸と呼ばれて居た。二人は同じように、まだ頑是ない時分から女人禁制の比叡の山に預けられて、貴い上人の膝下で育てられた。
Vocabulary:
谷崎潤一郎 たにざきじゅんいちろう Tanizaki Jun’ichiro (1886-1965)
稚児 ちご young child
頑是ない がんぜない innocent (lit. ‘not knowing right from wrong’)
女人禁制 にょにんきんぜい off limits to women (esp. religious spaces)
比叡の山 ひえいのやま Mt. Hiei (also 比叡山 ひえいざん)
上人 しょうにん high-level priest
膝下 ひざもと under the care (of)
Translation:
The two young children were two years apart, aged thirteen and fifteen. The older one was called Senjumaru, the younger one Rurikomaru. From an early age, the boys were sent to Mt. Hiei, which was off limits to women, and were raised under the care of a noble priest.
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