The Tales of Tohno

第11話 The Old People

In this family, there was only a mother and a son, and the family did not get along well with his wife and mother, so the wife often went to her parents' house and did not come back. That day, she was at home and in bed. Suddenly, around noon, he said, "I'll never let my mother live, I'm going to kill her today," and he took out a big mowing sickle and started whetting it. He didn't look like a joke, so my mother made a lot of excuses and apologized, but he didn't listen for a minute. His wife also got up and cried to persuade him, but he didn't comply in the slightest, and at last he watched his mother try to escape, and blocked all the doorways before and after. When they said they wanted to go to the restroom, he told them to bring their own toilet from outside and fill it here. In the evening, his mother finally gave up and huddled by the big fireplace, crying bitterly. He approached her with a large, well-sharpened sickle and slashed first at her left shoulder, but the edge of the scythe was caught in the fire shelf above the fireplace. At that moment, his mother let out a scream that Yanosuke had heard deep in the mountains. The second time he slashed at her right shoulder, but still she didn't die. At that moment, the villagers were surprised and rushed to seize him and immediately called a police officer to hand him over. This incident took place at a time when officers still had batons. When his mother saw him arrested and taken away, she bled like a waterfall and said, "Please forgive Magoshiro, because I will die without holding a grudge". There was no one who was not moved by her words. He also raised his sickle on the way to be taken away and chased the policeman around, but he was released as a madman and went home and is still alive in the village.

get along with......仲良くする

mow......（動）刈る

sickle......（名）鎌

whet......（動）研ぐ

persuade......（動）説得する

comply......（動）従う

in the slightest......少しも～ない

huddle......（動）うずくまる

fireplace......（名）囲炉裏

bitterly......（副）ひどく

slash......（動）かき切る

seize......（動）捕らえる

baton......（名）警棒

grudge,,,,,,（名）怨恨