落第
夏目漱石
Failing the Grade
落第
夏目漱石 · Japanese
An autobiographical essay by Natsume Sōseki, published in 1906 (Meiji 39), recalling his school years from middle school through the University Preparatory Academy.
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Pagera Editor's Note
An autobiographical essay by Natsume Sōseki, published in 1906 (Meiji 39), recalling his school years from middle school through the University Preparatory Academy. Sōseki reflects on his hatred for English in his youth, his switch from Chinese classics at Nishōgakusha to cram schools to enter Daigaku Yobimon, and a turning point that shaped his life: after missing a year-end exam due to peritonitis and being refused a makeup, he chose voluntarily to fail the grade, repeating a year in order to earn the trust he believed he needed. The essay traces his shift from architecture (chosen because, as an 'eccentric,' he needed a useful trade) to English literature, urged by his short-lived classmate Yoneyama, who insisted that a true masterpiece outlasts buildings. A wry, self-mocking confession of how a deliberate failure became the medicine of a writer's life.
Failing the Grade
落第
夏目漱石 · Japanese
An autobiographical essay by Natsume Sōseki, published in 1906 (Meiji 39), recalling his school years from middle school through the University Preparatory Academy.
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Original (Japanese)
落第 夏目漱石 其頃東京には中学と云うものが一つしか無かった。学校の名もよくは覚えて居ないが、今の高等商業の横辺りに在って、僕の入ったのは十二三の頃か知ら。何でも今の中学生などよりは余程小さかった様な気がする。学校は正則と変則とに別れて居て、正則の方は一般の普通学をやり、変則の方では英語を重にやった。其頃変則の方には今度京都の文科大学の学長になった狩野だの、岡田良平なども居って、僕は正則の方に居たのだが、柳谷卯三郎、中川小十郎なども一緒だった。で大学予備門（今の高等学校）へ入るには変則の方だと英語を余計やって居たから容易に入れたけれど、正則の方では英語をやらなかったから卒業して後更に英語を勉強しなければ予備門へは入れなかったのである。面白くもないし、二三年で僕は此中学を止めて了って、三島中洲先生の二松学舎へ転じたのであるが、其時分此処に居て今知られて居る人は京都大学の田島錦治、井上密などで、この間の戦争に露西亜へ捕虜になって行った内務省の小城なども居ったと思う。学舎の如きは実に不完全なもので、講堂などの汚なさと来たら今の人には迚も想像出来ない程だった。真黒になった腸の出た畳が敷いてあっ
Indonesian translation (Pagera AI)
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Pagera Editor's Note
An autobiographical essay by Natsume Sōseki, published in 1906 (Meiji 39), recalling his school years from middle school through the University Preparatory Academy. Sōseki reflects on his hatred for English in his youth, his switch from Chinese classics at Nishōgakusha to cram schools to enter Daigaku Yobimon, and a turning point that shaped his life: after missing a year-end exam due to peritonitis and being refused a makeup, he chose voluntarily to fail the grade, repeating a year in order to earn the trust he believed he needed. The essay traces his shift from architecture (chosen because, as an 'eccentric,' he needed a useful trade) to English literature, urged by his short-lived classmate Yoneyama, who insisted that a true masterpiece outlasts buildings. A wry, self-mocking confession of how a deliberate failure became the medicine of a writer's life.
落第
夏目漱石
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