古傷Old Scar

About this story

A man haunted by a murder he committed sees the victim's scar in his friend's face while drinking.

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Source

This text comes from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), the volunteer-run library of Japanese writing that is out of copyright. See this work on Aozora Bunko

Base edition (底本): 「怪奇探偵小説名作選7　蘭郁二郎集　魔像」ちくま文庫、筑摩書房
2003（平成5）年6月10日第1刷発行

Typed in by 門田裕志. Proofread by 川山隆.

Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji.

The furigana are Yomimaru's.

What you'll learn

The narrator drinks to forget his weak heart, but a scar on his friend Uchida's cheek triggers a hallucination of a woman named Ayako whom he killed.

Key vocabulary

誤魔化ごまかす	to deceive, to cheat, to trick
傷きず	wound, scar
迪子あやこ	Ayako (presumably a woman's name)
殺やる	to kill (slang)
蚯蚓みみず	earthworm

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～ために N3indicates purpose, 'in order to'

  私わたしは自分じぶんの弱よわい心こころを誤魔化ごまかす為ために、先刻せんこくから飲のめもしない酒さけを飲のみ続つづけていた。

• ～てしまう N4expresses completion or regret, 'to do something completely/unfortunately'

  その傷きずは私わたしが一時いちじの興奮こうふんから殺やってしまったあの迪子あやこの傷きずとソックリで

• ～ように N4indicates similarity, 'like, as if'

  恰度どレンズを透すかして見みた時ときのように、尨むくいぬ大だいにコップ一いち杯はいに拡ひろがって浮出うきだしていた。

• ～から N5indicates reason or cause, 'because'

  私わたしが一時いちじの興奮こうふんから殺やってしまったあの迪子あやこ

Cultural notes

• 酒で心を誤魔化す文化In Japan, drinking alcohol is often used as a means to forget worries or suppress emotions, a common trope in literature.

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