昭和貧乏話①

This is a dialogue between a woman and a man, both of them are around the age of 65. They talk about their childhood, how they were happy when they got some gifts.

Table of Content:

1. Japanese Text

2. Vocabulary and Phrase

3. Grammar Points

4. English Translation

1. Japanese Text

女：ねえ、私たちがこどもの時なんかさ、みんな貧乏だったから、誕生日プレゼントなんてもらえなかったよね。

男：なかったね。うち相当貧乏だったからさ、でも高校生の時に一度おふくろにバイクを買ってもらったんだけど、その時はうれしかったね。

女：ええ？バイク買ってもらっての？あの時代に？

男：そうそう。あれ俺が高校生の時だったんだけど、周りの友達みんなバイク乗っててさ、それで俺だけチャリンコよ。友達みんなバイクでツーリングに行くって言ってさ、でも俺だけチャリンコだから行けないし。その時は新聞配達のバイトしててさ、でもバイクなんて全然買えなくて。そんでさすがにおふくろもさ、一人で自転車に乗ってる俺を見て不憫に感じたらしくて、そしてある日突然バイク買ってくれてさ。うち本当に貧乏だったからさ、バイクなんて買ってくれるとは思わなくて。俺あの時本当に嬉しくて泣いちゃったもん。

女：あー、気持ちわかる。私も小学校の時に自転車買ってもらったときは本当にうれしかったもん。まあ一週間で盗まれたけど。

男：あのころはやりたいこととか欲しいものとかいっぱいあったからね。今の子みたいに欲しいものすぐ買ってもらえなかったからね。今の時代の子供ってさ、俺らが小さい時みたいに欲しいものもらってうれしくて泣くみたいなことってあるのかね？うちの甥の息子なんてまだ9才だけど、10万円のiPhone持ってるからね。

女：いやー、今の時代はうちらの時代とは全然違うからね。

男：時代は変わったね。

2. Vocabulary and Phrases

●貧乏（びんぼう）：poor.　例：うちは貧乏だから100万円なんて大金用意できないよ。(We are poor so we cannot prepare such a large amount of money like one million yen.)

●おふくろ：mother (colloquial, outdated, used mainly by men)　例：俺のおふくろは料理が得意でさ、うち貧乏であまりお金なかったけど、いつもすごくおいしい料理作ってくれた。(My mom was really good at cooking. Even though our family didn't have much money, but she always made us really tasty dishes.)

●時代（じだい）：time (period). Used to say a certain period of time. "江戸時代 (Edo Period)", "石器時代 (Stone Age Period)", "明治時代(Meiji Period)", "今の時代(Nowadays/ at this time)", "あの時代(at that time).

●チャリンコ：bicycle (colloquial, often used in its shortened form "チャリ")　例：誕生日にお父さんに新しいチャリンコ買ってもらった。(My dad bought me a new bicycle on my birthday.)

●ツーリング：touring, road trip (used for motorbike or bicycle riding) 　例：先週バイクで友達とツーリングに行った。(I went to a road trip on my motorbike with my friends.)

●新聞配達（しんぶんはいたつ）：newspapers delivery　例：新聞配達のバイトは疲れる割には給料が少なかったからね。(The part-time job delivering newspapers was tiring, but payment was relatively low.)

●さすがに: Used to say that even something/someone can or cannot do something. "Even the heavy-weight champion of MMA fighter cannot beat grizzly bear in a fist fight" → "さすがにMMAのヘビー級チャンピオンでもグリズリーベアーには勝てない。" "Even a small children can solve this problem" → "さすがに小さな子どもでもこの問題は解決できる".

●不憫（ふびん）：feeling of pitying someone. 　例：彼女は事故後足を切断しなくちゃいけなくて、泣いてた。本当に不憫だった。(She had to cut off her legs after the accident, so she was crying. I really feel sorry for her.)

●気持ちわかる（きもちわかる）："I know the feeling". 例：ああ、その気持ちわかるよ。私も夫に嘘つかれた時は本当にむかついたもん。(I know the feeling. I was also very angry when my husband had lied to me.)

3. Grammar Point

What is the "さ" that is frequently used at conjunction? E.g. "私たちがこどもの時なんかさ" "うち相当貧乏だったからさ"

・Conjunction "さ" doesn't carry any meaning in itself. If you erase all the conjunction "さ" used in the text without changing the meaning. It has two functions:

1. Used to have "speaking to a friend vibe". Conjunction "さ" is usually used to talk to someone who is close in casual form (not in polite form). People don't use it when they talk to strangers or when they need to talk politely. If you use conjunction "さ" when you are talking to someone to whom you are supposed to talk formally, using conjunction "さ" would sound very invasive.

2. Used to pause so that you can adjust pace of your speech. For example, you want to say "私昨日デパートに行った時私の小学校の担任の先生に会った". You can insert conjunction "さ" anywhere in between these units: "私・昨日・デパートに・行った時・私の・小学校の・担任の・先生に・会った". Even though this would sound ridiculous, I can say it like this: "私さ、昨日さ、デパートにさ、行った時さ、私のさ、小学校のさ、担任のさ、先生にさ、会った". You can also put emphasis on a word by stopping. For example, you want to put emphasis on "昨日", then you can say like this "私昨日さ、デパートに行った時私の小学校の担任の先生に会った".

4. English Translation

F: When we were small, everyone was poor, so we didn't get things like birthday presents, right?

M: No, we didn't get them. My family was very poor, but once my mom bought me a motorbike when I was in high school, I was so happy then.

F: Really? She bought you a motorbike? At that time?

M: Yeah. That was when I was in high school. Friends around me were all riding motorbikes, and I was the only one riding bicycle. Those friends would say "let's go for bike ride", but I was a bicycle guy so I couldn't go with them. I was working part time delivering newspapaers then, but I could never buy a motorbike. And my mom saw me I was alone riding bicycle, even she felt that I was too miserable, so one day she suddenly bought be a motorbike. My family was so poor, I couldn't even dream that they would buy me a motorbike. I was so happy then that I cried.

F: Yeah, I know that feeling. I was so happy when they bought me a bicycle when I was in the elementary school. It got stolen in one week though.

M: At that time there were so many things we wanted to do and things that we wanted. Now whatever kids want, they can get it right away. I wonder if kids nowadays experience stuff like we did, like burst in tears because we get something that we wanted so badly? Son of my nephew is only nine, but he has 100,000 yen iPhone already.

F: Well, we were living in totally different time than now.

M: Yeah, time has changed.