"Kokoro" Soseki Natsume translated in 2024

Chapter 1: Kamakura

I always called that person "Sensei(Teacher)". Therefore, here too, I will simply write "Sensei" without revealing his real name. This is not so much out of general consideration, but rather because it feels more natural to me. Every time I think of him, I want to call him "Sensei". The same feeling arises when I write about him. I cannot bring myself to use a familiar nickname.

I first met Sensei in Kamakura. I was a young student at the time. Taking advantage of the summer vacation, I went to Kamakura at a friend's invitation to enjoy swimming in the sea. It took me two or three days to arrange the travel expenses. However, shortly after arriving in Kamakura, my friend who had invited me received a telegram urging him to return home. The telegram cited his mother's illness as the reason, but my friend was skeptical of this. His parents were forcing him into an unwanted marriage, and he himself was not convinced of the situation. Ultimately, my friend decided that he should return home if his mother was truly ill, and so he set off on his return journey. Thus, I was left alone in Kamakura.

There was still time before classes started, so I decided to stay at the inn for a while. Although my friend was the son of a wealthy family, our living standards did not differ greatly. Therefore, even after becoming alone, I did not need to find new lodgings.

The inn was located in a somewhat remote area of Kamakura, and to go to fashionable stores, one had to travel a long way, costing 20 sen even by car. However, many private villas were built nearby, and the seaside location was very convenient for swimming.

Every day I would go swimming, passing through the old thatched roofs to descend to the beach, which was bustling with many vacationers. Among the unfamiliar faces, I enjoyed lying on the sand and playing in the waves.

Amidst this bustle, I found Sensei. There were two teahouses near the beach that I had come to frequent by chance. The vacationers here would leave their change of clothes at the teahouses, take a rest, wash their bodies, and do laundry for their swimsuits. I too had started leaving my belongings there whenever I went into the sea.

Chapter 2: Sensei

When I encountered Sensei at that teahouse, he was about to take off his kimono(clothes) to enter the sea. I had just emerged from the water, exposing my wet body to the wind. Looking around, countless black heads were moving about, and if it weren't for anything else, I might have overlooked him. However, my eyes were drawn to Sensei because he was with a Westerner.

The white skin of that Westerner caught my attention the moment he entered the teahouse. Although he was wearing a yukata, he completely discarded it on the alcove and stood with his arms folded, gazing at the sea. The only thing he was wearing was the loincloth that we wear. That seemed strange to me. Two days ago, I had gone to Yui Beach and spent a long time there, watching Westerners enter the sea. They all went into the sea without exposing their skin, but this Westerner standing here was in front of people, wearing almost nothing.

He said something to the Japanese man squatting right next to him, and that Japanese man picked up a hand towel and quickly started walking towards the sea. That person was Sensei.

Out of mere curiosity, I continued to follow the backs of the two as they walked towards the sea. They went straight into the sea, passed through the many people bustling in the shallows, and when they reached a relatively open area, they started swimming. They swam out towards the open sea until they looked small, and eventually returned. When they returned to the teahouse, Sensei washed himself with well water without a moment's delay, wiped his body, changed his clothes, and immediately left.

After they left, I remained seated in the teahouse, smoking a cigarette as usual. At that time, I vaguely thought about Sensei and felt like I had seen his face somewhere before, but I couldn't remember.

I originally had nothing to do and felt bored. Therefore, the next day, I purposely went to the teahouse to coincide with the time Sensei appeared. Sensei came alone, wearing a straw hat. After taking off his glasses and placing them on the stand, he wrapped his head with a hand towel and quickly descended to the beach. Wanting to catch up with Sensei, who had swum out alone through the lively swimmers like yesterday, I parted the shallow water and reached the depths, swimming out with Sensei as my target. However, Sensei swam out in a strange direction different from yesterday, and I was unable to catch up with him. When I got out of the water and entered the teahouse, Sensei had already finished changing and left.