thorn; spine; splinter (esp. lodged in one's flesh); hard sharp item (esp. lodged in one's throat, e.g. fish bone); biting words
curiosity; inquisitiveness
cheap article; poor quality article
evening deepens into night; the night wears on; night advances
whole area; surrounding area; all around; everywhere; all over the place
to recognize; to recognise; to deem; to judge; to approve; to deem acceptable; to admit
easygoing; optimistic; conceited
writer of children's stories
dying by the roadside; dying a dog's death
I'm sorry; my apologies; excuse me; pardon me
traditional ordering of the Japanese syllabary; fundamentals; the ABCs of ...
having had enough (of); fed up (with); sick and tired (of); to learn one's lesson; to learn from a bad experience
round, wooden container for cooked rice
time passes; the days and months go by; the months roll on
pompadour-like hair style, popular for unmarried women in the Edo period; shimada coiffure
trivial; not amounting to much; not a big deal
competition; rivalry; something worth doing
judgment; judgement; divination; judgement
profitable; worn-out; crumbling
absorbed in; immersed in; forgetting oneself; daze; within a dream; while dreaming
government official; clerk
being afraid of; being fearful; being timid; trembling; shivering
to lose sight of; to miss
many communities (villages); cluster of plants
whispering; whisper; secret talk; murmur
jealousy; roasted rice cake
advance warning; previous notice; announcement; herald; harbinger; forerunner
Japanese apricot (Prunus mume); Japanese plum; ume; lowest (of a three-tier ranking system)
other people's affairs; somebody else's problem
to whisper; to murmur; to rumor; to rumour
to be mixed together; to be blended; to intermingle; to commingle
to grow; to spring up; to sprout; to cut (teeth)