Audiobook Dictation: “They bowed low to the priest…”

They bowed low to the priest, and greeted him in the most respectful manner.

他們向僧人深深鞠躬，極其恭敬地向他問候。

Kwairyo wondered that persons so poor, and dwelling in such a solitude, should be aware of the polite forms of greeting.

回龍暗自奇怪，如此貧窮、住在如此荒僻之地的人，竟懂得彬彬有禮的問候禮節。

"From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome given me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a woodcutter.

「從您言談的和善，以及府上對我極其禮貌的款待來看，我想您並非一向都是樵夫吧。

Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?"

也許您從前是上等階層的人吧？」

Smiling, the woodcutter answered:--

樵夫微笑著答道：——

"Sir, you are not mistaken.

「大師，您說得沒錯。

My story is the story of a ruined life--ruined by my own fault.

我的經歷是一個毀掉的人生——毀在我自己的過錯上。

I used to be in the service of a daimyo; and my rank in that service was not inconsiderable.

我從前侍奉一位大名，在他手下的地位也不算低。

Retribution followed me; and I long remained a fugitive in the land.

報應緊隨著我，我在這片土地上逃亡了很久。

Now I often pray that I may be able to make some atonement for the evil which I did, and to reestablish the ancestral home.

如今我常常祈禱，願能為自己犯下的罪惡有所贖補，並重振祖上的家業。