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Karen Ogre - Chapter 2

“Unusually for me, I’d even made a plan in
advance.”

Wazamonogatari - Nisioisin
p. 134-138

[Previous Chapter]

And so, on the first day of my first summer

vacation in high school, I, Karen Araragi, stood at
the base of a mountain–from here on, I’ll be
confronting this mountain alone.

Well, according to Master, I’ll be confronting

myself, not the mountain–but in the end, I just
don’t understand Master’s intentions.

What was she trying to say?

No clues have come to mind.

I tried to indirectly discuss what it means to “face

yourself” with Nii-chan and Tsukihi-chan, but I
didn’t feel like I’d gotten very good answers–Nii-
chan said,

“Well, you know, it’s important to face yourself. It’s

very important. In particular, dialogue with yourself
ought to be valued above all else. That’s what our
high school lives are about, generally speaking.”

I didn’t really follow what he was saying.

So I didn’t really understand it.

I’d thought of giving him a wallop.

By the way, Tsukihi-chan said,

“Essentially, aren’t you talking about going on a

journey to find yourself?”

What, does she have an even shallower

understanding of this than me?

Show me a bit of intelligence here, wise guy.

…Ultimately, I guess it’s yet another thing I can

only learn by myself.

Study hard, learn hard.(1)

Well, secluding oneself in the mountains is kind of

a tradition for karate practitioners, so of course I’ll
do it if I’m told to–it’s even something I’d longed
to do someday.

An unavoidable ritual for those pursuing strength.

Master might even have sensed that secret dream

of mine, and this was her roundabout way of
encouraging it–no, she’s not that kind of person.

She’s not such a clever character–rather, she’s

brusque, and unrefined.

Roundabout expressions and roundabout detours

are not her style.

Fundamentally, she has even more of a

straightforward, bamboo-splitting personality than
me (though she generally breaks tiles, not
bamboo).(2)

I was pretty confused when she said she was

interested in the source of my motivation, since
Master has been quite an influence on my
personality herself.

I suppose that confusion will be swept away by

my seclusion in the mountains.

And so, she’d directed me to the Three Ouga

Mountains.(3)

From this point on, I’ll be traversing three

mountains in the range extending before me–of
course, since I’ve never actually climbed a
mountain, I can’t deny feeling slightly nervous.

Even I get nervous sometimes.

Strictly speaking, Master’s directive wasn’t for the

so-called ‘seclusion in the mountains’ itself, but
for standing beneath a waterfall.

Takigyou. Bathing in a waterfall.

Master instructed me to stand under a waterfall

that I’d find after traversing the three mountains–
to think, I’ll be doing takigyou, even in these
times.

Quite old-fashioned–I’m excited.

My heart’s pounding.

I mean, my heart’s seriously dancing around.

“It’s called Ouga Falls. I was twenty when I stood

under that waterfall–it’s in a practically unexplored
area, so getting there isn’t an easy task, let alone
bathing there; but even though you’re only
sixteen, I think you can do it.”

After saying that, Master added,

“Ah, but if you think it’s impossible, turn back

now. You have a tendency to do the impossible–or
rather, you have a tendency to want to do the
impossible, but because of that, retreating now
would still be a good experience for you. And only
go after getting permission from your family. We’re
talking about a girl of your age staying out on a
trip alone, so let’s not take it too lightly.”

It was a bit of a a killjoy to hear such a sensible

piece of advice at the end, but well, it is
important.

Talking about a girl of my age staying out alone

really increases the sense of adventure of my first
summer in high school, but naturally I knew that
climbing a mountain and standing under a
waterfall alone are fundamentally dangerous
undertakings.

That’s common sense.

When it came time, I realized that 'mountain

climbing’ seems like a textbook play for going to a
party these days–so it was somewhat
backbreaking work to convince my family.

It was especially backbreaking to convince Nii-

chan.

A real knuckle-cracking, backbreaking pain.(4)

Unexpectedly overprotective, my brother.

All 'backbreaking’ means is 'difficult’, but at last

Nii-chan seemed to understand that I’d head to
the mountains even if I had to break his back, and
he gave in.

It felt more like his knees had given in, though.

“If you’d go that far, then do as you please…

There’s certainly stuff you need to do and all. But
I’ll have you know, I’ll be making a contingency
plan for when things go badly.”

Wow, that was actually a pretty cool thing to say.

'Making a contingency plan’, I wonder what that

is.

Don’t just make contingency plans for me.

By the way, Tsukihi-chan said stuff like,

“Well, you know, whether you go alone or with

everyone, mountains are fundamentally
dangerous places. If you want to avoid danger,
you wouldn’t be climbing them in the first place,
right? So it’s alright, isn’t it?”

My little sister really likes talking theory.

“Now that you mention it, if you asked a mountain

climber why they climb up, some would just say
'because it’s a mountain’–but then if you ask why
they climb down, how would they answer?
'Because my family isn’t here’, maybe?”

I wanted to say, 'Show a little concern for me, will

you?’–but I was really worried about my sister.
Really, the one climbing the mountain worried
about the one not climbing…

Lately, she’s been doing kinda mysterious stuff by

herself, with that stuffed doll.

Anyhow, I got permission from my family as I’d

been instructed by Master, and finally, I was going
to challenge this mountain–my preparations are
perfect.

Unusually for me, I’d even made a plan in

advance.

Three Ouga Mountains.

Passing through Oniai Mountain,(5) Senshin Peak,

(6) and Kachi-kachi Mountain(7) to get to Ouga
Falls–if I cross one mountain per day as planned,
I’ll get there and back entirely within one week.

One week.

Honestly, since I’d waited so long for this

mountaineering trip, I wanted to stay for more like
one year, but I couldn’t really do that as a high
school student–so, I’ll make use of my one week
of summer vacation to enjoy this adventure to the
utmost.

Well, let’s get going.

Shouldering the twenty liter-sized bags I’d

borrowed from Mama, I took one step forward.

The first step toward my meeting with Karen

Araragi.

[Next Chapter]

Footnotes:
(1) A play on the expression “study hard, play
hard”.
(2) I’ve replicated the Japanese expression
“bamboo-splitting” (⽵を割ったような/take wo
watta youna) here literally, so it makes more sense
with the following parenthetical. “Clear-cut” is a
good English localization.
(3) Ouga (逢我) literally means 'Meet Self’.
(4) What I’ve translated in places as
“backbreaking” is an expression that literally
means 'bone-breaking’ in Japanese (⻣を折
る/hone wo oru).
(5) Literally, 'Demon Encounter Mountain’ (⻤会⼭).
(6) Literally, 'Thousand Thorn Peak’ (千針岳).
(7) Onomatopoeia for the sound a fire makes.

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