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昼でも夜でもない境界【きょうかい】の、現実の中の非現実【ひげんじつ】。そういうものが一般的【いっぱんてき】に何と言われ、形容されるか、それをすっかり忘れていた。黄昏刻【たそがれどき】は[逢魔ヶ刻]【おうまがとき】――人でないモノに逢【あ】う刻限【こくげん】。

What (I think) I understand so far:

The most unreal of all realities, set on the boundary that is is neither night nor day. What would be the usual way to call such a thing, or describe it - that I completely forgot. Dusk time is ???, appointed time for meeting things that aren't human.

Without ヶ it would seem something like "(lit.) time of meeting evil spirits", "the witching hour" etc, but what does ヶ add? Is that a play on 刻一刻? A sign that 逢魔ヶ is to be read like 逢魔逢魔　or 逢魔魔 (so that it becomes X刻はA時、B刻限)?

Please correct me if I failed at other parts of translation.

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  • possible duplicate of What are the origins of ヶ?
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 21:32
  • @broccoli forest is that the "As something that roughly corresponds to the modern particle の in place names. In this case it's usually read が (especially in old Japanese the particle が has a close resemblance to the modern の). Examples: 西ヶ原（にしがはら） 鳩ヶ谷市" sense here? 逢魔の刻・逢魔が刻? Hmm looking up 逢魔が刻 it's a fixed expression. This answers my question completely. Thank you, this can be closed.
    – user10216
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 21:35
  • Yes, it is. And I retracted the duplicate vote for I found I was too hasty overlooking the specific 逢魔ヶ刻 problem.
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 21:47
  • @broccoli forest the post you linked was very helpful though, and skimming through it answered my 逢魔ヶ刻 question as well. If more detailed answers are forthcoming (e.g. on the rest of my shabby attempt at "translation") I will be happier still, but already I am much less confused than I was before.
    – user10216
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 21:50
  • Could you put in furigana for those of us who don't feel like looking it up?
    – istrasci
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 1:21

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逢魔が刻 is a fixed expression, "time of disaster" or some such, according to a meaning listed in the post which this question is a duplicate of.

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