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I'm reading a text which uses a lot of classical grammar and there's a sentence which I'm not sure how to translate.

同胞に恨なし、遂に魔の物を統べる魔帝をも討ち負かせり


The text is about a swordsman and the part I'm not sure about is [ 恨なし ].
Is it a shortened version of 恨みっこなし which means "no hard feelings" or could it be 恨なす? I'm not sure if it can be written like this...
The reason why I wrote it like that is because in a text from the same series, there is also "同胞に仇なしたる", in the dictionary there is 仇なす which means to resent; to bear a grudge.

So, I believe it's the latter meaning, as in, the swordsman bore a grudge against his brethren, but it's plausible that it could also mean that he didn't bear resentment towards them...
Because of this text, I have learned some aspects of classical grammar but I'm not sure about that part in the sentence.

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  • If the quotation is correct, I guess it is not a regular usage anyway. So whichever fits the context should be the correct reading. Maybe you can include surrounding texts (in particular, what is the subject and what is the relationship between 同胞 and 魔の物, and perhaps the swordsman's position among them).
    – sundowner
    Aug 17, 2021 at 11:06
  • @sundowner So, it can be understood both ways? In classical grammar I have seen how verbs are put in the negative but I wasn't sure about 恨なし if it means 無し "without", or the verb 成す. In classical grammar, are there other suffixes that are like 無し?
    – Alice B. Rabbit
    Aug 17, 2021 at 11:32
  • At least by the sentence itself, both ways are possible. In classical prose particles indicating subjects are often omitted. Maybe not for you but see this. So assuming 恨 is 恨み with み omitted, 同胞に恨なし can be read 同胞に恨みはない : there is no hard feelings towards comrades or 同胞に恨み成し/為し : hating the comrades.
    – sundowner
    Aug 17, 2021 at 11:41
  • Actually particles for objects (を in the second reading) can be omitted as well, hence the confusion.
    – sundowner
    Aug 17, 2021 at 11:50
  • 2
    Yes, this seems very ambiguous to me without more context ("Our brothers don't have any grudge", "I don't have any grudge on my ally", "My brother never regrets", "Having held grudge against my fellow"...) Please add more context.
    – naruto
    Aug 18, 2021 at 1:15

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