に忍びないCannot bear to do or witness
に忍びない says that compassion, attachment, or emotional pain makes someone unable to bring themselves to do or witness something.
An action blocked by feeling
The action before に忍びない is emotionally unbearable. With verbs of seeing or hearing, the speaker finds a painful situation too distressing to witness. With actions such as discarding, refusing, cutting down, or waking someone, compassion or attachment prevents the speaker from acting.
Too painful to witness
けがをした犬が苦しんでいる姿は、見るに忍びない。
The sight of the injured dog suffering is too painful to watch.
AnalyzeThe reason is compassion for the suffering animal, not a judgment about the quality of what is being watched.
Unable to carry out an action
The construction can also describe an action that the speaker could physically perform but cannot emotionally accept. The context should make the compassion or attachment clear.
長年大切にしてきた人形を、古くなったからといって捨てるに忍びなかった。
I could not bring myself to throw away the doll I had treasured for years just because it had grown old.
AnalyzeCompassion versus intolerable quality
見るに忍びない normally foregrounds pity or emotional pain at what one sees. By contrast, 見るに堪えない can mean that something is too poor, ugly, or objectionable to watch, even when compassion is not involved.
More examples
幼い子が助けを求めて泣く声は、聞くに忍びない。
It is unbearable to hear a young child crying for help.
Analyze母親を亡くしたばかりの彼の頼みを断るに忍びない。
I cannot bring myself to refuse his request when he has only just lost his mother.
Analyze徹夜で看病し、ようやく眠った姉を起こすに忍びない。
I cannot bring myself to wake my sister after she stayed up all night caring for someone and finally fell asleep.
Analyze弱った桜だが、祖父が植えた木なので切るに忍びない。
The cherry tree is failing, but I cannot bring myself to cut it down because my grandfather planted it.
Analyze彼の長年の努力を知っていただけに、その申し出を拒むに忍びなかった。
Knowing how many years of effort he had put in, I could not bring myself to reject the offer.
Analyze