Interesting usage of the phrase「心までは砕ける」


In a story I am reading I came across the line:

> 「心までは砕けていないので、今は勘弁してください」

The context is that a waitress gets injured and a waiter (the main character)
discovers this, gives her some ice, then answers the call of a customer who is
in need. This line is what he says to the customer after she says
(essentially) "What happened to the waitress?". The customer is surprised that
not her original waitress, but a different person (a waiter) came for her.

Literally, this seems to mean "(her) heart is not broken, so please give (her)
a break now". However, this doesn't seem to fit the context at all. Maybe the
subject is actually the main character?

You can see the context [here](http://ncode.syosetu.com/n6899db/5/) if
necessary. The line is about 2/3rds of the way down.

Maybe the expression is being used in some ironic/sarcastic sense?




Having read the whole page, I must say that the line in question fits the
context perfectly. I am trying hard (and failing) to understand why you do not
think so **_at all_**.

> 「心{こころ}までは砕{くだ}けていないので、今{いま}は勘弁{かんべん}してください」

「心」 refers to that of the waitress, not of the speaker. As the speaker (the
waiter) utters this line, the waitress is surely physically injured but her
heart is not broken by the waiter's judgement, which is expressed by 「までは」.

Now, we need to treat and appreciate this line as a line in a novel. It would
be most unlikely that a real-life waiter would say this to a customer. The
line almost has a surreal quality to it. The customer is even unaware, at this
point, of the waitress's physical injury, let alone her mental state. That is
why the customer says 「あれ？玲は？」 upon seeing the waiter approaching her and
follows it with 「何があったのよ」 after hearing the line in question from the waiter.
The customer has no idea what has happened in the kitchen.

Thus, my take on the line would be something like:

> "(Though somewhat injured), her heart has not been broken, so please excuse
> her for not being able to attend you."

It seems "Please don't worry." is implied here.

As you stated, I also feel an amount of sarcasm used in the line, but
personally, I am seeing more of the surreal quality as a line in fiction than
anything else.




Having read the whole page, I must say that the line in question fits the
context perfectly. I am trying hard (and failing) to understand why you do not
think so **_at all_**.

> 「心{こころ}までは砕{くだ}けていないので、今{いま}は勘弁{かんべん}してください」

「心」 refers to that of the waitress, not of the speaker. As the speaker (the
waiter) utters this line, the waitress is surely physically injured but her
heart is not broken by the waiter's judgement, which is expressed by 「までは」.

Now, we need to treat and appreciate this line as a line in a novel. It would
be most unlikely that a real-life waiter would say this to a customer. The
line almost has a surreal quality to it. The customer is even unaware, at this
point, of the waitress's physical injury, let alone her mental state. That is
why the customer says 「あれ？玲は？」 upon seeing the waiter approaching her and
follows it with 「何があったのよ」 after hearing the line in question from the waiter.
The customer has no idea what has happened in the kitchen.

Thus, my take on the line would be something like:

> "(Though somewhat injured), her heart has not been broken, so please excuse
> her for not being able to attend you."

It seems "Please don't worry." is implied here.

As you stated, I also feel an amount of sarcasm used in the line, but
personally, I am seeing more of the surreal quality as a line in fiction than
anything else.

