田中さん：どうしたんですか。元気がありませんね。
木村さん：いや、大学時代の親友に煮え湯を飲まされましてね。
Nieyu wo Nomasareru
Tanaka-san: Dooshita'n desu ka. Genki ga arimasen ne.
Kimura-san: lya, daigaku jidai no shinyuu ni nieyu wo nomasaremashite ne.
Mr. Tanaka: What's wrong? You don't look so well.
Mr. Kimura: Well, actually I was betrayed by a friend from college.
Nieyu wo nomasareru literally means to be made to drink boiling water, water so hot one is sure to scald one's throat. As an idiom, the expression has the meaning 'to be betrayed,' and nieyu wo nomasu means 'to betray a person's confidence, to be unfaithful to a person.' The expression is used when someone one had trusted or had good feelings for treats one badly, gives one a 'raw deal.' Everyone has such an experience at least once or twice in a lifetime.
It's been some time now since Japan's economic bubble was declared to have burst. Stock prices are now half what they'd been and no one is sure just when they'll bottom out. Kimura and his friend Sato lived in the same dormitory during college. As we say in Japanese, "onaji kama no meshi wo kutta (they liv- ed under the same roof, ate out of the same bowl)." In other words, they were trusted friends. Sato is work- ing for a bank and Kimura had been depositing a por- tion of his monthly salary in Sato's bank. Kimura hoped to be able to make a down payment on a house sometime. House prices had been declining. "Now's the time to buy," thought Kimura. What a surprise he had when he talked to Sato, though. Apparently, Sato had been investing Kimura's money in the stock market. Though Sato quickly apologized. "Mooshiwakenai. Kimi no tame ni mookeyoo to omotta'n da. Kimi ni nieyu wo nomaseru tsumori nado nakatta (I'm sorry. I'dwanted to make money for you. I didn't intend to betray your trust) " Kimura couldn't help but be disappointed. He'd put his money in a bank so it would be safe.
"Why didn't Sato consult me first? Should I sue? No, I'd better not. After all, he is a friend." Despite these thoughts, Kimura's feeling that he'd been betrayed was still quite strong (nieyu wo nomasareta to iu omoi wa tsuyokatta).
The house next to Kimura went up for sale. Last year it cost over \100 million. Now it was selling for half that. With a loan he'd be able to buy it even on his salary. Shinyu ni, nieyu wo nomasareru to wa, omoimasen deshita (He never thought he'd be betrayed by a friend). When Kimura told Tanaka about his friend, Tanaka replied, "Jitsu wa watashi mo nieyu wo nomasareta koto ga aru'n desu (Truth is, I was betrayed once too). By my boss, no less." A devoted husband, Tanaka had told his wife that she ought to take a trip by herself. Turns out, his boss decided to go with her! "Sore de wa, okusan ni mo, nieyu wo nomasareta koto ni narimasu ne (So you were betrayed by your wife, as well)," Kimura said to Tanaka. "Compared to what had happened to me," Kimura thought, "this was even worse. It'd only been money in my case. And Sato hadn't intended to betray me. Why don't I forgive him? Forget about the new house. I ought to treasure those four years we spent together in college. Kare ni nieyu wo nomasareta koto wa, sukkari wasureyo (I'll completely forget that he had betrayed my trust)."