魔術
On a rainy night the narrator asks an Indian magician for lessons.
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Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.
About the book
Magic is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. On a rainy night, a visitor calls on an Indian magician who wants to learn magic, but must first let go of greed. Like other Akutagawa works, it depicts human egoism, which makes it worth reading.
Cultural notes (selection)
Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.
In Meiji Japan, Indians were generally called "Indians," and many of them were connected with the anti-British independence movement. In the story, Misra is set up as a patriot and magician from Calcutta, drawing on the background of Indian exiles in Japan at the time; the character is fictional.
Brahmins are the priestly class of the Indian caste system; the Japanese word "婆羅門" also refers to Hindu priests. The "secret arts of the Brahmins" in the story means traditional Indian esoteric arts, as distinguished from modern Western magic.
The jinrikisha was the main means of urban transport from the Meiji to the Taishō period, and pullers carried lanterns when working at night. "梶棒を下しました" means the puller lowered the shafts to bring the vehicle to a stop—a stock expression in scenes of riding at the time.
About the author
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), also known by his art name Chōkōdō Shujin, was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period who is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story". He died by suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital, and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.
Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 魔術 (小説) (CC BY-SA)
How the glosses are made
Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.
FAQ
Is this the original text?
Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.
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What level is it?
This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.
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