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妙な話

by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A friend’s wife keeps meeting a mysterious porter in a red cap.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,574 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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Sample: three-line reading

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.

ある冬の夜one winter night私はI (topic)旧友の村上my old friend Murakamiと一しょにtogether with銀座通りをalong Ginza Street歩いていたwas walking
One winter night, I was walking along Ginza Street with my old friend Murakami.
この間the other day千枝子Chiekoからfrom手紙letterがsubject marker来たcameっけdidn't it? (recalling/confirming)
"The other day a letter came from Chieko.
君にもto you tooよろしくhello / regardsと(quotative particle)云うto say事thing / matterだったwas (copula, past)
She said to say hello to you too."
村上はMurakami (topic marker)ふとsuddenly思い出したようにas if he had remembered今はnow (contrastive topic)佐世保にin Sasebo住んでいるis living妹のhis sister's消息をnews (object)話題にしたbrought up as a topic
Murakami, as if he had suddenly remembered, brought up news of his sister, who now lives in Sasebo.

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About the book

The text opens on a winter night conversation between the narrator and his old friend Murakami, who mentions that his sister Chieko once suffered severe neurasthenia and begins recounting the strange tale of how she kept encountering a porter wearing a red cap. Through details like the husband's letters suddenly stopping and Chieko insisting on traveling to Kamakura in the rain, the story builds gradually, reading like an odd tale slowly unfolding within casual chat.

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.

紀元節 History

A holiday of modern Japan, set on February 11, commemorating the enthronement of the legendary Emperor Jimmu. It was established in 1873, abolished in 1948, and revived in 1966 under the name "National Foundation Day." The original text uses this to indicate a specific date in winter.

欧洲戦役 History

A Japanese term for the First World War (1914–1918). In the text, "the Mediterranean front" refers to the Japanese Navy sending ships to escort convoys in the Mediterranean at Britain's request.

佐世保 Social role

A naval port city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, home to a Japanese Navy station headquarters (chinjufu) and shipyards.

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.

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.

Do I need to pay or sign up?

Library books are free to read without an account. Other gloss languages and importing your own texts need an account and credits.

What level is it?

This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

Can I use another gloss language?

English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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