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by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A monk’s prank sign says a dragon will rise, and the city comes.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,581 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.

一one
One
宇治の大納言隆国Uji no Dainagon Takakuni (name/title)やれやれOh, oh (sighing exclamation)昼寝の夢が覚めてwaking from a nap dream見ればwhen I look / upon looking今日はtodayまた一段とeven more / all the more暑いようじゃseems hot (old-man speech)
Uji no Dainagon Takakuni: "Oh, oh, when I wake from my nap and look, today seems even hotter than usual."
あのthat松ヶ枝のof the pine branch藤の花wisteria flowersさえevenゆさりとwith a swayさせるto make (them) doほどのenough to風もeven a wind吹かぬdoes not blow
Not even a wind blows enough to make those wisteria flowers on the pine branch sway.
いつもはusually涼しゅう聞えるsounds cool泉の音もeven the sound of the springどうやらsomehow油蝉の声にwith the voices of oil cicadasまぎれてgetting mixed in反ってrather / on the contrary暑苦しゅうなってしもうたbecame hot and unpleasant
The sound of the spring, which usually sounds cool, somehow got mixed with the voices of oil cicadas and became rather hot and unpleasant.

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About the book

This text opens with the Lord of Uji, Ryūkoku, gathering passersby to tell old tales so he can compile them into a book, and the first storyteller is an aged potter. He begins the tale of a Nara monk with a famously large red nose whose nickname the town keeps shortening, suggesting the prank and the dragon legend are about to unfold; the tone feels like a spoken, storybook-style narration.

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.

宇治の大納言隆国 Allusion

Minamoto no Takakuni (1004–1077) was a mid-Heian court noble known as Uji no Dainagon because he lived in Uji. Old commentaries such as the Kakaishō record a legend that he gathered passing travellers at his pavilion in Uji, had them tell stories, and ordered them written down. This piece draws on that tale of the origin of the monogatari.

大肌ぬぎの無礼は赦してくれい Customs

「大肌ぬぎ」 refers to a style of dress worn in summer heat, with the collar opened and the chest and back bared. Heian nobles normally wore many layers of formal clothing, so baring one's chest before guests in hot weather was a breach of etiquette; Takakuni preemptively apologises and asks everyone to forgive him.

得業恵印、諢名は鼻蔵 Social role

「得業」 (tokugō) is one of the monastic ranks at southern capital temples such as Kōfuku-ji in Nara, below ranks such as 「已講」. 「諢名」 means nickname; 「鼻蔵」 teasingly refers to his big nose.

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.

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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.

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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