運
A potter tells of a woman whose prayer to Kannon brought fortune.
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About the book
'Un' (Luck) is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, published in the magazine Buns Sekai in January 1917 and later included in his first collection Rashōmon. Based on a tale from volume sixteen of the Konjaku Monogatari, it closely follows the original plot about a poor woman who prays to the Kannon of Kiyomizu for good fortune. Akutagawa adds a twist through the contrast between a young samurai who sees material happiness as true happiness and an old man who values inner happiness.
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.
A young low-ranking noble of the sixth rank or below, typically serving as an attendant or menial servant in a high-ranking household. Of humble status, often with an air of shabby destitution, he became a stock figure in medieval and early modern literature: a man of unrecognised talent, embittered at the world. There is no equivalent term for this status in English.
The tsunokakushi-style travelling outfit (tsubo shōzoku) worn by noblewomen when going out or visiting shrines and temples: a cloth veil hanging down to cover the face, and a long outer robe of the uchiki type draped over the body, so named because the silhouette resembles a covered pot. A woman dressed this way is evidently a respectable lady who has come from afar to worship at Kiyomizu-dera.
Refers to Kiyomizu-dera temple in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, dedicated to the thousand-armed Kannon. Since the Heian period it has been famed for the miraculous powers of its Kannon, and it was a well-known site where commoners made vows and confined themselves for prayer (komori-gan).
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: 運 (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.
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