小さき者へ
A widowed father writes a long letter to his motherless children.
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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.
About the book
"Chiisaki mono e" (To Little Ones) is a Japanese short story by Takeo Arishima. According to the opening portion held in the library, the work takes the form of a long letter from a father to his children, who have lost their mother. It begins in a plain, direct tone and can be read through the father's words to his children.
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.
The Japanese word 産室 refers to the room where a birth takes place, not to an institution such as a maternity ward. Here it describes the wife giving birth at home, with the doctor, midwife and nurse all present in the same room, reflecting that home delivery was still the norm at the time.
This piece uses お前たち to address the author's three children; it is written as a letter from a father to his children. Throughout the original, 私 and お前たち are repeatedly set against each other, turning the autobiographical narrative into a direct address to the children.
検痰 means sputum testing, which at the time was an important means of diagnosing tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was then a national disease, and a diagnosis usually meant long-term treatment and isolation, so the later mention of 入院 points to the system of sanatorium care.
About the author
Takeo Arishima (March 4, 1878 – June 9, 1923) was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist active during the late Meiji and Taishō periods. His two younger brothers, Ikuma Arishima and Ton Satomi, were also authors, and his son was the internationally known film and stage actor Masayuki Mori.
Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 小さき者へ (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.
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.
More by this author
- A Bunch of GrapesTakeo Arishima · Beginner
- 溺れかけた兄妹Takeo Arishima · Intermediate
- 燕と王子Takeo Arishima · Beginner
- The Descendants of CainTakeo Arishima · Advanced
- クララの出家Takeo Arishima · Advanced
- かんかん虫Takeo Arishima · Advanced