源おじ
Old Gen
A lonely boatman who lost his family takes in a homeless boy.
- Authentic text: the opening of a public-domain original
- Word-by-word glosses and translation in English or Chinese, free
- Tap a word for its meaning, listen to the sentence, save words
- Reads in any phone or desktop browser, nothing to download
Want to read your own Japanese light novels? Read the guide →
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
The text opens with a young teacher recalling his year teaching in Saiki, and the story he heard from his innkeeper about Uncle Gen, a boatman on the shore who, after losing his wife and child, took in a wandering child. Written in classical literary Japanese, it moves slowly and quietly, carrying the hushed, mist-laden mood of a seaside dusk and distant remembrance.
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.
Refers to the castle town of Saiki on the shore of Saiki Bay in southern Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu; in the Meiji period it was a small fishing and shipping port. Kunikida Doppo once taught here, and this work is based on that experience.
An actual island at the mouth of Saiki Bay, facing the castle town of Saiki across the water. Its people traditionally made their living by fishing and boat work, and travel to the opposite shore relied on ferryboats. In the story, Yuri knocking at the door late at night to ask for a crossing fits the sea traffic between the two places.
Myōken is a faith that deifies the Big Dipper; fishing villages along the Kyushu coast often built Myōken shrines to pray for safe voyages, with an ever-burning lamp kept lit before them. 「妙見の燈も消えし時」 means the night has grown extremely deep and all the lights have gone out.
About the author
Doppo Kunikida (30 August 1871 – 23 June 1908) was a Japanese author of novels and romantic poetry during the Meiji period. He is noted as one of the inventors of Japanese naturalism.
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 “Advanced”. 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.