檸檬
Lemon
Weighed down by dread, the narrator leaves a lemon in a bookstore.
- 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
"Lemon" is a short story by Japanese author Motojirō Kajii and is considered his representative work. Written in a poetic style, it depicts an inexplicable melancholy and a mischievous impulse: the narrator places a lemon on a foreign bookshop shelf, imagining it as a vivid lemon bomb, and flees. It is worth reading for the way rich, colorful imagery gives concrete form to states of mind that are hard to describe.
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.
Apex catarrh, an inflammation at the tip of the lung, was a diagnostic term used at the time for early-stage pulmonary tuberculosis. Kajii Motojirō himself suffered from tuberculosis for many years, and by writing the protagonist's illness into the story here he gives it an autobiographical colour.
Maruzen is a bookshop and Western-goods store founded in the early Meiji era, selling foreign books, stationery, perfume and other Western merchandise. The Maruzen in the text is in Kyoto, and for students of the day it was a place both elegant and expensive.
From Greek mythology: Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters, whose face turned anyone who looked directly at it to stone. The author uses the image of being 'frozen by the Gorgon's mask' to describe the instant when the fruit seems fixed in its brilliant colours.
About the author
Motojirō Kajii (February 17, 1901 – March 24, 1932) was a Japanese writer of the early Shōwa period known for his poetic short stories, including "Lemon," "In a Castle Town," "Winter Days," and "Beneath the Cherry Trees." His works were praised by fellow writers such as Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima, and are admired today for their finely tuned self-observation and descriptive power.
Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 檸檬 (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.
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
- Under the Cherry TreesMotojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- The Ascension of KMotojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- Winter DaysMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- 城のある町にてMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- Winter FliesMotojirō Kajii · Advanced
- 闇の絵巻Motojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- 愛撫Motojirō Kajii · Intermediate
- 蒼穹Motojirō Kajii · Intermediate