サフラン
by Mori Ōgai
The author muses on knowing things by name only, and on a crocus.
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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
This piece is a reminiscence about saffron, built around the idea of knowing a thing only by name: the narrator first encounters the word in an old Dutch-Japanese dictionary, sees dried saffron in his father's medicine drawer, and years later spots the purple flowers being sold on a street. It reads as a quiet, meandering personal essay, tracing scattered memories in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
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.
Shokugaku Keigen is a book of botany written by Udagawa Yōan, published in the late Edo period. Here the point is that the Dutch–Japanese dictionary was compiled in an age when foreign words were commonly rendered in phonetic kanji transliteration, which is why サフラン was written as “洎夫藍”.
A place name in the Hongō district of Tokyo; Ōgai's home was near Dangozaka. The route in the text—from Ueno Station, past the stone steps below the Tōshōgū shrine (the Tōshōgū of the Kan'ei-ji temple in Ueno), and into the dimly lit Hanawachō—was precisely the way from Ueno back to Hongō in the Meiji period.
「〜まさあ」 is a phonetic variant of 「ますさ」, a sentence-ending used in the speech of old-fashioned Tokyo merchants and craftsmen; here 「好く」 means “very, extremely”. Ōgai records street conversation in colloquial language, creating a stylistic contrast with the written style of the narration.
About the author
Mori Ōgai (February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922), born Mori Rintarō, was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist and poet, and father of the writer Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a young age, introduced translated German literary works to Japanese readers, and is considered a leading figure who modernized Japanese literature; his major work is The Wild Geese (1911–1913).
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.
More by this author
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- Sansho the StewardMori Ōgai · Intermediate
- The Last PhraseMori Ōgai · Intermediate
- The Abe FamilyMori Ōgai · Advanced
- The Wild GeeseMori Ōgai · Advanced
- YouthMori Ōgai · Advanced
- 杯Mori Ōgai · Intermediate
- 牛鍋Mori Ōgai · Intermediate