LightNovelLingo
Home / Library / Japanese / 杯

杯

by Mori Ōgai

Girls drink from silver cups at a spring; a foreign girl has her own.

Read this book free →

Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate2,608 characters · ≈ 10 minSource: 青空文库

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.

温泉宿hot spring innからfrom皷が滝Drum Waterfall (proper name)へto登って行くgo up / climb途中にon the way清冽なclear and pure泉springがsubject marker湧き出ているis gushing out
On the way up from the hot spring inn to the drum waterfall, a clear spring gushes out.
水はthe water (topic)井桁の上にover the well frame凸面をなしてforming a convex surface盛り上げたようになってappearing as if piled up余ったのはwhat is left over / the excess四方へto all sides流れ落ちるのであるflows down (explanatory assertion)
The water forms a round top over the well frame, as if piled up, and the extra flows down on all sides.
青いblue美しいbeautiful苔mossがsubject marker井桁well frameのof外outsideをobject marker掩うているis covering
Beautiful blue moss covers the outside of the well frame.
夏の朝summer morningであるis (copula, literary style)
It is a summer morning.

Read free →

About the book

The text depicts seven similarly dressed girls playing and drinking by a spring, one of them, a foreign girl, producing her own cup. The opening paints the spring, morning mist and fluttering red ribbons in fine detail, reading fresh and lively.

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.

湯帷子 Customs

A yukatabakama—better known simply as yukata—originally referred to a single-layered cotton garment worn when bathing or after a bath. In the text, the seven young girls are all wearing the same yukata, which shows that they are a group travelling together to the hot spring.

丹波酸漿 Customs

酸漿 (ほおずき) is the lantern plant or Chinese lantern berry, whose fruit is enclosed in an orange-red papery calyx. Once the flesh is removed, only a thin membrane remains; placed in the mouth, it makes a popping sound when bitten, making it a traditional toy for Japanese children. Berries from Tanba (in central Kyoto Prefecture) were famous for their large size and beautiful colour, hence the place name.

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.

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

Read this book free →