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彼岸過迄

To the Spring Equinox and Beyond

by Natsume Sōseki

Soseki explains the novel’s origins, then follows the young Keitaro.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,592 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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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.

彼岸過迄To the Spring Equinox and Beyond (title)にregarding / about就てconcerning (につきて)
About "To the Spring Equinox and Beyond"
事実をthe truth (object)読者の前にbefore the readers告白するとif I confess / to confess去年の八月頃around August of last yearすでにalready自分の小説をmy novel (object)紙上にin the paper / in print連載すべきはずだったwas supposed to be serializedのであるit is that (explanatory)
To confess the truth before the readers, my novel was already supposed to have been published in the paper as a series around August of last year.
ところがhowever余りexcessive暑いhot盛りpeak (of the season)にat大患serious illness後afterのof (possessive)身体bodyを(object marker)ぶっ通しwithout a breakに(adverbial)使うto useの(nominalizer)は(topic marker)どんなwhat kind ofものthingだisろうprobablyというcalled / the thought that親切kindな(adjectival ending)心配worryを(object marker)しdo (te-form)て(te-form connector)くれるkindly do for me人personが(subject marker)出appearて(te-form)来cameた(past)のでsoそれthatを(object marker)好goodい(adjective ending)機会opportunityにasなおstill / moreover二two箇月monthsのof暇free timeを(object marker)貪るto indulge inことthe matter ofにとりintoきtakingめdecidingて(result)貰(te-form)っhad (someone do)た(past stem)の(past)がthe fact原(subject marker)で(name) Genとうとう(conjunction)そのfinally二that箇月twoがmonths過去(subject marker)っpassedた(past stem)十月(past)にOctoberもin筆alsoをpen執(object marker)らtakeず(passive/neg. stem)十一without十二NovemberもDecemberついalso紙上finally / in the endへthe paperはto杳(topic marker)たるabsent有様beingでstate暮しinてspend (time)しdo (te-form)まっ(te-form)た(aux. stem)；(past stem)；(past)
However, some kind people worried that it might not be good to use my body, after a serious illness, without rest during the hottest time, so I took that as a good chance and had them decide to take two more months of free time; as a result, I did not write even in October when those two months had passed, and November and December also passed with no writing in the paper at all.
自分のmy own当然やるべき仕事がthe work I naturally ought to doこういう風にin this way崩れた波のof a broken wave崩れながらas it breaks伝わって行くrolls on / travels alongような具合でin such a manner thatただだらしなくjust slackly延びるのはthat it drags onけっしてnever心持の好いものではないis not a pleasant feeling
That my work, which I should naturally do, is simply loosely delayed in this way, like a broken wave rolling on as it breaks, is never a pleasant feeling.

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About the book

Higan Sugimade is a novel by Natsume Sōseki, serialized in the Asahi Shimbun in 1912 and published the same year by Shunyōdō. It depicts the romance between a man of strong self-consciousness and his innocent younger cousin, and embodies a technique of combining short stories into a single longer work. It is the first of Sōseki's three later novels, followed by Kōjin and Kokoro.

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.

三越呉服店 History

In 1904 the Mitsui drapery store (Mitsukoshi) issued its 'department store declaration,' using advertising and window displays to promote the 'new.' Sōseki mentions it alongside 'ヤンキー' (American-style fashionable youths), referring to the superficial craze for novelty in society at the time.

自然派 Allusion

The Japanese naturalist school of literature, prominent in the 1900s and represented by works such as Tayama Katai's Futon, which advocated naked confession and objective description. Here Sōseki declares that he belongs to none of the naturalist, symbolist, or neo-romanticist schools—a rejection of the literary world's factional labels.

朝日新聞の購読者 History

Higan Sugimade was serialized in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun from January to April 1912. Sōseki joined the newspaper in 1907 as an exclusive novelist, and here he addresses the paper's own readers, showing his awareness of himself as a company writer.

About the author

Natsume Sōseki (9 February 1867 – 9 December 1916), born Natsume Kinnosuke, was a Japanese novelist, poet, and scholar regarded as one of the greatest writers in modern Japanese history. His major works include I Am a Cat, Botchan, Sanshirō, Kokoro, and his unfinished final novel Light and Dark.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 彼岸過迄 (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.

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