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行人

The Wayfarer

by Natsume Sōseki

Jiro is drawn into his brother’s doubts about his own wife.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,566 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.

友達friend
friend
一one
one
梅田の停車場Umeda Stationをat (object marker for the place being exited)下りるや否やas soon as (I) got off自分はI (myself)母からfrom my motherいいつけられたhad been told/instructed通りjust as / in accordance withすぐright away俥をa rickshaw (object)雇ってhired and岡田の家にto Okada's house馳けさせたhad (it) gallop/take me
As soon as I got off at Umeda Station, I hired a rickshaw right away and had it take me to Okada's house, just as my mother had told me.
岡田はOkada (topic marker)母方の遠縁a distant relative on the mother's sideに当るcorresponded to / amounted to (here: was)男であったwas a man (copula, past)
Okada was a man who was a distant relative on my mother's side.

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About the book

Kōjin (The Wayfarer) is a novel by Natsume Sōseki, serialized in the Asahi Shimbun and composed of four parts: 'Friend', 'Brother', 'After Returning', and 'Dust and Toil'. It depicts the anguish of modern intellectuals through questions of men and women. In the opening passage held in this library, Niirō goes to Osaka and gradually becomes entangled in his brother Ichirō's suspicions about his wife.

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.

鑵入の菓子 Customs

Tinned sweets: Japanese or Western-style confections packed in metal tins (鑵＝缶, "can"), a typical gift of the time—hence the text says 「荷になるほど大きい」 (big enough to count as luggage).

呉春 Allusion

Matsumura Goshun (1752–1811), a painter of the late Edo period. He first studied under Yosa Buson and was later influenced by Maruyama Ōkyo, going on to found the Shijō school.

大阪下り History

In the Meiji period, travelling from Tokyo to the Kansai region was called "下り" (going down), while returning to Tokyo was called "上り" (going up). Here "大阪下り" means leaving Tokyo for Osaka, whether for a post or to settle there.

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: 行人 (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.

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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.

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