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野分

by Natsume Sōseki

Shirai Doya, a poor idealistic writer, refuses to bow to the world.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Advanced3,044 characters · ≈ 12 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.

一one
One
白井道也Shirai Michiya (name)はtopic marker文学者literary person; literary manであるis (copula)
Shirai Michiya is a literary man.
八年前eight years ago大学を卒業してからafter graduating from university田舎の中学をthrough country middle schools二三箇所two or three places流して歩いたdrifted about末in the end去年の春the spring of last year飄然とcarefree東京へ戻って来たcame back to Tokyo
After graduating from university eight years ago, he drifted through two or three country middle schools, and eventually, in the spring of last year, he came back to Tokyo carefree.
流す'drift' (the word being discussed)とはas for (topic marker)門附the school's jargon (monzuki)にin (locative particle)用いるto use言葉wordでand (copula, linking)飄然'carefree' (hyōzen)とはas for (topic marker)徂徠Sorai (a person's name)にby (particle)拘わらぬnot bound意味meaningともalso (as)取れるcan be taken
The word 'drift' is used in the school's jargon, and 'carefree' can also mean not bound by old rules.

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About the book

Nowaki is a novella by Natsume Sōseki, published in the magazine Hototogisu in January 1907. Its character Shirai Doya is a poor writer who refuses to bow to worldly conventions. For Sōseki himself, 1907 was a turning point: he left his teaching post at Tokyo University, joined the Asahi Shimbun, and began serializing Gubijinsō the same year.

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.

流すとは門附に用いる言葉 Customs

「流し」 refers to wandering street performers who went door to door playing music and begging for money, with no fixed home. The author borrows this term for entertainers to describe the protagonist drifting from place to place working as a teacher, with a self-mocking tone.

越後は石油の名所である History

Echigo (present-day Niigata Prefecture) was Japan's earliest developed oil-producing region in the Meiji era. After the oil fields boomed, the local economy depended heavily on the oil companies, and the imbalance of power between the company and the middle school in the text reflects this reality.

華族 Social role

A peerage rank under the Meiji kazoku system; many former domain lords became kazoku. The pairing here of 「殿様」 and 「神様」 shows that the local awe of former lords still carried a feudal flavour.

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: 野分 (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.

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What level is it?

This one is marked “Advanced”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.

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English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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