嘘

Name: 嘘
Availability: InStock
Author: On Watanabe

by On Watanabe

On a dull snowy night, friends by the fire compete at telling lies.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,566 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

Authentic text: the opening of a public-domain original
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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.

雪降りsnowfallでand (linking reason/state)退屈boringでand (linking state)古風なold-fashioned晩eveningであったwas

It was a snowy, boring, old-fashioned evening.

井深君の邸にat Mr. Ibuka's residence落ち合ったmet up友達がfriends (subject)五六人five or six people火のそばにby the fire寄ってgathered near嘘吐きlying話の話しくらべをしたhad a contest of storytelling

Five or six friends met at Mr. Ibuka's house, gathered by the fire, and had a lying contest.

自分のone's own素晴しいwonderful嘘でwith a lie人をa person担いだfooled話やstories andまたはorそのあべこべのthe oppositeしくじり話やらstories of failure and suchを[object marker]めいめいがeach person語ったtold

Each told stories of fooling people with their own great lies, or the opposite stories of failure.

そしてand thenさてwell / now主人hostの's (possessive)井深Ibuka (name)君Mr. / -kun (name suffix)の's (possessive)番turnにto (marker of result)なったbecame / came to be (past)

And then it was the host Mr. Ibuka's turn.

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About the book

This text depicts a dull snowy evening when friends gather around a fire to hold a contest of telling lies, and it is the host Ibuka's turn to recount the odd trouble his own careless lie once brought him. The narration has the feel of a story told aloud by the fireside, laced with self-mockery and a faint sense of strangeness.

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.

尾張町の四辻 History

The former name, before 1930, of the Ginza 4-chōme crossing. Owari-chō was the old place name for the area around Ginza 4-chōme, and its crossing is today's Ginza 4-chōme crossing.

山下町の河岸 History

Yamashita-chō is the district along the waterfront of Yokohama Port, close to the foreign settlement and foreign merchants' quarters, in the area of today's Yamashita Park. "Kawagishi" (kawashi) refers to a road along a river or harbour shore.

About the author

On Watanabe (August 26, 1902 – February 10, 1930) was a Japanese mystery writer and fantasy novelist. Though he died young at 27, he was an inspiration for later Japanese authors.

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.

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