白髪小僧
A simple beggar boy with white hair sets off on a chain of wonders.
- Authentic text: the opening of a public-domain original
- Word-by-word glosses and translation in English or Chinese, free
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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.
About the book
The text follows a little beggar boy called the White-Haired Boy, who has many names because of his snow-white hair, constant smiling, silence, and generosity. The opening shows him dozing under a ginkgo tree when he rescues a girl who falls into a river and is brought to her grand house, and it reads like a folk tale unfolding at a leisurely pace.
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.
「昔或る処に」("Once upon a time in a certain place") is the fixed opening formula of Japanese folk tales (mukashibanashi). This story imitates that style throughout, so the beggar boy should be read as a fairy-tale character rather than a realistic figure from a social problem.
In Japan, ginkgo trees are often planted beside shrines and temples. They live to great ages and frequently serve as landmarks at village entrances or by riversides. In folk tales they are often the place where a mysterious stranger appears or takes shelter.
Here 「遊ばす」 does not mean "to let (someone) play"; it is an elegant auxiliary verb of respect attached to the continuative form of a verb, equivalent to 「お聞きになる」 (「お聞き遊ばす」 thus means "you heard").
About the author
Yumeno Kyūsaku (4 January 1889 – 11 March 1936) was a Japanese author whose pen name roughly means "a person who always dreams"; his real name was Sugiyama Yasumichi. He wrote detective novels and also worked as a Zen priest, post office director and sub-lieutenant, and is known for his avant-gardism and surrealistic, wildly imaginative and bizarre narratives.
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.