黄金鳥
A poor farmer’s newborn son has a fate tied to a golden bird.
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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
This text tells of a poor farming couple who have yet another boy; a beggar gives the child his name and leaves a small rusty key, promising a gift that the key will fit when the boy turns fourteen. The narration is calm and unhurried, reading like an old tale passed down by word of mouth, with a quiet fairy-tale sense of anticipation.
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.
An old Japanese custom: after a baby was born, someone would be asked to serve as the child's 名付け親 (name-giving parent) and choose its name, creating a relationship similar to that of godparents. The person asked was usually someone of standing in the village. Since the status of the 名付け親 reflected on the child's future reputation, poor families were often shunned and no one would agree to take the role.
An old Japanese iteration mark indicating that the preceding character is repeated; here it means 「いけませんいけません」. In modern Japanese it is rarely used except in some personal names such as 「佐々木」.
About the author
Miekichi Suzuki (September 29, 1882 – June 27, 1936) was a Japanese novelist and author of children's stories from Hiroshima. He wrote both fiction for adults and stories for children.
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 “Beginner”. 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.