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ウォーソン夫人の黒猫

by Sakutarō Hagiwara

A widowed scholar’s wife begins seeing a black cat in her room.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,360 characters · ≈ 13 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.

ウォーソン夫人はMrs. Watson (topic)頭脳もよくalso had a good mind相当に教育もあるalso had considerable education婦人であったwas a woman
Mrs. Watson was a woman with a good mind and a good education.
それでso / therefore博士の良人the doctor's good husbandが(subject marker)死んでdied (and)以来since或るa certain学術研究会academic research societyの(possessive marker)調査部research departmentに(direction marker)入りjoined図書のof books整理係organizing clerkとしてas働らいていたwas working
So after her good husband, the doctor, died, she joined the research department of a certain academic society and worked as a book organizer.
彼女はshe (topic)毎朝every morning九時にat nine o'clock出勤しwent to work (and)午後のof the afternoon四時にat four o'clock帰宅していたwas coming home / used to come home
She went to work at nine every morning and came home at four in the afternoon.
多くmanyの's (attributive)知識婦人educated womenにin見るsee範疇categoryとしてas彼女sheの's容姿appearanceはis (topic)瘠形thin-builtでand背heightが(subject marker)高tallくand少しslightly黄色yellow味tintの'sあるhaving皮膚skinを(object marker)もhadっhadた(past)神経質nervousの's女womanでasあっwasた(past)
As is common among many educated women, she was thin and tall, with slightly yellow skin, and was a nervous woman.

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About the book

This opening introduces Mrs. Watson, an educated woman living alone whose orderly, rational routine is shadowed by the bleak emptiness she feels returning to her bare little room each day. One evening a strange, inexplicable dread follows her home, and opening the door she finds no one inside—only an unfamiliar black cat sitting in the middle of the floor, staring steadily at her.

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.

博士の良人 Social role

良人 is a Japanese term for husband (used by a wife to refer to her husband); here it refers to the lady's late husband. 「博士」 indicates that the deceased husband held a doctoral degree or was a scholar.

胸の隠衣から時計を出して Customs

This refers to a pocket watch. A pocket watch was usually attached to a chain and kept in the pocket of a suit waistcoat or inside the front fold of a kimono or dress, and pulled out to check the time.

About the author

Sakutarō Hagiwara (November 1, 1886 – May 11, 1942) was a Japanese writer of free verse, active in the Taishō and early Shōwa periods, and is considered the "father of modern colloquial poetry in Japan." He liberated Japanese free verse from traditional rules, expressing his doubts about existence, fears, ennui, and anger through dark images and unambiguous wording, while also publishing many volumes of essays, literary and cultural criticism, and aphorisms.

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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