子猫
Two kittens suddenly arrive in a household that never had cats.
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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 describes how two kittens unexpectedly came to a household that had never kept cats, as the narrator observes their distinct temperaments and daily presence. The tone is calm and observational, tracing the small changes the cats bring to family life.
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.
Tying up a captured mouse with thread and delivering it to the police box is a parody of the Japanese legal duty to hand in found lost property to a police officer. The author has the cat solemnly carry out this system, creating humour.
In Japanese houses, shōji (sliding doors of wooden lattice covered with white paper) are often scratched or bitten through by cats, which then habitually come and go through this fixed hole. The 'kiriana' (cut hole) refers to this deliberately opened gap, a common sight in cat-keeping households in old-style Japanese houses.
A rectangular trunk woven from willow, a common household storage item in the Meiji and Taishō periods, light and sturdy. Here an old willow trunk's lid is used as a birthing box—just an ordinary object close at hand at the time.
About the author
Torahiko Terada (November 28, 1878 – December 31, 1935) was a Japanese physicist and author born in Tokyo, who served as a professor at Tokyo Imperial University and conducted research at RIKEN and the Earthquake Research Institute. He studied literature under Natsume Sōseki, wrote under the pseudonym Fuyuhiko Yoshimura, and is best known for his numerous essays on topics ranging from science to manga.
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.