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太十と其犬

Name: 太十と其犬
Availability: InStock
Author: Takashi Nagatsuka

by Takashi Nagatsuka

Old Taju is dead; the story of his life and his loyal dog.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate2,736 characters · ≈ 11 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.

一one

One

太十Tajū (name)はtopic marker死んだdied

Tajū died.

彼はhe (topic)北のof the Northおっつあんuncle (familiar term)といわれて居たwas being called

He was called the "Uncle of the North."

それはthat (topic)彼の家his houseが(subject marker)村の北端the north end of the villageにあるis located atからであるis because

That is because his house is at the north end of the village.

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About the book

The text opens with the death of Tatsuju, an old man called the “old man of the north,” and recalls his lonely life—disfigured by childhood smallpox and living only with his dog. It reads quiet and restrained, with the slow rhythm and subdued melancholy of rural storytelling.

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.

太十は死んだ。 Style

The opening line announces the protagonist's death outright, without any preparation, and only then goes back to tell the story of Taijū and his dog.

瞽女 Social role

A goze was a blind itinerant entertainer who made a living playing the shamisen and singing. Most came from the Echigo region and travelled in groups from village to village. The clothing and baggage described here are realistic.

鉄漿 Customs

This refers to ohaguro, the old custom of blackening the teeth with an iron-based dye, which married women commonly practised in former times. Here Taijū's teeth are described as dirty and black as if dyed with iron dye, a comparison borrowed from a custom familiar to everyone at the time.

About the author

Takashi Nagatsuka (April 3, 1879 – February 8, 1915) was a Japanese poet and novelist born into a landowning family in Ibaraki Prefecture. He studied poetry with Masaoka Shiki from 1900, and is known for his only novel, The Soil (Tsuchi), which was serialized in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun in 1910 and depicts rural life in Japan.

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.