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天下一の馬

by Yoshio Toyoshima

A lazy packhorse driver and a horse said to be the finest of all.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Beginner3,498 characters · ≈ 14 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.

一one
One
あるa certain田舎の山里にin a mountain village in the countryside甚兵衛というnamed Jinbei馬方horse driverがsubject markerいましたthere was (polite past of いる)
In a mountain village in the countryside, there was a horse driver named Jinbei.
至ってextremelyのんき者easygoing personでand (linking clause)お金moneyが(subject marker)あるthere is / he has間while / as long asは(topic marker)ぶらぶらidly / aimlessly遊んでplaying aroundいましてwas doing (polite continuous)お金moneyが(subject marker)なくなるrun outとwhen / whenever働きworkます(polite)
He was a very easygoing person; when he had money, he would play around, and when he ran out of money, he would work.
仕事というのはas for what his work was山から出るthat comes from the mountain材木をtimber (object)五里ばかり先の町へto a town about five ri ahead運ぶのですwas to carry (explanatory)
His work was to carry timber from the mountain to a town about five ri away.

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About the book

A laid-back packhorse driver named Jinbee travels with the black horse he is proud of, and on the way home through dusk he meets a strange creature that calls itself 'the mountain boy' and begs him for help. The opening moves at a leisurely pace with concrete details of the mountain village and the sound of horse bells, before shifting suddenly to the eerie encounter in the dim road.

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.

馬方 Social role

A transporter or horse driver who used horses to carry goods or people. In the Meiji and Taishō periods, in areas where railways had not yet spread, goods in mountain regions were mostly transported by bato leading pack horses or horse-drawn carts back and forth between the mountain areas and the towns.

立場茶屋 Customs

A simple teahouse set up along the roads where travellers could rest. 「立場」 refers to a spot where travellers stopped their palanquins and rested their horses; these establishments usually served coarse tea and simple meals, in contrast to the 「宿場茶屋」, which provided lodging.

上等のかいばや麦や米や豆 Customs

かいば（飼葉）means hay, the everyday coarse fodder for horses; 麦 refers to barley, while 米 (rice) and 豆 (beans) were concentrated feeds, and feeding them extra could strengthen a horse.

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 “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.

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