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蜜柑

Tangerines

by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

On a gloomy train, a girl throws tangerines to her little brothers.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,165 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.

或a certain; some曇ったwas cloudy冬のwinter's; of winter日暮であるwas evening; it was dusk
It was a cloudy winter evening.
私はI (topic marker)横須賀発departing from Yokosuka上りupbound (toward Tokyo)二等客車second-class passenger carの隅にin a corner of腰を下してsitting downぼんやりidly, absentmindedly発車の笛をthe departure whistle待っていたwas waiting for
I sat in a corner of a second-class car from Yokosuka, waiting for the departure whistle.
とうにlong since; already電燈のついたwhose lights had been turned on客車の中にはinside the carriage珍らしくunusually; strangely私の外にbesides me一人も乗客はいなかったthere was not a single passenger
The car had long had its lights on, and strangely, there was no one but me.
外を覗くとwhen I looked outsideうす暗いdimプラットフォオムにもeven on the platform今日は珍しくunusually today見送りの人影さえeven the figures of people seeing others off跡を絶ってhad disappeared唯only檻に入れられたwas put in a cage小犬が一匹one small dog時々悲しそうにsadly now and then吠え立てていたwas barking away
Looking outside, even on the dim platform, unusually no one was there to see anyone off, and only a small dog in a cage was barking sadly now and then.

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About the book

"Mikan" (The Tangerine) is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. In what survives of its opening, a country girl on a cold train tosses tangerines to her younger brothers seeing her off. Even from this brief scene, the story turns an ordinary train journey into a moment of quiet, simple human feeling.

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.

日和下駄 Customs

Low-toothed wooden geta worn on fine days; their clacking footsteps sound crisp and loud, matching the original phrase "けたたましい日和下駄の音" (the startling sound of geta).

赤帽 Customs

Station porters, named for the red caps they wore. They carried passengers' luggage for tips (祝儀), and would offer a word of thanks upon receiving them.

銀杏返し Customs

A hairstyle for young girls: the hair is gathered at the back of the head and tied up with the ends turned outward, resembling a ginkgo leaf. Common among young women and schoolgirls of the Meiji and Taishō periods, it looks plain and old-fashioned.

About the author

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1 March 1892 – 24 July 1927), also known by his art name Chōkōdō Shujin, was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period who is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story". He died by suicide at the age of 35 through an overdose of barbital, and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 蜜柑 (小説) (CC BY-SA)

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.

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