石油ランプ
An essay on the oil lamp, finished on the morning of the 1923 quake.
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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
The passage describes the writer preparing lighting for a small countryside retreat, searching shop after shop for a kerosene lamp, and weighing the qualities of kerosene lamps, electric light, and candles. A prefatory note explains the manuscript was finished right before an earthquake, so the calm narration carries the faint trace of that timing.
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.
Refers to the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1 September 1923. The parenthetical remark is a note added by the author afterwards: on the very morning after finishing this piece he experienced the earthquake, the manuscript was set aside for a time, and he later found that the text seemed to contain a presentiment of the disaster, so he published it as it was.
A Meiji-period translation of "strike" still commonly used in the early Shōwa years. Here it refers to labour movements causing interruptions to power generation and electricity supply—a new risk of urban life at the time, ranked alongside natural disasters as a threat posed by the apparatus of civilisation.
Here 「心」 refers to the lamp wick (灯心); because it must soak up the oil and carry the flame, it was regarded as the lamp's core component, hence the name. In Japanese, 「心」 can denote the core or central shaft of an implement.
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.
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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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English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.